12, 12:15 p.m. Commander of IGY research ship and many crew members, plus photographer Almiro Barauna, sighted and photographed Saturn-shaped object maneuvering over Trindade Island. Commander Paulo Moreira da Silva of the Brazilian Navy Hydrography & Navigation Dept, [who technically outranked the ship's captain, Captain José dos Santos Saldanha da Gama], was apparently an eyewitness and stated, "the object was encircled by a greenish glow, our [meteorological] balloon was of a red color." Barauna was officially invited by the Brazilian Navy to take photos of the island, underwater photos, photos of the scientific IGY activities and the ship and ship operations.The radar detection of an unexplained supersonic target reportedly occurred the day before, on Jan. 15, 1958, at about 12:05 PM, almost the same time the next day as the UFO sighting and photography at 12:15 PM on Jan. 16. Power failure on the boat when object sighted; power returned upon objects departure. What made a deep impression on the [Brazilian] Navy was the report that instruments like radio transmitters, and apparatus with magnetic needles, ceased operating while the flying object remained in the island’s proximity. The Navy decided to consider this a top-secret fact. The statement may be somewhat ambiguous as to whether the Navy was referring to EM effect events on the island before the ship arrived or what happened on the ship around the time of the Barauna photography, but in light of that 1958 contemporaneous report of EM effects or power failure effects, Willy Smith's April 20, 1983, interview of Barauna takes on more significance:  "... I asked if the object had been detected by ship’s radar. He [Barauna] replied that it hadn’t because all the electrical power aboard ship was out at the time. He was sure of the reality of the power outage because just before the object appeared a launch was being hauled up from the water by electric pulley, and it stopped midway just as the UFO appeared!" (IUR July/Aug 1983) Barauna seems to allude to this power outage even in 1958 when interviewed by the press and he said: “The radar was not in operation at the time. The object was already gone when it was put to work." (Rio de Janeiro Ultima Hora, Feb. 21, 1958) The ship's log is provably incomplete since it does not even mention the UFO photo incident on Jan 16, 1958, despite the unquestionable fact that something occurred -- regardless whether a genuine UFO event or an orchestrated hoax by Barauna and alleged co-conspirators aboard ship -- something happened and was not recorded in the log. [Lates information posted *]

Fran Ridge:
The Trindade Island incident provides us with some of the best photos ever taken of what many have referred to as a "flying saucer". And, there were as many as 60-100 witnesses. And on April 29, 2002, noted researcher, Wendy Connors, found evidence supporting earlier claims. In an audiotape of an interview of the photographer, Almiro Barauna, by Dr. J. Allen Hynek, conducted on April 19, 1982, Barauna states that the object, undulated (wobbled) and tipped, twice and that all the sea gulls, etc. disappeared just before the object came into view.

 
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