FEDERAL PUBLIC SERVICE

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
NATIONAL INDIGENOUS FOUNDATION - FUNAI
REGIONAL COORDINATION OF JURUÁ/AC - CRJ

TECHNICAL INFORMATION 15/CRJ/FUNAI/2014

Cruzeiro do Sul, August 20, 2014

Subject: Compilation of information regarding sightings of luminous objects in the Kampa

Indigenous Territory of the Amônia River - Process 08197.000008/2014/-31

This information is to contextualize the situation presented through a complaint received in

Regional Coordination of Juruá regarding the appearance of strange lights in the skies of Apiwtxa
village, Kampa Indigenous Territory of the Amônia River, city of Cruzeiro do Sul.

1. On July 31, 2014, indigenous man Benky Piyanko Ashaninka was at Regional Coordination of
Juruá headquarters reporting and making a complaint (attached) about strange phenomena that
had been occurring in his community. These were lights, luminous objects and fireballs that were
scaring the local population and that, in one of these apparitions, had attacked some residents
having even led to the miscarriage of a young woman who, according to Benky, was hit by a
"beam of light that came out of the object".
On the same day, the Indigenous Advisor of the Government of Acre, the Secretary of State For
Justice, the Command of the 61st Jungle Infantry Battalion (61 BIS) and the Superintendence of
the Federal Police contacted us looking for more information, since Francisco Piyanko, Benky
Ashaninka’s brother and special advisor to the government (based in the State Planning
Secretariat) had warned us about what happened. Of these, only the Army was not interested in
the case, since, according to the Lieutenant who called the coordination "the command needs
more information about what it could be, because the information that had arrived was that it
was a conflict between tribes..." (sic).

2. Gathered the first information, the Superintendence of the Federal Police reinforced the
contact with the Regional Coordination in order to carry out an "emergency mission" to ascertain
the facts. This mission was carried out without any communication with the Regional
Coordination, where two agents went to Apiwtxa village without knowing the facts, the region
or the context of the location (statement given by one of the agents before the trip).
In this first mission it was not possible the presence of a Regional Coordination officer, given the
lack of logistical resources for this, because there was no vacancy in the transport system of the
region and the Regional Coordination does not yet have vessels. Thus, the situation was
monitored through telephone and internet contact with the community.
The presence of federal agents in the village lasted only two days, where, according to
information from one of them, it was not possible to "see anything, only to ascertain some
information"¹.

________________________
¹ We did not have access to the report written by the Federal Police of this mission, because until the date of this
Technical Information had not yet been sworn in the head of the Police Station in Cruzeiro do Sul, and the mission
was under the command of the Superintendence in the city of Rio Branco. However, in reports collected via
telephone with community leaders, there was no observations or conversations with the community in this mission.
 FEDERAL PUBLIC SERVICE
MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
NATIONAL INDIAN FOUNDATION - FUNAI
REGIONAL COORDINATION OF JURUÁ/AC - CRJ

3. After the Federal Police mission, and still making logistical preparations for a future action of
Regional Coordination of Juruá, an interview was held at the Regional Coordination’s
headquarters, with Prof. Isaac Piyanko Toto Ashaninka, Benky and Francisco Piyanko’s brother.
This teacher was heading to the city of Rio Branco. We also talked to agronomist Matheus, who
was in the village providing service to Yorenka (local association project).
In general, both men reported an unidentified flying object making a route from west to east,
coming from Peru, and sometimes making the opposite route.
Observations of this object dates back at least to last year, usually between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Earlier this year, Isaac saw something like a ball of light that flashed mainly towards the ground.
The object was supposed to be about 2,000 ft high. More recently, an object that emitting white
lights and flying around the same height of small planes, was seen by him. It did not emit sound,
and made a steady path. An indigenous man shot in its direction, and the object made a turn and
went down a little, slowing down, and then quickly disappearing.
According to Isaac, the relatives who saw the object more closely said it was something "H"
shaped. A family saw a light in the treetops around 9 p.m. Scared, they screamed and the light
was gone. An hour later, the light came back, casting a beam of light into the house (probably
Moisés’ house) which would have caused momentary disorientation and blindness to members
of this family. In other case, a man heard something like a breath and run towards the object, but
the light went out. Something to note is the Benki Piyãko account, who states that, at the time,
one of the people affected by the beam of light miscarried. For Isaac, this miscarriage may have
been caused by a fall, as residents ran into panic.
The situation described above would be the first time that the object came down so close to the
villagers. But it wasn't only this time, since the object was close to the ground on two other
occasions. In none of them it was possible to see anyone inside it, only light. It should be noted
that, according to Isaac, only one family, the same mentioned in the previous paragraph, would
have seen the object so close. The other residents only saw a light high above.
Many stories have been told about this light, such as "Pela Cara", a being that terrorizes the
Ashaninka people of Peru. There, this object would be linked to deaths, by scalping and skinning
people.
The appearances of this object have left the community frightened. Hunting and fishing activities
have been affected, as the time it usually appears (6 p.m.) is the best moments for these tasks.
It should be noted, from what Isaac said, that the object is not seen on occasions on nights of full
moon. He thinks there must be something to do with human organ traffic. Anyway, he believes
the light emissions can kill.
 FEDERAL PUBLIC SERVICE
MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
NATIONAL INDIAN FOUNDATION - FUNAI
REGIONAL COORDINATION OF JURUÁ/AC - CRJ

Like Isaac, Matheus never saw the object at close range. He saw something mitting two lights,
one white and one green, and made the route from east to west, at about 650 ft high. He was
able to recorded the object, and the images show an flickering light. Matheus also says that some
people saw the object, and one of them shot it, but could not take it down. He believes it's an
unmanned aerial vehicle, a drone.
Both describe, therefore, a luminous object, which travels a west-east path from Peru. It is known
that there is, west from Kampa Indigenous Territory of the Amônia River, in the neighbor country
lands, a Peruvian Army base. It is also possible that the object is linked to drug traffickers. In any
case, one must work with the idea that it is a remotely controlled aerial vehicle.

4. Information was collected from other residents (all of the Piyanko family, who can speak
Portuguese language) and, in general, the reports match.

5. Just to be known, it is worth mentioning that in 2011 there was a report on Juruá TV (local)
about strange sightings of "fireballs" in the skies of the city of Guajará (Amazonas State),
neighboring city of Cruzeiro do Sul. This phenomenon was widely recorded on video and
witnessed by many locals.

6. The conclusion is that there is a need for a mission to the site, where it is possible to make
more observations and gather more reports from the community.
Thus, it is suggested that Regional Coordination of Juruá assemble a mission, through its SEGAT,
to go the place as soon as possible to assess the information and then send what is learned to
the presidency of FUNAI for guidance and action deemed necessary.

That's what I had to report.

Jairo J.M. Lima

Specialized Indigenist
Head of Technical Division - DIT