The Zanfretta Case
An Italian night watchman said he was taken by ten-foot, green, scaled beings at a villa near Genoa; his colleagues found him in shock. Under hypnosis he described several abductions over the following years. It is Europe's best-known reptilian case.
- Date
- 6 December 1978 and after
- Place
- Torriglia, near Genoa, Italy
- Witnesses
- Pier Fortunato Zanfretta
- Status
- Unresolved
What happened
On patrol at night, Zanfretta saw lights at an unoccupied villa and went to investigate. He radioed his security company in a panic, saying that something had touched him and that he was being attacked, and was found an hour later lying in the cold, terrified and with his uniform warm in the freezing night. He said he had seen a huge green creature with pointed ears and yellow triangular eyes, and a triangular craft that lit the countryside as it rose. Further episodes followed in 1979 and 1980, several with witnesses to lights or to his disappearance.
The beings
About ten feet tall, with green, scaly skin, a large head with pointed ears, glowing yellow triangular eyes, a wide mouth with fangs, and clawed hands. Under hypnosis Zanfretta said they called themselves Dargos from the 'third galaxy' and wanted to be understood, not feared. It is one of very few first-hand cases involving a reptilian being.
Aftermath
The case was investigated by the Carabinieri and by the journalist Rino Di Stefano, whose book Zanfretta: Light in the Darkness (1984) collected the hypnosis transcripts and witness statements. Zanfretta passed polygraph tests and never profited from the story; he has continued to affirm it.
Explanations
Sceptics have proposed hallucination under stress and the influence of the films and comics of the period. The corroborating witnesses saw lights and Zanfretta's condition, not the beings. The case is unresolved and, in Italy, famous.
