The Varginha UFO

[deirdre]

Article:

Marco Eli Cherese had a cyst under his left armpit and had already scheduled surgery to remove it some time ago, according to Maurício Antonio Santos, then commander of the 24th Battalion of the Varginha Military Police. "The death occurred due to a strong hospital infection after the operation", said the commander, who included in the IPM copies of the medical report prepared by the Institute of Propedeutics and Diagnosis of Varginha one day after the death of the police officer. "Ex-soldier Cherese was not involved in any occurrence with extraterrestrials", concluded the witness

Source: https://istoe-com-br.translate.goog/105958_A+HISTORIA+OFICIAL+DO+ET+DE+VARGINHA/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp

 

[deirdre]

I've tried to establish it from the film itself,

are these clips from the film? (no that im gonna search but someone might)

Source: https://youtu.be/S9Im60JGb2w?t=112

 

[Nemon]

Skeptic Brian Dunning points out that the soldier who died had a cyst that was due to be removed and he actually died from infection following its removal. Tragic case....but actually nothing to do with any UFO.....

https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4853

Edit: Sorry, I copied in a wrong quote (the infection issue is discussed in the article I am quoting at the and). But still:

There are some pictures that make the "Mudinho Alien" pretty obvious:

... more in this article:
https://web.archive.org/web/2011021...-oficiais-revelam-investigao-do-caso-varginha

Translation:

Spoiler: Please click to read

Coindidences
Something remarkable about the so-called Varginha Case is the conjunction of coincidences. Whatever the hypothesis used to understand what may have occurred in the city of Minas Gerais, which could be anything, including nothing, very curious coincidences will necessarily be considered.

Consider, for example, that the "Varginha Case" occurred in the town where Ubirajara Rodrigues himself resides, one of the few and leading UFO researchers active in the entire country for some decades. Consider also that the place where the three girls would have seen the "creature" is only a few blocks away from where Rodrigues actually resided, and that this is how he heard the very next day the rumors spreading around the blocks and soon the city about the event.

Or remember that a few months before the girls' encounter, aliens aroused enormous popular interest with the film of a supposed "Alien Autopsy", seen by hundreds of millions of people all over the world, and in Brazil, shown in exactly the same media outlets that would cover the Varginha Case. It is no surprise that the "creature", which the young women never claimed to be a being from another planet, was soon known as the ET of Varginha. ETs were in vogue, and a few months after the Varginha case, the blockbuster "Independence Day" would cause an even bigger stir and in the end make almost a billion dollars.

There are more coincidences. Exactly on that day, January 16, 1996, moments after the girls took a shortcut across a vacant lot and saw the crouching "creature", an intense hailstorm hit the area. It caused some damage, and fire units would have moved in to respond to some of the incidents. Including, rumor had it, capturing more creatures.

Finally, we return to the coincidence of Luizinho. Absurd as it may seem at first, and promptly rejected by witnesses, there is a remarkable coincidence:

Luizinho lives across the street from the lot where the girls had their terrifying encounter. And the man usually squats, in exactly the same position as the supposed creature that frightened the girls.

Even if the idea that he was mistaken for "it" is dismissed out of hand, one would have to accept the equally or even more bizarre coincidence that an unknown creature, perhaps even from outer space, came to Earth to squat in the lot in front of the house where a humble and quiet disabled man usually stands in exactly the same position.

It would be a cosmic coincidence of squatting.

The possibility that the girls had indeed mistaken the resident they had known for a long time should not be dismissed out of hand. It cannot, on the other hand, be accepted so easily. Bizarre coincidences are part of the Varginha case, whatever the thesis defended to understand it.

The official explanation is possible, and yes, plausible, but we will hardly know for sure what in fact the three girls found that day. What we do know is that whatever it was, Luizinho lived across the street, in the same position as described.

At the very least an unbelievable coincidence, at the most a surprising explanation.

Conspirations
Incredibly, accustomed as we are to Hollywood stories about top secrets, the contents of the inquiry have long been available to the public: "A police inquiry is generally public," commented Rodrigues. "When it came to the attention of the IstoÉ reporter the existence of such an inquiry, he simply went to the Military Justice in Brasilia, requested that he be allowed to take copies and was granted." It was as simple as that.

And simple as that, anyone could have had access to such information - if they hadn't already read the hypothesis in Rodrigues' book published in 2001 - just by making a request to the appropriate public agency. So much so that Ubirajara Rodrigues himself was already aware of the contents of the inquiry. In his case, it must be conceded, among other reasons because he was also one of the civilians who gave testimony. Which in turn would become grounds for more conspiracy theories.

Similar to the recent report, recently the critical position of Ubirajara Rodrigues became better known, and was also publicized by some as a "turnaround".

In search of explanations, accusations even emerged that Rodrigues had been forced to deny the affair he discovered and promoted, and the conspiracy theory quickly converged on a dramatic detail: the military inquiry at which he testified would mark the moment of the "turn of the tables". Still in Hollywood terms, who knows what the terrible military might not have done at such an inquiry to silence the ufologist?

In the real world, however, this is exactly the same military inquiry closed in July 1997, years before the publication of the almost 400-page book about the case, by the same Rodrigues. A coercion that leads a ufologist to publish a book of hundreds of pages is strictly speaking like a conspiracy in which an inquiry can be read and copied by anyone who makes the request. Something fanciful, Hollywood-like, that simply isn't real.

Unlike the best of fantasy, where good and evil are very clear, where Great Conspiracies would control the world and all major historical events were part of a Great Plan - however evil - reality can be confusing and uncertain.

Would the girls have been terrified of a resident they already knew? It would be absurd, but equally absurd is that an unknown creature from space would crouch in front of the house where a resident usually crouches. To understand this is to understand one of the true real values of ufology, that of offering small riddles to which any answer may be unsatisfactory.

Can a ufologist claim that he can claim nothing? It sounds confusing, but this is exactly how Rodrigues concludes his 2001 book, acknowledging that despite hundreds of pages of stories and possibilities and more than five years of research - four of them after the military inquiry in which he testified - he could not find conclusive evidence that would clarify anything. Today, almost 15 years after that January day, Rodrigues has even stepped up his critical stance and has just published the book "The Deconstruction of a Myth.

It is much simpler to believe that a cigar-shaped extraterrestrial mother ship malfunctioned and launched alien creatures through the interior of Minas Gerais, which was promptly covered up by the Brazilian military in collaboration with Americans, shutting up ufologists and creating ridiculous explanations to the events witnessed by many. Like the Roswell case covered in the X-Files. The alien creatures would then have been... autopsied. And the remains of the flying saucer sent to the US, probably to Area 51.

Not coincidentally, Alien Autopsy and Independence Day, works of fiction, mix with the easier fantasy to which the rumors converged. The whole Varginha story involving aliens is just a pastiche of themes explored in an incestuous relationship between ufology and fiction.

The reality of fact can be ambiguous and thus uncomfortable. Not knowing for sure what happened, amidst a mountain of evidence consisting on the other hand only of testimonies and circumstantial events - such as coincidence - is a more difficult and therefore uncomfortable position, but if there is one thing that can be stated with certainty it is that nothing can be stated with certainty.

The Varginha Case is not just about the sighting of the three girls, and even the girls' encounter with the "creature" is not just about someone crouching down. An entire city was left in a state of turmoil for months, and an entire country was moved by a figure that entered the collective imagination. There are endless details and angles to be addressed.

Here, we briefly touch on some of the new, or not so new, developments and related rumors, and close with the promise to review in greater detail the most famous Brazilian ufological, or not so ufological, case at a future date.

Another article, translated excerpt:

Ubirajara Rodrigues, ufologist, who believed the ET story and divulged it in 1996

In the eight days that the inquiry lasted, in May 1996, inside the ESA, 23 military personnel were questioned. In the IPM, which took place during the first seven months of 1997, eight authorities - including members of the Army, Military Police and Fire Department - and three civilians provided explanations. One of them, the lawyer and ufologist Ubirajara Rodrigues, now 55 years old, told ISTOÉ that his attitude is no longer the same as when he testified in the IPM. "There is no proof that an extraterrestrial being was captured in Varginha," he says.

One of the most engaged members of the ufological community in the story, who acted interviewing military personnel, Rodrigues says that the Varginha Case has all the characteristics of a myth. "I still believe that there was a series of complex facts that involved the Army, Military Police, Fire Department and hospitals. People said they saw, that they touched an extraterrestrial, but this does not serve as scientific proof. At that time, our tendency was to believe that it would have been a being from another planet."

Then lieutenant-colonel of the ESA, Olímpio Vanderlei Santos testified in the IPM pointed out as the chief and the main responsible for the team that would have captured the creature. Currently in reserve, at 60 years old, living in Franca (SP), he again denied his involvement in the case. "We used to go to Varginha by car because the city was our support point in terms of fleet maintenance," he says. "There was a climate of concern, colleagues were scared at the time. I was surprised when I saw my name involved."

Another intriguing fact of the Varginha Case is the death of a military policeman supposedly as a result of a strange virus acquired from an ET that would have been captured by him. Marco Eli Cherese had a cyst under his left armpit and had already scheduled a surgery to remove it for some time, according to Maurício Antonio Santos, then commander of the 24th Military Police Battalion in Varginha. "The death occurred due to a strong hospital infection after the operation," said the commander, who included in the IPM copies of the medical report issued by the Institute of Propaedeutics and Diagnosis of Varginha one day after the officer's death. "The ex-soldier Cherese was not involved in any occurrence with aliens," concluded the witness. Fruits of fantasy or not, the fact is that the mining town has embraced the UFO cause. A giant water tank in the shape of a spaceship and bus stops that resemble flying saucers can be seen in the city. The ET is Varginha's mascot.

https://istoe.com.br/105958_A+HISTORIA+OFICIAL+DO+ET+DE+VARGINHA/

 

[NorCal Dave]

James Fox tries to give the impression these events are simultaneous and at a similar location. They are not !

Basic facts...that have mysteriously changed over the years...

But that's the point. Simple stories are embellished, miss-remembered and then mixed together with other unrelated, or only tangentially related incidents until a complete mythos is created. That mythos then becomes the "factual" account.

I think it was Joe Nichoel that dubbed it the Roswell Syndrome, that goes something like this:

1. There's an incident. Something happens, like a rancher finding unusual debris on his property.
2. There might be a bit of a stir at first, but...
3. The incident is shown, pretty quickly, to be something mundane, like a crashed weather balloon (Project Mogul balloon).
4. Story goes away and percolates.
5. The same old incident is revived sometime later with "new" evidence, witnesses and a greatly expanded narrative.
6. More people pile on to the new version of the story adding even more "new" evidence.
7. The new mythologized version becomes the canonical version, often bearing little resemblance to the original.

All the things associated with Roswell, like multiple crash sites, alien bodies, meta-materials, actual crashed ships, Hanger 18, Area 51 were all added 30 years after the original incident, which was mostly just a collection sticks and foil.

This pattern repeats with Kecksburg, Malmstorm, Rendlesham and much of UFOlogy.

 

[Mendel]

I think it was Joe Nichoel that dubbed it the Roswell Syndrome, that goes something like this:

1. There's an incident. Something happens, like a rancher finding unusual debris on his property.
2. There might be a bit of a stir at first, but...
3. The incident is shown, pretty quickly, to be something mundane, like a crashed weather balloon (Project Mogul balloon).
4. Story goes away and percolates.
5. The same old incident is revived sometime later with "new" evidence, witnesses and a greatly expanded narrative.
6. More people pile on to the new version of the story adding even more "new" evidence.
7. The new mythologized version becomes the canonical version, often bearing little resemblance to the original.

this kind of sequence is by necessity "conspiracy theoretical" because step 5 requires step 3 to be handwaved away with "the government covered it up" or similar. The people close to the original event want an explanation; the people who revive it want a titillating story,

 

[Scaramanga]

are these clips from the film? (no that im gonna search but someone might)
View attachment 57914


Source: https://youtu.be/S9Im60JGb2w?t=112

Yes they are clips from the film, and the 'crash' location is a few hundred yards down the slope James Fox is pointing to. A brief overhead view of the 'crash site' is also shown....and I've tried to use that to see where it is, but the width of the site shown is maybe only 1000 feet across and all the farms around there look very similar. I suspect one could find it on Google Earth....but it would be a needle in a haystack sort of thing..

