The Definitive Varginha Case

An exclusive true account of the incidents that have swept the country of Brazil

Researched and written by Newton Rampasso

Just imagine if you could go back in time to 1949 and are capable of walking and talking with the Roswell witnesses just two years after the incident.

In Varginha there is no need of imagination. The following feature will take you to Varginha, just two years after the incident, with real people and their lives, which have been changed forever.

This is not a mere memory of 50 years ago, this has happened in most of our lifetimes and is still happening now.

 

January 1996
Despite the starting date being the 20/01/96, many things happened before. Source of information: Brazilian Airforce official, who cannot be named, interviewed in July 1996.


The beginning
Many commercial pilots have been giving accounts of strange lights in the skies that sometimes have been following their aircraft. Radars also detected them, confirming the sightings. Major CINDACTA (Centro Integrado de Defesa Aerea e Controle de Trafego Aereo/Integrated Centre for Air Defence and Air Traffic Control) radar kept recording them when the US government contacted the Brazilian government in Brasilia. US satellites have been tracking UFOs from the stratosphere and down to south of Minas Gerais (State situated on one of the biggest mineral sources from which it derives its name-General Mines) where plots disappeared, meaning where the UFOs have landed or crashed.
CINDACTA contacted the Brazilian Air Force to find out the nearest military unit to the scene. The ESA (Escola de Sargento das Armas/Army Sergeant Military School) was just a few miles from where it was situated on the way to Tres Coracoes city. Teams designated to cope with such situations were immediately flown to Brazil from the USA.


Another military source from Rio Grande do Sul State said that more than forty UFOs were detected on radars over Minas Gerais in January alone.

The UFOs that crashed are thought to have already had a problem when they were first seen which gives the impression that they could have been fired at.
Also in January, a military plane BUFALO (BULL-used for Army cargo transport) took off from Canoas military base located in Rio Grande do Sul State to a secret south Minas Gerais destination, loaded with a cargo placed in three containers and a wooden box. The first container contained generators, the second contained reception equipment and computers, the third held a portable office and inside the wooden box were antenna ready to be assembled. Altogether, these would create a big, portable camouflage painted radar. Not even the ESA had this radar system which would be possible to install anywhere, i.e.: Forests and isolated areas, which there are plenty around that region. Reason? To control air traffic?!

January 1997
The first witness came over one year later.
Source of information:  A business owner and microlight pilot named Carlos de Souza, who remained in silence for one year due to threats, decided to talk about what he saw near Maiolini farm when he felt that he could be protected by the agitated press.

13th January 1996
Carlos left Sao Paulo, the city where he lives, to meet friends over Tres Coracoes (a small city not far from Varginha) concerning a microlight championship. It was early morning as he was driving a small pick-up truck on the Fernao Dias Road, just a few miles from the junction which leads to Varginha, when he heard what appeared to be an engine malfunction. He stopped to check his car and on getting out, he saw a strange aircraft about 300 feet high in the sky, flying towards Tres Coracoes, crossing over the road at approximately 50 mph. He could see details from a metallic surface that was well polished and reflecting the sunlight. It’s size calculated at around 35 feet in length and 12 feet wide, showing a slightly oval, cigar-shaped object. There were at least four round windows on each side of it and the front end had a hole three to four feet long, decreasing into a crack that took up half the length of the object’s right side, from which could be seen a white smoke coming out – similar to that of dry ice. According to the witness, it seemed to be damaged. Carlos decided to follow the object, which after some 12 miles, started to descend at about 30 degrees, falling and disappearing behind trees. He thought it went down less than a mile away and continuously tried to approximate the distance, but it was difficult to find a road that could take him to the area. Finally after some time, he found access to the place he had been looking for, which turned out to be an open field dotted with a few trees. There he saw strewn fragments of various sizes of what looked like very thin tin foil. He picked one of the fragments up that measured around 2-3 feet and was amazed as he bent it many times and when released, the material took it’s original shape without any marks or creases. It was so light, it floated like a feather. Going on further, he saw a helicopter, two army trucks, one ambulance, three cars and as many as 30-40 soldiers searching the area down the hill. Carlos stated that the smell all around was terrible, something like ammonia with ether and at times like that of putrid water as well. One of the soldiers approached him, took the material from him and abruptly asked him to go away and forget everything. He tried to talk with the soldier, but was intimidated and the soldier told him, “You did not see anything. That’s none of your business and you will not tell anyone about it. Now disappear from here. Go. Out!” Other soldiers came in his direction and proceeded to intimidate him. Carlos left, feeling upset and returned to the main road, he thought about going back, but decided that it would be better to leave. He stopped at a restaurant where a man asked him to go out into the car park, so that they could talk. Once outside, more men were waiting and started threatening him, they said that they had the files of his life and if he decided to talk about what he had just seen, something bad would happen to him. Carlos concluded that they must have been soldiers in civilian dress. He could only feel alone and depressed, as Brazilian people know that when the military make threats, your life, job and family are all in danger. There would be no other way out of it but to obey them. The only other people Carlos told about the incident, were his wife and two close friends.After a year had passed, he saw that other witnesses had come forward and he was no longer alone. It was now that he decided to tell the main investigators Vitorio Pacaccini e Ubirajara Franco Rodrigues and commented that he had never seen any strange beings there, but he was sure that the object was not of this world.

January 20th 1996 – early hours of the morning
One month later, two more witnesses were found.
23rd February 1996 – after the news about the incident, a friend of a UFO investigator knew of a farmer who had said that a couple of farm labourers, who worked for him, had seen a strange object. They went to investigate.
Source of information: A naïve couple of peasants that keep and tend a small farm near Varginha – Eurico de Freitas and his wife Oralina Augusta.

