Inquérito Policial Militar nº 18/97 - Arquivamento

This document comprises a series of legal filings and a final decision regarding Military Police Inquiry (IPM) No. 18/97, initiated by the Commander of the School of Sergeants of Arms (EsSA) in Três Corações, Minas Gerais. The inquiry was launched to investigate allegations made by ufologists Vitório Paccacini and Mars Portes in their book, 'Incidente em Varginha'. The authors claimed that the Brazilian Army, the Military Police, and the Fire Department of Minas Gerais had captured extraterrestrial creatures in Varginha on January 20, 1996, and subsequently transported them to Campinas for analysis. The inquiry sought to determine if these claims constituted crimes against the honor of the Armed Forces or military discipline, specifically regarding the alleged disclosure of classified information and the incitement of military personnel to provide testimony under anonymity. The Military Public Ministry, represented by Prosecutor Antônio Antero dos Santos, concluded that the allegations were entirely unfounded and sensationalist. The investigation determined that no state or military institution was involved in any such event, and that the military activity observed on the date in question was merely routine maintenance. The prosecutor argued that the authors sought personal publicity through the media and that their claims, while ethically reproachable, did not constitute a criminal offense against the reputation of the Armed Forces. Consequently, the prosecutor requested the archiving of the case based on Article 397 of the Code of Military Penal Procedure (CPPM). The presiding Judge-Auditor, Télma Queiroz, concurred with the prosecutor's assessment, noting that the claims were 'inverossimil' (implausible) and had even served as fodder for the satirical television program 'Casseta e Planeta'. The decision to archive the inquiry was finalized on July 4, 1997, with the case officially closed and the legal deadline for appeals having passed by July 15, 1997.