Ancient times
Very interesting data about the visit of the gods are set forth in the ancient Indian manuscript "Vimanika Shastra", written in the 4th century. BC. sage Maharishi Bharadwaja based on even more ancient manuscripts of the first and second millennia BC. This manuscript contains 32 secrets of the action of air chariots, or "vimana", mentioned in various sources of the ancient Indian epic.
“The flying chariots were shaped like a sphere and moved through the air with the help of mercury, which created a strong wind and pushed the car. The people sitting in the car could cover great distances in a very short time …"
It turns out that the vimanas were so strong that they could not be broken or burned. By switching on various kinds of switches, the "vimaanas" were able to: rotate around their axis; shrink or expand, that is, decrease or increase in size; emit a strong radiance or, conversely, form absolute darkness around you; absorb the sun's rays and become invisible; move at high speed; fly from one country to another and from one world to another; move in jumps or zigzags; dive (apparently into the water); emit rays of light, under the influence of which all objects became visible; receive on their screens an image of what is happening at a considerable distance, etc.
When considering the properties of these "vimanas" it is striking that they are very similar to the properties of modern UFOs, which were revealed in the second half of the XX century. And this once again confirms that the objects that we now call UFOs existed in ancient times.
According to the UFO classification system adopted in the early years of the development of this doctrine, "vimana" was the name of the classic "flying saucer", that is, a disc-shaped flying body the size of a small plane with a team of several creatures, capable of landing on the ground. The word "vimana", according to Gibbons, comes from the Sanskrit concept meaning "celestial chariot." The Indian UFO teachings state that the ancient Indians knew three types of vimanas. Thirty-two "secrets" were needed to manage them. To build an indestructible aircraft required the performance of certain occult rituals and the recitation of mantras - special names and spells. For the first time, we meet with such a concept as the ability of a UFO to change volume and shape, noted later by observers. One of the magical "secrets" allowed the vimana to become invisible, with the help of another, the pilot could allegedly change the appearance of the vimaana, make it intimidating, for example, give the vimana the shape of an animal (tiger or lion), or even turn the vimana into a beautiful woman adorned with jewels and flowers. With the help of such “secrets”, the vimana could exert a “poisonous” influence on people at a distance, deprive them of their senses and even immerse them in a coma; take the form of a cloud, fly in a zigzag.deprive them of their feelings and even immerse them in a coma; take the form of a cloud, fly in a zigzag.deprive them of their feelings and even immerse them in a coma; take the form of a cloud, fly in a zigzag.
The secrets required to control the vimana are reminiscent of some UFO sightings. Sometimes such objects fly in a zigzag fashion, making the well-known "movement of a falling leaf". They are also able to paralyze people and even deprive them of consciousness if they come too close. Some UFOs are compared with bizarre clouds - "cloud-like cigars". UFO sightings often feature terrible creatures and beautiful aliens. Sometimes the described UFOs become invisible under certain circumstances.
From the point of view of the alleged ability of vimanas to take the form of animals, namely big cats, it is curious that reports of the appearance in England of "cougars", which have been associated with UFO activities, look interesting. The ostensibly mystical nature of the driving force of the wimanas is consistent with the modern belief that UFOs are in fact a spiritual as well as a psychological phenomenon. Virtually all the features of the construction and management of Vimanas do not contradict the analysis of UFOs carried out by the American theologian Father Seraphim Rose, who wrote extensively about the Hindu roots of the UFO phenomenon and its essentially spiritualistic nature.
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Repeated mentions of flights of unknown disc-shaped objects in the sky are contained in the chronicles of the campaigns of Alexander the Great. It is known that Alexander's trip to Mesopotamia was accompanied by a UFO flight. The most interesting description can be found in The History of Alexander the Great by Giovanni Droysen. It dates back to 332 BC, when the Phoenician city of Tire was under siege by the Macedonians.
One day, five "flying shields" suddenly appeared over the Macedonian camp, moving across the sky in a triangular formation, and the object moving in the head was about twice the size of the others. In front of thousands of astonished warriors, these "shields" slowly made several circles over Tire, after which lightning flashed from them, forming breaches in the walls. The delighted Macedonians rushed to the assault, and the "flying shields" continued to circle over the city until it was completely captured. Then they went up with great speed and disappeared.
