1977 Colares UFO Flap / Operação Prato

[Ann K]

The case of the fictitious "Slenderman" is a more recent example of a story that spread and caused panic. It seems to have been particularly prevalent with young girls, many of whom found its fictitious persona as a capturer of children to be believable.

Beginning in 2014, a moral panic occurred over the Slender Man after readers of his fiction were connected to several violent acts, particularly a near-fatal stabbing of a 12-year-old girl in Waukesha, Wisconsin.[1]​ The stabbing inspired the documentary Beware the Slenderman, which was released in 2016.
........
The Slender Man was created on June 10, 2009, on a thread in the Something Awful Internet forum.[8]​[9]​[10]​ The thread was a Photoshop contest in which users were challenged to "create paranormal images."
........
The Slender Man soon went viral,[19]​ spawning numerous works of fanart, cosplay, and online fiction known as "creepypasta"—horror stories told in short snatches of easily copyable text that spread from site to site.[20]​ Divorced from its original creator, the Slender Man became the subject of myriad stories by multiple authors within an overarching mythos.[3]​

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

 

[BoulderRiver]

Regarding the alleged fatalities, I could not find anything substantial. The only person to perpetuate that was Jacques Vallee and he's not the most reliable source, no other source mentions death, just these injuries.

The first rumors of death that are attributed to the Phenomenon was from a small notice on the left corner on page 16 of the Newspaper "A Província do Pará", on 11th of July 1977 - stating that "Inhabitants of 3 regional cities and its villages were still alarmed at a flying object that shone its headlights and, according to the citizens, drained their blood, causing death - two deaths were already reported, but not made official"

The first confirmed death was a woodcutter on 25th April 1977, named José Souza(22), in the Ilha do Carangueijo ("Island of Crabs"). José and three other men, Apolinário, Auleriano, and Firmino, went to the island to cut chop trees for wood. The men had dinner by 18:00, and were asleep by 20;00, expecting to wake around noon with the rise of the tide, as they'd done at least a hundred times before. The rocking of the boat as the stream filled up and the sound of the water hitting the hull was a great alarm clock. This time, they awoke at daybreak, around 5AM. José was dead in his hammock, Firmino was burned, bloated, and unconscious and beneath Aureliano's Rug, while Aureliano was in Firmino's rug and severe pain due to unexplained burns. This Is the police report. Firmino was in a coma for a week and had to spend more than a month in the hospital. A large part of his body had suffered second-degree burns. The most serious burns were on the left side of his ribs, the inside of his left arm, and on his forehead. The muscles in his arm were so damaged that the fingers of his left hand became permanently twisted inward, almost with no mobility. No autopsy was performed on José's body; São Luis is near the equator, and after 24 hours in the heat, the body was already in an advanced state of decomposition. The doctor who examined him at the Medical Examiner's Office stated in his report that there were no cuts or bruises on the body. The death certificate declared that José had suffered a "…cerebrovascular accident, caused by high blood pressure, as a consequence of emotional shock." The cause of death was attributed to 'emotional shock.' None of the three men remembers the slightest detail of that night, not even under deep hypnosis. A burn must cause one of the most excruciating pains anyone can endure; however, two men were severely burned before midnight, and neither of them knew anything about the accident. Two doctors from the Medical Examiner's Office (IML) who examined Firmino at the hospital believed that the cause of the accident was a lightning strike. One of them was Dr. Carneiro Belfort, who was the director of the institute at the time and later became a professor of medicine at one of the universities in São Luis. "I wanted to see Firmino because the newspapers were saying that the injuries were caused by UFOs, and I needed to verify it personally," said Dr. Belfort. "I have never seen a UFO and I do not believe in their existence. The burns were characteristic of lightning, but I cannot say that's what caused them. And if it wasn't, I don't know what could have happened. The man told me that he saw 'a fire' before he passed out."

"It would be impossible for a lightning strike to hit the sand, ricochet upwards, and then veer sideways, striking the boat. That doesn't happen. If it were the case, the lightning would have burned the tarp as well and wouldn't have hit two or three men at the same time because their positions on the boat were very different. For that to occur, a lightning bolt would also need to be as twisted as a winding path. Furthermore, it's unlikely that it could have killed one man without burning him. It's simply not possible for lightning to burn two men and kill a third without leaving a mark on his body" said Sergeant Costa.

Natalino Filho, the director of the São Luís weather station, stated that lightning could have struck the water and passed through it to the boat, as water is a good conductor of electricity. "But if that had happened, Apolinário would have died because he was lying on the floor, the closest point to the water," Natalino added; "There were definitely no burn marks on the boat. I personally inspected it, and it was a hellish adventure".

Public Health Specialist Wellaide Cecim Carvalho was the Director of the Integrated Healthcare Unit acting as a first response to Colares during the events. She is now a Psychiatrist and gave several interviews[1][2][3] about her participation in the Colares Crisis. She reports she was extremely skeptical of the phenomena, even after aiding over 80 patients who sought their aid after claiming to have been attacked. The symptoms they displayed were similar; a complete numbness in the limbs when hit by the light, inability to speak or shout, severe pain, and a weakness that lasted around two weeks - a weakness that she described as if they've been "sedated". She is aware of Three deaths that occurred - two in October and the last one in November or December.

1. A woman was brought to the Integrated Healthcare Unit of Colares and received the necessary medication while we monitored her blood pressure. 72 years old, had heart problems, and hypertension. After 36 hours and with no results nor reaction from the patient, the director requested the mayor to take that lady to the State Employees Hospital in Belém. "We even had difficulty getting her into the car because she was having muscle spasms, as in a permanent contraction of the muscle. She had to be laid down on the back seat of the car, with her legs sticking out of the window. She looked almost cadaveric, just like the animals that had been attacked, completely dried out and stiff. As soon as she arrived at the hospital, she died. In her obituary, the cause of death was declared 'Unknown'"
2. "A younger patient, around 44 years old, but who also had hypertension. She was attacked in her home by a light that came in through the window. The victim had the same characteristics as the first, and the cause of death was also not clarified."
3. "The woman was brought to my house by her godmother. She was in a deplorable state and spoke with difficulty. She was attacked in the same way as the others, but she died six years after coming into contact with the light. She developed red spots on her skin [Systemic erythematous nuclei] and renal failure."

Animals were also supposed victims of this "Vampire Light";

"Animals were more frequently victimized than humans. By dawn, they exhibited convulsive crises and died. When they hadn't been attacked recently, they appeared burned, dried out, and charred, with their eyes open and wide, as if they had been placed alive in an oven. Ducks, chickens, pigs, dogs, cattle... The areas around the scenes of the attacks smelled of burnt fur. No one had the courage to eat them, even if we were hungry and had nothing to eat. No one even tried, as we were terrified. It was from there that we started fishing for crabs..."

Addendum: Dr. Carvalho remained skeptical until she saw a "Shining object, with a color different from everything I've ever seen -not like silver, not like metal- very bright, that I assumed to be as high as a 10-story building and as big as a 15-story building, performing several elliptical maneuvers in the sky above my head."

Speaking of, I could only find one image of a doctor examining the injuries of an alleged victim.