On 20th January 1996 at 01:14am exactly, Eurico woke up, startled by a commotion and noise outside. He glanced at the alarm clock and got up, fast telling Oralina, that the cattle were restless and that people were probably stealing the calves (this happens a lot in Brazil). He went over to the window to have a look and could see that the cattle were moving and lowing desperately. As the house is situated close to the pasture, which extends up the hill, Eurico went to the sitting room window to check up the hillside. The eeriest sight met his eyes. He said that a submarine was flying over the pasture, about the size of a small bus with round ends and a lump on the top. The investigators tried to compare the description given by Oralina, who had been so worried that night, that she went to join her husband by the window and saw the object as well. She said that it looked like a large cigar and that the thing that could have possibly been a dome could not be seen very clearly. It was flying some 10 feet over the pasture and was very, very slow at times, almost as if it had stopped. No noise came from it or any lights and it was dark grey and was only just visible because of the night being so clear. It was leaving a white smoke all around the surface and at the back end, they could see something coming out of the smoke. Oralina tried to explain it as tattered bits of cloth trailing threads blowing in the wind. Eurico said that if you set fire to a stick and run along with it to see it sparkling, that was his impression of the detail, adding that the fire had no colour and had smoke in it. The object took more than 30 minutes to disappear behind the hill. Eurico thought about going out and try to get closer, but Oralina, who was still frightened, asked him to stay. The investigators asked them about flying saucers and they answered that they had heard about them, but did not believe in them whatsoever. In addition, they have no doubt that they had seen the strange submarine for all those minutes and confirmed that they had watched it until it disappeared, because they had never seen anything like it before. They pointed out the exact point where the object went behind uphill and said that they never left the house, only after sunrise to count the cattle and realised that none were missing. A few more people gave their accounts of seeing the same object early that morning, when travelling on a bus to Varginha.On 23rd June 1996, a friend supplied an aeroplane and the investigators had the chance of flying over the area, pointing to the fact that four miles in a straight line from the farm, is the approximate place where ET's were found.

First sight of a strange creature.

Source of information: Military witness, who cannot be named, was introduced to a UFO investigator by a friend. He was directly involved with the capture of the creature and gave a recorded statement on 14th February 1996. Confirmation of information: Building worker, Henrique Jose, witnessed the capture from the roof of a house on which he had been working on 20th January 1996, approximately 200 yards from the scene. UFO investigators looking for new witnesses on 23rd February 1996 discovered him. Confirmation of information: Street fish seller, Joao Bosco Manuel, witness of the whole event of the capture by the military, came over one year later (22/01/97) when he revealed what he had seen in the morning of the 20th January 1996 to the investigators.

January 20th 1996.

At approximately 08.30am the 13th corps of the Fire Brigade was alerted by an anonymous phone call, that a strange animal was around ‘Jardim Andere’ (Andere Gardens – a new borough of Varginha on the outskirts, where many constructions are evolving from a largely wooded area). The Brazilian Fire Brigade is integrated with the military and the police and in any case of stray animals, the responsibility for capture is down to the Fire Brigade under military command. Four members, including Commandant Major Maciel, left for the site on a Fire Brigade vehicle (details and names were given by the military source). They had all the equipment necessary to catch animals: nets, gloves, ropes, cables etc. When they arrived at the address given (R. Suecia 3), they found it was near the railway and in front of a ravine which leads to the woods at the bottom. Before the woods, stood a few adults and children, some had been there since they first saw the creature climbing the ravine. The children had been throwing stones at it, making the supposed animals retreat into the woods. One of the adults was Joao Bosco. The firemen moved in and at about 10.30am they brought out the creature, which had big, red, bulging eyes, no eyelids, eyelashes, eyebrows, irises or pupils that could be seen, as if the eyes were set behind shiny, red glass goggles. It had a small slit for the mouth, two small holes as a nose, no ears, but three lumps both sides and centre of the big head. In addition, the feet were disproportionate to the rest of the body, which was naked but there was no indication of the creature's sex. Its abdomen was prominent, which later became the joke of a pregnant ET! The being did not resist capture at all, apparently looking as if it was dizzy and making the sound likened to that of bees. The bystanders could not see very well what was happening, they just knew the animal had been captured with the net and was taken to the vehicle. Up on the road, an army truck waited and military personnel came to assist the firemen in moving the creature to the truck, then put it in a wooden box, cover it with military canvas and left immediately. Both of the above cited civilians, when confirming the incident, were threatened several times by the police to keep silent and were not allowed to proceed with their declarations. The army truck, it is believed, went to the E.S.A. headquarters, but there is much speculation about the truck stopping at the ‘Humanitas’ Hospital – the best-equipped hospital in the area.

The girls that made the incident public
Source of information: Katia de Andrade Xavier, age 22, works as a house servant and cleaner; Liliane Fatima da Silva, age 16, her sister Valquiria Aparecida da Silva, age 14, both students at the time and their mother Luisa Helena da Silva.

Saturday 20th January 1996, Katia had a cleaning job, asking the sisters to help her share the work. All together, they finished the job early and after lunch time they were on their way back home, walking through the yards to take shortcuts. Crossing one of the yards, Valquiria stopped for a minute to arrange her bag. That moment, Liliane who was in front of the others, stopped, looked back and while waiting, she saw a crouching figure next to the wall of a neighbouring house. They saw it was motionless, but when it turned its head and stared at the girls, only some 20 feet from them, they ran away only stopping when they got home. They said that it was a very hot summer day and there were only a few people about in the streets. The girls said that the creature was not any known animal and not a human either. Valquiria told me the skin seemed dark brown-grey resembling the texture and colour of beef heart that you would see in a butcher’s shop (apparently  the skin could be transparent, see through, revealing the muscles and blood vessels as described further) and viscous as if covered with oil (possibly as protection). The front disproportionate skull had three protuberances like horns, big red eyes projecting out of its face, small mouth and nose, thin frail arms and legs, the arms were in between the legs, thick veins were prominent on the neck and over the shoulders. It also had big feet. Liliane told me the eyes had a suffering look as if it was telepathically asking for help and water, but fear was overwhelming and by the time they arrived home, they were all desperately scared and crying. Their mother, Luisa, came to help and heard what they said. As a religious person, taking in account the nervous condition of her daughters and friend, she was in no doubt that they had seen a devil-like creature. She asked a neighbour to give them a lift to the place and Katia went with them. There, they found nothing but a strange footprint and a strong smell of ammonia just where the creature had been. The place is situated no more than 500 yards from the ravine and woods where the capture happened the same morning. Rumours started to spread locally that the girls have seen the devil, then a local UFO investigator decided to check on their accounts and it was the reason why the incident was made public, otherwise it certainly was going to be covered up. Later when investigators tried to match pieces of the puzzle, one thing they knew for sure: There was more than one creature.

