Varginha UFO incident
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🛸 Case
Contents 5
| Type | Case |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Varginha |
The Varginha UFO incident refers to reports in January 1996 in Varginha, Minas Gerais, Brazil, that a strange creature was seen in the town and later captured by the military. Sometimes called "Brazil's Roswell", it became the most famous UFO case in Brazil. An official military inquiry concluded the witnesses had seen a local man.[1][2]
The sighting
At about 3:30 p.m. on 20 January 1996, three young women, aged 14 to 22, said they saw a strange being crouched near a wall in a vacant lot. They described a large-headed, two-legged creature with vein-like markings on its skin, three bumps on its head and eyes like two red balls, and fled in fear, telling their mother they had seen the devil.[1][3]
Further claims
UFO researchers, led by Ubirajara Rodrigues and Vitório Pacaccini, collected claims that firefighters and soldiers had captured one or more creatures earlier that day, that a creature had been taken to local hospitals and later to a university, that a military police officer who handled one had died of an infection, and that several animals had died at the town zoo. Pacaccini co-wrote Incidente em Varginha (1996) and Rodrigues wrote O Caso Varginha (2001).[1][4]
Official inquiry
A Brazilian Army inquiry in 1997 concluded that the women had probably seen Luiz Antônio de Paula, a local man with mental disabilities known as "Mudinho", who was often seen crouching in the area, and that the military and firefighter vehicles seen were carrying out routine duties. Skeptic Brian Dunning has argued that nothing unusual happened and that ordinary events were magnified into a story of alien capture.[1][2][5]
Legacy
Varginha has embraced the story: shops sell alien souvenirs, bus shelters were built in the shape of flying saucers, and a 20-metre water tower with a saucer-shaped tank stands in the town centre.[1][6]
References
- Varginha UFO incident — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Brian Dunning, "Brazil's Roswell: The Varginha UFO", Skeptoid #853 · skeptoid.com · archived copy
- "ET de Varginha ainda instiga imaginário brasileiro 20 anos depois", EBC (2016) · ebc.com.br · archived copy
- "ET de Varginha: caso completa 20 anos com mistérios e incertezas", G1 (2016) · g1.globo.com · archived copy
- "A história oficial do ET de Varginha", IstoÉ · web.archive.org · archived copy
- "Varginha traça planos para atrair turistas", Diário do Comércio · web.archive.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 31 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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