UFO ROUNDUP Volume 8 Number 44
Volume 8
Number 44
November 19, 2003
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
SAUCER CRASHES IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Hundreds in the Dominican Republic claim to have seen a UFO go down in the rain forests of Diego de Ocampo mountain, located near the Caribbean country's northern coastline.
"The object was seen from Santiago," a city 200 kilometers (120 miles) northwest of Santo Domingo, the national capital, "by cameraman Noendi Valerio of (TV) Channel 25, who claims having recorded the beam of light from his home in the city's Los Reyes sector."
"In Navarette, several residents claimed having seen the column of smoke given off by the alleged spaceship," when it crashed on Wednesday, November 5, 2003, and "which still has not been found in the impenetrable mountainous area of the communities of Fundacion, Paradero and Arroyo Blanco."
"However," the Dominican Republic's "Civil Aeronautics Accident Investigation Board is continuing to search at the site where the accident supposedly occurred."
"They believe it could have been an agricultural aircraft. However, since no rice grower has reported an accident--something they always do to collect the insurance on their cropdusters."
The morning of Thursday, November 6, 2003, "an aircraft from the Fuerza Aerea Dominicana (FAD or Dominican Air Force--J.T.) flew over the area but reported nothing" found.
"Participating in the search-and-rescue operations are members of all of the Dominican state's security organizations, according to a press report from the Civil Aeronautics press office."
(Editor's Comment: Meaning the hunt is on for any aliens who might have survived the crash, just as at Boyle, Ireland in 1995 and Varginha, Brazil in 1996.)
"The area in which the event allegedly occurred was surveyed by reporters from" the newspaper El Nacional on November 6, 2003. "It is extremely cloudy and the rains have not ceased. In spite of this, the impenetrable vegetation has also kept local volunteers and brigades of the police, the National Army, the Civil Defense and the Red Cross from continuing the search."
(Editor's Comment: But that won't hold back the Men in Black, the U.S. Army's Delta Force or the U.S. Air Force's Operation Moon Dust paratroopers. You can bet there are covert action teams in the Dominican Republic right now.)
"Residents of Gajo Alto, at the highest point of the mountain, claim having seen the beam of light but did not hear any detonation."
"Nothing had been recorded entering the Dominican Republic's airspace and the radars of Gregorio Lupero Airport" in San Felipe de Puerto Plata, "which are rather broad in their coverage, have no information about aircraft which flew over the area Wednesday night."
"Santiago astronomers do not dismiss the possibility that this could be a natural unidentified object. Residents in the mountainous northeastern corner" of the island nation "believes a beam of light fell to the ground like an aircraft."
"Ramon Caceres, scientific advisor to the city's Astronomy Club, stated that while there is no palpable evidence to affirm that an unidentified flying object is involved, 'it is nonetheless acceptable as a possibility in the scientific world" to say "that it was an aerolith (meteor--J.T.) or a UFO."
"He added that they (scientists) are duty-bound to investigate the possibility and, among other possibilities, it is also necessary to search the area in which a geological fault is located--a place where strange phenomena has allegedly taken place."
"Not long ago, a group of youngsters attending the Astronomy Club's meeting, claimed having seen a red-hued ball emerging from the Diego de Ocampo mountain's peak."
The mountain is located 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of Santiago and has an elevation of 1,250 meters (4,125 feet).
"'This red ball I'm telling you about ascended vertically and then vanished. Many lights were also seen at Isabel de Torres mountain during the (recent) earthquake,' Caceres said."
"Many claim, he continued, that it could have been a laser beam of a type known today 'but others say it could have been an airplane. Something truly startling has taken place.'"
"Victor Sabaster, a member of the Astronomy Club, also claims having seen the light, which has caused such a stir and has so many people wondering what it was they saw. They say the strange events continue to occur in the mountains in the wake of the September 20 (2003) earthquake."
"'What people claim having seen struck me a something natural, because a spacecraft wouldn't rise or fall, much less in the shape of an orb. This could have been an emanation of energy, nothing more,' said Reynaldo Castellanos."
