After a silence of more than two months, reports
about sightings of unidentified aerial objects started to come
again on the first days of March, 1966. The first sighting, still
under investigation, was made by the medical team working at Lourenço
Jorge Hospital on March 6, 1966. This Hospital is located at Barra
da Tijuca, a beach placed at the southern limit of Rio de Janeiro
city, where the population is sparse and constituted mostly of
fisherman.
Mar. 6, 1966
The object was first seen over the sea, at 2:00 a.m.
(local time), by Dr. Ivan de Almeida, who was walking through
the beach close to the Hospital. Immediately he went to call the
medical staff. All of them, doctors and nurses, watched for
more than two hours the maneuvers of the strange object which
was ovoid in shape and emitted a very bright yellow-red
light which was reflected on the sea below. The sighting was ended
a few minutes after 4:00 a.m. when the UFO started to climb slowly,
gradually diminishing the intensity of its light and finally disappearing
into the cloudy sky.
Dr. Jeronimo Ferrari Gomes, the chief of the medical
team that night, still refuses to believe in the existence of
the so-called "flying saucers". However, he has no doubt
that the object he sighted seemed to be intelligent-controlled.
He reports that the strange body hovered motionless for several
minutes, then suddenly increased its brightness for a few seconds
and than diminished again its light -- disappearing into the darkness.
When it reappeared again, a few moments later, it was over another
place, mostly over the Marisco Rock where it hovered most of the
time it was visible. Sometimes it moved sway slowly toward the
sea to come back a few minutes later. No sound was heard at any
time and the UFO appeared to be below the clouds. The speed
it was moving when maneuvering to change its position seemed slow,
except when it switched off its lights. It looked like a solid
body, sharply outlined against the darkness, but no details
were seen on its surface: a smooth ovoid shape with no portholes,
wings, propellers, jets or fins. There was an attempt to report
the sighting to the Air Force and the National Observatory, but
the telephones of the Hospital were not working due to some defect
in the lines. Several fisherman in the area reported that they
had seen the evolutions of the object since 1:00 a.m. and also
that the UFO had been sighted several times in the previous nights
over the area by many of them.
Drs. Gomes and Almeida were contacted by telephone
and also received a UFO report blank to be filled. The Air Force
made no comment about the sighting. Drs. Lelio Gama and Muniz
Barreto, director and vice-director of the National Observatory,
declared to the press that
"No registration was made at the
Observatory about the luminous object reported over Barra da Tijuca
because it was not obviously an astronomical phenomenon. In their
opinion, it was an optical illusion, or an airplane, or an atmospheric
phenomenon which evaluation was certainly beyond the scope of
the Observatory."
The second UFO sighting -- and the most important
for several reasons -- was made at the National Motors Plant (Fabrica
Nacional de Motores), which is a big Government plant located
a few miles to the north of Rio de Janeiro, at the kilometer 23
of the Rio-Petropolis Highway. There is no town around the plant,
but three miles to the north there is a big water reservoir. High-tension
power lines pass about seven miles to the north of the plant.
At 0:40 a.m. on March 12, 1966,
about ten employees who were inside the National Motors Plant
were alerted by the shouts of a young sentinel about a mysterious
object which was approaching the place where his observation post
was located. He was very upset and told them that at first he
thought he was sighting a satellite or a shooting star when he
saw in the cloudless sky a luminous point moving at high
speed. However, the strange object came down to an approximate
altitude of about 1500 to 1800 feet and was now hovering
motionless very close to the Plant.
At the same moment, all of them ran to the outside
and sighted the object. What they saw was an ovoid object about
18 feet in diameter at that altitude (apparent size several times
bigger than the full moon's), emitting a white light which
was so strong and bright that all the observers looking directly
at it had trouble with their vision. It was motionless and
soundless, but at certain moments rays of light were emitted in
bursts from all its circumference -- looking like
flashes of high intensity.
