Despite their sometimes harrowing nature, the vast majority of people live to tell the tale of seeing a UFO or even interacting with an extraterrestrial being from another world. Some people, though, are not so lucky. These unfortunate people, who, according to the Hynek scale, have experienced an encounter of the sixth kind, have died as an apparent direct result of an incident with a UFO or an encounter with an alien entity. And while comparatively speaking, these incidents are few and far between, there are more of them on record than we might think. 

There have been several cases of US Air Force pilots, for example, who are suspected of having lost their lives in aviation accidents as a direct result of pursuits of UFOs. Without a doubt, one of the most morosely intriguing is the Grouse Mountain encounter that unfolded in February 1954, not least as the evidence appears to go against the official determination that the incident was a tragic accident due to pilot error. In fact, given the weight of this evidence uncovered by UFO investigators, it is surprising, and perhaps suspicious, that the incident is not much more well-known than it is.

At around 10:30 am on February 12th, 1954, Second Lieutenant Lamar Barlow was piloting his F86 Sabre jet over Grouse Mountain in British Columbia, Canada. He had departed from McChord Air Force Base across the border in Tacoma, Washington on a standard instrument checking exercise, although, interestingly or not, the jet was fully armed. The flight was uneventful, to begin with. However, at a little after noon, the control tower at McChord began receiving “Mayday” calls from Barlow. He offered that the plane’s compass was no longer working and as a result, he was now lost. According to official records, at precisely 12:06 pm, Barlow was around 60 miles north of Vancouver. Only nine minutes later, that distance had been reduced to 15 miles. However, by now, the jet was running low on fuel. As such, preparations were made for an emergency landing at Vancouver’s Sea Island Airport. Before the landing, however, communications with Barlow suddenly ceased. 

Barlow and his plane were eventually recovered on the mountainside at an altitude of 2700 feet. It was estimated that his plane had slammed into the mountain while traveling at a speed of around 750 miles per hour. Upon the discovery, his body was found still strapped into the pilot’s seat, while debris from the now crippled jet was scattered in all directions. 

Accounts of the crash began appearing in both local and national newspapers, and several days later, the United States Air Force offered their official explanation for the tragic crash. Barlow, they offered, had seen “radar ghosts” and, with the loss of his navigation equipment, became increasingly confused. They believed that Barlow thought he was much closer to Tacoma than he actually was. As such, by the time Grouse Mountain came into view, he simply had no time to react and crashed into the mountainside, killing him instantly. 

To some, though, this explanation didn’t make sense, especially why he was traveling so fast when he was descending. These concerns were dismissed by the military as a simple lack of experience on Barlow’s part. There were, though, other details that didn’t add up for UFO investigators. Why, for example, was the jet carrying 24 fully armed rockets on what was a standard navigation exercise? Despite counterarguments that this was to reproduce the exact weight of the plane should it be heading into combat, this could have been achieved without armed rockets. Furthermore, sending an inexperienced pilot up with such an armed plane on a standard exercise was also seen as questionable. 

Ultimately, as had been suspected in other similar cases over the previous years, UFO investigators asked whether Barlow had left the runway at Tacoma Air Force Base not to embark on a training exercise but to intercept an anomalous object – essentially, a UFO. What made these suspicions grow even more was that the entire area around the crash site was roped off and protected by armed guards for several days following the incident. Once more, the official explanation was to ensure that the scene was not contaminated and to make sure every last bit of wreckage was recovered, not least the rockets themselves. The fact is, it is not known if any of the rockets were fired, or if all or any of them were recovered. Incidentally, reports of the apparent clean-up operation stated that “most” of the rockets were recovered but not all. Needless to say, many people refused to accept the official explanation for Barlow’s death. 

With these doubts in mind, questions continued to grow as to whether Lamar Barlow was on a secret intercept mission that morning in February 1954. And what’s more, this intercept mission, it was theorized, was to use deadly force to bring down this anomalous object. Had this potential use of deadly force resulted in Barlow’s death? 

