Project Blue Book file: Trinidade Island, 16 Jan 1958

ROB MERCER,
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I
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_M_._r_c_h,__19_6_0________________'--___~___________T_H_E__A_._P_._R__. _0 __. BULLE_T_I_N___'-'__~_____________________________P_.~g~.__7
Trindade .. .
(Continued from page 6 )
tClTogalion at the Navy Ministry. As thal
part of hi s story had not been reported
yet in full detail, it is interesting to know
what he said in that interview, which is
tran scribed below :
"I wenl to the Navy Ministry fOl" a
four-hour interrogation about the photo-
graphs. The negatives were projected on
a lar ge sized screen. After a careful
examination by all officers from the Navy
General Staff gat her ed at the place, the
Chief of the Intelligence Service (who
was the officer of highest rank there)
told me the following: '1 am going Lo ask
questions. Do not be offended. for I do
not doubt the authenticity of your pic-
tures. But we need you r answers for
so me questions. Now, if you were going
to fake a photo, how should it be done
in order to escape detection?'
"'Con1l11ander, as an expert in pho-
togra phy, I am well aware that no photo
of such a kind could resist an accurate
examinatiq:n,' was my answer.
.. 'In your opinion,' said the Comman-
der, 'what should be done to distinguish
a faked photograph from a good one?'
" 'A laboratory examination of the ne g-
atives should be made on the following
points: granul at ion , emulsion, and large-
sca le projection. The definite proof, how-
ever, good enough to detect any tricks,
would be a microscopic examination,' I
sa id to thelll. 'It would demonstrate the
increase in granulation connected with
the double-exposure needed for the trick,'
I concluded.
"After a few more questions, the in-
telligence officer said: 'We want your
negatives for those examinations. Do you
agree?' I agreed. of course, and he got
the film. These things happened three
days after the arrival of the 'Almirante
Saldanha,' at the Navy's Intelligence
Headquarters. A few days later, the nega-
tiv es were returned in an official enve-
lope with a card informing me about the
results of the analyses.
"Some days latcr I was called again.
This time they also asked for my Roll ei-
flex. They wanted to make tests in order
to estimate, if possible, the speed of the
flying saucer at the moment of the sight-
ing. The tests were performed. They
showed that I had taken my six pictures
in 14 seconds, and that the saucer was
flying at 900 to 1000 Km. / hour. One of
my photographs, taken when the saucer
was hovering over the 'Desejado' Peak,
stopped in space, did not show (as they
said) the turbulence in the surrounding
air observed in the others with the object
mo vi ng. Ther e was a kind of vapor or
condensation in front of the flying objec t
wh en it was moving-similar to tha t pro -
duced by the engines of a jet plane.
"At the e nd of the meeting, the Intelli-
gence chief officer said he was convinced
that my photos we r e authentic. Then he
showed me another photo which had been
taken by a Navy telegraphist-scrgeant-
also at Trindade. A box camera had been
used. I was surprised. That photo showed
the same object seen in my pictures . It
was evidently the final proof. They told
me it had been laken some time before
my arrival at the Island." Unquote.
ADDITIONAL REPORTS ABOUT
THE INCIDENT
When the eurt"in of security around the
sightin g was broken, the Navy General
Staff released special instructions forbid-
ding the ship's crew and Navy officers
to have any contact with the press on
the matter. The Navy authorities refused
at first to make any comment on the
incident. All military chiefs interviewed
by the press denied any knowledge of
the matter, or said that only :Minister
Alves Camera was entitled to say any·
thing. Some Navy departments even tried
to show a complete lack of interest,
ehplaining that the pictures had been
taken by a civilian even tually aboard a
warship. On the other hand, the NE
"Almirante Saldanha" remained off Rio
de Janeiro's harbor and finally received
orders to leave Guanabara Bay "to make
another trip related with IGY stUdies."
