Project Blue Book file: Trinidade Island, 16 Jan 1958

ROB MERCER1
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Trindade Sightings ...
(Conti nu ed from page +)
was on the deck with his camera and,
after the happening, was under a deep
nervous excitation. I stayed at his side
all the time, in order to watch him
develop the film.
"4-The film was developed in a photo-
laboratory prepared aboard, when Ea-
rauna was able to get his nerves under
control-about an hour after Lhe incident.
"S- The AF Captain Jos e Teobalclo
Viegas (retired ) went with him into the
darkroom, holding a flashlight during the
film's development, while I wailed out-
side.
"6-1 saw the film immediately after
it was developed, still wet, and-making
~ carcflll cxamino. lion-l was able to
determine:
"(a) that the pictures preceding the
sequence connected with the object's
passage corresponded with scenes taken
aboard a few minutes before the inci -
dent;
"(b ) that, in the pictures connected
with the sighting, was visible, in different
positions, am·image looking like the object
seen later on the copies-with details
which only the enlargements made after -
ward showed more clearly;
" (c) and that the two photos lost by
Barauna because he was too nervous,
or because he was pushed by other ex-
cited people around him-showed the sea
and part of the Island's mountains;
" (d) the negatives referred to were
secn by many people aboard.
"7- Afterwards, in Rio, I called Ba-
rauna (as we had prearranged) and
brought him twice to the Navy Ministry.
"&-1 warned Barauna ag ainst aay pub-
lic ity about the fact before the proper
permission would be granted, and also
that he would be informed as soon as
the proper authorities decided to author-
ize the publication of the photographs.
"9-The neg'ltives were given by Ea-
rauna to Navy authorities but were later
returned again to him, through myself.
On this occasion, however, I said he was
frec to lise the pictures as he wished,
under certain restrictions, ror they be-
longed to him.
"lO-At my request, and using paper
I had supplied, Barauna prepared six
complete sCl'ics oC the four photos and
·sixteen enla r gements of details of the
object.
"n-That was the fourth lime thJ.t
in thc forty days preceding the incident
the passage of an 'unidentified aerial
object' over the Island of Trind:lde had
been verified." Unquote
The amazing document transcribed
above was printed in the Inag;;:tz ine a
CRUZEIRO, of May 3, ID58. It was the
last official release on the UAO io cidents
at the Isla nd of Trind3de-anll also the
best. There is no doubt about :he extra-
THE A. P. R. O. BULLETIN
ordinary significance of such a report,
for the information included in it was
the last piece of evidence we needed to
prove tha t Barauna's photographs arc
genuine-and good enough to show that
UAOs arc real, i.c., some type of vehicle
flying through our atmosphere.
Incidentally, the analysis of the photo-
graphs outside the Na vy also confirmed
their authenticity. As said before, Ba-
rauna's negatives were taken to the
"Cruzeiro do Sui Aerophotogrammetric
Service," one of the best equipped photo-
laboratories in South America. On the
even of February 22, 1958, Mr. Stefano
(the laboratory's chief and top photogra-
phy expert), together with a group of
photo teChnicians, did a careful exami-
nation of the negatives. After several
hours of rigorous tests, the commission
came to the following conclusion: "It
--was established that no photographic
tricks are involved. The negatives are
normal." This wrilten photo lab report
was signed and sent to the Navy Minis-
try, where it was added to the UFO
Secret Report which was later sent to
the National Security Council. Aiter dis-
cussing the accurate laboratory tests
made in the Navy Photo Reconnaissance
Laboratory and in the aerophotogram·
metric lab, the top secret report empha-
sized that both examinations had proven
that the photos were authen tic. On thc~
l)3sis of such an evidence, concluded the
report , th e sightin g of an unidentified
aerial object in the skies of Trindade
could b::: positively established. But the
availabl e data were not enou gh to make
sure that the obj ect was, in fact, a flying
saucer-nor they added other eleme nts
to make easy ils identification.
The information above was printed in
the press ( Sao Pau lo DIARIO DA NOlTE,
Febru3ry 22). The da ta related with the
photo lab report WC1'C rechecked and con-
firmed, but only these.
This ended my investigation of Barau-
na's photographs. It must b e pointed out,
howev er, that the data includ ed in the
preceding p3ragraphs of this review do
not r epresent the compiete story of the
Trindade affair. Therefore, it is neces-
sa ry to disc uss the details not yet report-
ed-at least those that might contribute
to a bette r evaluaion of the whole case.
They will be listed in the following pages.
Trip of Major-Genera l
Thom as Darcy
On February 22, 1958, some of Rio's
newspapers reported that copies of Ea-
rauna's photos had been sent to the U. S.
to satisfy the request of authorities at
the Pentagon. Accordin g to the infor ma -
tion, the American embassy at Rio in-
formed the Brazilian government about
the interest they had to study the pic-
tures and to compare them with other
photos they possessed in the U. S. The
Armed Forces General Staff, at Rio, had
taken the necessary measures to deliver
- May, 1960
immediately the copies requested.
By a curious "coincidence,". an un-
expected visitor arrived at Rio a few
days later. He came in a Pan American
airliner , on February 26. He was l\lajor-
General Thomas Darcy, the USAI" r ep-
resentative in the Brazil-V. S. A. Join t
Military Commission for Defense_ In an
interview with the press, at th e Galeao
International Airport, he said:
_ "The reasons for my visit to Brazil
are connected with several things. One
of them is related with the supply of
airplanes and equipment for Brnzilian
anti-submarine defense. On th is trip I
am going to discuss with Brazilian mili-
tary authorities several problems of in-
terest to both countries. Also I will make
a visit, of course, to Salvador AF Base.
I ::m going to discuss some secret mat-
ters , too."
The newspapermen the n asked for his
opinion about the Trindade sightings. His
answer was the following:
"In the USAF we have a well·cstab·
Iished viewpoint about flying saucers.
\Ve came to the conclus ion that 85 per
cent of these UFOs can be expla ined as
natural phenomena of atmospheric origin.
Regarding the other 15 per cent-the
mystery still remain s, and we prefer to
withhold our opinions on the mattcr."
~ Rio de Janeiro 0 GLOB 0, ULTIMA
HORA, 0 JORNAL, etc., February 27,
1958)
Major-General Thomas Darcy, formcr
Commander of the 22nd Tactical Air Com-
mand, during World War II , has made
several trips to Brazil in past years to
discuss military problems with Brazilian
authorities. His last trip, howev c r, was
a surprise. Even the military didn't ex-
p~ct it. On the other hand, no one SliS '
pected that it might b~ connectcd with
t.he Trindacle case-despite the rcftrence
to Salvador AFB, the AF Ba se nearest
tha t Island.
The Facts Reported by Members of
the NE "Almlrante Saldanha" Garrison
On February 24, 1958, the NE "Aim i-
rante Saldanha" arrived at Santos, S. P.
Members of the crew were permitted to
visit the town and there, for the first
time, were contacted by the press. Their
declarations were printed in two SHO
Paulo's newspapers (F OLHA DA TARDE
and °EST ADO DE SAO PAULO, or Feb-
ruary 25). All of them confirmed the
passage of the UAO over the Isla nd,
watched by all members of the crew on
the ship's deck at the time. Several of
them had been eye-witn~sss of the event.
A Navy sergea nt who refu sed to tell his
nelme to the reporter s, said that, "during
the three days preceding the arrival of
the ship, many inhabitants of the Island
(including authorities) had spotted the
pass.1ge of the 'object' several times.
According to their reports, the VAO ap-
peared between 10 and 11:30 a.m. over
(Sec Trinriac/c Siglilings, pilge 7)
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