Was the Fatima Miracle a Mass UFO Sighting

On 13 October 1917 in the Cova da Iria fields near Fátima Portugal , an alleged miraculous event was witnessed by 30,000 to 100,000 people .
Three shepherd children claimed that a miracle was going to occur on 13 October at high-noon after they saw an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary .
The children reported that the Lady had promised them that she would on 13 October reveal her identity to them and provide a miracle "so that all may believe".
An estimated crowd of 70,000 people in the fields near Fatima watched the rain stop, the clouds part, and the sun radiate colors, shimmer and spin, and dance around the sky in a zig-zag pattern for about 10 minutes. At last, the sun appeared to fall straight toward the crowd, frightening all , but then the sun returned to its normal place and appearance. When it was all over, the people were stunned. Witnesses also found that the muddy ground all around them and their rain-soaked clothes had dried up .
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/31eed3a8f335.jpg[/atsimg]
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Close up

"...According to the very words of the Reverend General Vicar of Leiria, who was one of the witnesses, the lady came in an 'aeroplane of light,' an 'immense globe, flying westwards, at moderate speed. It irradiated a very bright light.' Some other witnesses saw a white being coming out of the globe, which several minutes later took off, disappearing in the direction of the sun.

"The last episode was the miracle itself. It was seen by seventy thousand persons, among whom were pious individuals and atheists, clergymen and reporters from a socialist newspaper. As promised, it happened on October 13 at noon. Among the crowd was Professor Almeida Garrett, of Coimbra University, a scientist, who described the phenomena in the following terms: 'It was raining hard, and the rain trickled down everyone's clothes. Suddenly, the sun shone through the dense cloud which covered it: everybody looked in its direction. IT LOOKED LIKE A DISC, OF A VERY DEFINITE CONTOUR. It was not dazzling. I don't think that it could be compared to a dull silver disk, as someone said later in Fatima. No. It rather possessed a clear, changing brightness, which one could compare to a pearl. It looked like a polished wheel. This is not poetry. My eyes have seen it. This clear-shaped disk suddenly began turning. It rotated with increasing speed. Suddenly, the crowd began crying with anguish. The sun (disk?), revolving all the time, began falling toward the earth, reddish and bloody, threatening to crush everyone under its fiery weight...'"

Some more of the witness statements follow below.

"The sun, at one moment surrounded with scarlet flame, at another aureoled in yellow and deep purple, seemed to be in an exceedingly swift and whirling movement, at times appearing to be loosened from the sky and to be approaching the earth, strongly radiating heat." ― Dr. Domingos Pinto Coelho, writing for the newspaper Ordem.

"The sun's disc did not remain immobile. This was not the sparkling of a heavenly body, for it spun round on itself in a mad whirl, when suddenly a clamor was heard from all the people. The sun, whirling, seemed to loosen itself from the firmament and advance threateningly upon the earth as if to crush us with its huge fiery weight. The sensation during those moments was terrible." ― Dr. Almeida Garrett, Professor of Natural Sciences at Coimbra University

"As if like a bolt from the blue, the clouds were wrenched apart, and the sun at its zenith appeared in all its splendor. It began to revolve vertiginously on its axis, like the most magnificent firewheel that could be imagined, taking on all the colors of the rainbow and sending forth multicolored flashes of light, producing the most astounding effect. This sublime and incomparable spectacle, which was repeated three distinct times, lasted for about ten minutes. The immense multitude, overcome by the evidence of such a tremendous prodigy, threw themselves on their knees." ― Dr. Formigão, a professor at the seminary at Santarém, and a priest

"I feel incapable of describing what I saw. I looked fixedly at the sun, which seemed pale and did not hurt my eyes. Looking like a ball of snow, revolving on itself, it suddenly seemed to come down in a zig-zag, menacing the earth. Terrified, I ran and hid myself among the people, who were weeping and expecting the end of the world at any moment." ― Rev. Joaquim Lourenço, describing his boyhood experience in Alburitel, eighteen kilometers from Fatima

"On that day of October 13, 1917, without remembering the predictions of the children, I was enchanted by a remarkable spectacle in the sky of a kind I had never seen before. I saw it from this veranda…" ― Portuguese poet Afonso Lopes Vieira

www.ufoseek.org...
en.wikipedia.org...