The military shot.
Source of information: Ex-military member, (now civilian) eyewitness and bridge of information from inside the military, where he still has friends (cannot be named). The witness decided to talk as he felt he was holding interesting information and the UFO investigators were working seriously on the subject (05/96). Confirmation and some details were given by a judicial authority (investigator’s friend who cannot be named), after getting in contact with a police source while in a confraternity barbecue for the military (04/96).

In the afternoon of 20th January 1996, (the exact time was difficult to define as some said it was after lunch, others said it was later), a military truck was seen stopped at the same place of the capture and then leaving shortly after. A few curious local residents went to have a look and witnessed seven military soldiers going into the woods wearing camouflage uniform and carrying combat rifles. They were in a line and keeping their distance from each other, as if forming a barrier. The witnesses were surprised, as nothing like this had been seen there before. Sometime after the soldiers went into the woods, three shots were heard. Shortly, two soldiers emerged, each carrying a large military canvas bag. Inside one of the bags, something could be seen to be moving, the other contained a motionless bulk. Did the inexperience and nervousness of the young soldiers facing strange creatures in the woods make them panic and therefore shoot the defenceless creatures? Lack of information and negligence from their superiors, some said. Others even told of another creature, this one with its body covered in dark hair, trying to rescue the one that was shot. It was confirmed that a creature was taken alive, put inside a military police vehicle and was driven to a doctor, friend of a soldier. The doctor didn’t want to get involved and so they proceeded with the whining creature, to the ‘Hospital Regional’. Later that night, the creature was transferred to the ‘Humanitas’ Hospital.

The secret services lost one man.
Source of information: Military member who was contacted through someone trying to act as a middleman. As the two major UFO investigators were working in Varginha, they were the military thought, the right people for keeping names from the public and paying money for information. Corruption is a common thing in Brazil, dealing with military police. He didn’t get the money as the investigators were supporting themselves on the research, and could not pay the asked sum of U$3,000. He left only the top line, but no details. As the investigators went for more correlated information, they found the policeman’s family. Confirmation: family of dead policeman, contacted in June 1996.
On 20th January 1996 at about 18:00, a torrential storm raged over Varginha, with lightning bolts and deafening thunders. The storm produced hailstones the size of ping-pong balls, ruining many roofs. Strong winds destroying walls, tiles, flooding streets, pulling out trees, with such violence that had not been seen for a long time.

Plain vehicles, plain clothes, the secret intelligence services together with the military police and fire brigade were in action searching for more creatures at that time. Marco Eli Chereze, one of the men (called P2 – code for secret military police agent) out there, in some way (could have been via another capture of a creature or a direct contact with one after the shooting incident ) contracted a strange infection 17 days later. It was under his left armpit and on going to the HQ Infirmary, Doctor Lieutenant Robson Ferreira Melo, executed a minor operation. In the days that followed, Marco’s whole body was wracked with fever and pain, on 11th February 1996, he lost all movement in his arms and legs, and on 15th February 1996, he died. By medical orders, his burial was three hours later in a sealed coffin. Nothing was explained to his family. The death certificate shows the cause of death as respiration deficiency and bacterial pneumonia. The obituary statements were not disclosed until they had probably been subject to alteration and only after a year later when investigators and lawyers for the deceased’s family had taken legal proceedings against the I.M.L. (Instituto Medico Legal / Legal Medical Institution). The military high command’s denial that Marco was working on the 20th January 1996 was pathetic. The mother said that Marco went to work that day. He was back home though, to change his wet and dirty clothes shortly after the storm. A plain white car, used by the secret services, was waiting for him. She had asked him if he was going out again, to which he replied that he was as he was on an important mission and would be back late that night. The father said that when he had first heard the press telling about the creature, he commented to his son that all such things should be a joke. Marco in turn, said the stuff was serious and that lots would come from it sooner or later – just wait. The grandmother remembered that one day she was with her grandson and his wife watching the television, when something came on about the creature. Marco had immediately switched off the TV and said "Don’t see that, it’s all nonsense." Both the grandmother and his wife, stayed sat on the couch with no understanding for his behaviour. His wife never said a word. His papers are still incomplete, even with the help from solicitors, and the death statements contain contradictions. One of the statements from the laboratories shows "little quantity of toxic substance was found in the body". A nurse at the ‘Hospital Regional’ said that back at the weekend there had been a flurry of strange activity involving different doctors from other cities, military police and the army. She said that for some time they closed a wing and even the hospital workers were denied access to the area – they were told that renovations were in progress. The Humanitas hospital was affected the worst. Neighbours said that the military activity by the side gates of the hospital was never-ending throughout the whole weekend. Many professionals working at the hospital witnessed the confusion, the military etc.

Busy Monday - the military clearing off track and UFO investigators coming into the area.
Source of information: two military men from E.S.A., contacted through a mutual friend, known to one of the investigators from their childhood together. The military men cannot be named for obvious reasons, but their statements given in April 1996 were of great importance to the understanding of the incident.

