1957.10.05
Arrival of the intruders
Antônio Vilas-Boas helped manage the family farm near the town of São Francisco de Sales, in the state of Minas Gerais. Of mixed Portuguese and Amerindian origin, the 23-year-old man possessed little formal education but was taking a correspondence course around the time of the incident. He was later evaluated as an intelligent individual.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
Vilas-Boas… was single, in good health and shared the business with his two brothers.
(Fact or Fiction: UFOs, Blundell)
23.00
There had been a family celebration on the night of 5 October 1957, after which Antônio and his brother João, with whom he shared a room, went to bed at eleven pm. Antônio decided to open a window because the night was so warm, and on doing so observed that the yard outside was lit with a silvery fluorescence. At first the brothers decided to ignore it, but eventually Antônio‘s curiosity got the better of him and he went to the window again. As he watched, the light moved towards the farmhouse. He slammed the shutters to, which woke up his brother, and the two young men watched the light penetrating the wooden slats before moving over the roof, shining down between the tiles.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
Vilas-Boas and his brother João saw a brilliant beam of light coming from the sky as they looked through their bedroom window. It seemed to scan their home but they could not see its source.
(UFOs: The Definitive Casebook, Spencer)
1957.10.14
21.45c
Nine days later, between 9.30 and ten pm, the brothers were using a tractor to plough a field.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
In the high temperatures of Brazil it is customary for the land-owning class to work through the night and employ labourers to work during the hot daytime hours. They saw a ball of red light, which was too brilliant to look at directly, hovering approximately 300 feet (92 metres) above their field. Vilas-Boas asked his brother to accompany him to investigate the light but his brother refused so he went alone.
(UFOs: The Definitive Casebook, Spencer)
As he drew near, the light suddenly moved to the southern end of the field. Antônio followed it there, and the light skipped back to its original position. It did this twenty times in all. Antônio gave up and returned to João. The light remained where it was for some time, occasionally giving off rays and bright flashes, before disappearing.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
1957.10.15
01.00
Seized by aliens
The following night, Antônio was out on the tractor alone. At exactly one am he observed a large red “star” in the sky.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
He got close enough to see that it contained a bright oval-shaped object.
(UFOs: The Definitive Casebook, Spencer)
Suddenly the light grew larger as it swooped down towards him.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
A brilliant light raced across the sky and hovered 45 metres/150 feet above him.
(Fact or Fiction: UFOs, Blundell)
An object now hovered above him, emitting a light so bright that it swamped the tractor’s headlights. This was from a red “headlight” set at the front of the craft. The farmer thought of escape, but realised that the low speed of the tractor would make this futile. Escape on foot was similarly out of the question on the muddy, churned-up soil.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
[Click image to clarify and enlarge]
After two minutes, it landed in front of him…
(Fact or Fiction: UFOs, Blundell)
As he remained on the tractor in a state of terror, the craft dropped to the ground a few feet in front of him. Now the farmer was able to see it in detail, as he told Buhler.
“I could see the shape of the machine clearly, which was like a large elongated egg with three metal spurs in front (one in the middle and one on each side). They were three metal shafts, thick at the bases and pointed at the tips. I could not distinguish their colour, for they were enveloped by a powerful reddish phosphorescence (or fluorescent light, like that of a luminous sign) of the same shade as the front headlight.
On the upper part of the machine there was something which was revolving at great speed and also giving off a powerful fluorescent reddish light. At the moment when the machine reduced speed to land, this light changed to a greenish colour, which corresponded – such was my impression – to a diminution in the speed of rotation of that revolving part, which at this point seemed to be taking on the shape of a round dish or a flattened cupola.
I saw three metal supports (forming a tripod) emerge beneath the machine when it was at only a few metres from the ground.”
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
It stood upon three landing legs, each about nine metres/30 feet high.
(Fact or Fiction: UFOs, Blundell)
[Click images to clarify and enlarge]
“I totally lost the little self-control that I had left. Those metal legs were obviously meant to take the weight of the craft when it touched the ground on landing. I started up the tractor (its engine had still been running all this time) and shifted it round to one side, trying to open out a route of escape. But I had only travelled a few metres when the engine suddenly died and, simultaneously, the tractor lights went out. I tried to get the engine to start again, but the starter was isolated and gave no sign of life.”
