From UFO ROUNDUP
October 28, 1996
Masinaigan@aol.com

CROWD PANICS IN PARAIBA

On Wednesday night, October 16, 1996, a gigantic rectangular UFO appeared over the city of Joao Pessoa (population 498,000) in northern Brazil, causing over 300 residents to flee in panic. Joao Pessoa is the capital of Paraiba, a small state in the Sertao (Northeast) on Brazil's South Atlantic coast.

The OVNI (Portuguese acronym for UFO) flew at an estimated altitude of 3,000 meters (11,000 feet). Witnesses described it as an object "as long as a twenty-story building (72 meters or 240 feet)." Late-night diners on the Avenida Rui Carneiro and the Rua Almeida Barretto had a clear view of the rectangular UFO, which was also seen in ten other cities of Paraiba, including Patos, 176 kilometers (110 miles) west of Joao Pessoa. (See the Brazilian newspaper O Norte for October 17, 1996 "Discos Voadores Chagam A Capital," page 1.)

The following night, Thursday, October 17, "um gigantesco OVNI triangular" (gigantic triangular UFO) was seen in Campina Grande (population 326,200), the state's second largest city, 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Joao Pessoa. The UFO flew slowly over the city on a westerly course. People dining in the 11th floor restaurant of the Rique Palace Hotel, Avenida Venancio Neiva 287, watched as the UFO drifted over midtown.

Also that night, in Joao Pessoa, people saw UFOs flying in formation over the city. They made three passes over the city and were described as "colored balls green on the outside with flashing yellow lights." One eyewitness, Prof. Jacipa Lucena de Farias, 45, watched the sky show from the Rua Indio Piragibe. She said she counted 11 UFOs during the second pass over the city and 30 UFOs on the third pass. The UFO formation was also seen by passengers waiting to board intercity buses at the Transportadora Wilson.

In the small town of Jaguaribe, local residents saw 40 "green light" UFOs skim overhead at about 11 p.m.

The flap went into high gear Friday night, October 18, with the reappearance of a gigantic cylindrical UFO over Guarabira. This inland city, north of Campina Grande, has been repeatedly visited by UFOs since April. According to Wellington Francisco de Lima, president of Equipe Pesquinas Ufologicas de Guarabira (UFO Investigating Team of Guarabira), EPUG for short, Friday's UFO was "a cylindrical object very much like a flourescent lamp. It moved by itself both vertically and horizontally. The object emitted a strong light but it did not move at great velocity."

A large UFO was also seen that night in the Parque Arruda Camara and at Praia de Jacare beach in Joao Pessoa.

In the rural village of Pilozinhas, Sra. Julia Monteiro de Cabral, age 92, said "an unusual silver plane" landed at 6:45 p.m. that Friday, coming down vertically beside some eucalyptus trees. Emerging from the UFO were a group of occupants she described as "homem pequenos e feios" (little fantastic men). Speaking a high-pitched unintelligible language, the occupants surrounded Sra. Monteiro de Cabral's small house, and, she added, "They stole some of my chickens."

In Sao Neves, residents saw "two OVNIs 30 meters (100 feet) in diameter of a discoidal (saucer) shape with blinking lights."

And in Mamanguape, 90 kilometers (55 miles) from Joao Pessoa, a local man was reported missing after two "bright balls of light" were seen in the night sky.

(Thanks to EPUG members Wellington Francisco de Lima, Marcus Sila, Andre Santos Geisa, Pedro Alves and Oriel Farias for these reports.)