The Lead Masks Case

Wikipedia article

I was just looking at some creepy wikipedia articles and found this. I posted it in aliens/ufo's because I could not think of a better place, and there seems to be some sort of ET/ UFO involvment. All I can say is wow. This is the freakiest murder case I've ever seen. It does seem that some supernatural force was involved. What does ATS think?

very weird indeed, especially because Brazil is a UFO hotspot.

too bad they didn't seem to be examined for radiation

Yeah, radiation testing is hardly "common", but neither are murders where the victims are not wounded.

According to this source (in Portuguese), they were tested some time after, the bodies were exhumed and tested again, and this time they tested for radiation, but nothing was found.

This page (also in Portuguese) has some photos, and it has more detailed information, that I post bellow.

The bodies were found on a "bed" made with palm-tree leaves.
The autopsy did not show any signs of violence, poisoning, organic failure or radiation contamination.
The note was written by Miguel José Viana.
The masks were made on their shop, the rest of the lead sheet was found there.
They were seen arriving near the Morro do Vintém (a "morro" is somewhat like a hill) on a jeep with two other men, that were not identified.
The bodies were first found on the 18, and a policeman was warned by the boy who found them, some people suspect that this policeman was the one who took the money they had (around 1000 dollars).
A friend of both was interrogated but he was not arrested, he had introduced both to some strange experiments to try to communicate with spirits, and the three were responsible for a large explosion on a beach.
A priest and parapsychology professor said that they could have been making an experiment to see to the "other world", some people apparently say that there is a very strong light for which protection is needed, and that people who make that experiment take some kind of drug before.
Apparently, four years before, a television technician died in the same place in similar circumstances; no signs of violence, no other objects and a lead mask. He was trying to catch a "television signal" without any electronics and he died after taking a round pill.
The second batch of exams was made one year latter.
In 1980, Jacques Vallée went to that place to study the case, and the area was clean of vegetation and the bodies were like imprinted on the ground, the ground looking like it had been burned.

Thanks a load for the translation, this really adds some more weirdness.

Found some info hosted here. Theres some bigger pics if u go here and change the end number ++. One of the chaps has interesting eyes!

- Suits/notes suggest preparation and wanting to look good to meet someone.
- Bodys in proximity suggest they died at same time (?) not poisoning as 1 would run away?
- arms by sides/close/faceup ? makes me think they were dropped stone dead simultaneously.My 2c.
- Both electrical engineers? maybe 1 picked up something interesting on his TV set.
- oh what does the ss mean on the chaps armband?

Not to derail OP you said u were looking at creepy wiki entrys, u might like this wiki entry with a macabre/paranormal link.

[edit on 21-9-2008 by stringue]

more information

“Las Mascaras de Chumbo” (The lead masks case)

119.
Location. Morro de Vintem, Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro Brazil
Date: August 21 1966 Time: night
The bodies of two men were found in a hilltop clearing near Niteroi. Two lead half-masks, for covering the upper half of the face, and strange, partially coded notes were found besides the bodies. The two men were identified as Manuel Pereira di Cruz, aged 32, and Miguel Jose Viana, and aged 34. They were both radio and television technicians. According to an autopsy report they died from stoppage of the heart. There was no apparent cause of this. The men had been dead for about four days when they were found. A mathematician reported that part of the notes contained only the ohm equation (dealing with the strength of electric current) and the rest was unintelligible. A number of people came forward during the investigation with reports of an oval, orange colored object hovering over the top of the hill. One woman reported seeing the object at the time the men went up the hillside. Local detectives and experts from Rio de Janeiro with the help of troops and the Brazilian Information Service investigated the affair, a weird array of theories was considered including murder, suicide, sorcery, spiritualism, and attempts to contact extraterrestrials, atmospheric electricity and radio waves. A man who reported that the men had been trying to contact the planet Mars was held by police for questioning. This man was said to have exercised a powerful influence over the dead men and to have owed them money. According to one report, a ma and a woman were arrested in connection with the case. The men were said to have had a great deal of money with them when they went up the hillside. The notes found on their bodies indicated that they had “taken orange capsules” and were “waiting for the promised sign.” When detectives searched Manuel Viana’s workshop they found lead from which the masks were apparently made, and a book on scientific spiritualism, with marked passages referring to masks and intense rays of light. The police eventually called off their investigation, having failed to solve the mystery. Detective Idovan Ferreira who led the investigation said, “I have no doubt they died of an experiment with psychic forces, for which they were ill-prepared and which turned out to be fatal.”

HC addendum
Source: MUFOG Bulletin, October 1966, Bufora Newsletter # 2
Groupement pour l’Etude des Sciences d’Avant-Garde, Belgium Type: F?

reply to post by stringue

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The SS armband... that only raises more questions. As you may know, the SS were the "shock troops" of the Wehrmacht. Even though the armband is not runic, it could still lend itself to a Nazi connection, and seeing as how many Nazi leaders fled to South America, this could be a very interesting connection.


Just a pic of the SS logo as a comparison.

very weird. Perhaps there are some instructions around the net telling how to contact the et's/paranormal in this manner? the autopsy didn't reveal what the pills were? I feel there is a lot of info missing here.

Wasn't something said about them stopping to get some Magnesium?

Could they have put that in the capsules?

Mg + H2O and what else?

I think the capsules are the key. Maybe they took some unknown psychoactive drug to get in contact with the spirit world which is not so unusual for that time period and overdosed.
There where a lot of new substances around and to detect them you have to know what you are looking for otherwise they don´t show up.

[edit on 28-5-2009 by derpif]

reply to post by derpif

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This is an interesting line of thought...I'd never considered that!

Never heard of this before, thanks for the links.

Lets get our thinking heads on and solve this murder
Nothing is too big of a task for ATS...

Love&Light,

Jacob

The SS armband is interesting but I am starting to think harmless in this pic




You can see a guy in uniform with what appears to be a SP on his armband. Maybe Service Police for that one and the SS denoting a boss or follower??

I guess the question is, what would stop two hearts instantly without leaving a mark or sign anywhere?

I can't think of anything off the top of my head..

It seems they couldn't run a toxicology test on the bodies, their internals were to badly damaged.
From the state of the bodies, and the description from the notes, it seems they took something, that probably poisoned them.



Any pictures of the site that shows this?

It sounds like these guys went on a venture to study the paranormal and whatever instructions they followed killed them.
As far as I can tell, it seems that the sightings all came in after the bodies were reported, and publicized.

To be honest, I don't understand why this is labeled a murder. A suicide, possibly.

Well thats a pretty odd story. And I have no clue what really happened....or do I?