News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Never seen before photos have revealed strange marks and burnt grass in a field which fishermen claim were from a terrifying close encounter with a UFO .

On October 1 1995, fishermen Fernando Beserra and Wilson da Silva Oliveira say they were gathering their nets on an island called Ilha do Major, in São Paulo, Brazil, when they saw a disc-shaped UFO which was emitting a bright yellow hue flying overhead.

The pair thought that it was a balloon at first, but when the object approached at speed they were convinced it was a alien spacecraft.

Terrified by the intense light, the pair jumped in their boat and fled as the mysterious object landed landed just a few metres away

Photos of the aftermath of the alleged encounter have now emerged - which show indentations in the soil and grass flattened in a circular formation.

One of the fishermen even drew the UFO - although it does look rather simplisitc.

(Image: cascadenews.co.uk)

Wilson said: “I almost died of fear. I hid in the bottom of the boat."

Fernando added: "When the light was over our heads, it changed direction and went to a small island, where it landed. On the lower part of the UFO there was a number spinning lights.

"We made about 10 attempts until the engine started and then we left as fast as we could.

"We could see that the UFO had landed on a small island located between us and the mangroves of the Piaçabuçu river."

(Image: cascadenews.co.uk)

After the scare, Fernando and Wilson say they made their way back home to tell their relatives but could not sleep despite taking a mild medication to try and help them calm down.

At dawn the next day, they claim they returned to the scene and noticed a circular mark 5.5m in diameter in the spot they though the spacecraft had landed, where vegetation was dry, twisted and flattened in a clockwise direction.

Apparently four marks from the object's rectangular support legs were also found, each measuring 10 x 15cm, proportionately distributed, and sank to a depth of 1.50cm into the soil.

(Image: cascadenews.co.uk)

The fishermen returned home and reported their sighting to journalists at the Brazilian newspaper "The Tribuna" in Santos.

Experts from the National Institute of Aerospace Phenomenab (INFA) immediately launched a probe and took moulds of the landing marks in plaster.

Soil and vegetation samples were also taken as the investigators at INFA literally left no stone unturned in their investigation.

Then the full colour drawing of the UFO was also made by one of the fishermen.

According to a detail report by the INFA, the UFO made no sound and the light produced by the object was so intense that the fishermen could see the crabs coming out of the holes on the other side of the riverbank.

Details of the INFA report have now also emerged.

The report found the sighting was classified as being a close encounter of the second kind, due to the following characteristics:

(Image: cascadenews.co.uk) (Image: cascadenews.co.uk)

Mechanical effect, characterised by the marks left on the ground and by the crumpled

and broken vegetation at the same location. The vegetation had suffered from excessive burning possibly caused by the heat from the lights on the UFO: EM (electromagnetic) effects that caused the boats engine to stop operating. Then the electrical components of the boat, such as the alternator, suffered damage becoming burnt out. Subsequently, the tools and metal parts of the boat showed a form corrosion that did not exist before the UFO sighting

Physiological effect on the witnesses. Both witnesses complained of eye irritation anddiarrhoea.

Soil samples underwent analysis to verify possible changes in PH. However, it did not reveal anything abnormal in PH.

But in tests involving planting seeds in these soil samples, it was found, curiously, that in the soil samples taken within the burnt area the seeds germinated easily and those planted in the samples harvested outside the circle did not germinate and were attacked by fungi.

This aspect of the case continued to baffle the investigators.

Investigators determined that each landing gear would have weighed 25 kilos but the researchers believed the the UFO was much heavier and it did not put all its weight into the soft ground.

It became clear to the researchers that the marks were not from conventional helicopters or aircraft.

The Santos Military Air Base stated that it had no aircraft in the area at the time.

Philip Mantle, a former director of investigations for the British UFO Research Association, who now runs Flying Disk Press, said: "We are all familiar with UFO sightings and encounters like the UFO crash at Roswell, New Mexico, in the USA.

"Most UFO sightings that we read about are from the UK or the USA, however, there is one country that can put most others to shame when it comes to such encounters. It is a country better known for its football, rain forests and coffee.That country is of course Brazil.

"Published in English for the first time, one of Brazil's leading UFO researchers, Thiago Thichetti, reveals all. If you thought you had heard it all when it comes to UFO encounters then think again."