The Curuçá River Event
A missionary in the Amazon reported that the sky turned red and fireballs fell with a blast like Tunguska.
What was reported
On the morning of 13 August 1930, according to a Capuchin missionary's account later published in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, people near the Curuçá River in the far west of the Brazilian Amazon saw the Sun turn blood red and heard a whistling noise. Three fireballs fell, followed by explosions, tremors and a fall of fine ash.
The event was largely forgotten until the astronomer Mark Bailey and colleagues found the reports in the 1990s and compared it to Tunguska.
Explanations offered
Some researchers think a meteoroid exploded in the air over the forest. A circular structure seen in satellite images has been proposed as a crater, though this hasn't been confirmed. Others argue the accounts are too vague and second-hand to be sure. No fragments have been recovered.
- When
- 13 August 1930
- Where
- Curuçá River, Amazonas, Brazil
- Witnesses
- Riverside villagers, as reported by a missionary
- Status
- Disputed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.