Case · C-062

Varginha 1996: the “creature” and the Brazilian Army inquiry

Varginha (Jardim Andere neighborhood), Minas Gerais · Brazil · Jan 20, 1996

On land Civilian witnesses

What happened

On January 20, 1996, during a storm, three young women said they had seen on a vacant lot in the Jardim Andere neighborhood a creature with dark skin and red eyes; in the following months some ufologists maintained that the Army and the fire department had captured one or more creatures and taken them to Campinas. In January 1997 the Army opened a military criminal inquiry on the book “Incidente em Varginha” to verify the involvement of military personnel: the report concluded that no military institution had taken part in captures or transport and that the creature was in all likelihood a local man. The Military Public Prosecutor's Office asked for dismissal for lack of an offense, the military judge of Juiz de Fora ordered it on July 4, 1997, and the records, held by the Superior Tribunal Militar, were made public in January 2026.

Proposed explanation

According to the report of the military inquiry (April 11, 1997), the girls mistook for a creature a local man with mental disorders, dirty from the storm and crouching against a wall; the Army trucks and vehicles noticed in those days were carrying out routine activities (maintenance, fodder transport). The ufologist Vitório Pacaccini disputes the explanation, noting that the girls knew that man and described different features; Ubirajara Franco Rodrigues, one of the first to investigate, has instead distanced himself from the case.

Official investigation

Exército Brasileiro – Escola de Sargentos das Armas (military criminal investigation no. 18/97); Ministério Público Militar; military justice (4th district, Juiz de Fora)

Words of the document

tenha sido confundido, por três meninas aterrorizadas, com uma “criatura do espaço”

Official documents

1. Inquérito Policial Militar nº 18/97 – volume 2 (relatório do encarregado e solução do IPM) · Exército Brasileiro – Escola de Sargentos das Armas (Três Corações) (copy published by Migalhas, records made public by the STM in 2026) · Apr 11, 1997
2. Pedido de arquivamento do IPM nº 18/97 · Ministério Público Militar – Procuradoria da Justiça Militar da 4ª CJM (copy published by Migalhas, records made public by the STM in 2026) · Jun 18, 1997
3. Decisão de arquivamento do IPM · Justiça Militar da União – Auditoria da 4ª CJM (Juiz de Fora) (copy published by Migalhas, records made public by the STM in 2026) · Jul 4, 1997

Sources

1. Migalhas, January 2026: the Varginha story was checked by the Army and became a court case (with the records in PDF) (press)
2. O Povo / Agência Estado, January 6, 2026: the STM releases the data of the investigation on the Varginha case (press)
3. Estado de Minas, January 8, 2026: official version and alternative versions of the Varginha case (press)

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