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Typed reproduction of the above pages
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
GENERAL STAFF OF THE FLEET
SUBDIVISION OF INFORMATION
SUBJECT:
1. Clarification of the observation of unidentified flying objects
sighted on the island of Trinidad, in the period of 12/5/57 to 1/16/58.
OCCURRENCES:
1. Captain of Corvette Carlos Alberto Ferreira Bacellar,
Commandant of the Oceanographic Station of the Island of Trinidad sub-
mitted the following information to the General Staff of the Fleet on
January 27 of the current year [1958].
I - That he knew of the sighting, over the island, of the passage
of an unidentified flying object, on 12/21/57, seen by the
Medical Officer, 1st Lieutenant Ignacio Carlos Moreira
Murta, by one crewman and by five workmen, during the
morning, about 10 minutes before 8 o'clock; and that in view
of the conviction of the observers and the agreement of the
information reported, he had resolved to communicate by radio,
which brought about the present verification;
II - That on this occasion he found out that an identical object had
been seen previously, on 12/5/57, by a workman, also in the
morning at approximately the same time.
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III - That on the following day, 1/1/58, at the same time in the
same location and with a direction approximately northward
(the same as in the previous cases) something appeared,
moving with incredible velocity. In spite of the affirmations
of various crewmen, he believed, and still believes, that
it was a sea gull, in spite of the brilliance which it presented
at a certain point of the trajectory; his doubt originates from
the fact that the object -- or gull -- was projected against the
sky, producing, in his opinion, a stereoscopic effect;
IV - That posteriorly, on 1/2/58, a new alert had been given, this
time at night, at about 10:00 pm, an alert to which he gave no
importance, because he himself was on watch and had seen
nothing.
V - That finally, on the morning of 1/16/58, on board the ship NE
"Admiral Saldanha," then anchored next to the island, and at
the moment carrying out the operation of hoisting the launch,
another alert of the UFO had been given, simultaneously by
by personnel in the prow and in the stern of the ship.
VI - That, on this last occasion, a professional photographer,
civilian, who was on deck in the stern of the ship, ready to
photograph the operation of hoisting the launch, advised and
alerted about the UFO, had the opportunity to take four
photographs which are shown.
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VII - That, after having taken the above-mentioned photographs,
the photographer, in the presence of CC Bacellar and other
persons, took the roll of film from the machine; later, in
company of this official he went to the dark room of the ship
(improvised in the head of the infirmary), dressed as he was
in shirt and shorts, and where he remained only ten minutes,
presenting at once the negative of the film to CC Bacellar,
who affirms having seen the above-mentioned UFO represented
on the negative, although with much less clarity because the
film was somewhat dark;
VIII - That, posteriorly, when the above-mentioned photographs were
shown to persons on the ship who witnessed the phenomenon,
they recognized the image represented in the photograph as
identical to that which they saw in the air;
XXI - That the person who called the attention of the photographer
to take the photographs was a retired Aviation Captain of the
Brazilian Air Force, then on the ship coordinating an amateur
group of divers specializing in submarine fishing, also a
specialty of the photographer;
X - That the whole process of taking photographs must not have
lasted more than thirty seconds;
XI - That, finally, there was observed, in a marked way, a strong
emotional state in the photographer as well as in the persons who
saw the UFO.
