Continuing the USSR History...
Historical documentation
As it is impossible to present all Russia/Soviet sightings (Russias leading researcher Dr. Felix Zigel - died in 1988 - stated in the 80’s that he had over 50,000 cases in his computer...), I have only viewed the most significant cases. But first of all I want to present a number of pre-20th century cases that I find intriguing.
When the UFO-phenomena is discussed people often refer to 1947 as the start of modern UFO-era (or 1946 when the Soviet UFO-era began). And there is less, or no, mention about historical documentation of ”strange objects in the sky”. Here is an attempt to place some of the pre-modern history files of former USSR on the map. As the topic of ”flying vehicles” was unknown at the time, the descriptions is blended by the knowledge and interpretation of the times (often religious). Credits to this historical documents to UFO researchers Ion Hobana & Julien Weverbergh.
919 - An object like a flaming torch was seen in the sky, together with spheres which flew over Hungary giving out a brighter light than the stars. (cf. Ribera El gran enigma, p. 356).
1517 - On November 8th ”A great blue sign shining like a face of a man” appeard in the western sky over Moldavia. It remained quite a long time, at the same place, after which it ”hid itself” in the sky again (cf. Letopisetul Moldovcenesc).
(Picture: A "fireball"-UFO taken in Mexico in 1995, similar described over Robozero in 1663)
1663 - August 15th, Saturday. As the people of the village Robozero (in the Bolozero district, Russia) was in church they heard a loud noise in the sky and many people left the church to see what was up. One of them was the farmer Levka Pedorov who told the stort to the monistary monk, who documentetd it in script. In midday a ”great ball of fire” descended from the south in a clear blue sky over Robozero and moved across the church to the near lake. The ”ball” was 45 meters i diameter and two beams of ”fire” was shooting out from the front and then, after it went from the south to the west (500meters from Pedorov), it ”dissapeared”. Only to re-apear an hour later over thye same lake. And there it stayed for an hour and a half. A company of fishermen in a boat on the lake a mile away from Pedorov, and they were sorely burnt by the light of the ”ball”, which lid up the lake to it’s bottom, 9 meters deep while the fish fled to the banks. Pedorov described the water to seem to be ”covered with rust under the glow...”
Another case, similar in many ways, is said to have occured on November 30 in 1663, also this time over Robozero, but to this case there is only brief documents found in St. Petersburgs Historical Files by the archeological commission part IV in 1842, where the monks document also were presented.
(Picture: Some flying patterns that oftly have been reported)
1709 - February 5th, location not mentioned. ”here was agreat sign in the sky on 5th February-a wdnesday. Two large columns of fire were revealed, one in the east, the other on the west, and as they moved the formed the letter A. They united after this and turned into a rainbow, emitting strong light for three hours, before their dissapearance.” (Biblioteca Academiei, "manuscris slavon" 706, f.1.)
This document is very interesting as it describes flying patterns. Flying patterns that later has been presented in the same way by people like - Kenneth Arnold and the Lubbock Lights in Texas on August 15th 1950 as a great number of other observers throughout modern UFO-history.
1737 - On December 6th, in the afternoon, a large ”symbol” appeared in the western sky ”red as blood and very broad” over Bucharest (Romania). After remaining in the sky for two hours it split up into two parts but later became united once again in the western sky as before. (Biblioteca Academiei, ”manuscris romänesc” 2342, f. 3-4.)
This ”split into two parts” is a re-occuring behaviour of UFO’s sighted by modern pilots and is also documented on radar screens (as ”splits” in a greater numebr of parts). And that the witness reported the same behaviour in 1737, and that the UFO was stationary in the sky for two hours, makes this sighting interesting as it proclaims that UFO’s are not a product of modern warfare, but of an unspecified (at least by hard/official evidence) origin.
1793 - Another incident over Bucharest (Romania) happened on November 27th in 1793 when the town was shocked by 3 earthquakes. A witness says that, as he was dining with a friend named Constandin Poenaru, in Floresti, on the eavning the day after ”the moon carried out a miracle - she made ajourney along the sky for half an hour”. (”Biblioteca romänesc” 2150, f. 111v.)
If the timing of half an hour is correct, this couldn’t be a bolide.
Frescos and icons of 15th-17th century shows astronauts?
