Lima Peru AP Interceptor Crash 1980

On April 11, 1980, Peruvian Air Force (FAP) Captain Oswaldo Santin, flying a Sukhoi Su-22 from La Joya Air Base near Arequipa, was ordered to intercept an unidentified spherical craft that had been hovering over the airbase. In a 22-minute engagement, Santin fired 64 thirty-millimeter cannon rounds at the craft from various distances and angles. All rounds appeared to find their target but had zero effect. The craft would move slightly to avoid collision with the aircraft but showed no damage whatsoever. When Santin reached the aircraft's operational ceiling, the craft simply climbed higher. Ground radar tracked the entire engagement. Captain Santin subsequently stated publicly: 'The object was like a light balloon — but what it demonstrated was beyond our technology.' The Peruvian Air Force officially acknowledged the encounter as the most significant aerial interaction in their history, and General Alberto Villanueva Baca confirmed the details at a press conference. The case is extensively documented in declassified Peruvian military records.