Within SIAI
Did Vergiate Have the Right Hangars in 1933?
The Vergiate detail sounds concrete, but the public chronology raises hard questions about what facilities existed there in 1933.
On this page
- What the Magenta claim says about Vergiate
- The 1936 airfield development problem
- Records that could settle the timeline
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Introduction
One of the most concrete-sounding details in the alleged 1933 Magenta UFO crash story is the claim that the recovered object was taken to SIAI-Marchetti hangars at Vergiate. That level of specificity gives the narrative an air of historical realism. However, when the chronology of SIAI’s facilities is compared with documented industrial development in the Varese area, an important question emerges: did the facilities commonly described in modern retellings actually exist at Vergiate in 1933?
This does not settle whether the broader Magenta story is true or false. Instead, it highlights a narrower historical problem. If the specific location cannot be reconciled with the known development of the company’s infrastructure, then either the story has been simplified over time, the location has been misidentified, or later writers have projected post-1933 geography backwards onto the alleged event. That makes the Vergiate timeline one of the strongest factual tests of the narrative.
What the Magenta claim says about Vergiate
The best-known versions of the Magenta story, particularly those published by Roberto Pinotti and reproduced by The Black Vault, state that the alleged recovered craft was transported to SIAI-Marchetti hangars at Vergiate for examination under Fascist authority. The account presents the location as an existing secure aviation facility suitable for storing an unusual object. [The Black Vault]theblackvault.comThe Black Vault THE UFO FILES OF MUSSOLINI: FascistThe Black VaultTHE UFO FILES OF MUSSOLINI: Fascist …August 10, 2020 — 10 Aug 2020 — This material dealt with a purported flying saucer…
An important detail is that the same material is not entirely consistent about the destination. In discussing Alfredo Lissoni’s reconstruction, Pinotti also refers more broadly to discreet aeronautical hangars at “Vergiate or Sesto Calende.” That wording is significant because Sesto Calende was unquestionably SIAI’s historic base from the First World War onwards, whereas Vergiate has a more complicated development history. [The Black Vault]theblackvault.comThe Black Vault THE UFO FILES OF MUSSOLINI: FascistThe Black VaultTHE UFO FILES OF MUSSOLINI: Fascist …August 10, 2020 — 10 Aug 2020 — This material dealt with a purported flying saucer…
The shift from a single precise location to two possible locations suggests that even within the principal UFO literature the geographical detail is not completely fixed.
The 1936 airfield development problem
The principal chronological difficulty arises from local histories indicating that major development at Vergiate occurred after the alleged 1933 incident.
Several local historical accounts describe SIAI’s expansion at Vergiate as involving land acquisition and development around 1936 rather than 1933. If those accounts are correct, the large industrial complex commonly associated with Vergiate would not yet have existed in the form implied by many modern retellings of the UFO story. This creates a direct chronological tension between the legend and the documented evolution of the company’s facilities. [Wikipedia]WikipediaOpen source on wikipedia.org.
That does not necessarily mean that no aviation activity existed anywhere near Vergiate before 1936. Northern Italy already possessed an established aviation industry centred on Sesto Calende, Lake Maggiore and neighbouring towns. SIAI had operated since 1915, initially specialising in seaplanes, with workshops, flying schools and production facilities around Sant’Anna and Sesto Calende. Those facilities unquestionably pre-date the alleged Magenta incident. [Forgotten Airfields]forgottenairfields.comairfield sant anna 534Forgotten AirfieldsSant Anna26 Jul 2012 — After World War II SIAI-Marchetti (renamed again) emerged as a shadow of its former self and th…
The historical question is therefore more precise than often presented:
- Was there an operational SIAI hangar at Vergiate specifically in April 1933?
- Or have later writers substituted the better-known post-1936 Vergiate complex for earlier SIAI facilities elsewhere?
At present, publicly available evidence answers the second question more confidently than the first.
Why later geography may have replaced earlier geography
There are several ordinary historical reasons why the location may have shifted in later retellings without requiring deliberate fabrication.
First, companies are often remembered by their best-known later sites. During and after the Second World War, Vergiate became strongly associated with SIAI’s aircraft production. Modern readers naturally identify the company with that location even though its earlier history was centred elsewhere. [Wikipedia]WikipediaOpen source on wikipedia.org.
Second, company names evolved. The manufacturer began as SIAI, later became Savoia-Marchetti after Alessandro Marchetti’s arrival, and only later adopted the familiar SIAI-Marchetti branding. Modern authors frequently use the later corporate name when discussing earlier decades. A similar process could have affected geographical references, making later industrial landmarks appear to belong to earlier periods. [Wikipedia]WikipediaOpen source on wikipedia.org.
Third, Pinotti’s own publications already introduce uncertainty by referring to “Vergiate or Sesto Calende.” Once that ambiguity entered the literature, later summaries often reduced it to the simpler statement that the object was stored at Vergiate.
None of these possibilities demonstrates that the underlying UFO claim is false, but they illustrate how historical narratives can become more geographically precise over time even when the original evidence is less definite.
Records that could settle the timeline
The Vergiate question is unusually well suited to archival investigation because it concerns ordinary industrial history rather than extraordinary claims.
The most useful documentary evidence would include:
- company construction records showing when hangars at Vergiate entered service;
- municipal planning files and land acquisition documents from the early 1930s;
- aerial photographs from 1932–1934;
- Italian military aviation records identifying operational facilities available to SIAI in spring 1933;
- contemporary maps and insurance plans showing industrial buildings before the reported 1936 expansion.
