Project Blue Book file: Trinidade Island, 16 Jan 1958

ROB MERCER' I
executive officer said that he had not be-cn on deck at the time of
the sightin('" but that other persons might ha\"e seer "e object.
During ,-" next week arguments for and against the t7i.1'thenticity
of the photographs fill ed the Brazilian papers, and 0 Globo pub-
lished deliberately faked views of a "flying saucer"-a china plate
tossed into the air. A federal deputy in an official note to the Naval
iVIinistry deplored their amazing failure to procure sworn statements
from the officers and crewmen who were reported to have witnessed
the UFO.
In spite of the widespread and increasing skepticism, the weekly
mag:1zine 0 Cruzeiro used the Trindaoe pictures for its lend story
in th e issue of 1'.'1arch 8. «Once bitten, twi ce shy" apparently did not
apply to its editors, who seemed instead to adopt the prin ciple, "In
for a penny, in for a pound." The photographs, they remarked
editorially, not only proved th e existence of -H yi ng saucers, they also
established the authenticity of the !lha dos Amores pictures pub-
lished several years earlier. As though to emphasize this pOint, the
magazine assigned the Trindade story and tht: interviews with wit-
nesses to the same staff reporter who had described the IIha dos
Amores saucer in 1952" The Naval Mini~try refrained from furth er
comment and, since the military authorities showed no alarm about
the possibility of extraterrestrial patrols, public interest in the pic-
. tures qUickly died.
The report sent home by the U. S. Naval attache included the
comment:
"There appear to be only two explanations for this peculiar in-
Cident, and the peculiar handling of it by the Brazilian Govern-
ment: (a) Some overwhelming power has told the Brazilian Navy
not to verify this incident officially (which they should easily be
able to do, if it actually occurred) or to deny it (which they should
easily be able to do if it is a fake). I personally do not believe that
anyone has told the Brazilian Navy to keep quiet about it because
there has been no hint of such suppression in either Brazilian or"
United States circles. I also doubt that their control of the individual
officers and men would be good enough to hold the line in any
event. (b) The whole thing is a fake publicity stunt. .. . This
seems more likely.. . ." [21]
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