Wonders in the Sky (101 page)

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.