Fig. 64: Three suns seen in 1492
Having assembled such a body of information, in itself a never-ending process, the challenge becomes one of validation and selection. In order to avoid creating the kind of misleading framework found in the literature, we cannot presuppose anything about the nature of the data we present. At the same time, we have to be faithful to the beliefs and statements of the participants: if they thought they were witnessing a divine manifestation or a contact with a creature from another world, we cannot censor that information, and indeed it is relevant to the way they color their testimony.
The primary phase of the selection process has to do with the elimination of what we now recognize as natural phenomena. Reliable knowledge about meteors and comets is of quite recent introduction: as late as 1803 the French Academy of Sciences didn’t believe that stones could fall from the sky, and the movement of comets still baffles the average citizen today.
Reports of seemingly miraculous events, such as pillars of light in the sky or triple moons, are explained today as atmospheric effects but were understandably baffling to ancient writers. We should be grateful to them for preserving these items, even as they presented them in a supernatural context. Their contribution has augmented our ability to compute the orbit of comets by going back to sightings over the centuries. Similarly, the frequency of meteors, hence the structure and origin of our solar system, is better known because of such ancient records.
In his book entitled L’Atmosphère, Camille Flammarion gives numerous examples of stories based on meteorological observations misinterpreted as supernatural phenomena, and later correlated with political events. Flammarion cites such a compilation by a friend of his, Dr. Grellois, concerning “mystical meteorology.”
In compiling the data for this book we have tracked down, read and ultimately rejected far more cases than we have kept. As we saw in Part II, many events listed in the contemporary literature of unusual aerial phenomena turn out to be meteors, comets, auroras or tornadoes reframed as “disks” or “craft”. When medieval witnesses observed something burning in the sky they could only assume it was made of wood, hence the “flaming beam” over a German hillside in one classic illustration. Modern witnesses make similar assumptions when they jump to the conclusion that unidentified flying objects are necessarily spaceships from another world. Every century, every culture (including our own Western scientific culture) has its own myopia and peculiar obsessions.
For our own purposes, whenever we could not find compelling evidence to indicate the object was NOT a meteor, a comet or an atmospheric effect, we have generally excluded the case from our Chronology.
Rules for inclusion
Once such natural misidentifications are removed, one is left with a mix of stories that range from the factual description of puzzling phenomena (perhaps because we are missing a crucial piece of information) to extraordinary claims that are the stuff of legend, and are often embedded into religious belief systems. The problem then becomes one of setting consistent criteria. In the present book we have applied the following set of rules:
Rule 1: Credibility.
Cases that we found, to the best of our estimation, to be fictional or fraudulent were excluded from the main chronology, but some of them were kept as background reference, historical milestones or educational material in our section on “Myths, Legends, and the Chariots of the Gods” (Part II of the book).
Rule 2: Space and time.
Cases must have a specific place and time associated with them in order to be retained in the Chronology. Statements like “There were numerous reports of lights in the sky in tenth-century Asia” or “Hopi traditions allude to contact with space beings” are not helpful. They offer no historical correlation and are almost impossible to research in the context of our project. Legendary events cannot be assigned a date in a real chronology. No years can be given for the dynasties of probably fictitious kings. We expect to have at least a specific region or location and an approximate date.
We relaxed this rule somewhat for ancient cases and gradually tightened it as one got closer to the present century. We take pride in starting and ending the chronology at real, reliable dates.
Rule 3: Description of the phenomenon.
Cases must describe a specific phenomenon in sufficient detail so that common explanations (such as meteors, comets or illusions) can be recognized and excluded. The phenomenon should be linked to an aerial phenomenon or items closely related to contact with an aerial object or a non-human entity. Here again, we have relaxed these standards somewhat as we looked further back in time.
Rule 4: Witness identification.
Cases where witnesses are cited (or, even better, identified by name and function) are given greater weight than general statements about an event, especially when they make it possible to verify the existence and credibility of that particular person.
Hoaxes
We have attempted to detect and eliminate hoaxes from our chronology, but we do see such stories as important social indicators rather than spurious narratives: in order for a hoax to be credible to those who hear it, it must fit into the general belief system of the society that surrounds the author of the hoax. If we assume that actual stories of unusual observations are repressed in a given era (by Church authorities intent on fighting witchcraft, or by a “rationalist” régime determined to stamp out potentially subversive ideas) then it makes sense that we would only hear of the phenomena through the indirect channel of legends, fairy tales, and hoaxes.
The problem of false testimony becomes more complex when the authors of the hoax belong to a power system, such as a religious group or a political structure. Hoaxes then become tools for disinformation and for the shaping of society, using the credulity of common citizens to propagate a certain faith or to maintain existing structures.
