In 1979, the Uruguayan Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya, FAU) established an official commission for receiving and investigating UAP reports. CRIDOVNI — the Comisión Receptora e Investigadora de Denuncias de Objetos Volantes No Identificados — has operated continuously since then, making it one of the oldest currently active national military UAP investigation bodies in the world. The FAU website is currently under update, but CRIDOVNI as an institution remains active.
What CRIDOVNI Is
CRIDOVNI is a formal commission under the Uruguayan Air Force General Command. Its mandate is to receive UAP reports from the public and from military personnel, conduct formal investigations, and publish findings. Cases that cannot be explained are officially classified as UFO sightings in the public record. The commission operates within the Air Force’s institutional structure — not as an independent civilian body, and not as a classified intelligence programme.
Why 1979 Matters
CRIDOVNI was established in 1979 — the same year as Italy’s Andreotti mandate formalised the Aeronautica Militare’s role, and two years after France’s GEIPAN was founded. These three independent national decisions — in France, Italy, and Uruguay, in 1977, 1978, and 1979 respectively — occurred at the same moment that Brazil was deploying Operation Saucer and Chile was operating the CEFAA precursor. The late 1970s saw a genuine multinational institutional response to UAP that has been almost entirely absent from the US-centric discourse about UAP history.
CRIDOVNI’s Record
CRIDOVNI has processed thousands of reports over its 47-year history. The commission has documented notable cases including the 1986 Colonia incident, pilot encounters over Uruguayan airspace, and multiple cases involving ground traces and physical effects. Published investigation reports have been made available to researchers and the public through the FAU. Colonel Ariel Sánchez was one of CRIDOVNI’s most publicly prominent directors, giving international interviews and presentations on the commission’s work.
Current Status
The FAU website (fau.mil.uy) is currently under update and temporarily offline. The ejercito.mil.uy/cridovni path redirects to the Uruguayan Army website, which does not contain CRIDOVNI-specific content. The commission itself remains institutionally active within the Air Force. UAP Oracle has logged the offline status and will update when the FAU site returns.
Sources: Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya. CRIDOVNI established 1979. fau.mil.uy (currently under update). Colonel Ariel Sánchez public record.