That picture was taken by Dr. Wilton Reis.
Orlando Zoghbi is the Medic in that picture. He was a fierce skeptic, who briefly interviewed 3 women in 77. He stated that it was odd that only young women were victims of the "vampire light", and that the injuries were most likely self-inflicted in a terror response. Here's a translation of the statement he provided to the Newspaper "A Provincia do Pará" on the 20th of November 1977, after examining 3 victims;

1. The streets where patients live are destitute - the lives of the most rudimentary elements of survival in the sector of: education, health, transport, food, socially and economically
2. the age of the patients corresponds to the critical range of adolescents: they want everything and little or almost they produce nothing physically.
3. In adolescence, a transitional area of life, the dream phase, repressed desires are immense for the mind fertile of ideas, in which the totality of material area is not satisfied, generating information numerous to the sub and unconscious.
4. The visions observed by the patients attacked by the "extraterrestrial Vampire" are the result of the state of the soul, in tune with the unconscious, producing a psychomotor excitement.
5. The lesions observed in patients are horror reactions caused by adrenergic shock, because women are instinctively protective of their breasts, and a motoraction contracting the hands in a claw caused the lesions of the mammary glands.
6. The emotional state in which they are the patients advises that they be assisted, receiving all the attention of a psychologist.
7. So far we have talked about the guinea pig patients of 'alien vampires'. Now we will analyze the triggering factor of the problem that was processed in a chain reaction, originating in the municipality of Viseu and reported in the newspapers of several states… Logically, anywhere in the world, we will finding supersensitive people, who are barely spoken to they have a symptom and are already feeling it.
8. The collective neurosis that is observed in a depoliticized city, as seen in the columns police officers due to growing wave of robberies, motivated by the disorderly migration of the country man for Belém, was reinforced by the media misdirected, generating panic in the inhabitants with less reasoning power. He created faith in the existence of this "extraterrestrial vampire." In short: the population of Belém can be calm because there is no evidence of the existence of a supernatural or extraterrestrial beings that are attacking people, especially young girls. The people who are terrified by the false idea of being attacked, should be referred to a psychologist.
9. Finally: the media must clarify the facts seeking to instill in the population population security and never insecurity.

The woman in that picture is Aurora Fernandes; she's still alive and conceded the interview below.
On that same video, is also the interview with Dr. Wilton Reis, who also gave aid to Aurora with Dr. Zoghbi. He stated that Aurora's injuries perforated skin and removed dermis and epidermis, incisions spherical in nature as it would be expected from the pincers of a biopsy.


Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCbM_GWtCY0

 

[John J.]

@BoulderRiver usefully gives us some quotes from a local newspaper, A Província do Pará", 11th of July 1977,

"Inhabitants of 3 regional cities and its villages were still alarmed at a flying object that shone its headlights and, according to the citizens, drained their blood, causing death - two deaths were already reported, but not made official"

The Colares reports include various accounts of blood being drained from people and animals.

A then-local health worker, Public Health Specialist Wellaide Cecim Carvalho has subsequently commented on the case:

A woman was brought to the Integrated Healthcare Unit of Colares and received the necessary medication while we monitored her blood pressure. 72 years old, had heart problems, and hypertension... ...After 36 hours and with no results nor reaction from the patient, the director requested the mayor to take that lady to the State Employees Hospital in Belém. ... She looked almost cadaveric, just like the animals that had been attacked, completely dried out and stiff.

A younger patient, around 44 years old, but who also had hypertension.... ...The victim had the same characteristics as the first...

(My emphases added).

If the patients concerned had had a dangerous volume of blood somehow removed, they would have less volume of blood in their circulatory system.

Significant loss of circulating volume- hypovolemia- is not marked by hypertension (unhealthily high blood pressure), but, if the loss is severe, it will cause hypotension (unhealthily low BP).

The Cleveland Clinic website has some information on hypovolemia, last reviewed 16th April 2022:

What is hypovolemic shock?
Hypovolemic shock is a dangerous condition in which your heart can't get your body the blood (and oxygen) it needs to function. This happens because you've lost a large amount ― more than 20% ― of your blood volume.

What happens to blood pressure during hypovolemic shock?
At first, your diastolic (bottom or second number) blood pressure increases. As you keep losing blood or fluids, your systolic (top or first number) blood pressure comes down.

(The temporary rise in diastolic blood pressure would not be mistaken as a sign of hypertension).

The article lists four stages of hypovolemic shock:

Stage 1: You've lost 15% of your body's blood (750 mL or about 25 ounces). Blood pressure and heart rate may still be normal at this point.

Stage 2: You've lost 15% to 30% of your body's blood (750 mL to 1,500 mL or up to almost 51 ounces). Your heart rate starts to go up and you start to breathe faster.

Stage 3: You've lost 30% to 40% of your blood (1,500 to 2,000 mL or up to 68 ounces). Your blood pressure drops very low and your heart rate and breathing get faster. You can't produce much pee.

Stage 4: You've lost more than 40% of your body's blood (more than 2,000 mL or 68 ounces). Your blood pressure is low and your heart rate is high. You're producing very little or no pee.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22795-hypovolemic-shock

(Hypovolemia can result from a number of causes, not just direct blood loss- "bleeding out", haemorrhagic shock.)
Low urine production results from poor perfusion of the kidneys, which are reliant on a reasonable BP being maintained.

Pretty much any patient with a serious unexplained illness, reviewed by a healthcare professional, will have their pulse, temperature and blood pressure measured, anywhere in the World.
Someone who has lost a lot of blood, or who has a low circulatory volume for whatever reason, will have a low blood pressure and a fast pulse as the heart races to maintain perfusion.

Wellaide Cecim Carvalho does not mention any attempt to rehydrate or transfuse the 72 year-old lady, or explain how a "completely dried out" person can be hypertensive.

Quoting Wellaide Cecim Carvalho again, talking about the 3rd "UFO victim" that she recalls (with my bold),

The woman was brought to my house by her godmother. She was in a deplorable state and spoke with difficulty. She was attacked in the same way as the others, but she died six years after coming into contact with the light.

What happened in the intervening six years?

Maybe this unfortunate woman died for a reason not connected with aliens from space. Just putting it out there...

 

[BoulderRiver]

Pretty much any patient with a serious unexplained illness, reviewed by a healthcare professional, will have their pulse, temperature and blood pressure measured, anywhere in the World. Someone who has lost a lot of blood, or who has a low circulatory volume for whatever reason, will have a low blood pressure and a fast pulse as the heart races to maintain perfusion.

I believe there has been some miscommunication here due to Portuguese <-> English limitations; allow me to be clearer:
The spoken word of Dr. Carvalho communicates that the patients had a medical history of hypertension; they were already prior patients who displayed cardiac limitations. Their medical records and files are/were expected to be accessible by their physicians, and their family members would also have reported on the matter. They didn't necessarily display signs of hypertension when sought help after the "attacks".

That being said, it was Wellaide Cecim Carvalho's opinion that the two deaths of her cardiac patients were related to the victim's inability to recover from the "attack", whatever that means. The third victim developed Lupus and a nefrologic insuficiency in the intervening years - there's no direct link or correlation with the alleged attack - but I suppose it's in good spirits to report on the matter for whatever value it may have in the upcoming years.

 

[John J.]

I believe there has been some miscommunication here due to Portuguese <-> English limitations; allow me to be clearer:
The spoken word of Dr. Carvalho communicates that the patients had a medical history of hypertension

Ah, thank you for that.
Nevertheless, if the patients had unusually low blood pressure, I think we might expect Wellaide Cecim Carvalho to mention it directly, especially in these circumstances (claims of aliens taking people's blood).
As far as I know (I can't read Portuguese) she doesn't mention any attempts at fluid resuscitation. Even if cross-matched blood wasn't available at her location, surely somewhere within a few hours distance must have had fluids for IV administration.