"This morning (Sunday, November 9, 2003) elements of the Civil Defense, Aeronautics and the Red Cross, among others, resumed the search for the alleged private plane in the region of Altamira, Guananico and Navarette."
"'We haven't found anything yet, but we won't stop looking,' said Pedro Alberto Hernandez, a public relations officer of the Civil Aeronautics Division." (See the Dominican newspaper El Nacional for November 7, 2003, "Alleged crash of two lights in the Dominican Republic," and for November 9, 2003, "Authorities do not dismiss UFO flight path over the northeastern Dominican Republic." Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales y Gloria Coluchi para estos articulos de diario.)
(Editor's Comment: If live aliens are captured, the process will probably follow the standard extraction policy. Covert action teams on the ground move the aliens to a deserted area. A black helicopter airlifts the aliens to the nearest large airport. A military transport plane then ferries the aliens to Camp Condon, the P.O.W. camp for captured extraterrestrials, at Area 51. However, because Puerto Rico and the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba are so close to the crash site, it's possible that they might use black helicopters to take them to a secure facility like Camp X-ray in Guantanamo or the Salinas Training Area in Puerto Rico. Dominican readers, keep an eye out for black helicopters and, if you see any, send an email to UFO Roundup.)
CAMERAMAN VIDEOTAPES A UFO IN NORTHERN ARGENTINA
"A journalistic team of (TV Channel) Canal America 2's (news program) Informe Central recorded several UFOs at a location near Maimara," in Argentina's northernmost province of Jujuy, "and their images are being shown on the Sunday edition of said program."
"The experience was made known to (the newspaper) Pregon by Alfonso Bidondo, who guided the team to the site where the contact event took place, only scant kilometers away from Maimara and on the side of National Highway 9."
"Bidondo, who has been devoted to UFO research for some years, claims being able to establish telepathic contact with the crews allegedly aboard these craft."
"'The folks from Canal America asked me to take them to see UFOs in order to film them and use these as subjects of research. I told them that, indeed, my telepathic contact with the vehicles led me to that spot in the early morning. We were at the site and, while they interviewed me, the vehicles told me that they were about to appear behind me. We turned around, and one of the vehicles was up above. They were very startled but managed to record it,' claims Bidondo."
"The (news) team, he detailed, was formed by producer Marcelo Peralta, host Martin Ciccoli and cameraman Alfredo Ghilanda."
"When consulted about the characteristics of the object seen, Bidondo described them as 'a very big bright object that passed slowly above us and then vanished. It must have remained for some 15 seconds and then disappeared. Then other lights appeared. The sky clouded and we headed back.'"
"Showing the videotaped images of their experience at La Quebrada, he explained, the same members of the news crew 'still couldn't believe it. It was the first time they had seen UFOs, and it seemed an impossibility. But then they themselves became witnesses and were totally amazed.'"
"'Jujuy', explained Bidondo, 'is one of the most important places on the planet because we are in an enigmatic 'tube' through which such craft transit...the atmospheric and electromagnetic field in which northern Argentina is submerged is also an influence.' Despite this, he added, 'the UFO subject is taboo in Jujuy.'"
Jujuy province is 700 kilometers (420 miles) northwest of Buenos Aires and forms Argentina's border with Bolivia. (See the newspaper Pregon of San Salvador de Jujuy for November 3, 2003, "UFO presence seen and recorded." Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales y Gloria Coluchi para esto articulo de diario.)
(Editor's Comment: Looks like we're having another major UFO flap in South America, readers.)
BLUE UFO FLIES OVER CITY IN NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL
On Thursday, November 13, 2003, at 6:30 p.m., "a large disc-shaped object with a blue core, surrounded by an aura of blue light, flew over the city" of Maceio, the seaport capital of Alagoas state in northeastern Brazil. "The object flew at an altitude of 1,500 to 2,000 meters (5,000 to 6,600 feet) and did not emit any sound at all. The UFO traveled along a flight path running north- northeast, parallel to Maceio's beachfront, and passing directly over the large resort Hotel Jatica, where it was seen by dozens of guests."
