The Varginha UFO incident stands as one of the most extensively documented and controversial extraterrestrial contact cases in modern UFO history. On January 20, 1996, the small Brazilian coffee town of Varginha allegedly became the site of a UFO crash, creature recovery, and government cover-up that would transform it into a pilgrimage destination for UFO believers worldwide. Nearly three decades later, new witnesses continue to emerge while skeptics point to a thorough Brazilian military investigation that attributed the entire incident to misidentification and routine activities.
The case involves multiple alleged extraterrestrial beings, coordinated military operations, mysterious deaths, and a cast of characters ranging from teenage witnesses to military officers, doctors, and international investigators. What makes Varginha particularly compelling is not just the number of witnesses, but their consistency over decades and the detailed nature of their accounts—alongside equally detailed official explanations dismissing every claim.
The incident unfolds: January 20, 1996
The Varginha incident actually began a week earlier on January 13, when Carlos de Sousa, a university professor and ultralight pilot, claimed to witness a damaged cigar-shaped UFO crashing while driving from São Paulo to Minas Gerais. According to his account, military forces arrived and ordered him away at gunpoint from the crash site, which showed burned grass in a 40-meter diameter.
But January 20 became the pivotal date. The timeline that day reads like a military operation unfolding:
7:00 AM: First calls reached the fire department about a “wild animal” in Jardim Andere park. College student Hildo Lúcio Galdino reportedly saw a creature with “oily dark brown skin crouched in an alleyway.”
10:00 AM: Fire Department officially responded to capture the “strange animal,” with witnesses reporting military personnel present with camcorders.
3:30 PM: The encounter that would define the case occurred when three young women—Liliane Silva (16), her sister Valquíria Fátima Silva (14), and their friend Kátia Andrade Xavier (21)—took a shortcut through a vacant lot during heavy rain. About 50 feet away, they spotted what they initially described to their mother as “o diabo” (the devil).
5:30 PM: Military Police Corporal Marco Eli Chereze allegedly captured another creature with his bare hands, beginning a chain of events that would end with his death 26 days later.
The witnesses and their unwavering accounts
The three young women who became the case’s central witnesses provided remarkably consistent descriptions of their encounter that have remained unchanged for nearly 30 years. They described a creature approximately 4-5 feet tall with a disproportionately large head, dark brown oily skin, large red glowing eyes, three protuberances on its head, and small hands with three extremely long fingers. Most distinctively, they reported a strong ammonia-like odor that their mother, Luiza, later confirmed when she visited the site.
According to investigators Ubirajara Franco Rodrigues and Vitório Pacaccini, the creature appeared “sad” and as frightened of the girls as they were of it. The sisters’ mother initially dismissed their story until she experienced the lingering odor and found unusual footprints at the location.
The witnesses later reported harassment that added a sinister dimension to their story. Approximately four months after the incident, they claim five men appeared at their house around 10 PM, offering money to record statements denying their encounter. They also reported mysterious surveillance and threatening phone calls that ceased only after they gave interviews to the press.
An official inquiry in 2010 determined that the girls had only encountered a homeless, mentally unstable man nicknamed “Mudinho”, covered in mud.
The mysterious death of Marco Chereze
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the Varginha case involves Marco Eli Chereze, a 23-year-old Military Police corporal who allegedly had direct contact with one of the creatures. According to multiple accounts, Chereze captured a creature with his bare hands and transported it to Regional Hospital.
The aftermath proved fatal. Chereze developed a small abscess under his armpit that required surgical removal, his clothes retained the creature’s odor, and his body became “greasy and sticky.” He was hospitalized on February 12, 1996, with a high fever and severe pain. Less than five hours after being transferred to ICU on February 15, he died from sepsis, pneumonia, and what doctors described as a “benign bacteria” whose source was never determined.
The circumstances surrounding Chereze’s death remain contentious. His widow, Valeria, was denied complete medical records, with pages missing from documents she received. According to some accounts, Chereze allegedly confessed on his deathbed to Dr. Cesário Lincoln Furtado that he had participated in capturing an alien creature.
