File 076 · 1977
Colares, Operation Saucer
Colares, Pará, Brazil · Region, not street
Opened 9/4/2026
Ledger illustration of the file — not a photograph of the object. Ledger illustration of the report. Amazon river mouth at night. — Night Ledger illustration of the file
Standing
Unidentified
On the public record, and still open. A claim, paper, or film — not a finding that it was ours, and not a finding that it was not.
What was claimed
Residents of Colares described lights that burned skin. The Brazilian Air Force ran Operação Prato.
What is on the record
Prato produced photographs, film, and official reports. The Brazilian record exists. Causes were not settled in public. Treat the paper as a military investigation, not a conclusion.
In 1977 the fishing town of Colares and nearby settlements reported low lights — “chupa-chupa,” the suckers — that threw beams, leaving puncture-like burns and anemia-like symptoms. People slept in churches. The Brazilian Air Force established Operação Prato (Operation Saucer) under Captain Uyrangê Hollanda. The team took hundreds of photographs and hours of film of lights over the water and the mangroves.
Hollanda, in a later interview, said the objects were real and not Brazilian. He died in 1997, listed as suicide. Portions of the Prato file were eventually released: photographs of lights, not of craft at close range, and medical notes that are hard to read as mass hysteria alone.
It is a rare case where a national air force went to a village, stayed, filmed, and came home with a classified box.
Could this have been ours?
The known sky, that night.
Satellites were already up. The station was not. Starlink was not.
Always
Venus and the bright planets
A fixed brilliant point. Does not streak. Does not hover over a street then leave. Often the first misread light in a rural report.
Always
Aircraft, balloons, meteors
Landing lights, flares, lanterns, reentries, fireballs. They are on the known sky. They do not close a file by themselves — they are what a serious look has to hold the claim against.
Orbit · Space — the desks for lights that are already named.
Sources
- Operação Prato / Brazilian Air Force files
- Brazilian Air Force, Operação Prato
Paper on this file
Official or public documents that belong with this case — not a verdict.
Related files
Same craft, same place, same years. A neighbor in the catalogue — not a conclusion.
Same craft · Same year · 20 September 1977
Petrozavodsk phenomenon
Petrozavodsk, Karelia · Russia
Identified
A glowing object that showered the city with luminous “jets” was seen across northwest Russia and Finland. TASS printed it as news.
Same craft · Same country · May 19, 1986
1986 Brazilian Night of the UFOs
São José dos Campos and multiple states · Brazil
Unidentified
Radar detected 21+ unidentified objects across southeastern Brazil. Multiple pilots (civilian and military) and ground observers, including 2,000+ at an air base, reported luminous objects. Brazilian Air Force scrambled five jets (F-5E and Mirages) for interception. Objects exhibited extreme speeds (up to 11,500 mph) and maneuvers. Official Ministry of Aeronautics acknowledgment and press conferen
Same craft · Same years · 11 November 1979
Manises, Spain
Manises / Valencia · Spain
Unidentified
A commercial flight diverted to Manises after the crew reported red lights that paced the airliner. F-1 fighters were scrambled.
Same craft · Same years · 27 August 1979
Val Johnson, Minnesota
Marshall County, Minnesota · United States
Unidentified
A deputy’s patrol car was damaged and the officer injured after he reported a blinding light on a rural road. State police documented the car.
Same craft · Same years · December 30-31, 1978
Kaikoura Lights Radar-Visual Encounter
Kaikoura, South Island · New Zealand
Unidentified
Aircrew, passengers, and air traffic controllers observed and filmed bright lights maneuvering near an aircraft; confirmed by Wellington radar and RNZAF investigation.
Same craft · Same years · 21–31 December 1978
Kaikoura lights, New Zealand
Kaikoura, South Island · New Zealand
Unidentified
A TV crew on an Argosy freighter filmed lights off Kaikoura. Radar, pilots, and Wellington air traffic were all in the loop.