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
[Click image to clarify and enlarge]
Antônio opened the tractor door and started to run when “someone” grabbed his arm. In his desperation the farmer swung round and managed to throw his pursuer off balance, but three more caught up with him and hoisted him into the air. The creatures were shoulder-height to him, and dressed in grey, tight-fitting coveralls with a helmet that obscured all their facial characteristics except the eyes, which were visible through lenses. They wore boots and gloves, and three tubes ran from the back of the head to the body.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
There were five creatures in total and they appeared to be conversing in a strange language about Vilas-Boas. Each wore close-fitting overalls of a thick, grey material. They wore five-fingered gloves. They also wore helmets through which Vilas-Boas could make out their blue eyes.
(Fact or Fiction: UFOs, Blundell)
Antônio was carried struggling up a ramp into the craft.
Inside, he found himself in a small square room lit as bright as day by square lamps set in the metal ceiling.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
… A small room with polished metal walls…
(UFOs: The Definitive Casebook, Spencer)
[Click image to clarify and enlarge]
The door closed so completely that there was not even a seam in the wall where it had been. One of his kidnappers indicated for him to follow into another room, which he did, not having any real choice.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
[Click image to clarify and enlarge]
He was then led into a large semicircular room, through a doorway that had strange red symbols written over it. (Vilas-Boas claimed that he was able to memorize these symbols and later reproduced them for investigators.)
(Wikipedia)
“We left the little room and entered a much larger one, semi-oval in shape. I believe this room was in the centre of the machine for, in the middle, there was a metal column running from ceiling to floor, wide at the top and bottom and quite a bit narrower in the middle. It was round and seemed solid. The only furniture that I could see was a strangely shaped table that stood on one side of the room, surrounded by several backless swivel chairs. They were all made of the same white metal.”
Preparation for sexual intercourse
The young man was held in the room while the beings observed him and talked in a series of barks similar to a dog’s. Then they forcibly undressed him and spread over his body a thick liquid which quickly dried.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
… A clear, odourless fluid.
(Fact or Fiction: UFOs, Blundell)
Two of the beings escorted Antônio into another room where blood was taken from him through a long tube.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
The ends of two tubes were attached by suction to his chin.
Vilas-Boas described the procedure as painless but the skin was sore afterwards. He watched a small beaker fill with his own blood…
(Fact or Fiction: UFOs, Blundell)
They then left him alone, and he lay down on a grey couch to rest.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
For over half an hour Vilas-Boas was left alone in a virtually featureless room sitting on a kind of couch bed. He noticed pipes in the walls from which small puffs of smoke were spreading, the smell of which made him feel sick; indeed he vomited in one corner of the room.
(UFOs: The Definitive Casebook, Spencer)
The Brazilian was surprised by the entrance of a “beautiful” naked female entity. She had blonde hair and a wide face, which came to a point at the chin. Her blue eyes were elongated and her lips quite thin. She had a slim waist, but broad hips and and large thighs. Her breasts were high and well separated.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
[Click image to clarify and enlarge]
She was blonde (Vilas-Boas said her hair had a bleached appearance) and strikingly beautiful with large blue eyes and high cheekbones. Her chin was so pointed that her face had a triangular aspect. Her pubic hair was a brilliant red…
“She had the most beautiful body which I have ever seen on a woman, with high, well-shaped breasts and narrow waist. She was broad in the hips, had long thighs and small feet, narrow hands and normal finger-nails. She was much smaller than I am, and her head only reached to my shoulder…”
(Fact or Fiction: UFOs, Blundell)
She… came towards Vilas-Boas in silence.
As Vilas-Boas later put it, she was “looking at me all the while as if she wanted something from me”. She certainly did! She hugged Vilas-Boas and rubbed her face and body against his. In the circumstances, any lack of interest from Vilas-Boas would have been quite understandable but in fact he became excited by the contact, responding to her touch with enthusiasm. He later considered that the liquid spread over him may have been a sexual stimulant.
(UFOs: The Definitive Casebook, Spencer)
“Alone with this woman, who clearly gave me to understand what it was that she wanted, I became very excited… I forgot everything, seized the woman and responded to her caresses. It was a normal act and she behaved like any other woman.
