March 1946 — four cases: the fatal Araçariguama, Brazil light-beam encounter, a Johannesburg disc with a visible occupant, photographed objects over Bernardston, Massachusetts, and a low-flying disc over Havana, Illinois. thinkaboutitdocs.com.
1946: March UFO & Entity Sightings Archive
March 1946‘s anchor case is often called Brazil’s first UFO fatality: farmer João Prestes Filho, struck by a silent beam of light inside his own home on Carnival Monday, his flesh burning as if cooked while his clothing and hair remained untouched. He died within hours, conscious enough to describe what happened before the end. The case has been investigated across nearly eight decades by multiple named Brazilian researchers, and it stands in sharp contrast to the rest of this thin month: a South African disc with visible occupants that spooked animals on a Johannesburg street, five photographed objects over Massachusetts, a daylight disc over New Hampshire, and an object that buzzed two men at dawn in rural Illinois.
Date: March, 1946
Location: Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Time: 00:15
Summary: A hovering flying disc with a visible occupant inside was observed. Occupants of the craft were seen. Animal reactions to the object were reported. One disc, about 40 feet across, was observed in clear weather by two experienced female witnesses in a street (Goldsworthy).
Source: David Webb, HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports
Date: March, 1946
Location: Bernardston, Massachusetts
Time: 16:00
Summary: Objects were observed and photographed. Five objects were observed by one witness (Stange).
Source: Gordon I. R. Lore Jr., Mysteries of the Skies: UFOs in Perspective, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1968
Date: March, 1946
Location: Hinsdale, New Hampshire
Time: Around 17:00
Summary: A daylight disc was observed by a male witness (Kendrick).
Source: Leonard H. Stringfield, CRIFO Newsletter & CRIFO Orbit
Date: March 4/5, 1946
Location: Araçariguama, São Paulo, Brazil
Time: Evening (approximately 19:30) into the following morning
Case Status: Unexplained
Summary: João Prestes Filho, a 44-year-old farmer, returned home alone on Carnival Monday evening after a day of fishing with a friend. Preparing to bathe, he was struck by a silent flash of light that crossed the rooms of his house. His flesh began burning severely; in agony, he opened the door latch with his teeth and ran barefoot to a neighbor’s house for help. He was treated by a local tax inspector with paramedic training and hospitalized, but died within roughly nine hours. His burns were later described as third-degree, localized to exposed skin (head, neck, hands, lower limbs), with no scorching of his clothing or hair — a pattern later compared by investigating researchers to the localized radiation burns observed in some Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors. [Full Report]
Source: Flying Saucer Review, London, 1966 and March/April 1973; Prof. Felipe M. Carrión, “The Terrible Death of João Prestes at Araçariguama,” Flying Saucer Review; field investigations by ufologists Fernando Grossmann and Walter Bühler, decades after the event Source Status: VERIFIED — named victim, named family members and companions, multiple independent field investigations across decades, physical medical evidence (documented burn pattern) distinct from witness testimony alone.
Date: March 14, 1946
Location: Havana, Illinois
Time: Dawn
Summary: An object was observed. It buzzed a witness. One object, about 20 feet across, was observed by two experienced male witnesses (Cummings).
Source: Coral E. Lorenzen, UFOs: The Whole Story, Signet T3897, New York, 1969
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
March 1946 — The Burning Man of Araçariguama
Little in this month’s record compares to the Araçariguama, Brazil case, often cited as the first fatal UFO-related encounter recorded in Brazil. João Prestes Filho’s death carries something rare in this archive: physical medical evidence — a specific, described burn pattern, witnessed and treated by named local responders, examined decades later by named field investigators — rather than testimony alone. This revision corrects the date from a single “March 5” to “March 4/5,” since the fatal strike occurred on the evening of the 4th and Prestes died the following morning, and adds the extensive investigation history that has developed around the case since the 1960s.
The rest of the month is comparatively ordinary: a South African disc encounter with a visible occupant and spooked animals, photographed objects over Massachusetts, a daylight disc in New Hampshire, and an object that buzzed two witnesses at dawn in Illinois. None carry the documentary depth of the Prestes case, and none are expanded beyond their original sourcing this revision.
“His flesh began to appear as if cooked, and started rapid deterioration.”
Flying Saucer Review, describing the death of João Prestes Filho, Araçariguama, Brazil, March 1946.
