The Nov. 1977 issue of FATE carried the following article: 'CHANEQUES: MEXICAN GNOMES OR INTERPLANETARY VISITORS? [Veracruz's 'little people' date back to the ancient Totonacs but eyewitness reports do occur today], by Ramon A. Pantoja Lopez and Robert Freeman Bound. Due to their exact human features with exception to their size, could the 'CHANEQUES' be a singular diminutive mutation of the human family who left mainstream society for the sake of their own survival? "RECENT MYSTERIES and violent occurrences in Mexico's gulf state of Veracruz again have brought into prominence the CHANEQUES (gnomes) who are purported to inhabit this tropical area. "The name CHANEQUE is indigenous to the state of Veracruz, having been used for centuries by the native peoples, the Totonacs, of this area to designate the 'tiny men' (HOMBRECITOS) who live in the mountainous regions of the state. The Totonacs developed one of the first and most noteworthy Mexican civilizations whose ruins and artifacts still amaze visitors to this part of Mexico. "Hernan Cortez, conqueror and settler of Mexico, and his armored horsemen, the first Europeans to disembark on the Veracruz coast, were told of the existence of these gnomes by the Totonacs in the early 16th Century. The Totonacs did not indicate the CHANEQUES were mythical creatures but rather talked of them as through they were diminutive flesh and bone beings with extraordinary powers... "...The legend, which present-day Totonacs say has been passed down through countless generations, is this: "'We Totonac women know from many centuries of experience that when we go to wash out clothes or bathe in the river we must guard our small children very carefully. The CHANEQUES are always watching and they love to amuse themselves playing with our children. Although they never harm our youngsters or steal them, they entice them away to play and sometimes we don't see our boys and girls for hours or even days and of course we are distraught with worry until they reappear. "However, they are extremely fond of the little heads and statues which we fashion with the smiling faces of the CHANEQUES. If we leave these clay toys near the rivers after a child has disappeared and go away, they always return the missing little ones very soon. These little men have our love and we respect them for their wondrous ['technological' as we will see further on - Branton] powers but they do cause us to worry sometimes.' "Thus ends the ancient legend of the CHANEQUES. "Today reports of contacts with the CHANEQUES persist in Mexico, not as fantasies but as actual happenings. We talked with more than 20 PERSONS in various parts of Veracruz during our investigation and ALL BUT FOUR of them had stories to tell us about their personal experiences with the gnomes or experiences their relatives, friends or acquaintances have had with the gnomes. "Sra. Cirila Montero Lagunes, owner of a small store in La Tinaja, told us, 'My three-and-one-half-year-old son Ramiro was found by the CHANEQUES after he wandered away from home in March 1973 and was missing for six days. These tiny people are very timid with adults and instead of contacting us they told a six- year-old neighbor boy Juan who was playing in a far corner of his backyard that Ramiro could be found in a cave some nine or 10 miles away. We were familiar with the cave and a search party had no trouble finding it and my son asleep inside. Although he'd been missing for some time, he was in perfect health, NOT hungry OR thirsty or the least bit unhappy. Ramiro is talkative in his childish way and quickly advised us he was lost near a 'big water' (river) when five little men found him. They had given him 'sweet food' and milk, then he had gone to sleep. WHEN HE AWOKE HE WAS IN THE CAVE. HE SAID THAT AS LEAST ONE OF THE GNOMES WAS WITH HIM ALL THE TIME AND THEY PLAYED WITH HIM MANY TIMES. "'This appears to have a simple solution,' Ramiro's mother continued. 'My son, not wanting to be chastised for disobeying my instructions to stay close to home, invented the tale and his six-year-old playmate, of course, vouched for him later. "'But it isn't as simple as that. He is just a little young to invent such a tale. More important, the entire hillside below the cave right up to its mouth is covered with an extremely dense spinebearing shrub about five feet in height with limbs extending to the ground. Ramiro's rescuers had to cut their way to the cave in order to reach him. All of these men suffered scratches and bruises; some had puncture wounds on their legs, hands and arms. My son, although barelegged and shoeless when found, hadn't a mark of any kind on him! Besides, its pretty foolish to say that his little playmate carried food and drink to him during those six days, not only because of THE INACCESSIBILITY OF THE CAVE but because of the 18-mile round trip involved. We are so grateful to the CHANEQUES for what they did. We might easily have lost our little boy forever.' [Note: This account is similar to some which have been related describing similar diminutive humans who allegedly inhabit cavernous regions east of Phoenix, Arizona, below the Salt River Valley, and east into southwestern New Mexico. These have been seen by ranchers standing like sentinels on the tops of ridges; and have reportedly fed lost children and led out