The 1977 Operation Saucer Investigations: Analysis of Brazilian Air Force Intelligence Records

Operational Deployment and Scope

In October 1977, following persistent petitions from municipal authorities and health workers in Colares and surrounding municipalities in Pará, the 1st Regional Air Command (I COMAR) of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) initiated a classified reconnaissance effort designated Operação Prato (Operation Saucer). The mission, commanded by Captain Uyrangê Bolivar Soares Nogueira de Hollanda Lima under operational directive from Brigadier Protásio Lopes de Oliveira, was tasked with monitoring, recording, and evaluating recurrent incursions of unidentified aerial objects.

Local populations reported intense nocturnal beams of light directed from airborne targets toward the ground, causing puncture wounds, superficial radiation-like burns, and acute anemia—a flap colloquially termed the chupa-chupa phenomenon. FAB intelligence officers, equipped with fixed telephoto lenses, spectroscopic equipment, and motion cameras, established continuous surveillance posts across Baía do Sol and Colares Island to document the activity.

Observational Findings and Physical Trace Data

Declassified documents released by Brazil’s National Archives (Arquivo Nacional) and preserved in comparative intelligence archives detail months of rigorous field observations. The military dossiers contain over 170 pages of official reports, mission sketches, maps, and more than 100 authenticated photographs.

The files record luminous objects executing sudden vertical ascents, rapid directional changes without angular deceleration, and stationary hovering directly over bodies of water. Objects ranged from small probe-like luminous orbs to large cylindrical craft described in military field logs as motherships (corpos principais). On multiple occasions, field personnel recorded the objects descending into or emerging from the waters of Marajó Bay without causing visible hydroacoustic disturbance or water displacement. Concurrently, local medical clinics headed by Dr. Wellaide Cecim Carvalho cataloged dozens of patients presenting with localized thermal necrosis and systemic fatigue immediately following direct exposure to light columns.

Declassification and Historical Archive Access

The operational logbooks were abruptly closed in late 1977, and primary documentation remained classified under strict defense secrecy for decades before release under national transparency decrees. Complete records of the field logs, mission photographs, and military correspondence have been cataloged for historical research.