Physical descriptions and alleged evidence
Witnesses provided remarkably consistent physical descriptions across multiple encounters:
- Height: 4-5 feet tall (1.6 meters)
- Build: Extremely thin with disproportionately large head
- Skin: Dark brown, oily texture, completely hairless
- Eyes: Large, red, glowing, vertically oval with no visible pupils
- Head: Three protuberances or “horns” on top
- Hands: Small with three extremely long fingers described as “starfish-like”
- Feet: V-shaped
- Odor: Strong ammonia-like smell
- Behavior: Appeared wobbly, unsteady, possibly injured
Hospital staff allegedly involved in treating the creatures described additional details including a black tongue, absence of genitals, presence of a navel, and confirmation of the V-shaped feet.
Claims of physical evidence include metal fragments allegedly analyzed at the Aeronautical Technological Center, biological samples, and a reported 35-second video of a captured creature that investigators claim to have seen but has never been publicly released. James Fox, director of the 2022 documentary “Moment of Contact,” has offered a $200,000 reward for this footage.
The investigators: Lawyers, engineers, and international researchers
The Varginha case attracted serious investigators with impressive credentials. Ubirajara Franco Rodrigues, a lawyer and law professor, applied legal methodology to witness evaluation and collected over 15 video-recorded testimonies from military and civilian sources. Vitório Pacaccini, an Italian-Brazilian engineer with 30+ years of UFO research experience, lived in Varginha for approximately two years conducting full-time investigation.
Their work was complemented by international researchers including Bob Pratt, former National Enquirer UFO desk chief who made multiple trips to Brazil; Dr. John Mack, Harvard Medical School professor and Pulitzer Prize winner; and Stanton Friedman, the nuclear physicist who helped bring Roswell to public attention.
These investigators documented what they claimed was a coordinated military operation involving the capture of multiple creatures, transport to medical facilities, and eventual transfer to U.S. military custody. Pacaccini’s 1996 book “Incidente em Varginha: Criaturas do Espaço no Sul de Minas” became the first comprehensive documentation of the case and was translated into multiple languages.
Official explanations and the “Mudinho” theory
Brazilian authorities provided consistent explanations that attributed every aspect of the incident to mundane causes. The centerpiece of the official response was the identification of the creature seen by the three young women as “Mudinho” (Luis Antonio de Paula), a homeless man with mental and physical disabilities who often crouched in corners around town.
Lieutenant Colonel Lúcio Carlos Finholdt Pereira led a comprehensive Military Police Inquiry concluding that the girls likely mistook this “citizen, probably being dirty due to heavy rains and seen crouching by a wall” for an alien creature. The investigation provided photographs of Mudinho as evidence supporting this explanation.
Military vehicle movements were explained as routine maintenance activities, with trucks leaving the barracks for “normal maintenance work in a workshop.” The army provided detailed documentation showing their vehicles were operating on scheduled maintenance rather than participating in any creature recovery operation.
Regarding Marco Chereze’s death, Former 24th Military Police Battalion commander Maurício Antonio Santos stated: “The death occurred due to a strong hospital infection after the operation. Former soldier Chereze was not involved in any incident with extraterrestrials.”
Scientific skepticism and debunking efforts
The Varginha case faced serious scientific scrutiny, with several key pillars of the story being challenged or debunked. Dr. Fortunato Badan Palhares, the forensic pathologist allegedly involved in autopsying alien bodies, categorically denied any involvement in 2012: “Unfortunately, all information about the Varginha ET involving my name are fruits of fantasy authors and do not deserve any respect from me because they are liars.”
Prominent skeptic Brian Dunning delivered particularly harsh criticism, calling it “the most compelling example of a case where literally nothing at all happened that was remotely unusual” that was “magnified into a case considered unassailable proof of alien visitation.” He recommended believers “recalibrate where you set the bar for quality of evidence.”
