UFOs and Creatures Reported in Varginha, Brazil

by Charles Lear

Brazil has a unique place in UFO history, not only for the abundance of high-strangeness UFO reports that come from that region, but also for the fact that people have been reportedly injured and have even died as a result of their alleged encounters. One such case comes from the Brazilian city of Varginha. In this case, not only is there a report of a witness dying, there are also reports that one, and maybe more, extraterrestrials ended their days here on Earth.

Bob Pratt, a UFO researcher who manned the National Enquirer’s UFO desk for a period and covered South American UFO reports extensively, presented a narrative summary of the case in his 1996 book, UFO Danger Zone: Terror and Death in Brazil – Where Next? He was in Brazil shortly after the events and his summary is based on witness accounts and reports from the primary investigators.

Pratt’s summary begins with the pronouncement by two of the primary investigators Ubirijara Rodrigues and Vitorio Pacaccini, that two extraterrestrial creatures were captured by the Brazilian military and sent to the United States for study. According to Pratt, the case began with three young women, Liliane da Silva (Pratt omits “da” in the name), 16, her sister Valquiri da Silva, 14, and Katia Xavier, 22. They were walking home at around 3:00 p.m. (other sources say 3:30 p.m.) after helping a woman pack, who was getting ready to move to a new home. Xavier worked as a maid for the woman.

The three decided to take a shortcut through a vacant lot about the size of a city block. It was filled with weeds and there was an empty cinder block building on one side. When they were about 50 feet in, Liliane saw something and alerted the others with a scream. According to all three of them, in the course of several interviews, they saw a creature squatting against the wall of the empty building with its left side towards them. It was about three feet tall with oily, brown skin; had a bulbous head with three horn-like protrusions; and large, red eyes that were vertically oblong.

All three women screamed and the creature turned towards them. It crouched down lower as if it was frightened and the women ran the entire way to the da Silva home 20 blocks (1.3 miles) away.

After the women had calmed down, Liliane and Valquiri’s mother, Luiza da Silva, found someone to drive her and Katia to the site. When they got there, the creature was gone, but they saw a mark where the women said they’d seen it and there was a strong smell of sulfur (ammonia in other reports) in the area.

Lawyer and UFO researcher Ubirajara Rodrigues heard about the case “one or two days later.” He was able to question the women and did so repeatedly, and according to Pratt, they cried the first few times. Rodrigues had them retrace their steps at the site and interviewed family members and friends. He had an artist illustrate the creature based on the women’s descriptions and the image upset them when they looked at it. Rodrigues believed they were telling the truth about what they saw.

Rodrigues started hearing rumors two weeks later that there were actually two creatures in the area and that they had both been captured by the military. Because of the demands of his law practice, he wasn’t able to spend as much time investigating as he would have liked. He was then joined by Pacaccini.

The two found witnesses claiming to have seen one of the creatures in the hospital and to have talked with military personnel who knew about the operations involving the creatures. After interviewing these witnesses, they came up with the story that Pacaccini told to Pratt during Pratt’s six-day visit in March and April.

According to Pacaccini’s version of events, the creature seen by the women was the second one seen in Varginha that day. The first one had been seen in the morning and was captured by firemen at around 10:00 a.m. In Brazil, fire departments are part of the military police under the control of state governors, and catching wild animals is part of their duties.

When the firemen arrived at the area where the creature was reportedly seen, there were already three men from the army there with a truck. The men from the army had seen three children throwing rocks at the creature and three adults watching, and they told them to leave.

It was decided that the firemen would be the ones to deal with the creature. They found it in the woods just past some railroad tracks and were able to capture it with a net with very little resistance from the creature. It was put into a box that was then put into the back of the army truck.

The second creature was reportedly captured near the vacant lot between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. by firemen who’d responded to a call from Luiza da Silva. This creature was supposedly sick and was taken to the regional hospital. The wing where it was being examined was closed off, but two nurses got a peek at it lying in a bed and wearing an oxygen mask.