If these records demonstrated functioning enclosed hangars at Vergiate in April 1933, one of the strongest chronological objections to that part of the story would largely disappear. Conversely, if they confirmed that the relevant facilities only appeared after 1936, the specific claim that wreckage was stored in “Vergiate hangars” would become considerably harder to reconcile with the documented timeline.
What the chronology means for the Magenta case
The Vergiate issue is one of the more tangible historical tests within the Magenta narrative because it concerns verifiable infrastructure rather than witness testimony or disputed government documents.
The available public evidence supports three relatively cautious conclusions:
- SIAI unquestionably possessed aviation facilities in the Varese region before 1933, particularly around Sesto Calende. [Forgotten Airfields]forgottenairfields.comairfield sant anna 534Forgotten AirfieldsSant Anna26 Jul 2012 — After World War II SIAI-Marchetti (renamed again) emerged as a shadow of its former self and th…
- The specific attribution of the alleged storage site to Vergiate encounters a chronological difficulty because substantial development there is widely associated with the mid-1930s rather than early 1933. [Wikipedia]WikipediaOpen source on wikipedia.org.
- The variation between “Vergiate” and “Vergiate or Sesto Calende” in the principal UFO literature suggests that the precise location may never have been firmly established, making later certainty about Vergiate appear stronger than the surviving documentary record currently supports. [The Black Vault]theblackvault.comThe Black Vault THE UFO FILES OF MUSSOLINI: FascistThe Black VaultTHE UFO FILES OF MUSSOLINI: Fascist …August 10, 2020 — 10 Aug 2020 — This material dealt with a purported flying saucer…
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Endnotes
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Source: theblackvault.com
Title: The Black Vault THE UFO FILES OF MUSSOLINI: Fascist
Link: https://www.theblackvault.com/casefiles/the-ufo-files-of-mussolini-[fascist-ufo-filesSource snippet
The Black VaultTHE UFO FILES OF MUSSOLINI: Fascist...August 10, 2020 — 10 Aug 2020 — This material dealt with a purported flying saucer...
Published: August 10, 2020
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Source: Wikipedia
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIAI-Marchetti -
Source: forgottenairfields.com
Title: airfield sant anna 534
Link: https://www.forgottenairfields.com/airfield-sant-anna-534.htmlSource snippet
Forgotten AirfieldsSant Anna26 Jul 2012 — After World War II SIAI-Marchetti (renamed again) emerged as a shadow of its former self and th...
Additional References
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Source: facebook.com
Title: italian researcher reveals evidence of worlds first ufo crash 14 years before ro
Link: https://www.facebook.com/Cosmicenigmaexplorers/posts/italian-researcher-reveals-evidence-of-worlds-first-ufo-crash-14-years-before-ro/315973604918210/Source snippet
Italian Researcher Reveals Evidence of World's 'First' UFO...Italian Military Prosecutor Roberto Pinotti confirmed that in 1933, Italy r...
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Source: facebook.com
Title: blonde blue eyed large foreheads the 1933 italian ufo crash lue elizondo also ha
Link: https://www.facebook.com/UnexplainedMysteriousUniverse/posts/blonde-blue-eyed-large-foreheads-the-1933-italian-ufo-crash-lue-elizondo-also-ha/1000139958784098/Source snippet
Lue Elizondo also has said...Italian Military Prosecutor Roberto Pinotti confirmed that in 1933, Italy recovered an unidentified flying...
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Source: facebook.com
Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/253557958093480/posts/5621835424599013/Source snippet
Italian journalist Roberto Pinotti reveals that he obtained crucial documentary evidence about the incident.Read more...
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Source: youtube.com
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpNTwh1Q0_ESource snippet
SIAI-Marchetti: Pioneers of Italian AviationItaly is one of the pioneering nations in military aviation. During the World Wars, it introd...
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Source: leonardo.com
Link: https://www.leonardo.com/en/focus-detail/-/detail/leonardo_centenario_am_1Source snippet
tiated a process of industrialisation that led to the production of 12,400 aircraft...Read more...
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Source: downey-n1.cs.northwestern.edu
Title: edubiennials verplank tsukino biysk woode nunnery icici gavar
Link: https://downey-n1.cs.northwestern.edu/downloads/OTyper_data_aaai18/FIGER_data/all_entity_str.txtSource snippet
calende dimasa kawara isuma bloco marthaville contrabasses coriolano... magenta schaub ransta spunge nyingthig hidroaysen taktsang schau...
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Source: reddit.com
Title: whistleblower david [grusch]({{ ‘grusch/’ | relative_url }}) and the italian ufo
Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/ufo/comments/14dez6j/whistleblower_david_grusch_and_the_italian_ufo/Source snippet
crash of...The story began in 1996, when several prominent ufologists in Italy, including Pinotti began receiving photocopies of hundred...
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Source: metabunk.org
Title: claim a ufo crashed in 1933 italy and the us recovered it.13282
Link: https://www.metabunk.org/threads/claim-a-ufo-crashed-in-1933-italy-and-the-us-recovered-it.13282/Source snippet
It was (maybe) taken to the Siai Marchetti hangers in Varese and maybe studied by a group called...Read more...
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Source: targeta.co.uk
Link: https://www.targeta.co.uk/vigna_di_valle.htmSource snippet
Italian Air Force Museum, Vigna di Valle - Aviation PhotographyOn May 24, 1977, the Italian Air Force Museum was officially opened at Vig...
Published: May 24, 1977
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Source: researchomnia.blogspot.com
Title: the truth about ufo in 1933 italy
Link: https://researchomnia.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-truth-about-ufo-in-1933-italy.htmlSource snippet
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE UFO IN 1933 ITALY12 Apr 2017 — It all began in early 1996 when Roberto Pinotti... hangars at Vergiate (which maybe w...
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