I would not like to exchange her for one of our women, for I prefer a woman with whom one can talk and who understands one. I was also irritated by the grunting sounds she made at particular moments. She did not know how to kiss either, unless her playful bites on my chin had the same meaning.”
(Fact or Fiction: UFOs, Blundell)
Antônio enjoyed the experience, although it was almost spoilt when the “woman” started grunting, “giving the disagreeable impression that I was with an animal”.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
However, unfulfilled in some capacity or the other the woman did not stop at this point but continued petting, arousing Vilas-Boas to a further successful act of sexual intercourse. It was after the second act that she apparently became frigid and withdrawn and it was then that he realized he had been used, which caused him, too, to become frigid.
In an interview 21 years later Vilas-Boas added one detail to the encounter which had not hitherto been revealed. After this second act of sexual intercourse the woman also extracted a sperm sample from him which he assumes was preserved for later use.
(UFOs: The Definitive Casebook, Spencer)
Shortly afterwards the door opened, and one of the “men” appeared on the threshhold and indicated for the female to leave: “But, before going out, she turned to me, pointed at her belly and then pointed towards me and with a smile, she finally pointed towards the sky.”
This indicated to investigators that she was telling him she was going to bear their child on her home planet. The female left and the other entity carried Antônio‘s clothes over to him, gesturing him to dress. He was taken back into the central room where several of the creatures were now seated. Antônio was left standing while they grunted amongst themselves. He decided to take an instrument, resembling a clock, to present as proof of his adventure, but no sooner had he picked it up when it was angrily snatched away from him.
Eventually the abductee was taken outside, along a catwalk, and given a conducted tour around the craft where certain features were pointed out to him.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
He was shown the central dome, which emitted a strange green light and which he was given to understand played a key part in the propulsion system. After another while, he was taken to the ladder and one of the beings indicated he was free to go.
A short while later, the craft took off towards the south.
(Fact or Fiction: UFOs, Blundell)
[Vilas-Boas was] left in a field to watch the object take off at astonishing speed.
(UFOs: The Definitive Casebook, Spencer)
It was 5.30 am. Vilas-Boas had gone aboard at approximately 1.15 am.
(Fact or Fiction: UFOs, Blundell)
The young man told his mother of the event – but no-one else until he contacted journalist senor João Martins, who had published an article about UFOs.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
1958.02.22
The impact of [Vilas-Boas‘s] tale, coupled with other sightings over Brazil, forced even the country’s secret service to sit up and take notice. The whole extraordinary episode began in Rio de Janeiro on the afternoon of 22 February 1958 when Vilas-Boas presented himself at the surgery of Dr Olavo Fontes.
He made a detailed and lengthy statement which was witnessed by the doctor and by a journalist, João Martins, who was developing an interest in Brazilian UFOs. He had helped Vilas-Boas, who was anxious to explain his experiences to civil and military authorities, to come to Rio.
(Fact or Fiction: UFOs, Blundell)
Evaluation by the investigators
Dr Fontes commented on the farmer’s account:
“Right from the outset it was obvious he presented no psychopathic traits. Calm, talking freely, revealing no nervous tics or signs of emotional instability, all his reactions to the questions put to him were perfectly normal. At no moment did he ever falter or lose control of his narrative. His tendencies corresponded precisely to what could be predicted in an individual who, in a strange situation, could find no explanation for certain facts. At such moments, even though he knew that the doubts expressed by him on certain questions might lead us to disbelieve him, he answered quite simply: ‘I don’t know about that,’ or ‘I can’t explain that.’”
Symptoms of radiation poisoning
In his medical report, Dr Fontes records that Vilas-Boas arrived home exhausted and slept for most of the day. For the next two nights he could not sleep and was plagued by a dreadful headache and nausea, causing him to lose his appetite. During the second sleepless night he felt a burning sensation in his eyes, followed by continual watering. From the third night Vilas-Boas experienced excessive lethargy for about a month, which caused him to keep nodding off. Small wounds appeared on his arms and legs which left scars, and two yellowish patches manifested on his face. It was speculated that these were symptomatic of radiation poisoning. If they were, they did not lead to any long-term health problems.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
[Click image to clarify and enlarge]
Later, medical examination revealed a scar where the blood sample had been taken and what may have been radioactive burning on parts of his skin. Top Brazilian researcher Mrs Irene Granchi spoke to Vilas-Boas‘s wife, Marlena, at the time and asked her how she felt about the possibility of her husband having an extraterrestrial offspring. She said she did not mind and indeed was rather proud of the idea.