[edit on 16-5-2010 by gortex]

reply to post by gortex

Was the Fatima Miracle a Mass UFO Sighting

yes i believe so, many people saw a globe type object descend out of the clouds and that makes a good case for it being a ufo event.

this thread discusses the images you posted and all the available evidence.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 16-5-2010 by easynow]

reply to post by easynow

did you do a search before posting

Yes I did ....... I typed Fatima Miracle into search and came up with NOTHING.
Plus yours is from 07 , maybe people who didn't see it then may be interested now .

[edit on 16-5-2010 by gortex]

I came across this two part highlights of an interview by Art Bell with Father Malachi Martin discussing the prophecy of Fatima in 1997 & 1998 .
Malachi Martin was a Catholic priest, theologian, writer on the Catholic Church, and professor at the Vatican's Pontifical Biblical Institute.

In the interview he confirms that he knows the contents of the still withheld third secret of Fatima , and hints at what it says .

As I was preparing this post I thought I would add some information on Malachi Martin , only to discover that he had died in 1999 of a brain hemorrhage after a fall in his apartment in Manhattan.
This information set all kinds of alarm bells ringing in my suspicious mind , had he overstepped the line in his discussion with Art Bell ?, was he in danger of letting the cat out of the bag ? , was he silenced ?
Have a listen to what Malachi Martin had to say ,I personally found this interview quite disturbing , see what you think .


Malachi Martin

Yeah, this is the first I've ever heard of it lol.

Its pretty intense to think that so many people could see such a thing. It would make the most sense for it to have been a UFO. Of course, it really could have been a miracle of God himself.

Im leaning more towards Mass UFO Sighting. Makes the most sense in this case.

But they were looking at the Sun. Not the Sun and another object. Just the Sun. If it was a UFO they saw, why would they all say it was the Sun that displayed the apparition? Even in modern times we don't hear of people confusing the Sun with a UFO.

Just exactly was going on I have no idea but religious frenzies can induce strange effects on people and, generally speaking, staring at the Sun is likely to cause one's eyes to do some strange things. It should also be noted that not all of those present reported the same thing.

One of those who witnessed and reported the strange solar phenomena was Avelino de Almeida, a reporter who had ridiculed the so-called miracles at Fatima in previous articles. His photographer did not see it, but shot pictures of the mesmerized crowd looking into the sky.

www.sacred-destinations.com...

[edit on 5/18/2010 by Phage]

reply to post by Phage


Ahh Phage , as skeptical as ever .
I see your quote and raise you two quote's

Rev. Joaquim Lourenço
"I feel incapable of describing what I saw. I looked fixedly at the sun, which seemed pale and did not hurt my eyes. Looking like a ball of snow, revolving on itself, it suddenly seemed to come down in a zig-zag, menacing the earth.

Dr. Almeida Garrett, Professor of Natural Sciences at Coimbra University
"The sun's disc did not remain immobile. This was not the sparkling of a heavenly body, for it spun round on itself in a mad whirl, when suddenly a clamor was heard from all the people. The sun, whirling, seemed to loosen itself from the firmament and advance threateningly upon the earth as if to crush us with its huge fiery weight.

