321 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
321 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: UFO'S THROUGHOUT HISTORY FILE: UFO2714
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MUFONET-BBS NETWORK - MUTUAL UFO NETWORK
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Contributed by: Georgia MUFON
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A PRIMER: UFO'S THROUGHOUT HISTORY
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Millions of people have seen objects in the sky that they could not
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identify, and many thousands have taken the time and trouble to submit
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written reports about them. The vast majority of these sightings could
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well be of such things as meteors, planets, stars, weather balloons,
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swamp gas, and atmospheric disturbances. There remains however, a
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significant body of experiences that are truly inexplicable.
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There is no doubt that disk shaped objects have been seen by a great
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many honest, sober, and mystified men and women. The objects have been
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tracked by ground-based and airborne radar and have been photographed
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by still and movie cameras in black and white and color. The craft have
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been observed to hover, move straight up or down, and accelerate and
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maneuver at speeds far beyond the capability of any known airplane.
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The sighting of strange objects in the sky may actually predate the
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emergence of modern man. Perhaps the earliest depiction of cylindrical
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objects resembling spacecraft, with what might be their
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extraterrestrial occupants, are those carved on a granite mountain and
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on rocks on an island in Hunan Province, China. They have been assigned
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a tentative age of 47,000 years, which puts them within the time-span
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of Neanderthal man, predating modern Homo sapiens.
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One of the first written accounts of a UFO sighting -- a fleet of
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flying saucers, perhaps -- is the following excerpt from an Egyptian
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papyrus -- part of the annals of Thutmose III, who reigned around 1504-
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1450 B.C.:
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"In the year 22 of the 3rd month of winter, sixth hour of the day...
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the scribes of the House of Life found it was a circle of fire that
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was coming in the sky... It had no head, the breath of its mouth had
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a foul odor. Its body one rod long and one rod wide. It had no
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voice. Their hearts became confused through it; then they laid
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themselves on their bellies... they went to the Pharaoh... to
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report it. His Majesty ordered... [an examination of] all which is
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written in the papyrus rolls of the House of life. His majesty was
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meditating upon what happened. Now after some days had passed, these
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things became more numerous in the skies than ever. They shone more
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in the sky than the brightness of the sun, and extended to the limits
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of four supports of the heavens... Powerful was the position of the
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fire circles. The army of the Pharaoh looked on with him in their
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midst. It was after supper. Thereupon, these fire circles ascended
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higher in the sky towards the south... The Pharaoh caused incense to
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be brought to make peace on the hearth... and what happened was
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ordered by the Pharaoh to be written in the annals of the House of
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life... so that it be remembered for ever." [Brinsley Le Poer
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Trench, "The Flying Saucer Story", pp. 81-82.]
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The prophet Ezekiel's "vision", recorded in the bible, is thought by
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some to be a UFO sighting. His description is of a strange "vehicle"
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coming from the sky and landing near the Chebar River (or canal) in
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Chaldea (now Iraq) in the fifth year of the Judean captivity (592 B.C.)
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under Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon:
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"What kind of 'machine' was this?" Ezekiel continues: And from the
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midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And from this
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was their appearance: they had the form of men, but each had four
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faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs were straight,
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and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot; and
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they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four
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sides they had human hands... each had the face of a man in front;
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the four had the face of a lion on the right side... the face of an
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ox on the left side, and... the face of an eagle at the back... and
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their wings were spread out above; each creature had two wings, each
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of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies.
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And each [creature] went straight forward... without turning as they
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went... And the living creatures darted to and fro, like a flash of
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lightning."
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Who were these humanoid "occupants"? Space-helmeted, space-suited
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astronauts with a strapped-on flying device? Or, perhaps,
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extraterrestrial flying robots? The account continues:
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"Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel upon the
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earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them.
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As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their
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appearance was like the gleaming of a chrysolite... being as it were
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a wheel within a wheel... The four wheels had rims and they had
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spokes; and their rims were full of eyes round about. And when the
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living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the
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living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose."
