Moment of Contact (2022) - full transcript
Is an exploration of extraterrestrial encounters centered on a series of events in 1996 when citizens of Varginha, Brazil, reported seeing a UFO crash and one or more strange creatures.
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]
[EERIE MUSIC PLAYING]
[RADIO STATIC]
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: Varginha is
a Brazilian city
located in the southern region
of the state of Minas Gerais.
Varginha is considered
the seventh best city in Brazil
to live and invest
and became known
internationally in 1996
for the alleged appearance
of alien creatures,
the episode that became known
as the "Varginha Incident".
This following story
is based on truth and lies.
[PLANE ENGINE REVS]
[RADIO STATIC]
[TAPE RECORDER WHIRRING]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[REPORTER SPEAKING
OTHER LANGUAGE]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
If true, call it
another Roswell, if you will.
That is, a crashed vehicle
that had beings
on board, apparently.
Can she say what feelings
she got from the creature?
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
AJ GEVAERD: The Varginha case
is considered
the most
well-kept secret
in the military circle
of Brazil.
[PLANE ENGINE REVS]
JAMES FOX: We're in
Sao Paulo, Brazil,
about to go and investigate
the infamous
1996 Varginha UFO incident.
An alleged crash
and reported bodies.
So we're gonna go see...
Oh, okay. No problem.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]
I'm basically trying
to figure out what took place
in Varginha, Brazil,
January 1996.
Many people say there was
a UFO crash,
debris and bodies recovered.
My objective here in Brazil
is to find out,
put some clarity on,
what happened
and where this debris
ultimately ended up.
[REPORTER SPEAKING
OTHER LANGUAGE]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]
I wanna hear from her.
NARRATOR: James Fox teams up
with Brazilian researcher
Marco Leal,
who has been investigating
the Varginha case since 2006.
Together they meet
Cynthia Covo in Sao Paulo,
to go over the case.
- So...
- Yeah.
This is the daughter
of one of the most famous
- UFO researchers
in all of Brazil.
- Yeah.
- And he is no longer with us.
- Yes.
So she has brought
some of his research,
illustrations, documentation
from the 1996 Varginha
UFO incident.
An unidentified flying object
reportedly crashes,
and then you have beings
associated with the craft,
alive and walking through
the town.
It sounds so spectacular,
it sounds so unbelievable,
it's hard to wrap your mind
around it.
And I didn't believe it
when I first heard about it.
FOX: This is the design.
The girls drew this
for her father.
- That's her father.
- MARCO: Yeah.
They were in the fire...
fireman station.
So this is the fireman that...
They believe this fireman
was involved in the capture?
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
MAN: Oralina, Eurico.
FOX: And they saw a UFO
that looked like it was
definitely gonna crash?
MAN: Liliane and Valquiria.
- FOX: Right after they saw
the creature?
- MARCO: Yes.
- FOX: Marco Cherese?
- MARCO: Yeah.
- FOX: Who captured the creature
with his bare hands.
- MARCO: Yes.
FOX: And later died.
This is an original artist's
rendition of what the girls saw.
FOX: Wow!
Wow, look at that.
Brazil is one of the most
amazing locations on Earth.
- I mean, you've got Ubatuba
in the '50s.
- Yeah.
You've got Colares,
Operacao Prato.
You've got 1986,
UFOs over Brazil
with Sao Paulo.
It was amazing. I met with
a radar operator.
And then you have this crash
in 1996 in Varginha.
These are some of the
best cases in the world.
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: 1957.
Witnesses observe an object
descending at extreme speed
from the skies
towards Toninhas Beach.
Before hitting the water,
it explodes.
Fragments collected
on the beach are sent to a lab
to be analyzed.
This headline reads,
Scientific analysis confirms
extraterrestrial magnesium
from the alleged
Ubatuba flying saucer.
- [CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
- NARRATOR: Photographer
Almiro Barauna
and the crew aboard
a Brazilian navy vessel
- [CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
- witness
a disc-shaped object
maneuvering over the ocean.
- [CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
- He grabs his camera
and takes these shots.
[EERIE MUSIC PLAYING]
[MAN IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[WOMAN IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
NARRATOR: Previously classified
Brazilian Air Force documents
contain accounts
of several UFOs
witnessed by both civilians
and military personnel.
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
NARRATOR: Shown here
are several unknown craft
captured on camera
by the Brazilian Air Force.
Some officers even claimed
to see occupants.
[SIGNAL BEEPING]
NARRATOR: 1986.
- [JET ENGINES REVVING]
- Over Sao Paulo,
six Brazilian fighter jets
chase more than a dozen UFOs.
[MAN IN OTHER LANGUAGE
OVER RADIO]
[JET ENGINE REVVING]
[REPORTER SPEAKING
OTHER LANGUAGE]
NARRATOR: The Ministry
of the Air Force confirms
this encounter
in a press conference.
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
[CHILD IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER]
- [DOG BARKING]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
- She got to meet
Carlos de Sousa?
- Yes.
- In 1996?
- Yeah.
- And he was the man
who saw the UFO crash.
- CYNTHIA: Yes.
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
Going back to 1996
and seeing the witnesses
and seeing the location
of the creatures,
seeing the
original illustration...
You know, the rendition
of what the creature
looked like from 1996
and holding it in my hands,
it was fascinating!
And the photograph
of the military man,
Marco Cherese,
who apparently handled
one of the creatures.
I mean, it just takes you
back in time to 1996.
And it was just a really,
really fortunate opportunity
for us.
I'm thrilled, and I can't wait
to get to Varginha,
to be honest with you.
You could just say
hypothetically, for a moment,
if it did happen,
how significant of an event
would it be?
I bet you that everyone
would say,
there's nothing more significant
than this story.
If it were true.
I just ask people
to suspend judgement,
listen to the testimony,
and then draw
your own conclusions.
[EERIE MUSIC PLAYING]
Hey, we're just gonna
drop me off or something.
Get some drinks
while they go around the block,
or wait.
NARRATOR: Upon arrival
in Varginha,
the filmmakers want
to hear from locals
regarding the alleged
1996 UFO crash.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
A large monument in the shape
of a flying saucer
is a clear indication
that the town embraces
the story.
Armed with handmade signs
that read,
"If anyone knows what happened
in 1996, please talk to us."
The team takes to the streets.
What does he think
about the case?
- Does he think it happened
or it didn't happen?
- [IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
What are your feelings
on Varginha?
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
The 1996 Varginha UFO incident,
what do you think?
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
Things are heating up
right now, guys.
Like, we're finding
some witnesses.
- These guys is really
important here.
- Okay, let's bring it.
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
They see a UFO.
The UFO gets closer to them,
to the point where
it's at the height
of that street light.
Okay, so then what happens?
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
So a lot of people in this town
have a little piece
of the puzzle.
We were only here
for an hour-and-a-half,
and I can't believe
how many people
we got to come forward.
What I love about this case
is it's recent enough
where people either
heard accounts or experienced
things themselves.
So, right now, we are going
to meet with
the mayor of Varginha.
So I'm very curious
if an elected official
will talk about
the details of the case
and whether he believes
it really happened.
These sorts of things.
[CLAPS]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]
[CONVERSING IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
- FOX: Look at this.
- MARCO: Oh, that's nice.
- FOX: That's great.
- MARCO: Yeah.
[CONVERSING IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
FOX: I'm extremely curious,
as an elected official,
the mayor of Varginha,
does he believe
that this case happened
as the witnesses
are reporting it
to have happened?
[MUSIC PLAYING]
The witnesses in Varginha,
for me, are some of the most
compelling testimony
I've ever heard.
- [CHUCKLING]
- So I didn't believe that
a UFO crashed
in Varginha, Brazil,
when I first came here.
But after 10 years...
I wouldn't have imagined
getting an interview with...
an elected official
like the mayor of Varginha.
