A strange, illuminated UFO shocked the residents of several towns in Argentina earlier this month, witnessed by thousands of observers who watched as it flew overhead.

The UFO was sighted in the skies over Gualeguaychú on January 4, according to OpenMinds, moving slowly across the city. Residents described the UFO as brightly illuminated, glowing white, and observed that its lights blinked on and off repeatedly, even disappearing at one point. The object was also witnessed by observers in Larroque, a town about 20 miles to the west of Gualeguaychú.

Several local residents were able to film the UFO, uploading their footage to YouTube. In those clips, the UFO appears almost stationary, though witnesses asserted that it was moving slowly, according to UFO Sightings Daily. Despite the efforts of multiple people to document the UFO, few details can be discerned from the footage, which simply reveals the blinking light.

Though some have argued that the UFO could be a drone or illuminated glider, Maxima Online highlights the fact that the object was spotted roughly 20 miles away. They assert that something as small as a drone couldn’t be observed from that distance, even when illuminated. Some witnesses also allege that they spotted a similar UFO the night before the mass sighting, on January 3.

Thousands of people spot a UFO around the town of Gualeguaychú, Argentina http://t.co/MROLtcPYUD pic.twitter.com/08sugpeIe4 — UFO Community (@UFOcommunity) January 11, 2015

In 2011, Argentina formed a group explicitly tasked with investigating UFO sightings. Dubbed the Commission for the Investigation of Aerospace Phenomena (Spanish acronym CIFA), little information has since been released about their work. While it is unclear whether the commission will seek to investigate the UFO over Gualeguaychú, the sighting certainly fits within the scope of their mission. Other neighboring countries, including Chile and Uruguay, have also formed UFO related commissions.

IS ARGENTINA’S GUALEGUAYCHU UFO AND IFO? http://t.co/xNMjrfaQO7 pic.twitter.com/Pj1kvnyjRf — Andrew Langhorn (@paranormalxfile) January 24, 2015

Recently, UFO observers were stunned to see a mysterious gray object appear near Earth in a live video feed from the International Space Station. As the Inquisitr previously reported, the video stream quickly cut off after the UFO appeared, an occurrence that some researchers alleged was no coincidence. UFO watchers also claim that the incident wasn’t the first instance of NASA cutting a video feed when an unidentified object appeared outside the station.

Authorities in Argentina have yet to comment on the Gualeguaychú sighting, and it remains unclear whether any government agency will investigate the UFO.

[Image via Nuevo Diario]