Also to come under scrutiny was the strange radar echoes, which were never explained, as well as just what caused Barlow’s navigation equipment to fail in the first place. In light of these questions, it is interesting to note that many pilots who have encountered UFOs – both military, private, and commercial – have reported having problems with their navigation and communications equipment, almost as if they were intentionally jammed. Was that what happened here? It is also interesting to note that, at the time, the United States military often used the term “phantom radar echoes” as an explanation for any kind of aerial anomaly. 

One UFO researcher – Gord Heath – arrived at his potential scenario as to what happened that morning on Grouse Mountain. He highlighted, for example, how unusual it was that a pilot would be allowed to stray so far off course, even going across the border into Canada. He offered that it was standard practice for the control tower to alert a pilot under such circumstances. If we recall, according to the official report, the first time the control tower was aware there was a problem of any kind was when Barlow began issuing Mayday calls following the apparent loss of his navigation equipment. Of course, if Barlow was on an intercept mission then the control tower would have been fully aware of his whereabouts and why. Heath writes: 

“Which makes more sense? The radar operators ignored the jet flying off into Canadian airspace until the pilot suddenly realizes he has only 30 minutes of fuel and has no clue about his position OR the radar operators guided the pilot in pursuit of a UFO into Canadian air space, beyond the farthest distance to return to base thinking the pilot would be able to land safely at Vancouver?” 

Many UFO researchers and enthusiasts agreed with Heath’s conclusions. There was, though, a witness who offered further information. In a twist that appears to come straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster movie, this witness was a 6-year-old girl, Robin McPherson, who was returning home from school during her lunch break at the time of the incident. She stated to newspaper reporters that she watched as the jet plane just missed a ski-lift when she first saw it. She further claimed that the plane was “awful low” and “came out of the clouds” traveling “very fast”. She then stated that:

“Then it sort of zoomed up and went in the trees on the side of the mountain. I didn’t hear any noise like a bang!”

Adding to the confusion and intrigue, in the same newspaper report, a military spokesperson, perhaps without permission to do so, questioned why Barlow had not “bailed out” which was standard procedure, adding that Barlow was “flying as blind as a bat!” In short, for all the suggestions that something more than had been disclosed had taken place, the military seemed intent on putting the blame for Barlow’s death squarely on Barlow and nobody else. 

Of course, there is no proof that a UFO was present in the skies over Grouse Mountain that morning, or if Lamar Barlow was sent up to intercept it. The rumors, however, persist to this day, and what’s more, it is far from the only encounter to feature the death of a military pilot. Only months earlier a similar incident unfolded, once more along the American-Canadian border, several hundred miles to the east in the Soo Locks area of Lake Superior in Michigan. 

On the evening of November 23rd, 1953, personnel at Sault Ste Marie began seeing strange radar readings over the strictly restricted air space. Several moments later, an anomalous aerial object was detected. Shortly after that, Lieutenant Felix Moncla and Second Lieutenant Robert Wilson sprinted to their F-89C Scorpion fighter jet before taking off from Kinross Air Force Base to investigate and possibly intercept the unknown craft.  While Moncla piloted the jet, Wilson read the radar readings. However, whether a consequence of the strange craft or not, the jet’s radar appeared faulty and so Moncla had to rely on information relayed from the control tower at Kinross Air Force Base. In an article on the incident, veteran UFO researcher Nick Redfern wrote:

“Available USAF records demonstrate that the F-89 was vectored west-northwest, then west, climbing to 30,000 feet. While on its westerly course, the crew received permission to descend to 7,000 feet, turning east-northeast and coming steeply down on the target from above!” 

Moncla began his descent, traveling at approximately 500 miles per hour. Then, without warning, the anomalous object suddenly changed course. In response, Moncla did likewise, beginning a cat-and-mouse chase that continued for around 30 minutes before it appeared the jet was finally closing in. As this was happening, radar operators in the control tower at Kinross Air Force Base watched events unfold on their radar screens, seeing the jet close in on the mystery blip. 

