Brasília: Radar tracks UAP overtaking airliners
Unidentified radar targets tracked by Brazilian air traffic control overtook multiple airliners, confirmed visually by pilots with lights causing communication interference. Audio recordings preserved by Air Force document the events.
Background
Event Overview
On the evening of May 20–21, 1977 at 23:30, an unidentified target appeared on the radar of the CINDACTA airspace control centre in Brasília, Brazil. The object was moving at about 1,038 mph and overtook a Transbrasil Boeing 727 on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Campinas in São Paulo. It descended to the northeast 11 miles ahead of the aircraft. Pilots observed a light at exactly the radar position and reported intermittent "beep-beep" signals on the aircraft radio.
Further Sightings
At 00:54 another aircraft (TCB) reported a large flashing light near Vitória, Espírito Santo, changing colour from white through green and red to blue. The pilots later distinguished two objects: a steady white light and a fainter red one beneath it, apparently above the Abrolhos archipelago near Caravelas, Bahia. A third Transbrasil aircraft (TYU) saw two lights to the right in the 4 o'clock position near Belo Horizonte; controllers in Brasília confirmed two targets, one positioned above the other. A third radar object appeared behind and to the left. Soon an object approached from the right with a bright glow. A Varig aircraft from Manaus to Brasília confirmed this. TYU later reported a further light near Anápolis, Goiás.
Evidence and Significance
The Brazilian air force preserved audio recordings of all the exchanges between CINDACTA and the pilots. The event is regarded as a well-documented radar contact with visual correlation and technical interference, which is what makes it notable. (Source: Eberhart, p. 843; Camargo, Fenomenum, 10.11.2023)