Varginha CreatureThe Brazilian Visitor
On 20 January 1996 three young women in Varginha, Brazil, reported a creature crouched against a wall: brown, oily-skinned, with large red eyes and three ridges on its head. Reports of a military capture followed, along with the death of a young police officer, and the case became known as the 'Brazilian Roswell'. The army attributed the sighting to a man with a disability; investigators still dispute it.
At a glance
- Home system
- Unknown
- Avg. height
- 4′0″ – 5′3″ (reported)
- Appearance
- Brown oily skin, large red eyes, three bumps on the head, thin limbs
- Reported lifespan
- Unknown
- Social structure
- Unknown
- Technology
- Unknown
- Primary traits
- Frightened, unsteady, apparently injured
- Relationship to Earth
- The 1996 sightings and alleged capture in Varginha, Brazil
Physical profile
The three women, Liliane and Valquíria Fátima Silva and Kátia Andrade Xavier, described a creature about the size of a child, crouched with its arms between its legs, with brown, oily, hairless skin, a large head, enormous red eyes, three ridges or bumps on its skull, and thin limbs that ended in large feet. It seemed to be trembling and in distress. A veterinary student who reportedly saw a creature at a clinic days later described something similar with a strong ammonia smell.
Reported origin
Unknown. Witnesses reported a craft crashing in the area the night before, and the case has been assembled around the idea of survivors from that crash.
Culture
None described; the creatures were seen as frightened and injured.
Technology
None.
Craft
A submarine-shaped object seen by farmers on the night of 13 January 1996, said to be damaged and trailing smoke.
Communication
None.
Earth encounters
The sighting by the three young women took place on the afternoon of 20 January 1996 in a vacant lot in Varginha, Minas Gerais. Over the following days rumours spread of a military operation: soldiers capturing one or two creatures, transferring them to a university hospital, and a young military policeman, Marco Eli Chereze, who was said to have handled a creature and who died weeks later of an infection. The Brazilian army investigated and concluded that the women had seen a local man with a disability crouched in the rain; the man's family confirmed he lived nearby. The Chereze family disputed the official account of his death.
The case has been the subject of Brazilian congressional hearings, books and, in 2022, the documentary Moment of Contact by James Fox, which presented new witnesses. It remains the most important UFO case in Latin America and is unresolved.
Lore & history
Varginha has adopted the creature: a water tower shaped like a saucer stands in the city. XenoAtlas lists the Varginha Creature as reported.
Encounters on record
Source notes
- Varginha UFO incident · encyclopedic summary
XenoAtlas documents extraterrestrial concepts appearing in mythology, contactee literature, popular culture, speculative accounts, and related sources. Inclusion does not constitute scientific verification.
Related species
See every type in the Types of Aliens guide.