Eventually, the two objects on the radar screen, for all intents and purposes, became one. Personnel in the control tower prepared for communications regarding engagement. However, rather than that, the mystery object suddenly vanished from the radar screen – as did the F-89 jet. Attempts to communicate with the pilot began immediately but no response was forthcoming. More jets were scrambled in order to search for the missing fighter jet and the two missing pilots. However, there was no sign of them or the plane. It appeared as though they had completely vanished into thin air. Despite this, the search continued through the night and into the following day, although it ultimately proved fruitless. As we might imagine, in part because of the high strangeness of the encounter, and in part because the United States was in the middle of several waves of UFO sightings at the time, it wasn’t long before the wider public took an interest in the case, specifically UFO investigators. And, perhaps as a response to this wider interest, the military soon began to offer differing versions of events as to just what happened on the evening of November 23rd, 1953. 

They had, for example, originally stated to the Associated Press that the jet and mystery object had “merged” on the radar screen. However, as interest in the incident grew, they backed down from this, claiming that no merging of any kind had taken place. At one point, a military spokesperson offered that the mystery object was a Canadian fighter jet that had strayed off course and wandered into American air space, something that the Canadian military outright rejected. Eventually, the United States military put forward that “the pilot probably suffered from vertigo and crashed into the lake!” Ultimately, though, despite all the differing statements and back-and-forth between the military and the press, just what happened to Moncla and Wilson remained unknown. 

The previously mentioned Gord Heath offered his opinion on the incident, stating that it was highly unlikely that the United States Air Force – or indeed any air force – would have allowed someone who suffered from vertigo to pilot a fighter jet, adding that it was also just as unlikely that Moncla had managed to hide this condition from the military. Even more interesting, Heath also offered that he had spoken with fellow UFO researcher, John Tenney. According to what Tenney told him, through a source in the United States Air Force, Moncla’s “Cajun drawl” was heard over the communications radio several hours after the jet fighter had disappeared. If this was true, then where was this communication coming from, and just what had happened to the two pilots? Had they been “abducted” by the mystery craft and were their communications left open after this event? Was this communication coming from somewhere on Earth or was Moncla communicating from somewhere in space, or even from another dimension? And most intriguingly, just what did Moncla say? Furthermore, was this communication on a channel that was only heard by a very select number of the control tower, or had the military successfully managed to quieten all of those present that evening? 

Whatever the truth, it didn’t take long for accusations of a cover-up to swirl around the encounter. Heath offered several reasons for his belief that the military was suppressing information on the incident. He highlighted, for example, how there was no memorial for the two missing (presumed dead) pilots – something that is carried out for every single member of the military who loses their lives during active service for their country. We should remember that the official stance of the military was that the two pilots had died while on active military duty. Similarly, the men’s wives did not receive the also customary American flag from the Air Force. Writing in 2003 in UFOBC Quarterly Magazine, Heath stated:

“Was it because they (the Air Force) had reason to suspect that the two crewmen might still be alive?” 

Might Heath have been close to the truth? Could the pilots have still been alive despite the official declaration of their deaths? A decade and a half after the presumed deadly incident, in 1968, the case took another intriguing turn when the wreckage of a fighter jet was discovered on the banks of Lake Michigan. The discovery led to speculation in the local press that the wreckage was that of the missing F-89 fighter jet. However, neither the American nor Canadian authorities issued any kind of statement about the discovery. Was this the missing plane from November 1953? And if so, where were the bodies of the two pilots? Furthermore, how did it remain undetected for 15 years?

While there is no solid proof that the United States military, and indeed the Canadian authorities were engaged in an active cover-up regarding the disappearance of Moncla and Wilson, there are enough discrepancies and loose ends for the incident to remain a matter of intrigue almost three-quarters of a century later. And we should also note that it isn’t just UFO researchers and investigators who have continued to question the official narrative of the events of November 23rd, 1953. Many members of the two men’s families have also questioned just what happened to the two men. One such person was Moncla’s cousin, Buddy Moncla. He stated that he was very much open to the idea that Moncla and Wilson had been “snatched” by a UFO. In fact, according to his own research, the last transmission from Moncla that fateful evening was him stating that he was “going in for a closer look” before silence took over the airwaves.

