On the afternoon of August 17, 1966, at exactly 3:00 p.m., two men walked into a small bar near Niterói, not far from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They were neatly dressed in tailored suits, their shoes clean, their posture calm and deliberate. Despite the heat and the heavy rain that had blanketed the region for days, neither man appeared hurried or distressed.

They ordered only one bottle of water.

They drank quietly. They spoke little. Then, without explanation, they stood up and left the bar in haste.

A few days later, both men were found dead on a nearby hill.

Their bodies lay side by side in tall grass on Vintém Hill, positioned as though they had simply lain down to rest. But what shocked investigators—and later, the entire country—was what covered their faces: homemade masks made of lead, crudely cut into the shape of eyeglasses.

Despite an intensive investigation, the deaths of these two men would remain one of Brazil’s most haunting and unresolved mysteries—caught forever between science and the supernatural.

A Discovery on the Hill

The summer of 1966 had brought relentless rain to the state of Rio de Janeiro. Storms lashed the region for days, flooding streets and forcing people indoors. It wasn’t until the afternoon of August 20 that the skies finally cleared.

For a young boy named George, the return of sunlight meant one thing: he could finally fly his new kite.

He made his way to Vintém Hill, a familiar spot near his home where the wind was strong. As he released the kite, a sudden gust caught it violently, ripping the string from his hands and dragging the kite down the slope.

George ran after it—then stopped.

A strange, unbearable smell filled the air.

Curiosity overtook him. Forgetting the kite, he followed the odor uphill until he reached a patch of thick grass near the summit. There, lying motionless, were two men.

They wore formal suits beneath raincoats. Their faces were expressionless. Their eyes were hidden behind metallic objects that reflected the sun faintly.

George had never smelled anything like this before.

Terrified, he ran down the hill and searched for a police officer. By the time he reported what he had seen, darkness had already fallen, forcing authorities to delay the search until morning.

The Lead Masks

The following day, police reached the site.

The scene was deeply unsettling. The men had no visible injuries. No signs of a struggle. No blood. No defensive wounds.

What stood out immediately were the metallic face coverings. At first glance, they resembled bizarre sunglasses. But closer inspection revealed they were lead masks, roughly crafted from sheets of metal, shaped to shield only the eyes.

Searching the victims’ pockets, investigators found something even stranger: scraps of paper covered in cryptic notes, mathematical formulas, and meaningless diagrams.

Only one line, written in Portuguese, appeared clear:

“After the effect, protect metals. Await signal mask.”

No one could explain what it meant.

The victims were later identified as Manoel Pereira da Cruz and Miguel José Viana, both electricians from Campos, a city roughly 140 miles northeast of where their bodies were found.

Their families were soon contacted—and what they revealed raised even more questions.

The Last Journey

According to relatives, on the morning of August 17, Miguel and Manoel told their families they were traveling to São Paulo to purchase a car and electrical equipment. They carried approximately three million cruzeiros—a significant sum at the time.

Instead of heading to São Paulo, however, the men boarded a bus to Niterói.

Heavy rain forced them to take shelter in the small bar where they were last seen alive. After drinking a single bottle of water, they left at 3:15 p.m. and began walking toward Vintém Hill.

That was the last confirmed sighting of them alive.

When their bodies were discovered days later, they had only 160,000 cruzeiros remaining.

Police initially suspected robbery or involvement in illegal electronics trafficking—common at the time, given the scarcity and high cost of consumer electronics in Brazil. But that theory collapsed after the autopsy.

A Death Without Violence

Forensic examiners determined that both men died of heart attacks.

There were no signs of poisoning. No external trauma. No radiation burns. Nothing to suggest foul play.

The idea that two healthy men could die simultaneously of cardiac arrest puzzled investigators. Attention turned to the capsules mentioned in the notes, suspected to contain some unknown substance.

A second autopsy was ordered, but decomposition had advanced too far to detect any trace chemicals.

Once again, the case stalled.

The Orange Sphere

Nearly a week later, a new witness emerged.

On the evening of August 17, a woman named Senhora da Sousa was driving with her three children near Niterói when her seven-year-old daughter suddenly screamed and pointed toward the sky above Vintém Hill.

Senhora stopped the car and looked.

Hovering above the hill was a bright orange sphere, glowing intensely. Blue rays of light flickered around its edges. The object remained suspended for several minutes before disappearing.

Frightened, she drove home and told her husband.

Days later, when newspapers reported the mysterious deaths on Vintém Hill, her husband realized the timing and location matched what his wife had seen. He contacted the police.

Though hesitant—aware of how UFO stories were received—Senhora testified.

Soon after, other witnesses came forward, admitting they had seen the same object but were too embarrassed to report it until she did.

The press exploded with speculation.

Spiritual Scientists

Police eventually traced another lead through Manoel’s widow, who recalled an argument between her husband and a former associate named Elcio Gomes days before the trip.

When questioned, Elcio immediately claimed he knew what happened.

According to him, Miguel and Manoel were members of a spiritualist movement known as “scientific spiritualism.” The group believed that humans could communicate with spiritual entities—and extraterrestrials—using electrical devices.

Elcio claimed many electricians in the region belonged to the movement.

Searches of the men’s homes revealed spiritualist books, lead fragments, and notes discussing invisible forces and protective masks.

Elcio described a failed experiment months earlier, involving an explosion at Manoel’s home. Afterward, the men relocated their tests to a coastal town, where witnesses reported a glowing blue sphere appearing above the sea—followed by another explosion.

Miguel later told his family he had one final experiment to complete.

Elcio believed that experiment ended their lives.

No Conclusion

Police found newspaper reports confirming a mysterious explosion and fishermen who claimed to see strange lights.

Still, none of it constituted proof.

Elcio had an alibi and was released.

On September 20, 1966, the investigation was officially closed—without answers.

A Final Confession?

Three years later, in February 1969, a prisoner named Hamilton Bezani claimed responsibility. He said he and three accomplices robbed the men and forced them to swallow poison.

But his story didn’t match the evidence. He confused locations, couldn’t explain the masks or notes, and was seeking a prison transfer.

Police dismissed his confession.

What Really Happened?

Some believe the men died attempting to contact extraterrestrials.

Others suggest a rare natural phenomenon—ball lightning—caused their deaths, explaining the glowing sphere.

Another theory claims the men took hallucinogenic substances, leading to fatal heart attacks while mistaking natural phenomena for UFOs.

But key questions remain unanswered:

Why the lead masks?
Why the missing money?
Why no burns or toxins?
Why that exact place and time?

To this day, no official explanation exists.

And so, the mystery of the two lead masks remains—hovering, unresolved, between belief and science, reality and the unknown.