of the dangerous wastelands to safety. One account which the CRP came across years ago--although we cannot recall the exact source--told of a hunter who spotted a 2 FOOT TALL human in a forest. His dog gave chase and before the hunter could do anything it had torn the poor little man to pieces. The hunter was adamant that the dwarf was HUMAN, and that his internal organs were those of a normal human being, and that he was human in every respect except for his diminutive size. Scientists admit that the first dinosaurs were from 6-8 feet tall and that later mutations branched out from this original saurian 'race'. Some degenerated into the small reptilians such as the modern lizards and snakes, while other grew to gargantuan sizes such as the Brontosaurus and Ultrasaurus. But ALL, most paleontologists admit, must have mutated from this original saurian species. Although not quite as extensive in it's mutability, could the human race have 'branched off' into various other mutations or cultures over the millennia and developed both diminutive races some 2 feet tall to gargantuan races over 20 feet in height according to some sources? Of course it is rare to find full grown humans on the surface who are outside of the 4-8 ft. range, suggesting that IF other such societies developed that they may have separated themselves from mainstream society for obvious reasons - Branton] "Another account was given us by Sr. Ricardo Gutierrez. Senor Gutierrez told us that in June 1970 he was walking in the forest, on the Palma Cuata Ranch, near Mixtequilla e Ignacio de La Llave, Veracruz, with his six-year-old nephew Arturo close by his side. Senor Gutierrez said he was suddenly aware that his nephew was no longer beside him. He searched the nearby area, calling the child by name without result. Next, most of the able-bodied villagers made an exhaustive search of the wooded countryside with no success. Somewhat later events took a nasty turn. The uncle was accused of murdering his nephew and actually was awaiting trial when 33 days after his disappearance, little Arturo entered the patio of his home, unharmed and looking will- fed, apparently none the worse for his long absence and appearing as unconcerned as through he'd been gone only a few hours. "When asked where he had been he replied, 'Living with the little men. They gave me food and milk with honey in it. We played a lot of games. I was very happy.' "Of course, charges against the uncle were dropped and another incredible tale was added to the CHANEQUE legend. "We checked this story with the authorities and they confirmed that the boy had been missing for the time stated and had inexplicably turned up at his own home, and that the uncle had been charged with murder. "At about 8:A.M. on May 22, 1973, Manuel Angel Gonzalez was driving a six-ton truck loaded with asbestos sheeting, sacked cement and a small quantity of reinforcing steel between La Tinaja and Tierra Blanca, Veracruz. This is a routine run for him. But suddenly, as he neared the village of Cintalapa he was startled to see five diminutive figures standing with hands in the air ahead of his truck. Manuel, reacting instantly, braked his vehicle in time to avoid running down what he at first thought was a group of small children. He swears they materialized before his eyes, that one moment the straight stretch of highway within his vision was clear and the next instant the figures confronted him. A closer look revealed the 'children' to be miniature adults, well-proportioned and of about equal height, a height Manuel estimates to be no more than two feet. His description of the physical aspect of these 'gnomes' coincides with HUNDREDS of other eyewitness accounts related over the years as to size, light brown complexion, black hair, and the ability to appear suddenly before the viewers' eyes, as through they had come from another dimension. "When asked to describe their clothing Manuel replied, 'I don't remember what they wore--not even the color of their clothes. I was so shocked and surprised. You see, I didn't really believe in them before this happened.' Later he said, quite logically, 'Perhaps their clothing was so like our own that I didn't pay much attention to it.' "At the time the perplexed driver descended from the truck cab intent on making a closer examination of them. But before he could take more than a few steps the tiny creatures began to run, scattering into the undergrowth and apparently heading in the direction of a nearby mountain. "Manuel returned to his truck which to his consternation was completely engulfed in blue flames. In an incredibly short span of time, estimated by the driver and two additional witnesses who stopped to watch the spectacle to be 30 minutes at most, the truck and its normally uninflammable cargo were reduced to ashes and fused metal. "Not content with the newspaper accounts of this strange happening, we decided to do some on-the-scene investigating. We own and operate a private English school in Mexico City but fortunately the students were enjoying their spring vacation and we had a few days to drive the 600 miles to that part of Veracruz. "We arrived in Catemac, Veracruz, headquarters of the Lopez Transportation Company, late in the afternoon of May 24 and went directly to the office of Sr. Abel Lopez, owner of the burned