Buddy believes that the two pilots did indeed witness something in the skies over Michigan that evening and went to investigate as they had been sent up to do. Perhaps adding yet another layer of mystery to the whole affair was Buddy’s suggestion that the UFO might not have been an alien vehicle but “something that Uncle Sam was experimenting with!” Of course, if this was the case then it perhaps offers an explanation as to why the military were so insistent on suppressing any information of the encounter. Should we consider that the order to scramble that evening was given in error and that the anomalous object was, in fact, a top-secret experimental aircraft of the United States military? And with this in mind, is that why Moncla’s voice was heard several hours after the disappearance – because the “Uncle Sam aircraft” had an open communications channel available to only a select few, one of whom might have been the “military source” behind the claim? While this is, of course, pure speculation, that something strange took place that November evening in 1953 surely is not. 

There are more details to examine regarding the incident that hint at some kind of secret mission – one that Moncla and Wilson very much might have been aware of before they embarked on it. And once more, it is the research and investigation of Gord Heath that brings us this information. Reminiscent of the movie Destination Tokyo, where pilots were asked to leave their identification papers behind before embarking on their mission due to the fact that many of them were not expected to return alive, Moncla had quickly left his wallet purposely behind where it could be found before taking off from Kinross Air Force Base that evening. As Heath asks, was this because Moncla was fully aware of the potentially deadly nature of his mission? 

There are also the testimonies of several Canadian rail workers at the Algoma Central Railway, who stated to local Canadian newspapers that they heard the sound of a crash on the night in question. Was this crash Moncla and Wilson’s F-89 jet? What makes these claims even more interesting is that local residents of the area also offered to newspapers that they witnessed several American fighter jets performing several “sweeps” of the area in the hours that followed the disappearance of the F-89. Once more, did the military know more about the incident than they publicly let on?   

In the early 2000s, although we should perhaps treat it with a pinch of salt, another witness came forward, anonymously, through a UFO website. They claimed to have been a member of the military at the time of the incident and were present in the radar room at Battle Creek Air Force Base on the night in question. His account was almost identical to what eventually entered the public record, although, as he offered, he was able to “fill in the gaps” of the official record. 

He stated that not one but two F-89 fighter jets had been scrambled from Kinross Air Force Base on the night in question. One of them, however, immediately experienced problems with their equipment and so had to return to base. Moncla, the witness claimed, was asked if he wanted to return to base and await another wingman, something he declined, instead offering to continue the mission alone (with Wilson as the radar operator). Official records show that only one fighter jet was in the air that night, which leaves us with several possibilities. 

Perhaps the most obvious scenario is that the anonymous Battle Creek witness manufactured his version of events. However, as he was anonymous, he would have had little to gain from doing so. Without revealing his identity, he wouldn’t have been able to gain financially. So, if we discount that idea, was it possible that the anonymous witness was working for the military in order to plant disinformation about the encounter in order to lead investigators away from the truth of what happened that night? It is certainly possible, although, perhaps unlikely. This then leaves us with the notion that what the anonymous witness offered was completely true, right down to the details that the communications during the encounter were affected greatly by electrical static (something that often accompanies close contact UFO encounters). And if this is the case, why did he wait 50 years to come forward with the information? Perhaps we should turn once more to Gord Heath, who offered about the anonymous witness that while there was nothing to corroborate his account, it had the feeling of “being important”, and ultimately, truthful. 

In August 2006, the case took yet another twist after UFO researcher, Francis Ridge, received an email from “Preston Miller” regarding the apparent recovery of the missing F-89 several weeks after it disappeared in late 1953. And while it is another piece of information that should be treated with caution it is certainly worth quickly examining. 

According to the correspondence, the discovery was made in Lake Superior a short distance from the last known location of the fighter jet. The discovery was made by a group of divers known as the Great Lakes Dive Company. And not long after these apparent revelations, an apparent representative of the company came forward. “Adam Jimenez” began to answer questions online regarding the discovery, eventually appearing on Coast to Coast radio where he was interviewed by veteran UFO researcher, Linda Moulton Howe. Not only did he come across as very credible, but he offered side-scan sonar images of the discovery, which did indeed appear to show a sunken jet fighter, mostly in one piece. 

However, the twists continued several months later when the website set up by the Great Lakes Dive Company simply disappeared. At the same time, “Adam Jiminez” also seemed to disappear, no longer responding to emails or online questions. To some, this was confirmation that the revelations were nothing but a hoax. Some researchers, though, questioned if this sudden disappearance was part of the long-standing cover-up. 

