The Lead Masks Case

This case involves the deaths of two men in 1966 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On August 20, a young man came upon the bodies of two men and reported the discovery to the police. The young man had been flying a kite on Morro do Vintem (a hillside outside Rio) and as the bodies were hard to reach, the police did not find the bodies until the next day.

On discovering the bodies, the police noted some peculiarities. The two men were laying next to each other and they were partially covered by grass. A small bottle of water accompanied the bodies along with a notebook and a package containing two wet towels. The men were wearing lead masks and waterproof coats. Within the notebook was a note which was translated as saying

"16:30 be at the agreed place. 18:30 swallow capsules, after effect, protect metals, wait for mask signal"

The two men were later identified as Miguel Jose Viana and Manoel Pereira de Cruz who hailed from the nearby town of Campoosdos Goytacazes. They had left their town on August 17 and travelled to Rio to a spot on the hill where UFO hunters would gather to watch the skies. A woman who lived near the spot where the bodies were found claimed that she saw strange lights in the sky above the hill. The bodies were starting to decompose by the time an autopsy could be performed but no toxic substance was found in their bodies.