Document · 2 June 1986
Brazilian Air Defence Command report on the events of 19–20 May 1986 ("Official UFO Night")
The Brazilian Aerospace Defence Command's confidential report on the night of 19–20 May 1986, when lights and radar contacts over São Paulo, São José dos Campos and Goiás led the Air Force to scramble interceptors from the Santa Cruz and Anápolis air bases. The episode became known as the "Noite Oficial dos OVNIs" after the Minister of Aeronautics, Brig. Octávio Júlio Moreira Lima, held a press conference on 23 May. The report is held by Brazil's National Archives (Arquivo Nacional); the OCR text of the letter-spaced typescript is imperfect.
Sources: Comando de Defesa Aérea, report of 2 June 1986 (Arquivo Nacional, Brazil)
Facts and claims
- documented A confidential report dated 2 June 1986 from the Comando de Defesa Aérea (COMDA) to the commander of the Air General Command, signed by Brig. José Pessoa Cavalcanti de Albuquerque as interim commander. It narrates the night of 19 May 1986 for the Minister of Aeronautics, deliberately limited to "a simple narration of the facts" so as not to give rise to speculation. Source: doc-fab-noite-oficial-ovnis-1986.pdf
- documented It notes that the air-defence radars were designed for air traffic control, so tracking was manual and the detections were often too weak to establish tracks. The interceptors were therefore vectored on unconfirmed plots and on echoes reported by the Anápolis approach radar. Source: doc-fab-noite-oficial-ovnis-1986.pdf
- documented Chronology: from 23:15Z the São José dos Campos tower reported moving lights, mainly red but changing to yellow, green and orange, and São Paulo approach confirmed radar contacts. A civil pilot (PT-MBZ) saw lights like big red stars but could not get closer. Jets were scrambled from Santa Cruz and Anápolis from 00:39Z. Source: doc-fab-noite-oficial-ovnis-1986.pdf
- documented Interceptor reports: one pilot followed a white light that changed to red and green, with an airborne radar contact at 10–12 miles, out to sea about 180 miles from Santa Cruz before breaking off. Another made five passes with radar contact but no visual, once closing to 2 miles before the target zigzagged and pulled away even at supersonic speed. A third saw a red light that went out as radar contact was lost. Two later Anápolis aircraft had no contact at all. Source: doc-fab-noite-oficial-ovnis-1986.pdf
- documented In its final considerations the command lists characteristics such as simultaneous ground and airborne radar echoes with visual comparison, speeds from hovering to supersonic, altitudes from below FL050 to above FL400, sudden acceleration and lights of various colours. It concludes that "os fenômenos são sólidos e refletem de certa forma inteligência" (the phenomena are solid and reflect a certain intelligence), able to keep their distance from observers and fly in formation, "não forçosamente tripulados" (not necessarily crewed). This is the command's assessment, not an identification. Source: doc-fab-noite-oficial-ovnis-1986.pdf
Connected files
Incidents
- Official UFO Night (Brazil, 1986) (documents)
People
- Armindo de Sousa Viriato (describes) — The Brazilian Air Force report records the interceptor pilots' radar contacts and lights
Videos
Mentioned in this file
- National Archives and Records Administration (Organization)
More documents
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- CIA/FBIS Foreign Press Note FB PN 90-123: "USSR: UFO sightings no. 2 — General Maltsev comments" (1990)
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Links
- Arquivo Nacional (Brazil) — report PDF
- Arquivo Nacional — UFOs in the National Archives (overview, Portuguese)