A bizarre aerial phenomenon captured on video over Curitiba, Brazil is the latest to capture the attention of “ufologists,” people who track sightings of unidentified flying objects as evidence of alien visitors. A pair of videos uploaded to YouTube shows a triangular object hovering in the sky above the southern Brazilian city from different angles.
The first, shot by Zona Desconhecida, has garnered over 31,000 views since it was uploaded on July 21. As the camera zooms in, the object appears to sport a chassis-like landing gear that vanishes later in the clip. The videographer initially dismissed it as a drone, but the lack of visible propellers and its peculiar trajectory quickly dispelled that notion.
A second video provides an even clearer view of the enigmatic craft, revealing seemingly transparent or shiny sides and a shape that subtly morphs mid-flight. The footage has racked up over 25,000 views on YouTube and spread like wildfire across other social media platforms, with some breathlessly declaring it “the clearest UFO video in history.”
Armchair analysts have pored over every frame, noting how the object appears to inflate and deflate as it moves. This observation has sparked wild speculation, with some suggesting it could be a biological ship, a multidimensional living entity, or—of course—an alien spacecraft.
But some internet sleuths claim the object is simply a massive star-shaped balloon, attributing the “landing gear” to image distortion caused by the camera angle. Skeptics also counter that the video quality—however lauded by some—is insufficient to draw definitive conclusions.
The object’s shape and movement certainly bear a striking resemblance to oddly shaped balloons that have been launched in Brazil before. A video from January 11, 2013, shows Brazilians releasing similar balloon-like objects into the sky.
According to local media, the Brazilian Air Force has reportedly been unable to verify the images. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comments from Decrypt.
This latest incident adds another chapter to Curitiba’s history with unexplained aerial phenomena. The city, with a population of 1.7 million people, holds the distinction of having the most UFO sightings in Brazil, according to declassified government records. Between 1952 and 2022, at least 861 UFO sightings were logged across Brazil, with Curitiba accounting for a whopping 80 of those reports.
One of Brazil’s most infamous UFO encounters occurred on May 19, 1986, when multiple sightings were reported across several locations in a single night.
The event was significant enough to prompt the Brazilian Air Force to hold a press conference, during which Brigadier José Pessoa Cavalcanti de Albuquerque famously stated, “It’s not a question of believing or not [in aliens]. We can only give technical information. There are several hypotheses. Technically, I would tell you that we have no explanation.”
