The Mysterious Case of Gil Pérez
Gil Pérez was a Spanish soldier of the Filipino Guardia Civil who allegedly suddenly appeared in the Plaza Mayor of Mexico City (more than 9,000 nautical miles from Manila, across the Pacific) on October 24, 1593. He was wearing the uniform of the guards of Palacio Del Gobernador in the Philippines, and claimed he had no idea how he had arrived in Mexico. Some historians doubt the accuracy of the story, which does not appear in writing until a century after the supposed event.
Perez claimed that moments before finding himself in Mexico he had been on sentry duty in Manila at the governor’s palace. He admitted that while he was aware that he was no longer in the Philippines, he had no idea where he was or how he had gotten there. He said that moments before he arrived there, His Excellency the Governor of the Philippines, Gomez Perez Dasmariñas had been killed by Chinese pirates. He explained that after long hours of duty in Manila, he felt faint, leaned against a wall and closed his eyes; he said he opened her eyes a second later to find himself somewhere different.
When it was explained to him that he was now in Mexico City, Perez refused to believe it saying that he had received his orders on the morning of October 23 in Manila and that it was therefore impossible for him to be in Mexico City on the evening of the 24th. The authorities placed Perez in jail as a deserter and for the possibility that he may have been in the service of Satan. The Most Holy Tribunal of the Inquisition questioned the soldier, but all he could say in his defense was that he had travelled from Manila to Mexico “in less time than it takes a cock to crow”.
Two months later, news from the Philippines arrived by Manila Galleon, confirming the fact of the literal axing on October 23 of Dasmariñas in a mutiny of Chinese rowers, as well as other points of the mysterious soldier’s fantastic story. Witnesses confirmed that Gil Perez had indeed been on duty in Manila just before arriving in Mexico. Furthermore, one of the passengers on the ship recognized Perez and swore that he had seen him in the Philippines on October 23. Gil Perez eventually returned to the Philippines and took up his former position as a palace guard, living thenceforth an apparently uneventful life.
Another Case?
From John Aubrey (1626-1697) Miscellanies (1696): “A gentleman of my acquaintance was in Portugal in 1655 when he witnessed the burning at the stake by the inquisition of a man who claimed to have been transported to Goa (Portugal) from eastern India through the air and in a very short time.”
“There is a man in Scotland carried in the air several times in view of many of his fellow soldiers. Major Henton has been seen in Scotland to be raised and transported a mile or two while on duty. Several people still alive (1671) can attest to this story.”
Teleportation Explained
Teleportation is the transfer of matter from one point to another, more or less instantaneously, either by paranormal means or through technological means. Teleportation has been widely utilized in works of science fiction. One proposed means of teleportation is the transmission of data which is used to precisely reconstruct an object or organism at its destination. However, it would be impossible to travel from one point to another instantaneously; faster than light travel, as of today, is believed to be impossible. The use of this form of teleportation as a means of transport for humans still has considerable unresolved technical issues, such as recording the human body with sufficient accuracy to allow reproduction elsewhere (i.e., because of the uncertainty principle), and whether destroying a human in one place and recreating a copy elsewhere would provide a sufficient experience of continuity of existence. The reassembled human might be considered a different sentience with the same memories as the original, as could be easily proved by constructing not just one, but several copies of the original and interrogating each as to the perceived uniqueness of each.
Dimensional teleportation is another proposed means of teleportation. Often shown in fictional works, particularly in fantasy and comic books, it involves the subject exiting one physical universe or plane of existence, then re-entering it at a different location. This method is rarely seriously considered by the scientific community, as the currently predominant theories about parallel universes assume that physical travel is not possible between them.
Summary
Regardless of the scientific investigations of teleportation, the story of Gil Perez is a rather scary one – particularly as he had no control over his translation from one place to another. Whether the story is true or not, it is a fascinating tale that has survived for hundreds of years unchanged.
Filed under: Mystery | 44 Comments
Cogitz 
Amazing.. Just like the movie ‘jumper’
Poor bloke – that must have been quite a shock!
I’m afraid because it’s outside my personal realm of understanding, I find it really hard to believe. It’s fascinating and I want it to be true but because I don’t understand it, I can’t believe it.
Fascinating tale indeed. I’ve always liked the idea of being able teletranport… but with the ability to control the process, of course.
hmmm..in my 24 years here in my own country (the Philippines), I never heard of this story,.
it has similarity on the stories I’ve heard on the radio or seen on TV where people can travel to anther place through what they call “the shortcut” or “lagusan” in Tagalog. It’s a place, or a thing, mostly a big old tree or an old wall where you can pass through other dimension or place. Seems funny huh!.it’s a folklore,..
Not so funny. Who says folklore is based in myth?
did I say folklore is based on myth?
did I mean it’s our folklore?,.hmm
Wiki says, “Folklore is the body of expressive culture, including stories, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs, and so forth within a particular population comprising the traditions (including oral traditions) of that culture, subculture, or group.”