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2. Immediately CC Bacellar related a phenomenon observed by
him personally during his stay on the Island, twice, with the aid of a
precision theodolite, during the day and witnessed by other persons, in
the following terms:
I - That he was observing a sounding balloon when he became aware
of the falling of the transmitter, a falling clearly recognized
by the signals heared on the receiver and by the line traced on
the recorder;
II - That after the above-mentioned falling the sounding balloon
must have burst, since the average duration of a balloon is
40 minutes, after which it bursts because of having reached
great height;
III - That the sounding balloon in accompaniment was concealed
at 14,000 meters of altitude, approximately, when it lost the
the transmitter, and that immediately afterward he observed
a point in the sky at about 30º, on the horizontal of the point
in which the balloon had disappeared upon passing behind a
cloud;
IV - That seen through the theodolite the point observed presented
a strange shape of a half moon, with a certain reflection of
light, the phenomenon remaining for 3 hours and a half, the
object apparently moving with the same angular velocity as the
sun;
V - That the point only failed to be seen when the sky began to be
covered with cirrus clouds;
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VI - That he had not been able to explain what he had observed,
considering the duration of the sounding balloons, the shape
and illumination of the object and the state of the sky (moon,
stars), leaving no margin for doubt;
VII - That, finally, the phenomenon was also witnessed by the
Doctor, various crewmen and by a civil functionary of the DHN
2. The one who took the photographs, professional photographer
Almiro Barauna, residing on Praia dc Icarái 251, Apartment 1004, in
Niterói, heard in this General Staff of the Fleet (headquarters), declared
the following;
I - That he was on the deck, in the stern, of the ship NE "Admiral
Saldanha" when he was called to see a strange object, which he
succeeded in seeing after watching a short while;
II - That, immediately after seeing the object, he aimed his
camera, taking six photographs successively;
III - That, at once, having no more film, he took the used roll out
of the machine and remained almost an hour with the roll in
his hands, waiting for the strong emotional state in which he
found himself to pass; then, he went to the dark room to
develop the film, by then accompanied by CC Bacellar;
IV - That he was in said dark room for the space of 10 minutes,
approximately, accompanied only by the Aviation Captain
already mentioned, who served him as aid. When the
developing was finished, he brought the still damp file to
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CC Bacellar, thinking that the object which had been photo-
graphed had not appeared on the developed film. This
impression was contradicted by CC Bacellar himself, who
showed him certain spots which could be the object in question;
V - That, immediately afterward, he put the film away until his
return to Rio de Janeiro, when, in his laboratory, he made
several enlarged copies; the UFO showed up well only on two
plates, because the negative was quite dark;
VI - In order to improve the negatives, he performed the operation
known as "reduction," an operation which consists in lightening
all the negative equally. However, as on two places the UFO
was already visible and, fearful of losing them in case he
should not succeed, he cut the roll of file and submitted to
the process only the four negatives, the UFO having, then,
appeared on two of them, and in different dimensions, form
and position;
VII - That, seeing the UFO with the naked eye, he had had the
impression of a solid body, with indefinite contours, of great
mobility and manageability at high speed, of imprecise color
because it seemed to be wrapped in a substance which he
compares to "soapsuds;" it also gave the impression of
leaving a wake of like appearance and it made no noise when it
moved;
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VIII - That he became profoundly moved with what he saw, having
even felt difficulty during the process of developing the film,
caused his nervous state;
IX - That he put his negatives at the disposition of the General Staff
for all the examinations judged necessary for proof of authenticity.
4. From the declarations made, according to the above report, we
summarize the following principal facts:
a) Observed, above the Island Of Trinidad, by different persons,
the appearance of UFO four times, three in the morning and one
at night;
b) Observed, by CC Bacellar and by other persons, in the morning,
once, what he thought to be a sea gull, in spite of crewman
(SGs and MNs) who were with him and affirmed it to be a UFO;
c) Observed, twice over the Island, by his then Military
Commandant, Superior Officer of the Fleet, a hydrographer
experienced in meteorology and in radiosounding operations, and
by other persons, a phenomenon which he, CC Bacellar, could
not explain satisfactorily;
d) Obtained, on board the NE "Admiral Saldanha," when it was
anchored off the Island of Trinidad, on its return to R.o, four
photographs of the UFO, by a civilian professional photographer,
in the presence of other persons who affirm having seen the
photographed object.
