The Brazilian government has ordered its air force to officially record sightings of unidentifiable flying objects. The government decree states that all military and civilian pilots, as well as dispatchers, should report any UFO sightings to the National Airspace Command. The information will be stored in the National Archives in Rio de Janeiro. They will be available to researchers, including those looking for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Anything unusual observed, photographed or videotaped in Brazilian airspace must now be reported and cataloged. But the air force said it would confine itself to gathering information and not prosecuting UFOs.

"Air Force Command does not have specialized units to conduct scientific experiments related to these phenomena and will be limited to recording events," said a representative of the Air Force.

From somewhere?

There have been many UFO reports in Brazil in recent decades. In 1986, air fighters took off to examine unidentified objects flying in space above Sao Paulo, but the phenomenon was never fully explained. And in 1977, the Amazon town of Vigia asked the army for help after some residents were attacked by aliens. One of the dispatchers, who remains anonymous, told the Brazilian daily O Dia that the observations were reported by top officials. "I've heard of ministers and even the president seeing UFOs," he said.

Brazilian UFO observers welcomed the decision to disclose such information in the future.