@EARS owned!
I’m from the Philippines, and I’ve come across this story more than once. It’s interesting, but the limited knowledge of this legend gives it quite the charm of being realistic, confusing and unbelievable at the same time.
Truly bizarre! I read that last month that some researchers in University of Maryland were able to teleport one atom from one place to another. That would raise argument against uncertainty principle.
Good article. A++
While this is interesting, I highly doubt the accuracy of Gil Perez’s story. I mean, why have to wait till a century to recount it. It must be intended to be a folklore, or, you know, a fictional story of people having supernatural powers, just like Heroes, albeit so much more vintage.
You may have a point, but there are several instances in history when events are recounted only centuries later or sometimes not until a recent discovery of literature. This is due to several factors like beliefs (in this case, The Philippines, which is under the Spanish Inquisition), people (Gil Perez was an ordinary man and by the sounds of it is not a Filipino citizen and may have less network with other Filipinos) and the limits of media.
A recent read from an AO article lead me here. There are sources that say we can attest the authenticity of his story since there are documents that can be found in the archives in Sevilla and Mexico City. I just wish someone would care to mention this in a documentary. Michio Kaku briefly mentione this story though.
Yeah, Jamie now were cooking, great article.
I don’t think the fellow teleported himself, he was moved. By who or what or why is probably beyond human comprehension. It works on levels that the human brain can’t grasp. Like a fish in a bowl that assumes that the bowl is all the reality there is.
What was so impotant to move the man? Was it just a joke by inter-dimensional beings?
Hey, Jfrater did you know that the Bible talks about teleporting? John 6:16-21 and Acts 8:38-40. Just thought I’d enlighten you all.
Also, Ears, I like your explanation. Sounds like something out of the Twilight Zone.
john 6: 16-21 is jesus walking on water. a strange and highly mystical event to be certain but not “teleportation”. As for Acts 8: 38-40 that is intersting
in the 21st verse, it says, “Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.”
I read that when Jesus was accepted into the boat, they immediately reached the shore. I guess that is where I see that they were teleported. Just my interpretation.
The Gil Perez case sounds like an alien abduction. People who wave been abducted generally do not remember the events surrounding it either, except under hypnosis. I am unaware of any abduction cases where the victim was transported far away from where they were taken though, just ones where they were let off where they came from, presumably the aliens would just want them to forget about it – and not want to let them off in Antarctica or something. 🙂
Oh, I forgot about the famous Travis Walters abduction case, he was in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest near Snowflake, Arizona and ended up in Herber, Arizona five days later.
(Travis Walton, sorry)
isn’t it too convenient for gil perez to be “transported” from one spanish colony to another?
Interesting case indeed. What was the day when this guy was on duty at the palace and when did he show up in Mexico ? Could it be that he was drugged and sent out ??? Chinese were having lots of Opium back then 😀
These are not true teleportings but actual early abductions by aliens.
The reason they did not return to the same place is easily explained – the alien gyroscopes must of been faulty that day so they guess the latitude and got it wrong.
Probably that is also the reason why you never see ufos at the north pole – their gyroscopes go wild over the poles.
billy tessier – okkkkkkkkk then
I have been working in this particular field for most of one’s life and i can say this. Some poeple guess the answer, some people know the answer but are unaware or do not believe in it.
The answer is there you just have to look…..
Did the acient Egyptians have electric lights? NO? If not then why is there recorded on walls objects that have two different coloured ‘cables’ braided together heading toward’s what looks like a light bulb? Hmmm. . . .
The human race does lose ‘things’ over time like the ability to make unbreakable glass…. first done over 2000 years ago!
What about the “stranger” in the desert?
The answers will be comming soon….. check youtube ( easiest medium to get mass distribution ) for the link ( mysteries revealed will be the title of the video. THis will show you one website that will reveal the answers.. Yes they can close it down but we will open it up inder another site and keep doing till the truth is known….. release date is (yes it’s coded due to people watching every move [AE453B%I] break this code to reveal the date it will be released. .. … ….
~~~
check youtube daily
~~~
The psychology of the situation makes “sense” in a way. Gil was probably traumatized by the sudden assassination of the Governor he was supposed to be guarding. Indeed he might well have feared that the plotters would turn on the Governor’s guards and slaughter them as well–or that he would be judged derelict in his duty. Manila and the Philippines could well be unsafe for anyone in uniform. Where to go to escape?
The nearest safety would be found in New Spain, specifically in the capital, Mexico City, near the center of government. This was the closest Spanish territory that was in regular communication with Manila, with gold being regularly shipped eastward across the Pacific to Acapulco for transshipment to Spain. The tricky part would be invoking non-local consciousness, probably without deliberate intention, to effect the teleport.