Immediately the Director-President of the Plant,
Army Colonel Jorge Alberto Silveira Martins, was called and informed
about the happening. He came with engineers and technicians and
was so alarmed by the sighting that decided to call the Army Police
for help. An Army unit was sent from Rio with antiaircraft guns
with orders to protect the Plant and even to fight if necessary.
The Air Force was also alerted and reported that no airplanes
or helicopters were flying at the time over the area.
After 30 minutes, the object suddenly lost its brightness
but its body could still be easily seen against the moonlight.
At the same instant it disappeared silently moving at tremendous
speed, to reappear a few moments later about half a mile away.
Then it disappeared again, just like the first time, and was gone.
Several minutes later the jeeps and trucks of the Army unit arrived
at the Plant.
On the following night, at the same hour, the same
object came back over the Plant. It came very close again but
only for a few minutes. As a measure of security to protect the
Plant, the Director-President had ordered that the anti-aircraft
guns from the Army Police remained at the place with their garrison.
The effect of the object's appearance on the soldiers was the
worst possible: there was panic and hysteria which became generalized,
One of the soldiers, completely out of control, tried to fire
his antiaircraft gun against the UFO and had to be physically
restrained by his commander (an Army Captain). He had given
orders to fire only in case of attack.
Reactions produced by the sighting of the unidentified
aerial object: Several kinds of reaction and different impressions
were caused by the strange appearance. Borne of the observers
believed that the UFO was a secret weapon from a foreign country,
coming probably from the Soviet Union. However, the dominant
opinion was that it was an aircraft unknown on the face of the
Earth due to the flight characteristics presented, i.e., the
power to fly silently at high speed to any direction and also
the ability to remain motionless in space. So, to the group
who defended this opinion, the propulsion system of the strange
craft was totally unknown and everything indicated it was intelligent-controlled.
Others limited themselves to observe the phenomenon emitting no
opinion. To them it was only a "thing" that came from
space. On the other side, however, all the observers agree on
one thing. The object came so close that the general impression
was that it was going to land or preparing to attack the Plant.
That is the reason for the emotional reactions of fear, panic
or even hysteria that were dominant among de witnesses, including
the military personnel. One of the observers said to me: "We
have been told year after year that those things don't exist.
Then suddenly we see one of them coming closer and closer, preparing
to land or to attack, who knows? We just can't stand it, because
we can't adjust in a few seconds to a new kind of reality for
which we are totally unprepared."
The sighting was witnessed by about 50 persons, among
them the following: Colonel Jorge Alberto Silveira Martins, Jonas
Ribeiro, Oamarino Jose da Silva, Luiz Carlos da Silva, Antonio
Lima, Pedro Rolin, Jose Luiz Chagas, Elson da Silva Lima, Rodolfo
Costa, Heitor Silvio do Souza, Manoel Rodrigues. The soldiers,
sergeants and officers of the Army Police are not included.
The Director-President of the National Motors Plant,
Colonel J. A. Silveira Martins, released instructions to all employees
of the Plant involved in the sighting to keep that matter in absolute
secrecy, avoiding any comment about it to other people and mostly
to the press. That order has been obeyed so that no publicity
was given to the sighting until the present time.
On March 16, 1966, at 5:45 p.m. (local time), a white
object, ovoid in shape, crashed into de Atlantic Ocean close to
the Cagarras Island, after a violent explosion which caused alarm
and fear among the people who followed from the Arpoador beach
its rapid fall to the sea. An emergency call mobilized the Air
Force Life-Saving Service (SAR) and the Guanabara State Coast
Guard (CMS). Several patrol boats from the CMS and two SAR helicopters
searched the area until 7:15 p.m., but nothing was found. The
CMS sailor Sergio Jorge Carvalho and the sentinel at the Copacabana
Fortress witnessed the fall and explosion and
reported that the object had a white contrail and
that a smaller object looking like a parachute was dropped from
it just a few seconds before the crash. Other witnesses affirmed
that more than one parachute-like objects had been sighted. The
CMS released that "at 5:45 p.m. a communication from the
SAR reported the fall of a "strange object" in the area
of the Cagarras Island. Four patrol boats were sent to search
the place and nothing was found. A crowd of several thousand people
remained in the Arpoador beach for several hours watching the
search and discussing the events.
