not natural, was witnessed by persons <strong>of</strong> all categories and <strong>of</strong> all social classes, believers andunbelievers, journalists <strong>of</strong> the principal Portuguese newspapers and even by persons somemiles away. Facts which annul any explanation <strong>of</strong> collective illusion.This "miracle," the reader will note, had been predicted several months before by three illiteratechildren after their vision <strong>of</strong> a woman "in a bright glow." She had not said that she was the VirginMary. She had simply stated that she was "from Heaven" and instructed them to return every monthuntil October, when a public miracle would take place "so that everyone may believe."The events at Fatima involve luminous spheres, lights with strange colors, a feeling <strong>of</strong> "heat waves"– all physical characteristics commonly associated with UFOs. They even include the typicalfalling-leaf motion <strong>of</strong> the saucer zig-zagging through the air. They also encompass prophecy and aloss <strong>of</strong> ordinary consciousness on the part <strong>of</strong> witnesses – what we have called the psychiccomponent <strong>of</strong> UFO sightings.The Pattern <strong>of</strong> ProphecyThe first apparition at Fatima <strong>of</strong> the woman took place on May 13, 1917. Three children werewatching their sheep when a bright flash surprised them, and they walked toward the large hollowpasture called Cova da Iria (literally: the Cave <strong>of</strong> St. Irene, an old sacred spot) to see what hadhappened. They found themselves caught in a glowing light that almost blinded them, and in thecenter <strong>of</strong> the light they percieved a little woman, who spoke to them, begging them to return everymonth to the same spot.While the children had been alone on the first occasion, there were fifty people the second time, onJune 13. They watched while the little shepherds knelt and became transfigured, as if transportedinto another world, at the time <strong>of</strong> the observation. The oldest child, Lucia, who was ten at the time,addressed an unseen entity whose answers were not heard by others in the group. One spectator,however, reported perceiving a very faint voice or the buzzing <strong>of</strong> a bee (a typical sound associatedwith modern-day UFOs). At the end <strong>of</strong> the dialogue all witnesses heard an explosion and saw asmall cloud rise from the vicinity <strong>of</strong> a tree – on which all the succeeding manifestations wouldcenter.The following month, on July 13, the number <strong>of</strong> witnesses rose to forty-five hundred. This thirdapparition was especially remarkable in several respects. It included detailed descriptions by some<strong>of</strong> the spectators <strong>of</strong> physical phenomena that are specific enough to be compared to UFO data. Inthe words <strong>of</strong> Joseph Pelletier, in The Sun Danced at Fatima:A buzzing or humming sound, a decrease in the Sun's glow and heat, a small whitish cloudabout the three <strong>of</strong> the apparitions, and a loud noise at the Lady's departure.It is also remarkable that the children were shown a vision <strong>of</strong> hell that terrified them and were givena specific prophecy announcing more apparitions <strong>of</strong> unknown lights in the sky:The war is going to end, but if people do not stop <strong>of</strong>fending God another and worse one willbegin during the reign <strong>of</strong> Pius XI [note: he died in 1939]. When you see a night illuminatedby an unknown light know that this is the great sign that God is giving you that he is goingto punish the world for its crimes by means <strong>of</strong> war, famine, and persecution <strong>of</strong> the Churchand <strong>of</strong> the Holy Father.To prevent this I shall come to ask for the consecration <strong>of</strong> Russia.... If they heed my request,Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If not, she will spread her errorsthroughout the world.The mixture <strong>of</strong> seriousness and absurdity that we have already noted in several contactee stories is
an unmistakable characteristic <strong>of</strong> this statement. We will find the same thing to be true in Lourdes,where the alleged Virgin Mary instructs the little Bernadette to perform meaningless actions.The pattern <strong>of</strong> prophecy followed its course. On August 13 eighteen thousand people were at thesite <strong>of</strong> the apparitions. The children, however, were not present. They had been kidnapped andjailed by a local <strong>of</strong>ficial who had decided to put an end to this "nonsense." In their absence, a clap<strong>of</strong> thunder was heard, followed by a bright flash. A small whitish cloud was forming around thetree. It hovered for a few minutes, then rose and melted away. The clouds in the sky had turnedcrimson red, and then changed to pink, yellow, and blue. "Colored light like a rainbow on theground"; "clouds around the sun reflecting different colors on the people" – such are some <strong>of</strong> theterms the witnesses used to describe it. The witnesses saw "falling flowers," the famousphenomenon <strong>of</strong> "angel hair" so consistently reported after the passage <strong>of</strong> a UFO, and sometimesinterpreted as an ionization effect. One man, Manuel Pedro Marto, in a statement made under oathduring the canonical inquiry, reported seeing clearly a luminous globe spinning through the clouds.On August 19 the children had been released and were tending sheep near Aljustrel when, about4:00 P.M., they noticed a sudden lowering <strong>of</strong> the temperature. The sun, they said, becameyellowish; the colors <strong>of</strong> the rainbow once again filled the countryside, visible to adults in thevicinity (as was later established). The bright flash was seen, and a glowing light came to settleabout a tree near the children. The entity, clothed in white and gold, stood once more in the center<strong>of</strong> the glow. The witnesses fell on their knees and "feasted their souls in rapture." A