But she doesn't really give any clinical details, just a sort of lay-person's impression of events.

People with a history of hypertension, and who don't have access to effective medication, are at greater risk of sudden thromboembolic events, including heart attacks and strokes.
Let's hope this was considered when the first two patients mentioned reached the clinic before any questions about UFO lights were asked.

 

[BoulderRiver]

Also considering how common cardiac insufficiencies are, I doubt these two were the only people with any form of heart problem among those who alleged to be attacked, including hypertension.

I would like to make a further clarification;
The supposed victims don't objectively state that their blood was drained - they say that whenever the "flying thing" shone its headlights/beam of light upon them, they *felt* as if they had their blood sucked; they seemed to think their energy was "absorbed"; they felt exhausted.

Upon reading all these newspaper stories, I find it amazing how loose the testimonies and details are relayed compared to what was spoken. Important nuances and details are lost, most regrettably often in favor of sensationalism, but sometimes also in favor of "quickly" attempting to put an end to the story.

 

[Rick Robson]

Just out of curiosity, does someone know what caused the doctor officially responsible for the Colares county death?

I'm Brasilian and always found suspicious the Brasilian military's behaviour concerning the Colares incident. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it well known from the available public documentation that the military went in loco/in situ uncountable times just to film, take photographs, take notes, so on and so forth? Not to say the several interviews they made with the local witnesses!

It's staggering how they left completely to their own the population from that region of the state of Pará, to say the least. And, lo and behold, Colares is only nearly a hundred kilometers from the capital Belém! It's therefore just unacceptable what the Brasilian military likely did then, and no wonder they should have been held accountable for all the harassment/harmness/damages caused to that Brasilian population for months.

It's just indignant to see this case today completely forgotten in my home country, and if proven those were no "Aliens" at all then it's even worse to see the total impunity of the authorities involved with those monstrous experiments.

 

[John J.]

I'm Brasilian and always found suspicious the Brasilian military's behaviour concerning the Colares incident.

There was a military dictatorship in Brazil at the time (1964-1985).
I'm speculating- frowned upon here- but if the authorities at state or national level took the Colares reports seriously,
their first priority might have been to investigate whether there was any connection with insurgents or foreign infiltrators, perhaps with weapons and/ or aircraft. Military regimes tend to be institutionally paranoid, and sometimes see threats where none exist (which in turn is used to justify harsh treatment of e.g. union organisers, outspoken priests/ academics, sometimes minority groups).

With no clear evidence of "enemy" activity in Colares, the regime may have tried to suppress/ dissuade rumours (not very successfully it seems). The government might not have wanted a precedent of private citizens or amateur groups investigating some cases of unexplained injuries or deaths.
There's no reason to suspect (AFAIK) that anyone reporting injuries/ illness during the Colares flap had actually been directly mistreated by the regime, but other people in other locations were.

...they should have been held accountable for all the harassment/harmness/damages caused to that Brasilian population for months.

...if proven those were no "Aliens" at all then it's even worse to see the total impunity of the authorities involved with those monstrous experiments.

I think it's possible that there wasn't a physical external agency responsible for the Colares reports. Misperceptions and gossip, fuelled by ambiguous photographs and sensationalist reporting may have caused a febrile atmosphere. Some people may have associated 'normal' illnesses and minor injuries, and finds of dead animals, with the fantastic reports.

...there are cases of people sustaining minor injuries from mundane causes -in some cases, in circumstances where it's hard to understand how the experiencer was unaware of the injury at the time that it happened- and ascribing those injuries to strange phenomena.
This sometimes seems to be repeated in others, taking on the characteristics of a sociogenic illness (or at least copied hoaxing behaviour with, regrettably, an element of self-harm).

 

[Rick Robson]

Some people may have associated 'normal' illnesses and minor injuries, and finds of dead animals, with the fantastic reports.

Maybe you're right, but who'd really know, as we're dealing with too vague assumptions.

 

[JMartJr]

Maybe you're right, but who'd really know, as we're dealing with too vague assumptions.

That's going to be a problem with this case. Lots of claims made, or supposedly made, by different people, 50 years ago, not a lot of hard info and indications that some of the translations we get are missing nuance and a bit over-blown*.

It LOOKS a lot like a mass psychogenic panic/episode (the correct terminology has evolved and I'm working on keeping up!) but exact details are lacking, and being fifty years ago that is probably never going to change.


*Example, were people reported to have been literally drained of blood, or to have FELT "drained (of blood," in other words listless and low energy?

Edit -- corrected a typo, meaning not change.

 

[Ann K]

Example, were people reported to have been literally drained of blood, or to have FELT "drained (of blood," in other words listless and low energy?

I think that's a normal reaction of people who experience a sudden fear or anxiety. There's also the well-known response of a person's face suddenly going pale.

The sudden sensation of "dropping" in your stomach experienced during moments of anxiety results from a decrease in blood supply to the digestive system—a component of the fight-or-flight response.

https://www.scienceabc.com/humans/w...onent%20of%20the%20fight-or-flight%20response.

 

[BoulderRiver]

Just out of curiosity, does someone know what caused the doctor officially responsible for the Colares county death?

Doctor Wellaide Cecim Carvalho is still alive.

I'm speculating- frowned upon here- but if the authorities at state or national level took the Colares reports seriously,
their first priority might have been to investigate whether there was any connection with insurgents or foreign infiltrators, perhaps with weapons and/ or aircraft.

You'd be correct. The initial statement was for the Air Force to investigate the flight capabilities of what was believed to be a Communist Guerrilla/insurgency in the area, as reported in the first chronological documentation released in 2008. the SNI, the main intelligence agency of the dictatorship and a central element of the National Information System, was also tasked to identify and advise on the thread - however, the SNI files are in a different class of files that are still undisclosed.

With no clear evidence of "enemy" activity in Colares, the regime may have tried to suppress/ dissuade rumours (not very successfully it seems). The government might not have wanted a precedent of private citizens or amateur groups investigating some cases of unexplained injuries or deaths.

The Military Operation in Colares remained a secret for 25 years after the end of the dictatorship. The Airforce only disclosed (some) of the records in 2009. The dictatorship officially ended in 1984. The whistleblower, Colonel Uyrangê Hollanda, gave his account in 1997.

Additionally, the Brigadier José Carlos Pereira gave an interview in 2008, shortly after the official reports regarding the FOIA request on Airforce UFO Files began to be declassified, where he stated verbatim:

"We have released everything that was possible. There are more questions than the Airforce can answer, in there."


Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WsyDhi7wt8

 

[Rick Robson]

Doctor Wellaide Cecim Carvalho is still alive.



You'd be correct. The initial statement was for the Air Force to investigate the flight capabilities of what was believed to be a Communist Guerrilla/insurgency in the area, as reported in the first chronological documentation released in 2008. the SNI, the main intelligence agency of the dictatorship and a central element of the National Information System, was also tasked to identify and advise on the thread - however, the SNI files are in a different class of files that are still undisclosed.



The Military Operation in Colares remained a secret for 25 years after the end of the dictatorship. The Airforce only disclosed (some) of the records in 2009. The dictatorship officially ended in 1984. The whistleblower, Colonel Uyrangê Hollanda, gave his account in 1997.