The article written by Robert Leir ( referred to earlier ) does an appalling job of describing the location. He says Marco De Sousa was driving north-east on highway 381 when the object was first spotted ' 3 miles south of the intersection with MG-26 '. Trouble is, there is no MG-26 highway....the only possible highway being referred to ( 'from Varginha to Tres Coracoes' ) must be the MG-167/491. He can't be referring to the MG-267 as that goes to neither town. We are told that Marco de Sousa then drives another 10 miles north on the BR-381...following the object. Well....if he was 3 miles south of the MG-167/491 then that places him 7 miles north of Tres Coracoes.

Leir then relates how Marco de Spousa leaves the highway and follows the object east of the BR-381..on a dirt track. We then have 20 minutes in which it is not at all clear what is being done. And the only remaining clue is that the crash location is about '7 miles from the ESA army barracks at Tres Coracoes' . Leir clearly knows the location...but in all his long ramble he never directly tells us. Sigh.

Here I have placed on Google Earth the location ( marked 'This Area' in top left of image ) where the farm couple saw the UFO....6 miles north west of Varginha. And I have drawn a 7 mile radius circle round the army barracks at Tres Coracoes......and we know that the alleged crash was east of the BR-381.....so has to be somewhere in the north-east quadrant of my red circle....or in other words about 20 miles from where the farm couple supposedly saw it and about 14 miles from Varginha.

That's about as close as I can get to determining the 'crash' location....

 

[Scaramanga]

are these clips from the film? (no that im gonna search but someone might)
View attachment 57914


Source: https://youtu.be/S9Im60JGb2w?t=112

An update. Amazingly...I found the crash site in the James Fox documentary. A huge clue was that at one point they showed it was actually only 1/4 of a mile from the main BR-381 highway....as you can see the motorway in the background. When I compared it to the overhead view they briefly show.....this is the exact location in the film......

Two images from Google Earth...first is close up showing the farm close to the main highway....second ( with 'UFO crash site' marked ) shows the crash site in relation to Varginha and Tres Coracoes. It's about 6 miles from Tres Coracoes...so Leir was not that far off.

So...far from crashing in the middle of nowhere ( as James Fox tries to convey...with them travelling lonely country roads to get there ), the alleged crash was within spitting distance of a busy highway in broad daylight. Yet Marco de Sousa was the only person who saw it. Hmm. And Fox didn't need to drive miles across country to get there......as it is literally a 1/4 mile turn off from the busy highway !

 

[deirdre]

yup

coordinates
21°37'21.14"S
45°14'35.22"W

 

[Scaramanga]

the big bump next to the house is where the alleged crash was?

those yellow trees really show up on Google Earth and this looks like a highway ?? with some signs to me. or do we think that is just houses or business ?

then you have mountains in the background. yuo saw the same thing
View attachment 57923

Yes....I was searching all over the place and the last thing I expected was the site to be literally right next to the main highway so I didn't look there. It was only when ( right at the end of the Marco de Sousa interview ) they almost inadvertently showed the busy highway in the background that i looked and managed to match the film's overhead drone view exactly with Google...

So this is the exact spot Marco de Sousa claims the crash occured....and, we can now establish that the alleged aliens had to cross 14 miles and a major highway and several rivers to get to Varginha.

 

[deirdre]

Yes....I was searching all over the place and the last thing I expected was the site to be literally right next to the main highway

i looked quick next to highways last nigh,t but i thought the crash happened "in the hills around varginha" so i didnt look so far away. and i thought the military was seen there but they do their maintenance in varginha so really only looked off 491.


cool you found it. big thumbs up!

we can now establish that the alleged aliens had to cross 14 miles and a major highway and several rivers to get to Varginha.

probably why he looked so sad and soft

 

[NorCal Dave]

So this is the exact spot Marco de Sousa claims the crash occured....and, we can now establish that the alleged aliens had to cross 14 miles and a major highway and several rivers to get to Varginha.

Nice work! Remember though, despite crashing, aliens can still use anti-gravity devices to float over to another area to scare the shit out of other humans.

Seriously, it would seem the people that lived right near the crash site and maybe even own the property would be of primary concern. Maybe they were out of town, or the government shut them up. It appears to be ranch land and they have goats or cattle it looks like:

 

[deirdre]

It appears to be ranch land and they have goats or cattle it looks like:

looks a bit more barren in 2000 (maybe they all got abducted)

 

[Mendel]

Remember though, despite crashing, aliens can still use anti-gravity devices to float over to another area to scare the shit out of other humans.

with a little more imagination, the Varghinha aliens are obviously the search party sent out to find their crashed brethren—or would be if we had a shred of evidence.

 

[NorCal Dave]

with a little more imagination, the Varghinha aliens are obviously the search party sent out to find their crashed brethren—or would be if we had a shred of evidence.

Yeah! Honestly, we could come up with a much better UFO story than most of the UFOlogists.

 

[Scaramanga]

Nice work! Remember though, despite crashing, aliens can still use anti-gravity devices to float over to another area to scare the shit out of other humans.

Seriously, it would seem the people that lived right near the crash site and maybe even own the property would be of primary concern. Maybe they were out of town, or the government shut them up. It appears to be ranch land and they have goats or cattle it looks like:

View attachment 57927

View attachment 57928

Now that the location has been found....a few justifiable comments can be made...

1) I'm far from being the only person who, over the years, gained the impression that the 'crash' happened just a few miles from Varginha. Now we know it was 13 miles from the town and actually much closer to Tres Coracoes.
2) Knowing the 'actual' crash site throws off the other alleged sightings. The farm couple who claim to have seen the object coming down 6 miles north west of Varginha...well, that is 20 miles the allegedly damaged and crashing UFO would have had to travel...and remain hovering for 3 hours until De Sousa saw it crash. And nobody else saw it in those 3 hours ? In fact, to get to the crash site it would have had to fly right over Varginha town and there should have been hundreds of witnesses.
3) We now know the alleged crash happened right next to the busy BR-381 highway ( you can see how much traffic there is on it, in the video ) right at the height of the rush hour in broad daylight. And yet not a single other person saw it...or even the people living in the farm house just a few hundred feet away.
4) We are told the crashed craft emitted some fluid....possibly ammonia. This would have had an effect on nitrates in the soil that I'd have thought would still be detectable. Yet James Fox made no attempt to have the soil analyzed. Neither was any attempt made to find any small parts of the alleged craft that may remain. Instead they wasted time focusing on Carlos de Sousa crying over the incident.
5) Those who sill believe in the alien hypothesis now have to explain how two aliens got into the middle of Varginha, from the east, without having to cross the Rio Verde river ( 300 feet wide ) or pass through over a mile of densely populated parts of the town.....without being spotted by a single other person.

 

[Gaspa]

As a Brazilian who was in my early teens and into sci-fi when this happened, back in the 90s, I used to believe in this story and remember waiting eagerly for the next story to be published by the main TV channels.

To give some context: This was shortly after the famous Alien Autopsy hoax, so UFO and "alien" were still on the top of people's - especially media people - minds.

That video, according to Wikipedia was first aired in the US on Fox Channel on August 1995. I remember it being aired in Brazil by the extremely popular TV show "Fantástico". A variety show that still airs on Sunday nights on TV Globo, the largest TV channel in the country. It was later and probably in that same year, although I obviously don't remember and can't find an exact date.

I remember they were announcing it for at least a couple of weeks, hyping it up, and when it finally aired everyone was talking about it the next day. So, not a half year later, in January 1996, when a story pops up of a few girls having seen an alien in a small town, they scoop it up and make a huge deal out of it. After some local media coverage, Fantástico also picked it up and aired this highly sensationalized story on February 4th, 1996. There was no mention of a UFO sighting or crash, all of these stories were "remembered" after the fact.

I did my best to improve the Portuguese Wikipedia article on it a couple years ago. It is hard to push back on the credulousness of other Brazilian editors, but it is still better than before I touched it.

The couple who claimed to having witnessed a UFO on their property only did this weeks after the girls' sighting story made the news, and, at first, they were not sure on a date. Later their story started matching the dates.

The pilot who said he saw it crashing in Três Corações, said it happened a whole week earlier, in January 13th.

Carlos de Souza descreveu que viu, na manhã do dia 13 de janeiro de 1996, um objeto com as mesmas características relatadas pelo casal. Tinha certeza da data porque seguia para o interior de Minas Gerais onde participaria de uma demonstração de voo de ultraleves com amigos. Ainda na Rodovia Fernão Dias, viu o objeto passando e aparentemente caindo em algum ponto entre Varginha e a cidade vizinha, Três Corações.
[My translation:] Carlos de Souza describes having seen, in the morning of January 13th 1996, an object with the same characteristics as those reported by the couple. He was sure of the date because he was flying to the interior of Minas Gerais where he would attend an ultralight [aircraft] flight demonstration with friends. Still on Fernão Dias Highway, he saw the object passing by and apparently crashing at some point between Varginha and the neighbor city of Três Corações. (source)

After reading and watching everything I could, on it, here is my veredict (There sure is a lot more out there, but nothing informative, I don't think.)

The girls got frightened by a strange man crouching near a wall on a windy and rainy afternoon (weather information often omitted by the media) when they were trying a shortcut through an empty and somewhat unkempt lot. They ran home and imagined what they had seen, at first describing it as "the devil". Later the story grew through gossip and speculation, caught the attention of the media and one notable local UFO nut, Mr. Ubirajara Rodrigues, who went after anyone claiming to have witnessed anything. Later, even that guy, who was the main pusher of the story, admitted that there is no evidence of anything, only witness accounts.

(Image above cropped from one of the military investigation reports, here.)

 

[deirdre]

Carlos de Souza.

weird, John de Souza was a big name in the "missing 411:ufo contact" movie i just watched from another thread. and it seems both connect-the-dots movies were produced by some company called 1091 Pictures. <insert creepy coincidence music here

 

[BoulderRiver]

I've done a more in-depth review of the case, with chronological dates of the events as they occurred or when they became known.
It is clear why this is one of the greatest miscommunications, witness suggestioning, and hoaxing in Ufology, accompanied by so much wishful thinking it is borderline mental. It is no wonder the most serious of the Ufologists, Ubirajara Franco Rodrigues, dropped the case. James Fox's documentary is an enormous disservice.

---

The Events were documented as follows;

Saturday - January 20th 1996 - Afternoon

1. At 15:30, the three girls (Liliane(14) e Valquíria Fátima Silva(16), and their friend Kátia Andrade Xavier(22, mother of three toddlers)), Taking an unusual route back home, saw a "kneeling creature that looked like a Cow's Heart, a brown veiny blob, with oily skin and huge rugged pulsating veins on its back, large and bulging red eyes without Irises, pupils or eyelids, large head with three protruding rows like three horns on a bald and bulbous head, torso and limbs, neither mouth nose, hands or feet were perceived", squatting in an empty lot.
2. Alleged creature sighted:
   
3. Being very religious, they thought they saw "The Devil", and hysterically ran towards home.
4. They were received by the teenager's mother, Luiza Silva, who demanded to know what happened. Sobbing, the girls answered "We saw something evil"
5. Wilma Abreu Cardoso, their Neighbor, hears the commotion and requests her sister's truck to drive Luiza Silva, to the empty lot where they saw the alleged creature. She claims the place has a heavy smell of ammonia, and to have seen a mark on the ground that she interpreted as a "footprint with only three long fingers". The driver DID NOT make these claims.
6. The Neighbor spreads rumors about the "Devil of Santana" - Santana being the name of the neighborhood the girls lived in, which is very close to Jardim Andere's sighting spot.

Sunday, January 21st 1996 - Afternoon

1. Ubirajara Franco Rodrigues, one of the main researchers of the case, hears about such rumors. He lives in Varginha and speaks with the girls.
2. He then proceeds to inquire the Fire Department and the Police Department, both state to be unaware of any disturbance within the city.

