FAB
Força Aérea Brasileira — Operação Prato and FOI releases
Força Aérea Brasileira
Brazil ran one of the most actively documented military UAP operations of the 20th century: Operação Prato (Operation Saucer), a four-month 1977-78 Air Force investigation into 'chupa-chupa' incidents in the Pará region of the Amazon. The full file was declassified in 2005 and released to the National Archives.
About the program
Operação Prato was launched in September 1977 by the IV Comando Aéreo Regional of the Brazilian Air Force in response to a sustained wave of incidents in the islands of Colares and the surrounding region of Pará, in which residents reported being struck by beams of light from low-flying objects. The operation was led by Capt Uyrangê Hollanda and ran through December 1977, with subsequent follow-up into 1978.
The investigation produced approximately 500 photographs, 16mm film, audio recordings, and detailed case-by-case logs. The full file was officially declassified by the Brazilian Air Force in May 2005 and is now accessible through the National Archives of Brazil. A subsequent broader declassification programme covering FAB UFO records from 1952 onward was carried out in tranches between 2008 and 2016.
Capt Hollanda's own retrospective interview, given to researcher Ademar José Gevaerd in 1997, is the most cited insider source on Operação Prato and is widely available.
Landmark documents
Direct primary-source links. Where a backup mirror exists for a known link-rot risk, we name the host.
- Case collection · Declassified in tranches 2008-2016
FAB UFO records 1952-2016 — declassification programme
Brazilian Air Force-wide UFO records, including the Operação Prato file, the 1986 'official UFO night' incident, and pilot reports from the 1950s-1980s. Indexed by the Arquivo Nacional.
- Case collection · Operations 1977-78; declassified May 2005
Operação Prato — full Air Force file (≈500 pages, photographs and film)
Complete IV COMAR investigation file on the Colares 'chupa-chupa' wave, including case logs, photographs, and 16mm film. Held by the Arquivo Nacional in Rio de Janeiro and accessible via the SIAN online catalog.
- Case file · 19-20 May 1986
1986 'Official Night of the UFOs' (Noite Oficial dos OVNIs) file
The night Brazilian Air Force F-5E and Mirage III interceptors were scrambled to engage at least 21 objects tracked simultaneously by ground radar over São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The Air Force held a formal press conference acknowledging the engagement at the time. The file is held under the FAB tranche at the Arquivo Nacional.
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