The Day UFOs Stopped Play in Tuscany

I've just come across this story from the days of high strangeness that's new to me so thought it may be of interest to some here.
The story dates back to 1954 and tells of the day when UFOs appeared over a football stadium in Florence as home side Fiorentina played Pistoiese , the UFOs were witnessed by supporters and players alike and caused such a spectacle that the match officials suspended the game.

Here's a sketch of the objects drawn by Silvio Neri.

Ten-thousand fans were watching in the concrete bowl of the Stadio Artemi Franchi. But just after half-time the stadium fell eerily silent - then a roar went up from the crowd. The spectators were no longer watching the match, but were looking up at the sky, fingers pointing. The players stopped playing, the ball rolled to a stand-still.

One of the footballers on the pitch was Ardico Magnini - he was something of a legend at the club and had played for Italy at the 1954 World Cup.

"I remember everything from A to Z," he says. "It was something that looked like an egg that was moving slowly, slowly, slowly. Everyone was looking up and also there was some glitter coming down from the sky, silver glitter.

"We were astonished we had never seen anything like it before. We were absolutely shocked."

Among the crowd was Gigi Boni, a lifelong Fiorentina fan. "I remember clearly seeing this incredible sight," he says. His description of multiple objects differs slightly from Magnini's.

"They were moving very fast and then they just stopped. It all lasted a couple of minutes. I would like to describe them as being like Cuban cigars. They just reminded me of Cuban cigars, in the way they looked."

La Nazione had a photo of the UFO over Florence
La Nazione's headline reads: Glass fibres fall on Tuscan cities after globes and flying saucers pass by. Lower headline: The sighting over Florence (with a photograph, now lost, of the UFO).
Boni has spent many years reliving that day in his mind. "I think they were extra-terrestrial. That's what I believe, and there's no other explanation I can give myself."

Another of the players, Romolo Tuci, still sprightly in his 70s, agrees. "In those years everybody was talking about aliens, everybody was talking UFOs and we had the experience, we saw them, we saw them directly, for real.
www.bbc.co.uk...

The sighting is not in question plus there were many other reported UFO sightings around the Tuscany area that day and for the days that followed , the question has to be what were the objects seen and where did they come from.

Great post and find, OP. Wonderful sketch, too. Wish there was a pic, though. I believe I've read about this one before somewhere.
I wonder what your take on the silver flakes or whatever that were reported falling at the same time?
thanks.
eta:
just looked this up, and returned with angel hair phenomena, from wiki:

Angel hair or siliceous cotton is a sticky, fibrous substance reported in connection with UFO sightings, or manifestations of the Virgin Mary.[1][2] It has been described as being like a cobweb or a jelly.[3][4][5]

It is named for its similarity to fine hair, or spider webs, and in some cases the substance has been found to be the web threads of migrating spiders. Reports of angel hair say that it disintegrates or evaporates within a short time of forming.[3][6][7][8] Angel hair is an important aspect of the UFO religion Raëlism,[4] and one theory among ufologists is that it is created from "ionized air sleeting off an electromagnetic field" that surrounds a UFO.[9]

However in my limited opinion (ha, i specialize in self-deprecation), it doesn't quite meet this def. And what's up with the Virgin Mary being correlated with sightings of UFOs….bluebeam, anyone? lol

Here is a short news clip discussing the event, i can translate it if needed, but you still get some small glimps of the objects about half way through the video

www.youtube.com...

this is what wikipedia has to say:
it.wikipedia.org...

Un'indagine del Cicap rilevò che in quella settimana erano in corso esercitazioni militari che facevano l'uso di chaff, contromisure per trarre in inganno il sistema di puntamento degli aerei, che avrebbero creato riflessi nel cielo. La presenza di filamenti, sempre secondo il Cicap, sarebbe dovuta ad un fenomeno legato alla tecnica del ballooning messa in atto da alcune specie di ragni per migrare. Questi ragni producono dei lunghi filamenti biancastri, che portati dal vento sollevano i ragni e li trasportano per lunghe distanze. Il periodo della migrazione coincide con quello degli avvistamenti di Firenze. Il fenomeno, praticamente ignoto all'epoca, è oggi stato spiegato e documentato anche con riprese ed analisi chimiche

meaning:
An investigation made by CICAP (Comitato Italiano per il Controllo delle Affermazioni sul Paranormale- they basically go through paranormal events and see if there is any truth to them) found out that in that week military exercises that involved the use of chaff, a countermeasure system capable of fooling the tracking system of airplanes, was taking place, and those created reflections in the sky (so those are the ufo) The presence of the little white strings, is tied to the ballooning technique used by some species of spiders to migrate. these spiders produce a single long string that gets lifted up into the air, along with the spider, and is used to travel great distances. The period of the migration coincides with the time the ufo were seen.
The phenomena, practically unheard of back then has today been explained and documented with footage and chemical analysis.

a reply to: tetra50

I don't know if what was reported falling from the sky was connected to the sighting or whether it was a natural occurrence linked in with it , there was analysis done on a sample of the substance.

