Brazil’s military UAP files — including records from Operation Saucer, Operation Bandeirantes, and other Air Force investigations — have been transferred to the Arquivo Nacional following declassification. They are accessible through SIAN, the Sistema de Informações do Arquivo Nacional. Here is a practical guide to the access system.
The Declassification History
Following sustained pressure from Brazilian UFO researchers, the Ministry of Defence released batches of Brazilian Air Force UAP records in three primary tranches: 2009, 2010, and 2013. Each release transferred classified Air Force investigation files to the Arquivo Nacional, where they were digitised and integrated into the public access system. The releases covered decades of Air Force UAP activity including the Amazon investigations of the late 1970s and subsequent classified programmes.
SIAN Access
- URL: sian.an.gov.br/sianex
- Registration: Required. Available for both Brazilian citizens (login via national ID system) and foreign researchers (separate registration pathway)
- Search: Once registered, the system allows keyword search across the archive. Search terms: “ovni”, “ufo”, “fenômenos aéreos”, “Operação Prato”, “Operação Bandeirantes”
- Physical access: Arquivo Nacional, Praça da República, 173, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 20211-350. Tel: +55 21 2179-1227
- Tutorials: Available at gov.br/arquivonacional/pt-br/servicos/bases-de-dados/tutoriais
What You Can Expect to Find
The declassified holdings include Air Force investigation reports from individual sighting cases, photographs from Operation Saucer and related investigations, correspondence between military units about UAP incidents, statistical summaries of sighting reports, and internal Air Force assessments. Not everything that exists has been declassified. Some files remain classified or are documented as missing from the institutional record.
Sources: sian.an.gov.br. Arquivo Nacional. gov.br/arquivonacional. Brazilian Ministry of Defence declassification records 2009–2013.