The Trinidade Island Photographs

A. No. Commander Saldanha da Gama (the ship’s CO) and the other Navy officers aboard were very kind. They never tried to get the negatives from me. 

Q. What happened when the ship came back to Rio?

A. The ship stopped first at Vitoria, in the State of Espirito Santo. As it was going to stay there for two days and later travel to Rio, we were permitted – the civilians from the submarine-hunting group only – to leave the ship there and to take a bus for the rest of the trip. Later, two days after the arrival of the Almirante Saldanha at Rio, Commander Bacellar (ex-commander of the Navy Post at Trindade) appeared at my residence. He wanted to see the enlargements made from the negatives and asked permission to take them to the Naval authorities.

Two days later, they were returned with congratulations. I was also requested to appear at the Navy Ministry as soon as possible. They wanted to ask me certain questions and to see the negatives again. 

Q. And what happened there?

A. I was interviewed by several high-staff officers, who asked me all kinds of questions. I went there twice. At the first meeting, they requested the negatives for examination. They were sent to a civilian organization, the Cruzeiro do Sul Aerophoto grammetric Service, remaining there for four days. I was told by the Navy officers that the analyses proved they were genuine -excluding definitely the possibility of a trick or falsification. On the second visit, they performed several time-tests. While I worked with my Rolleiflex, taking shots at the same time intervals I had used to photograph the object, three Navy officers with chronometers registered the times.

They came to the conclusion – based on these tests as well as on studies concerning the ship’s position and examinations of charts of the island – that the object was flying at a speed between 900 and 1,000 km./hour [about 600 mph]. The object’s size was also estimated on the basis of studies related with the island’s details also appearing on the photos, diagrams drawn on charts, graphs, et cetera. The object was about 120 feet in diameter and about 24 feet high. 

Q. Do you know anything about the official report on the case?

A. I saw a dossier which was consulted many times during the interrogation. However, I didn’t read what was written there. I was also informed that my photos, mixed with other pictures, had been shown to witnesses of the sighting – to be identified. The result was positive. 

Q. Do you know anything about any photos by other people aboard the ship?

A. No. Besides myself, there were at least four other persons with cameras at the time of the sighting. But apparently they were not able to spot the object in time, or were paralyzed by their emotions. 

Q. Were you warned against something by the Navy’s authorities? Was there some recommendation?

A. Yes. They requested me to keep the matter secret for some time. I was permitted to publish the case only after authorization from the Navy. The permission was granted, verbally, on the night of February 15, by Commander Bacellar. They made only one restriction, which I cannot mention for the reason that I have given my word. 

Q. Do you know if your sighting was the first over the Island of Trindade?

A. I was informed of four other sightings over the island during those thirty days preceding the incident of January 16. I was also informed of another thing: At one of those sightings, the object was photographed by a Navy sergeant.

His photo obviously was not released and probably never will be – the reasons are evident. Besides those four sightings, there was also the RADAR case. A target flying at supersonic speed was tracked by the radar of the Almirante Saldanha on January 15. 

Q. Did you receive any money from the Navy for your work at the Island of Trindade?

A. No. I was there as a guest. 

Q. Did you receive any money from the Navy for your photographic work, or for the enlargements you made for them?

A. No. I only received the photographic paper to be used for enlargements. 

Q. How many enlargements have you given them.

A. Thirty-eight. 

Q. One last question: What kind of impression did you get from observing the flying saucer?

A. I am absolutely sure it was a controlled object – either directly or by remote control – but very well operated, in any case. The general impression of people aboard the ship was the same: It had come to make a close observation of the ship. 

Immediately following the publication of the photographs, the Brazilian Navy refused to make any official statement confirming or denying the incident. However, proofs from the original negatives were sent to the other armed forces and to Brazilian President Kubitschek. According to the press, the narration so impressed Mr. Kubitschek that he became convinced of the veracity of the happening. 

On February 24, three days after the photos were first published in the press, the Ministry of the Navy finally made the following official statement: “With reference to the reports appearing in the press that the Navy is opposed to divulge the facts concerning the appearance of a strange object over Trindade Island, this Cabinet declares that such information has no basis.

This Ministry has no motive to impede the release of photographs of the referred-to object, taken by Mr. Almiro Barauna, who was at Trindade Island at the invitation of the Navy, and in the presence of a large number of the crew of Almirante Saldanha from whose deck the photographs were taken. Clearly, this Ministry will not be able to make any pronouncement concerning the object seen, because the photographs do not constitute sufficient proof for such purpose.” 

On the morning after the photos of the flying saucer were published in the press (February 22), the Almirante Saldanha departed Rio to continue its mission in connection with the IGY. Two days later, however, the ship docked at Santos (February 24) for voyage repairs; this was the first chance that newspapermen had an opportunity to interview officers and men aboard.

The U.S. Assistant Naval Attache’ was in Santos at this time, in connection with the visit of U. S. Coast Guard Cutter Westwind, and had an opportunity to visit aboard. The commanding officer, Capitao-de-Mar-e-Guerra (Captain) Jose Santos Saldanha da Gama, had not seen the object and was noncommittal. The executive officer also had not seen it but, arriving shortly thereafter, had formed the opinion that those on deck had seen it.

The captain had reported that his secretary, a lieutenant commander, had seen it, but this officer, when personally questioned, avoided discussing the matter. Later, it was learned that the photographer was accompanied to the dark room by an officer who waited outside the door while Barauna developed the negatives alone. When the Westwind’s commanding officer paid a visit to the Almirante Saldanha, Captain Saldanha da Gama freely discussed the flying saucer incident and showed the original proofs to the callers, but again did not commit himself. 

Federal Deputy Sergio Magalhaes sent a note to the Ministry of the Navy on February 27, protesting the Navy’s failure to secure sworn statements from witnesses. “For the first time in flying saucer history, the phenomenon was attended by large numbers of persons belonging to a military force, which gives these photographs an official stamp.

Threats to national security require greater official attention and action,” said the deputy. In the middle of all the publicity, other sighting reports came to light, including one by a naval officer who saw a UFO a month before the sighting from the Almirante Saldanha, off the coast of Espirito Santo. The commanding officer and crew of the Ata Tridente had seen a UFO several days before the Saldanha episode, but had kept the in formation secret. 

Source: Ronald Story’s, “The Encyclopedia of UFOs”, pages 366-369