THE ALIEN IN THE ORCHARD
August 1973, Nova Friburgo, Brazil.
It was 2:00 pm on a sunny afternoon in August of 1973 as 19-year-old Edmond Cardoso de Oliveira took a break from working on the orchard at the farm where he was employed. He sat down and was peeling an orange when he noticed something strange: about 45 feet away from him, the leaves of a jaboticaba tree were shaking, though all the other trees around him were still. Peering at the strange sight, he saw that an “eye-hurting shining ball like bluish aluminum” was hovering less than two feet above the ground. It was about 6 feet in diameter, oval in shape, and had a dark green band around the center. Amazing by how brightly the metallic object was glowing, Edmond crept closer, approaching to about 3 feet away. He could now see that the sphere had a metallic cylinder attached to the top, which led up to an upside-down cone-shaped device rotating counter-clockwise. The object wobbled unsteadily, and fearing it might fall on him, Edmond turned around and retreated about 12 feet. As he did so, he heard a metallic cracking sound, and turning back around, he saw a metal door opening from the bottom of the sphere. The door was about 3 feet high and 2 feet wide. He could see that the wall of the sphere was about 2 inches thick. Inside he saw nothing but darkness.
After about 30 seconds, he was amazed to see a humanoid being stoop slightly and step out of the craft. The being was just over 3 feet tall and was dressed in a black jumpsuit composed of tiny circles. The cuffs on the sleeves and collar were gray, as were the shoes. The being’s face was also covered, but appeared to have holes for the eyes and mouth. On its back there was a metallic looking box, much like a backpack.
As Edmond watched, the humanoid exited the craft, not by walking, but by being carried along a sort of flexible, transparent “mat,” which made it appear as though the humanoid was floating. To Edmond’s amazement, the being quickly approached him to a distance of about 3 feet. Now, seeing this strange humanoid directly in front of him, Edmond became filled with fear and he turned and ran. But as he did so, he stopped and looked about 3 times, to make sure that the ET wasn’t following him.
It wasn’t, so he ran to find his boss. He found the boss’s wife and another employee. He returned to the site of the encounter with the other employee, but the craft and ET were now gone. The owner of the farm questioned Edmond in detail and found him to be sincere and trustworthy. Later there was a full investigation of the incident, which found no hard evidence of the encounter, but neither did they find any evidence of a hoax.
Posted Mar 8, 2026, 1:25 PM UTC