Stories from Jonestown, Barima-Waini, Guiana

Jim Jones and Peoples Temple: the promise, Jonestown, and 918 deaths

From an interracial Indianapolis church to a Guyanese agricultural settlement, this dossier traces Peoples Temple’s social appeal, relatives’ warnings, Leo Ryan’s visit, and deaths in Jonestown, Port Kaituma, and Georgetown. Records and testimony show why calling all of it “mass suicide” erases children, coercion, and dissent.

1,352 km · Canóvanas

Chupacabra: how Puerto Rico’s monster was born and transformed

In 1995, animal deaths, a witness in Canóvanas and a mayor’s search launched a legend across the Americas. Necropsies and DNA tests explained specific cases, but the original bipedal creature was never verified.

1,369 km · Guánica

The Guánica Gargoyle: the hunt, the composite photo and the unidentified animal

In 2010, accounts of enormous wings and dead animals brought a search party to an old sugar mill in Guánica, Puerto Rico. The hunt produced testimony, stones thrown by pranksters and a photograph later called a composite. What can the sources actually establish?

1,611 km · Colares

Operation Saucer: the lights of Colares and an open archive

In 1977, residents of Pará's coast reported lights, injuries, and fear of going out at night. Brazil's Air Force recorded testimony, night watches, and photographs. The archive confirms an investigation while leaving crucial questions unresolved.