Between the 21st and 28th

1. As stated on a podcast episode (20:30) Vitório Pacaccini, the other main researcher of the case, reads about it on the cover story of the Newspaper "O Estado de Minas". This may have occurred on the 21st or the 28th. The alleged title "Meninas que viram Demônio" ("The girls who saw a Demon") - [the newspaper may have a copy online, but I was unable to find it]
2. Vitório Pacaccini has a meeting with CICOANI in Belo Horizonte, and goes to Varginha to investigate, as he is very familiar with the region.
3. Pacaccini calls several friends looking for more information. Many childhood acquaintances worked at the regional Army base named Escola de Sargento de Armas in Três Corações, near Varginha. He believes the army must have more information if something happened in the region.
4. One Military insider asks Pacaccini to meet in person, in a very secure rural area, between Três Corações and São Tomé das Letras, far from public view. There, soldiers escort an alleged first-hand witness who appears to be nervous. This witness states that a creature was captured, and describes the creature just as the girls described it. Pacaccini records this interview in a tape-recorded for 30 minutes, and it is the ENTIRE source of the Varginha case after the girls testimony.
5. Pacaccini reaches Ubirajara, and shows him the tape.
6. They reach other ufologists around Brazil, urging them to investigate.

January 27th, 1996

1. The first TV report on the case, from Local TV Newstation EPTV

February 4nd, 1996

1. The biggest TV show in Brazil, "Fantástico", with a viewership between 52% and 60% of all open broadcasting, reports on the "ET of Varginha" case.

February 12th, 1996

1. Police Officer Marco Eli Chereze is Hospitalized at Hospital Bom Pastor, complaining about abdominal pain.

February 15th, 1996

1. Chereze's health rapidly deteriorates and he is taken to Bom Pastor's Intensive Care Unit. One of Chereze's doctors is Césario Linclon Furtado. Marco Chereze is declared dead by nightfall. He is buried on February 16th, at 18:00 - as it is customary to bury the dead quickly in Brazil and other tropical countries.

After February 16th and before March, 1996

1. Marta Tavares Chereze, Sister of Marco, claims at 39:10, that she attempted to file a lawsuit without legal representation, claiming that the Hospitals were responsible for Marco's death due to Medical Error. The appeal is shelved by the local deputy, presumably due to errors.
2. This is the audio recording of a Firefighter who allegedly participated in the capture of one of the creatures. The firefighter would later claim he made the story after the request of a Ufologist (presumably, Paccaccini)

March 3rd, 1996

1. The "Fantástico" TV Show makes another report on it; this time with Pacaccini displaying the main source of "official" information - this alleged recording of an army officer (to this day, still unidentified):

Somewhere in Later April, 1996

1. Marta Tavares Chereze, claims at 44:30 She was reached by Ubirajara and Paccacinni, who asked her if "She would believe/thought it to be possible that her that her brother was involved in the capture of an alien creature"
2. Marta Tavares Chereze, goes to Doctor Cesário Lincoln Furtado's private practice and claims that[1] Marco Eli Chereze revealed in his deathbed that he took part in a secret mission to recover the alien creature. Marta is the only person to have heard this, and her close family disputes such a claim, as can be seen in another video where the Mother claims Medical Error on an undisclosed date, 1996.

6th May, 1996

1. CNT Journal - TV Report with Paccacinni making the claim that the colonel Olimpio Wanderley orchestrated the UFO and Alien retrieval program.

12th May, 1996

1. Another "Fantástico" report; this time with more and more witnesses, and the first official declaration by the Army and the testimony of the Girls being visited by "4 Men in Black" on the night of 28th of April offering money for them to dismiss their claims.

9th of June, 1996

1. John Mack, PhD psychology from Harvard, the famous abduction UFO researcher interviews the three girls.
2. Mack stated he would "Resign his Academic achievements if these girls were ever proven to be lying about this experience"

2nd of October, 1996

1. Carlos de Souza sends his testimony of a crash to the ufologists, through Fax
2. The site where he claims the crash happened is identified 3 days later, on October 5th. It is the same place shown in the "Moment of Contact" documentary. The alleged crash site is located 13 miles in a straight line over several houses, homesteads, hills, and a river crossing from where the girls saw the creature.
3. On the 12th of October, Carlos goes to the site with Ubirajara and Pacaccini
4. On the 19th of October, Fourteen Ufologists go to the alleged site to perform a "clean sweep" in search of any sort of debris. Nothing was found.
5. The Ufologists also interviewed several of the farmers, homeowners, Church members, farmhands, homesteads and cattle ranchers in the area - none stated anything unusual - which would contradict Carlos de Souza's statement of an Army Helicopter, two army trucks carrying 30 to 40 men and two police cars - not to mention, the crashing UFO and its Debris Field.
6. The Ufologists disregard Carlos de Souza, considering him an "unreliable witness."

29th of January, 1997

1. A Military Police Inquiry investigating the alleged events, with 357 pages in length, attempted to explain what occurred in the previous year. There is a wide dismissal of all claims. It can be read online here: [Vol. 1] [Vol. 2]

Further Details:

1. This is a video of the man whom the Army report states the 3 teenage witness saw, and which sparked the case.
2. It is stated by Ubirajara that the Farmer Eurico de Freitas reached out to the ufologists two weeks after the first Fantástico report, placing the news almost a month after the alleged sighting. There are so many different reported dates for their sighting: Initially, it was reported that they saw the "cigar-shaped UFO" hours before sunrise on the 20th of January. Then it was stated to be on the 17th, and sometimes even on the 13th of January. Which one of these dates is the correct one, and why did it change over time? His wife Oralina didn't recall any precise date, but stated that it was 'around that time'.
3. Carlos de Souza's initial statement said that a Police Officer was responsible for expelling him from the area. In the documentary, he states that it was "a big Strong black man in an army uniform", increasing, even more, the inconsistencies in his report.
4. Notwithstanding, still dissatisfied with the insufficient amount of shame already endured, Carlos de Souza subjects himself to a regressive hypnosis session in December of 2022, where he further ""enhances"" his narrative, complete with fallen beings who communicated telepathically while suffering in pain.. What remains to be noted is that, during the 27 years up to this date, the witness never mentioned or implied having seen a small being emerging from the wreckage, who telepathically informed him that others had already escaped and were running towards "the river, as they needed water." Much less did he say that his telepathic contacts continued over the years, with information that beings had been killed by someone and that an artifact had been implanted in his right leg. Conveniently, removed. He also never hinted at any implant whatsoever, much less the abductions he would claim.
5. Vitório Paccaccini, after years of silence, is "brought back to life" shortly after the announcement of the "Moment of Contact" documentary. He is one of the the consultants for the Varginha ET Museum, which was inaugurated on November 2022.
6. Ubirajara is ALSO brought back to the scene, but on the opposite front - now a skeptic. His contributions include the dismissal of the "main military witness", and the rebuttal that Marco Eli Chereze gave a confession to his doctor before dying.
7. The three Women, the teenage witnesses, DID NOT request money to do interviews during those first years after the incident; they gave interviews repeatedly, albeit begrudgingly, from 1996 to 1999. During the 2000s, they refused to not be compensated for their time to speak on the matter. They've been recorded stating "Everything that we did and saw has already been spoken. There is nothing else to discuss." They've been victims of bullying at school, been fired from work due to harassment from their clients and the curious, and even a divorce directly linked to the external pressure they would suffer. To this day, they have never claimed to have seen an extra-terrestrial or an alien. Quoting Liliane: "We lost so much, and for what? For being scared of something that I could not explain. It was a terrible time of my life, of our lives. It was a terrible thing that I saw. I do not enjoy remembering the feeling of that moment, of that sight. I never wanted to recall it, and in every interview I gave people asked the same questions, thick always brought up the same emotions. It was a joke for the entire nation, but to me, it was a nightmare - I was terrified of what I saw and was harassed for speaking my experience. If I could return in time, I would change two things; I would have taken a different route back home that day, and I would have accepted the money that was offered to us to dismiss our claims of seeing that thing." - Referencing the episode with the 'Men in Black' on Late April.

---

Sources:

1. Most statements are linked with video references, often timestamped
2. Book: O Caso Varginha, (2001), by Ubirajara Franco Rodrigues
3. Book: Varginha - Toda Verdade Revelada (2015), by Marco Antonio Petit
4. Documentary: Moment of Contact (2022), by James Fox

---

Conclusion: This is such a bullshit sandwich.
After researching this case in depth for more time than I am proud to state, the only testimony I see merit is of the three teenage witnesses who saw a weird *something* - animal, creature, man, whatever. They did indeed get scarred for life. Personally, I pity them.

EVERYTHING else - the army presence, the couple of farmers who saw a smoking aircraft, Carlos de Souza crying, the creature sightings by other people, the police officer who supposedly rescued a creature and then died with a mysterious infection, the doctors and nurses who worked in the hospital and claimed they saw or knew someone that rescued the aliens... fugazi. I think most of this case was being hoaxed by fictitious witnesses and bogus reports made by Paccaccini.

Ubirajara Franco Rodrigues, the first on-site, researched the topic for years and concluded that although he believed the girls saw something that shook them profoundly, nothing out of the ordinary had any semblance of having happened.

Why do many keep pushing the story?
Because It's a really cool story. It also sells a lot of products in Brazil. Can you imagine Roswell was (hypothetically) proven to be a hoax; the council members would do whatever to keep the public interested in the myth. When a small town suddenly appears on national television for any reason, it's great publicity. In fact you can read the entire "Varginha Incident Cultural Manifest" that the town created to request State financial funds. The Varginha Incident is the most well-known UFO case in the country because it was heavily reported on TV when it occurred in 1996, a time when there were very few options on broadcast tv channels.

There are currently 2 TV/Streaming Series and at least one Feature Movie in production regarding the Varginha case.

 

[JMartJr]

I am struck by how often these sorts of mass panics are set off by an initial incident involving teen/preteen girls, or more broadly involving unspecified "children." It is not ALWAYS the case, but it happens often enough that this is a red flag for me.

Cases would include:
The Salem Witch Panic --

The trials began after a few local women in Salem Village were accused of witchcraft by four young girls, Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam Jr., and Elizabeth Hubbard. The accusations centered around the concept of "affliction", and the witches accused of having caused physical and mental harm to the girls through witchcraft.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials

The Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic of 1962 --

The laughter epidemic began on January 30, 1962, at a mission-run boarding school for girls in Kashasha. It started with three girls and spread throughout the school, affecting 95 of the 159 pupils, aged 12–18. Symptoms lasted from a few hours to 16 days, averaging around 7 days. The teaching staff were unaffected and reported that students were unable to concentrate on their lessons. The first outbreak in Kashasha lasted roughly 48 days. The school was forced to close on March 18, 1962. When it reopened on May 21, a second phase of the outbreak affected an additional 57 pupils. The all-girl boarding school reclosed at the end of June.

The epidemic spread to Nshamba of the Muleba District, a village 55 miles west of Bukoba, where several of the girls lived. In April and May 1962, 217 mostly young villagers had laughing attacks over the course of 34 days. The Kashasha school was sued for allowing the children and their parents to transmit it to the surrounding area. In June, the laughing epidemic spread to Ramashenye girls' middle school, affecting 48 girls. Additional schools and the Kanyangereka village were also affected to some degree. The phenomenon died off 18 months after it started. All areas affected were within a 100-mile radius of Bukoba.[4] In all, 14 schools were shut down and 1,000 people were affected.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanganyika_laughter_epidemic

The Ketereh Face of Pure Evil --

In August 2019, the BBC reported that schoolgirls at the Ketereh national secondary school (SMK Ketereh) in Kelantan, started screaming, with some claiming to have seen 'a face of pure evil'. Professor Simon Wessely a former president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, suggested it was a form of 'collective behaviour'. Robert Bartholomew, a medical sociologist, suggested it was due to the stricter implementation of Islamic law in the school. The school responded to the outbreak by cutting down the trees around the school, believing they were home to supernatural spirits.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_panic_cases -- about halfway down page

Although the age of the witnesses is not given, the case of Spring-Heeled Jack may fit the pattern, while there are said to be earlier reports of "Jack" leaping around rooftops, the hysteria took off...

... in January 1838 this strange creature received official recognition when a barmaid, Polly Adams, was attacked while walking across Blackheath in south London. Mary Stevens, a servant girl was terrified by what she saw on Barnes Common, and in Clapham churchyard a woman was assaulted!

(Added by me -- A coachman also claimed to have seen Jack the night of the Polly Adams incident, he claimed to have been startled when Jack leaped in front of his coach causing him to crash, omitted from this article -- JM)

Lucy Scales, a butchers daughter was attacked in Limehouse and Jane Alsop was almost strangled by a cloaked creature in her own home before her family managed to beat-off her attacker…at which point he leapt and soared off into the darkness.

