0.696 State ranking: 211 (out of 242 municipalities) National ranking: 3,056 (out of 5,505 municipalities) History The establishment of Alexânia is connected to the construction of Brasília and the Federal District. In 1957 Alex Abdallah, the owner of the land, created the first lots on the edge of Highway 101, between Anápolis and the new capital. These lots were distributed to the population without cost. From the beginning the settlement was officially called Alexânia, honoring its founder. At first Alexânia was only a "povoado" belonging to the municipality of Corumbá de Goiás. In 1959 it became part of a new municipality called Olhos d'Água, which had been created in 1956. In 1961 the growth of the new settlement caused the municipal seat to be moved to Alexânia, with the name remaining Olhos d'Água. In 1963 Olhos d'Água was renamed Alexânia. Extraterrestrial contacts Alexânia's main claim to fame is that there was supposedly an important UFO sighting nearby. According to witnesses, including a general in the Brazilian army, Moacir Uchoa, who had been professor of Mechanical engineering at the Brazilian military academy and went on to found a private university in Brasília called CEUB, investigators maintained contact with the extraterrestrial beings for ten months during 1969. General Uchoa died on March 5, 1996, six weeks before his ninetieth birthday. See also List of municipalities in Goiás Microregions of Goiás Notes References External links . City Brazil Municipalities in Goiás