Ultimately, the disappearance and presumed deaths of Felix Moncla and Robert Wilson remain a complete mystery. Felix Moncla’s sister, Leoni Shannon, offered years later that:

“We still know nothing about it. I don’t think the (US) government wants to let us know about what really happened to him!” 

She is certainly not alone in her assessment of the situation. 

Several years later in March 1956, another blood-curdling episode unfolded involving two more military personnel. According to the account, on the day in question, Sergeant Jonathon Lovette and Major William Cunningham were out on the White Sands missile testing grounds near Holloman Air Force Base searching for rocket debris. During the course of their search, Lovette opted to go and investigate an area at the edge of a small sand dune. He momentarily disappeared from Cunningham’s sight. A short time later, though, Cunningham heard a petrified scream coming from where Lovette was last seen. 

Suspecting Lovette had discovered and been bitten by a snake, Cunningham rushed over to the sand dune. However, when he peered down, he was greeted with a sight he was not contemplating. The first thing he could see was a large, shiny, silver disc hovering over the ground around 20 feet away from him. Then he saw the tentacle-like appendage extending from an opening in the object. He traced this tentacle down to the ground and could see that it was wrapped around Lovette’s leg. He watched helplessly as his colleague continued to scream in terror. A moment later, Lovette began to be dragged toward the object, eventually disappearing inside. Then, the object rose straight into the air and disappeared in a second. 

A moment later, after finally bringing himself to his senses, Cunningham ran back to the military jeep the pair had been traveling in and radioed back to base what had happened, requesting immediate backup and assistance. By the time several military units arrived in response to his distress call, Cunningham was in a state of complete shock. He was immediately taken to a military hospital where he was kept under constant observation. During this time, he was questioned on several occasions as to exactly what had happened – and each time, he offered the same version of events: that he had seen Lovette dragged aboard a flying saucer by a tentacle-like appendage, and then the saucer had disappeared into the sky. It is also interesting to note, at least according to the report, that base radar noted an anomalous object in the same region that Lovette disappeared – an object that itself simply vanished from radar suddenly.  

Military search units combed the entire region over the course of three days, eventually discovering Lovette’s naked corpse around 10 miles from where he was last seen. It was estimated that his body had been out in the elements for between 12 to 24 hours, meaning there were 48 hours where his whereabouts were unknown. When his body was returned to base and an autopsy performed, it simply raised more unsettling questions. 

His body had been completely, but precisely mutilated, with very similar injuries and cuts that would become commonplace in the cattle mutilations that would follow over the subsequent decades. Part of his lower jaw, for example, had been precisely cut away, and his tongue had been surgically removed. His eyes had also been cleanly removed, as had his anus, which was described as being taken out as it were a “plug or cork-stop!” 

It was determined that whoever – or whatever – had inflicted these injuries, almost certainly had advanced surgical and medical knowledge, not to mention skills. Perhaps the most unsettling discovery, though, and again something that would show itself in the cattle mutilations that would begin in the late 1960s, was that every drop of blood had been drained from his body. Adding to the mystery, the autopsy found no signs of vascular collapse that would normally be present in a person who had bled to death. Incidentally, Cunningham’s superiors suspected that he himself had murdered Lovette, but with no evidence – not least where he had managed to stash the body and then place it where it was found while in the hospital under observation – he was released without charge. 

One last thing of interest to mention about this case is an apparent report of the incident from Project Grudge – a report named, Report 13. Two people came forward claiming to have been asked to analyze the document for the United States military – researcher, William Cooper, and Captain William English, a former Green Beret – and it is from their recollections of the report in question that most of what we know of the case comes from. 

Williams claimed to have seen and analyzed the report (an annotated version of it) in the early 1970s, while English claims to have looked at it several years later while assigned to the United States security service based at a Royal Air Force base in Chicksands, England. Both of the men recalled almost identical versions of events, even though both gave their accounts separately and without the knowledge of the other. Another interesting thing to note is that, officially at least, Report 13 no longer exists. All of the other reports in Project Grudge – Reports 1 to 12 and Report 14 – are now in the public domain. Report 13, however, remains missing. Make of that what you will. 