Additionally, the Brigadier José Carlos Pereira gave an interview in 2008, shortly after the official reports regarding the FOIA request on Airforce UFO Files began to be declassified, where he stated verbatim:

"We have released everything that was possible. There are more questions than the Airforce can answer, in there."


Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WsyDhi7wt8

Thank you for your informative clarification.

 

[NorCal Dave]

The first confirmed death was a woodcutter on 25th April 1977, named José Souza(22), in the Ilha do Carangueijo ("Island of Crabs"). José and three other men, Apolinário, Auleriano, and Firmino, went to the island to cut chop trees for wood. The men had dinner by 18:00, and were asleep by 20;00, expecting to wake around noon with the rise of the tide, as they'd done at least a hundred times before. The rocking of the boat as the stream filled up and the sound of the water hitting the hull was a great alarm clock. This time, they awoke at daybreak, around 5AM. José was dead in his hammock, Firmino was burned, bloated, and unconscious and beneath Aureliano's Rug, while Aureliano was in Firmino's rug and severe pain due to unexplained burns. This Is the police report. Firmino was in a coma for a week and had to spend more than a month in the hospital. A large part of his body had suffered second-degree burns. The most serious burns were on the left side of his ribs, the inside of his left arm, and on his forehead. The muscles in his arm were so damaged that the fingers of his left hand became permanently twisted inward, almost with no mobility. No autopsy was performed on José's body; São Luis is near the equator, and after 24 hours in the heat, the body was already in an advanced state of decomposition. The doctor who examined him at the Medical Examiner's Office stated in his report that there were no cuts or bruises on the body. The death certificate declared that José had suffered a "…cerebrovascular accident, caused by high blood pressure, as a consequence of emotional shock." The cause of death was attributed to 'emotional shock.' None of the three men remembers the slightest detail of that night, not even under deep hypnosis. A burn must cause one of the most excruciating pains anyone can endure; however, two men were severely burned before midnight, and neither of them knew anything about the accident. Two doctors from the Medical Examiner's Office (IML) who examined Firmino at the hospital believed that the cause of the accident was a lightning strike. One of them was Dr. Carneiro Belfort, who was the director of the institute at the time and later became a professor of medicine at one of the universities in São Luis. "I wanted to see Firmino because the newspapers were saying that the injuries were caused by UFOs, and I needed to verify it personally," said Dr. Belfort. "I have never seen a UFO and I do not believe in their existence. The burns were characteristic of lightning, but I cannot say that's what caused them. And if it wasn't, I don't know what could have happened. The man told me that he saw 'a fire' before he passed out."

Is this at all related to the Colares case? I know you said this is the first confirmed death, but it seems totally different, and the story is confusing as hell. I can't tell if you're paraphrasing something, translating it or if this is a quote from somewhere?

If it's a different case, I think we should move it to its own thread.

Now a bit of housekeeping:

Best practice here is to use the External Content, or EX tags, feature. When you copy and paste something from an external source, highlight it and then hit the EX button in the upper left:

This will offset the quote in a box so we all know it's not you talking. Then post your source. So, a line from your post might look like this, assuming the police report is the source:

This time, they awoke at daybreak, around 5AM. José was dead in his hammock, Firmino was burned, bloated, and unconscious and beneath Aureliano's Rug, while Aureliano was in Firmino's rug and severe pain due to unexplained burns.

https://www.fenomenum.com.br/novo/w...03/CasoMaranhao_Auleriano_folha1-713x1024.jpg

In this case the Police report is a .jpg, so it can't be quoted and it's in Portuguese. I don't know if what you posted is your translation of this report, or if you're getting the information from somewhere else. If the report is your source, then link directly like I did above and post the photo. I can't read it, but other may be able to:

Then clearly explain what you're translating for us.

If the source is other than the police report, than put that in an External Content box and provide the source. Again, if the source is in Portuguese, post it that way and then provide your translation.

Any questions please feel free to PM me. Just hover over my photo and an option to PM will appear.

 

[BoulderRiver]

Is this at all related to the Colares case? I know you said this is the first confirmed death, but it seems totally different, and the story is confusing as hell. I can't tell if you're paraphrasing something, translating it or if this is a quote from somewhere?

Yes - we call it "Colares", the name of the municipality upon which the Airforce made its base, but the phenomena occurred in 2 States: Pará and Maranhão. Pará is a state that has almost twice the area of Texas, and Maranhão is roughly the size of New Mexico.

This 'Carangueijos' story is indeed confusing: Four experienced loggers with burn marks and in pain, with their sleeping places switched, one of them so severely harmed that is comatose, and another one of them dead, but unburnt. It is considered the first of the "Colares Crisis victims" because it occurred in the same area, and the victims had circular burn marks on their flesh - second and third-degree burns. Two weeks later, a subsequent death happened not far from this 'Caranguejos' case; [upper left text;]

Title: "Cosmic Spark causes the death of Fisherman".
In the text; details of how a(another) boat with 4 fishermen was surprised by a storm and one of them was 'struck down' by a cosmic spark"

For further clarification: the source of the information on the previous post was the Forensic Report above, the witness testimony of Aureliano Alves in several newspapers and to the police [1], and the also the subsequent investigation made by the Police department [2].

We are fortunate enough to have a few of the newspapers from those years. I find it fascinating how the Titles and the description of the events took shape. Their development of their headlines is phenomenal;

https://operacaoprato.com/jornais-da-epoca-maranhao

1. Mysterious cosmic spark (...),
2. Flying Flame (...),
3. Mischievous Flying Light,
4. Flying Fireballs(...),
5. Flying object is seen by [educated person],
6. Strange object is seen(...),
7. UFO was seen elsewhere,
8. The Flying Saucers are Here,
9. Driver was inside a Flying Saucer for one Hour,
10. (Jimmy) Carter sends a letter to ExtraTerrestrials (lol)

Those last two titles refer to a hoax in Rio de Janeiro; and the Voyager probe launch.
None of the newspapers mention any military presence in the area.

Now a bit of housekeeping:

Fantastic, I will use much of this. Thanks for the help!

 

[John J.]

Four experienced loggers with burn marks and in pain, with their sleeping places switched, one of them so severely harmed that is comatose, and another one of them dead, but unburnt.

Title: "Cosmic Spark causes the death of Fisherman".
In the text; details of how a(another) boat with 4 fishermen was surprised by a storm and one of them was 'struck down' by a cosmic spark"

To be honest, both incidents seem (to me) to be the possible results of lightning strikes.
The loggers, if struck while sleeping, would have been particularly confused.
Anterograde amnesia- inability to recall events leading up to and including the time around e.g. a lightning strike- is common,

Table 3. Clinical characteristics of a lightning victim...
Neurologic
1: Immediate and transient: loss of consciousness (75%); amnesia and headache (86%)...

"A shocking injury: A clinical review of lightning injuries highlighting pitfalls and a treatment protocol",
van Ruler, Eikendal, Kooij, Tan, Injury 53 (10) 2022 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020138322005861

José was dead in his hammock, Firmino was burned, bloated, and unconscious and beneath Aureliano's Rug, while Aureliano was in Firmino's rug and severe pain due to unexplained burns. This Is the police report. Firmino was in a coma for a week...