If you would have told me
I'd be doing that ten years ago,
I wouldn't have believed it.
Not only that,
but he was, basically,
saying that he felt
that the Varginha case was true,
that it really happened.
I think we have to
remind ourselves how far
we've come in the last decade.
[ENGINES REVVING]
[EERIE MUSIC PLAYING]
[LEAVES RUSTLING]
Put me on that farm
in January of 1996.
What happened?
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[TRACTOR RUMBLING]
[BIRDS CHIRPING]
NARRATOR: 1996.
Crash witness Carlos de Sousa
describes a similar object
in this exclusive interview.
NARRATOR: January 13th, 1996.
Carlos de Sousa
is traveling from Sao Paulo
to Minas Gerais
early in the morning,
planning to meet with friends
to fly ultra-light planes.
[LEAVES RUSTLING]
NARRATOR: Now, 26 years later,
the team travels with
Carlos de Sousa
to find the crash site.
[VEHICLE RATTLING]
Turn around. Right.
Careful of the dust.
He's trying to remember.
FOX: So where the trees were?
[FERNANDA PIRES
IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
PIRES: He doesn't... remember.
But he thinks it's this way.
Because it's been 26 years...
FOX: Is this looking familiar?
There's a house up there.
But if it's close to a house,
then it's gotta be
further down this way.
Unless the house is gone.
- MAN: I think the house is gone.
- FOX: You do?
[VEHICLE RATTLING]
- PIRES: He's asking you to stop.
- FOX: Stop?
FOX: Right. Let's go.
- What does that mean?
- Yeah, like big grass.
It was around here.
Okay.
- He wants to go there.
- Okay.
- So it was a white house,
and it was a small house.
- Yeah, it was a small house.
- So...
- The grass was burned.
The grass was burned.
Why was the grass burned?
- FOX: So, is the house gone?
- It was around here.
The house is gone?
He doesn't know.
Everything's different.
FOX: I mean, it could be here,
or it could be there.
FOX: We walk over to there
and look.
If it's close to the road,
it only can be
in a couple of places.
Does he wanna walk up
closer to it.
He said the house was close
to where the crash was.
- MARCO: Yeah.
- 200 meters.
- MARCO: Yeah, it's like...
- 600 feet.
MARCO: It's my only...
My only house.
Family. My only family.
FOX: Well, I say we...
I say we take a closer look.
- I mean...
- MARCO: Yeah.
FOX: You know?
Yeah, we gotta do it, man.
We got to find this spot!
MARCO: There's a lot of trees.
Is there a house down there?
MARCO: Yeah, there's a house
right down to these trees.
[WHISTLES] Yeah.
FOX: Well, let's get closer
to there then.
FOX: Let's drive down the road.
Let's drive down to get closer.
There's a house.
This isn't a field.
Yes, yes!
PIRES: Here. Here!
FOX: Wow!
FOX: Wow!
[SIGHS]
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
[SOBBING]
FOX: This is the spot.
[SIGHS]
Was this object big enough
to have, potentially,
beings inside?
[EERIE MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: According to
Mr. Sousa,
this area was covered
with debris from the UFO crash.
This is his first time
at the crash site since 1996.
FOX: So he gets out of the car.
He sees the piece, right?
He picks the piece up.
He folds it. He said
it was really light,
and it was shaped
kind of like this.
- Yeah.
- And then he picked it up
and he folded it
and then it opens itself up.
And it was really light.
- Yes.
- Like aluminum.
At what point did the military
come to him?
- Right after that happened?
- Yes.
The military came
from this way and arrived?
Yeah.
Carlos Sousa came from here
and the trucks came
from that side.
Okay.
NARRATOR: Within minutes,
trucks from the military base,
ESA, arrive on the scene.
- Wah, wah? Go away?
- Yeah.
I think some guy...
FOX: What does "borra" mean?
- PIRES: Go away! Go away!
Go away!
- FOX: Go away?
MARCO: Go away! Go away!
And I'm ordering.
FOX: I'm ordering you?
I'm ordering you to go away?
- Yeah.
- So then he pulled his gun out?
- Yes.
- And he said I'm ordering you
to go away.
Wow!
NARRATOR: After giving
this interview
shortly after the incident,
Carlos de Sousa
vanishes for 26 years.
[birds chirping]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
- FOX: Mark it.
- [CLAPS]
Can we just walk to
where exactly this
took place?
NARRATOR: Seven days
after Sousa witnessed
the crash,
Hubert Ladera leaves this gym
when he and several friends
see two military trucks
driving into town.
They follow them
through the neighborhood
and come upon
a military blockade.
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
FOX: One of the people
in his group said,
this is a free country,
and I'm going through.
It was him.
- FOX: Oh, it was him?
- PIRES: Yeah.
FOX: So he said,
hey, this is a free country.
I'll do what I want.
And then what happens?
[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
This is the local
TV news station that covered
the case back in 1996.
He was deeply involved.
He was also good friends
with Marco Cherese,
who's the military
police officer who, allegedly,
handled the creature
and then died.
- Thank you.
- FOX: Yes, of course.
- [BOTH CHUCKLE]
- FOX: Absolutely.
Describe what happened
back in 1996.
What you witnessed,
what you saw.
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
- [THUNDER RUMBLING]
- [RAIN PATTERING]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
So is he saying
that the military
shut down the press?
- Yes.
- Successfully.
- Yes.
- They don't have a free press.
- And they say...
- They don't have a free press.
No. If they If they say,
if they would have go,
like, investigate further,
they probably would have
put them in jail.
Okay, I'll quickly mention.
So we have, uh,
we have special authorization
from the city of Varginha,
and we have a universal key
which is provided to us
by, I think, Katia's husband.
And so we're going to film
the use of the special key
to gain access
to the exact location
where the encounter occurred
back in January of 1996.
Action.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
There we go.
- [SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
- Did you see how easy that was?
[LAUGHS]
JAMES FOX: I wanted to
film here
because this is obviously
going to invoke memories
of the encounter, and I think
that we're going to get
a more dramatic,
more real, um,
on camera testimony
from the girls,
doing it here
as opposed to somewhere else.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[MAN SPEAKING IN PORTUGUESE]
NARRATOR: Media across Brazil
and the world
cover the story.
[MAN SPEAKING IN PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[MAN SPEAKING IN PORTUGUESE]
Tell us, walk us through
what happened.
What did you see?
Where did you see it?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
NARRATOR: 1996,
based on the girl's testimony,
artist Betty Rodriguez,
creates this drawing.
FOX: What I find
makes their stories
so credible
is that there were
three of them.
I want to hear from Valquiria
because she was the youngest.
What were her thoughts
at the time?
Was she scared? Did you run?
Like, put me there.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
FOX: These eyes
compared to my eyes,
how much bigger?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
- WOMAN: Three times bigger.
- FOX: Three times bigger.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
I want to walk over by the wall,
and I want you to tell me
where exactly the creature was.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
- FOX: Wow!
- [SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
FOX: Really close.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
I didn't realize it's closer
than I expected,
I mean,
it's like eight-feet away.
They were eight-feet away
from this creature.
Broad daylight.
It was 3:30 in the afternoon.
This is the exact location.
When she made eye contact
with this creature,
was there a moment
of any kind of communication?
Did she feel anything at all?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
FOX: Okay, so this is,
uh, Valquiria.
This is Katia.
- Sim.
- And this is Liliane.
You see the, the eyes.
They didn't draw a nose,
they didn't draw a mouth.
It was all about the eyes.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
I want to understand,
uh, first of all,
the moment of contact
with the eye,
with the eyes, meeting the eyes.
I really want to be there.
I want to feel it.
When they locked eyes
with this being,
what were they thinking?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
They all ran out of here
quickly,
so they were scared.
Were they scared
because they felt threatened,
or were they scared
because they just
simply didn't know
what they were looking at?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
So the three girls
run to her house,
and they say,
"We saw this creature
that might have been the devil
or whatever it was."