"The object moved at a relatively slow velocity, and then it changed its luminous aura from blue to yellow. Seconds later, it accelerated rapidly and darted away over the South Atlantic, where it was lost from view."
Maceio is located about 1,050 kilometers (630 miles) northeast of Rio de Janeiro. (Muito obrigado a Paulo Silva Coutinho por eso caso.)
(Editor's Comment: Maceio had two UFO incidents back in March, including an appearance of the mysterious interdimensional gateway called the Xendra. For details, see UFO Roundup volume 8, number 11 for March 12, 2003, "UFO flap sweeps Brazil," page 5; and UFO Roundup volume 8, number 12 for March 19, 2003, "Xendra appears again, this time in Brazil," page 1.)
CIRCULAR RED UFO CAUGHT ON VIDEO IN CENTRAL CHILE
Last week Rodrigo Fuenzalida of Agrupacion de Investigaciones Ovniologicas de Chile (AION) unveiled a videotape containing images of a UFO performing maneuvers over Vina del Mar in central Chile.
"According to Fuenzalida, the images were the result of research by AION investigator Enrique Silva."
"On (Friday) October 24 (2003), at 4 p.m., the transit of a red-colored object with three protuberances was recorded over Vina del Mar, on the central coast of Chile, moving swiftly over a broad swath of coastline."
"The object was seen from the Santa Maria University (campus) headed toward Concan. According to initial calculations, the object's speed was about 300 kilometers per hour (180 miles per hour--J.T.) The flight of seagulls can be seen in the (video) image's foreground."
"Silva's first impression was that he was witnessing three joined weather balloons, but, according to personnel from the Chilean Meterological Office at the FACh (Spanish acronym for Fuerzas Aereas de Chile or Chilean Air Force-- J.T.) bases at Quintero and Santo Domingo, this possibility was dismissed--at least officially."
According to Silva and Fuenzalida, "weather balloons are launched from the FACh base at Santo Domingo twice a day, at 8 a.m. and at 12 noon," and the UFO was sighted four hours after the second launch. Also, FACh ballons are filled with hydrogen, not helium, which allows them to reach high altitudes more quickly "and which would allow a greater speed but not enough to match the velocity of the object recorded over Vina del Mar."
Vina del Mar is a seaport city located 60 kilometers (36 miles) northwest of Santiago de Chile, the national capital. (Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales y Guillermo Gimenez de Planeta UFO para esto informe.)
(Editor's Comment: Like Maceio in Brazil, Vina del Mar had a UFO sighting earlier this year. See UFO Roundup volume 8, number 10 for March 5, 2003, "Large dark UFO seen in Vina del Mar, Chile," page 7.)
NIGHT SAUCER HOVERS OVER HURON, OHIO
On Saturday, November 8, 2003, at 7:45 p.m., G.C. and his friends decided to go out to "a partially wooded clearing at the end of a dead-end road" just off Huron Avery Road in Huron, Ohio (population 7,598), to watch the lunar eclipse.
"Me and about a dozen or so people were outside on the north side of a barn, attempting to witness the lunar eclipse, which was giving a decent view with just a few clouds," G.C. reported, "I walked around to the east side of the barn to relieve myself and watched an object in the sky," which approached from the southeast.
"It resembled a huge metal kite," observed G.C., who added that he was "looking towards the Huron River just south of Lake Erie" at the time.
"I could see quite well because of the moonlight. Then it started to descend. My curiosity turned to fear when I saw that it was disc-like with rotations underneath. Approximately 100 yards (90 meters) away, slow descent, almost floating. Then hovering about 50 feet (15 meters) over a neighbor's house for about two seconds, then moving east. Then it hyperdrived" and vanished.
Huron is on Ohio Route 6, which runs along Lake Erie's south shore, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of Cleveland. (Email Form Report)
BOOMERANG-SHAPED UFO SEEN IN BROOKLINE, MASS.
