Varginha UFO Incident

The so-called most compelling proof of alien visitation in Brazil

Name	Varginha UFO Incident
Occurred on	January 20, 1996
Seen by	Multiple witnesses
Investigated by	Brazil Military, James Fox, and CICOANI

Varginha may be known as Brazil’s primary source of coffee, but its name is now associated with one of the world’s most compelling extraterrestrial events: the Varginha UFO Incident.

In January 1996, the city was engulfed in outrageous rumors and chaos as several residents claimed that aliens had overrun it.

The Varginha UFO Incident had numerous witnesses come forward, an official investigation from Brazil’s military, and years of debate from ufologists and skeptics, cementing UFOs and aliens in the country’s history. However, despite its intriguing series of events, the mystery remains unsolved to this day.

What Is the Varginha UFO Incident?

The Varginha UFO Incident is a series of events that occurred in January 1996 involving the participation of Brazilian military officials, UFO researchers, and, allegedly, the U.S. military.

The whole incident gained notoriety when three girls, Liliane and Valquiria Silva and their friend Katia Andrade, reported seeing a creature crouched on a vacant lot on January 20, 1996. However, as more reports came in, it had been established that initial events occurred as early as January 13, 1996.

Timeline of Events

Throughout the years, multiple rumors about the witnesses and details have become more disorganized, but the chief events have remained consistent.

The highlights of the Varginha UFO Incident occurred on January 20, 1996. However, the chaos it brought to the city had lasted for a week, and both official and unofficial investigations were conducted months and even years after.

Here are the key dates and events that summarize the incident:

• January 13, 1996: An unidentified object was reported near Varginha.
• January 20, 1996: Multiple residents reported seeing creatures around the city.
• January 22, 1996: A convoy of military trucks was seen driving to the Humanitas Hospital.
• January 23, 1996: Another convoy was seen driving to Campinas.
• May 1996: Military personnel were questioned at the ESA.

The Events on January 13, 1996

The North American Air Defense Command (NORAD), an organization responsible for monitoring the skies to provide warnings against Soviet bombers, contacted the Brazilian Air Defense after seeing an unidentified object approaching 200 miles northeast of São Paulo.

When the object allegedly crashed into Varginha, the Brazilian Army and Air Force rushed to the site, but a civilian had already seen the craft.

Carlos de Souza

Carlos de Souza was driving to the airport when he heard a muffled rumbling. Thinking it was coming from his truck, he stopped to check, but later realized the sound came from a craft hovering about 300 feet in the air.

He described what he saw as:

• A cigar-shaped craft
• Windows along the side
• A long crack in the middle
• White smoke pouring out of the crack

Carlos jumped back in his truck to follow it until it disappeared over a steep dive, crashing by the crest of a hill. The pilot saw the wreckage and reported a heavy stench of ammonia and sulfur, so strong that he had to wrap his shirt around his mouth to breathe.

He approached the debris, but before he could go any closer, a convoy of military vehicles arrived and began shouting for him to go away.

After leaving the scene, Carlos wanted to destress and stopped by to grab coffee in the city. A few minutes later, two men in clean, crisp black suits allegedly approached him and told him that they knew him, his wife, and his daughter, threatening him not to speak about what he saw.

The Events on January 20, 1996

Days after the initial incident, residents reported a series of encounters involving creatures, while military officials scrambled to locate them.

Eurico and Oralina de Freitas

The day started with a report from a couple that had seen a craft hovering around their farm before sunrise. Oralina woke up from the sound of the cows running around, sounding agitated. She looked out the window and saw a cigar-shaped object hovering above their pasture.

January 20 at 10 AM

According to Vitorio Pacaccini, a member of the oldest Brazilian investigation group, Centro de Investigação Civil de Objetos Aéreos Não Identificados (CICOANI), the first creature was sighted at 10 AM by the Brazilian fire department.

Major Maciel, the highest-ranking commander in the fire department, ordered four firefighters to capture a creature reported to be running around the city. It wasn’t until hours later that they reported that it had been caught using a net.