It is also worth mentioning a similar horrifying encounter that occurred in October 1981 in the small town of Panorama in Brazil. At the time the incident unfolded, strange objects, that the locals called Chupas, were terrifying the entire region and had been for several weeks. These objects were often described as oval or circular (although some described rectangular objects), and, most concerning of all, they would fire beams of light toward the ground, as if attempting to attack residents of the area. And on the evening of October 17th, it seems that’s exactly what happened. 

On the night in question, two hunters, Ribamar Ferreira and Abel Boro, were hunting in the woods when they noticed a bizarre, glowing object appear overhead, with Ferriera later describing it as looking similar to a “luminous tire of a truck!” He would elaborate that the object was so bright that it appeared to turn “the night into day!” After several moments, the object descended slightly – and its attention was very much on Boro. 

Within moments, Boro was completely surrounded by some kind of “glittering light” that came from the underside of the object. Ferreira, as scared as he was confused, turned to run back to the village in order to get help. By the time he and several members of Boro’s family returned, however, Boro was dead. Despite there being no wounds or cuts to his body, it was later discovered that Boro’s blood had seemingly been completely drained. His death remains unsolved. 

Without a doubt, one of the most ominously intriguing incidents to explore here also unfolded in Brazil around a decade and a half earlier, an encounter known as the Lead Masks case. The curious episode occurred in the summer of 1966 just outside of Rio de Janeiro, and was first relayed to the wider world by Jacques Vallee in his book, Confrontations. However, a comprehensive and detailed report appeared several months after the deadly incident, in the March 1967 edition of Flying Saucer Review. In more recent years with the arrival of the Internet interest in the case has only grown and it remains one of the most reinvestigated cases on record. 

The story begins at a little after 5 pm on the afternoon of August 17th, 1966, in the small town of Niteroi, when a local teenager was wandering through the woods and noticed two men sitting upright in a nearby clearing. He watched the men for several moments before going on his way. The next morning, he went through the same area and noticed the two men once more, still lying in the same position. Once more, he went on his way, but two days later, so intrigued was he that he returned to the same spot. He was a little shocked to see the two men still in the clearing, and still laying on their backs. This time, he decided to take a closer look. By the time he was approaching the clearing the nauseating smell hitting his nostrils told him that the two men were not only dead, but they had likely been so for several days. Even so, he continued to the clearing.

Both of the men were dressed in suits with what appeared to be brand-new raincoats over the top. Perhaps strangest of all, though, was that both had a crudely made lead mask over their eyes. He took one last look at the grim scene before running back to the village to inform the authorities. It would take the better part of a day for the police to negotiate the rough terrain of the woodland. When they arrived they were as perplexed as they were shocked. Just what had happened to cause the deaths of the two men? As multiple investigations unfolded over the coming weeks, both by the police and private investigators, it became clear that something very strange had unfolded. Was this some kind of experiment, a bizarre ritual gone wrong, or simply outright murder? 

The two men were eventually identified as 43-year-old Jose Viana and 32-year-old Manuel Pereira da Cruz, both local electricians from the small village of Atafona. From speaking to the local community, both men were well-liked and respected and didn’t appear to have any obvious enemies. Once details of the grim discovery were released to the public, information came to the police – and some of it made the whole case even stranger. Some of the initial findings, however, left the police at a loss as to what had happened. 

The clearing where the bodies were found, for example, was perfectly serene and undisturbed, with no sign whatsoever of any kind of struggle, right down to the fact that both men were neatly dressed without even a hair out of place. It was, as bizarre as it appeared, as if the men had simply laid on the ground of their own accord and died. Initial autopsies only clouded the picture even more. Both men, it seemed, had died from massive, sudden heart attacks, with their deaths happening within seconds of each other. This was highly improbable – that two otherwise healthy men had suffered sudden heart attacks in the same spot within seconds of each other. Ultimately, something had to have caused the heart attacks. From what the boy who discovered the bodies had told the police, something untoward had taken place between 5 pm on August 17th and 9 am the following morning on August 18th.  

