Case description
At about five in the afternoon on December 9, 1954, farmer Olmiro da Costa e Rosa was feeding his animals at Linha Bela Vista, near Venâncio Aires in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. His cattle scattered as he heard an unfamiliar mechanical sound. Looking up, he saw a strange man nearby and a cream-colored craft hovering just above the ground. He compared its shape to an explorer's helmet and its sound to a sewing machine; a smoky haze surrounded it.
Three figures were visible: one near the farmer, another examining a wire fence, and a third partly visible through an opening in the craft. Costa e Rosa described them as broad-shouldered and of ordinary human height, with very pale skin, long blond hair and slanted eyes. Their light-brown one-piece clothing joined shoes without heels. Frightened, he dropped his hoe. The nearest figure smiled, raised a hand, picked up the tool, examined it and returned it to him.
The visitors took some plants. When Costa e Rosa followed toward the craft, the figure by the fence signaled him to stop. Some of his animals approached, and he tried unsuccessfully to offer the strangers a sheep through speech and gestures. He also called to his neighbors, but nobody came to join him.
The figures returned inside, and the craft rose before accelerating out of sight. Costa e Rosa reported a lingering smell like burning coal. He inspected the ground beneath its former position and found nothing unusual. His account later reached the Brazilian press and was retold by UFO investigators. This was the hoe encounter, distinct from Pedro Morais's nearby report two days later.