On Saturday, November 8, 2003, at 8:15 p.m., eyewitness J.B. was outdoors in Brookline, Massachusetts (population 57,107), a suburb 5 miles (8 kilometers) southwest of Boston, "when a strange object approached from the northwest (Cambridge, Mass.--J.T.)."
"On the night of the recent lunar eclipse, a boomerang shape of about 30 small white lights moved silently across the sky," J.B. reported, "At its closest to me, it was about the width of my fist at arm's length. I couldn't see any object, just the lights. It was far lower than the usual planes and much slower. It moved steadily until it disappeared behind some houses."
"The lights were white; nothing else was visible," he added, "Its height was perhaps 1,200 feet (360 meters) high. Departed to the southeast (North Quincy, Mass.-- J.T.)." (Email Form Report)
FIVE GRAYISH UFOs SEEN OVER DETROIT, MICHIGAN
On Saturday, November 8, 2003, at 8:15 p.m., eyewitness Randy H. and his wife were under "a clear and cold sky with clouds in Detroit, Michigan (population 951,270)," watching the lunar eclipse, when they spotted some UFOs.
"Me and my wife were out in front of our house, looking at the eclipse with our 10 X 42 binoculars from 8 to 8:30 p.m.," Randy reported, "At approximately 8:15 p.m., I was out on our front porch alone. I focused on the moon, then after that a jet. Less than a minute later, I saw a formation of four, maybe five, grayish, kind of small, jet-shaped objects moving together, fast and quiet, and heading east."
"So I quickly focused on the four for about a second, and they were gone!"
"I would guess they were going approximately 700 to 900 miles per hour (1,120 to 1,440 kilometers per hour-- J.T.). When I first saw them, I thought they were a bird or duck formation. But after focusing on them briefly, I realized that they were too fast, and I'd never seen anything like these. To me, they had to have been UFOs. No lights on these craft." (Many thanks to John and Jenny Hoppe of UFO Wisconsin for this report.)
PHANTOM PANTHER SEEN IN LADYBANK, SCOTLAND
"A quiet walk in the woods near the town of Ladybank," in Fife, Scotland, UK "yesterday (Monday, November 3, 2003) took on a whole new meaning for retired electrician Andrew Smith."
"The 64-year-old from Glenrothes has become the latest in a long line of people who have become convinced that the northeastern Fife countryside is home to one or more 'big cats.'"
"Andrew contacted the Courier to say that he had been out with his labrador (dog) Corrie and his Jack Russell terrier Jodie in woodland lying beside the minor road leading from Pitlessie to Ladybank when the incident occurred."
"'I was quite close to the railway line and making my way back to the car when I saw a large black animal. It was definitely not a dog but had a long tail and ran very quickly.'"
"'I quickly put the leads on the dogs, and the animal, which moved like a panther, was only about 20 metres (66 feet) away. It came from an open field and I quickly lost sight of it.'"
"Andrew said that, as he was preparing to leave, he had spoken to a local woman who said that she had found a fox torn to pieces in the same area recently."
"He said that he had seen many stories in the papers about 'big cats' but had always been unsure whether there was any truth to them."
"'I always wondered why no one ever had a camera when these sightings were made, and why there were no photographs, but, in my case, the whole thing was over in seconds.'"
"George Redpath of Balmullo, who collates sightings of the cats, said there had been several other reports from the same area over the years."
"He said that he had received other reports from someone who saw a dark brown coloured, cat-like animal beside the Balmullo to St. Michaels Road at the weekend." (See the Dundee Courier for November 4, 2003, "Another big cat sighting in field." Many thanks to Robert Fischer, UFO Roundup's phantom panther expert, for this newspaper article.)
ANOTHER LOST CITY FOUND IN THE JUNGLES OF PERU
One by one, the impenetrable jungles of eastern Peru are giving up their secrets.