Flights of some unknown objects were also observed in Ancient Greece. So, the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras, who lived in the 5th century. BC, saw in the sky an object the size of a large "log" (now they would say "cigar-shaped"), hanging motionless for several days and emitting an unusual glow. Another Greek philosopher Seneca, who lived in the 1st century. BC, in his work "Questions of Naturalism" wrote: "In our era, more than once observed in the sky on bright days, beams of light that crossed the sky from east to west or vice versa … Objects described by Posidonius belong to the same genus: pillars and shields enveloped in flames, as well as other luminous objects … These lights appear in the sky not only at night, but during the day, and are neither stars nor parts of celestial bodies …"
The "shield" flying across the sky over Arpia was described by Titus Livy in his History of Rome.
"Flying discs" - that's what he called them! - saw Aristotle. We have no reason to disbelieve this author: in the light of our own truthfulness, it was only possible to accuse Plato of an “invention” concerning Atlantis.
Now let's try to ask the question: where are they from? And consider the purely theoretical version offered in the next chapter.
One of the characteristic descriptions is found in Plutarch's Greek History. It says that in 102 BC. in the sky over the Italian cities of Ameri and Turdent appeared huge darts and flaming "shields", which at first moved separately, and then merged together. At the same time, some objects overtook each other, although there was no noticeable confrontation between them. Among the moving bodies were cigar-shaped and disc-shaped objects.
The second incident described by Plutarch occurred in 73 BC. not far from the Dardanelles, where the troops of the Roman commander Lucullus and the Bosporan king Mithridates were preparing to join the battle: “… when suddenly the sky opened up and a large fiery body, like a barrel, was seen, which swept down into the gap between both armies. Frightened by this sign, the opponents dispersed without a fight."
Especially many messages about mysterious flying objects of a round shape are contained in the works of Roman historians and writers: Titus Livius, Cicero, Pliny the Elder and Dion Cassius.
Aristotle called them celestial disks, and Pliny in the second volume of his "Natural History" gave the following classification of the luminous objects observed then: "discoids" - disc-shaped, amber in color with a small number of rays emanating from them; "Pitei" - barrel-shaped or round; "Seratyi" - horn-shaped; "Lamps" - in the form of a burning torch.
When describing these objects, Roman authors usually compared them with such well-known concepts as the sun, moon, round shields, logs, etc.
In general, an analysis of 50 works of Roman authors shows that they describe the appearance of lights in the sky - 39 times, flying "shields" - 11, fireballs - 8, two or more suns - 12, night "sun" - 5 and unknown objects - 7 times.
Very rare reports of observations of unknown flying objects in the first centuries of our era have survived. Here is one of them: “In 235 in China, a fiery-red 'meteor' appeared over the disposition of the troops of the commander Li-anj near Wei-Nan, moving from northeast to southwest and emitting dagger rays. Three times he landed in front of troops of Li-anja and behind them, moving forward and backward."
The chronicles tell about Huang Di, which in the XXI century BC. descended from the sky together with his assistants in the area of the Yellow River. After becoming emperor, Huang-di taught people to dig wells, to be treated with acupuncture, to make boats and musical instruments … But most of all, earthlings were surprised not by new knowledge, but by an amazing tripod, on which their teachers flew "no one knows where". This apparatus could “rest and walk”, “become light and heavy”, “fly in the clouds like a dragon”, in addition, it “had no barriers in the past and future”!
UFO during the Middle Ages
Although the term "flying saucer" was first used in 1878, the sources that have come down to us - chronicles and other documents - suggest that in the 6th-17th centuries. in a number of European countries, Japan and China, unknown flying objects have been observed.
Most of these messages featured glowing balls moving across the sky, although both disc-shaped and cigar-shaped objects were observed.
Japanese records include 1,180 mentions of a flying "clay ship". In 1235, the Japanese commander Ioritsuma with his army saw glowing objects in the shape of saucers that appeared above them, which throughout the night described circles and loops in the sky, leaving a luminous trail.
In 934, a strange object was observed in China, which repeatedly changed shape in flight, and in 1015 in Japan, from two small flying objects, several luminous balls of smaller sizes flew out.
Chinese chroniclers of the beginning of the first millennium reported: “… Lü Gong, nicknamed Wen-ching, together with a servant and a maid, were looking for healing means between the ridges. Suddenly he noticed three people in the gorge. Addressing Lui, they said: “We are immortal celestials from the chambers of Great Purity and Great Harmony … If you follow with us, the secret of immortality will be revealed to you.” Following this, Lu and the celestials disappeared for 2 days. They taught him a secret spell., releasing Liu, they said: "You, venerable, spent 2 days with us, but 2 years have passed in the human world." Lü Gong returned, but saw an empty dwelling. None of the sons and grandchildren remained … "(" Purple Jasper ", Chinese narrative prose of the 1st-4th centuries).