(UFOs: The Definitive Casebook, Spencer)
1965
The story of the kidnapped Brazilian farmer was first brought to the attention of the English-speaking world in a 1965 issue of the magazine Flying Saucer Review. It was based on a report by Dr Walter Buhler of Rio de Janeiro, who had interviewed the percipient in 1961. Dr Buhler supplied to editor Gordon Creighton a full transcript of the man’s declaration and a medical report compiled by Dr Olavo Fontes. These documents were dated 22 February – just a few months after the encounter…
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
1960s
Before his recent death, Vilas-Boas also confirmed that in the 1960s he was also invited to the USA by “security forces” to view wreckage of a UFO. He constantly declined to discuss this further, even with his family.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
1978
Vilas-Boas was not a drug addict. He was in perfect health at the time of the encounter and was studying at evening classes to improve the lot of himself and his family. His work evidently paid off because by 1978 he had become the respected Dr Vilas-Boas, a lawyer living near Brasilia with his wife and four children.
(Fact or Fiction: UFOs, Blundell)
In 1978 Antônio Vilas-Boas broke 21 years’ silence and was interviewed for a Brazilian television show… He had decided to break his silence because he was annoyed at the way his case had been treated over the years. He reaffirmed the experience with no contradictions, but added that, after having intercourse with the “woman” for the second time, she had used a container to collect a sperm sample.
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
… Vilas-Boas never retracted his claims despite being annoyed at the way his experience had been exploited by the media (the encounter has even been the subject of a French comic strip) and throughout his life his recall was never contradictory.
(UFOs: The Definitive Casebook, Spencer)
Brazil continues to report more alien abductions than any other country – and indeed the sensational encounter of farmer Antônio Vilas-Boas was the first such case in modern times.
(Fact or Fiction: UFOs, Blundell)
There is a much higher rate of reporting sexual encounters from South America.
(UFOs: The Definitive Casebook, Spencer)
This deeply investigated case was the first known appearance of the now common trend in abduction stories that the aliens are performing genetic or hybrid experimentation with humans.
(UFOs and How to See Them, Randles)
The UFO phenomenon had entered a new phase and set in motion a programme that may still be going on today. According to testimony, it involves the taking of genetic samples from humans for what is reputedly the creation of a hybrid space baby…
The tail end of the 1950s saw the alien contact phenomenon shift gear from an innocuous persona into a more sinister phase. It is significant, perhaps, that the flood of abduction reports in the 1980s are rooted in a case that seemed to bridge the gap between contactee stories and modern tales of alien genetic experimentation. In 1957 a Brazilian was relieved of sperm through forced copulation with a “space woman”. Today, the aliens use more sophisticated means to remove sperm and ova from the men and women they have “borrowed”…
(The Complete Book of UFOs, Hough and Randles)
This case, and others which later emerged, were met with extreme scepticism at the time. Up until then people’s experiences had been limited to objects sighted from a distance, or contacts with human-like extraterrestrials possessing the most gentlemanly manners. Antônio Vilas-Boas helped introduce terror and a new scenario where contactees became victims, not the chosen few…
Vilas-Boas remembered vividly being carried up a ramp and into the craft, while modern abductees suffer “doorway amnesia” and have no recollection, even under hypnosis, of how they got inside.
Medical examination is central to most accounts. In many contemporary American cases, however, sperm and ova are taken from victims using medical procedures, where Vilas-Boas was relieved of sperm in a more natural way. Most American investigators believe the material is used to breed hybrid beings, to help reconstitute an alien race which is dying due to a reduced genetic pool. In the 1960s, investigators postulated that the female who copulated with the Brazilian farmer was such a hybrid. It is interesting that the broad face, pointed chin and thin lips exactly describe modern alien entities…