Journalist and investigator Bob Pratt managed to meet several times a witness or a strange experience which had occurred in the midst of a wave of UFOs firing burning rays at people for a four months period around the small town of Pinheiro, in the northern Maranhao in Brazil, in 1977.
That particular incident involved José Benedito Bogea, fifty-two at the time, a chicken and cattle farmer who lived six kilometers south of Pinheiro.
On July 10, 1977, he was going down a gravel road at 1 a.m. in the darkness, carrying a brand new flashlight in his right hand. He wanted to walk to Pinheiro to catch a bus.
Suddenly, a very bright greenish-blue light appeared in the sky near him. He started running, trying to get away from it.
The device chased him for about two hundred meters and then it went over a bush and stayed there just a fraction of a second. It had circled around in front of him, and was now stopped just above the ground. It was V-shaped and shined a beam of orange light straight down to the ground.
Bogea was frightened but curious. He tried to shine the flashlight on the object and it flashed a light back at him. He fell down, with a sensation that he just had an electrical shock.
Seconds later, he passed out. When he came to his sense hours later, he was very sore.
He had awakened in a strange and beautiful city. It had wide avenues and beautiful gardens where people were dressed much alike in very colorful clothes. The women had long dresses and the men had tunic and pants. He looked for the sun but saw no sky, "just emptiness."
The buildings were all just one story high. All the people seemed to be the same age of 30 and the same height of 5 feet and all appeared to be Brazilians, he saw no black people or old people. If anyone spoke, he didn't hear them, but he had been deaf for years.
The people talked to each other in sign language. One of them motioned for him to enter a large room, where fifteen to twenty people stood watching him. One motioned for him to sit on a sofa and after he was observed for a while he was allowed to leave.
He went outside and began walking. Wherever he went, one of the men followed him, staying a short distance behind him.
Bogea said he saw a number of vehicles in the streets that looked like Volkswagen Beetle cars but had no motors or steering wheels. They were occupied by two people who would push buttons, causing antennas to rise up and go down.
In one area he saw about twenty disc-shaped objects sitting on the ground as if at an airport, but none of them were like the one that had zapped him.
At the end of his visit in the strange city, the man following him motioned for him to get into one of the vehicles. When he did, he immediately went to sleep. When he woke up, he was standing beside the highway eight kilometers west of Sao Luis, the state capital. Sao Luis is about ninety kilometers away from Pinheiro in air distance but seventy-two kilometers by car and then a two-hour ferryboat ride across the Bay of Sao Marcos.
He hitchhiked into Sao Luis, where he had intended to go on business if he had caught the bus. For two hours or so he saw everything in bright, vivid colors, as if in rainbow. But then the vivid colors began to fade to normal and he began to feel terrible pain throughout the right side of his body.
Bogea soon felt so bad that he had a friend help him get on a bus to go back to Pinheiro.
He had to stay in bed for weeks after the experience. His right arm was completely numb, as well as his kidneys, spine, right side. It hurt very much, and he thought he was going to die. He had to use a cane because he could not stand on my right leg, and couldn't hold anything in his right hand. He had no appetite for eight days.
He had not gone to the hospital, because he did not want to leave his four young children home alone. Their mother had died six years earlier.
During the encounter with the UFO, he had lost his glasses and didn't realize it until he got home. Since then he didn't need to wear them any more. His said his hearing had also improved slightly. He now was able to hear loud sounds such as barking dogs, the horns on cars and sometimes the telephone ring people when they shout.
Thirteen years earlier he had undergone nose surgery to relieve constant headaches. The headaches had ended, but the operation left him totally deaf and he had to start wearing thick glasses.
He said that what he saw was beautiful and out of this world. He explained that it was possible that it had been a dream but he did not think so because he remembered everything so vividly. Even though he had felt a lot of pain, he wanted to meet these people again so he can be cured.
Bob Pratt met him again years later and he was now even more convinced that it had not been a dream, as every detail remained sharp in his memory.
A year ago, he was in a car that was hit by a truck, was knocked unconscious and woke up in a hospital forty hours later, his good eyesight was gone and he had to start wearing thick eyeglasses again. The improvement of his hearing was also gone.