22nd January 1996.
At 09:30am, three camouflaged military trucks (Mercedes Benz model 1418), driven by soldiers, Cirilo, Vassalo and De Mello, left the army headquarters at E.S.A. going to Varginha, together with eight more in civilian vehicles driven by officials and secret service agents. Arriving at the avenue that leads to the centre, they all stopped and remained there, parked to one side, up till approximately 11:00am when they all returned to E.S.A. H.Q. The mission had failed. They appeared back at the same place at 14:00. The convoy leader, a VW van, left for the city centre, when another one parked on the lead. The Intelligence Services were communicating by radio, controlling the operation and at the right moment in time, ordered the first lorry to go, driven by soldier Elber (in substitution of Soldier Cirilo). Shortly afterwards, the second left and in turn, the third went. The lorry drivers stopped at the ‘Humanitas’ Hospital, and there, waiting, were the M.P. Forces and Fire Brigade – Lieutenant Colonel Olimpio Vanderlei in command. The commotion was clear, doctors with their masks on, around 15 people wearing white overalls, all the military in civvies, everybody was moving fast as the lorry reversed into the hospital by the side gate. The driver had no permission to leave the vehicle. People went up and down the covered lorry’s back, and they had fixed hospital sheets to make a sort of tunnel between the lorry and the access room. All three trucks did the same, controlled so that as one left, the other arrived. At one time, an open wooden box came from the room with a creature inside, apparently dead. It wasn’t moving, it had dark brown oily skin, lying on its back it was easy to see the prominent abdomen and head, big red eyes and big feet. The feet each seemed to consist of a V format, as if they were forked in two long toes joined with a membrane. There were three fingers on each hand and it was noticed that the knees were severely grazed and the creature omitted a terrible smell of ammonia. It was always accompanied by a doctor, who, just before he let them take it to the truck, made them stop and stand for a brief moment while he inserted forceps into the creatures little slit mouth and pulled a long black tongue out as a last check.

When released, the tongue returned inside the mouth. They closed the box with screws and special edged nuts, wrapped it up in canvas and put it at the back of the truck. The other two trucks had similar waiting procedures, but it was not possible to know if they also had creatures carried in them. Despite arriving from the avenue side and through the city centre, they all left the hospital from the other side, taking a short cut to the road leading to Tres Coracoes and E.S.A. H.Q. That evening a group of army officials were to meet and plan new strategies. Lieutenant Tiberio from the army police, Sergeant Pedrosa from the fire brigade and army Captain Ramirez were among them. That same Monday something else was occurring, it was the starting point for all the information to come to light.

Investigators began to enquire about rumours concerning a strange creature. If it hadn’t been for this, the public would never know what actually happened. On the Sunday 21st January 1996, rumours started to take place in Varginha. A friend told the advocate and UFO researcher Ubirajara Rodrigues, 41, that a few girls had seen a little monster around. Ubirajara heard that the witnesses saw it just the day before (20/01/96) and they lived not far away from him. On Monday 22nd January he went to see them, and all the information began to unleash. He accompanied them to the very spot that they saw the creature, in order to reconstruct the scene. He knew after that, the girls were telling the truth, by their sincerity, the uncomfortable feeling they had, they were tearful. It was clear that something had happened to them there, the trauma was evident. From then on, he took matters seriously. As an investigator he went to the Fire Brigade Office for any information regarding an escaped animal. Captain Pedro Alvarenga, who had just assumed command that week after Major Maciel was transferred to another city, said that they didn’t know anything and that the only calls that they had received, were related to the damage caused by the storm. Later, Ubirajara tried the military police office. He spoke with Lieutenant Colonel Mauricio de Santos who said that he knew nothing about the extraterrestrial when he was asked about the strange creature. That was interesting – at first it was a little devil, then probably an animal and now an ET!

From 23rd January 1996
Running behind the facts

Ubirajara was excited to find more witnesses and soon rumours started emerging from the hospitals. He went to the ‘Hospital Regional’ and met with the administrator Adilson Usier Leite who said that nothing had happened. Next he went to the ‘Humanitas’ hospital, where the personnel were not allowed to answer any questions on this matter. He soon found out that Adilson was a joint owner there too. His orders to all those involved were to keep the event confidential and they were threatened with dismissal if they said anything. This, Ubirajara found out later. As time was passing and he was not getting anywhere from the officials, he began to try friends of insiders.

Lots of information started to come to light. After a few confirmations, he was sure that something undercover was going on. He called the press to make it public and contacted other UFO investigators to be aware of the case. One month later, when a major TV programme brought the facts to the public, another UFO researcher came from Bels Horizonte to help Ubirajara on the investigation – Vitorio Pacaccini. Together they found more and more evidence for the case, especially as Vitorio knew some influential people. His mother lived in Tres Coracoes and a few friends were close to the E.S.A. personnel, that is why some of the military sources gave their statements with no charge. From the same two men speaking in April 1996 about the military taking the creature(s) from the hospital, he learned even more.