And they, do they,
do they get in the car
and drive here?
Do they walk here?
How did they get here?
And what do they see
when they got here?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
Can she draw the footprint?
The shape of the footprint?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
- Yes. Sim, sim.
- [SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
FOX: That's the exact location
where the girls saw the creature
right through that wall
where we filmed already
with the girls.
I didn't realize
that Marco Chereze,
the military officer,
who allegedly captured
the creature,
with his bare hands,
did it right over here.
NARRATOR: Roughly three hours
after the girls witnessed
the strange creature,
Military police officers
Eddie Lopes
and Marco Chereze
drive down this road
on the lookout
for something unusual.
When suddenly,
it runs right across
their path.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
It was captured by Marco Chereze
with his bare hands easily
and taken to the hospital.
After he captured the creature,
he was smelling the creature
in his body and his clothes.
Because he had
this strange feeling
of something greasy, sticky,
over his body
that came from the creature.
He developed this,
this infection
that wouldn't go away.
And for two or three weeks
it was getting worse and worse
and worse.
And it looks like
that his immunity system
was shut down.
This were the words
used by one of the doctors
who treated him,
who said that he never saw
in his whole medical career
anything like that.
And that infection killed him.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
FOX: All the witnesses
that claim that Marco Chereze
handled a creature,
a strange creature,
doesn't have to be
from another world,
it was a strange creature,
he gets some unknown infection.
You did everything you could
to save him,
and he died.
Do you believe
that there's some credibility
to that story?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
NARRATOR: When her brother
falls ill,
she asks about his involvement
with the case.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
NARRATOR: On February 10th,
Marco Chereze is admitted
to regional hospital.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
Roger, what's the main purpose
that you could to Varginha
for a new ecological research?
The main purpose for being here,
uh, is to look at
the physical evidence aspect
of this case,
uh, which is what
I specialize in.
It is June, the 7th 2002,
and I am here in Varginha,
Brazil,
with the chief investigator
on the Varginha episode,
Ubirajara Rodrigues.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
NARRATOR: 2002,
renowned UFO researcher,
Dr. Roger Leir,
travels to Varginha
to investigate the case.
He documents
multiple key witnesses
on video.
This footage
has never been released.
She is the wife
of a deceased member
of the military police.
I think we should at least know
what her husband's name was.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
Does she know
if anyone has seen
a medical report?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
Oh, they took a long time
to deliver it,
and they asked for money,
and they,
and there were missing pages.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
Once she lose,
she searched for explanations,
but nobody would give any.
Was Marco Chereze
the only person infected
who died?
We don't know.
Where, uh, these two creatures
the only ones that remain alive
after the crash?
We don't know.
We only have, uh,
very detailed information
about the existence
and the capture of these two.
One capture in the morning
and one at evening
of the same day,
January 20, 1996.
NARRATOR: According to
credible reports,
there were two captures
on January 20th.
Hours before
the girls' encounter,
the fire brigade captured
a being.
This capture
was thoroughly investigated
by leading Brazilian researcher
and lawyer
Ubirajara Rodrigues.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
MAN: This is
the fire department...
NARRATOR: Dr. Leir teamed up
with Ubirajara.
They questioned
the fire battalion
allegedly involved
in the capture
of the first creature.
This is the creature.
And this is a, kind of,
equipment that is used
to catch it.
NARRATOR: The fire department
was dispatched to this location
after receiving several calls
from concerned residents
who reported seeing
something strange in the area.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[MAN SPEAKING IN PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
INTERPRETER: The Army truck
entered by this gate here.
Got in over here.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[MAN SPEAKING IN PORTUGUESE]
INTERPRETER: Got the creature
already dead from inside.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
INTERPRETER: The presence
of several elements
from the military police,
from the Army...
- [MAN SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
- ...several doctors, nurses...
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
This convoy left the place
and went to Tres Coracoes.
DR. ROGER LEIR: Both creatures
left at the same time.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
INTERPRETER: And the creature
that was alive
got to Campinas alive.
NARRATOR: The team drives
to meet with a family
who saw a UFO
hovering over the area
of the encounter
and capture.
Okay, let me ask.
- Let me ask.
- Yeah.
How about we film
the back of their heads
talking to me?
Like, I don't know.
[BOTH SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
- Hey, Fernanda,
we have two options.
- Okay.
Okay. One, we blur his faces,
no problem,
and we will do that.
Two, we film from the backside
and their and their faces
aren't seen ever.
Like doctors, and they all saw
the UFO right over this area.
It looked like they were looking
for something, like it was doing
a grid search.
And this is
a very respectable family.
They don't want their faces
on camera.
They want to talk and tell
what they saw,
but they don't want their faces
revealed on camera,
which happens.
Okay, so we're standing
in very near the area
where the girls saw
the creature.
It was 1996, January.
This entire family
saw something
they want to share with us,
but they don't want to have
their faces revealed.
So what did they see?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
Did I hear... I heard Americana.
- He stayed American.
- Yes.
[STUTTERING]
What was that about?
Some American officials...
- Came here.
- ...came here to talk about
what they saw.
- Yes.
- Americans?
Were they military?
Were they police?
Who were they?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
Is there any way
that there is
a conventional explanation
to what they saw?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
FOX: I just want to go over
that interview and what I find.
First of all, they hesitated
on whether or not they
even wanted to go on camera.
They canceled yesterday.
Today they were like,
"Hmm. We don't want...
Oh, sorry...
"We don't want our faces
on camera."
It was like an entire family,
and they all saw this object
and it was really big.
Shaped like a disc,
zero noise.
You have witnesses like that.
They're friends of the doctor,
the guy that we rent
the house from.
That you could just tell
they've been sitting
on that story for 26 years.
How excited he was
to finally share it.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
There was unusual activity
at the base.
There were helicopters
from the Navy,
which in itself was unusual.
He sees a box.
Was the box unusual?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
So to this day, has he spoken
to any of them
that went to Varginha?
- No, no.
- Nothing.
- Yeah.
- Wow.
NARRATOR: According to
the witness,
it wasn't only the drivers
who were never seen again.
Their Captain Edson Ramirez,
also left without a word.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
NARRATOR: January, 1996.
A radiologist
has an unexpected visit
by the military
while on duty
at regional hospital.
He agrees to share his story,
provided his identity
remains concealed.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
So we have a big
military presence
on the outside of the hospital.
We've got two army
and two police
on the inside of the hospital
with a box
and something
inside of a black zip body bag.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
But what did it smell like?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
When they took whatever it was
in that black bag,
and they left the hospital,
the military and the police
with that bag
and that thing,
did the smell leave?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
Three of the most strange,
bizarre points,
of this encounter.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
Probably about ten months ago,
Marco managed to reach
a vetted, legitimate witness
who was involved
in the transportation
of the, they call them E.T.
or the being.
Um, this guy was so scared,
uh, Marco spent, I think,
eight to ten months,
slowly developing a relationship
with this guy.
And about four days ago
he agreed to meet with me
and Marco, just the two of us.
So we drove late into the night,
we met him at a bar.
When he arrived,
he was with another guy.
He took us
to a different location.
We sat outside and we talked
for a couple of hours
about coming forward,
appearing in the documentary.
I've never ever had
the opportunity
to interview a witness
that potentially handles
an extraterrestrial being.
I'm worried about the military
getting wind of what's going on
because there clearly paying
attention to this witness.
I'm worried about them
getting a phone call,
reminding him of his oath
of secrecy.
I don't want to put
someone else's family
in harm's way.
So you're always,
in the back of your mind,
in a situation like this,
you know that at any moment,
the carpet can get pulled out
from under you,
and it's not a done deal
until it's a done deal.
Listen. I wonder
if we should rent a hotel room
and then have him come to us.
Because, then we can get
all the gear
inside the hotel room
and then he can just show up
and walk in.