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[Ref. bp1:] BOB PRATT:
"Come Zap Me Again!"UFOs reportedly burned dozens of fishermen and farmers during a four-month flap around the small city of Pinheiro in northern Maranhao, Brazil in 1977. These injuries often occurred when a UFO suddenly appeared without warning just over the head of someone in a brilliant burst of light. It would light up everything as bright as daylight for hundreds of meters around. As the victims fled in terror, some of them suffered sunburn-like burns on their arms and legs. In many cases the victim had been carrying a lamp or flashlight or had lit a cigarette. Any kind of light seemed to attract the attention of the UFOs. One of the most curious incidents involved a man who was carrying a flashlight in his right hand as he walked down a gravel road in the dark. He was not burned but was hit by a beam of light from a UFO that hurt him so much that he was in pain for weeks. The victim was José Benedito Bogea, fifty-two at the time, a successful chicken and cattle farmer who lived six kilometers south of Pinheiro. "I was crippled for two months after I saw the UFO," said Bogea (shown below with interpreter Angela Hadade at left). Around one o'clock one morning in early July that year, he was walking to Pinheiro to catch a bus. It was very dark and he was using a new flashlight he had bought earlier in the day. Suddenly a very bright greenish-blue light suddenly appeared in the sky near him. He started running, trying to get away from it. "The device chased me for about two hundred meters and then it went over a bush and stayed there just a fraction of a second," Bogea said. The object had circled around in front of him and stopped just above the ground. It was V-shaped and it shined a beam of orange light straight down to the ground. Bogea was frightened but curious. "I tried to shine the flashlight on the object and it flashed a light back at me. I fell down. The sensation was just like if I had had an electrical shock."
THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO DIE Seconds later he passed out. When he came to hours later, he was very sore. "My right arm was completely numb, my kidneys, my spine, my right side. It hurt very, very much. I thought I was going to die." He had no appetite for eight days. "I didn't want to eat anything. I had to use a cane because I could not stand on my right leg, and I couldn't hold anything in my right hand because it would fall." Even more bizarre was the rest of Bogea's story. After passing out, he said, he awakened in a strange and beautiful city, and later went to sleep again only to wake up to find himself far, far away from where the UFO zapped him. When he regained consciousness, he discovered he was near a highway west of Sao Luis, the state capital. Sao Luis is about ninety kilometers away from Pinheiro in air distance but seventy-two kilometers by car and then a two-hour ferryboat ride across the Bay of Sao Marcos. That's not the end of his story. After passing out and before he woke up near Sao Luis, Bogea said, he found himself in a strange, "wonderful" city. It had wide avenues and beautiful gardens where people were dressed much alike in very colorful clothes. He looked for the sun but saw no sky, "just emptiness." The buildings were all just one story high. All the people seemed to be the same age and height and all appeared to be Brazilians, but he saw no black people or old people. If anyone spoke, he didn't hear them. He had been deaf for years. The people talked to each other in sign language. One of them motioned for him to enter a large room, where fifteen to twenty people stood watching him. One motioned for him to sit on a sofa and after he was observed for a while he was allowed to leave. He went outside and began walking. Wherever he went, one of the men followed him, staying a short distance behind him. Bogea said he saw a number of vehicles in the streets that looked like cars but had no motors or steering wheels. They were occupied by two people who would push buttons, causing antennas to rise up and go down.
IN TERRIBLE PAIN In one area he saw about twenty disc-shaped objects sitting on the ground as if at an airport, but none of them were like the one that had zapped him. At the end of his visit in the strange city, Bogea said, the man following him motioned for him to get into one of the vehicles. When he did, he immediately went to sleep. When he woke up, he was standing beside the highway eight kilometers from Sao Luis. He hitchhiked into Sao Luis, where he had intended to go on business if he had caught the bus. For two hours or so he saw everything in bright, vivid colors, as if in rainbow. But then the vivid colors began to fade to normal and he began to feel terrible pain throughout the right side of his body. Bogea soon felt so bad that he had a friend help him get on a bus to go back to Pinheiro. He thought he was going to die but wouldn't go to a hospital because he was afraid to leave his four young children home alone. Their mother had died six years earlier. Even stranger yet is Bogea's claim that the encounter improved his eyesight tremendously. Thirteen years earlier he had undergone nose surgery to relieve constant headaches. The headaches ended but the operation left him totally deaf and he had to start wearing thick glasses. During the encounter with the UFO, however, he lost his glasses and didn't realize it until he got home. "Since then I haven't needed to wear them any more," he said, as he read questions that my interpreter Angela was writing on a legal pad. Bogea said his hearing had also improved slightly. "Now I can hear the dogs bark and the horns on cars and sometimes I can hear the telephone ring or if you shout or scream. "So, I want to meet these people again so I can be cured... I think it was wonderful and very beautiful, even though I felt a lot of pain. I think what I saw was not of this world." Angela asked if all that happened to him could have been a dream. He said it was possible but he didn't think so because he remembered everything so vividly. I talked to him again two and a half years later and he was even more convinced that it wasn't a dream. Every detail remained sharp in his memory. When I saw him the second time, he had another reason for wanting a UFO to zap him again. About a year earlier he had been riding in a car when a truck struck it. He was knocked unconscious and woke up in a hospital forty hours later. When he woke up, his good eyesight was gone and he had to start wearing thick eyeglasses again. And he couldn't hear any more loud noises. |
[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:
Albert Rosales indicates in his catalogue that in Pinheiro, Brazil, on July 10, 1977, at 01:00 a.m., a chicken farmer was walking to town to catch a bus and since it was dark he was carrying a flashlight. Suddenly a bright greenish blue light appeared in the sky and swooped down over him chasing him. It then circled came back and hovered above some nearby woods.