Soon after the UFOs moved away from the stadium, very fine white threads, like cobwebs or fibrous snowflakes, started falling like a lightweight blanket over the city and outlying areas. Although the phenomenon continued for several days, the substance, known as ‘angel's hair' evaporated rapidly. It did so even more quickly when held in the hand, where it felt sticky and had a nasty smell. The chemistry faculty at the University of Florence did a spectrographic analysis of a sample that an engineering student had managed to trap in a test tube; it was largely composed of boron, silicon and magnesium.
www.theflorentine.net...

a reply to: IShotMyLastMuse

Ahhhh the old military exercises explanation.

a reply to: gortex
Thanks for that, I suspected as much, per my own edit, but didn't find your U of Florence info. I believe I've read before that it breaks down to this metallic matter. And as you point out, we can't scientifically in any real way determine its meaning, if any. However, it is an often reported phenomena accompanying sightings, apparently.

On some other threads about UFOs, we've talked about this, as well.
Still, good post. Thanks, again.

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: IShotMyLastMuse

Ahhhh the old military exercises explanation.

Yup, I almost typed wait for it, in my first post, as the chaff was sited….and so I expected this to follow, naturally. S'why I brought up blue beam, above.

There may be other explanations, as well. We are, on other threads, discussing the meaning of all matter presently, so it's rather more complicated than one explanation. Occam's razor is misused often.

Sorry OP, no disrespect intended, but one off topic aside to IShotMyLastMuse: I am dying for you to make a thread on your member name…lol…it would be great.

I absolutely love older stories.
i especially liked the threads a while ago about middle ages sightings in europe.

thanks OP

a reply to: gortex

To cool. Game cancelled due to Aliens. Kind of hard to dismiss that. Everybody was so delusional that day they all the same nothing… together.

As an aside this happened at the end of an American Superbowl I watched when I was younger. Two thingys were hovering in the sky outside the stadium near the end of the game. The live cameras repeatedly cut to them hovering and glittering. Even the announcers were wondering what they were. Anybody else remember that?

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: gortex

To cool. Game cancelled due to Aliens. Kind of hard to dismiss that. Everybody was so delusional that day they all the same nothing… together.

As an aside this happened at the end of an American Superbowl I watched when I was younger. Two thingys were hovering in the sky outside the stadium near the end of the game. The live cameras repeatedly cut to them hovering and glittering. Even the announcers were wondering what they were. Anybody else remember that?

This ?

a reply to: Spacespider

Thanks but no. Football Super Bowl, way back in the land before internet. I've never seen that footage anywhere since. The sports cameras had them pegged, up close… two of them. One larger than the other. They were not disc shaped, they were "objects" and they had this pulsating or glitter effect how ever you describe it.

a reply to: intrptr
Yes, I remember watching a football game, might've even been a Super Bowl, around 1979-82, around that time, and seeing this, yes.

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: Spacespider

Thanks but no. Football Super Bowl, way back in the land before internet. I've never seen that footage anywhere since. The sports cameras had them pegged, up close… two of them. One larger than the other. They were not disc shaped, they were "objects" and they had this pulsating or glitter effect how ever you describe it.

Wow. Just thought I'd tell you we both said the Super Bowl independently, as I hadn't read the post above before I responded to your first question if anyone remembered what you did.

a reply to: tetra50

More interested in that footage. Remember which Super Bowl?

