Torrita di Siena entity encounter — September 17, 1978

On September 17, 1978, Rivo Faralli, a young barber, reported a close encounter while driving his Fiat near Torrita di Siena, Italy, after visiting his mother. In the fuller narrative the engine and lights failed, and he saw a small orange or reddish domed object hovering low over the road ahead. He estimated it at roughly three metres across. Three beams or shafts of light reportedly illuminated the ground beneath it. Two short figures in green clothing and helmets with antenna-like projections were said to emerge. Faralli described them moving without ordinary steps, circling or inspecting his car while largely ignoring him. They then returned to the object, which departed with a flash and a loud noise. Earlier that evening, Ultimina Boscagli and her son Riccardo reported a bright aerial phenomenon and noise. Faralli's mother separately described dazzling light and her electric light going out. Those observations are potentially relevant background, but do not make them independent witnesses to the figures beside the car. Investigators associated with Italian UFO organisations visited the area, and three circular marks or scorched patches were linked to the alleged landing. Published source comparisons discuss ordinary soil-analysis results and later controversy; the marks are not an established extraterrestrial material finding. Times and some details differ between retellings. Later accounts mention burning eyes, distress and an attempt at hypnosis. Faralli continued discussing the event in later life, and the case has remained a subject of local historical research rather than a resolved identification.