In the saga "The Voyage of Bran, son of Febal", the protagonist, having stayed in the "big house" for one day and returning home by ship, noticed that several generations of people had changed during this time, and he was remembered only thanks to ancient oral legends.
Cigar-shaped objects were noted in 783 over Telkaun (England), in 848 and over France.
In 1270, the inhabitants of Bristol saw an unusual aircraft over the city and how one of its inhabitants, having left the aircraft, “suffocated and burned up” in the earth's atmosphere!
There are also known examples when several flying objects were combined into one, as was the case in 989 and 1423. over Japan, in 1167 over England and in 1699 - in the Avignon region (France). In these cases, flying objects emitted rays.
In the manuscript of Amplefort Abbey (England), it is said that "one day in 1290 a huge oval silvery body, like a disk, appeared over the heads of the frightened monks, which slowly flew over them, causing great horror."
An interesting message was found in one of the Irish monasteries. The medieval Irish chronicles (also recorded in the thirteenth century) Speculum Regale described how “one day the monks of Clonmacnoise were gathering for a service in front of the church, and suddenly, looking up from their thoughts, saw a ship floating above them in the air, as if on the sea. When the ship's crew saw a group of monks and an inhabited place below, the unknown dropped the anchor, which fell right in front of the church. The monks surrounded him. Following the anchor, a man descended from the ship. He swam as if he were in the water, until he reached the anchor. The monks pounced on him. “For God's sake, let me go! - shouted the unknown, - you will drown me. "Then he escaped from them, floating up into the air, as before, taking the anchor with him."
In 1490, in Ireland, a silvery disc-shaped object flew over the rooftops several times, leaving a long trail. During its passage, the bell tore off the bell.
Flying objects in the form of shields or discs were also observed in other countries and at other times: in 776, during the siege of the castle of Zigibur; 1209 over Bayland Abbey in England; in 1553 over Stockholm; in 1676 over Tuscany.
Medieval French chronicles tell about a man on "ships-clouds". In 1491, seven people "made of air" in "shiny shoes" visited Fatsis Cardan in Italy.
In 1517, in the logbook of one of the ships of the squadron of the conquistador João de Grijalva, located near the Yucatan Peninsula, it was recorded that a strange object appeared over the masts of the ships, which then hovered for 3 hours over the village of Kuotzakoalka, emitting bright rays.
In 1520, a large ball flew over Erfurt, accompanied by two small balls, and a rotating beam emanated from the large ball.
In 1561, the inhabitants of Nuremberg in Germany watched as several circular objects "fell to the ground, engulfed in flames, and then disappeared in a thick fog."
The trajectories of objects observed in the Middle Ages were different. So, for example, in 557 over China, in 1423 over Japan and in 1639 over Boston, they moved in a zigzag fashion. In other cases, they stopped and hovered for a while, as was the case in 905 over China, in 1433 over Nice, in 1551 over Lisbon and in 1571 over Rome, which was observed by Pope Pius V, in 1606 over the ancient capital of Japan Kyoto and in 1636 over Leipzig.
In 1461, an unknown object flying over the city of Arros (France) suddenly began to move in a spiral.
In 1566, luminous spherical objects performed various maneuvers over Munster.
An interesting case was observed in 1646 in the city of Cambridge (England), where, in front of spectators, a rotating fireball first landed outside the city, and then "took off and rushed away with great speed."
Preserved images of unknown objects observed in the sky during the Middle Ages: in the Verdun Museum - an object in the form of a cigar, observed in 1034; in Stockholm Cathedral - five discs that appeared in 1535; in the Zurich City Hall - disc-shaped objects that patrolled in 1547 and 1558; in Hamburg - a large fireball that flew in 1697.
There are also engravings that depict the massive appearance of spherical objects in 1561 over Nuremberg and in 1566 over Basel and Münster.
UFO over Russia
According to the historian Tyurin-Avinsky, the archives of Kazan University contain a report about serf Yashka, who, after meeting in the forest with a man in strange white clothes and flying into the sky in a large shiny "copper cauldron", returned home with donated "miraculous coins", but only after few years…
The unique written testimony of the 17th century, kept in the archives of the St. Petersburg branch of the Institute of History, contains the testimony of eyewitnesses who observed the maneuvers of a fireball with a diameter of about 40 yards for an hour.
The description of the strange object is set out in the report to the authorities of the leadership of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery.
