Zanfretta, Pier Fortunato

Pier Fortunato Zanfretta is one of Italy's most famous abductees / contactees. Between 1978 and 1981 he was abducted on several occasions by beings, claiming to be from Teetonia.

For more information on the beings he encountered, see Teetonia.

Case Description

ZANFRETTA, THE NIGHT WATCHMAN WHO SAW A UFO

(ANSA) - Genoa, September 21 - The history of UFO sightings in Liguria and Genoa immediately calls to mind the name of Pier Fortunato Zanfretta, the night watchman that in the evening of December 6, 1978 claimed to have had a close encounter with alien beings. Zanfretta, a sworn guard at the private security institute, 'Valbisagno', was found in a state of shock near to the 'Casa nostra' villa of Marzano di Torriglia, in a small village in the Genovese highlands. So far as investigators have been able to glean, it was about 11.30pm when Zanfretta turned off state highway 45 and headed for Marzano. The night watchman drove up the narrow road that leads to the centre of the village, and from there, continued towards the 'Casa Nostra' villa. ''It was already fifteen minutes past midnight - recalls the operator at the security institute who was on reception duty that evening - when the first call arrived. Zanfretta was shouting and continued to say 'it looks horrible! '. So I asked him if he was being attacked and he replied: 'No, they are not human, they are not human...' At that point the line went dead.'' Zanfretta later spoke of a large triangular light that rose up from behind the house. The watchman described it as a very bright saucer, that was longer than the villa itself. When he came to, Zanfretta said he had seen ''a huge being, 3 metres tall, with rippling skin, as though he were very fat or dressed in a loose, grey tunic''. The being immediately moved away ''in a gigantic triangular shaped light, with coloured lights flashing overhead.'' The case caused a major scandal and became even more notorious after Enzo Tortora invited Zanfretta to participate in the famous 'Portobello' transmission. The affair also had serious behind-the-scenes consequences: the caribinieri of Torriglia, under Marshal Anotonio Nucchi, found 52 eyewitnesses and a large horse shaped imprint at the point in which Zanfretta was found. To this day the Zanfretta case remains one of the most curious and fascinating Italian 'x-files'.

Source: ANSA, the Italian national press agency, on October 25, 2004, 4.05 PM

As mentioned in the introduction, it is one of the most famous Italian contactee / abduction cases. Many people have reported on the case; it appeared in Italian news papers and on Italian television. The Zanfretta case is even on the Wikipedia.

At the time of the first encounter a UFO was seen by dozens of witnesses.

The case is generally considered genuine.