Three women allegedly encountered an alien after a UFO crashed in Varginha, Brazil. Pic credit: National Geographic/YouTube
Aliens allegedly invaded the Brazilian city of Varginha after a UFO crash-landed there in 1996. The extraterrestrials went on a rampage, terrorizing locals and killing animals at the zoo.
A police officer allegedly died of an exotic infection after he touched an alien body.
However, the Brazilian authorities investigated the claims and said they found no evidence of UFOs or extraterrestrials in the city.
They suggested that a chance encounter between the three women and a mentally unstable man during a heavy downpour sparked the mass hysteria.
Three young women claimed they encountered an ET
The bizarre incident dubbed Brazil’s Roswell happened in Varginha on January 20, 1996.
Three young women caught in a rainstorm were taking a shortcut home when they encountered a strange-looking humanoid creature hiding inside a bush near a wall.
Although the creature had humanoid features, they were sure it was not human. They told media reporters it had a large head, red eyes, spindly limbs, and brown and oily skin.
The girls did not stop to get a better look. They fled home in terror to tell their parents they saw the “devil.”
A UFO allegedly crashed in Varginha
The report spread quickly. Soon, other people claimed they saw a metallic UFO resembling a “washing machine” crash landing the day before. The crash allegedly generated debris that smelled like rotten eggs.
Alleged eyewitnesses said the authorities rushed armed troops to the UFO crash site. They drove people away and cordoned off the site.
Some claimed that the military recovered extraterrestrials from the crash site and transported them to a nearby hospital.
Govt allegedly covered up the death of an officer
People also shared stories about aliens attacking and killing animals at the zoo. An officer also allegedly died after he touched an alien body.
According to the Skeptoid investigator Brian Dunning, the Brazilian authorities ignored the wild speculation until bizarre stories began circulating about the circumstances surrounding the death of Marco Eli Cherese, a young military police officer.
Cherese reportedly died a few weeks after the alien sighting incidents.
People claimed that he died after handling an alien body. He allegedly contracted a disease infection from the body. However, medical experts could not determine the cause of the death or the nature of the supposedly exotic disease that killed him.
Conspiracy theorists alleged that the authorities declined requests for an autopsy because they wanted to hide the cause of the officer’s death.
Extensive coverage of the incident by tabloids helped spread wild speculation and sparked a public uproar. The uproar forced the government to open an official investigation.
The Brazilian military investigated
The official investigation concluded that the Varginha UFO incident was a case of mass hysteria.
According to the official narrative, the young women did not encounter an “alien.” They mistook Luiz Antonio de Paula, a young man with mental disability, for an ET.
They claimed that the skinny and hunched man nicknamed Mudinho fit the girls’ description of the “extraterrestrial” that terrified them.
They mistook him for an extraterrestrial because he was wet, dirty, and unkempt while taking cover behind a wall during a heavy downpour.
The authorities also said that rumors that the military recovered aliens from a crash site and took them to a nearby facility were due to locals misinterpreting incidental movement of military trucks within the city.
In response to inquiries about claims that some officials brought aliens to a local hospital, they said people mistook a couple with dwarfism for aliens.
Despite official denials, the conspiracy theories gained traction among UFO enthusiasts who dubbed Varginha Brazil’s Roswell.
The city remains one of the country’s top UFO tourism destinations, with monuments and annual events celebrating the incident.