Perhaps Aureliano regained consciousness, went to Firmino's aid- maybe Firmino wasn't on his rug- and placed his (Aurelino's) rug over Firmino, before collapsing onto or seeking shelter in Filimino's rug, and passing out again.

Using the abbreviation ELI for electrical and lightning injuries, C.J. Andrews and A.D. Reisner say

In a review (Andrews, 2006) lists problems with memory (71%)...
The symptoms of ELI have been viewed as similar to symptoms seen in concussions (Yarnell, 2005), head injuries (Primeau et al., 1995a, b)...

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5461597/,
"Neurological and neuropsychological consequences of electrical and lightning shock: review and theories of causation",
Neural Regeneration Research, 12 (5) 2017 (although the authors are mainly discussing longer-term sequelae of electrical shock).

It is considered the first of the "Colares Crisis victims" because it occurred in the same area, and the victims had circular burn marks on their flesh - second and third-degree burns.

(My emphasis); quoting "A shocking injury..." (2022) again,

Clinical characteristics of a lightning victim...
Dermatologic...
2. Punctiform: shown as clustered circular burns due to current passing out from deep tissue as it exits the body.

I wonder if the very unpleasant circumstances of the logging party, coupled with the inability of the survivors to account for what had happened, and maybe the role of others misinterpreting evidence for a lightning strike (amnesia, circular burns) as evidence of something more mysterious, caused this event to be a "trigger" (perhaps not the only one) for later "Colares reports" rooted in anxiety, hypervigilance and further misinterpretations by some local people.

 

[NorCal Dave]

I wonder if the very unpleasant circumstances of the logging party, coupled with the inability of the survivors to account for what had happened, and maybe the role of others misinterpreting evidence for a lightning strike (amnesia, circular burns) as evidence of something more mysterious, caused this event to be a "trigger" (perhaps not the only one) for later "Colares reports" rooted in anxiety, hypervigilance and further misinterpretations by some local people.

That sounds reasonable, though I still can't follow the story. I'm just using @BoulderRiver post as there is no source for this story given.

These 4 guys go out to an island where the harvest firewood in what seems like a little boat or raft:

José and three other men, Apolinário, Auleriano, and Firmino, went to the island to cut chop trees for wood. The men had dinner by 18:00, and were asleep by 20;00, expecting to wake around noon with the rise of the tide, as they'd done at least a hundred times before. The rocking of the boat as the stream filled up and the sound of the water hitting the hull was a great alarm clock.

It sounds like they would head up one of the smaller streams on the island in high tide, then spend time gathering wood and taking a siesta while waiting for the next high tide to float them back out and head to the mainland at night. I assume "noon" means midnight, unless they had dinner at 6:00pm, went to bed at 8:00pm and intended to sleep for 16 hours to ride the midday high tide?

Here is the island, which is near Sao Luis as mentioned and sorta near Colares:

The thing is, it's not that close. It's almost 300 miles away in the neighboring state of Maranhao, while Colares is in Para:

I know Brazil is a big country, but Colares seems to be little more than a small town of a few square miles that's ~300 miles from the woodcutter's island:

Next, we're told they awoke at 5:00am:

This time, they awoke at daybreak, around 5AM.

This makes it sound like they did in fact intend to sleep for 16 hours and let the midday tide wake them up. Regardless, how does anyone know when they woke up? Same for this part of the story:

José was dead in his hammock, Firmino was burned, bloated, and unconscious and beneath Aureliano's Rug, while Aureliano was in Firmino's rug and severe pain due to unexplained burns.

According to who? Apolinario isn't mentioned above, what happened to him? Is he the one reporting this? If the police or a rescue group showed up, again, how would they know when these guys woke up and who was in who's Rug (sleeping bag?). If this was Apolinario reporting this how does that work with this:

None of the three men remembers the slightest detail of that night, not even under deep hypnosis.

I guess maybe Apolinario was woken up by what ever happened, noticed it was dawn and that the other guys had swapped Rugs? He seems to drop out of the story.

And a lightning strike was suggested from the beginning:

Two doctors from the Medical Examiner's Office (IML) who examined Firmino at the hospital believed that the cause of the accident was a lightning strike.

The burns were characteristic of lightning, but I cannot say that's what caused them.

So, the UFO people took this probable lightning strike from 300 miles away that lacks any mention of UFOs and aliens and made it part of the Colares flap?

 

[BoulderRiver]

To be honest, both incidents seem (to me) to be the possible results of lightning strikes.

Yes, it is also what the forensic report suggests - "Cosmic Electricity" as a cause of the injuries, and what the police report is stated to report.
The man who was unharmed during the event was Apolinário, the only one sleeping on the deck of the 12-meter boat. A lightning strike could have hit the water and reached through the hull, and mismatching materials of the boat could have reduced the lightning charge as it went upwards. An interesting exercise would be to recreate spacially the positioning of these men on the boat.

After much research, I was unable to find José's original forensic report. I will attempt to reach a person who has the Forensic reports of the other two victims and see if he has this missing one.

Although Firmino's burned marks were described by Commissioner Venceslau as "Made by a hot Iron", on his forensic report it is written several better descriptions of branching wound patterns, with a classical Lichtenberg Figure appearance.

"Firmino days after the incident, in the Hospital"

Fimino in 1978

Aureliano, the lesser injured of the victims, also presented the same patterns os scarring, accompanied with difficulties in his sight; another suggestion for a lightning strike.

What I've perceived is that several Ufology "researchers" perpetuate the (yet) unsubstantiated rumor that the fatal victim, José Souza, had no burn marks. Initial reports state all of them had wounds. It is stated in several retellings of the occurrence, that the body of doctors who examined José's cadaver at the Medical Examiner's Office stated on his forensic and death report

"(...)no cuts or bruises on the body (...) Death resulted from cerebrovascular accident, caused by high blood pressure, as a consequence of emotional shock."

source: https://oarquivo.com.br/extraordinario/ufologia/4897-morte-na-ilha-do-caranguejo.html

 

[BoulderRiver]

I assume "noon" means midnight, unless they had dinner at 6:00pm, went to bed at 8:00pm and intended to sleep for 16 hours to ride the midday high tide?

they went to sleep at 8pm / 20:00, expecting to wake at 0am/00:00 with the high tide. That's roughly four hours.

I know Brazil is a big country, but Colares seems to be little more than a small town of a few square miles that's ~300 miles from the woodcutter's island:

The reports from the Vampire light weren't limited to Colares - Colares was the Airforce base; the documents and correspondence of the case were signed there - but the reports on newspapers and the investigated by the Airfoce spanned the waterways of these two states; most notably towns and villages by the river's mouth.

This makes it sound like they did in fact intend to sleep for 16 hours and let the midday tide wake them up. Regardless, how does anyone know when they woke up? Same for this part of the story:

They intended to sleep from 20:00 to 00:00, but woke up around 5am. I understand that not identifying the time of the day might be confusing for someone not experienced with the subtle nuances of living within the equator zone -where there is little to almost no change between the seasons of the Year-, but at 3am the night begins to get warmer with the dawning sunrays, which also awakens more sensible wildlife with different noises. I find this part of the narrative be fairly credible.

According to who? Apolinario isn't mentioned above, what happened to him? Is he the one reporting this? If the police or a rescue group showed up, again, how would they know when these guys woke up and who was in who's Rug (sleeping bag?). If this was Apolinario reporting this how does that work with this:

This is correct, it is Apolinários and Aureliano's recollection of events.

