The predicted miracle took place as the apparition left the Cova da Iria. The rain that had beenpouring down on the crowd suddenly stopped, and the heavy clouds parted. The sun appeared as adisk <strong>of</strong> brilliant silver, "a weird disk that turns rapidly on its own axis and casts <strong>of</strong>f beams <strong>of</strong>colored lights in all directions. Shafts <strong>of</strong> red light shot out from the rim <strong>of</strong> the sun and colored theclouds, the earth, the trees, the people; then shafts <strong>of</strong> violet, <strong>of</strong> blue, <strong>of</strong> yellow and <strong>of</strong> other colorsfollowed in succession." These colors have been described by an objective skeptic as"monochromatic sectors," and they were definitely revolving.The reports speak <strong>of</strong> a flat disk rather than a globe. After a while it stopped spinning and "plungeddownward in zig-zag fashion toward the earth and the horrified spectators."Most witnesses believed their last hour had come. Many <strong>of</strong> them, including the debunkers, knelt inthe mud and began publicly confessing their sins. Finally the disk reversed its motion anddisappeared into the sun, the real sun, once again fixed and dazzling in the sky. The astoundedcrowd suddenly realized that their clothes were dry.Such is the story <strong>of</strong> Fatima as it can be reconstructed from reports <strong>of</strong> the time and from churchinvestigations. The final "miracle" had come at the culmination <strong>of</strong> a precise series <strong>of</strong> apparitionscombined with contacts and messages that place it very clearly, in my opinion, in the perspective <strong>of</strong>UFO phenomena. Not only was a flying disk or globe consistently involved, but its motion, itsfalling-leaf trajectory, its light effects, the thunderclaps, the buzzing sounds, the strange fragrance,the fall <strong>of</strong> "angel hair" that dissolves upon reaching the ground, the heat wave associated with theclose approach <strong>of</strong> the disk – all <strong>of</strong> these are frequent parameters <strong>of</strong> UFO sightings everywhere. Andso are the paralysis, the amnesia, the conversations, and the healings.The Angel <strong>of</strong> PeaceFew <strong>of</strong> the books on Fatima provide us with details <strong>of</strong> the children's background. Yet in allapparition phenomena, it is crucial to investigate this background thoroughly and to ask as preciselyas possible for descriptions <strong>of</strong> the earliest incidents that set the witness on a path to extraordinaryrealities. In the case <strong>of</strong> Fatima the events did not begin – as most authorities indicate – on May 13,1917. It is true that such is the date <strong>of</strong> the first apparition <strong>of</strong> the Lady, but this had been preceded bya series <strong>of</strong> sightings <strong>of</strong> an angel a couple <strong>of</strong> years before. These sightings cast serious doubts on theinterpretation <strong>of</strong> the "miracle" given by the Catholic Church.In April 1915, when Lucia was eight, she was reciting the rosary near Fatima when she saw atransparent white cloud and a human form. This happened a second time in the same year, and athird time in October. Then, during 1916, Lucia was visited three times by the angel.The first occasion was in the spring. Lucia was with two <strong>of</strong> her cousins when rain started to fall.The children sought shelter in a small cave. After lunch the rain had stopped, and they were playingat the entrance <strong>of</strong> the cave when they heard the rumble <strong>of</strong> a powerful wind – another constant inUFO behavior – and a white light appeared. It was gliding through the valley above the tree tops. Inthe light was a youth <strong>of</strong> admirable beauty who came close to them and said, "I am the Angel <strong>of</strong>Peace." He taught the children a prayer and disappeared. The three little ones were left in a trance:they kept repeating and repeating the prayer, mechanically, until they literally fell from exhaustion.The next incident took place on a hot day in midsummer 1916. This time, the angel appearedsuddenly and asked, "What are you doing? Pray! Pray a great deal! Offer prayers and sacrificescontinually.""How are we to <strong>of</strong>fer sacrifices?" asked Lucia."Make a sacrifice <strong>of</strong> everything that you possibly can.... <strong>Above</strong> all, accept and bear with submissionthe suffering that the Lord shall send you."The children were left paralyzed. It was only toward the evening that they regained their senses andbegan to play again. In this case, as in the previous one, the witnesses did not want to discuss thematter – not even among themselves. Pelletier reports that:
