The eccentric priest claimed to have a device to see the past. Was his story true or fictional?
In the early 1960s, while on a ferry ride along the Grand Canal in Venice, Pellegrino Ernetti met François Brunet.
Both men were priests and had a passion for ancient languages, so they quickly found many common themes. When it came to interpretations of Biblical events, Ernetti suddenly declared that there was a machine that could easily answer all questions.
These words intrigued Brune terribly and he asked his new acquaintance for a second meeting.
When Father Ernetti visited the monastic cell of Brune, he spoke in more detail about the mysterious device, which he called the chronovisor.
This machine was a cabinet with a screen, antennas, many cathode tubes, levers, and dials.
The chronovisor could be tuned in such a way that the viewer saw and heard events that took place years, or even centuries ago. According to Ernetti, all information about them was stored in outer space.
With the help of the device, he and his team members watched the scene of the crucifixion of Christ, the staging of the play "Tiesta", the performances of Cicero and Napoleon Bonaparte.
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Secret team of scientists
But how could a priest build such a fantastic machine?
According to Ernetti, the idea came to him while working with Agostino Gemelli to filter the chants of Djorgoria.
Suddenly, the men heard the voice of the late Father Gemelli speaking to them. Then the priest was visited by the thought - what if all events do not disappear without a trace, but continue to exist in some immaterial form?
Then Ernetti, himself a physicist by training, attracted Nobel laureate Enrico Fermat, rocket scientist Werner von Braun and even Nikola Tesla to work on his project!
Together they managed to achieve stunning results, allowing them to personally observe many historical events.
Shocked by what he heard, Brune asked why such a wonderful invention was hidden from the public?
In response, the priest stated that the team voluntarily decided to disassemble the device. The Chronovisor could track any events and a specific person, so it could become a powerful weapon in the hands of dictators and just evil people.
Father Ernetti's evidence
However, Ernetti had only two material proofs of his words.
The first of them is a photograph of the crucified Christ, allegedly taken by him through the screen of the time-viewer.
A copy of the image appeared in the May 2, 1972 issue of the Italian weekly La Domenica Del Corriere. However, an almost identical, only mirror image of the wooden sculpture of Kullot Valera casts doubt on his words.
The handwritten text of the play "Tiesta", given by the priest to his friend, Professor Giuseppe Marasca, is also not credible.
This work of the "father of Latin poetry" Quintus Ennius is considered lost long ago. But Ernetti claimed to have recovered the text by observing Ennius through his time camera.
However, the researchers recognized it as a forgery, pointing to a small volume - only 120 lines - and a meager lexicon of Latin words and expressions.
This led scientists to believe that the author was not Ennius, but Ernetti's father himself.
Death of Ernetti's father
In 1994, Pellegrino Ernetti passed away.
After his death, the editors of one of the publications received a strange letter from an anonymous person who introduced himself as a relative of the priest.
According to him, on his deathbed, Ernetti admitted that the photograph and the play were falsifications, however, the chronovisor really exists.
Since the email was sent anonymously, it is difficult to judge its authenticity.
However, was this quiet and intelligent priest really just a compulsive liar?
Father Brune thinks otherwise. According to him, Ernetti's father was subjected to strong pressure from his superiors, which forced him to remain silent.
As for the similarities between photography and sculpture, he explained it as follows. The statue was carved by an artist under the guidance of a nun who had a vision of the crucified Christ. Sculpture and photography are similar because they both convey the true face of God.
But representatives of the Vatican Church deny the existence of such a device. Moreover, anyone who dares to take advantage of something like this will be excommunicated.
Nevertheless, there is an opinion that the chronovisor not only exists, but is also actively used by the American and British special services. However, this is a completely different story.