The UFO-Religion Connection

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Media reports of UFO sightings are relatively common today.

A few weeks ago, a local newspaper reported a sighting of large metallic craft hovering over the power station in Chorley, Lancashire, UK – the sighting was closely followed by a power cut which affected thousands of homes and businesses. The link for this story is: http://www.chorley-guardian.co.uk/chorley/Aliens-blamed-for-Chorley-powercut.4664808.jp
This report is just one of many recent sightings in this small town alone:- http://www.ufocasebook.com/2008c/chorleyalert.html

It made me wonder: when did UFO sightings Begin?

There were a few media reports in the 1930’s, however, it was during the 1940’s when UFO sightings became a reported global phenomenon – sighting reports increase significantly with each new decade.

At first glance, it appears that the emergence of UFO’s are a relatively modern occurrence – further research led me to reconsider my assumption.

There are numerous historical paintings, cited on UFO sites as evidence of the historical existence of UFO’s – interestingly, the majority of these are religious paintings. Take a look at the following examples:-

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The above painting is called “Madonna with Saint Giovannino” It was painted in the 15th century by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494), a citizen of Florence, who had many apprentices – among them, Michelangelo.

The painting hangs as part of the Loeser collection in the Palazzo Vecchio – the Town Hall of Florence.

Could the strange object above the right shoulder of Mary depict a UFO?

It has to be noted that a number of oddities (winged entities, some angelic in appearance and others demonic) appear in the sky-lines of Ghirlandio’s paintings, however, the anomaly highlighted in this painting does not appear to fit with the traditional religious stylised theme.

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The above painting is called “The Baptism of Christ” and was painted by Aert de Gelder (1645-1727). Gelder was a devoted follower and talented pupil of Rembrandt.
The painting is now hung in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK.

The image appears very “UFO like”, although it could be argued that the image merely depicts a portal through the clouds allowing rays of light from heaven to lie upon the Holy infant.

It has been speculated however, that the painter had access to, and spent time in the Vatican library, where, possibly some information and/or artwork held within Vatican records, inspired a link in Gelder’s mind between Jesus and aliens / UFO’s.

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The pictures above are of 15th Century tapestries, depicting the life of Mary, which are on display in the French Basillica, Notre-Dame in Beaune, Burgandy.

The Tapestry on the left is entitled “The magnificat”, the tapestry on the right is untitled.
Both tapestries appear to depict “flying saucer” imagery – although, it has been mooted that these shapes may be distant islands, stitched with a poor sense of perspective.

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The picture above shows a 17th century Fresco from the Svetishoveli Cathedral, Mtskheta, Georgia.

The two saucer shape objects “blasting off” contain images of faces – could this be evidence of UFO activity associated with Jesus or merely symbolic artistry to depict, for example, the sun and the moon, which have been included within other crucifixion paintings.

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The painting entitles “The Crucifixion” hangs above the altar at the Visoki Decani Monastery in Kosovo, Yugoslavia ~ it was painted in 1350.

Again, this could be taken to indicate UFO activity, or a creative way for the artist to depict the sun and the moon.

The artwork is very interesting, but cannot be taken as categorical evidence of historical UFO sightings or knowledge, as there can always be an alternative explanation or viewpoint offered.

Current religious interest in UFO’s

It is interesting and surprising to note that the Vatican has invested heavily in a state of the art Advanced Technology Telescope – “VATT” positioned on Mount Graham, in Arizona.
In May 2008, the Vatican’s chief astronomer, Father Jose Gabriel Funes, in a long interview with the L’Osservatore Romano newspaper, made news by saying :-

“There is a certain possibility of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, and that such notion doesn’t contradict our faith. How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere? Just as we consider earthly creatures as ‘a brother,’ and ’sister,’ why should we not talk about an ‘extraterrestrial brother’? It would still be part of creation”

In 1997, the Vatican’s Father Malachi Martin, during a radio interviewed revealed the following mysterious statement:-

“Because the mentality… amongst those who [are] at the… highest levels of Vatican administration and geopolitics, know that, now, knowledge of what’s going on in space, and what’s approaching us, could be of great import in the next five years, ten years.”

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Indianapolis News Channel 8 released a video taken of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City showing what appeared to be an unidentified flying object moving across the upper left portion of the screen. The video, taken from a network feed camera at around 6:00 am Roman time, was filmed as Pope John Paul II lay in state.

In light of these mysterious quotations, it makes me wonder – what does the Vatican know that we don’t?