"An Anglo-American team of explorers has found an Incan city lost for centuries in the Peruvian jungles despite being within sight of the religious center of Machu Picchu."
"Using infrared aerial photography to penetrate the (rain) forest canopy, the team, led by Briton Hugh Thomson and American Gary Ziegler, located the ruins of ancient Llactapata, 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of the Incan capital, Cuzco."
"'This is a very important discovery. It is very close to Machu Picchu and aligned with it. This adds significantly to our knowledge about Machu Picchu,' Thomson told the British news agency Reuters via telephone on Thursday," November 6, 2003. "'Llactapata adds to its significance.'"
"The ruins were first visited by American explorer Hiram Bingham, who discovered Machu Picchu in 1912, but he was very vague about its location, and the ruins" of Llactapata "have lain undisturbed ever since."
"After locating the city from the air, the expedition used machetes to hack through the jungle to reach it, 2,700 meters (9,000 feet) up the side of a mountain."
"They found stone buildings, including a solar temple and houses covering several square kilometers in the same alignment with the Pleiades star cluster and the June solstice sunrise, as in Machu Picchu, which was a sacred center."
"'This gives the site great ritual importance,' Thomson said."
"Not only was Llactapata probably a ceremonial site in its own right, examination suggested that it might have also been used as a granary and dormitory for its sacred neighbor," Machu Picchu.
"The Incas abandoned their towns and cities and retreated from the treasure-hunting Spanish invaders after the Conquistadores captured and executed the last Inca leader, Tupac Amaru, in 1572."
"Some of the cities have since been rediscovered, but many more are believed to be hidden in the dense jungle, almost impossible to detect without a new technology or a close (accidental) encounter."
"Last year (2002) the explorers found another lost Inca town at Cota Coca, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Cuzco."
"'The fact that we have found two in two years suggests that there are many more out there,' Thomson said."
"He said the use for the first time of an infrared camera to locate a set of ruins from the air had been a breakthrough, but one that did not make the durable machete redundant." (See the newspaper El Comercio of Lima, Peru for November , 2003. Muchas gracias a Monica Gaetano de Silva para esto articulo de diario.)
(Editor's Comment: In his book The Children of Mu, Colonel James Churchward (1850-1936) wrote that there are hundreds of pre-Columbian ruins tucked away in the rain forests of South America. Some may even date back to the lost continent of Lemuria. But so far, nobody has found the fabled Ovnipuerto, the lost city with the subterranean hangars, rust-covered saucers and embalmed aliens.)
J.LO IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION?
A prominent psychic claims that actors Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez were star-crossed lovers during the French Revolution.
"These and other stunning revelations about famous people and their previous incarnations have just been published in the exciting new book, Alive 5 Times: An Autobiography of Past Lives (Lightrise Press, 2003) by psychic, psychologist and minister Dr. Allen Eastman."
"Eastman says the book grew steadily over 36 years of past-life investigation. Early on, while practicing self- hypnosis, he realized he had lived before--five times."
"'It all started with awarenesses about my own past lives,' says Eastman, 'But my meditation has deepened and expanded over the years. I've trained myself to be open to the incarnations of others, as well. They come to me in quick flashes, snapshot-like image of J.Lo or Marilyn (Monroe) and, with patience, I'll glean the full story as I continue meditating.'"
"Here are some eye-opening disclosures from Eastman's fascinating book:"
"Before megastars Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez set Hollywood ablaze with their on-again, off-again love affair, they lived in 18th Century France, where they loved just as passionately as they do today. Affleck was Pierre, a bodyguard to King Louis XVI. J.Lo was Collette. Pierre died in an uprising. Collette mourned him the rest of her days."
UFO Roundup editor Joseph Trainor read Eastman's account and decided to check source books to see if there was any truth to his claims.
"Since the court of Marie Antoinette is one of the best-documented periods in French history, there's no shortage of information on the queen's associates. I went through a dozen biographies and came up with two possibles matching Eastman's descriptions of 'Pierre' and 'Collette.'"
