The Ummo Letters
For decades, people in Spain received detailed typed letters from beings who said they came from a planet called Ummo.
What was reported
From the mid-1960s, hundreds of people, mostly in Spain, received typed letters signed by beings who claimed to come from Ummo, a planet orbiting a star about 14 light years away. The letters described Ummo's science, society and language in great detail, with diagrams and a distinctive symbol.
In 1967, photographs of a craft bearing the Ummo symbol were taken near Madrid. The letters attracted a devoted following, and some scientists studied them seriously.
Explanations offered
In 1993, José Luis Jordán Peña, a Spanish psychologist, said he had written many of the letters as an experiment in how people come to believe things. Analysts had already found the photographs were faked, using a small model. Some followers still dispute his confession.
- When
- 1960s – 1990s
- Where
- Madrid, Spain
- Witnesses
- Hundreds of letter recipients
- Status
- Hoax
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