If this was Apolinario reporting this how does that work with this:

None of the three men remembers the slightest detail of that night, not even under deep hypnosis.

None of the three men remembers the slightest detail of (what happened between 20:00 and 05:00), not even under deep hypnosis.

I guess maybe Apolinario was woken up by what ever happened, noticed it was dawn and that the other guys had swapped Rugs? He seems to drop out of the story.

I suppose I made the story short - this is the full length of the case; https://www.fenomenum.com.br/novo/chupa-chupa1/

Apolinário woke at 5am with cries for help being yelled by Aureliano. With José Dead, He's the only able body to aid the injured Aureliano and the and unconscious Firmino.

So, the UFO people took this probable lightning strike from 300 miles away that lacks any mention of UFOs and aliens and made it part of the Colares flap?

This is the map for every newspaper occurrence regarding this phenomenon. It consists of the reports from the Newspapers; "A Provincia do Pará" (13 reports), "O Estado do Pará"(25 reports), "O Liberal"(21 reports), "Jornal Pequeno"(18 reports), "O Estado do Maranhão"(25 reports), "O Imparcial" (13 reports), "Jornal do Brasil" (3 reports), "Jornal Cidade de Pinheiro"(1 report).
I wonder how this would look like the same is done with addition of the official Air Force reports.


As stated before, some UFO people call it the Colares Flap to foreigners because the official airforce documents were signed from colares, where the base of operations for Operação Prato was located. In Brazil, it's either referred to as "Operação Prato", "Chupa-Chupa" ou "Luz Vampira" - the first name being that of the military operation, the others are names given to the "light" by locals. There are various different naming conventions throughout these 300km of distance between Colares and São Luis, with all thse 2000km of area where these sighting alleged attacks were reported. "Bicho" ("critter"), "Luz que Voa" ("Light that Flies"), and of course the classic "Disco Voador" (Flying Saucer). Curiously, several witnesses reported the light having the shape of a "Forno de fazer farinha", which translates to "flour-making oven" in English. It's typically used in traditional processes to dry and toast grains, such as cassava, before grinding them into flour. In 1977, most people didn't have electric light nor access to gas in these villages, so they often processed and cooked food communally. This is a "Flour-making oven";

"1,90 meters in diameter"

 

[Rick Robson]

As stated before, some UFO people call it the Colares Flap to foreigners because the official airforce documents were signed from colares, where the base of operations for Operação Prato was located. In Brazil, it's either referred to as "Operação Prato", "Chupa-Chupa" ou "Luz Vampira" - the first name being that of the military operation, the others are names given to the "light" by locals. There are various different naming conventions throughout these 300km of distance between Colares and São Luis, with all thse 2000km of area where these sighting alleged attacks were reported. "Bicho" ("critter"), "Luz que Voa" ("Light that Flies"), and of course the classic "Disco Voador" (Flying Saucer). Curiously, several witnesses reported the light having the shape of a "Forno de fazer farinha", which translates to "flour-making oven" in English. It's typically used in traditional processes to dry and toast grains, such as cassava, before grinding them into flour. In 1977, most people didn't have electric light nor access to gas in these villages, so they often processed and cooked food communally. This is a "Flour-making oven";

May I go briefly off-topic here?

Farinha de mandioca, isn't it?
We love it in my hometown Rio de Janeiro, the only Brasil 's state where mandioca is more commonly called aipim, which I like either fried or cooked. Many times I'd rather fried aipim than french fries.

 

[BoulderRiver]

I've just come across three pieces of information that are often not mentioned:

1. Even though the populous was experiencing weird phenomena for almost 14 months, the military operation officially only lasted 7 days (from 29/11/1977 to 05/12/1977) - there was a small scouting party before, which deemed it important for the Air Force to investigate. The operation was closed after Brigadier Protásio de Oliveira, the same Military officer who requested the operation, deemed that the commander (Uyrangê Hollanda de Lima) had "lost it (gone crazy)". The Brigadier General was a known Kardecist who refused Hollanda's reports and decided to end the investigation.
2. The Newspapers were ordered by the military dictatorship to stop reporting the events
3. The 'vampire light' continued its trajectory inland as the medical registries from municipalities state, with events diminishing in the 1980s, In the locations the light has previously "struck", there are accounts of events that happened as recently as last month.

 

[Ann K]

I've just come across three pieces of information that are often not mentioned:

1. Even though the populous was experiencing weird phenomena for almost 14 months, the military operation officially only lasted 7 days (from 29/11/1977 to 05/12/1977) - there was a small scouting party before, which deemed it important for the Air Force to investigate. The operation was closed after Brigadier Protásio de Oliveira, the same Military officer who requested the operation, deemed that the commander (Uyrangê Hollanda de Lima) had "lost it (gone crazy)". The Brigadier General was a known Kardecist who refused Hollanda's reports and decided to end the investigation.
2. The Newspapers were ordered by the military dictatorship to stop reporting the events
3. The 'vampire light' continued its trajectory inland as the medical registries from municipalities state, with events diminishing in the 1980s, In the locations the light has previously "struck", there are accounts of events that happened as recently as last month.

Sources, please.

 

[BoulderRiver]

Sources, please.

Good call!
I must say that the Wikipedia article for the Operação Prato in Brazilian-Portuguese is, as far as UFO pages go, very well written and hyperlinked to credible sources. As on my previous remarks;

1. The Declassified Military Documents are registered with date and time and are available online through the Brazilian National Archives (BNA). The first mission to Colares was from 20/10/1977 to 11/11/1977, and the second was from 29/11/1977 to 05/12/1977. The Second mission was what is known as Operação Prato - an undercover operation, with better equipment and trained members for investigation, but who had similar conclusions to the first as far as we know. It's not possible to link directly to the BNA, but a respected Journalist who investigated the case (Fernando Rodrigues) uploaded and hosted the files online; [1][2]
2. Fernando Rodrigues was also the one who disclosed the direct involvement of agents from the SNI -"National Information Service". In theory, the SNI supervised and coordinated the intelligence agencies of the three military branches, but in practice, the service agencies maintained their autonomy. After the fall of the dictatorship, the SNI would later become the ABIN, the "Brazilian CIA".
3. The Presence of SNI agents was also confirmed by Jorge Bessa, ex-coordinator of the Subsecretaria de Inteligência of the Presidency, and witness to one of the reported and photographed sightings, alongside 4 other SNI agents and 2 airforce undercovered agents of Operação Prato. His account is relayed in his book, "Discos Voadores Na Amazônia: A Operação Prato". The event he witnessed is described as "a luminous spheroidal ball that appeared above their heads, like a large full moon, soon disappearing, then reappearing very close by, repeating this movement two more times. Then, at a dizzying speed, it headed towards Colares."
4. The information regarding Brigadier Protásio de Oliveira as being a practicing Kardecist who ordered the end of Operação Prato comes from Journalist Carlos Mendes, who was a correspondent for O Estado do Pará and A Provincia do Pará In 1977. After the end of the military operation, Colonel Hollanda sought Mendes to discuss details - "I will not go down as a madman. We have evidence, they will not burn me at the stake(sic)". Carlos Mendes would later publish 2019 the book "Luzes do Medo" ("Lights of Fear"), where he went into detail about being a journalist on the edges of Brazil attempting to understand the phenomena while meddling (and often interfering) with military presence. He states that Hollanda openly disliked him - both knew each other from previous interactions, and Hollanda referred to Mendes as a "commie" due to his participation in covering worker Unions and student matters. (lol)
5. Carlos Mendes is the main source of the claims of Censorship, but also cites the continuity of the attacks - both in his book and on interviews. Carlos also claims (both in his book and series of interviews) that the main document regarding the Operation has not been made public.
6. Professional Photographer José de Ribamar dos Prazeres, winner of ExxonMobil Journalism Award; and Biamir Siqueira, Journalistic Photographer, also independently claimed to have been censored by the military - their pictures confiscated by the Airforce.
7. The new Globoplay Podcast Operação Prato revisits the case, sending two journalists to interview former politicians, journalists, victims, military, and medical personnel related to the case.

