During the solar eclipse of July 11, 1991, Mexico City experienced a wave of UFO sightings. According to hundreds of eyewitnesses, a bright object hovered over Mexico City for almost thirty minutes before, during, and after the eclipse and was videotaped by seventeen people in different parts of the city. The sightings, which began with the eclipse, continued for several years. After the eclipse, it was reported that the Mayan prophecies (specifically the Dresden Codex) had predicted that the total eclipse of July 11, 1991, would usher in two life altering events: earth changes and cosmic awareness in the form of encounters with the "Masters of the Stars". Debunkers, however, have challenged this interpretation of the Dresden Codex, as well as the actual sightings which they suggest were simply the planet Venus which would have appeared unusually bright during the eclipse.