"Silver flakes" are nothing to do with any Project Bluebeams etc, they are the real discharge from space ships. Never be confused on this issue, the cotton wool,strand like substance it's just the same as in the Bible, those ships haven't changed much in 2,000 years, they still drop the manna

originally posted by: tetra50
Great post and find, OP. Wonderful sketch, too. Wish there was a pic, though. I believe I've read about this one before somewhere.
I wonder what your take on the silver flakes or whatever that were reported falling at the same time?
thanks.
eta:
just looked this up, and returned with angel hair phenomena, from wiki:

Angel hair or siliceous cotton is a sticky, fibrous substance reported in connection with UFO sightings, or manifestations of the Virgin Mary.[1][2] It has been described as being like a cobweb or a jelly.[3][4][5]

It is named for its similarity to fine hair, or spider webs, and in some cases the substance has been found to be the web threads of migrating spiders. Reports of angel hair say that it disintegrates or evaporates within a short time of forming.[3][6][7][8] Angel hair is an important aspect of the UFO religion Raëlism,[4] and one theory among ufologists is that it is created from "ionized air sleeting off an electromagnetic field" that surrounds a UFO.[9]

However in my limited opinion (ha, i specialize in self-deprecation), it doesn't quite meet this def. And what's up with the Virgin Mary being correlated with sightings of UFOs….bluebeam, anyone? lol

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: IShotMyLastMuse

Ahhhh the old military exercises explanation.

Yeah...you gotta love it...no matter how fantastic the sighting was...everybody saw it...yet...at the time...the stadium was packed full with people...and none recognized it as a military exercise.

Whole lot of dumb people...all over the world. Makes me fearful.

a reply to: tetra50

BLUEBEAM

As of now I am somewhat convinced that there is and was technology that can project three dimensional objects or even beings so realistically that people will believe the lies told by their own eyes

The angel hair gives it away imo. If Im not mistaken the theory goes these angel hairs are what replace the screen in traditional projection.

What made me instantly think of bluebeam is the fact that the two witnesses in this article BOTH saw something different!

Which would be all too obvious given the different perspectives they were looking from. In case this were a solid object, every witness would describe the same thing, however, if it were a projection, the visual would be different depending on where one is standing (the projection is not actually a 3d object, rather a flat representation of one)


Very interesting post, thank you! Fuelling me to get back into researching bluebeam.

Care to elaborate how on earth you can even KNOW its nothing to do with bluebeam and instead claim you KNOW its aliens?

Also, angel hair is manna now? Thats a new one for me.

Excuse the skepticism but Im a bit doubtful regarding your expertise, when you debunk a very plausible theory, with one of bibles and aliens...

Bluebeam is on the books, the technology is possible and probable, "they" have the knowledge the expertise and the motive.

(Btw, Im very otf when it comes to roswell and the possibility of alien tech being found there, but I dont dismiss it either. For all I know bluebeam is alien tech, or they use bluebeam to cover up the bigger picture. Doesnt mean I'll just gladly sit back and enjoy my drink, knowing I have it all figured out. You dismiss bluebeam, to support your alien hypothesis, which is stupid, I'm sorry. Why wouldnt "they" use and abuse the power to confuse the public?)

originally posted by: ufoorbhunter
"Silver flakes" are nothing to do with any Project Bluebeams etc, they are the real discharge from space ships. Never be confused on this issue, the cotton wool,strand like substance it's just the same as in the Bible, those ships haven't changed much in 2,000 years, they still drop the manna

originally posted by: tetra50
Great post and find, OP. Wonderful sketch, too. Wish there was a pic, though. I believe I've read about this one before somewhere.
I wonder what your take on the silver flakes or whatever that were reported falling at the same time?
thanks.
eta:
just looked this up, and returned with angel hair phenomena, from wiki:

Angel hair or siliceous cotton is a sticky, fibrous substance reported in connection with UFO sightings, or manifestations of the Virgin Mary.[1][2] It has been described as being like a cobweb or a jelly.[3][4][5]

It is named for its similarity to fine hair, or spider webs, and in some cases the substance has been found to be the web threads of migrating spiders. Reports of angel hair say that it disintegrates or evaporates within a short time of forming.[3][6][7][8] Angel hair is an important aspect of the UFO religion Raëlism,[4] and one theory among ufologists is that it is created from "ionized air sleeting off an electromagnetic field" that surrounds a UFO.[9]

However in my limited opinion (ha, i specialize in self-deprecation), it doesn't quite meet this def. And what's up with the Virgin Mary being correlated with sightings of UFOs….bluebeam, anyone? lol

a reply to: NoNameNeeded

My "expertise" is just from real experience of exactly the above mentioned angel hair. It's real and is emitted by motherships on departure, I've been told it's when they depart to another dimension.

The reason I don't believe "they" are behind it is simple. Did "they " have this Bluebeam tech 2,000 years ago when the Bible talked of exactly the same angel hair?

a reply to: intrptr

I just typed "ufo american football" into youtube and got it





There's a thread or 2 here about this sighting and as far as i can recall it was a terrestial explanation