The second quote from a Dr of Natural Sciences no less , now if the event was as prosaic as you suggest surely Almeida Garrett would of said " we looked at the Sun for a bit and it looked a bit odd"

reply to post by gortex

Almeida Garrett said he was looking at the Sun. Not something other than the Sun. Here is what else he said about it:

Suddenly I heard the uproar of thousands of voices, and I saw the whole multitude spread out in that vast space at my feet ... turn their backs to that spot where, until then, all their expectations focused, and look at the sun on the other side ... I turned around, too, toward the point commanding their gazes, and I could see the sun, like a very clear disc, with its sharp edge, which gleamed without hurting the sight ... It could not be confused with the sun seen through a fog (there was no fog at that moment), for it was neither veiled, nor dim. At Fatima, it kept its light and heat, and stood out clearly in the sky, with a sharp edge, like a large gaming table. The most astonishing thing was to be able to stare at the solar disc for a long time, brilliant with light and heat, without hurting the eyes, or damaging the retina.

www.fatima.org...
Then, after staring at it for a while, it started playing tricks.

The "Miracle of the Sun" happened when the Sun was at it's zenith (as scheduled by the three kids). The witnesses were looking at the Sun because that is where the miracle was foretold to occur. The accounts say that it was the Sun that displayed these miraculous effects, not something separate from the Sun. But not everyone saw the same thing, this seems kind of odd. Some say the Sun "danced", with no mention of other effects. Some say it flew toward Earth, with no mention of colors. Some say it spun and changed colors, making no mention of it dancing or diving toward Earth.

"The sun's disc did not remain immobile. This was not the sparkling of a heavenly body, for it spun round on itself in a mad whirl, when suddenly a clamor was heard from all the people. The sun, whirling, seemed to loosen itself from the firmament and advance threateningly upon the earth as if to crush us with its huge fiery weight. The sensation during those moments was terrible."

"As if like a bolt from the blue, the clouds were wrenched apart, and the sun at its zenith appeared in all its splendor. It began to revolve vertiginously on its axis, like the most magnificent firewheel that could be imagined, taking on all the colors of the rainbow and sending forth multicolored flashes of light, producing the most astounding effect. This sublime and incomparable spectacle, which was repeated three distinct times, lasted for about ten minutes. The immense multitude, overcome by the evidence of such a tremendous prodigy, threw themselves on their knees."

This sounds to me like varied visual effects produced by different people staring at the Sun high in the sky. I don't recommend it, but staring intently at the Sun (while expecting a miracle), is going to create a variety of visual effects, even in a skeptical eye.






[edit on 5/18/2010 by Phage]

As a child I stared at the sun all he time. It never changed colors, or danced or dove to the ground. I'm sorry, but it is litterally impossible. Also, notice the mention of "sharp edge like a large gaming table". Have you ever noticed a sharp edge on the sun? I think not.

reply to post by Still Searching

I dont' stare at the Sun. Makes me sneeze. But even a quick glance at it makes me see a big colored circle that moves around where ever I look.

Here's an interesting read about Fatima and other "Miracles of the Sun".

Searching always for more and more witness reports concerning “miracles of the sun”, I discovered some descriptions of very similar observations, made without any apparitional context. It was thus absolutely necessary to find out what would happen if someone did engage in sun-gazing, although this is known to be dangerous. Some ophthalmologists described retinopathies, produced by such an imprudent behaviour, but they did not say what their patients had seen. Then I studied various kinds of subjective effects, generated by short or long observations of relatively intense light sources. It is well-known that there are coloured after-images, but there are also motional after-effects. The Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau studied them in the middle of the 19th century and gathered even all available accounts of observations from Aristotle to about 1875 (Mémoires de l’Académie Royale de Belgique). Plateau warned against sun-gazing, but mentioned only that he lost his eye-sight in this way, without saying what he saw. Nevertheless, his huge collection provided some
astonishing reports that could be related to “miracles of the sun”.

www.meessen.net...

I learned about this miracle every year as a kid in school so I'm pretty familiar with it.

Firstly, the Sun danced, so how could people mistaken the Sun with a UFO?

Secondly, Lucia saw Mother Mary, the other two kids heard her. Are you trying to tell me that for months aliens picked on a little Portuguese girl and showed her hell and told her all these things...

Why would aliens possibly do this?