Additional problems emerged over time. One of the original girl witnesses later married, converted to evangelical religion, and dismissed the entire incident as “youthful folly.” Spanish investigator J.J. Benitez’s claimed “triangular landing marks” were debunked as post holes and an anthill. Even initial investigator Ubirajara Rodrigues later conceded: “There is no proof that an extraterrestrial being was captured in Varginha.”
Cultural transformation and UFO tourism
Despite scientific skepticism, Varginha fully embraced its UFO legacy, transforming from a coffee-producing city into Brazil’s unofficial “UFO capital.” The city invested heavily in UFO-themed infrastructure including a 20-meter tall spaceship-shaped water tower that glows purple at night, spaceship-themed bus stops, and a City Hall with a spaceship-shaped elevator.
The tourism strategy proved partially successful but also problematic. A planned UFO museum received over 1 million reais ($450,000) in federal funding but construction was halted in 2010, leaving only what locals describe as a “rusty skeleton of a spaceship surrounded by weeds” that now serves as shelter for stray dogs.
More recently, the city installed a 4-meter (13-foot) tall alien statue in September 2025, created by artist Renato Criaturas. Tourism Secretary Rosana Carvalho stated it “valorizes the Memorial do ET and strengthens our identity. Our expectation is that tourist flow will increase.”
The economic impact has been significant. UFO tourism brings international visitors to Varginha, contributing to its status as having the biggest GDP in southern Minas Gerais and ranking 7th on Veja Magazine’s “Top 20 mid-size cities to invest and live in Brazil.”
Recent developments and persistent mysteries
The Varginha case experienced renewed international attention with James Fox’s 2022 documentary “Moment of Contact,” which introduced new witness testimonies and claims of continued cover-up. Fox spent 12 years researching the case and claims to have uncovered evidence of U.S. military involvement through operations at Campinas airport.
New developments in 2023-2025 include:
- Medical professionals coming forward claiming direct interaction with alleged entities
- Two American witnesses linked to Air Force flight operations willing to speak
- The former police chief publicly supporting claims of alien recovery
- Original witnesses maintaining consistency in their stories nearly 30 years later
Fox continues investigating with claims that 35-second video footage exists but remains hidden, and that multiple sources have seen photographic evidence. His ongoing work suggests the story is far from over.
Comparisons to Roswell and historical significance
The parallels between Varginha and Roswell are striking: alleged UFO crashes with recovered beings, swift military responses, witness intimidation, official denials, and decades-long investigations by civilian researchers. However, key differences include the Brazilian government’s greater transparency—eventually releasing a 357-page investigation report—versus prolonged U.S. secrecy.
The case holds particular significance in Brazilian UFO lore, joining famous incidents like the 1977-1978 Colares cases and the 1986 “Night of the UFOs” when 21 objects were tracked by military radar. Brazil’s relatively open approach to UFO documentation led to the transfer of military UFO files to the National Archive, where they became the “most visited collection.”
Conclusion
The Varginha UFO incident represents either one of the most significant extraterrestrial contact events in modern history or a masterful case study in how mundane events can evolve into compelling UFO mythology. The case’s strength lies in the consistency and credibility of witness testimonies over nearly three decades, the professional qualifications of investigators, and the detailed nature of reported military operations.
Its weakness rests in the complete absence of independently verified physical evidence, credible official explanations for all reported activities, and the documented debunking of several key claims. The Brazilian military’s comprehensive investigation provided plausible alternative explanations for every aspect of the incident.
What remains undeniable is the case’s cultural impact. Varginha successfully transformed an unsubstantiated claim into a lasting economic asset and tourist destination. Whether viewed as genuine extraterrestrial contact or an example of how belief can reshape reality, the Varginha incident has secured its place as Brazil’s most famous UFO case and one of the most thoroughly documented—and thoroughly debated—in UFO history.
The truth about what happened in Varginha on January 20, 1996, may never be definitively established. But the case continues to generate new witnesses, fresh investigations, and ongoing debate that ensures its place in both UFO lore and skeptical analysis for decades to come.