Throughout history this device has been used for the convenience of emperors, kings, and Popes, and it is still being used today in disinformation and psychological warfare. For this reason we have made a special effort to track down the sources of the stories we have related, to the extent that the background could be researched.
“Explanations”
One of the secret pleasures and rewards of this work has been the study of the various “explanations” given by scholars of every era to dismiss the observations brought to them by common people.
The following figure is a case in point: on 7 March 1715, starting in the evening and lasting until 3 A.M., a strange mist arose over an English village. Inside this mist or cloud, the witnesses thought they saw the figure of a frightening giant holding a sword. This is related fully in a pamphlet entitled A Full and True Relation of the Strange and Wonderful Apparitions, etc., which is kept in the British Museum.
Fortunately for rationalists everywhere, a certain expert named Doctor Flamstead was able to “explain” this phenomenon (and several following it) in terms of “the darkness of people’s conscience,” which “seeks to destroy Church and State.”
Fig. 65: “Full and true relation…”
Thus the fantastic celestial apparition, instead of shaking up the existing state of knowledge, became interpreted – on the contrary – as a solemn reminder that the masses must stay in line, and always support the ruling class.
As for the man in the cloud, “his heart is full of envy, heart and fury, seeking the destruction of all love and charity.”
In all periods, we are able to observe the stupidity and the arrogance of such self-styled “rationalist” scholars who seize upon the sense of wonder, terror or hope of their contemporaries to advance their own preconceived theories, and to reinforce the existing order.
The special problem of crashed saucers
Since 1947, when North American newspapers reported on dozens of mysterious “flying saucers” that had fallen into parks, backyards, and streams, there has existed an almost morbid obsession with dead aliens and wrecked spacecraft. This, too, is a very old
story.
During our research, Chris Aubeck has come across numerous legends of artificially made objects falling from the sky, including swords, shields, books, jewels, and statues, plus the occasional meteorite bearing hieroglyphic inscriptions. Stories of this kind are being catalogued for a future study but have not been retained in the present work.
We have also noted that a whole genre of stories about aerial travelers in trouble emerged in medieval times. Amusing tales were told of ships from the clouds that ran into technical difficulties over Great Britain, leaving behind such items as anchors. Though dated only approximately, they have been included for reference.
Until we find evidence to the contrary, we must conclude that tales involving actual UFO crashes (as we understand the term today) materialized as “factual reports” in mid to late 19th century newspapers, but the earliest crash report was described in French science fiction as early as 1775.
The special problem of “dragons”
The accounts most closely resembling UFO crashes within the scope of our chronology come from Chinese lore and describe the fall of “dragons.” For example, we have mentioned the episode of 1169 AD, when dragons were seen battling in the sky during a thunderstorm and pearls like carriage wheels fell down on the ground, where they were found by herds’ boys. These pearls would constitute physical proof that a phenomenon had occurred but unfortunately nothing more is said about them.
A similar situation occurred one night in the late Fourth Century AD when Lu Kwang, King of Liang, saw a black dragon in the sky: “Its glittering eyes illuminated the whole vicinity, so that the huge monster was visible till it was enveloped by clouds which gathered from all sides. The next morning traces of its scales were to be seen over a distance of five miles, but soon were wiped out by the heavy rains.”
One of Kwang’s attendants told him that the omen foretold “a man’s rise to the position of a ruler,” adding that he would no doubt attain such a rank. Lu Kwang rejoiced when he heard this, and did actually become a ruler some time afterwards. More than a century later, in 1295, two dragons fell into a lake at I Hing. This was followed by a strong wind which raised the level of the water “more than a chang,” that is, some 10 feet. The fourteenth century chronicler of this incident, Cheu Mih, adds that he had personally seen the results of another ‘dragonfall’ himself. Seeing the scorched paddy fields of the Peachgarden of the Ts’ing, he interviewed one of the villagers about it. “Yesterday noon there was a big dragon that fell from the sky,” he was told. “Immediately he was burned by terrestrial fire and flew away. For what the dragons fear is fire.”
This raises the question of exactly what the Chinese of that era understood by the words we now translate as “dragons,” obviously a term that covered a wide variety of aerial phenomena, rather than our simple contemporary image of a flying, fire-belching serpent with wings.
In cases when the circumstances surrounding the dragon are clearly stated (storms, destruction, lightning strikes, objects lifted into the sky) it seems that the terrified witnesses were observing tornadoes, with funnel clouds in the shape of giant serpents whipping around in the sky and causing widespread disaster.
Entities
Anomalies involving interaction with entities similar to those often associated with aerial phenomena, pose a special challenge. A shining being stepping outside a ball of light and addressing the witness is a valid entry in the chronology, but what about the shining being by itself, entering a room or meeting the witness, without any other aerial phenomenon reported? We excluded most of these cases from our list, keeping only instances where the interaction had a special relevance to the overall phenomenon.
