UAPgradeUAPgrade Italiano

Person

Roberto Pinotti

Ufologist and journalist, founder of the CUN; released the “RS/33” documents

1996–2025 · Historical figures (1933–2007) · Researcher

A journalist and ufologist born in Venice, he founded the Centro Ufologico Nazionale (CUN) in 1967 and is its president and spokesperson. He claims to have received in 1996, from an anonymous “heir” of a member of the alleged Gabinetto RS/33, documents from the Fascist era on the Magenta case (1933), which he announced in 2000 at a conference in San Marino and published with Alfredo Lissoni in 2001. Historians and members of CICAP consider the documents most probably modern forgeries and, according to Skeptoid, almost all other Italian ufologists regard them as a hoax; Pinotti maintains their authenticity at least in part.

Key claims
  • Maintains that at least some of the RS/33 documents are authentic, citing the paper and ink analyses (Skeptoid).
  • In his account the craft, which fell near Magenta in 1933 and was kept in the SIAI-Marchetti hangars at Vergiate, was taken to the United States after the U.S. 1st Armored Division captured the site in April 1945 (The Black Vault).
  • In his account the Gabinetto RS/33 was led by Guglielmo Marconi, who was convinced of the craft's extraterrestrial nature (The Black Vault).
Controversies
  • The versions of Pinotti and Lissoni date the alleged crash differently: April 11, 1933 (2000) and June 13, 1933 (Lissoni, 2004), according to Metabunk.
  • The expert Garavaglia wrote in the sworn report of 2000 that there are no analytical data or methods capable of giving definite indications on dating; one of the authenticated documents bears the date “August 22, XIV,” that is, 1936, not 1933 (Metabunk).
  • The paper and ink analyses were commissioned by the CUN, the center chaired by Pinotti.
  • The Vatican element (Pius XII) present in Grusch's account does not appear in Pinotti's account of the documents.
Today
He interviewed David Grusch in November 2023 (according to an account from a secondary source) and in 2024 published “UFO Italia. Da Mussolini al Pentagono,” presented in May 2025. The documents he released remain the only known documentary basis of the Magenta case, cited by Grusch since 2023.

Documented authority

It measures how documented and verifiable what the person claims is, not their honesty. Each criterion is scored from 0 to 2.

Credentials 2/2
Founder (1967) and president of the Centro Ufologico Nazionale: a public role, not disputed.
Direct access 1/2
He received the documents directly, but from an anonymous source: he has no knowledge of his own of the events of 1933.
Evidence provided 1/2
He published the documents and had the paper and ink analyzed, but the expert wrote that there are no certain dating methods.
Claims track record 0/2
The versions of the account diverge on the date, and historians and CICAP consider the documents most probably modern forgeries.
Conflicts of interest 0/2
Author of books on the case (2001, 2024) and president of the center that commissioned the analyses of the documents.

Sources

  1. Roberto Pinotti, Italian Wikipedia (other)
  2. Incidente di Magenta, Italian Wikipedia (other)
  3. R. Pinotti, “The UFO Files of Mussolini,” The Black Vault (2020) (primary source, pro-disclosure)
  4. R. Pinotti, UFO Italia. Da Mussolini al Pentagono, Vallecchi, Florence, 2024 (book, pro-disclosure)
  5. Skeptoid, episode 900, on the 1933 Magenta case (analysis, skeptical)

On this site

Cases 1

Where the claims come from 1

Timeline 3

Open in the interactive archive The whole section: Directory of people

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.