Back to the evening of the military meeting at E.S.A. (22/01/96), it was decided that only a few hours later, at around 03:00am, 23rd January 1996, a convoy would go from the E.S.A. to Escola de Cadetes do Exercito (ECE), the army cadet school situated near the city of Campinas where there is the International airport and the UNICAMP (The Campinas University). Inside the university, there are two military laboratories, one at the Biology Institute and the other under the Clinic Hospital. The complex is situated in Sao Paulo State where there are also hundreds of military units, the most important being the CTA (Centro Technologico da Aeronautica / Air Force Technological Centre). The convoy travelled when it was dark, by the same soldiers accompanied by one official on each truck. Sergeant Pedrosa was in command while on the road. Captain Ramirez had left earlier in a fast jeep to prepare the ground at their destination. It was a long journey, about 200 miles or more, and the roads are extremely bad. When the truck drivers arrived, they were all left to rest as they were due to return to the E.S.A. the next day (24/01/96). Confirmation of military trucks on the road came from another witness, Eduardo Praxedes, who works as a watchman at Yolat Industria e Comercio de Laticinios Ltd – Parmalat, situated between Varginha and Tres Coracoes. From there, a wide stretch of road can be seen. Eduardo and a colleague witnessed the military trucks moving to and fro for many days throughout January, not only during and after the weekend of the 20 – 22, but also the week before. What, he says drew his attention, was due to the fact that he was used to seeing the military vehicles being driven normally to or from the E.S.A., but during those weeks there was a lot of them, moving fast and in convoys with troops of army soldiers. He said that he found it very strange indeed. In the morning of 23rd January 1996, they were in Campinas and from the E.C.E. the military went to the UNICAMP. At the subterranean part of the ‘Clinic Hospital’, a creature arrived inside a metal box, which had holes in it, and was taken to a special laboratory where, since then, only military personnel were allowed to go in. A renowned examiner and coroner was called in – Dr Fortunato Badan Palhares. Not much more is known about what happened inside, but confirmations were still being collected. Personnel who used to work with Palhares or inside the laboratories, were all moved to different sections. They said that it had never happened before. When the investigators arrived to search, all the hospital blueprints were withdrawn. A nurse, Palhares subordinate, told what he said: “-When the military open the door, I doubt anyone can stand in front of this creature.” Six months later Palhares was in a conference at the Law University of Campinas when a student asked: -Did you autopsy creatures caught in Varginha? He answered: -Ask me a few years later and I may answer your question.

USA government officials and NASA personnel in Campinas
On 26th January 1996, US officials arrived at the ‘Clinic Hospital’, informers told, with the objective of "selecting Brazilian scientists for exchanging projects." Later, the US staff Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, came ‘to sign agreements between the two countries for the common use of outer space’, which was supposed to warrant the idea of one day sending a Brazilian astronaut into space. Also, visiting Brazil for the first time was the NASA General Administrator, Daniel Goldin, ‘to sign agreements with the INPE (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisa Espacial/Spacial Research National Institute). Why did these important visitors choose this time to visit? What could be behind the government cover? Did they come for the routine agreements that are usually signed by their subordinates? Contradiction was also apparent when investigators interviewed Adilson Usier Leite about the commotion at the hospitals in Varginha. He claimed the reason for this was that some new medical equipment had arrived at the same time as they had a special case involving the exhumation of Jose Maria Misael Filho, who had died inside the police station. Adilson said that the fire brigade vehicle brought in the body that weekend. When Commander Alvarenga was contacted from the fire brigade, he said that Adilson was confused and had mistakenly pronounced the Corporation, which did not take any body to the hospitals. The investigators concluded that both knew what had happened, but had tried to invent excuses and ended up opposing each other. Later, Adilson moved to another city and could not be found for any further interviews. In February, while the investigators were collecting lots of reports of UFO's and strange beings around Varginha, the UNICAMP was the secret location. On 28th February 1996, the Campinas Mayor, Adalberto Magalhaes was interviewed at the ‘Clinic Hospital’. His wife, Theresa Christina Magalhaes, went to visit him, but was denied access to the area at first – even the mayor’s wife was prevented from entering. The hospital had an extremely tight security during that period, only military personnel, government agents, foreign doctors and scientists and a few high-ranking clergymen were allowed in that area of the hospital. A very strange fact was related by an informer who was working on the communication system of the hospital, who said that after the arrival of something, the team responsible for the food supplies was called to take many different kinds of food as if they were testing someone’s preferences. The workers had a joke: "they always bring dead bodies into those laboratories, but it is the first time they want to make them eat!" Samples for analysis were also directed at the UNICAMP during that time, but all with no success, the request was denied because the expensive imported equipment and chemical reagents were in use by a special group of scientists.

Corrupt soldier under arrest just before selling evidence
At the beginning of March, to the amazement of the press and UFO investigators, a local press editor (SBT) received a call from the military saying that for U$30,000 they could have 6 photographs and a recorded film of the creature. The reporter asked for three hours to obtain authorisation from his director. The military called back to bring the deal down to a lower price of U$10,000. They arranged a meeting that same night. A soldier of about 20, arrived looking tense and explained that they needed to have a second meeting as his colleague, who had the material, was having problems with his family about handing the evidence over to the press.

His parents were scared of what could happen later as a punishment, and his father was also military. He said the pictures show a creature with goggle eyes, oily skin, thick veins, two nostrils, no nose and a very small mouth. It was horrible and he could not sleep after seeing such a thing. He added that the creature was in a closed room, tied up on what looked like a table and covered with a sheet. He was so nervous, that the reporter did not think that he was making that up. The second meeting did not happen. The military called later, even more nervous and agitated, saying that unfortunately they had to cancel the deal as his colleague had been arrested and the material was taken. His own father had told the E.S.A. officials to stop him.

Two months later came the confirmation of the existence of videotapes. Another witness, a house-servant working for a military boss in Varginha, said she was cleaning, when she saw through a half-open door, her boss and a few military friends watching a film on which appeared the same strange creatures. One was inside a tank full of water and eating something that looked like fruit, the other was laying flat and motionless inside another water tank. She wasn’t heard from again because she was frightened of losing her job or worse, if they happened to find out.

UFO wave around Varginha
February 1996 / March 1996

As the investigators tried to find out more about the creatures, they met people who had witnessed UFO's around the area. Because they didn’t know if these sightings were correlated to the case, they were recorded separately. They started to happen about 25 days after the girls’ sighting and the investigators assessed them to be genuine. All of the witnesses did not want to be made public and some did not wish to be identified.

