Project Blue Book file: Trinidade Island, 16 Jan 1958

ROB MERCERMarch, 1960
UAO Sightings Over Trindade
By OLWO T. FONTES, M.D.
Part II
The NE "Almirante Saldanha" Incident.
The UAO Photos Authent ica ted
by the Brazilian Navy
In early January, 1958, the ship "Almi·
rante Saldanha" left Rio de Jan eiro's
harbor and proceeded toward the Island
of Trindad c with a crew of three hun-
dred. That ship had been previously a
Brazilian Na vy sc hool -s hip. but it had
been converted into a hydrographic unit
to be used for investigations connec ted
with ICY research. 1L belonged to the
Hydrog raphy a nd Navigation Division of
the Brazilian Navy and, since October,
1957, the ship had made several trips to
Trindadc, most of them connected with
the Navy's oceanographic studies for the
IGY.
Several civi lians were aboard the ship
this time, invited officially to collaborate
with the Navy Ministry in the scientiiic
studies which were underway at the
Island. One man was Almira Barauna a
photographer and former newspaperm'an
now working as a "free lancer." He was
also an expert in submarine photography
and had been inv ited to work in the '
field for the Navy.
After a routine trip the ship arrived at
the Is land and stayed there for several
days. It was sc heduled to leave for Rio
on January 16. That day, at 12:15 p.m.,
when the ship was preparing to depart,
a stra nge object wa s sighted simultane-
ously by <1 number of observers gathered
on th e deck. The UAO came toward the
Island at hi gh speed, hovered briefly
over a peak, di sa ppeared behind it for
a s hort time, and appeared again to move
away toward the sea. Mr. Barauna was
tak ing pictures of the ship's maneuvers
at thaI moment. He spotted lhe UAO and
got four pictures of it.
Let's review what happened as told in
the witnesses' own words. Let's begin
with Almiro Barauna's report. He was
interviewed by reporter Joao Martins and
hi s statements were published in the
magazine 0 CRUZEIRO (l\'rarch 8, 1958).
They arc tran scribed below:
"Barauna's Report
"Q. 1\,lr. Barauna, what were the rea-
so ns for your presence aboard the NE
'Almirante Saldanha'? A. The Navy has
invitcd several teams specialized in sub-
marine hunting to vi s it the Island of Trin-
dade. I am a member of the Icarai Club
for Submarine Hunt ing, and our group
was invited for the la st trip. So, on Janu-
ary 8, when the s hip left Rio, I was
aboard together with the following mem-
bers of my group: Amilar Vieira Filho,
captain of our tcam , a Government em-
ployee (he has " job at the CACEX);
Jose Teobaldo Viegas, instructor at the
Aero Club of Niteroi and Air Force Cap-
tain (retired); Mauro Andrade, from the
London Bank; and Aloisio, municipal
THE A. P. R. O. BULLETIN '-".../ Pago 5
,-----_.._. __.._-_ ._--------
T R I N DAD E I S LAN D 6
TARTARUGA
BEACH
A T LAN TIC
- _Bl
1
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'"
o C E A N
"ALMIHANTE SALDANHA" was anchorell close to the lJOinl fl car lIle "Galo Cresl"
Peak and photographer Barauna was at the stern. The UAO was first seen over the sea,
coming toward the island. The (irst pllOl0 was taken at position 1, with the ob;ecl
flying al low spr·pd. Photo nllmber 2 was shol when it was plac(!ri behind flze "Gallo
Crest ." Photo 3 was Inken a few seconds aflpl" the lum madc by lhe UIlO ncar
"D('sp;ado" Peak, Photos 4 awl 5 fail('d to the ,w;islcr the V 110, which was then
IIp'lIl! at high speed. The last picture. numbt:r 6, was takrfl when tllf' ob;ccl was
IIIO/J/fI{:J oway dose to tIl(! IlOri::on lin e. It d isflfllu'a /"('d a lell) s('co"ds 10u'l".
employee at the Federal District. We
were go ing to try to beat some records
all submarine huntin g. Personally, I was
going to take undenvater photogl'aphs
for the Navy. and also to write some
articles about thc Is land and the activi-
ties of the scientists working for the IGY.
"Q. Was a ny olher civilian aboard,
besides your group? A. Yes. There was
Prof. Fernando, ;] geologist, with two
assistants, and also a photographer, and
a reporter from the newspaper 'JORNAL
DO BRASIL'. The three sc ient ists left
Lhe ship and went to the island .
"Q. Ple.:lse tell me what was the date
of the sighting? What happened? A. It
wa s on January 16, at 12:15 p,m, The
ship wa s preparing to leave the island ,
to come back to Rio. I was on the deck
observin g the operations to take aboard
the boat used in the trips between the
ship and the isla nd (the isla nd has no
harbor). The sea was agitated. The wea-
ther was cloudy, clear, with no shadows.
I had my Rollciflcx 2.8-model E, which
was kept insidc an aluminum box for
protection . against the corrosive effects
of water and salt. I had left by Leica
with a tclephoto lens in my cabin a few
moments before. The deck was full of
sa ilors and officers. Suddenly, fvIr. Ami-
lar Vieira and Captai n Viegas called
me, pointing to a certain spot in the sky
and yelling about a bright objcct which
was approaching the island. At this same
moment, when I was still trying to see
what it waS, Lieutenant Homero-the
ship's dentist-came from the bow to-
ward us, running, pointi ng out to the sky
and al so yelling about an object he was
sightin g. He was so disturbed and ex-
cited that he almost fell down after col-
liding with a cable. Then I wa s finally
ablc to locate the object, by thc flash
(of light) it e mitted. It was already close
to the island. It glittered at certain mo-
ments, perhaps reilecting the su nlight,
perh aps changin g its own li ght- I don't
know. It was coming over the sea, mov-
ing t.oward thc point called the 'Gala
Crest'. T had lost 30 seconds look ing for
the object, but the camera was already
in my hands , ready, when I sighted it
clearly sil houetted against the clOUds.
I shot two photos before it disappeared
behind the peak 'Desejado'. My camera
was set at speed 125, with the aperture
at f/ 8, and this was the cause of an
- over-expos ure error , as I discovered
later.
"The object remained out of sight for
a few seconds-behind the peak-reap~
pea ring bigger in size and flying in the
opposite direction, but lower and closer
than before, and movin g at a higher
speed. I shot the third photo. Th e fourth
and fifth oncs were lost, not only because
of the speed the saucer was moving, but
also for another reason: in the confusion
produced as a result of t he sighting, I
was being pulled and pushed by other
(Sec TriruJade, page 6)