There were army trucks parked outside the hospital until late at night. At about 1:00 or 2:00 a.m., the creature was taken to an army base at Tres Coracoes. According to information claimed to be from disgruntled army personnel, the creatures were flown by a French-built Puma helicopter, possibly to Rio de Janeiro and then the United States. The alleged informants were reportedly upset that something of such importance was being given over to the U.S.

Rodrigues wrote an article titled “Varginha Case – Ufologist’s Diary, Part 1.” It was published in Revista UFO, Special Issue #13, July 1996, and details his investigation. Pacaccini wrote part 2. Other than the women who said they saw the creature, none of those who reportedly provided information regarding the activities of the firemen, military, and the creature being taken to the hospital are named. Pacaccini explains, “I don’t want to put anybody in jail or harm people’s lives.

Rodrigues wrote that he contacted Commander Mauricio of the military police and asked if he was aware of rumors that the military police were involved in the “capture case.” He said he wasn’t but offered to check it out. He then said there were no records of the case. He told Rodrigues to call back later in case he found something. Rodrigues did and wasn’t able to get through to Mauricio, so he became convinced that there was a cover-up.

The case made the local news and Rodrigues was interviewed live on Globo TV. During the interview, the reporter picked up two faxes; one from the fire department and one from the regional hospital. The reporter announced that both organizations denied having any involvement with the reported creatures. After this, Rodrigues felt compelled to contact the national media outlets. He wrote that he had been hesitant to do so but decided that this was the only way “we could pressure the authorities.”

Rodrigues, Pacaccini, and Pratt stick to calling the entities “creatures” for the most part but occasionally refer to them as “ETs.” Rodrigues doesn’t mention any UFOs, Pacaccini mentions a UFO wave starting after the creature report, and Pratt states: “No UFO was seen in connection with the ETs…”

Pratt does mention a sighting six miles away from Varginha by a farmer and his wife. They reported that at 1:30 a.m. on January 19, they saw of an object like a “grey submarine” the size of a small bus move silently a few feet off the ground. This report, and one by Carlos da Souza of witnessing the crash on January 13, of a cigar-shaped, silver object with a gash in its side that had white smoke pouring out, became associated with the creature case.

An article by Luiza Villamea titled, “The Varginha Extraterrestrial Case,” and published in the May 1996 edition of IstoÉ magazine, describes the excitement created by the case. According to Villamea, 66 “specialists” came to Varginha to investigate. Included among them was John Mack, a Harvard professor of psychiatry who became known among UFOlogists for his work with abduction reports. All this attention prompted the mayor of Varginha to consider organizing a UFO congress.

Roger Leir, who specialized in abductee implant research, also visited Varginha to investigate. He wrote a book about the case, UFO Crash in Brazil: A Genuine UFO Crash with Surviving ETs, published in 2005.

In his book, Leir details the death of Marco Cherese, who was with the military police. An un-named witness reported that Cherese had physical contact with one of the creatures during its capture. Cherese died of a mysterious infection on February 15, 1996, and Leir wrote that touching the creature was believed by Charese’s “colleagues” to have caused his infection. It has never been conclusively proven that he actually captured a creature, but Leir wrote that Cherese’s family confirmed that he was on duty at the time it was said to have occurred.

A water tank in the shape of a flying saucer was built in the center of the city and the case is celebrated in Varginha to this day. Many people are still fascinated by the possibility that alien bodies and physical evidence of an extraterrestrial craft might have been recovered, and a tourist industry in Varginha has developed around the case.

Researcher and documentarian James Fox was interested enough to go down to Varginha recently and investigate for himself. He managed to talk on camera with the da Silva sisters, their mother, and Xavier. He also managed to locate other witnesses who hadn’t spoken since 1996 and interview them on camera as well.

Fox used the footage for a documentary on the case that will soon be released. This writer was given the opportunity to preview the film. Early on in the production, Fox states that he will be presenting the facts of the case and leave it up to the viewers to come to their own conclusions, and he keeps his word. While this case has had its detractors and remains controversial (Fox calls it “infamous”), the emotions displayed and small repeated details during the witness testimonies are compelling.