Unexplained Mysteries

The Lead Masks Case

Oh, I love this story! I'm sure all those UFO fanatics will to.

The Lead Masks Case refers to the discovery of the bodies of two electronic technicians in Brazil in 1966. The bodies of Manoel Pereira and Miguel José. The two bodies were found by a 18 year old Jorge da Costa Alves who had been flying his kite nearby Vintém Hill, in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. If you believe in UFOs and aliens (which will make this story much more spooky) then it is interesting to note that  Vintém Hill had been labelled a 'hotspot' for UFO activity after many locals claimed to have witnessed strange aerial lights.

Both men were dressed in matching suits and wore impermeable coats. Which wasn’t out of the ordinary since the area had been drenched by recent showers. What was out of the ordinary were the protective lead masks over their faces. The type of masks used to protect against radiation poisoning. Here, laying dead in the rain-soaked vegetation of Vintém Hill are two mean in suits, a rain coat and lead masks over their faces. Stranger yet was the item besides the bodies. An empty bottle of water, a package containing two towels and a notebook. The notebook was filled with signs and numbers, and a letter in which was written: “16:30 be at the agreed place. 18:30 swallow capsules, after effect protect metals wait for the mask sign”. A waitress who was the last to see them alive said that one of them looked very nervous and kept glancing at his watch. There were no obvious injuries on the bodies. Gracinda Barbosa Cortino de Souza and her children, who lived next to the hill where the men died, claimed that they had seen a UFO flying over the spot at the exact moment the detectives believed the two men must have died.

Fascinating isn't it? Even for those who do not believe this to be an extra terrestrial case, it is still a mystery what happened to these two men. Suicide? Maybe. But what about the lead masks? Murder then? If Manoel Pereira and Miguel José were murdered, what was the purpose? Obviously money would be an objective, but I doubt both men had a lot of it.  Could it be some form of cult-like suicide? No mention of any cult or religious activity has been pinned to the dead men by friends and relatives, though the men were fascinated with aliens and electronics. Also, there was no marks on the body nor was there any reported mysterious substances in their bodies.

I'd like to think that the two men had their dream come true and met some aliens before they died. It would the story a little happier :)