Brazilian Varginha Incident Witnesses Testify Before U.S. Congress Members

In January 2026, Washington, D.C. served as the backdrop for a significant escalation in the global discussion surrounding Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP). The series of events began with a private briefing on January 15, 2026, held within the office of Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett, and culminated in a public press conference on January 20, 2026, at the National Press Club. Organized by renowned filmmaker James Fox, these meetings were strategically timed to mark the 30th anniversary of the Varginha events in Brazil, which commenced on January 13, 1996. The delegation's goal was to present firsthand witness accounts to American lawmakers and advocate for a more rigorous federal investigation into the incident.

The private session was attended by three prominent members of Congress: Tim Burchett, Eric Burlison of Missouri, and Anna Paulina Luna, who serves as the chair of the House Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets. They heard testimony from three significant Brazilian witnesses: neurosurgeon Dr. Italo Venturelli, forensic pathologist Dr. Armando Fortunato, and an anonymous geography teacher. Dr. Venturelli, who brings 46 years of medical expertise to the table, detailed his 1996 encounter with a living non-human entity at the Varginha Regional Hospital. He described the creature as being roughly the size of a seven-year-old child with pale skin, a teardrop-shaped head, and deep purple eyes, noting that its presence exuded a surprising sense of calm and empathy.

Dr. Fortunato focused his testimony on the mysterious death of Military Police Officer Marco Chereze, who allegedly succumbed to a rapid and aggressive bacterial infection following physical contact with the recovered entity. The pathologist highlighted an ongoing legal effort to exhume Chereze’s body for specialized DNA and bacterial analysis, as the infection famously failed to respond to any standard medical treatments. Supporting this line of inquiry, a written statement was provided by 89-year-old pathologist Dr. Joao Janini, who has previously hypothesized that the bacteria involved in the case may have originated from outside our planet.

The public press conference on January 20 introduced further expert testimony, including that of Kirk McConnell, a retired intelligence officer who concluded a 37-year career in early 2024. McConnell asserted that he had encountered classified reports during his service that specifically mentioned non-human entities and the recovery operations associated with them. Additionally, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Fred Claussen provided details regarding a potential documentary trail for a clandestine U.S. mission involving a C-17 cargo aircraft that departed from Campinas for the United States around January 20, 1996. The geography teacher, Carlos de Souza, also shared his account of witnessing a cylindrical craft crash on January 13, 1996, before being intimidated into leaving the area by military forces.

Despite a 2024 report from the U.S. Department of Defense stating that UAP research has not confirmed extraterrestrial origins, the witnesses remain firm in their convictions. Congressman Eric Burlison expressed a degree of skepticism pending the arrival of physical evidence but maintained that the government has no right to hide information regarding potential alien life from the public. The visit also underscored the difficulties in bringing such testimony to light, as eight other Brazilian witnesses were denied U.S. visas in December 2025. This event is the result of two decades of investigative efforts by James Fox and his Brazilian colleague Marco Aurelio Leal, aimed at moving the Varginha case into the sphere of serious political inquiry.