It would also come to light as authorities spoke to members of the local community that several residents had witnessed a strange glowing orange object seemingly hovering directly over the clearing where the two men were discovered on the evening of August 17th, with some witnesses even reporting that several orange beams of light shot down from the object toward the ground. One of the most intriguing of these reports appeared in the Brazilian national newspaper, Jornal do Brazil. It came from Senhora Gracinda Coutinhjo da Sousa, who claimed that she saw the “unusual object” on the night in question directly over Vintem Hill where the two bodies were discovered. Sousa was described by those who knew her as a very credible witness, with the newspaper reporting that:

“…she was driving along with three of her children when they saw an orangy color with a band of fire around its edges. The object was sending out rays in all directions and was hanging over the top of the hill. She stopped the car, and with her children watched the object as it rose and fell vertically for some three or four minutes!”  

Following this initial report of strange objects overhead further reports of similar objects came in from the public which, ultimately, attracted the attention of UFO investigators. And it would soon come to light that there had been another UFO incident several weeks earlier, which we will turn our attention to next. 

According to an article in Flying Saucer Review, on the evening of June 13th, a “violent explosion” occurred in the two dead men’s village. According to the report, the publication had received regular reports of UFO sightings in the days leading up to this explosion. However, rather suspiciously, the Brazilian newspapers suddenly stopped reporting on the sightings due to authorities wrapping a “cloak of security” around the encounters. This was followed by rumors of some kind of bizarre electrical experiment taking place on the beach involving several local residents, as well as the discovery of some kind of electrical device stored in a nearby garden. Even stranger, several local residents reported seeing a “ball of fire” crossing the sky on the evening in question, as well as fishermen reporting seeing a “flying saucer” crashing into the sea. 

Interestingly enough two of the people present during this incident in June 1966 were Viana and Cruz. As we will explore a little later, there is good reason to believe that some kind of experiments were taking place in the area – and what’s more, they appeared to be connected to some kind of local “movement” or organization. Before we turn our attention to these potentially connected goings-on, however, we will examine the timeline of events that the police managed to piece together that somehow led to the deaths of the two young men in the forest clearing. 

At around 9 am on the morning of August 17th, Viana and Cruz left their village on their way to Sao Paulo where they planned to purchase a car as well as the electrical equipment they required for work. With them, they had around $4000 in today’s monetary value. Interestingly enough, despite there being no evidence they had purchased a car or electrical equipment, only a small amount of the money was found on them when their bodies were discovered. Robbery, though, was pretty much ruled out given that neither of the men had any kinds of injuries or even bruises on their bodies. 

Ultimately, after boarding the bus, the two men arrived in Niteroi. At around 2 pm, they purchased the raincoats both were wearing when they were found (although we should note that the weather reports at the time suggested it was raining and that the raincoats could very well have been an incidental last-minute purchase and not of consequence to the strange events). Following buying the raincoats, according to receipts found on them, the pair went to a local bar where they each purchased a bottle of mineral water. Once more, the fact that the pair had intentionally kept the receipts suggested to investigators that they intended to claim money for returning their empty bottles on their return journey, suggesting to investigators that they were very much intending to return home and that suicide was not in their plans. It was around 3 pm when the two men set off to the woods where their bodies were discovered two days later. It was around 5 pm when the teenager witnessed the two men “sat upright” in the clearing. What happened between then and 9 am the following morning is purely guesswork. 

There were, though, further discoveries. Perhaps the most intriguing of these was several pieces of paper with instructions on them. One of these notes, for example, read:

“Sunday, one pill after meal. Monday, one pill after breakfast. Tuesday, one pill after meal. Wednesday, one pill lying down!”

Another note would state:

“4:30 pm be at appointed place. 6:30 pm swallow pill. Then protect face with metal and await for signal to show itself!” 

In another twist, an examination of the notes revealed that it was highly unlikely that either of the two men had written them. They appeared to be instructions for some kind of countdown. Ultimately, who wrote these notes, and why? Furthermore, what did they mean or represent? 

