The João Prestes Filho Case
The account
A farmhand was supposedly struck by a beam of light and died hours later, his flesh coming away from his bones.
What investigators found
There is no known medical report or official record of the cause of death, and the accounts were gathered many years later.
The story
According to local tradition, one night in March 1946 farmhand João Prestes Filho was returning from a fishing trip in Araçariguama, in the interior of São Paulo state, when he was hit by a flash of light as he reached home. Neighbors said he went looking for help while still conscious, but that over the following hours his skin and flesh seemed to come loose, and he died before receiving proper care.
Ufologists treat the case as one of the most tragic episodes in the country, but caution is needed. No known report describes the cause of death, and the versions came from interviews conducted decades later, with details that change from one account to another. Explanations such as a severe burn, lightning or illness have all been suggested. A family lost a relative in a painful way, and the question of what happened remains.