It is my personal opinion derived from the number of incredible official documents and testimonies coming from credible people including graduates, members of the political body, laymen, and military personnel, that this case is a legit "mystery".
It did not receive enough attention from platforms that could perform a thorough investigation and reach a conclusion.

 

[JMartJr]

It is my personal opinion derived from the number of incredible official documents and testimonies coming from credible people including graduates, members of the political body, laymen, and military personnel, that this case is a legit "mystery".

Hi! I take it from that you do not think it is a mass hysteria type case? Can you explain a bit why not? It looks like one of those to me, but I may be missing something.

 

[BoulderRiver]

Hi! I take it from that you do not think it is a mass hysteria type case? Can you explain a bit why not? It looks like one of those to me, but I may be missing something.

Absolutely! I would love to hear your opinion on this as well.

When I started my investigation, I had little information and some assumptions.
My initial hypothesis was Mass Hysteria: on the surface level, it's an isolated population near the Amazon experiencing sightings and psychosomatic symptoms. This opinion slowly drifted as I began to understand the nuances of the context, culture, locations, dates, military reports, and photographs.

I've delved as deeply as possible into this, doing my best to investigate it objectively using all existing material - keeping the timeline of events in mind. There is undoubtedly a sensationalist trend among the newspapers, but they give the initial clue that *something* was happening. From all the information I've gathered and everything I've read, I concluded that the only way these events could have happened as documented by multiple independent sources was if multiple agents were actively gaslighting people, hoaxing photographs, and coaching the Air Force into forging false reports.

The occurrences happened in several cities during the same period, with distinct populations and little contact with newspapers. It is also notable that the reports made under the dictatorship painted a scenario of illiteracy higher than 50% for the state of Pará, where most of the known cases and the military investigation occurred. In 1996, the Illiteracy in the capital of Belém was almost 17%. Nowadays, people from the suburban and rural areas survive on less than 1 dollar per day, mainly from subsistence fishing in local economies. Some of these villages were and still are only accessible by boat or helicopter. The swampy areas with difficult terrain and dense jungle made these towns very recluse - with no easy way in or out, and almost no reason from locals to get on a boat and head to the capital. Electricity and radios reached these cities in the late 80s and mid-90s. Inland, it is normal to see communities of fishermen composed of just 3-5 families. Larger villages near the shoreline, like Vigia and Viseu, had around 100 families each and developed into closed environments that had little reason to leave for elsewhere.

Vigia and Viseu reported similar sightings and attacks days apart through dated letters. The testimonies of policemen, a Mayor, and a Priest. None of them initially believed the sightings but eventually saw the UFO(s) themselves. Not the greatest evidence, but anecdotal evidence is still a step towards something, even if it be Mass Hysteria. The Commissioner of Viseu and the Mayor of Vigia sent a letter to the military, stating the urgent matter that some families were leaving their respective towns due to the ongoing attacks.

Mass hysteria (also known as Mass psychogenic illness) is a local occurrence that affects groups bound by shared beliefs - like the Dancing Plague. MSI is described as a constellation of symptoms of an organic illness, but without an identifiable cause, which occurs among two or more persons who share beliefs related to those symptoms. The events of 1977 Pará-Maranhão do not fit these criteria due to the range of the sightings, the variety of communities experiencing them without the infection by inter-group actors, and the physical nature of the phenomena registered in film.

The first News article 100% related to these attacks was from July 10th ("Bright Light incites fear in (the town of) Viseu", O Liberal) and July 11th of 1977 (""Flying Object sucks blood from victims (in the town of Vigia), A Província do Pará"), and it span a 9.000 mi² area. For this to be Mass Hysteria, there should be some sort of information contamination and/or coordination, something that links these villages together. On UFO reports before the 80s, we see all sorts of descriptions of aliens and UFOs, because there was no centralized lore. There were no mythos to draw inspiration from. These riverside communities that lived below the poverty line had to be comically coached to be able to report the same mysterious attacker, with the same pattern of attack, and with the same symptoms displayed on the victims.

The title reads "Draining 'critter-thing'(sic) attacks women and men in the village of Vigia"

The title reads "Mysterious light still causes dread in (the town of) Viseu"

Eventually, I would learn that this trend continued throughout the rest of the year in a 106.171,47 mi² area, as reported newspaper events are mapped below - each either a mass sighting or a victim.

The Air Force receives the request of aid, and sends a mission to investigate the occurrences. This first mission is composed of Sargent Álvaro Pinto dos Santos, petty officer Moacir Neves de Almeida, Captain Uyrangê Hollanda, and two others. Their reports are accessible and can be read directly from Brazilian national archives. The military men state in their drafts that "the population is scared, and request guns for self-defense against the lights. They do not fish anymore, and we cannot explain what has been seen". A report states that the air force men are refraining themselves, fearing ridicule. The Mission members are confused by the incidents, but report the unexplained "intelligent lights" in the official reports, concluding that they fear mass suicide if the matter is left unattended. A second mission is sent, with better equipment and better-trained personnel, including Sargent Flávio Freitas, a Meteorologist from the Airforce Specialization School and trained in military recon and draftsmanship, as well as counter-espionage in SOA. This is what is known as "Operação Prato"/ "Operation Plate". Independently, the SNI ("""The Brazilian CIA""") also sends agents to investigate the event, one of them being agent Jorge Bessa. This second mission is an undercover operation, with fake names and appearing to be civilians.

The mission is set up mainly in the town of Colares, with nightly vigils that often result in sightings of UFOs.
Several reports were made of "unknowns" flying in the lower atmosphere.
Captain Hollanda remained a skeptic until his sighting reported on 42:51 in this whistleblower interview from 1997, when the operation was still a secret

This sighting is also confirmed by Jorge Bessa, ex-coordinator of the Subsecretaria de Inteligência of the Presidency, alongside 4 other SNI agents and 2 airforce undercovered agents of Operação Prato. His account is relayed in his book, "Discos Voadores Na Amazônia: A Operação Prato". He describes this sighting in this book as

"a luminous spheroidal ball that appeared above their heads, like a large full moon, soon disappearing, then reappearing very close by, repeating this movement two more times. Then, at a dizzying speed, it headed towards Colares."

Hollanda would witness and report several other occurrences of UFOs, many registered by photography and he claims to have videotaped some of them on Super 8 film, but these videos are not disclosed by the airforce.