The experience has been so intimate and so manifestly sacred that none <strong>of</strong> them ever thinks<strong>of</strong> revealing it, or even the smallest part <strong>of</strong> it, to anyone else. It is obviously a favor to bekept for themselves. Of that they are absolutely and instinctively persuaded.The next day they still could not explain their reactions to the apparitions: "I don't know what ishappening to me," said one <strong>of</strong> the little girls. "I cannot speak, nor play, not sing, and I haven't thestrenght to do anything."The angel appeared one more time, in the fall <strong>of</strong> 1916, in the cave at Cabeso. He gave the childrenCommunion. Analyzing the power that prompted the young witnesses to imitate the actions <strong>of</strong> this"angels" and to repeat his prayers slavishly, Pelletier <strong>of</strong>fers this perceptive remark:This power is so intense that it absorbs and almost completely annihilates them. Itpractically deprives them <strong>of</strong> the use <strong>of</strong> their bodily senses... their bodies are subject to amysterious, depressing force that prostrates them.His remark could apply to the entire spectrum <strong>of</strong> close encounters with UFOs.The Impact <strong>of</strong> FatimaWhat were the sequels to the Fatima story? The lives <strong>of</strong> many people who attended the "miracles"were deeply changed. Some were cured <strong>of</strong> a variety <strong>of</strong> diseases.At my mother's request, I went once more to Cova da Iria in August at the time <strong>of</strong> theapparitions, writes engineer Mario Godinho. Once more I came back discouraged anddisappointed. But that time, something extraordinary happened. My mother, who had had alarge tumor in one <strong>of</strong> her eyes for many years, was cured. The doctors who had attended hersaid they could not explain such a cure.This is just one among hundreds <strong>of</strong> such testimonies. At the time <strong>of</strong> the final miracle, many peoplewere driven out <strong>of</strong> their senses, even those who saw it from a distance <strong>of</strong> several miles and were notin the company <strong>of</strong> other witnesses who might have influenced them. A child <strong>of</strong> twelve, namedAlbano Barros, for example, who was in a field near Minde, eight miles from Fatima, was so struckwhen he saw the disk <strong>of</strong> light falling toward the earth that he does not remember what followed: "Icannot even remember whether I took the sheep home, whether I ran, or what I did." Others were soafflicted that, like farmer Manuel Francisco, they went home weeping. Another witness, a lady whonow lives in the United States, near Albany, added this comment, "Even today, whenever there islightning, I remember it, and I am afraid." A prominent lawyer, Mr. Mendes, stated in an interviewwith John Haffert in 1960:What I saw at Fatima could not help but affect the interior life and I am sure that all whosaw the miracle, or even heard about it, cannot fail to be impressed by its greatness.... I stillremember it today as vividly as at the moment it happened, and I feel myself to bedominated by that extraordinary event.Another witness reports: "I always keep thinking about the sign." An extremely interesting series <strong>of</strong>testimonies came from witnesses who were not at Cova da Iria, but miles away from the crowd. Ihave already mentioned the observation made by Albano Barros in Minde. A woman named Mrs.Guilhermina Lopes da Silva, who lived in Leiria no less than sixteen miles from the site <strong>of</strong> themiracle, could not go to the place appointed for the apparition, but she looked toward the mountainat noon and saw "a great red flash" in the sky. The brilliance was such that it was seen thirty milesaway (at San Pedro de Muel, by Portuguese writer Afonso Vieira, his wife, and his mother-in-law).
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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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other in appearance, dress, mode of
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- Page 150 and 151: About the AuthorAn astrophysicist b