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ANALYSIS:
1. The analysis of the preceding facts shows:
a) That of the five observations of the UFO four were during the day
and one at night.
b) That of the five observations of the UFO only one was witnessed
by CC Bacellar, who prefers to accept the hypothesis of having
seen a gull;
c) That the persons who affirm having seen the UFO are of various
qualifications -- workmen, sailors, dentist, doctor, aviator,
officer and professional photographer;
d) That no officer of the Fleet saw the phenomena related above,
with the exception of those narrated by CC Bacellar;
e) That in all cases a very strong emotional state was noted on the
part of those who witnessed the appearance of the UFO, including
the professional photographer, a man accustomed to submarine
photographs. There was even a case of a workman, a young
considered normal, who ran away in fright;
f) That the testimonies, in spite of the great difficulty in obtaining
them from personnel for the most part of rudimentary education,
are in agreement as to;
Form -- from the now classic Disc, although irregular, tending
to tear-shaped. Seen from below, according to observers who
saw it when it passed over the Island on 12/31/57, it presented
a hexagonal rounded form. Seen from a distance, it presented
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the shape of a disc, with protuberances on the upper and lower
parts;
Color -- For some, indefinite; for others, of stainless steel;
Sound -- Unanimously the witnesses affirm not having heard
any sound;
Discharges -- Some affirm having seen a discharge, in the
form of a fine white trace against the sky; others say they
saw nothing in this respect;
Dimensions -- No observer succeeded in estimating dimensions,
including the aviator and the photographer.
Velocity -- All are unanimous in recognizing that the UFO was
endowed with very great velocity, without being able to estimate
it however.
Mobility -- All witnesses agree in recognizing great mobility;
the movements noted are not continuous, like those of airplanes,
but much more rapid and brusque;
Manageability -- Also all recognized great manageability in the
observed object;
Altitude and distance -- Only the observers of 12/31/57, when the
UFO was seen passing over the island estimated the altitude,
comparing it with the height of Desejado Peak, approximately
three times that height, or 1800 meters;
Appearance -- A solid body, of indefinite contours;
Time of observation -- Very short, estimated always in seconds.
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g) That the personnel who saw the UFO know perfectly how to
identify an airplane, as when planes fly over the Island,
communications were made to the DHN;
h) That under the circumstances in which the photographs were
taken and immediately developed, the atmosphere in which this
was done and the state of the photographer, as well as the time
during which this work lasted, all indicate that no photographic
montage was done;
i) That regarding the photographic proof, undeniable of greatest
value and importance there remain as:
Negative factors
I - No copy of the film was made at the moment of developing;
II - The negative, after developing, was not kept intact by the
Commandant of the ship;
III - The work of copying and enlargement was made by the
photographer in his own laboratory.
Positive factors
I - The testimony of CC Bacellar that he saw the recently-
developed and still damp file, the marks that he later
identified on the copies as the object photographed and that
the film contained the previous photographs of the hoisting
of the launch;
II - The testimony of persons who saw the object and who,
seeing the copies of the photographs affirm having seen
exactly that which appears in the photograph;
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j) That with respect to the negatives, they were submitted to
examination by the technician of the DHN and by technicians of
Aerial Photography Survey Service of airline Cruzeiro do Sul,
with the following results:
I - The technician of the DHN, after making the examinations,
affirms: the negatives are natural, of the object photographed;
II - The technicians of Cruzeiro, after more complete and
thorough examinations, including microscopic, for then
verification of signs, luminosity and details of contour,
affirm:
- There was on the above-mentioned negatives no sign of
montage, all indicating it to be a negative of the object
really photographed;
- Any hypothesis of posterior montagem was removed;
- It would be impossible to prove either the existence or
nonexistence of anterior montage, which requires, however,
extreme technical skill and circumstances favorable to its
execution.
CONCLUSIONS
1. In view of the presentation of the facts and the analysis carried out
and expressed above, it can be concluded:
A - That there are innumerable witnesses who affirm having seen
UFOs over the Island of Trinidad. These witnesses are of various
categories, and the appearances occurred on different days.
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B - That the testimonies presented are fallible, owing principally
to the little preparation of the majority of observers and
the rapidity with which the phenomenon passed, nothing can
be stated conclusively, therefore, as to positive data about the
UFOs.
C - That the strongest and most valid testimony offered, that of
the photographer, loses its definitively convincing character
given the technical impossibility of proving if there was or
not previous photographic montage.
D - That, finally, the existence of personal testimonies and of a
photographer, of some value given the circumstances involved
permit the admission that there are indications of the existence
of the UFO.
3/2/58