On August 15, 1663, a strange luminous body appeared over the village of Robozero, Vologda province, from the north. It emitted rays to the surface of the Robozero water, whimsically changed its brightness, size and direction of flight. The body moved slowly to the south with a loud noise and at low altitude, two rays emanating from its front part were directed to a lake near the village.
Once over the lake, the body suddenly disappeared, and then reappeared, but already half a mile southwest of the place where it disappeared, and soon disappeared again. Finally, it appeared for the third time at a distance of 0.5 km west of the last place and, having faded, disappeared altogether. When trying to approach him on a boat, the peasants experienced a strong heat, and the bottom of the lake was illuminated to a depth of 8 m. The total duration of observation of the body was 1.5 hours.
The above examples confirm the assumption that in the Middle Ages, flights of some strange objects were observed, in form and action very similar to modern UFOs.
UFO sightings in modern and recent history
For quite a long time, information about UFOs was scattered and was perceived as another curiosity of nature, like a frog rain or the birth of a calf with two heads. The development of printing and communication has made it possible to begin to systematize the mysterious reports of miracles that happened in different parts of the world. A significant number of descriptions of flights of unknown spherical, disc-shaped and cigar-shaped objects made by famous astronomers were brought to us by newspapers and magazines of the 18th, 19th and first half of the 20th century.
A mysterious collision of two celestial objects was observed on April 2, 1716 in the St. Petersburg region. His description was made at the direction of Vice-Admiral Cruis and is given in the report of the Dutch envoy to the court of Peter I - Baron de Bee. It looked like this:
“At 9 o'clock in the evening, on a completely clear cloudless sky, a strange thick dark“cloud”with a pointed top and a wide base appeared from the northeast, which swept across the sky at great speed, reaching half the height to the zenith in three minutes.
Simultaneously, in the north, a second similar dark "cloud" appeared, which was moving eastward, for it flew up to the first "cloud" from the west. When these "clouds" approached, a kind of "column" of light was formed between them, which existed for several minutes.
Then both "clouds" collided with a terrible force and, as it were, shattered from a strong blow, and at the point of collision a vast flame appeared, accompanied by smoke, which was pierced in all directions by the rays of the flame. Along with this, many small "clouds" were observed, moving with extraordinary speed and spewing out bright flames. In addition, many bright arrows appeared, reaching up to 80 degrees from the horizon. According to the description of eyewitnesses, the whole picture resembled a battle of fleets or armies and looked very scary. The description also mentions that at this time in the northwest appeared a huge shiny "comet", which rose 12 degrees above the horizon.
The whole phenomenon lasted for about a quarter of an hour, by 10 o'clock in the evening the sky became clear again."
In 1777 Messier observed the flight of a significant number of large dark disks.
In March 1716, the great English astronomer Edmund Halley noted the appearance of a very bright celestial body that lit up the sky. The object emitted light so bright that it could be read with it.
In 1802 Fritsch, in 1819. Gruythausen, in 1834 Pastorf and in 1860 Russell observed unknown objects crossing the solar disk. In 1892, the Dutch astronomer Müller observed a black disk moving against the background of the moon's disk.
On May 15, 1879, in the Persian Gulf, the sailors of a British warship observed two giant glowing objects in the sky. They were wheel-shaped and, slowly rotating, sank almost to the sea surface.
Mysterious objects were clearly visible for more than thirty minutes.
On November 17, 1882, the Greenwich Observatory reported the appearance of a large green disk hovering in the sky. Astronomers all over Europe have also observed this object.
One of the most interesting and unusual phenomena was observed in November 1882 at the Greenwich Observatory by astrophysicists Maunder and Canron, who saw a greenish luminous disk moving across the sky from northeast to west. As it approached, its shape changed, and it gradually turned into an elongated ellipse. The entire observation lasted about 2 minutes. After processing the data of various observations, scientists came to the conclusion that this object was moving at an altitude of about 200 km at a speed of 16 km / s, and its length was about 110 km and a width of 16 km.
Sometimes these unknown objects performed complex maneuvers, hovered, split into pieces and re-connected. In 1783, the Italian Cavello saw an oval shining body above the sea, which was moving in leaps. Soon it soared vertically upward and flew eastward, after which it abruptly changed its direction of flight and intensified the glow, illuminating the entire area. Then it changed from round to oblong, split in half and disappeared.