"There was a Capitaine Pierre Deslon (1765-1792) in the royal household," Trainor said, "He commanded the squadron of King's Hussars assigned to protect Louis. Deslon played a key role in the king's flight to Varennes on June 21, 1791 and also made an abortive attempt to rescue the royal family from the French revolutionaries who had arrested them there. A year later, Deslon was killed by the Jacobins in the riots of August 10, 1792."
"The woman might have been Collette de Jarjayes (1772-1867), the daughter of General de Jarjayes and one of Marie Antoinette's ladies-in-waiting. Pierre was one of the general's junior officers. When news of the flight to Varennes reached Paris, Madame de Jarjayes and Collette were arrested by the Committee of Public Safety (revolutionary secret police--J.T.) and locked up in the Conciergerie prison. Marie Antoinette joined them there. For months, Collette and another girl, Rosalie, looked after the queen. Condemned by the revolutionary tribunal, Marie Antoinette, stripped of all her titles and now called 'the widow Capet,' went to the guillotine on October 16, 1793."
"Collette came to trial on May 10, 1794. Public prosecutor Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville accused her of being 'an enemy of the republic, one and indivisible' and 'a traitress to the revolution.'" Trainor added, "Whatever Collette had learned from her mother and the nuns at the convent school about keeping her temper and holding her tongue went flying out the window. Collette stood up and gave it right back to him, saying, 'Don't take that tone with me, you Illuminati faggot! I'm not one of your nancy-boys at the Lodge of the Nine Sisters!'"
"Purple-faced, Fouquier-Tinville roared, 'You are going to die! You helped that traitor Capet (Louis XVI-- J.T.) escape from Paris!'"
"'What happened to my hope chest!?' Collete shouted, 'Where's my lingerie? Are you wearing it under that fine suit of yours!? Quelle poufe! (Translated: What a fairy!)'"
"Needless to say, with an outburst like that, Collette didn't help her case any. The tribunal returned a verdict of guilty, and Collette was ordered to be sent to the guillotine on May 22, 1794. On the appointed day, Collette actually held up the tumbril's departure for an hour and a half. Because she couldn't decide what earrings to wear to her execution. The delay saved her life. As she was climbing the steps to the scaffold, her younger sister Isabelle arrived with a stay of execution signed by the head of state, Maximilien Robespierre."
"Collette was freed from the Conciergerie in September 1794, thanks to a general amnesty following the fall of Robespierre. Only then did she learn of Pierre's death. There were other suitors, but she never married."
So "Pierre" and "Collette" did exist. But whether or not they came back as "Bennifer" is another matter entirely. (See Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Lady Antonia Fraser, Doubleday, New York, N.Y., 2001, pages 340 to 344; and Queen of France by Andre Castelot, Harper & Brothers, New York, N.Y., 1957, pages 285, 312, 328 to 331, 352 and 393. Also the tabloid Sun for November 25, 2003, "Reincarnation is for real," page 4.)
From the UFO Files...
1926: MYSTERIOUS CROSS AT HENDAYE
At the foot of the Pyrenees, on the border between France and Spain, lies a shoreside region called the Cote des Basques. Dominating the beaches between St. Jean de Luz in France and San Sebastian in Spain is the ancient Basque town of Hendaye, which has played a small role in European history, thanks to a most unusual monument in the local churchyard.
Located in the southwestern corner of the Eglise Saint Vincent (church), "standing about 12 feet (3.7 meters) tall, the Cyclic Cross at Hendaye looms over the courtyard, a mysterious apparition in the clear Basque sunlight."
At first glance, the monument resembles a blend of cultures--a simple stone cross sitting on top of a fluted Doric pillar of Graeco-Roman design. "The base of local sandstone sits on a broad but irregular three-step platform and is roughly cubic. Measurements reveal that it is a little taller than it is wide."
"On each face are curious symbols--a sun face glaring like some ancient American (Toltec or Tiahuanaco--J.T.) sun god, a strange shield-like arrangement of A's in the arms of a cross, an eight-rayed starburst, and, most curious of all, an old-fashioned man-in-the-moon face with a prominent eye."
