Coches voladores a estrenar: fraudes, rumores y ciencia-ficción

This document is an analytical article titled 'Coches voladores a estrenar: fraudes, rumores y ciencia-ficción' (Brand New Flying Cars: Frauds, Rumors, and Science Fiction) by Alejandro César Agostinelli and Luis R. González Manso. The authors examine the phenomenon of 'teleportation' stories involving automobiles, which became a recurring theme in UFO literature and urban legends starting in the mid-20th century. The central focus is the 'Vidal Case' of 1968, in which a couple allegedly disappeared while driving in Argentina and reappeared in Mexico 48 hours later. The authors document how this story was popularized by ufologists like Oscar A. Galíndez and later revealed to be a fabrication by filmmaker Anibal Uset to promote his film 'Che, Ovni'. The article traces the evolution of these narratives, noting how they adapt to contemporary settings and often incorporate common tropes such as 'missing time', mysterious fog, and vehicle damage (e.g., paint appearing burned by a blowtorch). The authors also analyze other similar cases, including incidents in Brazil, Spain, and Australia (such as the 1971 Queensland case investigated by Bill Chalker). They argue that these stories function as 'urban legends' shaped by the 'extraterrestrial hypothesis' (HET), which acts as a cultural prism through which people interpret ambiguous experiences. The authors conclude that while these stories are often presented as genuine, they are consistently impossible to verify, frequently lacking direct contact with the alleged protagonists, and are often revealed to be hoaxes or misinterpretations of mundane events. The document serves as a critical historical review of how UFO-related folklore is constructed, disseminated, and eventually debunked.