In June 1790, in France, near the city of Alencon, a group of peasants saw a large spinning ball the size of a carriage flying at high speed and surrounded by flames. This ball landed on the top of the hill. The heat emitted by it ignited the grass and bushes, but the peasants extinguished them. So he lay until evening, still warm, and a whole crowd of curious people gathered around. Suddenly, a semblance of a door opened in the wall of the mysterious object, and a humanoid creature, dressed in tight-fitting clothes, emerged from it. Seeing people, it muttered something incomprehensible and ran into the forest. A few minutes later, the object exploded silently, leaving nothing behind but fine dust.
The search for the mysterious alien was unsuccessful. The testimony of many of the witnesses to this incident was recorded by the police inspector.
In August 1863, a note was placed in one of the Madrid newspapers, which said: “The day before yesterday evening, a luminous reddish disk with a ball of flame appeared over the southeastern part of Madrid. After standing motionless for a long time, the disk began to move rapidly in horizontal and vertical directions."
In July 1868, the staff of the Astronomical Observatory at Oxford observed a luminous object that stopped during the flight and changed its direction of flight several times.
In August 1871, a giant disc appeared over Marseilles. For 9 minutes it hung motionless, then for 7 minutes it moved in a northerly direction and again hovered, and then flew away to the east with great speed.
In the XIX century. there have also been isolated observations of these objects taking off from the ground, which proves their ability to land. There are reports of such observations in 1808 in Piedmont, in 1853 in Northern France and in 1921 in the USA, California.
In the XIX and XX centuries. For the first time, time-limited bursts of a large number of reports of UFO sightings were recorded both in individual countries and around the world.
The first such surge occurred in the period from November 1896 to April 1897 in the United States, when a large number of observations of unknown objects by thousands of residents of individual cities were recorded, about which the newspapers of that time wrote a lot.
Flights and hovering of unknown objects were then observed over San Francisco, Oakland, Omaha, Kansas City, Chicago, Milwaukee, Sacramento, Benton and other US cities.
Many of the observed objects were cigar-shaped and in some cases sent bright beams to the ground, similar to those of searchlights. This was the case in 1896 in San Francisco and in 1897 in Chicago, Kansas City, and Sisterville.
In considering all of these reports, it should be borne in mind that the only aircraft in America at the time were free-floating balloons. In 1897 there were no airships, moreover with searchlights, on the American continent. The second burst of reports of flights of unknown objects in different parts of the world took place in 1909, when 43 such objects were noted over England alone. There were reports from both the United States and New Zealand, with some objects also emitting bright rays.
Thus, in May 1909, residents of the city of Essex (England) observed for several minutes the flight of a long dark torpedo-shaped object, which emitted two bright beams towards the ground.
In the same month, the crew of the ship "St. Olaf" observed a huge object with five searchlights, similar to an airship, which hovered over the "St. Olaf", and then went to another ship and illuminated it.
In December of the same year, a strange airship appeared twice over the city of Worcester in Massachusetts (USA), illuminating everything around with a powerful searchlight.
The same spectacle was observed the next night by thousands of Boston residents.
There are UFO sightings in 1909 and in Russia.
In July, a round luminous object was observed in Saratov, flying over the Volga upstream.
In October, a cigar-shaped object that flew over Odessa made a sharp turn and disappeared towards the estuary.
At the end of August 1909, the Daily Mail reported an unknown object that made two circles over Tallinn and withdrew in the direction of Finland, leaving the city's population extremely agitated.
In late 1912 - early 1913, in a number of European countries, including Russia, flights of some unknown objects with bright light sources like searchlights were observed. Such observations took place over Dover, Liverpool, the Thames in England, over Przemysl and Lvov in Austria-Hungary, as well as over Romania and western Russia.
In Russia, such objects with two searchlights were observed over Kamenets-Podolsk, Bialystok and Slobodka station, and in the area of Gaivoron, Gaisin and Zhmerinka they illuminated the area.
In the newspapers of that time they were called the term "airplanes", which was fashionable for that time, although aviation was then in its infancy and airplanes still did not have navigation devices, much less electric generators and searchlights. Therefore, then they could fly only in the daytime and in good weather, plotting a course along visually observed terrestrial landmarks. Flights of unknown objects, as a rule, took place at night, and even at the most unfavorable time of the year - in winter, which completely excludes the assumption that these could be airplanes.
By the way, the German government then officially announced that the mysterious vehicles that appeared over England were not German airships, if only because they were unable to fly to England and return back in one night. The Russian military authorities stated then that Russian aviators did not make such flights either in the south-west of Russia or in Galicia.
"Secrets of UFOs", A. Varakin and others.