Operação Prato · The Saucer Investigation
In late 1977, the population of Colares and the surrounding islands of the Pará river delta reported a sustained wave of luminous objects descending from above and emitting beams of light onto villagers — a phenomenon locals dubbed "Chupa-Chupa" (the suck-suck). At least 35 people were hospitalised with burns, puncture-marks, and acute anaemia. The Brazilian Air Force's I Comando Aéreo Regional launched a formal investigation — Operação Prato — led by Captain Uyrangê Bolívar Soares Nogueira de Hollanda Lima. The 500-page case file was declassified by the FAB in 2005.
What the official record says
Operação Prato was activated on 30 September 1977 with a small team of FAB officers and enlisted personnel deployed to Colares and Vigia. The mission was to "observe, photograph and film the phenomena", document witness reports, and rule out — or confirm — external aircraft or natural origins. The team operated continuously for four months, returning with hundreds of pages of witness statements, sketches, photographic prints, and 16 mm motion film of luminous craft hovering and manoeuvring over the river.
The phenomena, as recorded by Hollanda's team, included:
The final report concluded that the phenomena were "real", that "no conventional explanation accounts for the totality of observations", and that the matter required further study. The report was filed and archived. No follow-up was authorised.
In a 1997 televised interview shortly before his death, Hollanda stated on camera that he had personally observed UAP during the operation and that the FAB had asked him to keep his findings confidential.
Timeline
First reports of luminous objects emerge from fishing villages on Ilha de Mosqueiro and Colares; mayor of Colares formally requests federal intervention.
Operação Prato authorised. Capt. Hollanda Lima arrives in Belém with a four-man team.
Daily and nightly observation. 16 mm film and photographic stills of luminous craft captured. 80+ witnesses interviewed.
Operation concludes. Final report filed to I COMAR with annexes.
Hollanda gives a televised interview to Brazilian network confirming the events and his personal sightings. Dies shortly after.
FAB declassifies the full Operação Prato file under Lei nº 8.159/91 and Decreto nº 4.553/02. Materials transferred to the Arquivo Nacional.
FAB Aeronáutica Diretriz DCA 14-22 establishes the formal channel for the public to submit UFO reports to the Brazilian Air Force, citing Operação Prato as precedent.
Linked evidence in this archive
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Operação Prato — Final Report (1978)
The full 500-page declassified file: investigative log, witness statements, photographic stills, sketches, transcripts of radio communications.
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FAB UAP reporting directive (2008)
Establishes the formal procedure for citizens to submit UAP reports to the Brazilian Air Force. Cites Operação Prato as institutional precedent.
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Sistema de Gestão de Acervos da Aeronáutica
The Brazilian Air Force's records catalogue. Operação Prato is indexed in the public consultation portal; PDFs available on request.
Related Brazilian UAP files
Why this case still matters
Operação Prato is the largest declassified governmental UAP investigation outside the United States. It is one of the very few cases in which a national military deployed personnel for months of continuous observation, returning with film, photographic, and physiological evidence (the burns and puncture-marks on civilian witnesses were treated and recorded at the Hospital Municipal de Belém). The FAB's 2008 directive — which formally institutionalises civilian UAP reporting — explicitly traces its lineage to this case.
For comparative researchers, Operação Prato sits alongside AARO's modern case-resolution effort and GEIPAN's civilian-led model as the three best-documented national approaches to UAP investigation in the historical record.
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