The Cagarras Island is a deserted rocky island a
few miles to the west of Rio de Janeiro, just in front of the
Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. It was visited three days later
by an expedition that made a complete search, but again nothing
was found.
That same night of the Cagarras sighting another
medical team at the Lourenço Jorge Hospital reported a
second UFO appearance over the place. According to Dr. Flavio
Fraga, chief of the medical team, the object was first sighted
hovering over the Marisco Rock. It was very similar to the other
sighted previously: ovoid in shape, emitting a yellow-red bright
glow and about the size (apparent size) of the full moon. The
sky was cloudless and the moon was visible in the first quarter.
This time, however, the object was not moving like an aircraft,
but more like a satellite or a night sun raising in the east.
It climbed up in the sky very slowly and was still visible after
four hours, at an elevation of 95 degrees, moving to the west.
Then it suddenly disappeared...
This object was first sighted at l:45 a.m. and was
gone at 5:45 a.m. The Police Patrol was called to the Hospital
but the policemen, after watching the object for several hours,
reported that it was obviously a satellite and went back to their
headquarters. The press was also called and photographs were taken.
One of them was printed next day by the newspaper "Ultima
Hora". It showed only a round globe of light against the
dark sky -- just like a picture of the full moon.
On March 17, at 7:46 p.m. (local time), a formation
of four UFOs was sighted from the district of Vista Alegre in
Cordovil, a suburb located in the north area of Rio de Janeiro.
The first witness was Mr. Sergio Righy, who lives at Six Street,
house 19, and was just coming back from his work when his attention
was called to four luminous points moving along two parallel lines
through the skies. Keeping the same position to each other the
four objects came down at high speed and then climbed up again.
At the highest point of their trajectory, they separated: two
went to the right and the two others turned to the left. Then
all of them stopped suddenly in mid-air, for more than 10 seconds.
Again they started to move at high speed and came together to
fly in close formation. They emitted a bright white glow and
looked like first-magnitude stars flying in formation. They
maneuvered always at high speed, making right-angle turns and
stopping in mid air for several times. At that moment Mr.
Righy was already shouting for his neighbors to watch the phenomenon.
In a few minutes a small crowd was gathered at the street - men,
women and children. Mr. Agostinho de Deus, who lives at house
15, somehow got eyeglasses. According to Mr. Righy, seen through
the eyeglasses, the objects were ovoid, with a flattened
dome on top with a series of luminous points of yellow colour.
Just before moving away silently to the east at high speed
the four UFOs stopped again in space, hovering over the area for
about 30 seconds.
The industrialist Raul Feteira, his wife, daughters
and future son-in-law Homero Moreira de Freitas, a Federal employee,
provided the following UFO report:
"At 8:35 p.m., from the windows of our apartment
at Icarai Beach, no. 177, Niteroi, we sighted a strange luminous
object flying over the Boa Viagem Hill, in Niteroi, on March 21,
1966.
"The brightly glowing object was illuminated
by a number of white lights, elliptical in shape, and placed in
an exact circle. At naked-eye, however, we couldn't see the outlines
of the central body. But Homero and my daughter Carmen, using
binoculars, were able to see a conical shape flattened on top.
"We thought it was an unusual balloon, but it
was strange its complete immobility against the strong wind which
was blowing from the sea. Then suddenly all the white lights
changed at the same moment to a blood-red colour and the object
started to move to the left and to rise, in the direction of the
TV towers on top of the Sumare mountain, in Rio the Janeiro
(on the other side of the Guanabara Bay). It was then that the
UFO decelerated rapidly and abruptly reversed course, going
back swiftly to its initial motionless
position over the Hill. For a few seconds its lights
changed back to white and again turned to red, for the last time,
but now with no brightness. A few minutes later, the UFO started
to move at high speed to the right in an horizontal direction,
then accelerated and climbed up, disappearing in just a few seconds.
