Vila Velha, Brz abduction report — February 3, 1973

Around midnight on February 3, 1973, twenty-six-year-old student Samuel Faria was at a relative's home in Vila Velha, Espírito Santo, Brazil, when he and his aunt heard unusual sounds from the garden. Expecting an intruder, he went outside and instead reported a brilliantly luminous ring-shaped object hovering above the property. The light gave off heat, and damage was reported to the radio-antenna installation. After roughly half an hour the object left. A later episode involved an apparent attempt to lift him from the ground while he was returning from the bath-house. Faria said something gripped his arms and pulled him upward. He struck a papaya tree and fell onto a box near the house, escaping the grip and running inside. Other people saw marks on both arms afterward. Investigator Marcos Alexandre Fundão arranged photographs, and the local newspaper reported the claimed taking attempt. Faria said the marks were not painful and remained visible for months. The February sighting and the later taking attempt were separate occasions. The catalogue places the latter in March; later reporting also describes further sounds in October. SBEDV investigated the sequence and reproduced the newspaper trail. Faria was back at home after his escape, and his arm marks were subsequently documented.