They described the creature as follows:

• Big head
• Big round eyes with no pupils
• Skin was oily and shiny
• Long, thin arms that went to the knees
• Short, thin legs with big feet
• Smelled of ammonia
• About 160cm tall
• No clothes on, but had no sexual organs
• Buzzed like a bee

After the creature was captured, a military truck arrived from ESA, an army base a few miles from Varginha. Civilians who were near the area reported seeing the military struggling with two black bags: one was still, while the other had something inside that was squirming.

The military drove to the Regional Hospital, which, in less than an hour, ordered a lockdown at the radiology department, where the black bags were brought for X-rays. The technician on duty claimed that the results were taken from him even before he had a chance to see them, and he was told to keep what happened a secret.

A few weeks later, one of the firefighters allegedly died from an unknown toxic poisoning.

January 20 at 3 PM

Three girls from the Jardim neighborhood later reported that they saw a creature crouched by a vacant lot at 3 PM. Sisters Liliane and Valquiria Silva and their friend Katia Andrade were on their way home from work when this happened.

They described the creature as having:

• Large red eyes without pupils
• Bulging veins on its shoulders
• Oily, hairless, brown skin
• A large head crowned with three bumps

When Liliane screamed, I looked and felt fear. I looked into its eyes and saw that it was frightened. Just as I was frightened, the creature was also frightened. I saw that it was afraid of us. It was an exchange of fears. Afraid of us in the same way we were afraid of it. A being we weren’t familiar with.

—Valquiria Silva

The girls called Katia’s mother, telling her they found the devil. Hearing this, the woman went to check, but when she arrived, the creature was no longer there. She, however, saw a strange footprint: a foot with three long toes, and smelled a heavy smell of ammonia.

January 20 at 5:30 PM or 11 PM

Different accounts reported that the next event happened at other times. One mentioned it was at 5:30 PM, while Vitorio Pacaccini, in his interview, said it happened at 11 PM.

Regardless of time, what happened next was that, allegedly, another creature was caught by a 23-year-old police officer named Marco Eli Chereze, accompanied by his colleague, Eric Lopes.

Both men were patrolling the area when a small creature, described as having dark skin, darted along the street. Seeing this, Marco jumped out of the car to capture it, restraining it with his bare hands and rushing it to the hospital.

Almost immediately, the police officer supposedly began to feel ill. It was reported that he felt his skin had become extremely greasy, and the smell of ammonia lingered around him. Over the next two weeks, his condition worsened, requiring him to be sent to intensive care.

At 23, Marco died from unknown causes. When his relatives asked for an autopsy, doctors claimed that it wasn’t necessary and ordered that Marco should be buried immediately to protect the public’s health. Most details about his death were hidden except for the blood test conducted, which showed that he had 8% of unknown toxic substances in his body.

The Events on January 22 & 23, 1996

The following days were marked by heightened military activity. Residents reported constantly seeing the military trucks driving around the town.

In his interview with the other Ufologists, Vitorio claimed that he had received a call from someone who reported seeing the whole incident on January 22.

Three trucks, driven by Soldiers Cirilo, Vassalo, and de Melo, were seen following another vehicle from Tres Coracoes to the Humanitas Hospital. Fifteen doctors and military police were seen waiting for them to arrive, and when they did, a box was brought out from the truck.

The man claimed to have seen the creature lying in the box, presumably dead, and he described it consistently as the other witnesses did. The doctor allegedly opened the creature’s mouth and pulled out a tongue—black and thin–and when he released it, it slid right back in.

The next day, another convoy was seen driving to Campinas and stopping at another military facility.

Witness Accounts of the Incident

While the people mentioned above were the primary witnesses to the Varginha UFO Incident, additional accounts emerged as the event unfolded. 

A Soldier Coming Forward After 25 Years

In a documentary about the incident, a soldier came forward, claiming that he was part of the convoy that transported the creature to the hospital. His description of it was:

• Between four and five feet tall
• Skin was dark red or brown and was very oily
• Only had three toes

The man mentioned that he and another soldier were summoned to the base commander’s office the next day and were asked to describe what they had seen. Unsure of whether he should tell the truth, he answered that he saw a burnt man. However, the commanding officer told him that what he had seen was supernatural and warned him not to talk about it.