The fact that the story states that Gil was allowed to return to the Philippines and resume his station as a Governor’s guard is an indication of its veracity. A made-up story would have had him ending up being burned at the stake in Mexico at the insistence of the Santa Ermindad (aka the Inquisition). Contrary to popular belief, that institution was occasionally capable of judging the sincerity of individuals rather than blindly applying one-size-fits-all ideological norms. However, for his own good, he might well have been advised to speak little of his sojuorn in Mexico, explaining why the story is relatively unknown in the Philippines.
again we see the sure hand of alien cultures bleeding over into our own world.
Another straightforward case of cast iron evidence of alien abduction and a close encounter and yet people still try to provide so called scientific explanations of this alien intrusion.
Very few of us are taken seriously on this subject – what will convince a sceptical world of the existence of hostile alien presences amongst us?
How many more poor kids and feeble adults need to be probed and sliced apart before we take some affirmative action against this verminous alien menace?
Re the quote from Aubrey: Goa is in Western India, not Portugal.
Wow. This same thing happens to me every St.Patricks day! Eerie!
Do you have a website feed I can save? I searched around only can not
Great article, I especially like what you had to say in the last paragraph.
I think what no one has brought up is that Gil Perez was not only transported to the Plaza Mayor…..the Plaza Mayor before the Spaniards took occupation in Mexico was the exact spot of an Aztec Temple and city. And part of this culture was centered around “beings from the stars”……..and are we so full of ourselves to believe we are the only “beings” in the entire universe? I think not…..
Things like this do happen to people. And people revealing such actions have been murdered throughout history by the Catholic Church under the accusations of being witches, or servants of Satan. This is for the 3 G’s (God, Gold, Glory) that the Catholic Church wants to forever hold on to. If people with such abilities were not killed off, they would grow in number, thus, leaving the Catholic Church powerless and out-of-control, not having explanations for her followers which align with Catholic teachings (Jesus was called a heretic by the Catholic church while He was here on earth, because He could heal the sick, raise the dead, bend air, water, fire, and and earth, and etc. and very conveniently after they crucified Jesus, they incorporated Him into their own teachings, so that they would still have all the power, by appeasing and gaining and winning over His followers)…
Now, all throughout history, “witches” have been burned at the stake by the Catholic Church.
I believe they were not witches of any sort. They were people who could do things that other people couldn’t do.
Air benders. Fire benders. Empaths. Jumpers (like Gil Perez)
All of this is true, and humankind is able to do all of this, it is the Catholic Church who is controlling the breed of this under the name of religion.
Things like this are not myths. They are history in ancient civilizations. Catholicism is not ancient. Catholicism came along one day and tried to conquer the world, burning down ancient “pagan” temples, burning ancient history texts, and writing off ancient history as “myths and legends” .
wow…. i
v’e never heard of that story before….
When I was a kid, read a book that talked about people in India who can teleport. But they have to be vegeterian and be completely pure. They have to start early in life.
It’s Bush’s fault.
This is indeed a very interesting stories. Sadly, there is no way to prove or disprove it. Lets just enjoy ourselves to these mysteries.
im an airbender. nothing special. i work for a provincial agricultural do gooders. diverting some rains and storms once in a while. you can find a lot of other gifted beings at the red cross and relief agencies. i knew a jumper working for a relief agency. much more helpful than in fedex maybe..hehe..keep on jumpin. wana get in touch? go to your local church and attend mass or services. ask the priest or minister. if he does not know, you aint praying seriously..attend mass and services. knowing the unknown needs faith. CNN and Discovery don’t have it. you wont find it in universities and science research as well. many of them go in circles with their theories and calculation. they lack the power source called faith.
someone help me??
I would love to use this for my online classes. However, please edit this line –“he said he opened her eyes a second later to find himself somewhere different”– I don’t wish someone would notice the mistake(her) so please edit if you have time
in that time,,it took months to travel by ship,,if he traveled to mexico,,he would have had to depart philipines months earlier,,and in his same uniform???with news of events happened at the time he was there?then in mexico day later with same news?and how did he travel there without being known or a soldier in the gaurd deserting his post??this is quit strange and i believe this happened,,if he deserted,,why bring it to attention of authrities??this world does have strange happenings,,we are floating along in space,,in a unlimmited universe,,,just believe it.
This may be odd and you may think im somewhat weird, but, could it be, when your in space, theres 0 gravity. meaning, you dont know whether you or your fellow astronauts are the right way up. Could when he had fainted out for abit, somehow, his body seemed like it was light, and suddenly switched the body location around? I may sound absurd but someones gotta guessing how he ended up in Mexico…
It’s Kuma using his devil fruit that send them flying to the sky from one place to another.
What excites me most about this case is that becoming a legend of the city of Mexico. I found an excellent video explaining the case: https://youtu.be/SOa-RSfqpa4
I told my mum about this and I said I believe it was alien abduction. she argued they are usually returned to the same place and I responded matter of fact like ”maybe they didn’t have time. We didn’t stop laughing for ages.