Ep 327: The Lead Masks of Vintém Hill Part

 
TRANSCRIPT available ON REQUEST
 
“16:30 be at the specified place. 18:30 ingest capsules, after the effect, protect metals, wait for mask signal.”
— From the handwritten note found in Miguel José Viana's pocket
 

Description:

In one of Brazil’s strangest unsolved mysteries, two electronics technicians travel to Niterói in 1966, buy matching raincoats, hike up a remote hill with cash, water, towels, and a handwritten set of bizarre instructions, then turn up dead days later lying side by side on palm leaves, wearing homemade lead eye masks and showing no clear cause of death. What follows is a case that spirals far beyond a simple true-crime puzzle, with every answer leading to a bigger question: were these men victims of a bizarre accident, participants in something occult, or did they believe they were about to witness something not of this world?

 
 

AL327: Bibliography

Books

Spencer, John. UFOs: The Definitive Casebook. London: Hamlyn Publishing Group, 1991. 

https://www.ainsworthbooks.com/product/18358/UFOS-the-Definitive-Casebook

Vallée, Jacques. Confrontations: A Scientist's Search for Alien Contact. New York: Ballantine Books, 1990. https://www.amazon.com/Confrontations-Scientists-Search-Alien-Contact/dp/1933665297?tag=ustxtaddt-20

PDF book in Portuguese: Maes, Hercílio. A Vida no Planeta Marte e os Discos Voadores. 9th ed. Limeira, Brazil: Editora do Conhecimento, n.d. 

https://files01.core.ac.uk/download/296854739.pdf

Articles & Blogs

Covo, C. "O Caso Mascaras de Chumbo Revisado." UFO. Editora Evolucao, January 25, 2012. http://www.ufo.com.br/artigos/o-caso-mascaras-de-chumbo-revisado/.

Dunning, Brian. "Solving the Lead Masks of Vintem Hill." Skeptoid Podcast, January 21, 2014. https://skeptoid.com/episodes/398.

Ghost Theory. "The Mysterious 'Lead Masks Case'." Ghost Theory, September 18, 2011. https://www.ghosttheory.com/2011/09/18/the-mysterious-lead-masks-case

Korbus, J. "What Happened on Vintém Hill?: The Mystery of the Lead Masks." Who Forted?, April 10, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032934/http://weekinweird.com/2011/04/10/what-happened-on-vintem-hill-the-mystery-of-the-lead-masks/

PMIG96. "The Lead Masks Case." pmig96 (blog), May 10, 2021. https://pmig96.wordpress.com/lead-masks-case-sources-part-1/.

Multimedia (Video, Audio & Television)

Qxir. "The Unsolved Mystery of the Lead Masks Case | Tales From the Bottle." YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHBgzOTP1RY

Rede Globo. "Linha Direta - 1990 - Máscaras de Chumbo." YouTube video, 39:40. Aired March 29, 1990. Uploaded by Arquivo Linha Direta, May 5, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoPHYQuAlnw.

Stuff They Don't Want You To Know. "The Lead Mask Case." YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F2U9hNmWN4

The Casual Criminalist. "The Lead Masks of Vintém Hill." YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96S5KA4bfp0

Reference Works (Wikipedia)

Wikipedia. "1964 Brazilian coup d'état." https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1964_Brazilian_coup_d%27état&oldid=1340935598.

Wikipedia. "Caso delle maschere di piombo". Italian Wikipedia. https://it.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Caso_delle_maschere_di_piombo&oldid=149654429.

Wikipedia. "Lead masks case". English Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_masks_case.

Social Media & Forums

Unique_Direction_518. "The Lead Masks of Vintem Hill, an unsolved mystery from brazil." Reddit (r/UnresolvedMysteries).https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/1ouluy0/the_lead_masks_of_vintem_hill_an_unsolved_mystery/

 

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CREDITS:

Episode 327: The Lead Masks of Vintém Hill Part 1. Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess. Audio Editing by Sarah Vorhees Wendel of VW Sound. Music and Sound Design by Allen Carrescia. Tess Pfeifle, Producer and Lead Researcher. Ed Voccola, Technical Producer. Research Support from The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright 2026 Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

UFOs & Aliens, True Crime, Unexplainable PhenomenaForrest Burgess2026, alien, U.F.O., UFO, UAP, Vintém Hill, Brazil, death, murder, lead masks, unsolved mystery, 327, Miguel José Viana, Manoel Pereira da Cruz, Campos dos Goytacazes, Niterói, Hollywood Radio and Television Institute, August 16th, 1966, São Paulo, cruzeiros, Portugese, Macaé, VintemComment