Case 1-A car salesman and his wife witnessed a UFO about 300 feet high over their home. He did not want to give any more information, as he was paranoid and scared of retaliation. The only thing he kept repeating was “I’m afraid of it".

Case 2-Two ladies travelling on Fernao Dias Road going to Sao Goncalo do Sapucai (a city one hour by car from Varginha), were suddenly followed by a light that suddenly approximated the car, then returned back and continued to follow them until they got home, when the object disappeared. Later, it reappeared over their home and they called their family to witness it with them from the yard. The light blinked, a noise like a whipping of the air was heard and the object left again.

Case 3-In Alfenas, a neighbouring city of Varginha, a witness told of how was coming back from work at night when he saw a dark violet light object following his car on his right-hand side. He called his wife, but the radio became mute, he heard the engine fail and he felt all his body hairs stand on end. He also had the feeling that his whole body was swelling up and noticed that his fingertips had become fluorescent. A moment later, the object left and everything went back to normal.

Case 4-In Monsenhor Paulo (a small village ten miles from Varginha) a civil servant and his family witnessed near their farm, a golden yellow light stationary between the mountains. When he arrived and flashed his car headlights in the direction of the object, it blinked and flew in his direction. He got scared of what he was seeing and went inside the house and watched from the window as the object stopped over some trees. He said that it was like a bus, with round ends and emitting a strong yellow light from the whole of its’ body. There was no noise until it roared just as it was leaving, going upwards. This description matches the crashed UFO's despite of its' colours.

Case 5-Another report that looks to be the same as the bus-like object with rounded edges, but this time the witness was in the military and his name being made public was his reason to be afraid. He was not involved in the case, but his description was interesting. He was fishing at night, when he saw “a fantastic thing, like a flying bus by the contours, beaming a beautiful blue light, lighting up all around”. In a few seconds it went and disappeared.

Case 6-A dentist living in Tres Coracoes took a shortcut through a back road, as he didn't want to go through the city to get to the other side of town. It was around 20:00 when his car engine failed, which was a recently acquired car and he couldn't understand why it was malfunctioning, until he saw an enormous object over his car with rounded edges and various blinking red and yellow lights coming so close that he was afraid of contact or possibly an accident. Part of the object was right over his head, covering the car and he started to go into shock, his legs shaking and his hands paralysed on the steering wheel. Then he panicked when he tried to accelerate and the car slowed down. He felt sweat dripping down his face and his body stiffen as he realised that if he stopped in the middle of the road, he could cause an accident. The car stopped completely. He closed his eyes, still perceiving the flashing lights. There was silence for a short time, then the engine started and so he opened his eyes and saw the object going away. He drove home, as fast as he could and stated that he would never forget that moment for the rest of his life.

Case 7-Antonio Candido de Moraes lives in Alfenas near Varginha, he cycles to work along a small dirt road for about six miles. One early morning he saw a very strange creature. First he stopped his bike to see if it was a monkey, but it was not. It resembled a little man covered all over with dark hair, it had a big oval head and protruding eyes that stared at him. Scared, he rode away and looking back, he saw the creature was still staring at him while walking into the jungle. The description of this creature matches other witnesses' sightings in Brazil. Incidentally barbed wire fences that are used to hold cattle in the farm were damaged near the site where this creature was seen. It is suggested that ' something strange' happened to frighten the animals to the point that they tried to escape by charging at the fence.

April 1996
The creatures have chosen another place-the zoo

Varginhas' zoo is situated no more than half a mile from the place where the creatures first appeared, but nothing unusual had happened there until the week of 15th-20th April 1996 when five healthy animals died suddenly and mysteriously. Two deer and three typical South American species - a big, blue Amazonian bird, blue macaw (Parrot family), a small spotted feline (Ocelot family) and a heavy mammal (Tapir family). The last was known by zoo staff as a happy and playful animal. The laboratory findings were "non identified toxic substance". The others had “intoxicated by caustic substance with unknown cause" and “nothing to justify death". Doctor biologist Leila Cabral, zoo director and Doctor Marcos de Araujo, veterinary, were baffled by the events but nevertheless they did not realise the link until a couple of weeks later when another witness went public. Mr Clepf, a councillor politician called one of the case investigators to tell of the concerns that his wife, Mrs Terezinha Gallo Clepf (67), held. She had witnessed one of the aliens, and was having problems to sleep. They were worried that they would be ridiculed, but wanted to speak to a serious investigator. When they were interviewed, she recalled that on Sunday 21st April 1996, they went to a restaurant located inside the zoo for a private dinner and politicians meeting.

The zoo was closed to the public. Around 21:00 she went out on to the balcony and sat on a chair to rest after dinner. It was dark, as there were big trees all around and the spotlights were all off. Some 15 feet in front of her was a metal fence and just outside it, an alien appeared, standing. At first she thought it could have been an animal, but as she gazed at it, she saw it had big, red eyes that were staring at her. They were very luminescent; she likened them to her car brake lights. The creature had no apparent nose or mouth and the skin looked wet and dark. Over its' head was something like a golden helmet or bonnet. In Silence, each looked at the other for a few minutes, but this unnerved her and slowly she stood up still warily looking back at the creature, she went inside and called her husband to leave. She was nervous and it was only in the car on the way home that she told him what she had seen. At the zoo, more strange deaths came to light. A female wolf and another deer just before Christmas 1997.

There are rumours about goatsuckers killing the animals. There were more UFO sightings in April, the most important, a multiple witnessed event which happened at the “Standard do Brasil” industry, recently settled in Varginha. Over 30 witnesses within all levels in the company went outside to see a silver metallic, disc-shaped object hovering at about 600 feet above them. It was 11:00am completely blue sky with no clouds. A second object, identical to the first, stopped just under the other. They slowly merged as one and left at high speed.