Jose Manuel Fernandez

Jose was an air traffic controller who was assigned to the Brazilian base.

He reported seeing two helicopters leaving the base for Varginha and returning with what he thought was a rescue mission. Soon after, a large plane, which he claimed was a U.S. Air Force (USAF)  plane, arrived. However, despite Jose not receiving authorization to allow it to land, his supervisors instructed him to let it land anyway.

Luiza Helena da Silva

Luiza was Katia’s mom, who reported the footprint she saw the day her daughter and her friends encountered the creature.

A few months after the Varginha UFO Incident took place, four men dressed in dark suits visited her at home. She claimed that they proposed giving her a substantial sum of money in exchange for the girls retracting their story and admitting they had made it up.

Ubirajara Rodrigues

Ubirajara was a local UFO researcher who initially claimed that the incident was a legitimate UFO encounter. In one documentary, he made the statement:

These creatures were captured, taken in by the army, and then examined biologically. The method I use when investigating UFO cases is that after assessing all the evidence and deliberating the pros and cons, I give it a mark out of 10. The Varginha case gets a 7.

However, years later, he retracted this statement and told IstoÉ, a weekly news magazine in Brazil, that he changed his stance, saying that there was no proof that an extraterrestrial was captured in Varginha. He also believed that, while there was a series of complex events, this did not necessarily mean it involved UFOs.

Brazilian Military Officer

A military officer recounted: 

One of the doctors came over and opened its mouth, grabbed its tongue, and rolled it out using forceps. It was long, flat, black, about 12cm long. When the doctor released it, it went straight back into its mouth.

Vitorio Pacacinni

Vitorio was a member of the CICOANI, the local investigative group in Brazil.

While he didn’t witness any of the events, he had received multiple statements from people who claimed they had, including a military officer who allegedly was present when the officials visited the Humanitas Hospital and a retired officer who showed him video evidence in 2012.

Vitorio described that the video showed a frail creature being held up by the military while attempting to feed it an apple, a banana, and a lettuce. However, it was already too weak to accept the food, and when they let it go, it almost collapsed on the ground.

Terezinha Clepf

Terezinha’s encounter happened on April 21, months after the Varginha UFO Incident. She was at a party when she saw a creature in the woods.

I went outside to have a cigarette on the balcony, and I saw something really ugly. It was dark brown and had big, bulging red eyes. I’m sure it wasn’t an animal.

Dr. Leila Cabral

Dr. Leila was a biologist at the Varginha Zoo. She mentioned that around the time of the sightings, the zoo was having problems as some animals had died since February.

I lost five animals, but we don’t know why. There was no scientific explanation, and nothing came to light in any post-mortem examination. This is very strange. I have been the director at this zoo for 7 years, and there has never been anything like this.

Hildo

On May 15, 20-year-old Holdo was coming from Tres Coracoes in his van when he saw a creature about to cross the road from the woods. He thought it was a monkey, so he lit up his beam, but saw the same creature the others had reported seeing.

Investigations and Explanations

The consistency of the witnesses’ descriptions of the creatures made the entire Varginha UFO Incident seem credible and a perfect subject for investigations. It had been the center of multiple documentaries, and one of the most popular was James Fox’s Moment of Contact.

James Fox’s Moment of Contact

The film took over 12 years to complete, with James’ team having to constantly fly to Brazil and search for witnesses who were willing to speak. 

Eric Lopes, the police officer who was with Marco Chereze, was among James’ respondents. However, when the team came to interview him, Eric became very agitated and threatened to shoot them if they didn’t leave.

Aside from Eric, James was also able to speak with several doctors who allegedly viewed the footage taken during the investigation of the creatures. He went to the individual’s house, who had already died, and talked to his wife.

James detailed a bizarre incident:

The wife was talking to my partner like the room was bugged. She was like, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” and reaches down and grabs a hard drive. “I don’t know. There’s nothing here.” Gives the hard drive to Marco.”

He also discussed his interview with Air Force General Jose Carlos Pereira, whom he described as enthusiastic about discussing other cases. However, when the Varginha UFO Incident was brought up, he immediately wanted to stop. 

