Ominous images of a perfectly spherical UFO, seemingly dotted with yellow ‘landing lights,’ have left some researchers certain one is ‘the first selfie with a UFO in history.’

Taken by Brazilian UFO researcher and author Edie Meireles in 2011, the snaps show the apparent craft above a hiking trail to ‘La cascada de la purificación,’ a chilly waterfall in Brazil’s high-alтιтude Chapada Diamantina National Park.

What followed, at least, according to one of Meireles’ UFO-hunting peers, was years of ‘threats and intrigues’ — with two members of their group ‘killed by the military’ and three more ‘abducted.’

And by Meireles’ own account, his sighting in one of South America’s most scenic ecological preserves led to a raid on his home by ‘soldiers in camouflage and black.’

PH๏τos, taken by Brazilian UFO researcher and author Edie Meireles in 2011 (pictured), show the an ominous apparent craft above a hiking trail to ‘La cascada de la purificación’ – a chilly waterfall in the South American nation’s high-alтιтude Chapada Diamantina national park

In a recent, March 2022 post to the group UFOs Bahai  on Facebook, Meireles boasted that his candid snap was ‘the only selfie with a flying saucer.’ Above, a second and less clear ‘UFO selfie’ from Meireles’ alleged encounter with a flying orb in Chapada Diamantina national park

What followed, at least, according to one of Meireles’ UFO-hunting peers, was years of ‘threats and intrigues’ — with two members of their group ‘killed by the military’ and three more ‘abducted.’ Above, another pH๏τo from Meireles’ 2011 UFO encounter

Skeptics on social media, however, have alleged that the pH๏τos are everything from ‘sky lanterns’ held aloft by H๏τ air from candles to outright doctored images.

DailyMail.com reached out to Meireles for further comment — but the researcher, who serves as admin for ‘el Grupo de Pesquisa Tecnológica Extra Avançada’ (‘the Extra-Advanced Technology Research Group’) on Facebook has not replied.

But, in a March 2022 post, Meireles boasted that his candid snaps were ‘the only selfie with a flying saucer.’

And, in a submission to Brazilian nonprofit Museu da Pessoa (Museum of the Person) the UFO researcher recounted his trips back to the national park for repeated, but less-well-documented, encounters with these UFOs and their occupants.

Those expeditions, documented in his book Fieldworkers: Pesquisadores de Campo in 2016, according to Meireles, led to further unwanted encounters with the military.

‘The result of the interrogation was […] Fractures: 4 left ribs and left knee […] Perforation with bleeding in the left lung,’ and worse, Meireles told the nonprofit.

‘I was hospitalized for 12 days at the Chapada Regional Hospital, in Seabra-Ba, my medical history is there for anyone who wants to investigate,’ according to the Brazilian UFO researcher.

Meireles’ version of his UFO experiences at the national park, includes more surreal encounters with beings and a prophecy of global environmental cataclysm: ‘a natural collapse, with a lack of renewable resources, drinking water, and wood for construction,’ as he told the nonprofit museum.

Fact or fiction, his story has a fitting setting in Brazil’s Chapada Diamantina National Park, established in September 1985 to protect a host of rare, endangered species native to these Atlantic Forest plateaus 3,000 feet about sea level.

Brazil’s giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus), its giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) and Chaco eagle (Buteogallus coronatus) are all protected species that call the park home.

Above, another pH๏τo from Meireles’ 2011 UFO encounter

Above, lateral blur on the apparent craft appears to indicate a form of propulsion in another pH๏τo alleged to be from Meireles’ 2011 UFO encounter

Above, another image of lateral blur on the apparent ‘alien spacecraft’ – which appears to indicate a form of propulsion in another image from Meireles’ alleged 2011 UFO encounter

One account of the 2011 sighting, attributed to Meireles, described a UFO whose onboard devices or novel means of propulsion managed to either accidentally or intentionally leave him stranded in the park.

‘I got out of the car and pH๏τographed,’ according to a Reddit posting quoting Meireles. ‘It was an indescribable wonderful emotion to have pH๏τographed a UFO so clearly visible.’

But, the account continues: ‘About 40 minutes later, still on the road, my car turned off, I braked, I tried to turn the key and nothing, absolutely nothing.

‘I saw a light on the hood and I looked up and there was a UFO standing on top of my car, I opened the door and ran,’ the account continues.

‘I even stopped to take a Selfie with them. My car was towed by a tractor the next day, it burned all electrical parts.’

This version of his encounter states that Meireles was travelling to the historic district near the national park, Serra de Igatú, although a 2016 posting apparently by Meireles on Facebook ᴀsserts the images were taken on his was to the waterfall at the park known as ‘La cascada de la purificación.’

Above, ‘Mosquito Waterfall,’ one of many waterfalls like the ‘La cascada de la purificación’ from Meireles’ UFO encounter, visited by tourists of Brazil’s Chapada Diamantina National Park