Commander Paulo Moreira da Silva

Naval Officer

Commander Paulo Moreira da Silva was a Brazilian Navy officer aboard the research ship Almirante Saldanha during the 1958 Trindade Island UFO incident. He is frequently cited by UFO researchers as a key witness who stated the object was not a meteorological balloon or a guided missile, and some accounts claim he saw a greenish glow around the object.

However, contemporary newspaper investigations and later historical analysis reveal significant contradictions in his testimony:

In a 1958 interview with O Globo, Moreira da Silva explicitly stated he was on the deck but saw nothing, noting only the commotion among the crew.
He also denied reports that he had filmed the object with a movie camera.
While UFOlogists often refer to him as an "Admiral" (a rank he attained later in life), he was a Commander at the time, and his later claims of being an eyewitness appear to contradict his immediate press statements.