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Were these humanoids going back and forth into a green-glowing
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spacecraft surrounded by a ring of portholes? But there is more:
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"...there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire;
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and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness as it were
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of a human form. And upward from... his loins I saw as it were
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gleaming bronze... and there was brightness... like the appearance
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of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of the rain, so was the
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appearance of the brightness round about... And when I saw it... I
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heard the voice of one speaking."
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Ezekiel is told that the Israelites have transgressed and are to be
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punished unless they obey the Lord's commandments. Ezekiel is selected
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as the messenger to his people and is taken on board ("the spirit
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lifted me up"). The spacecraft takes off ("I heard... the sound of the
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wheels... that sounded like a great earthquake"), and Ezekiel is
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carried to Tel-abib where his fellow exiles are and where he sits
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"overwhelmed among them seven days," traumatized by his experience.
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(Ezekiel 1-3) (As we can see from contemporary UFO encounters, this
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could be interpreted as an almost classic report of the abduction and
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return of humans.)
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The roman author Julius Obsequens, believed to have lived in the fourth
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century A.D., drew on Livy as well as other sources of his time to
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compile his book "Prodigorium liber", which describes many peculiar
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phenomena, some of which could be interpreted as UFO sightings. here
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are just a few examples:
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"[216 B.C.] Things like ships were seen in the sky over Italy... At
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Arpi (180 Roman miles, east of Rome, in Apulia) a 'round shield' was
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seen in the sky... At Capua, the sky was all on fire, and one saw
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figures like ships... [99 B.C.] When C. Murius and L. Valerius were
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consuls, in Tarquinia, there fell in different places... a thing like
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a flaming torch, and it came suddenly from the sky. Towards sunset,
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a round object like a globe, or round or circular shield took its
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path in the sky, from west to east. [90 B.C.] In the territory of
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Spoletium (65 Roman miles north of Rome, in Umbria) a globe of fire,
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of golden colour, fell to the earth, gyrating. It then seemed to
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increase in size, rose from the earth, and ascended into the sky,
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where it obscured the disc of the sun, with its brilliance. It
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revolved towards the eastern quadrant of the sky. [Harold T. wilkins,
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"Flying Saucers on the Attack", pp. 164-69]
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A later chronicler of inexplicable phenomena, one Conrad Wolffhart (a
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professor of grammer and dielectrics who under the pen name of
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Lycosthenes wrote the compendium "Prodigiorium ac Ostentorum
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Chronicon", published in 1567), mentions the following events:
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"[A.D 393] Strange lights were seen in the sky in the days of the
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Emperor Theodosius. On a sudden, a bright globe appeared at
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midnight. It shown brilliantly near the day star (planet, Venus),
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about the circle of the zodiac. This globe shown little less
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brilliantly than the planet, and little by little, a great number of
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other glowing orbs drew near the first globe. The spectacle was like
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a swarm of bees flying round the bee-keeper, and the light of these
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orbs was as if they were dashing violently against each other. Soon,
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they blended together into one awful flame, and bodied forth to the
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eye as a horrible two-edged sword. The strange globe which was first
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seen now appeared like the pommel to a handle, and all the little
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orbs, fused with the first, shone as brilliantly as the first globe."
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[This report is similar to modern accounts of UFO formations.]
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[Harold T. Wilkins, "Flying Saucers on the Attack, pp. 174, 177]
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A rare typeset book from 1493, now preserved in a museum at Verdun,
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France, contains what may be the earliest pictorial representation of a
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UFO in Europe. Hartmann Schedel, author of the book "Liber
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Chronicarum", describes a strange fiery sphere --- seen in 1034 ---
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soaring through the sky in a straight course from south to east and
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then veering towards the setting sun. The illustration accompanying
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the account shows a cigar-shaped form haloed by flames, sailing through
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a blue sky over a green, rolling countryside. (Jacque Vallee, "UFO's
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in Space: Anatomy of a Phenomenon", p.9)
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A term equivalent to our "flying saucer" was actually used by the
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Japanese approximately 700 years before it came into use in the West.