This oecurrecl on February 21. at a time
when newspapermen were making des-
perate attempt s to reach the crew kept
aboard the ship. At the Jast moment be-
fore the ship's departure, it was divulged
that reporter s were free at least to con-
tact the crew and get their reports on
the flying s aucc !". HOWeVel", the permis-
sion was denied by a counter order, for
the Navy General Staff was against it.
New instructions were issued to sailors
and officers aboard the ship emphasiz-
ing that no contacts with the press werc
permitted. Thal same day (Feb. 21 ), a
Navy spokesman called the press to say
that the Navy had no responsibility re-
garding the incident, and that no official
statement was to be released about it.
But he agreed that the followi ng infor-
mation-with no official support-might
be published:
"On the morning of January 16, 1958,
over the Island of Trindade, the crew of
the school ship 'Almirante Saldanha'
sighted an unidentifi ed aerial object for
a few s econds . A civilian who was aboard
the ship took some pictures of the object.
The Navy has no connec tion with the
case, and its only connection with the
occurrence was the fact that the pho-
tographer was aboard the school ship,
and came back with the ship to Rio."
Unquote (ULTIMA HORA, Feb. 21)
Another spokes man, from the Navy
High Staff Command, released the fol-
lowing statement to the newspaper 0
GLOBO, the same day:
"The news about a flying saucer sight-
ed over the Island of Trindade were
received here with ulmost reserve. There
will be an investigation to verify the
authenticity of the sighting and photos.
No officer or sailor from the NE 'AIm i-
f2.nte Saldanha ' witnessed the event"
It was eviden t that the Navy authori-
ties didn't real ize the incident was 100
big to be concealed. Theil· desperate at-
tempt to give the impression that the
Navy had nothing to do with the incident
was a foolish move. To deny any con-
nection with the incident was a childish
thing. The "unofficial statement" should
not have been released. The press and
the public already kn ew enough to sec
where the tr uth lay. On the other hand,
the stric t orders which forbade military
people to give out any information on
the matter did not apply to civilian ob-
servers aboard thc ship. They talked to
the press. Captain J. T. Viejas, from the
AF ( ret.), was the first to confirm Ba-
rauna's report in a press interview on
February 22. His report is tra nsc ri bcd
below:
"I wa s on the d eck. j\'Iy fr iend Amilar
Vieira Filho suddenly called my atte n-
tion to what he thought to be a 'big sea -
gull.' I looked toward it and was unable
to control my excitement, shouting : 'Fly-
ing saucer!' Mr: Barauna was 20 yards
away with his Rolleiflex, watching the
maneuvers. He heard my shouts and
came running-in tim e to take four pic-
tures of the object. Othe r people were
also alerted by my alarm: a sergeant,
sailors, the ship's dentist (Lieute nan t-
Captain Homero Ribeiro) , and other per-
sons. They all si ghted the object. The
photograp her Farias de Azevedo , who
w .. s more distant, didn't come in time
to get photos.
"The first view wa s that of a disk
shinin g with a phosphOl·cscent glow ,
which- even at daylight-appea r ed to be
brighter than the moon. The object was
about the apparent size (angula r diam-
eter ) of the full moon . As it followed its
path across the sky, changing to a t ilted
position, its real shape was clearly out-
lined against the sky: that of a flattened
sphere encircled, at the equator, by a
large ring or platform. Its speed was
around 700 miles an hour at the moment
it disappeared into the horizon.
"The object wa s sighted at 12:20 p.m.,
when the ship was pr eparing to leave
lhe area. It caused a tremendous con-
iusion aboard. Mr. Barauna found it very
difficult to operate hi s camera, being
pushed and pull ed by excited observers
around him. In fact , he was almost
thrown into the sea. He got so nervous
after the sighting that he needed more
than an hour to calm down and be ablc
to develop the film. However, in his ex -
citement he forgot to rewind the filni
before openin g the ca mera. and it would
have been ruined if he had not been
warned by an officer at the last moment.
"The negatives wcre immediately de-
veloped by Bara un a in thc presence of
Com. Baeellar. The wholc crew was
gather ed outside, waiting with great
(Sec Trindadc, page 8)