One of the most emblematic actions to investigate UFO sightings in Brazil took place between 1977 and 1978 and to this day, the investigation is still surrounded by mystery.
The first reports date back to September 1977, when inhabitants of Colares, Mosqueiro and Ananindeua, among other towns in Belém, claimed to have been attacked by “light rays” coming from the sky.
Several patients were admitted to the health center with symptoms of anemia, dizziness and fever and first-degree burn marks on their bodies. The phenomenon was nicknamed by locals “chupa-chupa” or “vampire light”.
FAB (Brazilian Air Force) was called to investigate what was happening. The “Operation Prato” was led by Air Force captain Uyrangê de Hollanda Lima, then commander of Para-Sar, an elite FAB squadron that carried out search and rescue operations.
Hollanda and his men remained on the coast of Pará for four months. By day, they interviewed the alleged victims of the attacks and witnesses to the sightings. At night, they took turns monitoring the sky, using binoculars, cameras and camcorders.
On December 5, 1977, Hollanda had a meeting with Brigadier Protásio Lopes de Oliveira, commander of the 1st Regional Air Command (Comar 1), in Belém, to report on his mission.
That day, the captain reported to his superior that he and Sergeant João Flávio Costa had seen, a few days before, a UFO in the shape of an American football, about 100 meters long, flying over the Guajará-Mirim river. Inside, there was supposedly an extraterrestrial being.
After the meeting, Protásio ordered the investigations to be suspended, a fact that intrigues ufologists to this day.
At the end of the 1990s, Hollanda approached Ademar José Gevaerd, editor of UFO Magazine, to tell her story. As a retired military officer, he stated that the investigation had been extensively documented, with more than 500 photographs and 16 hours of footage.
More than forty years later, the mystery remains. All participants in Operation Prato have already died, including Hollanda. Meanwhile, the air force claims it has handed over all available material on UFOs to the Brazilian National Archives.
Check out Uyrangê de Hollanda’s latest interview below, where he tells all the details of Operation Prato (in portuguese):