Back at the girls' home in Varginha, where the investigations of the case first started, the family was beginnings to regret the whole thing. There was too much pressure. The press took their privacy and their time and sometimes the tabloid press made fun of them. The borough community also intimidated them for example, at the church where they met on Sundays, the priest made a joke at their expense and everyone there laughed at them. At the school, the girls had no peace as even colleagues asked if she, Liliane, was pregnant by the ET. UFO Investigators from Varginha, Germany, USA even England needed to visit them to ask questions hundreds of times. The girls would never forget what they saw, but some people tried to go back and ask again to see if they had altered their story. They soon got fed up of interviews and questions. They now say that their family was going through difficult times, despite gaining new friends replacing lost friends. They did not gain from this experience and did not receive any money at all, but they were supposed to have, or was this just another lie from government agents? On 29th April 1996 at 10:30pm, four men wearing black suits called. The mother, Luisa, and the girls were ready for bed when they heard someone at the door. Thinking that it could be the oldest sister and the father, they went to answer the door. The men entered without showing identification. Two of the men were black; both aged about 40, the others were white, one of them with blonde hair. Luisa concluded that none of them were from Varginha by their accents. The men said that they wanted to talk about what the girls had seen. They asked for the door to be locked to ensure no one would interrupt them. When the family asked what their names were, they replied that there was no need for names. Luisa was afraid that something was going to happen, so she made the excuse of going to the kitchen to make a coffee in order to get a knife.

Bribery attempt?
The men asked the family what they dreamed of the most and many other questions including how much money that they would get if they moved to another city. They said they had plans to give the family everything they needed, a house of their own, good education and lots of money. All they needed to do was to go with them to a major TV company and deny everything that they said about the creature, stating it was a joke that the girls had intended to play on friends, and as it was now going too far, it was time to end it. The men said that they could say the money was from a win on the lottery. If she didn’t want to have the money lying around, then they would open a savings account in her name to deposit the sum. She asked if investigators had told them to approach them, and was told to forget investigators, as no money would ever come from them. She told them that she needed some time to think and talk it over with her husband and asked for their telephone number. No number was given; they said that they would return for the answer. They left in a black car. The next day, as she told the investigator about the visit, he suggested that they make it public to protect themselves against bribery. They received no money and the MIBs never returned. Also in April, the neighbours of the HQ E.S.A. said that it was the most intriguing of all of the movements around the military unit. Helicopters were flying over all the time. Over 15 military informers confirmed that the stirring was caused by the arrival of more American experts in UFO phenomena and alien creatures. Some of the high level of the E.S.A. had taken on-duty holidays for the very first time, which was extremely unusual.

May
The investigators at an ufologists' meeting, revealed all the names of the military personnel involved to put pressure on any other witnesses inside the E.S.A. to come forward. A few other investigators didn't think that this was necessary, as they could approach those directly involved with intention of interviewing them. Foreign researchers started working on the case. Dr John Mack from Harvard University worked with many witnesses and finally stated his conclusion that a real experience had actually taken place. He had no doubt about the girls' honesty.

On 13th May 1996, another UFO sighting occurred, this time all information indicated that the same kind of craft was over Tres Coracoes. It was ironic that all the main investigators had left Varginha together to go to Campinas to find out about the destiny of the creature. A friend saying that he had the sighting on video called them around 21:00 it appeared as an elongated, light object and stayed over the city for one hour. Hundreds of people saw it. Due to lack of experience, the quality of the video was very poor, frequently out of focus. The camera had no zoom, only the flashing and blinking lights could be seen. Incidentally, military informers came forward to bring more ideas of what occurred inside the E.S.A., but were extremely conscious of the possibility of some kind of retaliation. They filmed and photographed the object, but at this time they were not the only ones to gather information about the sighting. Among the witnesses, a few had binoculars, the children had made drawings of it which showed its' resemblance to a submarine with rounded ends, a little dome and a few portholes. It was similar to the object witnessed previously, but without the smoke. The military informers said that something was going on at the military unit in Jundiai, located in Sao Paulo State.

A convoy from Campinas went to Jundiai with armed security in the middle of the night on 13th May 1996. Eduardo and Osvaldo Mondini, investigators from Sao Paulo were contacted to search for clues in Jundiai.
More confirmation

Eduardo and Osvaldo Mondini called a friend living in Jundiai who approached the local military unit to see if he could get any information for the investigators. None was given as the security soon put him off, but at a neighbours meeting he got the information from a woman, whose husband was in the military, she said that over 15 days he was still in recluse, no communication allowed, in somewhere said to be a farm in Braganca Paulista (city near the frontier of Sao Paulo State with Minas Gerais State) in a highly confidential military meeting.

Back to Varginha, the main investigators Ubirajara and Vitorio had just returned from the field on 14th May 1996, when they received a message from an anonymous male caller threatening them with death if they proceeded with their investigations. They decided to go public, to continue the research work and be careful when visiting witnesses in isolated areas or roads where they could be easy prey. Also in May for the first time the E.S.A. was going to give a press statement. Many local newspapers and radio stations got the message and went to the unit to hear what General Commander Coelho Lima had to say. He came in and said that all the rumours about the creature were frivolous and set to prejudice the image of the army. He added that no one inside the E.S.A. had anything to do with the matter and that was all he had to say. He left. The press representatives could not believe his authoritarian cynicism. No questions were allowed and their conclusions were unanimous: something must have happened.

On 20th May 1996, UFO research group CEPEX left Sao Paulo to Campinas to investigate the case. At the international airport, they saw an ANTONOV Russian cargo plane parked at the federal express terminal with the Russian flag and government signs at the back, meaning the plane belonged to the Russian government. They came to know that it was there waiting for cargo for over a week, which is quite strange for a busy airport. A worker said that the plane was supposed to go to the US. At the military units the group was unable to gain access and at the'Clinic Hospital' only magnetic ID cards with fingerprint controls were acceptable to gain access to the underground passage into the military laboratories.

