Brazilian archive report — Rio de Janeiro, RJ — 1980-08-26

On 26 August 1980, a Brazilian Air Force C-115 transport, FAB 2350, was returning from Santa Maria to Rio de Janeiro. Colonel Fernando Braga Mafra Magalhães reported an intense yellow light above and to the right of the aircraft while approaching the Meriti–Afonsos sector. He initially thought it was another aircraft’s landing light, but Rio control reportedly advised that no other known traffic was nearby. As the light appeared brighter and on a collision course, pilot Captain José Lopes dos Santos made a rapid evasive turn to the right. Afterwards, no light or solid object remained visible. Mechanic Pedro Cláudio de Farias also described a bright beam-like appearance that went out during the maneuver. Radio operator Laerte Bastos Mathias felt the abrupt turn from the cargo compartment, but explicitly said he had not seen the object. The signed accounts and diagrams survive in archive item ARX 206. They vary between approximately 5:35 and 5:50 p.m. and between 1,000 and 2,000 feet, which should not be flattened into artificial precision. Magalhães himself raised an optical explanation involving sunset and suspended ice crystals, noting earlier icing during the flight; that suggestion was not a demonstrated identification. The file concerns an unresolved light and evasive maneuver, with no observed occupants or craft silhouette despite the ledger’s entity classification.