UAP Trail Workspace
458 cases · 37 threads
Show
1991 · Papuda prison, Brasília, Brazil

Papuda, Brasília: police watched, CINDACTA tracked

On the record
Strength C · 5/10 · 3 independent
Evidence 1/4 · Witnesses 2/3 · Backing 2/3

Two dozen police over three hours, a press-office note confirming an unidentified signal, and an air-defence register entry; the air defence command later denied any radar record.

Plausibility High
Score 12 · 8 factors for, 1 against

About two dozen police watched a colour-changing oval for three hours; an Air Force press note confirmed an unidentified signal, and the air defence command later denied any radar record.

See the factors ↓

Contested
Primary document with witness-based diagram. Page 3 of the UnB report 'OVNI no Presídio da Papuda?' (ARX.0.0.465, sent to the Air Minister 1996): the officers' drawings, Lt Damasceno's confirmation of the oval shape, and a diagram of the object's four positions ('Deslocamentos'). · Arquivo Nacional (Brazil), fund BR DFANBSB ARX
When11 April 1991, 19:10–22:40 local
WherePapuda prison, Brasília, Brazil
Backing3 independent
Evidencepress, documents, official records

On the evening of 11 April 1991 a police lieutenant and about two dozen officers at Brasília's Papuda prison watched a colour-changing oval for more than three hours. The lieutenant phoned the air-defence centre four times; a sergeant there said he had it on radar and that a flight had been steered off its route. The Air Force press office confirmed an unidentified signal and suggested a balloon, but the balloon went up after the sighting began, and the air defence command later denied any radar record. Its own register logs radar plots over Brasília a few days later.

Evidence, in date order (3)

  1. 13 Apr 1991Correio Braziliense (13–14 Apr 1991)press
    'OVNI é detectado pelo radar do Cindacta' ARX.0.0.304
  2. 11 Nov 1996UnB GEU/NEFP report (Wilson Geraldo de Oliveira)document
    sent to the Air Minister in 1996 and forwarded to COMDABRA in 1997 ARX.0.0.465, 0.0.491
  3. COMDABRA registerofficial
    logs Brasília 11 Apr (50 observers), 13 Apr (60), and 'PLOT RADAR' entries on 15 and 18 Apr 1991 ARX.0.0.709

How plausible · High

About two dozen police watched a colour-changing oval for three hours; an Air Force press note confirmed an unidentified signal, and the air defence command later denied any radar record.

  • ●●
    Access Police watched from three positions.
  • ●●
    No gain sought On-duty officers.
  • ●●
    Character record Police officers.
  • ●●
    Independent convergence Two dozen officers; an airliner report.
  • ●●
    Checkable details check out UnB report; CECOMSAER note of 15 Apr 1991.
  • ●○
    Restraint Describe what they saw.
Against
  • −
    Contradicted by an insider Air defence denied a radar record (official denial, half weight).

Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-23.

Claims

A colour-changing oval watched from three positions for over three hours.firsthandOn the recordLt. Damasceno and about 20–25 police of the 3ª CPMInd, via the UnB report
CINDACTA I was tracking it on radar, 'retangular', about 700 km/h; a Brasília–São Luís airliner reported a blue-to-red light and a commercial flight was steered off its route.secondhandSourced, unconfirmedSgt. Petrônio (CINDACTA I) by phone, as reported by Lt. Damasceno
A signal at 19:45 'não ficou caracterizado como qualquer aeronave'.secondhandSourced, unconfirmedAir Force press office (CECOMSAER) note of 15 Apr 1991, as quoted by UnB
No radar record exists.firsthandOn the recordNuCOMDABRA Of. 017/CMDO/017, Maj.-Brig. Jaeckel, 3 Jun 1991

Where

Papuda prison, Brasília, Brazil
15.9°S 47.8°W

Similar cases · sharing people, threads, topics or era

Brazil's "Night of the UFOs" 1986Varginha: the "ET de Varginha" and the Army inquiry 1996Anápolis: a Mirage scrambled on a radar plot 2001An F-5M's radar paints a Mach 1.5 target 2010

People and organizations

Brazil's secret UFO register: the 1978 and 1989 orders, and the air-defence statistics document

Sources

A research project by Igor FrancePrivacy