UAPgradeUAPgrade Italiano

Claim origin · GN-04

In 1933 a non-human craft crashed near Magenta and was studied by Mussolini's “Gabinetto RS/33”; Pius XII informed the United States, which took it in 1944–45.

Circular sources

First attestation
1996 · anonymous document, Anonymous packages sent to Italian newspapers and ufologists, including Roberto Pinotti (CUN); one reached Resto del Carlino, which did not publish it. Alleged documents from the Fascist era describe a crash in 1933, the founding of the Gabinetto RS/33 and an agreement to share the results with Germany. According to Skeptoid, this first version lacks the Pope, the Americans and the transfer to the United States; according to historians and members of CICAP, the documents are in all likelihood modern forgeries.
Who picked it up
  1. 2000 · Roberto Pinotti: At a UFO symposium in San Marino he announces the material received from an anonymous source; he publishes it in 2001 with Alfredo Lissoni. Based on documents (source given: The anonymous documents, whose authenticity is disputed (see T-011))
  2. 2003 · Alfredo Lissoni: An article of his translated into English in Flying Saucer Review brings the story to the English-speaking world (2003 according to Skeptoid, 2004 according to Metabunk). Based on documents (source given: The same anonymous documents)
  3. 2010 · William Brophy Jr.: After letters to Flying Saucer Review from 2003, in a presentation in Italy at Pinotti's invitation he adds the Pope informing the Americans, the transfer of the wreck to the United States, the bell shape and the “Nordic” bodies. Hearsay (source given: Accounts from his father, a deceased USAF airman; according to Skeptoid no evidence links the father to the cases cited)
  4. May 2021 · Luis Elizondo: Says he saw very convincing documentation from Italy attributed to the Mussolini era; according to Skeptoid he had known Pinotti since 2018 and in 2019 had viewed the documents with him for a TV series. Based on documents (source given: The documents shown to him by Pinotti)
  5. Jun 2023 · David Grusch: To NewsNation and Le Parisien he says that the first retrieval was at Magenta in 1933, that Pius XII informed the Americans and that they took possession of it in 1944–45; asked whether the Vatican knows about non-human intelligence, he answers yes. At the hearing, under oath, he speaks only of the 1930s without naming Italy. Hearsay (source given: The people who informed him, unnamed)
  6. Aug 2, 2023 · Ross Coulthart: Tells NewsNation that other sources confirmed the story to him and that the Vatican's silence could be a sign of it. Hearsay (source given: Unnamed sources)
  7. Nov 2023 · David Grusch: Interviewed by Pinotti, he adds that the Pope sent a communication through the OSS all the way to President Roosevelt, that the craft was perhaps lenticular and that his informants do not remember biological material. Hearsay (source given: His informants, unnamed)
  8. Sep 30, 2026 · David Grusch: On Joe Rogan's podcast he describes the Magenta craft as a lenticular disc that allegedly lost its rim, taking on a bell or acorn shape. Hearsay (source given: His informants, unnamed)
Analysis
This is the most clearly circular case: every version goes back to a single anonymous source from 1996 and, for Pius XII and the transfer to the United States, to the accounts of William Brophy Jr. after 2003, according to Skeptoid and Metabunk. The circularity does not concern the AAWSAP group identified by AARO but the Italian ufology network and its contacts: Pinotti and Lissoni are co-authors (edges roberto-pinotti → alfredo-lissoni “co-author”), Pinotti met Elizondo (roberto-pinotti → luis-elizondo “source,” unconfirmed) and interviewed Grusch (roberto-pinotti → david-grusch “interview”), while the passage from Elizondo to Grusch is an interpretation by Skeptoid (luis-elizondo → david-grusch “source,” unconfirmed). That Grusch's informants tell precisely the version expanded after 2003 is compatible with a common source rather than with independent access (inference); Coulthart's sources are not named. Traces are missing in the Italian archives, in the Vatican Apostolic Archive (negative searches in 2024 and 2026) and in the U.S. OSS documents, as is the identity of the informants.

Sources

  1. Skeptoid #900, Brian Dunning, on the alleged Italian crash of 1933 (analysis, skeptical)
  2. Wikipedia (it), “Incidente di Magenta” (other)
  3. Metabunk, discussion “Claim: A UFO crashed in 1933 Italy and the US recovered it” (analysis, skeptical)
  4. Wikipedia (it), “Roberto Pinotti” (other)
  5. Newsweek, pressure on the Vatican after Grusch's claims (August 2, 2023) (press)
  6. Very Exciting Time, episode 42 “Magenta UFO” (2024) (analysis, pro-disclosure)
  7. Higgypop, summary of Grusch's NewsNation interview with Ross Coulthart (June 2023) (press)
  8. Official transcript of the July 26, 2023 House hearing (GovInfo, CHRG-118hhrg53022) (primary source)

On this site

People 6

Claims 5

Inconsistencies 2

Official positions 1

Timeline 7

Open in the interactive archive The whole section: Where the claims come from

UAPgrade's entries are compiled with artificial intelligence (three verifiers with opposing roles) and checked against the sources listed above: how we work. Have a document that changes this entry? Bring it to the Investigations Unit.