Safari tours to view the exotic wildlife in the swamps of Brazil's Matto Grosso may never be the same again.
The 89,000 square mile Pantanal nature reserve -- more famous for species like yellow anacondas, caymans, giant ant-eaters, howler monkeys and jaguars -- is preparing to encourage other creatures.
Officials in the nearby town of Barra do Garcas have designated 12 acres as the world's first UFO airport.
The Pantanal is already the UFO hotspot of the world, with hundreds more sightings reported than anywhere else.
Local Councillor Valdon Vargao, who initiated the plan and has made nationwide tours with Mayor Vilmar Peres to publicise the UFO airport, said: "They can call me mad. But I'm doing humanity a service."
He insists: "My main concern is to maintain a cordial and official relationship with the extraterrestrials."
His "Interspace Aerodrome" signs have gone up all over the fenced off site in preparation for concreting it over -- just to make sure the UFOs do not get stuck in the mud.
Brazil's foremost UFO expert, A.J. Gervaerd -- whose centre for Flying Saucer Research is on the edge of the Pantanal -- is in regular contact with Valdon Vargao.
"A.J." as he is known to UFO spotters across the world, said: "They're very excited about it in Barra do Garcas and there is huge interest in UFOs in Brazil generally."
[The UNITED KINGDOM UFO MAILING LIST and be reached by email at ufo@holodeck.demon.co.uk, and on the World Wide Web at http://www.waverider.co.uk/~paulj/ufo/ufo1.html]
Original file name: CNI - Brazil's UFO Airport
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