Jane Alsop described her inhuman attacker to London magistrates…"He was wearing a kind of helmet and a tight fitting white costume like an oilskin and he vomited blue and white flames!"
...
During the 1850's and 60's Spring-heeled Jack was also seen all over England, particularly in the Midlands.

The Army in 1870 set traps to catch him after scared sentries reported being terrified by a man who sprang on to the roof of their sentry box.

Also in 1870, angry townsfolk in Lincoln are reported to have shot at him in the street, but he just laughed and bounded away, leaping over fences, and even small buildings!

https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Spring-Heeled-Jack/

And of course the Creepy Clown Outbreak of 2016, which I have mentioned elsewhere: https://www.metabunk.org/threads/1977-colares-ufo-flap-operação-prato.11765/post-325580

And so on... I've restricted this list of examples to cases that spread beyond the original locale, and/or included reports of strange things seen beyond the even more common health effects.

 

[BoulderRiver]

I created a thread on r/UFOs with the contents of the previous post and received quite a lot of flack for it.
Most of it were requests of why I didn't mention certain alleged events that occurred;

Unique_Driver4434
Brazil has a FOIA law just like the U.S., where all documents that don't threaten national security are to be released within 25 years of their creation date. Brazilian Congress members have posted public letters on the Brazilian Congress site showing their appeals to the government to release the Varginha incident and arguing that instead of becoming declassified by 2021 as expected, it was reclassified for another 25 years.

The letter, use Google Translate or ChatGPT to translate from Portuguese to English
https://www.camara.leg.br/proposicoesWeb/prop_mostrarintegra?codteor=1656251

The government refuses to respond after multiple letters, says so right in this letter. Why do you not even mention that with all your homework?

1. The Army can only release documents that exist. I made a pretty extensive analysis of why and how the myth of the army's presence and operation was hoaxed. There is no secret document because there was no secret operation. There was no UFO, and there (probably) was no Alien.
2. The Army did respond.

Page 3 of the aforementioned document, the petitioner states "(...)-If- these documents do indeed exist and were generated between 1996 and 1997, as an abundance of circumstantial* and testimonial** evidence suggests, they could only remain classified if they were categorized as ULTRASECRET at the time, which carries a confidentiality period of 25 years."

* = Circumstantial evidence refers to the notion that there was the involvement of the army in this alleged operation, whose main point of inflection is the testimony of townsfolk stating an "unusual number of army trucks" in the Town - something that was unfortunately not registered by journalists, columnist, photographers, police reports... but was registered in the army garage - the trucks had scheduled maintenance in Varginha. Can you imagine an ultrasecret operation sending empty trucks and enlisting police officers instead of using soldiers?
**= Testimonial evidence referred to the taped testimonies of unknown armymen that never came forward.

The same document states on the same page that "There is no documented batch space that was classified as ULTRASECRET since 1992". A quick reminder - Varginha happened in 1996. From 1992 to 2018, there was not a single instance of an ULTRASECRET army document created.

And finally, the government did respond - 4 months later. Here's the link for the reply:
https://www.camara.leg.br/proposicoesWeb/prop_mostrarintegra?codteor=1758889&filename=Tramitacao-RIC 3515/2018

On page 13, It reads:
"The Brazilian Army has already made available the documents that should be included in the lists. The nonexistence or absence of documents demonstrates that the Army does not possess documents related to the subject in question."

On page 15, it reads:
"From the analyses conducted regarding the alleged occurrence of a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) crash with crew members in the city of Varginha/MG in 1996, the Brazilian Army does not possess documents or information on the subject, except for what was sent via Official Letter No. 9228-GM/ASPAR-MD, dated August 16, 2011, to this Legislative House in response to Information Request No. 679, from 2011, authored by the same person who submitted the current Information Request.

SirGorti
You didn't mention couple of important points.

1. You didn't mention people who came forward with information that NORAD warned Brazilian military about unidentified object which will crash near Varginha. They are mentioned in Moment of Contact and one radio controller also came forward. They came forward, both in Moment of Contact and you can also see it here:
   Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/19d9xc7/brazilian_flight_controller_confirming_of_a/
2. You didn't mention that firefighters captured one alien being hours before three girls saw similar creature. Kids saw being, they threw rocks on it, then firefighters came and capture it in the net.
3. You didn't mention that friend of Marco Chereze, Eric Lopez decided to not talk about what he saw and threaten those who ask.
4. You didn't mention old woman who saw creature at the zoo. Few animals include ocelot were found dead there. Absurd. You put a link to something, without specifying that there was testimony of another eyewitness. That's witholding information from potential reader.
5. You didn't mention that Pacacchini claimed to see in 2012 footage of captured alien being. I don't care if there is evidence that Pacacchini saw anything. Where is evidence that three girls saw creature? There is no. But you still mentioned their claims. You didn't mention the claim of Pacacchini about what he saw in 2012 in VHS video. That's witholding information from potential reader.
6. You didn't mention that officials have said that girls confuse creature with disabled guy who was wet and full of mud because of heavy rain and storm. Meanwhile girls saw creature in daylight with clear sky.
7. You didn't mention funny official statement that alleged creatures were actually dwarf who got birth in local hospital.
8. You didn't mention statements of doctors and military X. They went on camera speaking about it. Here you have neurosurgeon Dr. Italo Venturelli about video of the being that he saw.
   Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/14jo1d5/dr_italo_venturelli_neurosurgeon_from_regional/
9. You didn't mention statements of local citizens who claimed to see UFO that day in the Moment of Contact.
10. You didn't mention statement of local journalist that he was threatened to not cover the story.

Either you deliberately didn't mention any of that, or you are uninformed of those claims. Anyway, your post doesn't give the reader the full story.

1. Nobody came forward and it's unknown where the NORAD information came from. The link you provided here is a Flight controller who claims a USAF plane entered airspace and landed in Campinas - it has nothing to do with NORAD warning Brazil about UFOs. I did search for that information as it is indeed part of the "Varginha Lore", but it appears to have been fabricated for sensationalism on TV series.
   
   
2. I did mention the firefighter; Feb 16th, 1996
   
   
3. If what you meant is that Eric Lopes threatens those who ask about the ET to him, I do not blame him. Marco Eli Cherece was his best friend and also his brother-in-law. Every character in this story was harassed and bullied, be it by the media, by the curious, or by the Ufologists. Then at the 1h30m mark of "Moment of contact"t (which is the only evidence we've seen of Eric Lopes ""threatening"" someone), we see an entire crew arriving at his homestead uninvited. at 1h31m03sec, he speaks in Portuguese "Sério, see chegá(sic) na porta, vou tirá ocês na bala" - A very fair adaptation of what he's speaking would be ->"I'm being serious ('For Real'), yall come near my door, I'll remove you by (using) bullets" In certain states of the USA, he would be in a legal position not just to threaten them, but to shoot first. Considering how much the 3 girls lost for claiming to have seen the creature - I do not doubt that Lopes lost a lot too.
   
   
4. Therezinha is mentioned in the fantástico report on the 12th of May. it is stated "More witnesses". Therezinha's testimony of witnessing a similar creature with a golden helmet at the zoo on the 21st of April 1996 does not add a lot to the overall case. Witness testimony is often a good starting point for research, but this one does not add much to the overall case unless coupled with the information that on the 12th of March, a deer died, on the 19th of March an Ocelot died, on the 22nd another deer died, and on the 25th a Tapir died. The streak of death ended 4 weeks before Mrs. Clepf alleged sighting. If anything, I find this a detriment to the UFO lore that the animals could have been infected by some 'unknown' "alien pathogen" - According to Marco Mina, the Veterinary at Varginha Zoo during the time, all these animals had a necrosis in their gastric tract, which raised the hypothesis of poisoning - be it involuntary or not. The necropsy of one of the deer's viscera revealed the presence of a caustic substance - could the poisoning of these animals be related to Sodium Hydroxide (Lye), Sulfuric Acid (used for cleaning drain pipes), and Potassium Hydroxide?
   
   
5. As previously stated, the chain of events that happened during that first year was my focus and is more than enough to discredit Pacaccinni. If what was said wasn't enough; Paccaccini claims that he saw the VHS tape in 2012 - at least 16 years after it was recorded. He also claims that a video was shown to him on a laptop, by a high-ranking officer accompanied by soldiers who secured the perimeter, at an undisclosed location. Back in January 1996, it was Paccaccini who met with the army men who gave the testimony that whatever the girls saw, was an alien. What a lucky fella! Isn't that odd? Always Pacaccinni, never any other of the 6 renowned researchers were already famous in 96 that were also there during those first months, nor any of the 18 Ufologists who were in Varginha and were very already previously famous before Varginha; Not Ubirajara, not Gevaerd, not Petit, not Claudeir Covo... Doesn't that raises at least a tiny redflag? The military concluded in their investigation (IPM) that Paccaccini was simply a naive, incompetent person who had given credibility to untrue people and facts when writing his book. None of his witnesses nor any other alleged corp ever leaked a single piece of evidence that would even confirm their presence in Varginha during those weeks. I would think twice before trusting his claims doubtlessly.
   
   
6. I did show footage of "Mudinho". The storm that happened on the 20th of January occurred at 18:00 local time - after the girl's encounter. It does not change their sighting; I believe you're piecing information that you know with information that I didn't state because it is unnecessary. Should we state that the sun goes down at 18:33 as well? of course not - it has no impact on the narrative, it would just add noise to something that has to be as objective as possible. I relayed the facts as they were made public, and left my conclusion at the introduction and the end.
   
   
7. I presume you're speaking about Major Calza, here. Major Calza's statements are weird even within the Varginha Lore. Calza's statement is "On the 20th of January, a heavy rain was pouring down. We had to get our trucks to Varginha to do their scheduled maintenance. A series of coincidences ensued. In one of Varginha's hospitals, a female dwarf was about to give birth to a baby. This coincides with the fact that the people at the hospital encountered a couple of ETs (...) [The interview is clearly cut midsentence, transitioning to a firetruck and a narrator's voice over questioning Major Calza's statement]
   
   His interview is only available as the heavily edited final cut seen in Bruce Burges's series "Beyond the Truth - Alien Encounter", another among several series whose author's records of sensationalism should not be understated. Not only that but the episode was aired in 1998, which means that Major Calza would have been interviewed after having been part of the force tasked with the development of the 357-page IPM report the army produced to communicate the institution's conclusions about the case... of which no dwarf couple are involved. I personally believe it was a construction by Burges's editing and off-screen suggestions. He is the filmmaker behind several paranormal pseudo-documentaries featuring heavy editing. His interest is neither journalistic nor ufologic- he wants to sell the story.
   
   
   
8. A lot of people claim to see UFOs. The ones in the moment of contact didn't make those claims in 1996 to the ufologists.
   Referencing your new request to clarify Dr. Itallo's claims; here is the full-length interview he gave, not just 1min41secs of cherry-picked information:
   Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vl6v9oYd3w
   
   
   He states his younger colleague, unfortunately already deceased and with the name censored (why?) showed this video to him. Dr. Italo's words describing his colleague are "Uma pessoa maravilhosa, mas muito BRICALHÃO." -> "A wonderful person, but a jokester."
   
   

   The Brazilian Portuguese term "Brincalhão" translates to "playful" or "jokester" in English, but it carries deeper nuances depending on context. Derived from "brincar," which means "to play" or "to joke." The suffix "-ão" gives it an intensified, often masculine form, indicating someone who habitually engages in a mischievous manner.
   
   

   • Meanings: Playful Personality: A "brincalhão" is someone with a light-hearted, fun-loving nature, constantly engaging in jokes or playful activities. This is typically affectionate, implying a person who enjoys making others laugh or feel comfortable.
   • Teasing or Mischievous: While mostly positive, "brincalhão" can also refer to someone who engages in teasing or light-hearted mischief. The intention here is playful, not malicious, but the teasing can occasionally border on annoying or excessive, depending on the context.
   • Informal and Fun: It reflects a casual, easy-going vibe. A "brincalhão" usually doesn't take life too seriously and can infuse humor into everyday situations, which can be contagious in social settings.
   • Jokester/Clown: Sometimes, "brincalhão" might refer to someone who is always making jokes, akin to a "class clown" or someone who frequently acts in a humorous, exaggerated way to entertain others.
   • Usage Context: This word can be used endearingly in both personal and professional settings, though in formal environments, it may not always be appropriate if the playful behavior is viewed as unprofessional.