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Ancient documents describe an unusual shining object seen the night of
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October 27, 1180, as a flying "earthenware vessel." After a while the
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object, which had been heading northeast from a mountain in Kii
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province, changed its direction and vanished below the horizon, leaving
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a luminous trail. (Jacques Vallee, "Passport to Magonia", pp. 4-5)
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Here is a classical description from "William of Newburgh's Chronicle"
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of a flying saucer seen in England toward the end of the 12th century:
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"At Byland, or Begeland Abbey (the largest Cistercian abbey in
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England), in the North Yorkshire Riding, while the abbot and monks
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were in the refectorium, a flat, round, shining, silvery object
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["discus" is the word used in the Latin account] flew over the abbey
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and caused the utmost terror." [Harold T. Wilkins, "Flying Saucers
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on the Attack", p. 185]
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The first official investigation of a UFO sighting occurred in Japan in
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1235. During the night of September 24, while General Yoritsume and his
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army were encamped, they observed mysterious lights in the heavens.
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The lights were seen in the southwest for many hours, swinging,
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circling, and moving in loops. The general ordered a "full-scale
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scientific investigation" of these strange events. The report finally
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submitted to him as the "soothing" ring of many contemporary
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explanations offered for UFO phenomena. In essence it read: "The whole
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thing is completely natural, General. It is... only the wind making
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the stars sway." (Jacques Vallee, "Passport to Magonia", p.5)
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Many unusual celestial events were recorded in Japanese chronicles
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during the Middle Ages. As in Western society, such occurrences were
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usually considered "portents," often resulting in panics and other
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social disturbances. Here are some examples:
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"...on September 12, 1271, the famous priest Nichiren was about to be
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beheaded at Tatsunokuchi, Kamakura, when there appeared in the sky an
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object like a full moon, shiny and bright. Needless to say, the
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officials panicked and the execution was not carried out. In 1361, a
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flying object described as being 'shaped like a drum, about twenty
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feet in diameter' emerged from the inland sea off Western Japan...
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...on March 8, 1468, a dark object, which made a 'sound like a
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wheel,' flew from Mt. Kasuga toward the west at midnight." [Jacgues
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Vallee, "Passport to Magonia", pp. 5-6]
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The Eurpoean recoed of possible UFO sightings continued through the
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14th and 15th centuries:
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"[A.D. 1322] In the first hour of the night of Novr. 4... there was
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seen in the sky over Uxbridge, Enfland, a pile (pillar) of fire the
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size of a small boat, pallid and livid in colour. It rose from the
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south, crossed the sky wirh a slow and grave motion and went north.
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Out of the front of the pile, a fervent red flame burst forth with
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great beams of light. Its speed increased, and it flew thro' the
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air... [A.D. 1387] In Novr. and Decr. of this year, a fire in the
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sky, like a burning and revolving wheel, or round barrel of flame,
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emitting fire from above, and others in the shape of long fiery beam,
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were seen through a great deal of the winter, in the county of
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Leicester, Eng., and in Northhamptonshire. [A.D. 1461] On November
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1, a fiery thing like an iron rod of good length and as large as one
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half of the moon was seen in the sky, over... Arras, France for less
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than a quarter of an hour. This object was also described as being
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"shaped like a ship, from which fire was seen flowing." [Jacques
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Vallee, "UFO's in Space: Anatomy of a Phenomenon", p. 9; Harold T.
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Wilkins, "Flying Saucers on the Attack", pp. 187, 188]
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From 1773 another classic account of one of those gleaming, silvery
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bodies today referred to as flying saucers:
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"Something in the sky which appeared in the north, but vanished from
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my sight, as it was intercepted by trees, from my vision. I was
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standing in a valley. The weather was warm, the sun shone brightly.
