The Brazilian Air Force runs Operation Saucer to investigate lights over Colares
October 20, 1977 – December 5, 1977 · Colares, Para · Government program · Secondary sources only
In October 1977, residents of Colares and nearby parts of Para reported lights they called 'chupa-chupa' and said caused burns, anemia and other harm. The Brazilian Air Force sent Captain Uyrange de Hollanda Lima, who set up a base on Colares in what the regional paper O Liberal calls one of the largest official military UFO missions. He ended his work on 5 December 1977 and the operation was suspended.
Why it matters (4/5)
A months-long military field investigation of sightings, with files later released through Brazil's National Archives.
Caveats
An Air Force psychiatrist called some cases 'collective hysteria'. Claims of injuries and deaths come from residents and have not been verified. Little of what the military found has been published; Hollanda spoke about it in an interview about twenty years later and died soon after.
Sources
- UFOs in the Amazon: 45 years of an unsolved mystery (O Liberal), context