Ademar Gevaerd

Ademar José Gevaerd (1962–2022) was a Brazilian ufologist whose public career was closely tied to Revista UFO, a magazine he founded in 1983 and edited for decades. Born in Ponta Grossa, in the state of Paraná, he turned an early interest in unidentified flying objects into a publishing and research enterprise rather than a single isolated investigation. Revista UFO became a durable forum for Brazilian case reports, interviews, documents, and debate about military and civilian sightings. Through its print editions, later digital presence, and conferences, Gevaerd helped make ufology visible to a large Portuguese-speaking audience in Brazil over time.

Gevaerd was especially associated with attempts to obtain official Brazilian records on UFO reports. He participated in the campaign commonly called “UFOs: Freedom of Information Now,” which pressed the Brazilian government and armed forces to release archival material. The effort brought public attention to files concerning episodes such as Operação Prato, the 1977 Air Force investigation in Pará after reports from communities along the Baía do Marajó region. Declassified records did not settle the meaning of the reported phenomena, but they gave researchers access to documents that had previously remained within official archives and strengthened Gevaerd’s argument for transparency nationally.

Another case central to his work was the 1996 Varginha episode in Minas Gerais. Gevaerd investigated claims that witnesses had seen unusual creatures and that Brazilian military personnel had handled related evidence. He publicized testimony and pursued interviews with people connected to the allegations, while acknowledging that the episode remained contested. The Varginha case became one of the best-known Brazilian UFO narratives, and Gevaerd’s reporting helped sustain its international circulation. His approach combined witness accounts, press coverage, and requests for official clarification; it did not produce universally accepted proof of an extraterrestrial event, a distinction important to any factual account of the case.

Beyond investigations, Gevaerd organized events and maintained a network linking Brazilian enthusiasts, journalists, and investigators with researchers abroad. He appeared in documentaries, television programs, and lectures as a prominent advocate for taking reports seriously while demanding access to evidence. His influence rests chiefly on institution-building: keeping Revista UFO in circulation, assembling archives, and making official-document releases a public issue. Gevaerd died in Curitiba on 9 December 2022, aged 60. His death marked the loss of a figure who had shaped Brazilian ufology for nearly four decades, especially through publishing and the persistent pursuit of publicly available governmental records.