After the interview, when they were packing up, James approached him, the cameras already off, and asked him about the incident. To this, Jose said, “It happened” before entering his car and leaving.

Military Official Investigation

The Brazilian government produced two documents regarding the incident: the Military Police Inquiry (IPM) and the investigation filed with the Superior Military Court (STM).

These were the official statements reflected within these documents:

Lieutenant Colonel Lucio Carlos Pereira

The lieutenant in charge of the IPM claimed that what the girls saw was a man known as Mudinho, a local who was suffering from a mental disorder. His real name was Luiz Antonio de Paula, and he would usually spend hours crouching and examining objects on the ground.

The day of the Varginha UFO Incident, a major storm had coincidentally passed, and a part of the town was flooded. The military claimed that Luiz was covered in mud, and that was what the girls saw that afternoon.

This was Lieutenant Colonel Lucio Carlos Pereira’s statement when interviewed:

It is more likely that this citizen, probably dirty due to the rain, seen crouching next to a wall, was mistaken by three terrified girls for a creature from space.

Military Prosecutor Antonio Antero dos Santos

The prosecutor dismissed the allegations of the military institution conducting investigations on creatures. He argued that the trucks seen driving around town were doing their routine maintenance procedures.

Sergeant Valdir Ernesto dos Santos

Sergeant Valdir was the head of the Maintenance and Transportation Company at ESA in Tres Coracoes. He reported that the vehicles driving around were actually under warranty and were taken to the Automáco Comercial e Importadora dealership in Varginha for maintenance. He also showed an invoice from the dealership, dated January 29, 1996.

Marco Chereze’s Death

While many attributed Marco’s death to the allegations that he touched the creature with his bare hands, Mauricio Antonio Santos, the 24th Military Police Battalion of Varginha, clarified that the death was due to a hospital infection after the officer was operated on for his cyst.

Brian Dunning

The infamous skeptic, Brian Dunning, also made counterarguments about the Varginha UFO Incident. While he mostly reiterated the military’s statements, he also made bold statements targeted primarily at James Fox:

One thing such filmmakers hope you never do is go back and read the original newspaper accounts, because what you tend to discover is that almost nothing particularly interesting happened until later years festooned the facts with embellishments. 

Calling the Varginha UFO the most compelling proof of alien visitation is a very strong statement, especially given that today, 30 years later, there is still not a single piece of evidence that aliens walk among us, nor even any evidence that anything at all happened in Varginha in 1996.

He called the Varginha UFO Incident a compelling example of a case where nothing remotely unusual happened, but was magnified into an unassailable proof of alien visitation.

Relevant Materials About the Incident

With its popularity, the Varginha UFO Incident garnered significant attention and was featured in multiple media outlets, which people enjoyed. Aside from James Fox’s Moment of Contact, there were other materials produced about it.

• 1996: A 2020 short film by Rodrigo Brandao that revisited the event in a horror story
• Incidente em Varginha: A 1998 first-person shooter game developed by Perceptum Informática
• L’affaire Varginha: A comic book by Philippe Auger

The Varginha UFO Incident’s Significance in Ufology

Like most UFO events, the Varginha UFO Incident significantly contributed to the city’s economy by turning it into a tourist spot. The town today leans into the story, selling memorabilia and an experience related to the event to visitors.

For UFO researchers, the incident remains consequential to UFO history because of the compelling and consistent statements by multiple witnesses, not to mention the suspicious deaths connected to the event. While it’s easy to brush these off and attribute them to natural causes, they still raise eyebrows, especially given the preceding incident.

FAQ

Who were the girls who saw the alien in Varginha?

The girls who saw the incident were sisters Liliane and Valquiria Silva and their friend Katia Andrade. They were on their way home when the incident occurred.

Why is the Varginha UFO Incident called the “Brazilian Roswell”?

The incident was dubbed the Brazilian Roswell due to its similarities, including the crashed spacecraft, alien encounters, and a military cover-up.

What explanations do skeptics offer for the Varginha UFO sighting?

The skeptics leaned toward the military’s explanations for the incident, attributing the case to the mistaken identification of Mudinho as the creature. They also believed that subsequent witness accounts only copied the girls’ initial statement.