We can, we can stop
at the gas station.
NARRATOR: Marco coordinates
with the witness,
military Ex,
to secure a safe
meeting location.
Yes. I made appointment
with him in the some hotel
right here.
Close to here and then,
so I think we have to drove...
- We go to the hotel first.
- Yeah, we go...
- Check in
and then he just walks in.
- Exactly.
- [INAUDIBLE]
- Yeah, that's good.
I feel that, that anxiety
in my stomach, you know?
It's just like...
We pull this off
and it's just like first time.
It will be the most
compelling testimony
ever revealed on the history
of this case.
- JAMES: Oh, my God.
This hill's so steep.
- MAN 2: I know.
JAMES: Entrada,
this is the hotel.
I would get a quick shot of it,
and I'd shut these
cameras off right now.
Can you guys do that?
Shut everything off.
Guys?
- MAN: Yeah.
- Right.
MAN: Right here.
Here? Fuck!
This room is small.
You can't even
use these cameras in here.
MAN: Oh, my God!
Okay. He's trying to find
the room with two beds.
MAN: It'd be better.
- Yeah.
- MAN: Yeah.
MAN: Mark it.
Okay.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
MAN: Okay. He's on.
Okay. So we are sitting here
with Military X who clearly
doesn't want his
identity revealed
which we're not going to do.
And he's going to provide
enough detail, not too much,
but enough detail on operations
that he was involved with
with the Varginha case.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
When he was in Humanitas,
this is where he saw
part of the creature.
- Yes.
- What was the atmosphere like?
What were the looks on the faces
of the other people in the room?
- Yeah.
- What was it like?
Can he put me in that room?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
When you looked
and you saw the leg
or part of the leg
and the foot with the "V"...
- Right.
- ...what did you think?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
NARRATOR: ESA military base,
is roughly 20 miles
southeast of Varginha.
According to witnesses,
the Army operations
originated from here.
Is there filmed footage,
video footage of the creature
that he knows about?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
NARRATOR: Military X says
that on January 22nd 1996,
he drove the creature
from Humanitas Hospital
in Varginha to ESA Army Base,
where it would
remain overnight.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Does he have any idea
where the creature went?
Because, uh,
it went to Regionas,
then Humanitas,
then ESA, then Campinas.
And then what happened?
[SPEAKS SPANISH]
NARRATOR:
According to Military X,
he transported a creature
from Humanitas Hospital
in Varginha
to ESA military base
and Tres Coracoes
where it stayed for the night.
Early the following morning,
the convoy
continued their mission,
heading south
from Fernao Dias freeway,
then west on Don Pedro
to Espcex army base
in the city of Campinas.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
NARRATOR: The team meets
with Brazilian Air Force
traffic control officer,
Jose Manuel Fernandez,
his unit was responsible
for monitoring
specific airspace
over the state of Sao Paulo.
Do you know anything
about this case?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Was it Americans involved,
or was it just
the Brazilians involved?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Only Americans. Only.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
And how does he know
that the Americans
were involved?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[RAIN PATTERING]
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Has anybody seen Eric Lopes?
Has anyone ever
tried to talk to him?
Yeah. People try
to reach him out.
- People have tried?
- Yeah.
And nada?
NARRATOR: With the help
of Varginha mayor, Verdi,
the team connects
with Mr. da Costa,
a military police
corporal in 1996.
His son, Romulo A Ribeiro,
agrees to escort them
to the home of Eric Lopes.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
JAMES: Can you go up there?
NARRATOR: Eric Lopes
is the military police officer
from P2 who reportedly
drove the car
during the second capture
with Marco Cherese.
Not even the family
of the deceased officer
has been able to get
a statement from Lopes.
If the reports are true,
he is the only living witness
of the second capture.
Officer Lopes has been
unreachable for 26 years.
JAMES: Oh, my God.
I'll go with him.
I'm going with him.
[CAR DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES]
MAN: Hey!
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Tell him that the mayor
has blessed us.
You tell him the mayor said...
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE]
This is Eric Lopes?
Let me just... Hold on, please.
Let me ask you
a question. Please.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
- WOMAN: He is his friend not...
- JAMES: Oh, okay.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
What?
[SPEAKS SPANISH]
Hold up, hold up.
Just ask him
one question for me.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Will he ever come forward
to make a statement?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
MAN 1: What's happening?
MAN 2: This is the house
of Eric Lopes.
- MAN 1: Yeah.
- But he doesn't like to talk.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
MAN 1: And the threat
is that they might shoot us
because we're on the property,
trespassing.
MAN 1: They're
talking right now.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
- So, Eric won't talk?
- No.
What just happened?
I'm trying... What happened?
Is that Eric Lopes?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
- Who is that?
- Yeah, Eric Lopes.
That's Eric Lopes.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
He doesn't want to talk at all.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE]
- Okay.
- Yeah, let's go.
Oh, my God. That was Eric.
Just saw him.
[EXCLAIMS]
Okay, okay. We'll go talk.
Did you get him?
Dave, did you get him?
Please tell me you got him.
That was Eric Lopes.
Oh, my fucking God.
Did you get him in the window?
- DAVE: Yeah.
- JAMES: Holy shit.
DAVE: He was
on the window the whole time.
JAMES: Oh, my God. You got him?
This, here.
I'm ready to go at this.
MAN: You'll be shot
if you don't live here.
- He will shoot you?
- MAN: Yeah.
Fuck!
If that guy had nothing to hide,
he would have just said so.
That guy was driving the car
that Marco... was in.
Write what we just did.
DAVE: I got the interview
yesterday. It was pretty good.
JAMES: For what?
No. Right now was pretty gnarly.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
JAMES: Ask him if we can
talk about what we just did.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
JAMES: Okay, okay.
Which way did he go?
DAVE: To the left.
JAMES: We're stopping here?
Okay.
God, this is...
What exactly did he say?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
JAMES: And he believed that
Eric Lopes was serious?
[SPEAKS SPANISH]
WOMAN: Yes, he was.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
JAMES: If his story is true,
he is walking around
with a level of confirmation
that only a handful of people
on this planet have.
What does that feel like?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
NARRATOR: May 8th, 1996,
with mounting pressure
from media and witnesses,
the military base, ESA,
holds a press conference.
General Lima,
addresses the crowd.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
The accumulation of aspects,
the girls who saw something,
the other people in the town
who saw something,
this wasn't an isolated event
where you got one witness
saying, "Oh, I saw
something extraordinary."
Not at all.
They seem to be
relatively naive young girls,
and there were
fire department people involved,
who saw the beings, too.
And one nice thing
about it is that
it takes the onus away
from saying things only
happen in the United States.
Well, there was
the United States involvement,
and it wouldn't surprise me
if they paid
to pick up the wreckage
and you know
all the rest of the stuff.
Why not?
Makes sense.
Cheap way to get information.
Let the other guy to the work.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
I believe that
the Varginha case
is much more important today
because it is more recent
and some of the events
have not unfolded yet.
Did she have any
connection with eyes?
Did she make any...
Like she saw eye to eye
- with the being?
- MAN: Mmm-hmm.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Were there live aliens seen
walking around this town?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Mmm-hmm.
I have deal with
this case in 1996
because I have some
friends from there.
He told that, "Oh, you
don't know what is true.
But I know what I saw."
Oh, James.
JAMES: Oh, yeah. Really.
WOMAN: Weight off the shoulders.
- JAMES: Mmm-hmm.
- WOMAN: Yeah.
I just wonder like
what they said
to these witnesses
that 25 years later,
they still don't want to talk
about it on camera at all.
It's, like, unbelievable.
It's like you over them...
Even compensation that
they still won't do it.
MAN: I know.
It's like money doesn't...
Well, they won't do it.
That's weird.
JAMES: The reason
why they haven't made
overt contacts is because
we're so aggressive.
[LAUGHING]
Come on. [LAUGHS]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Would that smell
make a good perfume?
