Introduction
One of the few cases of a crashed UFO and physical evidence is that of the crash that occurred on the beach of Ubatuba, Brazil in September 1957.
The story of the Ubatuba UFO crash began when Ibrahim Sued, a journalist with O Globo (a leading Brazilian newspaper), received a letter on 13th September. The letter was signed but was somewhat incomprehensible.
The letter stated:
“As a faithful reader of your column and your admirer, I wish to give you something of the highest interest to a newspaper man. It regards the flying disks. If you believe that they are real, of course. I didn’t believe anything said or published about them. But just a few days ago I was forced to change my mind. I was fishing together with some friends. The fishing spot was at a place close to the town of Ubatuba, Sao Paulo. It was there when I sighted a flying disk. The disc approached the beach at an unbelievable speed and an accident, i.e. a crash into the sea seemed imminent. At the last moment, however, when it was almost striking the waters, it made a sharp turn upward and climbed rapidly on a fantastic impulse. We followed the spectacle with our eyes, startled, when we saw the disk explode in flames.
It disintegrated into thousands of fiery fragments, which fell sparkling with magnificent brightness. They looked like fireworks, despite the time of the accident, at noon i.e. midday. Most of these fragments, almost all, fell into the sea. But a number of small pieces fell close to the beach and we picked up a large amount of this material, which was as light as paper. Enclosed is a small sample of it. I don’t know anyone that could be trusted to whom I might send it for analysis. I never read about a flying disc being found, or about fragments or parts of a saucer that had been picked up.”
The samples
Two of the three samples of the Ubatuba UFO crash were sent to APRO. Also the third was retained by Brazilian UFOlogist Dr Olavo Fontes for further study. The three samples looked like pieces of irregular and highly oxidized metal, colored dull whitish grey. One first sample was tested at the mineral production labs in the Brazilian agricultural ministry. They applied chemical, spectrographic analysis and X-ray diffusion techniques on the metal. These tests indicated that the material was very pure magnesium. The chemist also noted that the normal trace elements expected in magnesium were all missing.
Further testing
Fontes used up all of his sample in a series of further tests. These tests included another chemist conducting X-ray investigation at the labs of a geology unit. Also pieces being taken to the Brazilian Army and Navy research departments. The Army and Navy both kept the results of their findings secret. Secondly, the geology lab determined that the magnesium was of a very high purity with a reading of 1.87. Just to get an idea of the purity; a normal reading is 1.74. ARPO sent a sample to the USAF, but the sample they sent met with an ‘accident’ while the USAF were testing it. The USAF asked for a further sample to be sent. APRO declined. The remaining samples where used with varying results, until the samples became too small to of been any use in tests.
APRO still have one small remaining sample in their vaults.