The Mission also investigated and interviewed the local Doctor, Wellaide Cecim Carvalho. She stated aiding over 80 patients from different regions, all with similar symptoms and physical marks - women had two puncture wounds near the left breast, and men had two small puncture marks on either side of the neck. Most often traveled hours from inland to reach the clinic. Doctor Carvalho claims to have remained skeptical even after seeing the influx of patients, but eventually changed her mind after witnessing the phenomena. She describes her sight as:

"The most awe striking thing I've seen in my life. Absolutely visible, very clearly a cylindrical cone around 3meters by 2. A shining object, with a color different from everything I've ever seen -not like silver, not like metal - very bright, that I assumed to be as high as a 10 or 15-story building performing several elliptical maneuvers in the sky above my head."

Veteran Journalist Carlos Mendes was also investigating the reports of Belém, Colares, Vigia, Viseu, and the region. He claims in a recent interview that for every 10 people that came to him, 8 were credible. Photographer José de Ribamar dos Prazeres, winner of the ExxonMobil Journalism Award; and Biamir Siqueira, Journalistic Photographer, also independently claimed to have witnessed the objects and even photographed some of the lights, but had their photos confiscated by the Airforce.

The American Priest of Colares, Alfredo de Lá Ó, who was also an Otorhinolaryngologist born in Texas before becoming a Christian emissary. He was also a witness and subject of several reports by the military.

Civilians affected by the light reported severe PTSD, some not being able to recover from what they consider the effects of the attack - physical scars in the healthier cases, limb paralysis in the most severe ones. Many victims were historically registered as cognitively impaired after the attack, never fully recovering. Some of these people were documented as early as 1978, and have been interviewed and re-interviewed with consistent testimonies.

The case was closed without clarification. The SNI's summary report is just 5 pages long (pages 3 to 7)
Hollanda Gave his testimony in 1997 and died of suicide soon after. This was his second suicide attempt.

The case remained officially a secret until the documents were released to public access in 2008-2009. On it, several documents, reports, photographs, maps, sketches.

 

[BoulderRiver]

Hi! I take it from that you do not think it is a mass hysteria type case? Can you explain a bit why not?

Part 2:

The entire operation was heralded by Brigadier Protásio Oliveira, and overseen by Colonel Camillo Barros.
In the opinion of its military members, the Operation was an attempt to prove to the population that the sightings were NOT real. The first mission, led by Sergeant Flávio Costa, went to Colares intending to calm the population down. Once the military was able to investigate what was happening, it was expected that the natural phenomena would be explained and the locals would be sated. Accompanied by a few other members, they brought portable radios, a Minolta SRT 101 camera with a 100/200 mm telephoto zoom lens, 5x binoculars, a meteorological theodolite, and a tape recorder. During the operation, Colonel Camillo himself joined the field team, and between October 26 and 27, two Air Force doctors arrived in the city of Colares: Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Pedro Ernesto Póvoa, an airforce psychiatrist, and Dr. Augusto Sergio Santos de Almeida, General practitioner.

These two doctors had the objective of "verifying the medical-psychological state of the populations examined in Operation Plate" The mission produced the document "Medical-Psychiatric Mission Report on Operation Saucer", dedicating much of its content to describing examinations of two possible victims of attacks by the lights of the "Vampire Light". According to the doctors, the two women were examined shortly after claiming they had "(...) just experienced the effects of rays coming from the sky (...)." Many of the symptoms presented by the two women were attributed to normal physiological reactions in situations of stress. The doctors stated in the report: "(...) the symptoms reported by these two people (...) represent a physiologically normal reaction, called an adrenergic discharge, which affects people when faced with situations of fight, flight, or fear. (...) these symptoms are spread from person to person and, in an epidemic-like manner, are 'shared' by all residents, creating an atmosphere of collective hysteria." The scientific explanation for the phenomenon affecting the region is provided in the document's conclusion: "(...) what people believe is the result of the action of luminous rays from UFOs is, in fact, normal physiological reactions caused by fear of the unknown."

On November 1st, Captain Uyrangê Hollanda assumed operational command of the mission. That same day, four more military personnel would join the operation, reaching Colares by Helicopter. The Bell UH-1H was used as a test devised by Colonel Camillo to see if people would mistake the aircraft in flight for the flying lights. The result was that the population recognized the helicopter without any confusion.

These men would stand vigil from dusk to dawn, witnessing prosaic phenomena such as meteors, will-o'-the-wisp, and artificial satellites. They would also report 11 UFO sightings, from 22nd October to 8th of November; sightings increasing in frequency as the days went by.

In the official report "Psychosocial and Economic Aspects", Sergeant Flávio Costa and Ernesto described how the residents were affected. He recounted the attacks involving focused light beams, the "collective hysteria" experienced by the population, and the constant processions of residents setting off fireworks and gunshots to drive away the lights. In summary, the local society was terrified. He also clarified the negative role of the press in creating the "chupa-chupa": "the monster created by the press." According to the report, the region "(...)has inhabitants with some of the lowest cultural, socioeconomic, and sanitary indices, combined with superstitions and simple education, easily influenced by the media (...)". Costa acknowledges in the same report that the presence of the objects is evident and that "these bodies of lights are intelligently directed."

Because of the reports made from what was observed from 20th October to 11th November 1977, a second mission was planned, and occurred from November 25th to December 5th. ON November 29th, Captain Hollanda reaches the island and assumes command.

In interviews, the director of the health unit at Colares Dr. Wellaide Carvalho, stated that Hollanda requested her to convince the locals that their sightings were delusions and to prescribe them tranquilizing medications. Dr Carvalho refused to do so, stating that both her ethics and the trust the locals placed in her were non-negotiable. Hollanda disliked and distrusted her, as stated in his reports. Dr Carvalho's Sighting described in my previous post just above this one occurred in October 1977, meaning this conversation could have happened before her sighting.

Journalist Carlos Mendes, Army General, engineer and vice-director of the Military Academy of Agulhas Negras Moacyr Uchôa, and other journalists from TV Station Globo returned to the site of the sightings in 1979 for the special reportage of "Globo Repórter". The team stood in vigil all night and had to return before dawn. Soon after the crew gathered the equipment, all of them claimed to see a large UFO descending, enter the river's waters, stay within the water flow for a few seconds, and exit the water towards the sky again. The entire episode can be seen at the following links [1][2][3]

General Uchôa was openly known as a Ufologist since being presented with what he considered "extremely compelling evidence of a UFO flight over Washington" when attending a training session promoted by the Brazilian Intelligence Agency at the Brazilian Army War College. The film appears to be 1956's "UFOs The True Story of Flying Saucers", which portrays the 1952 Washington DC UFO Flap. This movie can be watched in full on YouTube link below;

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bGTLtdwPHM


Uchôa held several other exoteric views of the world, including several spiritual and paranormal beliefs. Quite an eccentric character to say the least.





TL;DR:
The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) and National Intelligence Service (SNI) Official documents, the newspapers from the time, military witness testimonies, and pictures form the core of evidence for these strange events as real, but unidentified. They showcase the occurrence of Mass Hysteria, but also that the source of those symptoms was a real phenomenon that stirred fear. The national ufology community leans toward an extraterrestrial explanation, citing testimonies from key figures like Captain Hollanda. Others[1], however, argue that the phenomenon may have a social or psychological basis, possibly tied to human behavior or a secret terrestrial aircraft that remains undisclosed. What is certain is that the sightings were genuine, though their true cause remains unknown.

 

[JMartJr]

Absolutely! I would love to hear your opinion on this as well.

Thanks for taking the time to write all that! I'll dive into it when I am able to spend sufficient time with it to be fair to the time you took over it! ^_^