   In short, "brincalhão" describes someone with a lighthearted, playful demeanor, who enjoys teasing and joking, often making them the fun, lively presence in any group.
   
   This is the person showcasing an ET Video as if it were real, keep that In mind;
   
   In the full-length interview, Dr. Italo describes the occasion and what he saw on the screen.
   He states at 2:40 that this colleague would like his opinion on a procedure he had done, "placed a valve, etc", referencing that this younger doctor had done a heart procedure. He states at 6:35 that he can't say if it was a hoax, because he was shown "there and then". He states at 9:35 that the video was on the doctor's computer at the hospital. He states that the creature had a waterdrop shape, and had a white sheet covering his lower half - he also states that the creature was moving. Do you know what this describes almost exactly? The scene at 1h11m of the movie Roswell: UFO Cover Up, from 1994. You can watch it here;
   Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h62uhVITYA
   
   
   So let's get it straight; This person who is known to be a jokester, appears with a video of an alien autopsy that is very similar to a movie that was released two years prior, on his computer both at work in the hospital and on his home, showed it to several friends, allegedly displayed it to everybody who went to his house (as stated by Dr. Italo), and such video never got leaked nor referenced by anyone else, ever.
   
   I think we can infer that Dr. "Censored" was showing a VHS tape or video file of the movie, and the low resolution of tube monitors from the mid-90s aided a lot in viewers being unable to identify what was shown.
   
   
9. There was no such claim in 1996 other than the Farmer couple, which are mentioned.
10. I will not give credence to anything that is not substantiated by either evidence or credible testimony. Most of these events you mentioned were "remembered" years after happening. As you might not have realized, the chronological order is of events as they were publicly declared, and not as they are alleged to have happened.

 

[BoulderRiver]

Jan 20, 2026 is the 30th anniversary of the Varginha Incident.

Expect a wave of pseudo-documentaries and sensational retellings. I've compiled a 70-page, source-checked analysis (≈140k characters) organized by when claims first appeared in the record: books, interviews, TV, newspapers, and official notes. Short version of my assessment:

• My conclusion (opinion, non-legal, evidence-based): Ufologist Vitório Pacaccini appears to be the primary architect of the narrative.
• What likely happened: the three girls had a real, frightening experience influenced by local folklore, religion, and exhaustion — not a extraterrestrial encounter. A ufologist lived nearby and proposed it could be an alien, He told another friend, who had executive friends in the media.
• What amplified it: initial showcase by brazil biggest tv show Fantástico and later retellings created incentives for more elaborate claims on all national media.

If you want a citation for any specific point in time or claim, I'll be happy to link the newspaper scans, interview timestamps, or documentary clips that support my opinions and why.

---

How I worked (short methodology)

1. Collected contemporary sources first (newspapers, police/military documents, early interviews).
2. Mapped each claim to the first place it was published/recorded (not to its alleged date).
3. Marked later retellings and checked for shifts, contradictions, or additions.
4. Rated source reliability (A–F) and claim credibility (1–6). See legend below.

Why this matters: a memorable later story is not the same as contemporaneous evidence.

I used a provenance lens: I keep those two judgments separate because a credible person can pass along bad hearsay, and a shaky source can still point to verifiable facts.


Source reliability (letter) — how much the source itself is trusted. A = Your Saint of a Latina Grandmother, F = Worse than a liar

• A — Direct access / eyewitness / official with demonstrated accuracy
• B — Usually reliable; plausible access; minor hearsay
• C — Limited access; secondhand; mixed track record
• D — Poor access or known reliability problems
• E — Actively deceptive or proven liar
• F — Unknown / cannot be judged

Information credibility (number) — how well the claim is supported. 1 = Excellent claim, 6 = Middle school fanfiction.

• 1 — Confirmed independently (records, multiple unrelated witnesses)
• 2 — Probably true (some corroboration or strong detail)
• 3 — Possible (single-source, limited indicators)
• 4 — Doubtful (contradictions, implausible details)
• 5 — Improbable
• 6 — No basis to judge

The three women's original sighting (Liliane, Valquíria, Kátia)

Tag: B2 - Reliable and Probably True
Takeaway: A genuinely experienced emotional/perceptual episode. Credible as an eyewitness event, but insufficient alone to prove real.
Why: Several details are contemporaneous and consistent across 30 years of retellings; they were interviewed directly early on (primary witnesses). Still, perception under stress and cultural framing make the extraordinary-claim burden high. Experienced narratives are subjective and often does not translate precisely into reality.

National media amplification

Tag: A2 - Verifiable media and social proof of influence
Takeaway: Media coverage is well-documented and explains the national spread and feedback loop of the myth.
Why: Broadcast dates and large-audience reach are verifiable; media coverage changed local incentives and likely attracted later witnesses/retellings.

The Cassette Testimony

Tag: E4 - Highly Likely to be False Testimony and Hoaxed
Takeaway: The serviceman's cassette interview is an important primary artifact because it is what springs the suggestion of army presence.
Why: the Firefighter who provided the testimony admitted in 2019 to have been requested to lie by Ufologist Vitório Pacaccini. The narrative has also several inconsistencies with events that can be independently checked.

The Men In Black and the Attempt to Bribe the Girls

Tag: B3 - It probably happened, but the media sold a fun story instead of the facts
Takeaway: They were evangelical preachers of a known TV channel.
Why: The suit attire is expected of the Preachers of Rede Record Network, which had interest in denying the alien narrative for religious and economic reasons. Suffering with plummeting ratings for more than a month, it was the only channel that didn't exploit about the Varginha case.

Army convoy / Military Presence in Varginha

Tag: D5 - Likely to be False Testimony and Hoaxed
Takeaway: Intriguing and detailed, but very low credibility because it depends mainly on later third-party account and single-source testimonies that lacks independent corroboration and have several contradictions and implausible details.
Why: Lots of descriptive detail exists (Pacaccini's witnesses accounts), but these rely on whistleblowers whose identity was not independently verified, who are not directly corroborated by contemporaneous military or newspaper records; official sources deny unusual activity and truck movements have plausible routine explanations. There are no records in any newspapers of military presence in the city's Hospitals, neither claim of shutdowns. All military cited by name by Pacaccini have come forward and all deny participation in any secret operation or convoy.

Policeman's Marco Eli Chereze - Capture of a Creature and Death by Alien Infection

Tag: E5 - Deceptive Nature of the Witness and Improbable events
Takeaway: Marco's clinical course and autopsy are well-documented medical facts and contradict exotic-infection theories.
Why: Informal hearsay at a party and an unconfirmed whistleblower that was allegedly presented by a third party to Pacaccini are the source of the Marco's Alien Capture and eventual Death story. Pacaccini talks to the chereze family alone, possibly priming/grooming them to accept this narrative, which is perpetrated only by one member of his family (Marco's Sister). There are hospital records, doctors' notes and the official autopsy detailing traditional infection by bacteria and cause of death by sepsis, possibly Hospital-Acquired Infection (HAI). There is no deathbed confession.

"Sérgio", the whistleblower who allegedly connected Pacaccini to two key witness

Tag: D5 - Unverifiable and improbable narrative
Takeaway: Unverifiable whistleblower and highly improbable to known both servicemen and high ranking scientists.
Why: Highly problematic identifiability and changing descriptions make this a weak link. The identity, role, and even the presence of "Sérgio" shift between editions of Pacaccini's books; the lack of clear independent verification and the later attempts to obscure identity reduce credibility.

Carlos de Souza crash report scene

Tag: D4 - Highly unreliable and inconsistent
Takeaway: Additional testimony adds color but suffers from inconsistent narratives, lack of physical corroboration, lack of eyewitnesses in populated area.
Why: There are several interviews with Mr. DeSouza on youtube, and all of them have inconsistencies with each other, including absolute different events and behaviours. The alleged crash occurred less than 200 meters from a homestead. There are several other houses and even a church nearby, and no corroboration to any military presence that undoubtedly would have been noticed, like the helicopters. Carlos' testimonies uses the same words for over 30 years to describe key aspects, something that is often seen in rehearsed testimonies instead of
legitimately experienced ones. Those words are influenced by the original girl's testimony, but taken out of context. For example; They didn't say the creature was covered in oil, but used a figurative speech to imply it was "sparkling" wet, as if sweating. Kátia is the only one to mention the ammonia odour when trying to associate a smell she perceived on a later visit, but corrected by another witness saying that it wasn't ammonia, but something else that was foul.

Pacaccini's Books

Tag: E4 - Unreliable retelling of events, highly anecdotical
Takeaway: Researcher-driven amplification and possible influence over witnesses weakens the independence of later claims.
Why: The first book was self-published and written in secret from his colleagues and published in october 1996, without corroboration of other ufologists. The book had 2.000 copies, with every unit being sold for R$27,50. Adjusting the price according to inflation, the book would be sold today for R$243,96 – Roughly $45,70 US Dollars as of October, 2025. Pacaccini would be prosecuted by the army for Defamation of the institution due to his book's statements, but the judge ruled that the claims were so ridiculous and it's methodology so underwhelming that it was impossible to take the work as non-fiction. Twenty-six years later, he would translate it to italian and english, then create a second edition in portuguese. Pacaccini's revisions on his work are subtle but alter the perception of the reader. Pacaccini also presents in both versions a heavily edited testimony of the first military witness.

Vitório Pacaccini's Narrative - the ufologist who has all the "evidence"

Tag: C4 - Conflict of Interests, behaviour and aspects of false testimony
Takeaway: Pacaccini appears to be an unreliable source of information and has financial ambitions with his narrative.
Why: In the same day he begins his investigation on the case, he is able to find an unknown witness and convince them to give a testimony on tape. He then proceeds to also find several other witnesses that do the same. 2 of the 3 witnesses would later confess to have been pressured to lie. He presents what appears to be a well rehearsed retelling of events referring to the case, even when asked to retell it differently, he uses the exact same words, structure, and passing. Several of the information he provided can be fact checked and proven inconsistent or wrong. He states that he was victim of several attempts on his life, including gunshots at his mother's home and on highways, but no official police reports nor witnesses were ever presented. He disappeared for 20 years, returning to the spotlight after 2022's Moment of Contact. Pacaccini states having seen a video of the creature, in 2012, but only went public with such information on the premiere of Moment of Contact. He states not mentioning it before due to an agreement. He is developing a project entitled "The Varginha Experience", a possible tourism attraction in the town. He was involved in the creation of the "Varginha Alien Memorial", a museum financed with public funds. Pattern of finding and amplifying witnesses. Very consistent with a storyteller shaping a narrative. This is my assessment based on the provenance trail; it is not a legal accusation.

 

[MonkeeSage]

I've compiled a 70-page, source-checked analysis

Sounds really useful. Is that available to view/download somewhere?

 

[Gaspa]

The three women's original sighting (Liliane, Valquíria, Kátia)

Tag: B2 - Reliable and Probably True
Takeaway: A genuinely experienced emotional/perceptual episode. Credible as an eyewitness event, but insufficient alone to prove real.
Why: Several details are contemporaneous and consistent across 30 years of retellings; they were interviewed directly early on (primary witnesses). Still, perception under stress and cultural framing make the extraordinary-claim burden high. Experienced narratives are subjective and often does not translate precisely into reality.

Just a reminder, as I'm sure you know, their first description was that they saw the devil.

Em uma entrevista feita na sede da EPTV Sul de Minas em 2006, elas contaram detalhes da história.
(...)
Elas seguiram para a casa das irmãs. A mãe delas estava em uma loja vizinha e correu para encontrar as meninas. "Aí eu falei: 'Mãe, eu vi o capeta'", relatou Liliane.

Rough translation:
In a 2006 interview, they told details of the story.
(...)
They went to the sisters' house. Their mother was in a store next-door and ran to meet the girls. "Then I said: 'Mom, I saw the devil'", reported Liliane.

Source - G1 ET de Varginha: caso completa 20 anos com mistérios e incertezas

 

[Gaspa]

2 of the 3 witnesses would later confess to have been pressured to lie.

Where have you found those confessions?

