Overview
Roberto Pinotti, a prominent Italian ufologist and former missile brigadier officer, has renewed attention on claims that an unidentified craft crashed near Magenta and Vergiate, in Italy’s Lombardy region, on June 13, 1933. In an interview with Georg Boch during the Ubiquity University European Disclosure Summit, Pinotti described the incident as a possible precursor to the 1947 Roswell case and outlined his belief that the Italian government recovered the object and investigated it under strict secrecy.
The event, often described by researchers as the “European Roswell,” reportedly occurred during the Fascist era under Benito Mussolini. According to Pinotti, the Italian government established a classified research effort known as Cabinet RS/33, or “Special Researches,” to examine the craft and assess its possible technological value. He said the group included senior government officials, scientists affiliated with Italy’s scientific establishment, Air Minister Italo Balbo and Foreign Affairs Minister Galeazzo Ciano.
Documents and Authenticity Claims
A central part of Pinotti’s presentation was a collection of documents he said he received anonymously in 1996 and which were allegedly connected to the Ciano family. The material reportedly included telegrams, reports and sketches concerning unusual aerial phenomena. Pinotti stated that the documents contained references to an “unknown aircraft” and to government efforts to prevent information about the incident from becoming public.
Pinotti also cited an examination carried out by Dr. Antonio Garavaglia, identified in the interview as a forensic specialist associated with the Como Tribunal. According to Pinotti, ink and paper analysis indicated that the documents were consistent with materials produced during the 1930s. These findings, however, do not by themselves establish that the reported crash occurred or that the documents accurately describe a recovered non-human craft. The provenance of the material and its interpretation remain disputed outside the UFO research community.
Alleged U.S. Retrieval
The interview also addressed the claimed fate of the object after the collapse of Mussolini’s government in 1945. Pinotti said the U.S. Office of Strategic Services, the wartime intelligence organization that preceded the CIA, obtained the craft from the SIAI Marchetti aircraft factory and transferred it to the United States. No publicly verified government record or independently examined physical evidence confirming that account has been established.
Pinotti connected the case to more recent U.S. discussions about unidentified anomalous phenomena, including statements by former intelligence officer David Grusch and other figures such as Luis Elizondo and Harald Malmgren. Grusch referred to an alleged 1933 Italian crash during his congressional testimony and related public statements, but his broader claims about secret retrieval programs have not been independently substantiated. The July 26, 2023, House hearing brought those allegations into the public record and helped drive debate over the proposed UAP Disclosure Act, which was introduced during consideration of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act.
Continuing Debate
Pinotti’s latest work, the 2024, 600-page illustrated volume UFO Italia: Da Mussolini al Pentagono, presents the Magenta case as an important chapter in the history of alleged government investigations into unexplained aerial phenomena. Supporters view the documents and the case’s connection to later testimony as evidence of a long-running international retrieval program. Skeptics argue that the available material remains insufficient, citing uncertain provenance, limited independent corroboration and the absence of publicly accessible wreckage or technical data. For now, the 1933 incident remains a historical claim under investigation rather than an established fact.