One line of thought was that the two men were looking to purchase unorthodox materials, possibly illegal ones, which might explain why they were meeting someone in an out-of-the-way place, and why they had taken so much money with them yet appeared to not have purchased anything. Had they been double-crossed somehow? And just what were they trying to purchase, if anything? Could it even be possible that the two men were somehow involved in espionage? And, just how did the UFO sightings fit into all of this? If we recall that one witness claimed to have seen beams of light directed toward where the two men were found – could this have been what caused their sudden cardiac arrests? Or, returning to the speculative links to the intelligence agencies, could their deaths have been made to look like heart attacks and the UFO sightings have been purely coincidental? We will return to this line of thought very shortly. 

First, though, we will examine another incident that was documented in the UFO magazine Flying Saucer Review and a very similar encounter in 1962. A local television technician and repair man was discovered in much the same position as the two men on Vintem Hill – laying on his back, fully dressed and with an almost identical crudely-made lead mask covering his eyes. As bizarre as this discovery was, it would surely be irresponsible to dismiss the incident as pure coincidence.

This is perhaps especially the case when we consider that, according to investigations at the time, several electricians in the local area were involved in experiments with “high frequency thought waves” that used LSD in order to “step up the mental alertness” of those involved with them, as well as to “alter the frequency of the brain”. We might recall the notes discovered on Viana and Cruz that featured instructions on when to take pills. 

If such a group of electricians and fringe scientists did exist, they remain a mystery, as does how they came into existence in the first place. One man, though, Elci Gomes – who knew both Viana and Cruz – informed the police when he was brought in for questioning that the two dead men were members of a “secret society” of “scientific spiritualists” that was made up of “electronic specialists and enthusiasts”. Furthermore, this organization covered the entire region with multiple members. Although he didn’t know the goals or agenda of the group, he did state that they were “devoted to spiritism”. He continued that Viana and Cruz – possibly outside of the organization’s knowledge – were attempting to “communicate with beings from Mars”. What’s more, they had previously “performed many strange electronic experiments”. Even more amazing, Gomes offered that he, along with Viana and Cruz, had built the device discovered in the garden following the June 1966 incident, although he further offered that the object witnessed by members of the local community that evening was very genuine.

Despite this wealth of information from Gomes, the deaths of Viana and Cruz remain a complete mystery almost half a century later. Had they constructed a device that not only communicated and possibly summoned a UFO in June 1966, but also shot it down into the sea? It is perhaps interesting to recall that authorities placed a reporting ban on the encounters following the incident. Did they know more than they revealed to the public? 

It is also not clear why these experiments began in the first place, and which individual was the driving force for the apparent organizing of such like-minded people. Perhaps Viana and Cruz were themselves – maybe unbeknown to them – part of some kind of bizarre experiment. Were they perhaps lured to the woodland with the promise of purchasing advanced electronic equipment or materials, possibly by the secret society they were a part of, or possibly by intelligence agents? 

One last thing to consider with this last possibility in mind is the alleged “heart attack gun” that came to light following the New York Times investigation into some of the secret programs of the CIA, specifically the MK Ultra experiments. This weapon was designed to fire a needle of ice that would, in theory, pierce the heart leaving only the small pinprick of a mark, so small it could go undetected unless the person performing the autopsy knew exactly what they were looking for. Once in the body, the ice would melt unleashing a toxin that would cause a sudden heart attack. Might this have happened here? And if so, was it connected to the experiments to communicate with UFOs? Perhaps the pair had been too successful in their goals. Perhaps these discreet government agents wished to pick up where the pair had left off. For now, all possibilities remain on the table. 

As we can see, then, there are many more deadly encounters with UFOs and potential aliens than many of us would think. And the cases we have examined here are but a fraction of these deadly cases on record. Indeed, it is highly likely that we will return to these fatal UFO incidents in another article in the near future. While some of these encounters appear to have been tragic accidents while in pursuit of UFOs in the skies, others – such as the Lovette incident and the Lead Masks case – appear to have been much more targeted and purposeful. Indeed, if such cases are accurate, then we perhaps should question whether the secrecy surrounding UFOs is as much for our protection as that of the government. One thing is certain, the more we delve into the UFO and alien mysteries, the cloudier and murkier the waters become.