This decision may be challenged by our readers. In defense, we were concerned that, the moment we added superhuman beings by themselves and suggested they communicated with humans (either to give warnings or advice or tools or instructions) every other case in our chronology would get tinged with a sense of deliberate purpose. There are anomalies and patterns here, but we should not lead the reader into believing that certain types of entities are necessarily behind the phenomena.
There is an extraordinary abundance of entity sightings (angels, demons, gods, and ghosts) in ancient chronicles. To distinguish between fictional and factual accounts now is impossible, and to use any and all would mean lumping aerial phenomena with crypto-zoological creatures willy-nilly. If we take folklore, mysticism, phantoms, fantasy, dreams, and omens as our source, entity-only sightings would easily outnumber sightings of aerial phenomena by a hundred to one, so an exhaustive catalogue containing both is not helpful.
No known criteria helps us sort “ufonauts” from other kinds of creatures (such as a mermaid, or a sea serpent) when no aerial phenomenon is present. We prefer to inform the reader that accounts involving supernatural entities were contemporaneous with aerial phenomena reports throughout history, pointing out that such stories do corroborate some aspects of the enigma as testified by modern witnesses, but that may imply a relationship that is beyond the scope of our compilation. Our purpose in this book is to explore an unknown phenomenon, manifesting throughout history, possibly misinterpreted by every culture in terms of its own history or religion. We suspect that the data we have compiled in our Chronology indicates the presence of a previously unknown physical element.
Biblical accounts
Religious texts such as the Bible contain many references to flying objects that are assumed to represent divine manifestations. For example, Zachariah relates that he saw such an object: “I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll. And he said unto me, ‘What seest thou?’ And I answered, ‘I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits’” (approximately 40 feet).
Descriptions of celestial chariots, visions of the Throne of God (Merkhaba), or the Shekinah generally cannot be related to specifically dated phenomena, and belong in a general analysis of religious, symbolic or mythical imagery.
Most Biblical references to UFO-like phenomena place them within a complex narrative in which divine entities intervene to assist a particular group of people for what can only be described as political and religious reasons. The difference between, say, Jane Lead’s mystical experiences in the 17th century and those of the Bible is that Lead was shown spectacular things that she later interpreted in bursts of guided inspiration, whereas “celestial intervention” in the Bible had a dramatic, strategic effect. Biblical accounts show divine entities intimately working for and alongside whole communities, whereas Lead’s experiences are personal and private, like those of contemporary abductees.
This means that while the physical phenomena described in the Bible resembled aerial phenomena from other historical periods, their function had a far greater impact, biased towards an ultimate goal affecting a larger number of people. This makes them stand apart from other accounts we read, whether we believe in the scriptures or not.
Given this background, the placement of the few biblical stories we quoted raised some important issues. The two authors have had many discussions and occasionally heated debates on this point. A case could be made to leave Ezekiel in the main chronology but to exclude other Biblical events. Accounts of pillars of fire and light, on the other hand, are suitable for the chronology because they don’t imply any effort on the part of the phenomena themselves to become intimate with the witnesses, any more than the North Star to a traveler.
We dislike the idea of portraying aerial phenomena as having selectively aided one religious order or community above others. This has led the authors to debate what message the sightings conveyed to our readers: Is it wise, we asked ourselves, to transmit this message with its religious context when we wanted the book to be useful to a world of researchers working in different cultures? Yet the fact that certain communities, such as the Hebrews, the ancient Chinese or the followers of Clovis have interpreted unidentified aerial phenomena as divinely-ordained craft desi
gned to help them cannot be ignored.
The contemporary belief among many ufologists that America is secretly aided by crashed saucer technology from Roswell represents a similar pattern in our own century. We can only note these beliefs and move on.
Fig. 66: The vision of Zacharias
The correlation between many unexplained sightings and religious or historical events brings up three important observations about potential biases in our data:
(1) Events that were received within a religious context were better preserved simply because witnesses, priests and monks generally could read and write. They had a tradition and techniques of preserving records. Furthermore, they thought the observation was important. (Similarly, UFOs seen over nuclear plants or missile silos are more likely to be watched and documented today.)
(2) If people attach spiritual significance to what they see, it affects their behavior and is invested with more lasting reality than witnessing a passing light in the sky.
(3) The fact that witnesses perceived transcendent images in the phenomena may be part of the mechanism of the phenomena.
Hence our argument that cases coinciding with religious dates or historical events are not necessarily the imaginative or fanciful product of obsolete belief systems. Unusual events are more likely to be recorded for posterity when they occur in important places, or on important dates, or to important people. If some kind of UFO reality is accepted (however simplistic) in such circumstances, a purely folkloric interpretation is not necessarily the best theory.
Wonders in the Sky Page 38
