PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD - Brazil Sighting

On July 13, 1959, at approximately 22:10 local time, a luminous object was observed in the skies over Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The sighting was reported by a group of astronomers, including Mario Dias Ferreira and Luis Eduardo da Silva Machado, as well as Captain Silio Vaz of the Technical School of the Army. The object was also observed from the Observatory of Valongo by military police personnel and staff. The witnesses described the object as a metallic disk featuring a conical protuberance in its center. It displayed a set of green lights arranged in a pattern resembling a Maltese cross, with six lights on each arm, totaling 24 points of light. The object also emitted an orange-colored jet from its extremity, which gave the impression to the naked eye that it was dividing into two parts. The astronomers estimated the object to be at least 30 kilometers from the Earth. It was noted that the object traversed 130 degrees of the sky in 20 minutes, moving toward the austral triangle and the Southern Cross before being lost in the haze of the horizon. The observers were unanimous in their belief that the object could not be a known celestial body, balloon, or aircraft. The event received significant press coverage in Brazil, with reports highlighting that this was the first time a flying disk had been observed by an observatory. Despite the professional nature of the observers, no photographs were obtained due to the speed of the object and the fact that measuring instruments were not immediately available. A separate, possibly related, report from July 22, 1959, mentions that flying disks were also sighted over Fortaleza, where the chief of the airport control tower at Pingo Martins stated that one of the objects hovered over the airport for a long time.