[BOTH LAUGHING]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]
[EERIE MUSIC PLAYING]
[RADIO STATIC]
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: Varginha is
a Brazilian city
located in the southern region
of the state of Minas Gerais.
Varginha is considered
the seventh best city in Brazil
to live and invest
and became known
internationally in 1996
for the alleged appearance
of alien creatures,
the episode that became known
as the "Varginha Incident".
This following story
is based on truth and lies.
[PLANE ENGINE REVS]
[RADIO STATIC]
[TAPE RECORDER WHIRRING]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[REPORTER SPEAKING
OTHER LANGUAGE]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
If true, call it
another Roswell, if you will.
That is, a crashed vehicle
that had beings
on board, apparently.
Can she say what feelings
she got from the creature?
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
AJ GEVAERD: The Varginha case
is considered
the most
well-kept secret
in the military circle
of Brazil.
[PLANE ENGINE REVS]
JAMES FOX: We're in
Sao Paulo, Brazil,
about to go and investigate
the infamous
1996 Varginha UFO incident.
An alleged crash
and reported bodies.
So we're gonna go see...
Oh, okay. No problem.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]
I'm basically trying
to figure out what took place
in Varginha, Brazil,
January 1996.
Many people say there was
a UFO crash,
debris and bodies recovered.
My objective here in Brazil
is to find out,
put some clarity on,
what happened
and where this debris
ultimately ended up.
[REPORTER SPEAKING
OTHER LANGUAGE]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]
I wanna hear from her.
NARRATOR: James Fox teams up
with Brazilian researcher
Marco Leal,
who has been investigating
the Varginha case since 2006.
Together they meet
Cynthia Covo in Sao Paulo,
to go over the case.
- So...
- Yeah.
This is the daughter
of one of the most famous
- UFO researchers
in all of Brazil.
- Yeah.
- And he is no longer with us.
- Yes.
So she has brought
some of his research,
illustrations, documentation
from the 1996 Varginha
UFO incident.
An unidentified flying object
reportedly crashes,
and then you have beings
associated with the craft,
alive and walking through
the town.
It sounds so spectacular,
it sounds so unbelievable,
it's hard to wrap your mind
around it.
And I didn't believe it
when I first heard about it.
FOX: This is the design.
The girls drew this
for her father.
- That's her father.
- MARCO: Yeah.
They were in the fire...
fireman station.
So this is the fireman that...
They believe this fireman
was involved in the capture?
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
MAN: Oralina, Eurico.
FOX: And they saw a UFO
that looked like it was
definitely gonna crash?
MAN: Liliane and Valquiria.
- FOX: Right after they saw
the creature?
- MARCO: Yes.
- FOX: Marco Cherese?
- MARCO: Yeah.
- FOX: Who captured the creature
with his bare hands.
- MARCO: Yes.
FOX: And later died.
This is an original artist's
rendition of what the girls saw.
FOX: Wow!
Wow, look at that.
Brazil is one of the most
amazing locations on Earth.
- I mean, you've got Ubatuba
in the '50s.
- Yeah.
You've got Colares,
Operacao Prato.
You've got 1986,
UFOs over Brazil
with Sao Paulo.
It was amazing. I met with
a radar operator.
And then you have this crash
in 1996 in Varginha.
These are some of the
best cases in the world.
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: 1957.
Witnesses observe an object
descending at extreme speed
from the skies
towards Toninhas Beach.
Before hitting the water,
it explodes.
Fragments collected
on the beach are sent to a lab
to be analyzed.
This headline reads,
Scientific analysis confirms
extraterrestrial magnesium
from the alleged
Ubatuba flying saucer.
- [CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
- NARRATOR: Photographer
Almiro Barauna
and the crew aboard
a Brazilian navy vessel
- [CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
- witness
a disc-shaped object
maneuvering over the ocean.
- [CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
- He grabs his camera
and takes these shots.
[EERIE MUSIC PLAYING]
[MAN IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[WOMAN IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
NARRATOR: Previously classified
Brazilian Air Force documents
contain accounts
of several UFOs
witnessed by both civilians
and military personnel.
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
NARRATOR: Shown here
are several unknown craft
captured on camera
by the Brazilian Air Force.
Some officers even claimed
to see occupants.
[SIGNAL BEEPING]
NARRATOR: 1986.
- [JET ENGINES REVVING]
- Over Sao Paulo,
six Brazilian fighter jets
chase more than a dozen UFOs.
[MAN IN OTHER LANGUAGE
OVER RADIO]
[JET ENGINE REVVING]
[REPORTER SPEAKING
OTHER LANGUAGE]
NARRATOR: The Ministry
of the Air Force confirms
this encounter
in a press conference.
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
[CHILD IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER]
- [DOG BARKING]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
- She got to meet
Carlos de Sousa?
- Yes.
- In 1996?
- Yeah.
- And he was the man
who saw the UFO crash.
- CYNTHIA: Yes.
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
Going back to 1996
and seeing the witnesses
and seeing the location
of the creatures,
seeing the
original illustration...
You know, the rendition
of what the creature
looked like from 1996
and holding it in my hands,
it was fascinating!
And the photograph
of the military man,
Marco Cherese,
who apparently handled
one of the creatures.
I mean, it just takes you
back in time to 1996.
And it was just a really,
really fortunate opportunity
for us.
I'm thrilled, and I can't wait
to get to Varginha,
to be honest with you.
You could just say
hypothetically, for a moment,
if it did happen,
how significant of an event
would it be?
I bet you that everyone
would say,
there's nothing more significant
than this story.
If it were true.
I just ask people
to suspend judgement,
listen to the testimony,
and then draw
your own conclusions.
[EERIE MUSIC PLAYING]
Hey, we're just gonna
drop me off or something.
Get some drinks
while they go around the block,
or wait.
NARRATOR: Upon arrival
in Varginha,
the filmmakers want
to hear from locals
regarding the alleged
1996 UFO crash.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
A large monument in the shape
of a flying saucer
is a clear indication
that the town embraces
the story.
Armed with handmade signs
that read,
"If anyone knows what happened
in 1996, please talk to us."
The team takes to the streets.
What does he think
about the case?
- Does he think it happened
or it didn't happen?
- [IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
What are your feelings
on Varginha?
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
The 1996 Varginha UFO incident,
what do you think?
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
Things are heating up
right now, guys.
Like, we're finding
some witnesses.
- These guys is really
important here.
- Okay, let's bring it.
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
They see a UFO.
The UFO gets closer to them,
to the point where
it's at the height
of that street light.
Okay, so then what happens?
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
So a lot of people in this town
have a little piece
of the puzzle.
We were only here
for an hour-and-a-half,
and I can't believe
how many people
we got to come forward.
What I love about this case
is it's recent enough
where people either
heard accounts or experienced
things themselves.
So, right now, we are going
to meet with
the mayor of Varginha.
So I'm very curious
if an elected official
will talk about
the details of the case
and whether he believes
it really happened.
These sorts of things.
[CLAPS]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]
[CONVERSING IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
- FOX: Look at this.
- MARCO: Oh, that's nice.
- FOX: That's great.
- MARCO: Yeah.
[CONVERSING IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
FOX: I'm extremely curious,
as an elected official,
the mayor of Varginha,
does he believe
that this case happened
as the witnesses
are reporting it
to have happened?
[MUSIC PLAYING]
The witnesses in Varginha,
for me, are some of the most
compelling testimony
I've ever heard.
- [CHUCKLING]
- So I didn't believe that
a UFO crashed
in Varginha, Brazil,
when I first came here.
But after 10 years...
I wouldn't have imagined
getting an interview with...
an elected official
like the mayor of Varginha.
If you would have told me
I'd be doing that ten years ago,
I wouldn't have believed it.
Not only that,
but he was, basically,
saying that he felt
that the Varginha case was true,
that it really happened.