 

[BoulderRiver]

Sounds really useful. Is that available to view/download somewhere?

I'll make it available as soon as I can triple-check the references and edit a suitable argument that articulates the conclusion I've reached and shared here.

Just a reminder, as I'm sure you know, their first description was that they saw the devil.

Yes, that is a simple and fair way of putting it.
However, I would argue that this simplification led to most people missing several layers of local rural lore complexity that suggest the presence of more than just old Catholic symbolism.

One of Varginha's notable early 20th-century citizens was a landlord named Zé Gomes.
He commenced his career as a butcher before relocating to an old, secluded slaughterhouse on the outskirts of town. Subsequently, he achieved success and accumulated significant wealth as a rancher. Among his enduring legacies is the Fila Brasileiro, an aggressive mastiff breed employed for jaguar hunting, cattle guarding, and tracking runaway slaves. He expanded his success into real estate, developing streets, constructing residences, and leasing them to laborers working on his land. Around 30% of Varginha's development from village to city is credited to him. This type of steep social climb was unheard of in Brazil, a country founded by inherited wealth and extractivist latifundia. Locally, he is remembered as a stern man, as rich as he was a miser, with a temper capable of storming a tenant's house over an unpaid debt to reclaim what was owed, one way or another.

The rumor that circulated within the community was that Zé Gomes obtained his wealth through the practice of black magic rites. Allegations included animal sacrifices, pacts with the Devil, and even a bottled imp concealed within his basement. Public sentiment was a blend of moral panic and theatrical speculation. Whether or not Zé ever burned incense or muttered a spell was of lesser significance than the community's belief that he did. While he was still alive, locals swore he could summon "little devils": dark skinned, red-eyed, horned creatures... doesn't this remind you of a certain alien case?

To add even more weight to this urban legend, the Varginha's Group of Ufology and Parapsychology (GUPV) once presented an account that occurred in the late 80s or early 90s that also had a striking resemblance to the girl's sighting. Renowned local electrical engineer Malius de Figueiredo shared several laughing tales about a young, aspiring ritualist. While the youngster's experiments were often duds, his persistence was unwavering. He was an occultist who attempted to blend various schools of 'practical magic.' Over the course of many weeks, the group had been treated to some rather curious and often funny episodes involving the occultist and his eventual failures, until he ultimately succeeded.

After relentless dedication to his rituals, he had discovered how to open a portal of some kind. According to him, a host of strange creatures spilled through the passage. He described them as dark, small demons, slender with horns, and bulging crimson eyes. Anthropomorphic, but distinctly not human. Struggling to reverse the process, the ritualist managed to succeed partially, but the knowledge of what he had done and what he saw horrified and haunted him.

The engineer pressed the lad about where he had performed such a rite. The explanation provided was that the invocation required a cloistered wilderness, such as a forest. The most suitable place he could find was the thicket on Zé Gomes's estate, nestled right between the new neighborhoods of Jardim Andere and Santana.

That is the locale of the sighting by the girls, the immediate vicinity, the same patch of land that was Zé Gomes' São Domingos Farm.

In narrative terms, that's a dramatic coincidence. In sociological terms, it is also a textbook case of priming: people enter an event with a stock of images and metaphors already loaded (such as red eyes, horns, and demons), and those images shape what they notice, how they remember it, and how they recount it later.

Furthermore, the eldest of the three young women who witnessed the "creature" was Kátia (22) - a devout Evangelical Christian. She was the one who assumed that what she saw was the devil. The other women, sisters Liliane(16) and Valquíria(14), were also Christians but weren't so sure and to this day remain hesitant to label "it", stating that the sighting was simply something horrible, terrifying, and inhuman. The sisters would recreate their meeting in a video, and they state that after their sight, they ran downhill towards their home for about a mile or less, leaving them breathless, and forcing them to a trembling halt. "What did you see?" Valquíria managed to choke out. It is probable that at this moment, they infected each other's accounts.

Physical fatigue after a day's work in humid, hot conditions and a long walk home under a scorching sun can be exhausting to anyone, possibly leading to dehydration. These conditions, summed with the close emotional ties the women had, the perceived isolation of walking home through a desert part of town, and stress from the threat of a maniac on the loose, increase the susceptibility for a psychological phenomenon like Folie à deux, or Shared Delusional Disorder. A psychiatric syndrome suggests a delusional belief (and accompanying hallucinations) which is transmitted from one "primary" individual to one or more "secondary" individuals in close association.

When scrutinized, the sighting is best explained as a sincerely experienced, stress‐induced perceptual episode shaped by environmental fatigue, cultural fears, and expected cognitive biases, potentially amplified by a shared psychogenic reaction among three closely bonded girls. Trained psychologists could validly report that the witnesses honestly believed they saw something terrifying, without necessarily validating the creature's objective existence. Clinical endorsement of sincerity does not equate to endorsement of external reality; perception of reality is unreliable and prone to unintentional, subconscious narratives, with psychologists often distinguishing between "experiential truth" and "veridical truth."

Where have you found those confessions?

I've had no direct access to the confessions, but they are heavily implied to exist even by those who would rather they did not.
Sources are hyperlinked.

The claims are indirectly supported by Ubirajara Rodrigues, the first and main researcher of the case, in a December 2023 interview.
Ubirajara stated that he dismissed the credibility of the "main military witness," acknowledging that all of them, who had served as primary sources for the incident, should not have been accorded the level of reliability he previously attributed to their testimonies in 1996. Furthermore, he also made clear that these witnesses were low-ranking servicemen, implying that they would not have access to the information and narrative of any broad military operation, even less of a secret one.

The recordings are claimed to have been made by Ufologists João Marcelo Rios and Marco Leal.
Marco was a member of the paid crew for Moment of Contact, being credited as an advisor.
João Marcelo is a friend of Marco Leal, both being featured in several of each other's videos on their respective YouTube channels.
JMR has a track record of debunking ufology through evidence, often published on his Youtube Channel and his Blog.
JMR and ML tracked the first witness in 2019 and met with him three times from then to 2023, when he unfortunately passed.
The witness was Robson Luiz, a cook in the Varginha Fire Department. The other witness mentioned as having lied, is Moment of Contact's "Military X" , who in his 1996 testimony, was accompanied by another serviceman who also testified. It is stated by JMR [2] that Military X (and others) would also retract his statements and confess to being pressured to lie by "a Ufologist".

In 2024, JMR received a copy of the first 1996 cassette tape from Ubirajara and uploaded an edited version to YouTube. This edited version was labeled PART I, and cut out the voice of interviewer Vitório Pacaccini to avoid legal issues. We were told that the contents of the tape were already widely known to the media, but that is incorrect. Several embellishments and omissions occurred before it reached the wider public, the most notable one being that the whistleblower only heard hearsay about the creature. Several details of the recording's inconsistencies were also never previously reported on, such as Robson being a Kitchen Cook in the Firefighter department who would not participate in field operations, while also not working on the day of the event, and the officer who took him to the site of the capture was on leave during that time, visiting another town.

The recording being made public for the first time caused outrage in Vitório Pacaccini, who uploaded a video on the UFO Magazine official YouTube channel. Pacaccini, Marco Petit, UFO Magazine Editor Tichetti, published a video condemning the behaviour of both João Marcelo and Ubirajara Rodrigues, citing them -albeit indirectly- as "those small citizens of Varginha", "Scoundrels", "opportunist", among several other diffuse ad hominem insults. During his repudiation at 12:50, Pacaccini states that he gave counsel and orientation for the whistleblowers to deny all information previously given. "If any whistleblower feels threatened, simply deny [the previously given account]. This witness [Robson Luiz - the main military witness] denied everything because I gave him this orientation." Pacaccini had boasted since 1996 about the methods he employed to safeguard his sources and collaborators. Lies and denial were not among them. It is strange why Pacaccini would say this at this time, because the PART I video has no mention of Robson confessing or retracting his statements. The entire video is focused on the repudiation of João Marcelo Rios publishing the audio, which Vitório Pacaccini claims authorship, and therefore, it was not JMR's right to publish and he would face legal prosecution for that. According to Brazilian law, the property of the recording belongs to the producer of the phonogram (Pacaccini), unless there is an express license of use. Therefore, uploading the audio without a clear license from the producer is classified as "Unauthorized Use; editing, monetizing, or commercially exploiting without authorization". YouTube has mechanisms (Content ID, takedown) that the rights holder can use immediately to block/monetize/remove the content. As of today, the video is still online on JMR's channel.

After viewing the UFOlogists' outrage, JMR pinned his own comment in PART I, where he defended his reasons for publishing it, and stated that PART II would contain the 2019 interview with Robson, and would be published soon. It is implied in a blog post from 2020, that in this 2019 encounter, Robson was "persuaded by Pacaccini to lie". As of today, PART II has not yet been uploaded. When inquired why, João Marcelo revealed that there were financial reasons not to upload it, and he would state only that.

 

[JJB]

My short take on the Varginha incident is that it seems less like a genuine extraterrestrial encounter and more like a combination of a real, unsettling event and human tendencies to embellish stories.

Three young girls had a frightening experience, which was naturally shaped by local culture, religious ideas, and fatigue. Once a ufologist suggested an alien explanation and it got picked up by major media, the story quickly snowballed, with incentives for increasingly elaborate claims.

It's a classic case of social amplification: a small, ambiguous event becomes legendary not because of what actually happened, but because of how people interpreted it and how the media propagated those interpretations. From a critical standpoint, the Varginha incident is fascinating sociologically, but that is all.

 

[Ann K]

My short take on the Varginha incident is that it seems less like a genuine extraterrestrial encounter and more like a combination of a real, unsettling event and human tendencies to embellish stories.

Agreed, but what, pray tell, is a "genuine extraterrestrial encounter"? There's never been a verified one with which we could make comparisons.

 

[BoulderRiver]

My short take on the Varginha incident is that it seems less like a genuine extraterrestrial encounter and more like a combination of a real, unsettling event and human tendencies to embellish stories.

Three young girls had a frightening experience, which was naturally shaped by local culture, religious ideas, and fatigue. Once a ufologist suggested an alien explanation and it got picked up by major media, the story quickly snowballed, with incentives for increasingly elaborate claims.

It's a classic case of social amplification: a small, ambiguous event becomes legendary not because of what actually happened, but because of how people interpreted it and how the media propagated those interpretations. From a critical standpoint, the Varginha incident is fascinating sociologically, but that is all.

It's a great take!
I would argue against the "genuine extraterrestrial encounter" part, as Ann politely expressed above.
Articulating it as a "genuine traumatic experience" appears to be adequate.
Alien enthusiasts will demand an explanation for their sighting, which is the first and only piece of the Varginha puzzle that nobody will ever be able to provide.

I am comfortable with that.

 

[JMartJr]

Agreed, but what, pray tell, is a "genuine extraterrestrial encounter"? There's never been a verified one with which we could make comparisons.

Agreed, but if there ever is a first one, it will not be falsified because of the lack of a previous example for comparison!

I took JJB's point to be that there is adequate explanation for the event without having to posit that this incident was that first "genuine extraterrestrial encounter." Not that it failed to fit a non-existent pattern of real encounters with aliens, but that it DOES fit the pattern of an initial event that grows in the telling gets amplified by the media and molded by UFOlogy to resemble the memes and features that they believe come with encountering aliens.

 

[JJB]

I took JJB's point to be that there is adequate explanation for the event without having to posit that this incident was that first "genuine extraterrestrial encounter." Not that it failed to fit a non-existent pattern of real encounters with aliens, but that it DOES fit the pattern of an initial event that grows in the telling gets amplified by the media and molded by UFOlogy to resemble the memes and features that they believe come with encountering aliens.

Exactly - my point wasn't that it failed to fit an alien template, but that it fits perfectly into the human one. A small, confusing episode inflated by attention, speculation, and repetition until the ordinary parts are forgotten and only the sensational remains.

Because as far as I know, there has never been a proven authentic alien encounter - only ambiguous events that people interpret through that lens.

 

[BoulderRiver]

Pacaccini recently uploaded to his personal Instagram account the teaser he produced in 2023 while looking for financing to produce a film.
This occurred a few months after Moment of Contact's premiere and his return to Ufology.

This is the video, subtitled in English.