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On a sudden it re-appeared, darting in and out of my sight with an
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amazing coruscation. The colour of this phenomenon was like
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burnished, or new washed silver. It shot with speed like a star
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falling in the night. But it has a body much larger and a train
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longer than any shooting star I have seen... Next day, Mr. Edgecombe
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informed me that he and another gentleman had seen this strange
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phenomenon at the same time as I had. It was about 15 miles from
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where I saw it, and steering a course from E. to N."
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The witness of this event was a Mr. Cracker of Fleet, a small township
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in Dorset, England. Mr. Cracker said that he saw this "flying saucer"
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in broad daylight on December 8, 1773. ("Fate", April 1951, p. 24).
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A Fellow of the Royal Society in London was about to cross St. Jame's
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Park on his way home from a meeting on December 16, 1742, when he was
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startled by the appearance of a remarkable celestial object:
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"...a light arose from behind the trees and houses, to the south and
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west, which at first I thought was a rocket, of large size. But when
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it rose 20 degrees, it moved parallel to the horizon, and waved like
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this -- he draws an undulating line -- and went on in the direction
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of north by east. It seemed very near, its motion was very slow. I
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had it for about half a mile in view. A light flame was turned
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backward by the resistance the air made to it. From, one end, it
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emitted a bright glare and fire like that of a burning charcoal.
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That end was a flame like bars of iron, and quite opaque to my sight.
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At one point, on the longitudinal frame, or cylinder, issued a train
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in the shape of a tail of light more bright at one point on the rod
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or cylinder; so that it was transparent for more than half of its
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length. The head of this strange object seemed about half a degree
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in diameter, and the tail near three degrees in length."
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The observer signed himself "C.M.," probably preferring to remain
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anonymous to avoid the expected skepticism and scoffing of his fellow
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members. (Harold T. Wilkins, "Flying Saucers on the Attack," p. 206)
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First UFO photograph and a most unusual sighting was reported by
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Monsieur de Rostan, an amateur astronomer and member of the
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Medicophysical Society of Basel, Switzerland. On August 9, 1762, at
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Lausanne, Switzerland, he observed through a telescope a spindle-shaped
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object crossing and eclipsing the sun. Monsieur de Rostan was able to
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observe this object almost daily for close to a month. He also
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managed to trace its outline with a camera obscure and sent the picture
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to the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris. Unfortunately, his image --
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probably the first one ever obtained of a UFO -- no longer exists.
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A friend of Monsieur de Rostan, living at Sole near Basel, also
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observed the spindle-shaped object against the sun, but it seemed to
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present more of an edge and was not quite as broad. Oddly enough, the
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UFO was not visible to a third astronomer, a Monsieur Messier who
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studied the sun, during the same time, from Paris -- an indication that
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the object was not a sunspot, since it was visible only from certain
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angles. (Harold T. Wilkins, "Flying Saucers on the Attack," pp. 211-
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212)
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The last year of the 18th century had its share of celestial phenomena.
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An issue of "Gentleman's Magazine" contained the following story:
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"On Sept. 19 [1799], all England saw, at 8:30 p.m., a beautiful ball
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blazing with white light, and which passed from N.W. to S.E. It
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moved rapidly with a gentle tremulous motion, and noiselessly. The
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light cast by it was very vivid, and few red sparks detached
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themselves from it... On Nov. 12, something like a large red pillar
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of fire passed north to south over Hereford, and alarmed people in
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the Forest of Dean, dome miles away. Flashes of extremely vivid
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electrical sort preceded its appearance, and at intervals of half an
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hour, several hours before. This was at 5:45 a.m.... On this night
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the moon shone with uncommon vividness, when between 5 and 6 a.m.,
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bright lights in the sky became stationary. They then burst with not
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perceptible report, and passed north leaving behind them beautiful
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trains of floating fire. Some were pointed, some radiated. Some
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sparkled and some had large columns.... Nov. 19, at 6 a.m., folk of
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Huncoates, Lincolnshire, were alarmed by vivid flashes lasting 30
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seconds, from a ball of fire passing in the sky. [Harold T. Wilkins,
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"Flying Saucers on the Attack," p211]
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**********************************************
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* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
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