The Varginha incident is a series of incidents in and around Varginha, Brazil in 1996 involving reports of unidentified flying objects and strange creatures (allegedly extraterrestrials) which were supposedly captured by Brazilian officials. Varginha is a city in Minas Gerais, Brazil. ... UFO redirects here. ... The existence of extraterrestrial life remains hypothetical though human beings continue to search Extraterrestrial life is life that may exist and originate outside the planet Earth. ...

The case generated extensive publicity in Central and South America, was mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, and may have inspired a scene in the motion picture Signs when a boy's birthday party in the city of Passo Fundo is interrupted by a fleeting and quite frightening sighting of an extraterrestrial. The Wall Street Journal is an influential international daily newspaper published in New York City, New York with an average daily circulation of 1,800,607 (2002). ... Signs (2002) is a film by M. Night Shyamalan starring Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix. ... The Passo Fundo city skyline Passo Fundo is a city in the north of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. ...

The Brazilian government officially denies that anything unusual occurred, but critics have charged that there was a cover up. Skeptics cite the lack of reliable sources as evidence against its actuality; the testimony of unnamed, anonymous "official" individuals is frequently featured. Not to mention that the initial reports were rather vague, expanding in richness of detail as the media pressed for them. When a scandal breaks, the discovery of an attempt to cover up the evidence of wrongdoing is often regarded as even more scandalous than the original deeds. ...

Kevin Randle writes that "this case is as complicated as any other in the UFO field." (Randle, 145) There have been a sometimes confusing series of claims, refutations and counterclaims. Randle notes that there is a lack of physical evidence supporting the case, and adds, "In fact, we have been unable to verify much of anything." (Randle, 153)

Early Reports

According to some accounts, the creature was first sighted by three sisters, Liliane, Valquíria and Fatima Andrade Xavier, ranging from fourteen to twenty-one years old. They allegedly saw the creature in the afternoon of January 20, 1996: A biped about 1.6m, with a large head and very thin body, with V-shaped feet, brown skin, and large red eyes. It seemed to be wobbly or unsteady, and the girls assumed it was injured or sick. The creature was said to have a strong, unpleasant odor. Some have noted physical similarities between this alleged creature and the chupacabra, a cryptozoological creature reported in Central America. A biped (//) meaning two feet (Latin bi = two + ped = foot) is an animal that travels across surfaces supported by two legs. ... The chupacabra (or chupacabras) is a creature said to inhabit parts of the Americas. ... // Loch Ness Monster (Painting) by Heikenwaelder Hugo Cryptozoology is the study of animals that are presumed to exist, but for which conclusive proof is missing; the term also includes the study of animals generally considered extinct, but which are still occasionally reported. ...

The sisters say they fled, then told their mother that they had seen a devil. She didn’t believe them at first, but when she had gone to the area they had seen the creature and smelled a strong ammonia-like odor, her opinion changed. After relating their tale to families and friends, rumors began to spread throughout the city: UFO's were sighted, aliens were captured. Two days later, another creature was allegedly found lying along a road. Three military trucks were sent to retrieve it. It was captured by S2 officials (Brazil's military intelligence), and sent to a hospital to be examined. The Devil is the name given to a supernatural entity, who, in most Western religions, is the central embodiment of evil. ... Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula NH3. ...

Media Humdrum

As related by Moffett in the Wall Street Journal, "The army finds itself besieged on several fronts. A local mystic predicts that Varginha will suffer some kind of cataclysm this September as retribution for its blitzkrieg on the interplanetary visitors. An armed-forces news conference marking 'Victory Day' in World War II degenerated into a shouting match between a general and a television reporter pressing him about the extraterrestrials. An official briefing to debunk UFO conspiracies was overshadowed by an auto mechanic's claim to have seen yet another weird cylindrical aircraft, a cosmic encounter he re-enacted with the aid of an aluminum coffee thermos ... Stanton Friedman, a Canada-based UFO expert, says Varginha has the makings of a 'cosmic Watergate.'"[1] Army (from French armée) can, in some countries, refer to any armed force. ... Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II... Stanton T. Friedman (born July 29, 1934, Elizabeth, New Jersey) is a physicist and ufologist, currently residing in New Brunswick, Canada. ... The Watergate building. ...

Brazilian mass media was saturated for some time with speculation, rumors and accounts regarding the UFO's and the strange creatures. A soldier, Marco Eli Cherese, was said to have died under mysterious circumstances related to the UFO affair. Mass media is a term used to denote, as a class, that section of the media specifically conceived and designed to reach a very large audience (typically at least as large as the whole population of a nation state). ...

Vitorio Pacaccini, a Brazilian UFO enthusiast became a central figure in the Varginha affair. He appeared on television, offering testimony he reported was from reliable government officials, which confirmed the events as true. The sources, however, were anonymous, said Pacaccini, and feared reprisal. Randle notes that Pacaccini insists that first to encounter the strange creature was not the girls, but rather, a group of fire department workers. In Brazil, local fire departments are charged with capturing wild dogs, stray animals and the like. In the early morning of January 20, according to Pacaccini, four firemen were alerted to a strange animal which had been first spotted by boys, who began throwing rocks at it. They captured the dizzy creature, and whisked it away.

Indefinition

Moffett writes that there have been over half a dozen sightings of the creatures, though "it is unclear how all of these beings could have fit into the minivan-sized spacecraft that was spotted here in January." There was disagreement as to whether one creature had been sighted multiple times, or if several creatures had been sighted individually.

Reports improved in richness with time, and several new episodes were added, making the case more complex and much less believable. The Brazilians were quick to ridicule the whole matter, with TV humor shows featuring the "Varginha ET" as a character, usually depicted as a goggle-eyed creature with reddish skin and feelers on the forehead wearing a suit (still recurrent today).

Officials in Varginha denied that anything unusual occurred, but considered dedicating a park to the creatures. Pundits have also suggested to award the alien honorary citizenship, for the great improvement he brought to tourism in a city lacking major attractions.

References

• Caso ET de Varginha (Mais Varginha)
• Revista UFO (UFO Magazine), Special Issue #13, July 1996, published by CBPDV (Centro Brasileiro para Pesquisa de Discos Voadores - Brazilian Center for Flying Saucer Research), Editor A.J.Gevaerd English translation
• "Tale of Stinky Extraterrestrials Stirs Up UFO Crowd in Brazil" by Matt Moffett, Staff Reporter, Wall Street Journal, July 12, 1996
• Revista UFO (UFO Magazine), Web Site Varginha Incident, ([2])
• Kevin Randle; The Randle Report: UFO’s in the ‘90’s; M. Evans and Company, 1997; ISBN 0871318202