It is widely known that since 1947 many people in many places have reported "flying saucers" and other strange objects in the sky. But the absence of physical evidence such as crashed "saucers" has been considered the best argument against the existence of such UFOs. In fact, it is difficult to recognize the reality of a flying machine so far advanced as to have reduced to near zero the probability of mechanical failure. Major Edward J. Ruppelt, USAFR, in his excellent book, A Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, states that the USAF had never picked up any "hardware" whole "saucers," pieces or parts that could not be readily identified as something very earthly.
Such an unexpected occurrence was reported, at last, near the Brazilian coast. It was said a disc shaped object had exploded over the seashore. Fragments recovered from the explosion were supposed to have fallen, while burning, into shallow waters, which, according to the witnesses, quenched the fire and allowed recovery. I cannot vouch for the story, but only for the identity of the samples received and the details of the investigation that followed. The story of the origin of the samples will be of interest in connection with the results of the chemical analyses which were performed.
On September 14, 1957, Ibrahim Sued, a well known Rio Janeiro society columnist, reported a strange story which startled the readers of his column in the newspaper 0 Globo Under the heading, "A Fragment From a Flying Disc,'' he wrote:
We received the letter: "Dear Mr. Ibrahim Sued. As a faithful reader of your column and your admirer, I wish to give you something of the highest interest to a newspaperman, about the flying discs. If you believe that they are real, of course. I didn't believe anything said or published about them. But just a few days ago I was forced to change my mind. I was fishing together with some friends, at a place close to the town of Ubatuba, Sao Paulo, when I sighted a flying disc. It approached the beach at unbelievable speed and an accident, i.e. a crash into the sea, seemed imminent. At the last moment, however, when it was almost striking the waters, it made a sharp turn upward and climbed rapidly on a fantastic impulse. We followed the spectacle with our eyes, startled, when we saw the disc explode in flames. It disintegrated into thousands of fiery fragments, which fell sparkling with magnificent brightness. They looked like fireworks, despite the time of the accident, at noon, i.e. at midday. Most of these fragments, almost all, fell into the sea. But a number of small pieces fell close to the beach and we picked up a large amount of this material which was as light as paper. I am enclosing a small sample of it. I don't know anyone that could be trusted to whom I might send it for analysis. I never read about a flying disc being found, or about fragments or parts of a saucer that had been picked up. Unless the finding was made by military authorities and the whole thing kept as a top secret subject. I am certain the matter will be of great interest to the brilliant columnist and I am sending two copies of this letter to the newspaper and to your home address."
From the admirer (the signature was not legible), together with the above letter, I received fragments of a strange metal...
The unusual story stirred my curiosity. Ibrahim Sued had never written about UFOs before. My first thought was the whole thing could be a joke or well planned hoax. I tried to convince myself this was the obvious explanation, and to dismiss the matter, but I felt something should be done to clarity the doubts raised in my mind. I had to contact Mr. Sued to take a look at the "fragments" and find the answer I was looking for. I phoned him that same day and ask for a meeting to discuss the matter. He agreed. I arrived at his apartment four hours later. There on the table I saw the samples sent by the unidentified correspondent three small pieces of dull gray solid substance that appeared to be a metal of some sort. Their surfaces were not smooth and polished, but quite irregular and apparently strongly oxidized. Their appearance suggested they might be, if really metallic, pieces or fragments disintegrated from a larger metallic mass or object; in fact, the surface of one of the samples was shot through with almost microscopic cracks, always longitudinal, and even showed on one face a large longitudinal fissure running through almost two thirds of its length, as if that piece had been disrupted under the action of some force. The others did not show many cracks or fissures, but the surfaces of all samples were covered in scattered areas with a whitish material. These whitish smears of a powdered substance appeared as a thin layer. The fine, dry powder was adherent, but could be displaced easily with the nail. It also filled the fissures and cracks on the surface of the first sample. This powder presented some similarity with the whitish powdered cinders on a chunk of burned charcoal as if the fragments had been scorched by some fire or were damaged by too much heat. Two of these samples were later photographed still in their original form.
Mr. Sued said the material appeared to be lead at first sight because of the gray color but I would see it could not be lead, a heavy metal, if I felt the weight of the sample in my hands. He was right. The material was light, definitely lighter than aluminum almost as light as paper. Amazed, I told Mr. Sued I had some friends with scientific backgrounds who might be called in to investigate the samples He said he knew nothing about UFOs and was even convinced they did not exist. He was not curious about the samples and I could take them. Of course, he would like to know the results if something unusual was found in the analysis. I thanked him for his generous attitude, promising to keep him informed, and picked up the samples.
On examining the data I concluded they offered insufficient solid information for a definite conclusion. A few points however, attracted my interest:
(1) Mr. Sued's correspondent seemed to be certain about the accuracy of his observations. He had identified the sighted object as a "flying disc." No more details were given.
This was a good point on his side. In my psychological experience investigating UFO sightings I have learned the reliability of "saucer reports" appears to vary inversely with the detail the observer reports. The hoaxes are almost always marked by an accurate, precise description of detail, so that we feel the witness was obviously drawing on his imagination. In this incident, however, the observer did not present a vivid description of the "saucer" or of its crash. His story is simple, clear and concise, as it would be in a true case. Besides, in a case where everything was supposed to have happened in a few seconds, it is evident no more details could be expected. Apparently the thing was too rapid for the human vision to fix any detail of the object, except its general shape and trajectory.
(2) The man who supplied the samples said the phenomenon was also witnessed by others. This may give credence to his report.
(3) He was not, apparently, one of the so called "saucer cultists." He said be had never heard about "saucer" fragments or parts being found or about a "saucer" crash. A cultist would have a different attitude.
(4) He could be a hoaxer, but a poor one. A good hoaxer would have presented his case in a press conference, to gain publicity for himself. He would never start with a timid letter to a society columnist who ostensibly would not be interested in the matter. Most of all, he would never send the "disc's fragments" in the first letter before knowing Mr. Sued's attitude on UFOs and his possible reaction to the story.
(5) The observer identified the unknown object as a "flying disc." He did not use the popular term "flying saucer," which would be misleading because it is commonly applied to unconventional aerial objects of every conceivable shape, to any thing in the sky that cannot be identified as a common, everyday object. In Brazil the term "flying disc" is used only in connection with disc shaped UFOs unconventional objects other than "discs" having different terms, such as "flying cigars" for anything cylinder shaped, "fireballs" for flying spheres or burning ball shaped objects, etc. We could be reasonably certain the witness really sighted a disc shaped UFO if the study of the "fragments" would produce valid reason to support his report. Anyway, these considerations about the object's shape are points to be stressed, chiefly because 11, details were reported on the object's structure.
(6) The man who supplied the samples was not aware apparently, that the first man to lock down physical evidence of the interplanetary hypothesis of UFO origin, or of the reality of the phenomena, would go down in history. If he was, he would not give away his samples. Such behavior might be understood only if the sender was a mischievous hoaxer, doing what he did on purpose, or if he was really puzzled and did not comprehend the real importance of his findings.
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