Eerie images of a perfectly spherical UFO, seemingly dotted with yellow “landing lights”, have left some researchers certain that one of them is “the first UFO selfie in history”.
The images, taken by Brazilian UFO researcher and author Edie Meireles in 2011, show the apparent craft on a trail towards “The Waterfall of Purification,” a cold waterfall in Brazil’s high-altitude Chapada Diamantina National Park.
What followed, at least according to one of Meireles’ fellow UFO hunters, were years of “threats and intrigue,” with two members of his group “killed by the military” and three more “abducted.”
And according to Meireles himself, his sighting in one of South America’s most picturesque ecological reserves prompted an assault on his home by “soldiers in camouflage and black.”
The photographs, taken by Brazilian UFO researcher and author Edie Meireles in 2011 (pictured), show an apparently ominous craft over a trail towards ‘The Waterfall of Purification’, a frozen waterfall in the South American nation’s high-altitude Chapada Diamantina national park.
In a recent March 2022 post on the UFOs Bahai Facebook group, Meireles boasted that his spontaneous snapshot was “the only selfie with a flying saucer.” Above, a second, less clear “UFO selfie” of Meireles’ alleged encounter with a flying orb in Chapada Diamantina national park
What followed, at least according to one of Meireles’ fellow UFO hunters, were years of “threats and intrigue,” with two members of his group “killed by the military” and three more “kidnapped.” Above, another photo from Meireles’ 2011 UFO encounter
However, skeptics on social media have claimed the photos are everything from “flying lanterns” held in the hot air by candles to completely doctored images.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Meireles for further comment, but the researcher, who serves as an administrator for ‘the Extra Advanced Technological Research Group(‘The Extra Advanced Technology Research Group’) on Facebook has not responded.
But in a March 2022 post, Meireles boasted that his candid snaps were “the only selfie with a flying saucer.”
And, in a presentation to a Brazilian non-profit organization Museum of the Person (Museum of the Person) The UFO researcher recounted his return trips to the national park for repeated, but less documented, encounters with these UFOs and their occupants.
These expeditions, documented in his book Field workers: Field Researchers In 2016, according to Meireles, it led to more unwanted encounters with the military.
“The result of the interrogation was (…) Fractures: 4 left ribs and left knee (…) Perforation with bleeding in the left lung,” and worse things, Meireles told the nonprofit.
‘I was hospitalized for 12 days at the Chapada Regional Hospital in Seabra-Ba, my medical records are there for anyone who wants to investigate,’ according to the Brazilian UFO researcher.
Meireles’ account of his UFO experiences at the national park includes more surreal encounters with the beings and a prophecy of global environmental cataclysm: “a natural collapse, with a lack of renewable resources, drinking water and wood for construction,” he told the nonprofit museum.
Fact or fiction, their story has an appropriate setting: Brazil’s Chapada Diamantina National Park, created in September 1985 to protect a host of rare and endangered species native to these Atlantic Forest plateaus 3,000 feet above sea level.
The giant armadillo of Brazil (Priodontes maximus), his giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) and the Chaco eagle (Buteogallus coronatus) are all protected species that make their home in the park.
Above, another photo from the Meireles UFO encounter in 2011.
Above, the lateral blur on the apparent craft seems to indicate a form of propulsion in another photo purportedly from the Meireles UFO encounter in 2011.
Above, another laterally blurred image of the apparent “alien spacecraft,” which seems to indicate a form of propulsion in another image from Meireles’ alleged 2011 UFO encounter.
An account of the 2011 sightingAttributed to Meireles, he described a UFO whose on-board devices or novel means of propulsion managed to leave it stranded in the park accidentally or intentionally.
“I got out of the car and took some photos,” a Reddit post quotes Meireles as saying. “It was an indescribable and wonderful thrill to have photographed such a clearly visible UFO.”
But, the story continues: ‘About 40 minutes later, still on the road, my car turned off, I braked, tried to turn the key and nothing, absolutely nothing.
“I saw a light on the hood and looked up and there was a UFO sitting on top of my car, I opened the door and ran,” the story continues.
“I even stopped to take a selfie with them. The next day, a tractor took my car and burned all the electrical parts.”
This version of their encounter claims that Meireles was traveling to the historic district near the national park, Serra de Igatú, although a 2016 post apparently by Meireles on Facebook He claims the images were taken while he was heading to the park’s waterfall known as ‘The Purification Waterfall’.
Above, ‘The Mosquito Waterfall’, one of many waterfalls like ‘The Purification Waterfall’ from the Meireles UFO encounter, visited by tourists from Brazil’s Chapada Diamantina National Park
Above, a last known image of the alleged Meireles UFO encounter in 2011, this time with less fog or low cloud cover along the trail in Brazil’s Chapada Diamantina National Park.
Aerial view of Chapada Diamantina National Park in Bahia state, Brazil
Above, tourists admire the ‘Poco Encantado’ (also known as ‘the Enchanted Well’), a sunken underground pool and tourist destination in Chapada Diamantina National Park.
Some proponents of Meireles’ UFO research have attributed the shady stories surrounding his incredibly sharp and visually compelling photographs to alleged hostile encounters with the military.
Hélio Nunes de Camargo, the self-proclaimed founder of UFOs in Chapada – Centro Ufológico da Chapada DiamantinaHe wrote that Meireles’ Bahai UFO research group was disbanded due to alleged military harassment and violence.
“They are abandoning ufology to live their own lives away from threats and intrigues,” Nunes de Camargo wrote in a 2014 post on his group’s Facebook page.
The UFO researcher recounted the deaths and abductions Bahai allegedly faced, adding: “I was told that families are suffering a lot and they don’t want to make other families suffer.”
However, other online UFO researchers have taken issue with this explanation.
“The fact that he (Meireles) keeps uploading those photos to his Facebook account every few months shows that this might not be correct,” the Reddit user said. spray2 he said.
“I’ve written to Edie several times on Facebook over the last year to try and get more information about this event,” the Reddit user explained. “She has ignored all messages and comments.”
Others, however, not only found the case credible but believed they had seen the same UFO themselves.
“Holy shit, this is identical to what I saw right before Covid hit,” said one Reddit user, who goes by the name Ehtseeohsaying.
The poster said the underside of the craft he saw “rotated as it glowed red with an orange center, then made a quick zigzag motion and disappeared,” making “no sound” as it vanished in an instant.
“I screamed, I laughed, and I cried,” the sign read. “FINALLY the orb I was looking for online, this guy has a selfie with it haha.”
DailyMail.com also contacted well-known UFO skeptic and computer programmer Mick West from Sacramento, California, who opined: “They look photoshopped to me, but they could be practical effects.”
The prolific, skeptic-minded UFO researcher and former video game designer noted that UFO cases like this, with limited information such as static images and inconsistent eyewitness testimony, should always be taken with a grain of salt.
“In cases like this we need real evidence that the photos are NOT fake before we try to explain them away,” West told DailyMail.com via email.