The witness could now see that it was a V-shaped craft. He shone his flashlight at the object and he was then suddenly struck by a beam of light from the craft that knocked him down. Feeling a tingling sensation he passed out.
At one point he briefly woke up and saw several men staring at him, they examined him silently for a while. Then he blacked out again, he finally woke up several hours later.
He felt terrible pains throughout his body and was unable to work for two months.
Further inquires revealed that the witness, after being rendered unconscious later woke up in a strange city. The city had wide avenues and beautiful gardens; he could not see a Sun, only empty space above him. He saw many people in the city. These were human-like, all about 30 years of age, five-feet tall, and slender. All were dressed in gray-brown clothing, a few in light blue. The women wore long gowns, the men tunics, and trousers. Most were light skinned and had eyes of different colors, blue, and brown. The women were pretty and had long blond hair. The men had short hair, beards, and mustaches. He was allowed to explore the city, but was always followed by one man. He saw a number of vehicles that resembled Volkswagen Beetles but without motors or steering wheels. He also saw about 20 disc-shaped objects on the ground in an area that looked to him like an airport. He eventually found himself eight miles from where he was originally picked up.
Albert Rosales indicates that the source is Bob Pratt, The UFO Report 1991 and UFO Terror in Brazil.
[Ref. jc1:] JACQUES COSTAGLIOLA:
MD and ufologist Jacques Costalgliola indicate in his catalogue the case of 10.07.1977 in Brazil, in Pinheiro, in which Jose Benedito Bogea suffered from pains, hemiparesy D, anorexia, during 8 days.
The author indicates that the source is Bob Pratt's UFO Death Zone.
[Ref. dj1:] DONALD JOHNSON:
Donald Johnson indicates that on July 10, 1977 at 01:00 a.m. a chicken farmer in Pinheiro, Brazil was walking to town to catch a bus. A bright greenish blue light appeared and swooped down from the sky to chase him. It circled back and came to hover above some nearby woods, and he could now make out a V-shaped craft.
He shone his flashlight at it and was suddenly struck by a light beam from the craft that knocked him down, creating a tingling sensation before he lost consciousness. At one point he awoke briefly to see several men staring at him. They examined him in silence. He finally woke up several hours later, and felt terrible pains throughout his body that prevented him from working for two months.
Donald Johnson indicates that the source is Bob Pratt, UFO Danger Zone: Terror and Death in Brazil, and in Timothy Good (ed.), The UFO Report 1991.
[Ref. gd1:] GEOFF DITTMAN:
Geoff Dittman indicates that in Pinheiro, Maranhao, Brazil, on July 10, 1977 at 0100, Jose Benedito Bogea was hit by a beam of light from a UFO, and was apparently abducted. After the encounter, he was basically crippled for two months. But, the encounter apparently cured his poor eyesight, as he no longer needed to wear thick glasses, and he was partially cured his deafness.
The author indicates that the source is Bob Pratt's UFO Death zone pp 100-105.
Let me first note that several of the sources of the "summary" type conceal all the part of the alleged experience on the marvelous city described by the witness. Is this about concealing the parts considered to be too whimsical to make the case more credible?
Let me then note that quite to the contrary, Bob Pratt gives information which could be crucial and which should not be omitted, concerning the health problems of the witness. He suffers deafness, but he was not born deaf, it is a consequence of a surgical operation. This surgical operation was in connection with problems of chronic headaches, therefore neurophysiological problems.
It is obviously not possible to put out a medical diagnoses on these apparent medical problems while sitting at a computer at the other end of the world 30 years later; however, it may well be that the key of the case, or perhaps the key to the most fantastic part, is to be sought along these lines. what should have been done in the first place was to meet the medical personal who took care of the witness, to ask them about the condition that justified surgery, apparently heavy enough surgery to result in the witness' deafness.
