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survived their high-altitude jump. But four hydrogen bombs now lay at the bottom of the shallow coastal waters, and the efforts to retrieve them before lethal gamma radiation spread throughout the sea made headlines worldwide. Witnesses to the explosion claimed having seen three objects in the sky at the time of the explosion, although only the downed bomber and the disintegrated tanker should have been in the area. Suspicions arose among the Spanish military elements assisting with the rescue efforts that the USAF's frantic search for the missing warheads was, in fact, a thinly veiled excuse for finding the elusive third "airplane" -- the UFO that had caused the destruction of its aircraft and then The USAF had good reasons, perhaps, to worry about a force inimical to its interests somewhere over the Mediterranean: Eight days before the Palomares debacle, a colossal fireball of unknown origin had flown over the Italian cities of Capri and Naples, causing a general blackout. Four years later, in October 1969, two jet fighters would disappear without a trace during NATO exercises held off Crete. The previous year, the French air force had lost two Mystére IV fighter-bombers on routine patrol over Corsica. The result of the military inquest was that both planes were lost due to "undetermined causes” Months after the world (or at least the Mediterranean countries) breathed a sigh of relief following the recovery of the Palomares bomb, a farmer in southern Spain would come across a particularly terrifying humanoid entity reminiscent of the West Virginia “Mothman” — but this time wearing a helmet. Around seven o’clock in the morning on May 16, 1966, Manuel Hernandez was returning from his early duties at his small property on the outskirts of the Andalusian city of Cordoba when his eyes caught a glint of metallic brilliance — an unusual disk-shaped object on the ground, less than two hundred feet from the shoulder of the road. The object made no sound whatsoever and the farmer was completely mystified; curiosity got the better of him and he cautiously approached the three-meter wide object. In retrospect, it is almost certain that Hernandez now wishes he hadn’t. 58 disappeared without a trace.