Source: https://imgur.com/a/teaser-incidente-em-varginha-por-vit-rio-pacaccini-WEaUw66





I don't think it's possible to beat a dead horse any further down its grave

 

[John J.]

This is the video, subtitled in English.

So, Officer, did you bring your gun? We're going to need it

There goes Brazil's invitation to the Galactic Council

 

[BoulderRiver]

Ross Coulthart interviews James Fox


Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zit-08rtkE


In it, both men make several claims of either unverified nature, make easily verifiable omissions, or just blatant errors.

10:00 — Carlos de Souza has given multiple, differing versions over 30 years; several of his accounts contradict earlier ones and aren't corroborated by nearby residents who would have heard vehicle/heli activity.

14:00 — The girls' sighting: it was Valquíria (14), not Kátia (22), who froze; Kátia pulled Valquíria away. The girls described the creature as frightened and trying to hide, and they never reported any form of communication.

19:30 — Officer Marco Eli Chereze: there is no trace of an APB or of a captured being. No evidence of capture. Claims that he had an arm scratch are not supported by his medical records or autopsy. The clinic cited would not have been open that Saturday at 19:00.

21:00 — Dr. Ítalo Venturelli said in 2023 he was shown a video by a younger colleague described as a "brincalhão" (prankster). His 2025 account may refer to seeing a video, not first-hand observation.

33:35 — Doctors and autopsy: Dr. Armando admitted Chereze to Regional Hospital, then transferred him to Bom Pastor in the same day, before performing detailed analyses; Dr. Janini performed tissue analysis of the autopsy only. The autopsy itself was performed by Dr. José da Frota Vasconcelos in a different facility.

44:30 — The autopsy was released on 29 May 1996. Later interviews (e.g., Janini's 2021 comments) are additions, not the original autopsy. The report attributes death to pneumonia from Klebsiella aerogenes and sepsis from Staphylococcus schleiferi, not from a modified or unkown pathogen. This is consistent with a likely hospital-acquired infection after multiple facility transfers (Three in total, not including the ICU admission).

42:00 — Reports that "Men in Black" attempt to pay the girls to deny sightings match accounts of TV-network actors/representatives; Rede Record had reasons to downplay the alien angle.

49:25 — The claim that the military identified the hospital subjects as a dwarven couple appears first and only in Bruce Burgess's 1998 documentary Beyond the Truth, which introduced later sensational details not present in earlier official investigations done and released by the same military.

 

[BoulderRiver]

In the late 2000s or early 2010s, the following text appeared on a Brazilian chess forum, Clube de Xadrez Online.
Dr. Ítalo Venturelli, the Doctor in Moment of Contact 2, is the one who signs its authorship. I took the liberty of translating it to english.

In it, the doctor-narrator frames a short piece as "fiction" built from various reports about an odd 1990s visitation in Varginha. Three creatures were seen by local girls; medical exams reveal bizarre neuroanatomy (a translucent, oversized skull, three ventricles, horn-like sensory channels). To test the creature they call "E," the townspeople bring him to their 1948 chess club and attempt a simple diagnostic: a chess game. E doesn't know human rules, which produces a surreal, philosophical exchange about rule-systems and creativity. The climax is a playful, paradoxical mating problem: a pawn promotes in a way that would create multiple kings and an impossible checkmate under conventional rules, but by "new rules" (and human inventiveness) White delivers a simultaneous mate to three black kings. E departs, mystified and respectful, and the piece closes.

THE UNIVERSAL


Well, I'll start by saying that this short story is nothing more than a "fiction," based on a compilation of accounts and facts about a chess game very different from the usual. I hesitated for many years before writing this piece.

There are some chess games with memorable titles, such as "Sempre Viva" and "The Immortal," so I decided to write "The Universal."

Legend has it that sometime in the 1990s our town of Varginha received, let's say, an unusual visit. Suddenly, out of nowhere, two creatures appeared and were seen by three local girls. After that, there are a number of facts and reports, but for those of us who play and love chess turned all of it into what could have been the most extraordinary event in human history.

From what is already known… I believe the apparently older of the three had some kind of problem—let's say with his internal "GPS." From all indications and from clinical examination, he showed what we call in medicine signs of increased intracranial pressure. Because his skull was larger than a human's and practically translucent, we could see dilation of certain structures that, in some respects, resembled human ones. The incredible thing was that, even without speaking aloud, the "conversation" was essentially logical.

Another interesting feature was that humans have what are called lateral ventricles—two of them, one on each side of the brain. In him we noticed three, with a larger one between the two. From that larger ventricle issued three types of small channels that ran toward the convexity and were especially prominent in the frontal region, like horns that some people referred to. To me they looked like sensitive receptors that communicated with his entire central nervous system.

I lay this out so that from now on we can talk about the relationship between this "fiction" and the game of chess.
Since we're in the countryside of Minas and given the potential repercussions of such an event, right after we corrected the immediate issue a question arose: how would we know if we had really solved it? We still had the other two, but one was very young—very small—and the other was quieter and hardly moved, as if not adapted to our dimension.

So, with the resources we had at the time, we decided to test him. But how do you test something you do not understand? Ask him a question? Ridiculous—even assuming these gentlemen know the human race well, since they've been around for quite some time. We concluded to test him in a very simple way: how about a game of chess? We know chess requires good memory, attention, reasoning, and steady nerves. In short, a solid test might give us an idea whether we could discharge him and send him on his way. The problem was: Mr. E did not know the rules.

We took Mr. E to our Chess Club, which has existed here in town since 1948 and sits next to a replica of a spacecraft so E would feel more at home.It's a calm, pleasant place where we could spend a long time alone. I had the privilege of explaining in detail what we were doing there.

Our chess colleagues were present to witness this historic event, including my teacher Gérson Peres and friends: Carlos Alberto Rezende, Hugo Sérgio, Breim, Antonino, Rogério, Rita, Marco Salles, Zezo, Italinho, Leka, Divi, Jé, Lâ, Cabé, André, José "pedacinho do céu," Ré, Regina, Sil, Miguel Giudicissi, my cousin Tito, "Cesar of combinations," Edson Kalaf, my father Mr. Italo Venturelli who taught me to play, my uncle Ângelo who taught me discovered check (using the kitchen cabinet door lid as a board) and who once took my beautiful Queen. Our champion Adriano Caldeira was there; he encouraged me to write this text and guided us through the nuances that arose during this magical game.
The "conversation" with E was fascinating, because unlike us humans—who need the back-and-forth flow of speech to understand what's being said—with him it seemed that when I spoke one word he understood the next, literally as if he grasped the word even before I voiced it. For a moment I thought of not speaking at all and just thinking, but since there were more people and E was in the room, I decided to speak anyway.

Understood. Let's proceed.

Between us, it was truly a trip. I played White and E played Black—after all, he already knew my first move. We continued until the position I report here, where I list the final locations of the pieces in this incredible and surprising ending.
White: Rc3, Ba6, Bb6, Nf4, Ng4, pawns on a7 and h6.
Black: Ra1, a2 and h2.

White plays Rc2, threatening mate with Bd4 (double check). Mr. E replies h1, promoting the pawn on the eighth rank. Here Mr. E requests: "black king!!" Well, that's impossible—the pawn, upon reaching the eighth rank, may be promoted to any piece except a king; certainly not to a black king, I said.
Mr. E: "That's not what I meant; I did everything to get the strongest piece on the board, which is a king!"

I thought: with such an illustrious visitor I could not disagree—so the matter became very difficult due to a paradox that could exist in our chess dimension. How do you checkmate a king if another king still exists on the board in playing condition?

But let's keep going; after all, this is already craziness.
If I checkmate with Be5 I create a big problem, because I mate one and stalemate the other. Then it's a draw? Or a half-win? Is there a half-win?

If Bb7, with mate on H, it stalemates Ra1!
Just imagining it here. I played A8 (I asked for one more black king). "What madness is this now," Mr. E said; "you humans are clever—can you do that?"
With the new rules that are emerging now, this is possible and even quite logical!

Only move for Black is Kb8. He plays h7; the black king goes to a8 again, the only move. The final and fantastic move: pawn h8 = White Queen, delivering checkmate to all three black kings at once. "Can that be done?" Mr. E asks.

Under the new rules, yes—and from his question we realized Mr. E could go on his way, knowing that even reading our thoughts he could never predict our creativity.
Go with God, Mr. E. He promised he would return, but saying that he never was, only, only.
Don't ask me more, for there is no more; only the only. Incredible; and because for me; only at the time and place of need; fair.
Thus.

Dr. Italo Denelle Venturelli is a neurosurgeon at the Regional Hospital in Varginha (MG). He served as administrative and financial director for ten years at hospitals in the state of Minas Gerais. He graduated in Medicine from Univas in Pouso Alegre (MG). He completed clinical neurology residency at Escola Paulista de Medicina and neurosurgery residency at Hospital Beneficência Portuguesa, São Paulo. He was a researcher at the Psychoanalysis Clinic of the Human Genome Project at the University of São Paulo (USP). Dr. Italo Venturelli is also a psychoanalyst and maintains a private practice in Varginha. He is a chess player, musician, and actor. Dr. Venturelli is versatile in his pursuits and a remarkable human being.


EDIT: "Liked by Alien Chess Fiend"
lol

 

[Rick Robson]

In the late 2000s or early 2010s, the following text appeared on a Brazilian chess forum, Clube de Xadrez Online.
Dr. Ítalo Venturelli, the Doctor in Moment of Contact 2, is the one who signs its authorship. I took the liberty of translating it to english.

In it, the doctor-narrator frames a short piece as "fiction" built from various reports about an odd 1990s visitation in Varginha. Three creatures were seen by local girls; medical exams reveal bizarre neuroanatomy (a translucent, oversized skull, three ventricles, horn-like sensory channels). To test the creature they call "E," the townspeople bring him to their 1948 chess club and attempt a simple diagnostic: a chess game. E doesn't know human rules, which produces a surreal, philosophical exchange about rule-systems and creativity. The climax is a playful, paradoxical mating problem: a pawn promotes in a way that would create multiple kings and an impossible checkmate under conventional rules, but by "new rules" (and human inventiveness) White delivers a simultaneous mate to three black kings. E departs, mystified and respectful, and the piece closes.

THE UNIVERSAL


Well, I'll start by saying that this short story is nothing more than a "fiction," based on a compilation of accounts and facts about a chess game very different from the usual. I hesitated for many years before writing this piece.

There are some chess games with memorable titles, such as "Sempre Viva" and "The Immortal," so I decided to write "The Universal."

Legend has it that sometime in the 1990s our town of Varginha received, let's say, an unusual visit. Suddenly, out of nowhere, two creatures appeared and were seen by three local girls. After that, there are a number of facts and reports, but for those of us who play and love chess turned all of it into what could have been the most extraordinary event in human history.

From what is already known… I believe the apparently older of the three had some kind of problem—let's say with his internal "GPS." From all indications and from clinical examination, he showed what we call in medicine signs of increased intracranial pressure. Because his skull was larger than a human's and practically translucent, we could see dilation of certain structures that, in some respects, resembled human ones. The incredible thing was that, even without speaking aloud, the "conversation" was essentially logical.

Another interesting feature was that humans have what are called lateral ventricles—two of them, one on each side of the brain. In him we noticed three, with a larger one between the two. From that larger ventricle issued three types of small channels that ran toward the convexity and were especially prominent in the frontal region, like horns that some people referred to. To me they looked like sensitive receptors that communicated with his entire central nervous system.

I lay this out so that from now on we can talk about the relationship between this "fiction" and the game of chess.
Since we're in the countryside of Minas and given the potential repercussions of such an event, right after we corrected the immediate issue a question arose: how would we know if we had really solved it? We still had the other two, but one was very young—very small—and the other was quieter and hardly moved, as if not adapted to our dimension.

So, with the resources we had at the time, we decided to test him. But how do you test something you do not understand? Ask him a question? Ridiculous—even assuming these gentlemen know the human race well, since they've been around for quite some time. We concluded to test him in a very simple way: how about a game of chess? We know chess requires good memory, attention, reasoning, and steady nerves. In short, a solid test might give us an idea whether we could discharge him and send him on his way. The problem was: Mr. E did not know the rules.

We took Mr. E to our Chess Club, which has existed here in town since 1948 and sits next to a replica of a spacecraft so E would feel more at home.It's a calm, pleasant place where we could spend a long time alone. I had the privilege of explaining in detail what we were doing there.

