The Chupa-Chupa in Maranhão
The account
Lights came down from the sky over fishermen and farmworkers and sucked their victims' blood, leaving marks on their skin.
What investigators found
The panic was real and documented by the press. Investigators point to mass hysteria and to stars and meteors mistaken for spacecraft.
The story
Before Operation Saucer (Operação Prato), in Pará, fear of the chupa-chupa was already sweeping the Baixada Maranhense lowlands. In April 1977, newspapers in Maranhão reported the account of fishermen attacked by a light while out on the water. Over the following months, residents of the Pinheiro area and other towns in the western part of the state said lights came down from the sky, caused weakness and left marks on the body.
The terror led families to spend the night in groups, with bonfires and fireworks. The reports spread as far as the coast of Pará and helped prompt the Brazilian Air Force investigation. Researchers who studied the episode note that some of the lights may have been stars, planets, meteors and airplanes, magnified by fear and rumor. What caused the reported marks was never explained.