January 16, 1958 — Ilha da Trindade, Brazil
Around 12:00 noon. As the International Geophysical Year research ship Almirante Saldanha is anchored on the south side of Ilha da Trindade, Brazil, 730 miles off the coast in the Atlantic Ocean, the commander and many crew members, including photographer Almiro Baraúna, see a Saturn-shaped object maneuvering over the island.
It reportedly comes toward the island from the east, flies towards the Pico Desejado, makes a steep turn, and goes away very quickly to the northwest. Baraúna takes four photos with a Rolleiflex 2.8 model E. Commander Paulo Moreira da Silva of the Brazilian Navy Hydrography and Navigation Department (who technically outranks the ship’s captain, José Santos de Saldanha da Gama), is apparently an eyewitness and states, “the object was encircled by a greenish glow, our [meteorological] balloon was of a red color.”
Baraúna is officially there to take photos of the island, underwater photos, photos of the IGY activities, and the ship’s operations. The radar detection of an unexplained supersonic target reportedly occurs the day before, at about 12:05 p.m.
There is a power failure on the ship when the object is seen; the power returns upon the object’s departure. Instruments like radio transmitters and apparatus with magnetic needles cease operating while the flying object remains in the island’s proximity.
Willy Smith’s April 20, 1983, interview of Baraúna takes on more significance: “I asked if the object had been detected by ship’s radar. He [Baraúna] replied that it hadn’t because all the electrical power aboard ship was out at the time. He was sure of the reality of the power outage because just before the object appeared a launch was being hauled up from the water by electric pulley, and it stopped midway just as the UFO appeared!” The ship’s log is provably incomplete since it does not even mention the UFO photo incident. A 1999 analysis by Martin J. Powell seems to indicate that the object photographed is an airplane, distorted by Baraúna through a double-exposure process.
In August 2010, a major TV show in Brazil airs information stating that the original photographer had made hoax photographs in the past. [Eberhart]
Record Card:
Sources:
Brad Sparks, BB Unknowns File, Case #1312, p. 262;
Olavo T. Fontes, “The UAO Sightings at the Island of Trindade, Part 1,” APRO Bulletin, January 1960, pp. 5–9;
Olavo T. Fontes, “UAO Sightings over Trindade, Part II,” APRO Bulletin, March 1960, pp. 5–8;
Olavo T. Fontes, “UAO Sightings at the Island of Trindade, Part III,” APRO Bulletin, May 1960, pp. 4–8;
John T. Hopf, “Exclusive IGY Photo Analysis,” APRO Bulletin, May 1960, pp. 1, 4;
“UFO Photo Certified by Brazilian Navy Labeled a Hoax by USAF.” The U.F.O. Investigator 1, no. 10 (July/August 1960): 3;
Donald H. Menzel and Lyle G. Boyd, The World of Flying Saucers, Doubleday, 1963, pp. 206–216;
“New Evidence on IGY Photos,” APRO Bulletin, January 1965, pp. 1, 3–8;
Lorenzen, UFOs: The Whole Story, Signet, 1969, pp. 205–210;
“Trindade Island Photos.” In The Encyclopedia of UFOs, edited by Ronald D. Story, 1. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1980, pp. 366–369;
Willy Smith, “Trindade Revisited,” IUR 8, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1983): 3–5, 14; [Transcription]
Willy Smith, “UFOs in Latin America,” UFOs 1947–1987, Fortean Tomes, 1987, pp. 109–111;
Don Berliner, with Marie Galbreath and Antonio Huneeus, UFO Briefing Document: The Best Available Evidence, Dell, 2000, pp. 71–77;
Michael Swords et al, UFOs and Government: A Historical Inquiry, pp. 463–465;
Jerome Clark, “The Trindade Island Photographs”, The UFO Encyclopedia, 3rd Ed., pp. 1132–1136;
Jerome Clark, The UFO Encyclopedia, 4th Ed., pp. 1284–1288;
Wikipedia, “Trindade Island UFO hoax”;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trindade_Island_UFO_hoax
Wikipedia, “Caso da Ilha da Trindade”;
NICAP, “Trindade Island Photo (E-M, Radar, AR) Case”;
[This being such a famous case there are countless documents I cant include in this thread. Check this NICAP page for a bunch more]
NICAP, “The Trindade Island Photos (1/16/58)”; [4 photos, plus cropped and enhancements]
[Project Blue Book case files];
Brazil, Department of the Navy, General Staff of the Fleet, Subdivision of Information, “Clarification of the Observation of Unidentified Flying Objects Sighted on the Island of Trinidad, in the Period of 12/5/57 to 1/16/58,” March 2, 1958;
Martin J. Powell, “The Trindade Island UFO: A Detailed Study of Photos 1 and 2,” Aenigmatis, Summer 1999;
Martin Shough, “The Trindade Island Photographs, 16 Jan 1958,” Aerial Phenomena Studies Index, 2004;
Tim Printy, “UFO over Trindade Island: Details Overlooked or Ignored,” March 2005;
Kentaro Mori, “Como forjar fotos OVNI, por Almiro Baraúna,” Ceticismo Aberto, January 17, 2008;
[How to forge UFO photos, by Almiro Baraúna]
Equipe UFO, “Documento raro sobre o caso Trindade ressurge no exterior,” Portal UFO, August 31, 2010;
Alexandre de Carvalho Borges, “Caso Ilha da Trindade: Documentos sigilosos são revelados,” Além da Ciência, May 6, 2011;
“Trindade Isle Radar/Visual Case of 1-16-1958 – Almiro Barauna Interview by Dr. Hynek,” Ufology: A Primer in Audio, 1938–1959, November 21, 2013;
Alexandre de Carvalho Borges, “Caso Ilha da Trindade: O que não querem que você saiba,” Além da Ciência, May 19, 2015;
Thiago Luiz Ticchetti, UFO Contacts in Brazil, Flying Disk Press, 2019, pp. 49-57;
Alexandre de Carvalho Borges, “Caso Ilha da Trindade: Um ardil publicitário ou uma sólida evidência dos UFOs?” Além da Ciência, April 20, 2021;
Alexandre de Carvalho Borges,“Trindade Case: Almiro Baraúna’s Nephew Claims That the Photos Are Fake Photographer swears that he heard from his uncle the secret to shake one of the all-time major Brazilian UFO cases,” Alternative Perceptions, September 2042; [Translated by Richard W. Heiden]
]https://apmagazine.info/images/stories/article_pictures/TrindadeEng5.pdf
Patrick Gross, “The Trindade Island Photographic Case of 1958”
[Patrick’s page is also a great resource, with more references and details to check on this case]