VARGINHA,.
“On January 20, 1996, three young women — sisters Liliane and Valquiria Fatima Silva and their friend Katia Andrade Xavier — were walking through a field in Varginha, Brazil when they encountered a strange creature crouched near a wall.”
They described it as small, about 1.6 metres tall, with brown oily skin, a large elongated head, red eyes, and a strong, nauseating smell. Terrified, they fled and reported the encounter to their mother, who contacted local firefighters.
What followed was a dramatic multi-day operation. Brazilian military units descended on Varginha in force, with witnesses reporting military trucks carrying covered crates. Local hospital staff later reported treating a creature with similar characteristics to those described by the three women. Military policeman Marco Chereze reportedly died of a mysterious infection weeks after allegedly handling one of the captured beings — a claim disputed by officials.
MUFON Brazil director A.J. Gevaerd spent years investigating the case and building a body of evidence that includes dozens of consistent witness accounts, military deployment records, and hospital staff testimony. A retired Brazilian Army general, José Afonso Cortines Laxe, later acknowledged privately that the military had conducted an operation to recover non-human beings.
The case is extraordinary because it occurred in daylight, involved multiple independent witnesses across different locations, and generated a documented military response. Brazil's military has never formally acknowledged the operation. The three women have never recanted their account in nearly 30 years.
Independent editorial summary. An unidentified report does not by itself establish an extraterrestrial origin. Map locations may be approximate.
The Varginha UFO Incident — First Brazilian TV Report + Timeline of Events (1996)
Eyes on Cinema