Olavo Fontes

Olavo Teixeira Fontes (1924 – 9 May 1968) was a Brazilian physician — a gastroenterologist with a practice in Rio de Janeiro — and one of the most important early UFO researchers in South America. He represented the American Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) in Brazil and was among the first researchers to have alleged UFO physical evidence analysed scientifically. The central object of his investigations was the 1957 Ubatuba incident, in which he secured metallic fragments from an allegedly exploded disc-shaped object and arranged their analysis. Fontes died of cancer in 1968, aged 44.

• Brazilian physician (gastroenterologist with a practice in Rio de Janeiro) and ufologist
• One of the most important early UFO researchers in South America
• Representative of APRO (Aerial Phenomena Research Organization) in Brazil
• Investigated numerous cases involving physiological effects on witnesses
• Led the 1957 analysis of the Ubatuba fragments from an exploded disc-shaped object
• Arranged laboratory analysis of the metallic samples with the Brazilian National Museum; magnesium analysis
• Laid the groundwork for decades of research into anomalous isotopic ratios

For the UAP timeline, Fontes is the central figure of the Brazilian early phase: he moved physical evidence (the Ubatuba fragments) into a formal laboratory chain and thereby defined very early on what Brazilian UFO research could look like — scientifically grounded, institutionally connected and focused on physiological and material traces.