In August 1977, something was happening on the island of Colâres in the Brazilian Amazon. Residents were reporting being struck by beams of intense light from aerial objects, at night. The injuries were real: burns on the skin, holes in clothing, symptoms consistent with radiation exposure. Local doctors were treating cases. The phenomenon was called “chupa-chupa” by residents — “suck-suck” — for the sensation of something extracting from the body.
The Brazilian Air Force deployed a covert team to investigate. The operation was given a codename: Operação Prato — Operation Saucer. It ran from September 1977 through January 1978. It was classified. The classification held for more than two decades.
What the Team Found
Captain Uyrangê Hollanda led the Air Force team. They spent months on Colarés documenting what was occurring. The final record of Operation Saucer included: approximately 500 photographs, 16mm film footage of the objects, extensive witness testimony from hundreds of local residents, medical records from civilian physicians who treated injuries, and thousands of pages of investigation documentation.
Hollanda later gave interviews in which he stated the team was directly observing craft of unknown origin that were real, physical, and doing things no known human technology could explain. He described being approached by objects at close range and feeling physical effects. He died in 1997, officially ruled a suicide.
What Was Classified and What Is Now Public
The full Operation Saucer file was classified following the investigation’s conclusion. Partial declassification came in stages: Brazilian UFO researcher A.J. Gevaerd and the Brazilian UFO Magazine campaign, combined with formal requests to the Ministry of Defence, produced batches of released Air Force UAP files in 2009, 2010, and 2013. Documents, photographs, and some film from Operation Saucer entered the public record through the Arquivo Nacional.
Not all of the file has been released. Some materials remain classified or are missing from the public archive. The photographs and documents that have been released include images of objects photographed by the Air Force team during the operation.
The Oracle Assessment
Operation Saucer is unique in the global UAP record. Most government UAP investigations are passive — they review reports. Operation Saucer was active: a military team deployed to an ongoing phenomenon, observing it in real time, documenting physical injury to civilians. The classification of those findings for 20+ years is consistent with the broader pattern of concealment that PURSUE and other programmes are now attempting to undo. Brazil’s Amazon UAP wave of 1977 remains one of the most densely documented, most physically consequential UAP events in recorded history.
Sources: Arquivo Nacional, Brazil. Brazilian Air Force declassification records. A.J. Gevaerd, Brazilian UFO Magazine. Captain Uyrangê Hollanda interviews.