It was soundless, but soon several airplanes were heard. They
came in view, with their peculiar lights, flying as in pursuit
of the UFO which was already disappearing into the horizon.
"It couldn't be a balloon because of the sudden
change in the colours of the lights, at the same time, and because
of the sudden movements at high speed to the left and right. An
airplane or a formation of airplanes are not soundless, and cannot
hover motionless for several minutes. The airplane's lights are
never placed in a perfect circle. All those things indicate the
object we watched for 15 minutes was a very unusual kind of aircraft."
On March 24, 1966, the businessman Jonas Franco,
23 years old, living at 213 Alexandre Ramos St., in Jacarepagua,
suffered a nervous shock and lost his voice because -- as described
in his written report -- "he sighted a flying disc flying
over his house and almost landing on the roof."
"Everything happened in just a few seconds,"
he wrote. "It was a metallic object about the size of a car,
shaped like a flattened disc and very bright. At 2:00 a.m. I heard
something knocking on my door. When I opened it I saw the "flying
disc" hovering about 15 feet away. Its glow was so brilliant
that my vision was dazzled. It was soundless. I ran away like
a desperate man through the streets until I was grasped by a policemen,
who took me to a Hospital."
The policeman, Edwar Robson Brum (Adress: Estrada
do Cafunda, 356), declared that he was passing through that place
when he saw that man running like a terrified animal along Geremario
Dantas St. He reported: "Immediately I ran to get him, thinking
he was a criminal. The man couldn't talk. His eyes were wide open,
protruding from their orbits. I thought he had seen something
terrifying and asked about what was happening. He couldn't answer.
Then I decided to take him to the Carlos Chagas Hospital where
he was given an injection. Calming down, Mr. Jonas Franco was
able to write that "he had sighted a flying disc hovering
over his house, and described the object as metallic, brilliant
and soundless."
The friends of Jonas Franco testified that he was
a normal person of good mental health, a responsible citizen with
solid reputation, not given to the habit of telling lies or imaginary
stories. Anyway, he is still dumb. Several doctors have been consulted,
but until now no one was able to give back his voice. He can only
write and his nervous state is getting worse day after day...
Incidentally, Jacarepagua is a district located in
the south zone of Rio de Janeiro, close to Barra da Tijuca.
On March 25, at 7:55 p.m. (local time), a satellite-like
object about the apparent size of the full moon was spotted by
6 workers from the Santa Maria farm, the place where I use to
go at week-ends. That farm is close to the town of Vassouras,
about 80 miles away from Rio de Janeiro. When the object was first
seen, it was coming from the south, from the direction of Rio.
It was moving slowly with a kind of jerking motion, was round
in shape and surrounded by a yellow glow. It was soundless when
it came over the farm. It was moving along a linear trajectory
but -- when over the farm -- it made a right-angle turn to the
east and moved away with the same speed, disappearing into the
horizon. The sighting lasted for about 20 minutes.
On March 29, at 11:00 p.m. (local time), the fisherman
Geraldo Tavares de Almeida, living in the place called Muzema,
close to Barra da Tijuca, reported he was fishing at the Jacarepagua
Lagoon when a round object, very bright and soundless, dived at
high speed over the area, almost touching the waters.
"I was so frightened that I (xxxx) overturned
my boat," he said. "If I weren't close to the margin
of the lagoon I would be dead now, because I can't swim. From
the water, I still could see the object maneuvering in the air
for several minutes before disappearing to the side of the Tijuca
forest..."
On March 28, the pattern of UFO sightings over aud
around Rio de Janeiro vas broken for the first time. A telegram
from Manaus, Amazonas State, reported the appearance of a strange
object over that city at 12:00 a.m. (local time). The sighting
lasted for one hour. The object was seen simultaneously by hundreds
of people at Pedro II Square, Oswaldo Cruz Square and Fourteen
Square. Looking through binoculars, several observers reported
it metallic in colour, cigar-shaped, climbing up at high speed
and coming down slowly. It was soundless. No wings, propellers
or fins were noticed on it, and this was taken as meaning that
the UFO was not an airplane in high altitude flight.