dialoguefollowed in which the apparition asked the children to "make sacrifices for sinners." After tenminutes the Lady <strong>of</strong> Light departed slowly toward the east with a roaring sound.Apparitions <strong>of</strong> a Flying GlobeOn September 13 the crowd numbered thirty thousand, including two priests who were absolutelyskeptical and had come specifically to establish the falsity <strong>of</strong> the much-heralded "miracles." The site<strong>of</strong> the apparitions was a wide amphitheater where most <strong>of</strong> the crowd had gathered to be close to thetree <strong>of</strong> the apparitions. However, the two skeptical priests had chosen a spot on the higher groundfrom which they could observe everything. The following is based on their report.Noon. The sun got dimmer, although no clouds were seen in the sky. Thousands cried: "There sheis... look!" A globe <strong>of</strong> light was seen by all, advancing slowly down the valley, from east to west,toward the children. It came to rest on the tree. A white cloud formed and, out <strong>of</strong> the empty sky,shiny white "petals" began to fall. Let us ponder this description <strong>of</strong> the phenomenon by a witness:As the people stare at this strange sight they soon notice that the falling, glistering globules,contrary to the laws <strong>of</strong> perspective, grow smaller and smaller as they near them. And whenthey reach out their hands and hats to catch them they find that they have somehow meltedaway.The children saw the entity again in the center <strong>of</strong> the globe, and the dialogue began once morebetween the Lady and Lucia. The promise <strong>of</strong> a miracle on October 13 was repeated. Then theradiant globe rose and disappeared into the sun.Asked what he thought the globe was, one <strong>of</strong> the priests, now quite shaken, stated that "it was aheavenly vehicle that carried the Mother <strong>of</strong> God from her throne above to this forbiddenwasteland." The concept <strong>of</strong> the earth as a prison or forbidden wasteland is a popular one amongthose who have been exposed to these phenomena.The last apparition, as predicted, took place on October 13, 1917. The crowd numbered seventythousand this time. (The size <strong>of</strong> the assembled crowd had grown in the following progression: 3, 50,4,500, 18,000, 30,000, 70,000.) The vision was preceded by a flash <strong>of</strong> light at noon and a sweetstrange fragnance. The children engaged in a dialogue with the Lady. Witnesses did observe thedramatic change on the faces <strong>of</strong> the three children, enraptured by the vision.
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Foreword by Whitley StrieberThere a
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It is sad that, as the twentieth ce
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PART ONE: THE ALIEN CHRONICLESIn th
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lot about it, but nobody said 'Let'
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The resemblance of the Dogu statues
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various forms of error worship unde
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them. These apparitions are scarce,
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was again shot at. Another creature
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The story is fantastic. Yet it remi
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their virginity in the sanctuaries
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A letter from a British woman begin
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The recollections of the legionnair
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lades. In less time than it takes t
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e called Smith said: "No, we cannot
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Celtic legends, along with the docu
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probably took place in the second p
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Australian Air Force Intelligence p
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ings in the fields and prairies?One
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From behind the object, two beings
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"in smooth English." They did not s
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to four feet tall, dressed in white
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expectations as if they were mere t
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came out of it, but this person was
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6. When men did not inhabit most of
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the negative reactions of scientist
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- Page 62 and 63: PART TWO: ANOTHER REALITYDuring the
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- Page 90 and 91: previous year. But the fact remains
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- Page 94 and 95: least one occasion, experienced lev
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- Page 100 and 101: against me as I stood bracing mysel
- Page 102 and 103: another one, but this was very defi
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- Page 110 and 111: in the final analysis.Many of us wi
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- Page 114 and 115: Since the publication of my earlier
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- Page 126 and 127: like piezo-electricity, or static e
- Page 128 and 129: the group teachings and advice. The
- Page 130 and 131: This is a frightening view, one tha
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- Page 136 and 137: eathe our air. They walked normally
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- Page 144 and 145: me undeniable) and as psychic devic
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- Page 150 and 151: About the AuthorAn astrophysicist b