I think we have to
remind ourselves how far
we've come in the last decade.
[ENGINES REVVING]
[EERIE MUSIC PLAYING]
[LEAVES RUSTLING]
Put me on that farm
in January of 1996.
What happened?
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
[TRACTOR RUMBLING]
[BIRDS CHIRPING]
NARRATOR: 1996.
Crash witness Carlos de Sousa
describes a similar object
in this exclusive interview.
NARRATOR: January 13th, 1996.
Carlos de Sousa
is traveling from Sao Paulo
to Minas Gerais
early in the morning,
planning to meet with friends
to fly ultra-light planes.
[LEAVES RUSTLING]
NARRATOR: Now, 26 years later,
the team travels with
Carlos de Sousa
to find the crash site.
[VEHICLE RATTLING]
Turn around. Right.
Careful of the dust.
He's trying to remember.
FOX: So where the trees were?
[FERNANDA PIRES
IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
PIRES: He doesn't... remember.
But he thinks it's this way.
Because it's been 26 years...
FOX: Is this looking familiar?
There's a house up there.
But if it's close to a house,
then it's gotta be
further down this way.
Unless the house is gone.
- MAN: I think the house is gone.
- FOX: You do?
[VEHICLE RATTLING]
- PIRES: He's asking you to stop.
- FOX: Stop?
FOX: Right. Let's go.
- What does that mean?
- Yeah, like big grass.
It was around here.
Okay.
- He wants to go there.
- Okay.
- So it was a white house,
and it was a small house.
- Yeah, it was a small house.
- So...
- The grass was burned.
The grass was burned.
Why was the grass burned?
- FOX: So, is the house gone?
- It was around here.
The house is gone?
He doesn't know.
Everything's different.
FOX: I mean, it could be here,
or it could be there.
FOX: We walk over to there
and look.
If it's close to the road,
it only can be
in a couple of places.
Does he wanna walk up
closer to it.
He said the house was close
to where the crash was.
- MARCO: Yeah.
- 200 meters.
- MARCO: Yeah, it's like...
- 600 feet.
MARCO: It's my only...
My only house.
Family. My only family.
FOX: Well, I say we...
I say we take a closer look.
- I mean...
- MARCO: Yeah.
FOX: You know?
Yeah, we gotta do it, man.
We got to find this spot!
MARCO: There's a lot of trees.
Is there a house down there?
MARCO: Yeah, there's a house
right down to these trees.
[WHISTLES] Yeah.
FOX: Well, let's get closer
to there then.
FOX: Let's drive down the road.
Let's drive down to get closer.
There's a house.
This isn't a field.
Yes, yes!
PIRES: Here. Here!
FOX: Wow!
FOX: Wow!
[SIGHS]
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
[SOBBING]
FOX: This is the spot.
[SIGHS]
Was this object big enough
to have, potentially,
beings inside?
[EERIE MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: According to
Mr. Sousa,
this area was covered
with debris from the UFO crash.
This is his first time
at the crash site since 1996.
FOX: So he gets out of the car.
He sees the piece, right?
He picks the piece up.
He folds it. He said
it was really light,
and it was shaped
kind of like this.
- Yeah.
- And then he picked it up
and he folded it
and then it opens itself up.
And it was really light.
- Yes.
- Like aluminum.
At what point did the military
come to him?
- Right after that happened?
- Yes.
The military came
from this way and arrived?
Yeah.
Carlos Sousa came from here
and the trucks came
from that side.
Okay.
NARRATOR: Within minutes,
trucks from the military base,
ESA, arrive on the scene.
- Wah, wah? Go away?
- Yeah.
I think some guy...
FOX: What does "borra" mean?
- PIRES: Go away! Go away!
Go away!
- FOX: Go away?
MARCO: Go away! Go away!
And I'm ordering.
FOX: I'm ordering you?
I'm ordering you to go away?
- Yeah.
- So then he pulled his gun out?
- Yes.
- And he said I'm ordering you
to go away.
Wow!
NARRATOR: After giving
this interview
shortly after the incident,
Carlos de Sousa
vanishes for 26 years.
[birds chirping]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
- FOX: Mark it.
- [CLAPS]
Can we just walk to
where exactly this
took place?
NARRATOR: Seven days
after Sousa witnessed
the crash,
Hubert Ladera leaves this gym
when he and several friends
see two military trucks
driving into town.
They follow them
through the neighborhood
and come upon
a military blockade.
[SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE]
FOX: One of the people
in his group said,
this is a free country,
and I'm going through.
It was him.
- FOX: Oh, it was him?
- PIRES: Yeah.
FOX: So he said,
hey, this is a free country.
I'll do what I want.
And then what happens?
[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
This is the local
TV news station that covered
the case back in 1996.
He was deeply involved.
He was also good friends
with Marco Cherese,
who's the military
police officer who, allegedly,
handled the creature
and then died.
- Thank you.
- FOX: Yes, of course.
- [BOTH CHUCKLE]
- FOX: Absolutely.
Describe what happened
back in 1996.
What you witnessed,
what you saw.
[IN OTHER LANGUAGE]
- [THUNDER RUMBLING]
- [RAIN PATTERING]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
So is he saying
that the military
shut down the press?
- Yes.
- Successfully.
- Yes.
- They don't have a free press.
- And they say...
- They don't have a free press.
No. If they If they say,
if they would have go,
like, investigate further,
they probably would have
put them in jail.
Okay, I'll quickly mention.
So we have, uh,
we have special authorization
from the city of Varginha,
and we have a universal key
which is provided to us
by, I think, Katia's husband.
And so we're going to film
the use of the special key
to gain access
to the exact location
where the encounter occurred
back in January of 1996.
Action.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
There we go.
- [SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
- Did you see how easy that was?
[LAUGHS]
JAMES FOX: I wanted to
film here
because this is obviously
going to invoke memories
of the encounter, and I think
that we're going to get
a more dramatic,
more real, um,
on camera testimony
from the girls,
doing it here
as opposed to somewhere else.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[MAN SPEAKING IN PORTUGUESE]
NARRATOR: Media across Brazil
and the world
cover the story.
[MAN SPEAKING IN PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[MAN SPEAKING IN PORTUGUESE]
Tell us, walk us through
what happened.
What did you see?
Where did you see it?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
NARRATOR: 1996,
based on the girl's testimony,
artist Betty Rodriguez,
creates this drawing.
FOX: What I find
makes their stories
so credible
is that there were
three of them.
I want to hear from Valquiria
because she was the youngest.
What were her thoughts
at the time?
Was she scared? Did you run?
Like, put me there.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
FOX: These eyes
compared to my eyes,
how much bigger?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
- WOMAN: Three times bigger.
- FOX: Three times bigger.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
I want to walk over by the wall,
and I want you to tell me
where exactly the creature was.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
- FOX: Wow!
- [SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
FOX: Really close.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
I didn't realize it's closer
than I expected,
I mean,
it's like eight-feet away.
They were eight-feet away
from this creature.
Broad daylight.
It was 3:30 in the afternoon.
This is the exact location.
When she made eye contact
with this creature,
was there a moment
of any kind of communication?
Did she feel anything at all?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
FOX: Okay, so this is,
uh, Valquiria.
This is Katia.
- Sim.
- And this is Liliane.
You see the, the eyes.
They didn't draw a nose,
they didn't draw a mouth.
It was all about the eyes.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
I want to understand,
uh, first of all,
the moment of contact
with the eye,
with the eyes, meeting the eyes.
I really want to be there.
I want to feel it.
When they locked eyes
with this being,
what were they thinking?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
They all ran out of here
quickly,
so they were scared.
Were they scared
because they felt threatened,
or were they scared
because they just
simply didn't know
what they were looking at?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
So the three girls
run to her house,
and they say,
"We saw this creature
that might have been the devil
or whatever it was."
And they, do they,
do they get in the car
and drive here?