The 17th century was also beriched with the production of mysterious frescos of piloted vehicles, giving away fire as rockets. These were found in hundreds in monasterys all over Jugoslavia and was first presented in 1968 by a team of specialists.
One of the most odd frescos is the one in Visoki Decani monastery called ”the crucifixion”. In the upper two sides of the fresco, which picture the crucified Jesus, two objects are painted which can be pictured like human cosmonauts piloting their spacecraft (see picture). The one the left has a blunt prow with six horizontal beams of unequel length; while the right ”vehicle” has a pointed, triangular front with three rays projecting from it. The man in the right vessel is looking back towards the following vessel on the left (both traveling in the right direction).
Other Russian frescos/icons has also been under discussion as they show Jesus entering, or leaving, a vehicle which seems to emitt rocket-like-rays that throws (or protecting their eyes by throwing themself) the near crowd to the ground. The vessel is shaped as a ”moon-rocket” and is from the 15th century and was found in Kiev (see picture).
Another icon shows Jesus leaving a rocket-shaped vehicle which the Russian Phelologist Vjatjeslav Zaitsev belives the ”gloria” around the top of Jesus head could in fact be the artist description (interpret since the earliest paintings) of a helmet (see picture). Was these icons a interpretation of personal, or described, sightings in the sky and mixed with traditional art-standards?
Some 18th century sightings
1812 - This sighting occured over the town of Bucovina. ”Towards noon a large star with many rays appeared and in the night she ascended higher and flew in the direction of the Russians; afterwards she returned and went to the west, where the beams where extinguished. Thus did the star reveal herself for four months. It was during the war between the Russians, French and Germans. Witness: Stan Irinie from Sâcele-Brasov. (Biblioteca Academiei, ”manuscris românesc” 1346 f:2V.)
This could be a ”mirror” of ejected explosives but is still interesting.
1836 - In the town of Szeged (Hungary), near the Romanian border, spherical lights and the appearance of what looks like a ”lady in white” creates uproar in a part of the town. No further information of details. (Source: Ion Hobana & Julien Weverbergh, UFO’s Behind The Iron Curtain 1972)
1837 - On September 2nd (the sighting occured on 29/30th of August) the paper Albina Românesca wrote: In the coarse of this night a meteor was seen, or a physical phenomenon (over Tîrgu-Neamt and Dorohoi. ed.note). It was a sphere, lit up, about 12 hands long and broad (about 3 metres). It descended in the twilinght and the whole field shone with a powerful light and glow”.
1842 - Small metal objects, perfectly hexagonal, fall out of the sky after a ”strange cloud” is seen hanging over the town of Orenburg for a considerable time. (Source: Ion Hobana & Julien Weverbergh, UFO’s Behind The Iron Curtain 1972)
1843 - In March that year a UFO-flap was building up over Europe. Some say that it was a comet as the phenomenon came back during several nights and grew larger in scale and appeared and dissapeared at the same place. But on March 9 it was accompinied by a an obejct of the shape of a ”fire-ball”, which vanished after a few seconds in form of a lightning. As the object appeared on the west-side (Europe) it was described as puramidial and the side towards the horizon was shorter and not so strongly lit up; the other side was broader and more daiant. (Biblioteca Academiei ”Manuscris românesc” 4043, f.1 and Albina românescâ, pp. 81-82)
1874 - A professor Schafarick sees ”a strange, brightly lit object which passed slowly across the moon and remained visible for some time afterwards. I do not know what to make of it...” (Vallée, Anatomy of a Phenomenon p. 28)
1880 - July 30th witnesses in St. Petersburg sees a large spherical light accomnpanied by two smaller stars or spheres, follow the course of a ravine for three minutes, after which they suddenly vanish. (Fort, Le Livre des damnés, p. 234)
1898 - A professor Michailovitch of the Belgrade Observatory follows a ”comet” which stays motionless in the sky for six minutes. (Vallée, Anatomy of a Phenomenon p. 35)
To interpret these sightings is hard as they are ”painted” with the cultural and political athmosphere of the time. In those days (900-1600th century) only monks and holy men were able to put the observations on paper as the ”common” people couldn’t read or write, the documents are more ”colorful” than detailed. But some of these are obviously in line with some of the most interesting cases of today.
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