Incident · 13 June 1933 · Magenta, Lombardy, Italy
Magenta crash (alleged, 1933)
Also known as Magenta, Magenta 1933, Mussolini UFO, Gabinetto RS/33, RS/33, Vergiate
According to documents that surfaced six decades later, an "unconventional" craft crashed or landed near Magenta, west of Milan, on 13 June 1933. Papers mailed anonymously in 1996 to the Italian researcher Roberto Pinotti include telegrams, said to be by personal order of Mussolini, ordering "absolute silence" about an "alleged landing on national soil of unknown aircraft", and notes describing a secret study group, "Gabinetto RS/33", said to have been chaired by Guglielmo Marconi, with the wreck stored in the SIAI-Marchetti hangars at Vergiate.
The case gained international attention in 2023, when the former intelligence officer David Grusch said a bell-like craft about ten metres across was recovered at Magenta, held by Mussolini's government until 1944 and then taken by the American OSS, with Pope Pius XII back-channelling its existence to the United States; he calls it the earliest retrieval he can discuss publicly. The physicist Eric Davis, who says he briefed Grusch before his whistleblower complaint, repeated the claim of a 1944 U.S. Army recovery of a craft that crashed in Italy in 1933 at a congressional briefing in May 2025. If true, it would predate Roswell by fourteen years.
None of it has been confirmed. Only one document, from 1936, has been forensically tested; the 1933 telegrams have not, and the papers bear no protocol numbers or official stamps. No archive or historian has found any trace of RS/33. Critics note that the Pope, the bell shape and the American recovery are absent from the 1996 papers and appear only in a 2010 retelling, that Grusch's account of an empty craft differs from Pinotti's descriptions of bodies, and that forgery on period paper cannot be ruled out. The Pentagon's AARO says it has found no verifiable evidence of any retrieval programme.
Sources: Congressional briefing (1 May 2025) · Daily Mail (2023) · Joe Rogan Experience #2065 · Umbralog (secondary)
Facts and claims
- claimed Documents mailed anonymously to researcher Roberto Pinotti in 1996 include two June 1933 telegrams, said to be by personal order of Mussolini, one demanding “absolute silence” over an “alleged landing on national soil of unknown aircraft”, the other threatening journalists who reported news of an “aircraft of unknown nature and origin”. Other papers describe a secret study group, “Gabinetto RS/33”, said to have been chaired by Guglielmo Marconi. — Roberto Pinotti Source: dailymail.co.uk (archived)
- claimed Grusch: “In 1933, a bell-like craft, around ten meters in size, was recovered in Magenta, northern Italy. It was kept by Mussolini's government until 1944 when it was recovered by agents of the Office of Strategic Services” (to Le Parisien, June 2023). — David Grusch Source: dailymail.co.uk (archived)
- claimed Grusch says 1933 is the earliest retrieval he can discuss publicly, cleared through the Pentagon's security review to show the phenomenon is international; that the craft was probably a lenticular disc whose edges broke off, leaving a bell or acorn shape, with no biological remains; and that Pope Pius XII and the Vatican back-channelled it through the OSS to President Roosevelt. — David Grusch Source: Joe Rogan Experience #2065 - David Grusch at 16:42
- claimed At the May 1, 2025 congressional UAP briefing, physicist Eric Davis said the crash-retrieval programmes date back to 1944 and “the US Army's recovery of a craft that crashed in Italy back in 1933”, which the Army recovered when it invaded Italy and brought back to Wright Field. In the same remarks he said he had briefed Grusch for two and a half days before Grusch filed his Inspector General complaint. — Eric Davis Source: Understanding UAP: Science, National Security & Innovation (House Oversight and Government Reform) at 1:03:25
- claimed Only one document, a 1936 sheet, has been forensically tested: consultant Antonio Garavaglia's 2000 report concluded that “only the sample examined” could be considered original and authentic. The 1933 telegrams have not been tested, and the papers carry no protocol numbers or official stamps. Source: dailymail.co.uk (archived)
- claimed CISU researcher Giuseppe Stilo called such stories “embarrassing” from a scientific point of view; historian Graeme Rendall said “there's claims made, but nothing really to back them up” and noted that a 1936 memo describes Italian fighters unable to catch an object travelling at only 130 km/h. Former AATIP figure Luis Elizondo said the incident is “something we've taken seriously”. Source: dailymail.co.uk (archived)
- claimed The Pope, the bell shape and the American recovery are absent from the 1996 papers, which speak only of a disc or cigar; they enter the story with William Brophy Jr.'s 2010 account of his father's experiences. No archive, historian or independent researcher has confirmed the crash, RS/33 or the recovery. Source: umbralog.com (archived)
Connected files
Books
- Mussolini e gli UFO: gli X-files del nazifascismo (subject of)
Claims
- A craft of non-human origin came down near Magenta, Italy, in 1933, and Mussolini's government recovered it (subject of)
Places
- Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (allegedly taken to) — Eric Davis says the Army brought the 1933 Italian craft back to Wright Field
Incidents
- Roswell crash (similar to) — Grusch calls it the earliest retrieval he can discuss publicly; if true, it would predate Roswell by fourteen years
People
- David Grusch (claimed by)
- Eric Davis (claimed by)
- Roberto Pinotti (reported by)
Concepts
- Crash retrieval & reverse engineering (alleged case of) — Grusch says a bell-like craft was recovered at Magenta; AARO found no verifiable evidence of a retrieval programme
Programs
- Legacy program (alleged start of) — Eric Davis says the crash-retrieval programmes began with the Army's recovery of the 1933 Italian craft; AARO found no evidence
Videos
- Citizen Hearing 2013: A Global Phenomenon, Part 1 (discussed in)
- Understanding UAP: Science, National Security & Innovation (House Oversight and Government Reform) (discussed in)
- Joe Rogan Experience #2065 - David Grusch (discussed in)
Mentioned in this file
- Department of War (Department of Defense) (Organization)
- Nick Pope (Person)
- All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (Program)
More incidents
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- Conde, Bahia “crashed sphere” report
- Varginha incident
- U.S. military UAP reports off Greece (2023–2024)
- Karaganda Airport video
- U.S. military UAP reports over East Asian seas (2021–2025)