The Beginning of a Mystery
The skies over the remote coffee-producing city of Varginha turned pitch black as a storm broke in January 1996, marking the start of one of Brazil’s most enduring mysteries.
“It really was something unique,”recalls Marco Antônio Reis, a zoo director, who was at his ranch outside Varginha during the storm when he claims an otherworldly creature appeared in the area.
Reis and other locals say this event initiated a series of unsettling and seemingly paranormal occurrences.
At least six animals from the zoo, including a spider monkey, a tapir, and a raccoon, died under mysterious circumstances after a horned entity was reportedly seen nearby by a woman who had stepped out for a smoke. When a veterinarian examined the animals’ bodies, Reis states,
“they were all black inside.”
Witness Accounts and Local Legends
On a nearby wasteland, three young women reported seeing a strange, foul-smelling being with a heart-shaped face and three lumps on its head crouching beside a wall. One witness later told her mother,
“I’ve seen the devil.”
Shortly after, rumors circulated of an unexplained infection that allegedly caused the death of a robust police intelligence officer who was said to have struggled with the oily unidentified creature.
Three decades later, Reis remains convinced that Varginha experienced a visit from a non-human entity, though he is uncertain about its origin.
“We don’t know if it was extraterrestrial or intraterrestrial,”said the 71-year-old as he ascended the stairs to the veranda where the woman claimed to have seen what became known as the “ET of Varginha,” a reference to Steven Spielberg’s 1982 film. A two-foot statue of a two-toed alien now marks the spot.
“It’s possible it was an intraterrestrial, from inside the Earth … They don’t just come from space,”Reis added.
“It might have come from the depths of the Earth, too. We don’t even know what it’s like at the bottom of the sea, do we?”
Ongoing Debate and Skepticism
As Varginha commemorates the 30th anniversary of the event that transformed the small agricultural city into a widely recognized name, debate persists regarding the occurrences of January 1996.
A recently released documentary series suggests much of the narrative was fabricated, fueled by attention-seeking ufologists, television executives aiming for ratings, and key witnesses who allegedly concocted stories for financial benefit.
Ubirajara Rodrigues, the ufologist who initially claimed the three women had seen an alien, stated in the program,
“It was all built on assumptions, untruths and general nonsense.”
One former soldier, who had previously claimed that troops captured an alien in Varginha, admitted to spreading false information after receiving a bribe worth thousands of dollars. He declared,
“There’s no such thing as the ET of Varginha,”and described claims of a military cover-up as
“one of the biggest farces ever.”
An army investigation, conducted to mark the 30th anniversary and to counter conspiracy allegations, also concluded the story was a hoax, possibly the result of mass hysteria. The report suggested that people linked ordinary events, such as the animal deaths, to the initial sightings of the “ET.” It proposed that the three women had mistaken a local man for an alien as he sought shelter from the rain.
Believers Maintain Their Convictions
Despite official conclusions, Reis and many residents of Varginha remain convinced that something extraordinary occurred.
“To this day this business is being covered up,”he said while touring the locations where the extraterrestrial visitor was reportedly seen.
“I believe,”said Felipe Ramos, a 33-year-old city hall official,
“I think there were three of them.”
New witnesses have come forward, including neurologist Ítalo Venturelli, who used the recent documentary to break a three-decade silence about the white alien he claims to have seen in Varginha’s hospital in 1996. He described it as having a droplet-shaped skull, a small mouth, and lilac droplet-shaped eyes. The doctor declined interview requests from .
Ufologist Vitório Pacaccini, author of The Varginha Incident, expressed:
“Thirty years on, I remain convinced something extraordinary happened in Varginha in January 1996.”
Pacaccini, who the documentary accuses of paying witnesses to confirm the ET story, rejected the program’s findings as
“tendentious,”insisting that Varginha experienced
“an event of unconventional nature, possibly involving [an] extraterrestrial presence.”He claimed there was substantial evidence suggesting a UFO crash in the region, which triggered
“a large military operation to capture and remove its occupants.”
Economic Impact and Tourism
Regardless of the truth, the saga has proven economically beneficial for Varginha, where officials are capitalizing on the city’s unexpected reputation as Brazil’s “Land of the ET.”
Rosana Carvalho, the city’s tourism secretary, reported that since opening in 2022, the flying saucer-shaped ET museum has attracted 200,000 visitors from nearly 40 countries, including New Zealand and Japan.
The museum’s gift shop offers a wide range of themed merchandise, such as mugs, key rings, and T-shirts featuring green alien cartoons and slogans like
“humans are terrible.”In January, the museum hosted a two-day UFO conference.
Carvalho also noted that the government recently acquired the overgrown wasteland where the three women reportedly saw the ET and plans to erect a monument to the city’s most famous visitor. American investors have toured this mountainous area of Minas Gerais state, about a seven-hour drive from Rio de Janeiro, with intentions to develop a theme park.
“We really see the chance to turn this into a substantial economic activity for the municipality,”Carvalho said, referencing the multimillion-dollar tourism industry that developed around Scotland’s Loch Ness monster.
Monetizing the Legend and Local Opinions
Those claiming to have encountered the extraterrestrial have also attempted to monetize Varginha’s notoriety. When contacted about an interview, one of the three witnesses said,
“If you’re paying a fee I can talk to the girls.”After being informed this was against the newspaper’s policies, she responded,
“I’m very busy, thanks OK.”
Others were more willing to share their perspectives.
José Reis, sitting in the shade of a spaceship-shaped bus stop near Varginha’s rocket-shaped city hall and a mural asking passersby
“Have you been abducted?”, dismissed claims of an alien visit to his hometown.
He supported the official explanation that the three women mistook a thin man for an alien while he sought shelter from the rain.
“I don’t believe any of it – but it’s not for us to judge,”the 71-year-old said.
Meanwhile, another commuter, Helena Narciso, 47, expressed skepticism about such dismissal.
“Young people don’t lie,”she said, affirming the close encounter story as
“100% true.”
Furthermore, Narciso believes the aliens will return to Varginha due to supernatural powers she claims to possess, including the ability to perform
“the miracle of the sun.”
“I think they are looking for me,”she said with a conspiratorial glance.