(Editor's Comment: Our older readers probably remember the controversy over a similar man-in-the-moon symbol used by Proctor & Gamble back in the 1970s.)
"Above the sun face on the western side can be seen a double-X figure on the top portion of the cross. Below that, on the transverse arm, is the common (Latin) inscription O Crux Aves, Pes Unica (Translated: Hail, O Cross, the only hope).
"The cross is starting to crumble and it is obvious that air pollution--the cross sits a few yards from a busy street intersection--is speeding its dissolution."
People of the area aren't quite sure who erected the cross. Some say it was the Visigoths. Others claim it was the mysterious sect of the Cathars, a gnostic religion that flourished in Europe from 800 A.D. to the sect's final destruction at Montsegur, France in 1244, the result of the so-called Albigensian Crusade.
One wild theory maintains that the stone cross is thousands of years old, brought to Europe by the Basques from their original homeland, the lost continent of Atlantis. The Atlantean theory maintains that the monument is "a prophecy in stone," showing Christianity sprouting from the ruins of Graceo-Roman Classical civilization in the distant future.
In 1926, a strange little book appeared in print and knocked the occult underground of Paris on its collective rear. This was La Mystere des Cathedrales (Translated: Mystery of the Cathedrals) and it was written by an obscure occultist with the nom de voyage (the name he traveled under--J.T.) of Fulcanelli.
Fulcanelli was described as "a small man dressed as a pre-war (World War I) bohemian, with a long Asterix-the- Gaul style moustache." In his book, he claimed that the Gothic architecture of the Middle Ages was a kind of coded alchemy, hinting at ancient hidden secrets.
In 1957, a revised edition of the book appeared. This was something of a surprise, since Fulcanelli had vanished in August 1944 during the Allied liberation of Paris. "The second edition included a new chapter entitled 'The Cyclic Cross at Hendaye,'" in which Fulcanelli claimed that the symbols on the stone cross were a "prophecy of the Last Days."
Fulcanelli's mastery of hidden lore becomes apparent in nearly every paragraph. He writes, "It is written that life takes refuge in a single space...that a country exists, where death cannot reach man at the terrible time of the double cataclysm."
"We have two symbolic crosses," he adds, "Both instruments of the same torture. Above is the divine cross, exemplifying the chosen means of expiation; below is the global cross, fixing the pole of the northern hemisphere and locating in time the fatal period of this expiation...by fire is nature renewed whole...," a clear reference to a coming cataclysm that will destroy the present civilization and transform Earth back into a primordial wilderness.
Finishing the chapter, Fulcanelli warns, "The age of iron (Kali Yuga in the Hindu Vedas--J.T.) has no other seal than that of Death. Its hieroglyph is the skeleton, bearing the attributes of Saturn, the empty hourglass, symbol of time run out, and the scythe, reproduced in the number 7, which is the number of transformation, of destruction, of annihilation."
In short, in the second edition of his book, Fulcanelli argued that the Cross of Hendaye contained coded information that would give the exact date of the End of the World.
Since 1957, the Cross of Hendaye has been of extreme interest to researchers. In fact, a new book about it has just been published, Mysteries of the Great Cross of Hendaye: Alchemy and the End of Time, by Vincent Bridges and Jay Weidner, Inner Traditions, 2003. (See Atlantis Rising No. 42 for November/December 2003, "Fulcanelli and the Cathedrals," pages 28, 30 and 64.)
Next Week: Hendaye's Celebrity Pilgrims
That's it for this week. Join us in seven days for more UFO, Fortean and paranormal news from around the planet Earth, brought to you by "the paper that goes home- -UFO Roundup." See you next time!
UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 2003 by Masinaigan Productions, all rights reserved. Readers may post new items from UFO Roundup on their Web sites or in news groups provided that they credit the newsletter and its editor by name and list the date of the issue in which the item first appeared.