In short, before considering that the health troubles of the witness are effects that are evidence of extraterrestrial intervention, it is firstly necessary to make sure that it is not exactly the reverse situation, it must be firstly established that the health troubles of the witness are not the cause of the experiences that he reports.
Perhaps, he suffered from heavy hallucinatory migraines? Was the surgical operation perhaps a lobotomy? Did it suffer schizophrenia? Or was it the Charles Bonnet syndrome? Maybe he was epileptic? Or narcoleptic?
As often, nothing makes it possible to say anything certain about that, but I note that all the experience on the marvelous world, with the pretty ladies, the picturesque cars, he saucers airport, which does not seem a very "credible" extraterrestrial world a priori, at least to me, occurred as he had just lost consciousness. Let's note that as it was too clear to be a dream for the witness, this seems to indicate that the question of knowing if it were a dream or not is not that far-fetched. And certain hallucinatory episodes are indeed "clearer" than the ordinary dreams, albeit without being "real" experiences.
It may thus very well be a case in which the witness hallucinated, possibly the entire episode, or possibly only the most fantastic part of the experience, and by effects of his obviously particular medical situation, he might have experienced complex hallucinatory episodes during episodes of losses of consciousness, which would explain this very "human-looking", "cheap science-fiction" type extraterrestrial world, so similar to those of many "contactees" stories that are actually widely known in Latin America.
It seems to me that the final word on the case could be found only by a new investigation not only by interviews of the witness, but also by interviews of the medical personnel which is familiar with personal case, and to check what motivated the surgical operation that he had undergone prior to his UFO experience.
When the "founding fathers" of ufology, such as astronomer J. Allen Hynek, explained credibility must be granted to a case UFO only when several observers independently report the same experience, it was not without reasons. They knew that a single witness remains doubtful for reasons reason, not only for the reason that anyone can make up any invented story, but also, they knew that the notion of hallucination episodes is not just an empty notion, but something that can really happens. Nowadays, unfortunately, too many ufologists do not listen to their voice of reason anymore.
Anyway, because I know that many ufologists know only few things about the most curious syndromes that can alter the perception of people who suffer from them, and are well too prompt to utter protests just as vigorous as without base when the word hallucination is even mentioned as possible cause of some UFO experiences, I now propose a text published 12 years ago in the US magazine Psychology Today:
Hidden hallucinationsHarry's nearly 73 and his eyesight isn't what it was. But psychologically he's completely normal. So why is he seeing people, buildings, and shrubs that aren't really there? The answer has nothing to do with schizophrenia, LSD, or any of the usual causes of hallucinations. Harry's plight is due to a little known - and surprisingly common - condition called Charles Bonnet Syndrome. People with CBS are mentally sound in every way - except they occasionally see things that don't exist. In a study of elderly patients with poor vision, Dutch scientists found that one in seven had recently hallucinated. Most visions were rather mundane - human faces, usually of strangers, were most common. But occasionally they verged on the weird or frightening. One woman reported seeing humanoid creatures dressed in tree branches. If CBS sufferers are psychologically normal, where do these images come from? Sensory deprivation is probably a key factor: The eyesight of most patients is less than a third of normal. "People in sensory deprivation tanks start hallucinating after a couple of hours in isolation," notes Robert Teunisse, M.D., of University Hospital Nijmegen in the Netherlands. Something similar might occur in CBS patients. While patients with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia often believe that their hallucinations are real, those with CBS know they're not. And that, ironically, makes them doubt their sanity all the more. Throw in the fear of being stigmatized, and it's no surprise that most patients keep their visions a secret. Even loved ones may remain in the dark. One woman, Teunisse reports, learned of her husband's condition only because she was present when he admitted to doctors that he'd been seeing nonexistent faces for years. |
In the present case as in a good number of the others, I must note that such possibilities of explanations were not investigated at all by the ufologists.
| Id: | Topic: | Severity: | Date noted: | Raised by: | Noted by: | Description: | Proposal: | Status: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ufology | Severe | June 27, 2007 | Patrick Gross | Patrick Gross | Single witness. | - | - |
| 2 | Ufology | Severe | June 27, 2007 | Patrick Gross | Patrick Gross | No formal investigation, in particular, no exploration of medical clues. | Help needed. | Opened |
* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.
| Main Author: | Patrick Gross |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Created/Changed By: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | June 27, 2007 | Creation, [bp1], [ar1], [jc1], [dj1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | June 27, 2007 | First published. |