Once again I'll bring up the point since no one had anything to say on it. "Had a sharp edge like a Large Gaming Table". Explain to me how that can in any way be the sun. The sun is a giant ball, so please, rebudle this time. Give me something to argue with you about.

[edit on 19-5-2010 by Still Searching]

reply to post by Still Searching

When I look at the Sun (with proper eye protection, of course) I don't see a ball, I see a disk.

Gaming table:

Originally posted by Phage
reply to post by Still Searching

 

When I look at the Sun (with proper eye protection, of course) I don't see a ball, I see a disk.

Gaming table:

Do you also see an edge? Do you see a sharp edge as you would maybe... oh I dont know... a Saucer? Dont be so quick to dismiss something as hearsay

reply to post by Still Searching

Yes, the disk of the Sun has a very well defined edge when seen with the naked (but protected) eye.

Did you read the source I linked to earlier? The descriptions fit known physiological effects which result from staring at bright sources of light.

But again, all the descriptions specifically said it was the Sun that was "dancing" (and stuff). If it was something other than the Sun, why would people say it was the Sun? You accept their description as real, yet you deny that it is the Sun that they are describing. Interesting dichotomy.

[edit on 5/19/2010 by Phage]

reply to post by Phage


True, I am contradicting myself. My thougta behind it do make sense though. If aliens came to earth, they have technology beyond our understanding, especially at the time in which it happened. How else could you describe something that you've never seen before. Like I said, maybe it was a miracle of god. Or maybe it was advance alien technology that they had no other way of describing other than that it was the sun. Or maybe, just maybe, I'm arguing just to argue at this point ha ha

reply to post by Still Searching


Hi Still Searching welcome to ATS .
One thing you will learn over your time here at ATS is that Phage is the high priest of skepticism on these boards , always able to produce a well reasoned and scientific argument against the E.T hypothesis , Argue with him at your peril .
Don't get me wrong , these boards need a Phage to balance the argument but even J.Allen Hynek found that science and reason couldn't explain away some UFO events , the Fatima Miracle may just be one of those events

Jacques Vallee has this to say about Fatima's phenomena

Not only was a flying disc or globe consistently involved, but its motion, its falling-leaf trajectory, its light effects, the thunder-claps, the buzzing sounds, the strange fragrance, the fall of "angel hair" that dissolves upon reaching the ground, the heat wave associated with the close approach of the disk - all of these are frequent parameters of UFO sightings everywhere. And so are the paralysis, the amnesia, the conversions, and the healings.

The following people have written paper supporting the Fatima UFO hypothesis
Jacques Vallee Ph.D.
Joaquim Fernandes Ph.D.
Fina d'Armada, M.A.
Raul Berenguel, M.S.
Irene Blinston Ph.D
Janet Elizabeth Colli, psychotherapist specializing in PTSD
Ryan J. Cook, Assistant Professor
Fernando Fernandes Ph.D.
David M. Jacobs Ph.D.
Professor Auguste Meessen of the Institute of Physics
Gilda Moura, psychotherapist
Michael Persinger Ph.D
Vitor Rodrigues Ph.D.
Mario Simoes Ph.D
rigorousintuition.blogspot.com...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Zacherystaylor/The_Fatima_UFO_Hypothesis



[edit on 20-5-2010 by gortex]

Originally posted by Portugoal
I learned about this miracle every year as a kid in school so I'm pretty familiar with it.

Firstly, the Sun danced, so how could people mistaken the Sun with a UFO?

Secondly, Lucia saw Mother Mary, the other two kids heard her. Are you trying to tell me that for months aliens picked on a little Portuguese girl and showed her hell and told her all these things...

Why would aliens possibly do this?

Can you please just answer these questions?

reply to post by Portugoal

Portugoal
Why would aliens possibly do this?

How would I know why Aliens would do anything , they are by definition alien .

reply to post by gortex


Fair enough, answer the logic behind my other two points.