More strange beings
On the same date (Monday 20/05/96) Varginha based investigators were called to meet one more witness to report a strange animal. Ildo Gardino, biology student driving from Tres Coracoes to Varginha around 19:00. After a sharp bend, he saw the standing creature trying to cross the road in between pasture and woods. It was on its' feet and slightly bent forwards when first seen. He slowed the car with his headlights shining directly on it. Dark brown hair covered all of its' body, big red eyes glowed as if reflective. In a protective manner, it covered its' face with its' hands and crouched down. He could make out little horns on its' head. When the car approached, the creature left the road, returning to the woods where it had came from.

When Ildo showed the investigators the exact point where he had seen it, they were baffled, as the place was very close to the farm where Eurico and Oralina worked. Their sighting had happened four months previous. Could it be a survivor from the crash over four months later? Another creature searching for the missing ones? Why the hair? Disguise or growing? No-one could answer these questions, but when investigators went to the farm to talk to Eurico about it, he said that during that same week, the neighbourhood dogs were barking and howling a lot without apparent reason.


End of May and local newspapers published a story about a young man who was attacked by a wolf-man in Passos (another city in South Minas Gerais, some two hours by car from Varginha). It was interesting that it matched a few more of the witnesses' descriptions of the same creature believed to be half-man/half-wolf. Investigators went to talk to the victim. Luciano dos Reis 19 years old, said that it was sometime after 23:00hrs, a very dark night, when he was returning home walking by the isolated country, dirt road. Suddenly, between the trees there appeared that horrible hairy creature walking in his direction, muttering as no animal could do, it then pushed him, tearing his jacket with its' sharp nails. He fell to the ground and kicked the creature, which jumped back. He ran away to seek help. He is a poor peasant and believed that it was definitely a wolf-man, as he had grown up with a culture of folklore and its' creatures of the jungle. It was smaller than him, had long thin arms, short legs and smelt bad. Investigators could not get much more from him as he said that he was too scared and that it was too dark for details. On 29th May 1996, another military meeting took place. The surprise was that there was the army minister, the Army High Command including 24 Generals, the Chief Secretary of State, South East Military Commander and much other high ranking military staff to talk about what never became clear. It was the first time that such a meeting had happened outside the capital, Brasilia. It was held in Campinas.

June 1996
Investigators brought more information to the public as the case was growing in new witnesses. They also contacted the family of the dead (P2), to discover they had been deceived by bureaucracy of the system controlled by the Army.  Investigator Ubirajara, solicitor, guided them on how to act to be indemnified as the soldier was on duty and the cause of death was related to coming into contact with an unknown substance during his work. Unfortunately, with the bureaucracy, it takes years to look at each case and may be decades when the military are involved.

July 1996
There was a new project approved by the Brazilian government giving the green light to Brazilian Air Force (FAB) to shoot down any unidentified aircraft. The objective of the project was said to be against drug traffic and smuggling by air. What is strange is that those illegal operations had occurred for many decades and nothing had been done up until then. Could it be American ideas to use the Brazilian Air Force to bring down more material for their research? What does the new law mean if a UFO appears in Brazilian skies? Ufologists are worried, as new races of aliens seem to be fragile to our violence.

The second half of 1996 was characterised by Ufologists meetings and press interviews. It was the time when the whole World came to know of the Varginha case and nothing else could be discovered about the aliens and their destiny. Some supposed they were taken to the USA, the same with the crashed UFO's. Foreign UFO researchers went to Brazil to conduct field investigations. Juan Jose Benitez, famous writer was one of them. He came to the conclusion that a spacecraft had landed near to the place where the aliens were captured. As Brazilian investigators were nearly a year ahead with their research, they found that his conclusions were completely wrong. The round marks and burnt stones said to be proof of that, were respectively, holes from moving a fence and an area burnt down in order to clear the weeds with a controlled fire. Actually, it is a very difficult job to find physical evidence when all the area was searched, changed and developed within only a few months. Even the yard where the girls had seen the creature was enclosed between recently built walls so nobody could go there anymore. At the end of 1996 magazines brought information to the world and despite the inaccurate details among the stories, people had an idea about what had happened. The investigators also published a book on the subject, rich in details yet lacking chronology. However, this is a first-hand source of information and includes an abduction account that occurred on 26th August 1962 of a military soldier inside the E.S.A.

In January 1997, a few witnesses brought forward some more information to add or confirm the already known, but unfortunately for some of them, they were threatened and pursued, turning their lives into a living nightmare. In addition, in 1997, as far as Braganca Paulista, three hours drive from Varginha, a remote area, where there are only small farms surrounded by jungle, the children who live there have seen a non-human, non-animal creature covered with dark hair several times. The description given by the children of this being is that it seems to hover just above the ground, moving very fast and stirring the leaves under its' path. Back to Varginha - in December 1997, there were rumours of a man being dragged through a field by an intense beam of light. He was admitted to hospital. An update of the situation at the Varginha zoo is that one more animal has died under eerie circumstances. Also at the Central Park in Varginha, now considered a postcard of the city, there is a monument which represents an artistic version of the alien and it is a testament to the fact to which the presence of this creature has had an impact after all.

Concluding with the idea that we have been visited by a new species of amphibians like creatures probably from another planet, water based, travelling inside flying submarines which are full of water, comes from various aspects put together:
1. Witness report of a video where the creatures have been seen inside water tanks;
2. Membranes between fingers and toes;
3. Creature kept wrapped in wet sheets by specialists;
4. The alien was seen at the zoo on a location just a few meters from the lake;
5. Varginha is surrounded by huge water reservoirs;
6. Skin looking transparent, thin and wet, covered with some oily protection.

More will be brought about this incident with time, and here we will update you. Thank you for the interest!

Yours truly,
Newton Rampasso      

Email: PISKIES@yahoo.com

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