Ecuador has a history of UFO sightings, with some documented by the Ministry of Defense. The Ecuadorian Commission for the Investigation of the UFO Phenomenon (CEIFO), active from 2005-2007, analyzed 44 out of 412 photographic and video evidence.
In 1995, Colonel Eustorgio Pacheco encountered a descending light in Loja province, firing at it before it ascended into the clouds.
In 1998, Major Leonidas Enríquez, while flying near Crucita, Manabí, observed two rhomboid-shaped objects that approached his aircraft.
In 1992, former Vice President Luis Parodi filmed an erratically moving object in Guayaquil.
In 2005, Antonio Osorio in Quito photographed approximately 50 bright circles moving rapidly in the sky.
Jaime Rodríguez, head of CEIFO, claims the commission's closure in 2007 was due to CIA interference. He asserts the Ministry of Defense possesses evidence supporting UFO existence in Ecuador, but no physical evidence has been found.