Our chess colleagues were present to witness this historic event, including my teacher Gérson Peres and friends: Carlos Alberto Rezende, Hugo Sérgio, Breim, Antonino, Rogério, Rita, Marco Salles, Zezo, Italinho, Leka, Divi, Jé, Lâ, Cabé, André, José "pedacinho do céu," Ré, Regina, Sil, Miguel Giudicissi, my cousin Tito, "Cesar of combinations," Edson Kalaf, my father Mr. Italo Venturelli who taught me to play, my uncle Ângelo who taught me discovered check (using the kitchen cabinet door lid as a board) and who once took my beautiful Queen. Our champion Adriano Caldeira was there; he encouraged me to write this text and guided us through the nuances that arose during this magical game.
The "conversation" with E was fascinating, because unlike us humans—who need the back-and-forth flow of speech to understand what's being said—with him it seemed that when I spoke one word he understood the next, literally as if he grasped the word even before I voiced it. For a moment I thought of not speaking at all and just thinking, but since there were more people and E was in the room, I decided to speak anyway.

Understood. Let's proceed.

Between us, it was truly a trip. I played White and E played Black—after all, he already knew my first move. We continued until the position I report here, where I list the final locations of the pieces in this incredible and surprising ending.
White: Rc3, Ba6, Bb6, Nf4, Ng4, pawns on a7 and h6.
Black: Ra1, a2 and h2.

White plays Rc2, threatening mate with Bd4 (double check). Mr. E replies h1, promoting the pawn on the eighth rank. Here Mr. E requests: "black king!!" Well, that's impossible—the pawn, upon reaching the eighth rank, may be promoted to any piece except a king; certainly not to a black king, I said.
Mr. E: "That's not what I meant; I did everything to get the strongest piece on the board, which is a king!"

I thought: with such an illustrious visitor I could not disagree—so the matter became very difficult due to a paradox that could exist in our chess dimension. How do you checkmate a king if another king still exists on the board in playing condition?

But let's keep going; after all, this is already craziness.
If I checkmate with Be5 I create a big problem, because I mate one and stalemate the other. Then it's a draw? Or a half-win? Is there a half-win?

If Bb7, with mate on H, it stalemates Ra1!
Just imagining it here. I played A8 (I asked for one more black king). "What madness is this now," Mr. E said; "you humans are clever—can you do that?"
With the new rules that are emerging now, this is possible and even quite logical!

Only move for Black is Kb8. He plays h7; the black king goes to a8 again, the only move. The final and fantastic move: pawn h8 = White Queen, delivering checkmate to all three black kings at once. "Can that be done?" Mr. E asks.

Under the new rules, yes—and from his question we realized Mr. E could go on his way, knowing that even reading our thoughts he could never predict our creativity.
Go with God, Mr. E. He promised he would return, but saying that he never was, only, only.
Don't ask me more, for there is no more; only the only. Incredible; and because for me; only at the time and place of need; fair.
Thus.

Dr. Italo Denelle Venturelli is a neurosurgeon at the Regional Hospital in Varginha (MG). He served as administrative and financial director for ten years at hospitals in the state of Minas Gerais. He graduated in Medicine from Univas in Pouso Alegre (MG). He completed clinical neurology residency at Escola Paulista de Medicina and neurosurgery residency at Hospital Beneficência Portuguesa, São Paulo. He was a researcher at the Psychoanalysis Clinic of the Human Genome Project at the University of São Paulo (USP). Dr. Italo Venturelli is also a psychoanalyst and maintains a private practice in Varginha. He is a chess player, musician, and actor. Dr. Venturelli is versatile in his pursuits and a remarkable human being.


EDIT: "Liked by Alien Chess Fiend"
lol

Truly fascinating, would you please share also the link for this external quote you posted?

Dr. Ítalo is actually well-known and highly regarded here in Brasil for his expertise in Neurosurgery. Surprisingly though, I wasn't aware of his involvement with the Varginha UFO incident up until now that his video was released. Well I'm from the state of Rio de Janeiro, but I'd assume even most of the mineiros (from the state of Minas Gerais) weren't aware either.

 

[BoulderRiver]

Truly fascinating, would you please share also the link for this external quote you posted?

The original post was made on a Brazilian Chess Online forum named "clube de xadrez online", but it ceased operation sometime ago. I had no luck with the WayBack Machine screenshots.

Dr. Italo posted a link to the forum thread contained the short story on Twitter, March 21st 2016r:

Source: https://x.com/ItaloVenturelli/status/712003784302415873?s=20

The link is
http://www.clubedexadrezonline.com.br/artigo.asp?doc=11026

Albeit no longer accessible on its original post, the original short story can be read in

https://ufo.com.br/testemunha-caso-varginha-filmagem/

https://gersonperes.com.br/ver/artigo/auniversal/

 

[BoulderRiver]

TV Globo de Televisão produced a 30-year special on the Varginha case.
It is a 3-episode docu-series, available on Globoplay: https://globoplay.globo.com/o-misterio-de-varginha/t/nFTcDsdqFw/

The first episode sets up the case, showcasing the mythology as it was reproduced over and over again.
The second episode explores the consequences of the media circus surrounding the case.
The final episode airs tonight, and the buildup suggests it will conclude the same thing I discussed here: Pacaccini convinced people that there was military involvement through fake accounts that he directed.

The last military witness, the only one who still hadn't come forward to retract his 1996 claims, has come forward stating he was told what to say on camera by Pacaccini.

 

[NorCal Dave]

TV Globo de Televisão produced a 30-year special on the Varginha case.
It is a 3-episode docu-series, available on Globoplay: https://globoplay.globo.com/o-misterio-de-varginha/t/nFTcDsdqFw/

The first episode sets up the case, showcasing the mythology as it was reproduced over and over again.
The second episode explores the consequences of the media circus surrounding the case.
The final episode airs tonight, and the buildup suggests it will conclude the same thing I discussed here: Pacaccini convinced people that there was military involvement through fake accounts that he directed.

The last military witness, the only one who still hadn't come forward to retract his 1996 claims, has come forward stating he was told what to say on camera by Pacaccini.

Perhaps I misunderstood you. Are you suggesting that someone produced a full 3 part documentary for mass market TV that DEBUNKS the Brazilian Roswell?!

 

[BoulderRiver]

Perhaps I misunderstood you. Are you suggesting that someone produced a full 3 part documentary for mass market TV that DEBUNKS the Brazilian Roswell?!

Yessir.
The very same network that originally catapulted this case into the national consciousness has now become the one to systematically dismantle it. The production used some sharp visual storytelling to enhance its narrative, the background choice was very creative.

The third and final installment, which aired yesterday, focused heavily on discrediting Vitório Pacaccini. The documentary brought forward several accounts alleging that Pacaccini paid individuals to propagate fabrications. For instance, hotel owners claimed to have witnessed him coordinating with servicemen who were reportedly compensated, one of them with a motorcycle in exchange for their testimony; Probably Robson Luiz, the firefighter (serviceman number 1). Serviceman number 3 was allegedly promised R$5,000 in 1996. That debt was apparently never settled. While "Serviceman Number 2" persists in his claims, his account is riddled with the same types of inconsistencies that have plagued previous military whistleblowers. He was also identified by his peers as the only one who actually received direct payment from Pacaccini. Pacaccini and Serviceman 2 both deny.

Pacaccini was visibly shaken. He literally "sweated bullets" when the interview changed from his rehearsed format of retelling the mythology, to a questioning. The show highlighted the stark, uncomfortable socioeconomic divide between the ufologist and the witnesses. The production showcased Pacaccini's global travels, a ferrari sports car he drives, and his efforts to sell a new an expanded edition of his book (sold in portuguse, english, and italian). In contrast, the three original witnesses (now middle-aged mothers) remain in poverty, still grappling with severe PTSD from the experience itself, and the lasting social fallout of the 1996 media circus and ridicule.

I'm not certain if English subtitles are available yet, but I doubt this will be the "final nail in the coffin" for dedicated conspiracy theorists. While Pacaccini's Instagram is currently flooded with people demanding transparency, a vocal segment of his followers remains fiercely loyal, dismissing the documentary as a calculated hit piece by a "corrupt" media giant.



Some further articles on national media you guys can easily translate:

To believe or not to believe: between detailed accounts and accusations of fabrication, find out what those involved in the Varginha ET case have to say.
https://g1.globo.com/mg/sul-de-mina...dizem-envolvidos-no-caso-et-de-varginha.ghtml

Witnesses report bullying and depression after Varginha UFO case: 'They said I might be pregnant with an alien'
https://g1.globo.com/mg/sul-de-mina...falaram-que-poderia-estar-gravida-do-et.ghtml

Varginha Case: 30 years later, former soldier says he fabricated story about an alien after being offered R$ 5,000 by a ufologist: 'The story didn't happen'
Former soldier gave an unprecedented interview, shown this Thursday (8), in the documentary 'The Mystery of Varginha'. Without revealing his identity, he denied a 1996 statement about the Army's involvement in the case.
https://g1.globo.com/mg/sul-de-mina...5-mil-de-ufologo-historia-nao-aconteceu.ghtml

 

[jdog]

Yessir.
The very same network that originally catapulted this case into the national consciousness has now become the one to systematically dismantle it. The production used some sharp visual storytelling to enhance its narrative, the background choice was very creative.

The third and final installment, which aired yesterday, focused heavily on discrediting Vitório Pacaccini. The documentary brought forward several accounts alleging that Pacaccini paid individuals to propagate fabrications. For instance, hotel owners claimed to have witnessed him coordinating with servicemen who were reportedly compensated, one of them with a motorcycle in exchange for their testimony; Probably Robson Luiz, the firefighter (serviceman number 1). Serviceman number 3 was allegedly promised R$5,000 in 1996. That debt was apparently never settled. While "Serviceman Number 2" persists in his claims, his account is riddled with the same types of inconsistencies that have plagued previous military whistleblowers. He was also identified by his peers as the only one who actually received direct payment from Pacaccini. Pacaccini and Serviceman 2 both deny.

Pacaccini was visibly shaken. He literally "sweated bullets" when the interview changed from his rehearsed format of retelling the mythology, to a questioning. The show highlighted the stark, uncomfortable socioeconomic divide between the ufologist and the witnesses. The production showcased Pacaccini's global travels, a ferrari sports car he drives, and his efforts to sell a new an expanded edition of his book (sold in portuguse, english, and italian). In contrast, the three original witnesses (now middle-aged mothers) remain in poverty, still grappling with severe PTSD from the experience itself, and the lasting social fallout of the 1996 media circus and ridicule.

View attachment 87616


View attachment 87617


I'm not certain if English subtitles are available yet, but I doubt this will be the "final nail in the coffin" for dedicated conspiracy theorists. While Pacaccini's Instagram is currently flooded with people demanding transparency, a vocal segment of his followers remains fiercely loyal, dismissing the documentary as a calculated hit piece by a "corrupt" media giant.



Some further articles on national media you guys can easily translate:

To believe or not to believe: between detailed accounts and accusations of fabrication, find out what those involved in the Varginha ET case have to say.
https://g1.globo.com/mg/sul-de-mina...dizem-envolvidos-no-caso-et-de-varginha.ghtml

Witnesses report bullying and depression after Varginha UFO case: 'They said I might be pregnant with an alien'
https://g1.globo.com/mg/sul-de-mina...falaram-que-poderia-estar-gravida-do-et.ghtml

Varginha Case: 30 years later, former soldier says he fabricated story about an alien after being offered R$ 5,000 by a ufologist: 'The story didn't happen'
Former soldier gave an unprecedented interview, shown this Thursday (8), in the documentary 'The Mystery of Varginha'. Without revealing his identity, he denied a 1996 statement about the Army's involvement in the case.
https://g1.globo.com/mg/sul-de-mina...5-mil-de-ufologo-historia-nao-aconteceu.ghtml

It's getting the usual responses on /r/ufos:

• Attacking the reliability of the witnesses is part of a cover-up; now I believe even more; and/or
• Encountering UFOs/aliens causes memory lapses, you can't use inconsistencies to poke holes in stories; and/or
• People lied about not seeing anything at the time to protect their jobs.
• Date/location inconsistencies could be explained by two crashes a week apart.