Prelude to the sightings
In early January 1996 several residents reported luminous objects manoeuvering above Varginha and neighbouring farms.1
Crash narrative and initial response
On 13 January ultralight pilot Carlos de Sousa stated that he saw a submarine-shaped craft trailing white smoke before it fell into pasture near the city limit. He approached fragmented metallic foil that sprang back to shape when folded, and was forced away by soldiers who sealed the area.1
Principal sighting on 20 January
At 15:30 three women — sisters Liliane and Valquíria Silva and friend Kátia Xavier — cut through an empty lot in Jardim Andere. They observed a squat brown humanoid with an oversized head, three cranial protuberances, red eyes, oily skin and a pungent smell reminiscent of ammonia. Terrified, they fled to the Silva home, where their mother later detected the same odour while inspecting the scene.2
Alleged creature capture
Local firefighters under the command of the Military Police were seen cordoning streets that morning, and residents described a stretchered figure loaded into a vehicle. Later that night army trucks transported sealed crates from Escola de Sargentos das Armas toward Campinas, feeding talk of a live extraterrestrial in custody.1
Death of Private Marco Eli Chereze
Military police officer Marco Eli Chereze, 23, assisted in one of the operations according to ufologists. He developed a generalized infection and died on 23 February 1996 following surgery on an axillary cyst. Conspiracy writers linked his death to alien toxins; the post-mortem listed bacterial sepsis.3
Media escalation and ufological claims
Brazilian and international outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, broadcast the story within months. Ufologists Vitor Pacaccini, Stanton Friedman and Roger Leir petitioned Congress, asserted that the United States Air Force removed bodies, and produced sketches exhibited in the local Museu do ET.1
Official investigations and skeptical findings
A 357-page Military Police Inquiry released in 2010 traced each reported event to mundane causes: routine vehicle maintenance convoys, hospital equipment deliveries and the presence of Luiz Antônio "Mudinho" de Paula, an intellectually disabled resident who habitually crouched in the same lot visited by the women.3
Independent analysis by science communicator Brian Dunning highlighted how later retellings conflated unrelated anecdotes and noted the absence of physical evidence, photographs or radar data.4
Incident timeline
Consequences for Varginha
The narrative spurred tourism; the municipality erected a disc-shaped water tower and markets souvenirs featuring the so-called ET de Varginha. Annual festivals and documentaries such as Moment of Contact maintain the legend.25