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to be the truth." village. The villagers of Brasila de Minas were thrown into a state of near-panic when, on August 28th, an object that looked "like a big, glowing soccer ball" hovered over the town's church steeple for several minutes. The residents of the tiny communities were all talking of the mysterious "kidnapping" of Rivalino da Silva, and the continued appearances of the UFO's seemed only to indicate that the creatures were seeking additional victims. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Lisboa had ordered a psychiatric examination of Raimunda da Silva. The psychiatrist, Dr. Joao Antunes de Oliveiera, told reporters: "| don't wish to discuss the facts in this case. They are beyond my competence. But | can tell you that the boy is normal and is telling what he thinks A month after Rivalino's bizarre disappearance, the police officially closed the case. They had uncovered no body, no clues, absolutely no evidence or information pertinent to the whereabouts or the fate of the unfortunate man. Police officer Clemente told reporters: "No one expects to find a satisfactory explanation with regard to Mr. da Silva's disappearance." Could it be that Rivalino da Silva had accidentally stumbled upon alien beings engaged in some activity which they had decreed must be kept secret? He had told his friends that he had seen "two strange persons digging a hole in the earth." Had the creatures been planting something in the fertile Brazilian soil? Or had da Silva stumbled upon an alien burial party? His son, Raimunda, insisted to police that he had heard "voices" outside the but that morning agreeing that Rivalino was in the house and that he must be destroyed. The mission of the strange "shadow," which Raimunda had seen in the bedroom that he had shared with his father, seemed to be to establish positive identification of Rivalino. Had this poor Brazilian "seen too much," and thereby endangered the security of an alien expedition to earth? Or have outer-space creatures been periodically plucking up earthlings for study and interrogation? It was on Christmas Eve, 1909, that "they" took 11-year-old Oliver Thomas up into the sky. Five inches of fresh snow had fallen that day and evening and it was turning cold outside. Around the cheery hearth of farmer Owen Thomas, however, it was warm and comforting and a dozen contented people roasted chestnuts in the hot embers and sang carols as they waited for the clock to chime in Christmas Day. In addition to their family, the Thomases had been joined by their close friends. The minister and his wife were there along with the local veterinarian, and an auctioneer from a nearby