Navelli, Abruzzi entity encounter — December 11, 1978

Alfonso Marinelli’s Navelli road encounter is variously dated December 7, 11 or 12, 1978. The fuller Italian catalogue account gives 11:45 p.m. on December 7 and describes his new Mercedes unexpectedly stopping. He pulled aside and noticed two luminous sources approaching along the road. The inherited December 11 taxi summary appears to be another version of this same account. At an estimated ten to fifteen metres, the lights reportedly resolved into two small humanlike figures wearing bright silver, phosphorescent astronaut-style suits. Their large helmets had dark visors, while circular lights were fastened to their chests by shoulder straps. One detailed version estimates their height at eighty to ninety centimetres. They glided upright above the surface, passed near his car and then reversed direction. He reported no engine or propeller noise. Marinelli eventually continued his journey, reportedly badly shaken. The available source comparison leads to Italian UFO compilations and later books; no original signed statement or contemporary vehicle inspection was located. Crucially, the apparent globes were associated with the figures’ lights, and the fuller account describes no separate spacecraft. The plate therefore depicts the two hovering helmeted figures and stopped car, dates the scene only December 1978, and avoids inventing a saucer behind them.