Do they walk here?
How did they get here?
And what do they see
when they got here?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
Can she draw the footprint?
The shape of the footprint?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
- Yes. Sim, sim.
- [SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
FOX: That's the exact location
where the girls saw the creature
right through that wall
where we filmed already
with the girls.
I didn't realize
that Marco Chereze,
the military officer,
who allegedly captured
the creature,
with his bare hands,
did it right over here.
NARRATOR: Roughly three hours
after the girls witnessed
the strange creature,
Military police officers
Eddie Lopes
and Marco Chereze
drive down this road
on the lookout
for something unusual.
When suddenly,
it runs right across
their path.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
It was captured by Marco Chereze
with his bare hands easily
and taken to the hospital.
After he captured the creature,
he was smelling the creature
in his body and his clothes.
Because he had
this strange feeling
of something greasy, sticky,
over his body
that came from the creature.
He developed this,
this infection
that wouldn't go away.
And for two or three weeks
it was getting worse and worse
and worse.
And it looks like
that his immunity system
was shut down.
This were the words
used by one of the doctors
who treated him,
who said that he never saw
in his whole medical career
anything like that.
And that infection killed him.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
FOX: All the witnesses
that claim that Marco Chereze
handled a creature,
a strange creature,
doesn't have to be
from another world,
it was a strange creature,
he gets some unknown infection.
You did everything you could
to save him,
and he died.
Do you believe
that there's some credibility
to that story?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
NARRATOR: When her brother
falls ill,
she asks about his involvement
with the case.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
NARRATOR: On February 10th,
Marco Chereze is admitted
to regional hospital.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
Roger, what's the main purpose
that you could to Varginha
for a new ecological research?
The main purpose for being here,
uh, is to look at
the physical evidence aspect
of this case,
uh, which is what
I specialize in.
It is June, the 7th 2002,
and I am here in Varginha,
Brazil,
with the chief investigator
on the Varginha episode,
Ubirajara Rodrigues.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
NARRATOR: 2002,
renowned UFO researcher,
Dr. Roger Leir,
travels to Varginha
to investigate the case.
He documents
multiple key witnesses
on video.
This footage
has never been released.
She is the wife
of a deceased member
of the military police.
I think we should at least know
what her husband's name was.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
Does she know
if anyone has seen
a medical report?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
Oh, they took a long time
to deliver it,
and they asked for money,
and they,
and there were missing pages.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
Once she lose,
she searched for explanations,
but nobody would give any.
Was Marco Chereze
the only person infected
who died?
We don't know.
Where, uh, these two creatures
the only ones that remain alive
after the crash?
We don't know.
We only have, uh,
very detailed information
about the existence
and the capture of these two.
One capture in the morning
and one at evening
of the same day,
January 20, 1996.
NARRATOR: According to
credible reports,
there were two captures
on January 20th.
Hours before
the girls' encounter,
the fire brigade captured
a being.
This capture
was thoroughly investigated
by leading Brazilian researcher
and lawyer
Ubirajara Rodrigues.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
MAN: This is
the fire department...
NARRATOR: Dr. Leir teamed up
with Ubirajara.
They questioned
the fire battalion
allegedly involved
in the capture
of the first creature.
This is the creature.
And this is a, kind of,
equipment that is used
to catch it.
NARRATOR: The fire department
was dispatched to this location
after receiving several calls
from concerned residents
who reported seeing
something strange in the area.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[MAN SPEAKING IN PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
INTERPRETER: The Army truck
entered by this gate here.
Got in over here.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
[MAN SPEAKING IN PORTUGUESE]
INTERPRETER: Got the creature
already dead from inside.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
INTERPRETER: The presence
of several elements
from the military police,
from the Army...
- [MAN SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
- ...several doctors, nurses...
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
This convoy left the place
and went to Tres Coracoes.
DR. ROGER LEIR: Both creatures
left at the same time.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
INTERPRETER: And the creature
that was alive
got to Campinas alive.
NARRATOR: The team drives
to meet with a family
who saw a UFO
hovering over the area
of the encounter
and capture.
Okay, let me ask.
- Let me ask.
- Yeah.
How about we film
the back of their heads
talking to me?
Like, I don't know.
[BOTH SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
- Hey, Fernanda,
we have two options.
- Okay.
Okay. One, we blur his faces,
no problem,
and we will do that.
Two, we film from the backside
and their and their faces
aren't seen ever.
Like doctors, and they all saw
the UFO right over this area.
It looked like they were looking
for something, like it was doing
a grid search.
And this is
a very respectable family.
They don't want their faces
on camera.
They want to talk and tell
what they saw,
but they don't want their faces
revealed on camera,
which happens.
Okay, so we're standing
in very near the area
where the girls saw
the creature.
It was 1996, January.
This entire family
saw something
they want to share with us,
but they don't want to have
their faces revealed.
So what did they see?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
Did I hear... I heard Americana.
- He stayed American.
- Yes.
[STUTTERING]
What was that about?
Some American officials...
- Came here.
- ...came here to talk about
what they saw.
- Yes.
- Americans?
Were they military?
Were they police?
Who were they?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
Is there any way
that there is
a conventional explanation
to what they saw?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
FOX: I just want to go over
that interview and what I find.
First of all, they hesitated
on whether or not they
even wanted to go on camera.
They canceled yesterday.
Today they were like,
"Hmm. We don't want...
Oh, sorry...
"We don't want our faces
on camera."
It was like an entire family,
and they all saw this object
and it was really big.
Shaped like a disc,
zero noise.
You have witnesses like that.
They're friends of the doctor,
the guy that we rent
the house from.
That you could just tell
they've been sitting
on that story for 26 years.
How excited he was
to finally share it.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
There was unusual activity
at the base.
There were helicopters
from the Navy,
which in itself was unusual.
He sees a box.
Was the box unusual?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
So to this day, has he spoken
to any of them
that went to Varginha?
- No, no.
- Nothing.
- Yeah.
- Wow.
NARRATOR: According to
the witness,
it wasn't only the drivers
who were never seen again.
Their Captain Edson Ramirez,
also left without a word.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
NARRATOR: January, 1996.
A radiologist
has an unexpected visit
by the military
while on duty
at regional hospital.
He agrees to share his story,
provided his identity
remains concealed.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
So we have a big
military presence
on the outside of the hospital.
We've got two army
and two police
on the inside of the hospital
with a box
and something
inside of a black zip body bag.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
But what did it smell like?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
When they took whatever it was
in that black bag,
and they left the hospital,
the military and the police
with that bag
and that thing,
did the smell leave?
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
Three of the most strange,
bizarre points,
of this encounter.
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
Probably about ten months ago,
Marco managed to reach
a vetted, legitimate witness
who was involved
in the transportation
of the, they call them E.T.
or the being.
Um, this guy was so scared,
uh, Marco spent, I think,
eight to ten months,
slowly developing a relationship
with this guy.
And about four days ago
he agreed to meet with me
and Marco, just the two of us.
So we drove late into the night,
we met him at a bar.
When he arrived,
he was with another guy.
He took us
to a different location.
We sat outside and we talked
for a couple of hours
about coming forward,
appearing in the documentary.
I've never ever had
the opportunity
to interview a witness
that potentially handles
an extraterrestrial being.
I'm worried about the military
getting wind of what's going on
because there clearly paying
attention to this witness.
I'm worried about them
getting a phone call,
reminding him of his oath
of secrecy.
I don't want to put
someone else's family
in harm's way.
So you're always,
in the back of your mind,
in a situation like this,
you know that at any moment,
the carpet can get pulled out
from under you,
and it's not a done deal
until it's a done deal.
Listen. I wonder
if we should rent a hotel room
and then have him come to us.
Because, then we can get
all the gear
inside the hotel room
and then he can just show up
and walk in.
We can, we can stop
at the gas station.