vehicle. He proved to be very amiable and verified everything we had read previously, including the fact that all of the truck's contents were uninflammable. "Senor Lopez said, 'I still find it incredible that asbestos, cement and steel could be so completely consumed in this fire. It was certainly something out of the ordinary and I want to say right now to those people who have suggested that it was deliberately set afire for the insurance that this truck and its cargo were not insured. Also, I've heard some mention of the fire being cause by a bolt of lightning. This happened on a clear, sunny morning.' "He then added that Manuel Gonzales, the driver, had proven himself to be one of the company's most dependable drivers, sober, very religious and not given to exaggeration or imaginative flights of fancy. Fortunately, while we were talking with Senor Lopez, Manuel Gonzalez came in. Although he had submitted to repeated questioning by the police and newspaper reporters, he was most cooperative. he gave the appearance of being serious and honest and completely baffled by his traumatic experience. Verifying the statements of his boss, he deepened the mystery by adding that two days after the charred remains of the truck had been towed to their garage, two sections of metal fused to the chassis had suddenly burst into brilliant blue flames resembling huge Fourth of July sparklers and had been reduced to ashes. This was confirmed by Senor Lopez and later while we were inspecting the ruined chassis these burned out sections were pointed out to us. "The driver did mention that the newspaper account omitted the statement wherein he said, 'I am as much inclined to believe these small people were space travelers from another planet as that they were CHANEQUES, for two reasons. First, apparently people here in Veracruz have had many experiences with the CHANEQUES but there are no accounts of them having done any harm or committed such acts of violence. Quite the contrary, they have on many occasions aided people in distress; shipwrecked sailors stranded on the beach, lost hikers and lost children have been given food and water and guided to the nearest road or trail. It is said they love the GIANTS' small children and over the years there have been accounts of boys and girls returning home to say that they have been playing with the 'little men.' Second, on May 21 three ranchers reported having seen a large illuminated disc flying very low over this area.' "Before leaving Veracruz we talked with Police Officer Fernando Aportela Abad who patrols this section of the highway between La Tinaja and Tierra Blanca. He investigated the mystery within an hour after it happened and told us, 'It is certainly true that a short circuit can set a vehicle afire but to me it is incredible that any ordinary fire could have consumed asbestos, cement and steel. I've investigated this thoroughly and hav no normal explanation.' "He told us that a quantity of the carbonized cargo and truck metal was submitted for analysis to Jos0 ( +'Lopez, industrial engineer and erstwhile professor of physics and thermodynamics at the National University of Mexico. "After the laboratory tests were completed Engineer de Haro Lopez told the press, 'I am admittedly astonished and puzzled. I've arrived at the conclusion that the burning of this truck and its cargo by an unknown type of light-heat beam with a VERY SELECTIVE WAVELENGTH corresponding to the laser ray but many times more powerful and not known on this planet. The combustion of the asbestos, cement, metals and tires of the truck in such a rapid and destructive way is something I've never heard of before. But almost as amazing was the fact that while the back of the plastic-covered cab seat was completely consumed, the dashboard badly burned and the electrical wiring melted, the bottom of the seat, rubber floor mat and [aint on the inside of the cab doors wasn't even scorched. Even more astounding, the fuel in the tank remained intact!' "Sometime after our visit to Catemac, Veracruz, we received a telephone call from Police Officer Abad who had agreed to call us collect should there be any further developments. He now said two additional trucks had been almost completely consumed by the same inexplicable blue flames in the state of Veracruz, one on the Costera del Golfo Highway, the other on the Cordoba Highway. He added that both incidents were investigated by highway patrolmen with whom he had talked and they had not arrived at any 'logical' conclusion. However, in one of these later cases a motorist who had called the police at Cordoba, Veracruz, three hours BEFORE the fire reported that an oval-shaped UFO hovered over and followed his car for several miles on the Cordoba Highway. "We are keeping in tough with the authorities, and our friends in Veracruz will inform us of any developments involving the mysterious CHANEQUES. "We both have seen UFOs flying low over Mexico's mountains and now feel that with time and patience we will be able to contact the CHANEQUES. During our two-week vacation later this year we shall camp out in the verdure-clad mountains of Veracruz, probably near volcanic Mt. Orizaba from where the CHANEQUES are frequently reported, hoping to solve the riddle of the CHANEQUES. Are they Mexican gnomes or interplanetary visitors?"