Montevideo, Uruguay UFO Sighting (February 1967) — FBI Files
In February 1967, an oval-shaped unidentified object was documented over Montevideo, Uruguay, featuring the ejection of smaller, multicolored craft.
Background
In February 1967, in Montevideo, Uruguay, U.S. government investigators recorded an unidentified-object incident later released to the public on May 8, 2026, as part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE). This case emerged during the height of the Cold War, a period characterized by intense global surveillance and heightened sensitivity regarding aerial incursions. The incident was investigated under the framework of the Air Force’s Project Blue Book or its predecessors, which functioned as the primary United States program for investigating reports of unidentified flying objects.
The documentation of this event was handled through the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Under the Bureau’s standing protocols for the protection of vital installations, various field offices, including those in Knoxville, Albuquerque, and Los Angeles, were responsible for routing UFO reports to headquarters. This administrative structure ensured that any aerial phenomenon perceived as a potential threat to national security or sensitive infrastructure was centralized for analysis. Such reporting mechanisms were standard during the mid-twentieth century, as the intersection of aerospace technology and geopolitical tension necessitated rigorous monitoring of the skies.
The Montevideo Incident
The primary records of the February 1967 event describe an encounter occurring near Montevideo. An oval-shaped UFO was observed at an approximate altitude of 6 km. The sighting was notable for its high level of documentation, as the director of the Astronomical Observatory ANTARES, Juan Reyes Febles, captured 21 color photographs of the object. These images provided a visual record of an object that displayed complex behavior, specifically the ejection of smaller objects from the main craft. These smaller entities varied in color, ranging from blue and violet to orange.
The released documents do not specify the total number of witnesses present during the observation. However, the descriptive details provided in the file suggest a high degree of visibility and clarity. The official file contains the following verbatim accounts: “Unidentified Flying Objects were observed in this capital in clear daylight…”. The report further notes that “from one saucer were ejected into space some smaller objects of the same shape whose colors varied from blue to violet and orange.” The documentation concludes with a specific interpretation of the craft’s mechanics, stating, “It could be proved that it was a ‘mothersaucer’, i.e., a giant space-ship which ejected from its interior other little ships that shot away at a vertiginous speed.”
Analysis and Classification
The witnesses involved in the 1967 sighting described the primary object as being disc- or saucer-shaped. This classification aligns with many mid-century reports of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), which frequently utilized the “saucer” terminology popularized in the late 1940s. The behavior described—the deployment of smaller, high-speed craft from a larger central vessel—represents a specific subset of UAP encounters involving complex structural dynamics.
All records released under the PURSUE program are designated as unresolved by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) by default. The federal government has maintained a neutral stance regarding the Montevideo incident, having not concluded that the events were anomalous, nor having concluded that they were conventional. Consequently, the possibility of either an extraordinary origin or a known physical phenomenon remains open.
During the 1960s, investigators often considered several conventional candidates for such sightings. These included experimental aircraft, weather balloons—specifically those related to the Project Mogul series—and various atmospheric optical phenomena such as sundogs or lenticular clouds. Additionally, astronomical objects like Venus, the Moon, or meteors appearing near the horizon were frequently scrutinized. The Montevideo case remains a significant entry in the archive due to the photographic evidence provided by the ANTARES observatory and its inclusion in declassified federal files.