Colares wave and Operação Prato
Also: Chupa-chupa
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The visual record
Illustrations, recordings and archival references — each with its own provenance. A documented source is a starting point for investigation, not a verdict on its explanation.
Jesse Michels · 0:01:08
Open the source at the cited time. The episode thumbnail is video packaging, not a photograph of the reported subject.
American Alchemy / Jesse Michels ↗YouTube-hosted preview and player; not relicensedFrom mid-1977 residents of Colares and nearby Amazon river communities in Pará reported lights that fired beams causing burns, puncture marks and weakness, with about 200 people affected. The Brazilian Air Force ran Operação Prato, photographing and filming the objects. A former Brazilian defence minister discusses it in the corpus and the host details the injuries.
Read the full account
What was reported. Residents of Colares island and the Baía do Marajó described lights and objects that descended at night and projected beams at people, leaving small puncture wounds, burns and lasting weakness; locals called the phenomenon chupa-chupa. Dr Wellaide Cecim Carvalho treated dozens of patients. (FACT about the reports and medical records.)
What followed. The First Regional Air Command ordered Operação Prato under Captain Uyrangê Hollanda; teams took hundreds of photographs and film and collected testimony before the operation was shut down in December 1977. Hollanda described the operation before his death in 1997. Files were released after 2005. (FACT.)
What the corpus adds. The Brazil episode with a former defence minister covers the Colares attacks, the puncture wounds and ultraviolet-like burns, and treats Prato as the first of three events including the 1986 night of the UFOs and Varginha. The guest is quoted as saying that as a former defence minister he is provoked to speak about what the armed forces hold. (FACT about testimony.)
Explanations offered. Skeptics point to insect bites, mass suggestion and clandestine smuggling flights; supporters cite the Air Force's own records and photographs. (INFERENCE.)
The event
| Date | (month) |
|---|---|
| Place | -0.9400, -48.2800 approximate · Brazil |
| Official response | The Brazilian Air Force conducted Operação Prato from October to December 1977 and closed it without public conclusion; its files were declassified from 2005 onward and confirm the operation, photographs and witness interviews. |
Reported by
- colares residents witness river-community residents
- wellaide cecim medical physician who treated victims
Investigated by
- brazilian air force operacao prato military
- uyrange hollanda military
Who spoke about it later
- Aldo Rebelo 0:09:48 Brazil's Most Famous UFO Cases Confirmed Real By Defense Minister ▶ 2026
- Jesse Michels 0:01:08 Brazil's Most Famous UFO Cases Confirmed Real By Defense Minister ▶ 2026
Mentioned in the corpus
Passages this record cites, with the stamp of the block each quote sits in.
Brazil's Most Famous UFO Cases Confirmed Real By Defense Minister 11 June 2026
- 0:01:08 ▶ Jesse Michels
We get into the Chupa Chupa attacks in Colaris in the 70s where UFOs in the Amazonian night sky allegedly fired mysterious beams that left villagers with burns, blood
- 0:01:08 ▶ interview
- 0:07:13 ▶ Jesse Michels
As former defense minister, I am provoked to speak on the subject." You're talking about UFOs. I know what the armed forces have in their archives.
- 0:09:48 ▶ Jesse Michels
I want to start with um Praau, Operation Praau in 1977,
- 0:09:48 ▶ interview
- 0:16:48 ▶ Jesse Michels
You had puncture wounds, blood taken, it almost looked like ultraviolet burns on a lot of people.
- 0:01:08 ▶ Jesse Michels
Named in 2 uploads (automatic name matching, 4 mentions)
On the map
Colares wave and Operação Prato, Brazilian "night of the UFOs" (19 May 1986), Varginha incident. Open the full map filtered to this record.
Sources on this record
- 0:01:08 Brazil's Most Famous UFO Cases Confirmed Real By Defense Minister · Jesse Michels ▶
We get into the Chupa Chupa attacks in Colaris in the 70s where UFOs in the Amazonian night sky allegedly fired mysterious beams that left villagers with burns, blood
- 0:09:48 Brazil's Most Famous UFO Cases Confirmed Real By Defense Minister · Jesse Michels ▶
I want to start with um Praau, Operation Praau in 1977,
- 0:16:48 Brazil's Most Famous UFO Cases Confirmed Real By Defense Minister · Jesse Michels ▶
You had puncture wounds, blood taken, it almost looked like ultraviolet burns on a lot of people.
- 0:07:13 Brazil's Most Famous UFO Cases Confirmed Real By Defense Minister · Jesse Michels ▶
As former defense minister, I am provoked to speak on the subject." You're talking about UFOs. I know what the armed forces have in their archives.
- Colares UFO flap
Built from graph nodes N-SWEEP_A-0020.