NARRATOR: Marco coordinates
with the witness,
military Ex,
to secure a safe
meeting location.
Yes. I made appointment
with him in the some hotel
right here.
Close to here and then,
so I think we have to drove...
- We go to the hotel first.
- Yeah, we go...
- Check in
and then he just walks in.
- Exactly.
- [INAUDIBLE]
- Yeah, that's good.
I feel that, that anxiety
in my stomach, you know?
It's just like...
We pull this off
and it's just like first time.
It will be the most
compelling testimony
ever revealed on the history
of this case.
- JAMES: Oh, my God.
This hill's so steep.
- MAN 2: I know.
JAMES: Entrada,
this is the hotel.
I would get a quick shot of it,
and I'd shut these
cameras off right now.
Can you guys do that?
Shut everything off.
Guys?
- MAN: Yeah.
- Right.
MAN: Right here.
Here? Fuck!
This room is small.
You can't even
use these cameras in here.
MAN: Oh, my God!
Okay. He's trying to find
the room with two beds.
MAN: It'd be better.
- Yeah.
- MAN: Yeah.
MAN: Mark it.
Okay.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
MAN: Okay. He's on.
Okay. So we are sitting here
with Military X who clearly
doesn't want his
identity revealed
which we're not going to do.
And he's going to provide
enough detail, not too much,
but enough detail on operations
that he was involved with
with the Varginha case.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
When he was in Humanitas,
this is where he saw
part of the creature.
- Yes.
- What was the atmosphere like?
What were the looks on the faces
of the other people in the room?
- Yeah.
- What was it like?
Can he put me in that room?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
When you looked
and you saw the leg
or part of the leg
and the foot with the "V"...
- Right.
- ...what did you think?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
NARRATOR: ESA military base,
is roughly 20 miles
southeast of Varginha.
According to witnesses,
the Army operations
originated from here.
Is there filmed footage,
video footage of the creature
that he knows about?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
NARRATOR: Military X says
that on January 22nd 1996,
he drove the creature
from Humanitas Hospital
in Varginha to ESA Army Base,
where it would
remain overnight.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Does he have any idea
where the creature went?
Because, uh,
it went to Regionas,
then Humanitas,
then ESA, then Campinas.
And then what happened?
[SPEAKS SPANISH]
NARRATOR:
According to Military X,
he transported a creature
from Humanitas Hospital
in Varginha
to ESA military base
and Tres Coracoes
where it stayed for the night.
Early the following morning,
the convoy
continued their mission,
heading south
from Fernao Dias freeway,
then west on Don Pedro
to Espcex army base
in the city of Campinas.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
NARRATOR: The team meets
with Brazilian Air Force
traffic control officer,
Jose Manuel Fernandez,
his unit was responsible
for monitoring
specific airspace
over the state of Sao Paulo.
Do you know anything
about this case?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Was it Americans involved,
or was it just
the Brazilians involved?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Only Americans. Only.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
And how does he know
that the Americans
were involved?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[RAIN PATTERING]
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Has anybody seen Eric Lopes?
Has anyone ever
tried to talk to him?
Yeah. People try
to reach him out.
- People have tried?
- Yeah.
And nada?
NARRATOR: With the help
of Varginha mayor, Verdi,
the team connects
with Mr. da Costa,
a military police
corporal in 1996.
His son, Romulo A Ribeiro,
agrees to escort them
to the home of Eric Lopes.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
JAMES: Can you go up there?
NARRATOR: Eric Lopes
is the military police officer
from P2 who reportedly
drove the car
during the second capture
with Marco Cherese.
Not even the family
of the deceased officer
has been able to get
a statement from Lopes.
If the reports are true,
he is the only living witness
of the second capture.
Officer Lopes has been
unreachable for 26 years.
JAMES: Oh, my God.
I'll go with him.
I'm going with him.
[CAR DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES]
MAN: Hey!
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Tell him that the mayor
has blessed us.
You tell him the mayor said...
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE]
This is Eric Lopes?
Let me just... Hold on, please.
Let me ask you
a question. Please.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
- WOMAN: He is his friend not...
- JAMES: Oh, okay.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
What?
[SPEAKS SPANISH]
Hold up, hold up.
Just ask him
one question for me.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Will he ever come forward
to make a statement?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
MAN 1: What's happening?
MAN 2: This is the house
of Eric Lopes.
- MAN 1: Yeah.
- But he doesn't like to talk.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
MAN 1: And the threat
is that they might shoot us
because we're on the property,
trespassing.
MAN 1: They're
talking right now.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
- So, Eric won't talk?
- No.
What just happened?
I'm trying... What happened?
Is that Eric Lopes?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
- Who is that?
- Yeah, Eric Lopes.
That's Eric Lopes.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
He doesn't want to talk at all.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE]
- Okay.
- Yeah, let's go.
Oh, my God. That was Eric.
Just saw him.
[EXCLAIMS]
Okay, okay. We'll go talk.
Did you get him?
Dave, did you get him?
Please tell me you got him.
That was Eric Lopes.
Oh, my fucking God.
Did you get him in the window?
- DAVE: Yeah.
- JAMES: Holy shit.
DAVE: He was
on the window the whole time.
JAMES: Oh, my God. You got him?
This, here.
I'm ready to go at this.
MAN: You'll be shot
if you don't live here.
- He will shoot you?
- MAN: Yeah.
Fuck!
If that guy had nothing to hide,
he would have just said so.
That guy was driving the car
that Marco... was in.
Write what we just did.
DAVE: I got the interview
yesterday. It was pretty good.
JAMES: For what?
No. Right now was pretty gnarly.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
JAMES: Ask him if we can
talk about what we just did.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
JAMES: Okay, okay.
Which way did he go?
DAVE: To the left.
JAMES: We're stopping here?
Okay.
God, this is...
What exactly did he say?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
JAMES: And he believed that
Eric Lopes was serious?
[SPEAKS SPANISH]
WOMAN: Yes, he was.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
JAMES: If his story is true,
he is walking around
with a level of confirmation
that only a handful of people
on this planet have.
What does that feel like?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
NARRATOR: May 8th, 1996,
with mounting pressure
from media and witnesses,
the military base, ESA,
holds a press conference.
General Lima,
addresses the crowd.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
The accumulation of aspects,
the girls who saw something,
the other people in the town
who saw something,
this wasn't an isolated event
where you got one witness
saying, "Oh, I saw
something extraordinary."
Not at all.
They seem to be
relatively naive young girls,
and there were
fire department people involved,
who saw the beings, too.
And one nice thing
about it is that
it takes the onus away
from saying things only
happen in the United States.
Well, there was
the United States involvement,
and it wouldn't surprise me
if they paid
to pick up the wreckage
and you know
all the rest of the stuff.
Why not?
Makes sense.
Cheap way to get information.
Let the other guy to the work.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
I believe that
the Varginha case
is much more important today
because it is more recent
and some of the events
have not unfolded yet.
Did she have any
connection with eyes?
Did she make any...
Like she saw eye to eye
- with the being?
- MAN: Mmm-hmm.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Were there live aliens seen
walking around this town?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Mmm-hmm.
I have deal with
this case in 1996
because I have some
friends from there.
He told that, "Oh, you
don't know what is true.
But I know what I saw."
Oh, James.
JAMES: Oh, yeah. Really.
WOMAN: Weight off the shoulders.
- JAMES: Mmm-hmm.
- WOMAN: Yeah.
I just wonder like
what they said
to these witnesses
that 25 years later,
they still don't want to talk
about it on camera at all.
It's, like, unbelievable.
It's like you over them...
Even compensation that
they still won't do it.
MAN: I know.
It's like money doesn't...
Well, they won't do it.
That's weird.
JAMES: The reason
why they haven't made
overt contacts is because
we're so aggressive.
[LAUGHING]
Come on. [LAUGHS]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Would that smell
make a good perfume?
[BOTH LAUGHING]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]