January 20, 1996

On the morning of January 20 between seven and eight a.m., the Varginha Fire Department's phone rang. It was a citizen reporting that a strange creature had been seen in an area of Varginha known as Jardim Andere. A short time later, there was another call, reporting the same thing. Then another, and another. Men of the fire department, which in Brazil is part of the military, were sent out, and by following directions from civilians, they were able to reach the area.

In a forested area, they found a creature with three large protrusions on its head, red eyes, long thin arms, and short legs with big feet. The only noise that it made was a sort of bee-like buzzing. They captured it easily with a net, since it seemed to be in a dazed condition. The creature was removed from the area at about 10:30 in the morning.

Later that day, three girls: Lilliane Fatima, Valquira Fatima, and Andrade Xavier, were taking a short cut home from work when they stumbled upon a second creature fitting almost the identical description as the first, also in the area known as Jardim Andere. They ran away home when it looked at them and told their mother, Luiza, who went back and found tracks in the mud and a strong smell of ammonia in the air at the spot.

There are further stories of more of these same creatures, as many as seven, being captured that same day. At least one was said to have been taken first to the regional hospital, and then to Humanitas Hospital. One of the creatures is supposed to have died, and was taken by military convoy to the University of Campinas, where an autopsy was performed. Another story says that two of the creatures were taken to the University of Sao Paulo. A videotape of the creatures is also said to be in existence.

Less than a month after the incident, 23 year-old military policeman Marco Eli Chereze, who supposedly was involved in the capture, died from a multiple infection without an apparent cause. Some have said he was infected by contact with the creature.

Two of the young girls who discovered one of the creatures later began asking for money for interviews, but in light of all the publicity and intrusions into their lives by the media, this is not unusual.

Men in Cream? According to Luiza Helena, the mother of two of the girls, she was offered a large amount of cash by four unidentified men in cream-coloured Armani suits if her daughters would deny the story. "They also said they would come back, but we can't hide the truth," she said.

Military and fire department personnel deny that they captured any such creatures, although there were some unusual activities, such as troop movements, that took place on that day.

Hospital personnel at the regional hospital and at Humanitas Hospital also deny (on the record) that any such events took place.

It has been rumored that the autopsy on the creature was done by a legist physician (forensic pathologist?) named Badan Palhares. He has officially denied any participation in such an activity, but is also reported to have said that he would have more to say about it at some future time.

Even if the Varginha story is true, there is nothing to connect the creatures with UFOs except for the fact that several UFO reports were being made in the area at the time. The creatures actually seem to have more in common with El Chupacabra than with UFOs.

With the exception of the accounts by the three young girls, all of the Varginha evidence is either second-hand, or is from military and hospital employees who will only speak anonymously to Brazilian ufologists, notably Vitorio Pacaccini.

The Wall Street Journal published a report about the sightings in which it was stated that Pacaccini's brand of hucksterism is characteristic of the frontier atmosphere in a town where the architecture is of the Quonset-hut school and the newspaper is staffed by a lone reporter.

This article was previously published in 2000. It has been revised slightly by removing dead links and adding new ones as needed.

Print References: • The Randle Report: UFOs in the '90s by Kevin D. Randle