It Goes Back Centuries: UFO and Alien Encounters from Before the Modern UFO Era

When most of us think of UFOs, we likely cast our minds no further back than the late 1940s, which is widely considered to be the start of the modern UFO era. Likewise, when the subject of encounters with aliens and alien abduction are discussed, we almost certainly think of cases from the 1970s, eighties, or even 1990s. The fact is, though, there are many encounters on record that appear to clearly describe strange aerial objects, as well as some that even suggest interaction with otherworldly entities long before the mid-twentieth century.

Perhaps a good place to start would be with the Tulli Papyrus, and what some people have claimed is one of the earliest documented sightings of a UFO somewhere around 1500 BC. This intriguing document, it is claimed, records the appearance of a strange object over the land of ancient Egypt. The document was first discovered in 1933 while the Director of the Egyptian Museum at the Vatican, Alberto Tulli, was working in Cairo, although what makes it particularly controversial is that no one – other than Tulli, that is – has ever seen the original. According to Tulli’s account, he came across the ancient papyrus, which was written in hieratic script, while in an antique shop. However, he didn’t have enough money to purchase it. Instead, he made a copy and then translated the hieratic scripts into hieroglyphics. Of course, this has led some people to contemplate just how accurate the translations are and whether the document ever existed at all. Whatever the truth, the full translation of the document – according to Tulli – reads as follows:

“In the year 22, in the third month of winter, in the sixth hour of the day, the scribes of the House of Life noticed a circle of fire that was coming from the sky...From the mouth it emitted a foul breath. It had no head. Its body was one rod long and one rod wide. It had no voice. And from that the hearts of the scribes became confused and they threw themselves down on their bellies...then they reported the thing to the Pharaoh...His Majesty ordered...has been examined...and he was meditating on what had happened, that it was recorded in the scrolls of the House of the Life. Now after some days had passed, these things became more and more numerous in the skies. Their splendor exceeded that of the sun and extended to the limits of the four angles of the sky...High and wide in the sky was the position from which these fire circles came and went. The army of the Pharaoh looked on with him in their midst. It was after supper. Then these fire circles ascended higher into the sky and they headed toward the south. Fish and birds then fell from the sky. A marvel never before known since the foundation of their land...And Pharaoh caused incense to be brought to make peace with Earth...and what happened was ordered to be written in the Annals of the House of Life so that it be remembered for all time forward.”

It is easy to see how such a translation would be interpreted as a UFO encounter. It is claimed that once Tulli had translated the document and realized the true importance of what he had read, he disclosed the findings to the Vatican, who agreed to fund the purchase of the papyrus. However, by the time he returned to the shop, the ancient writing was no longer there – it had mysteriously disappeared. The tale, though, would take another turn two decades later in the early 1950s.

In 1953, an Italian man, Prince Boris of Rachelwiltz, claimed to have found a torn version of the ancient papyrus in a book that had once belonged to none other than Alberto Tulli. He claimed that he also translated the ancient writing and, much like Tulli, revealed a description of a disc or circle of fire. Interestingly, the Vatican denied any knowledge of the whereabouts of the apparent original document.

A decade and a half later, in 1968, the Tulli Papyrus was featured in the US Air Force-commissioned Condon Report when Samuel Rosenberg asked the Vatican to comment on the claims of the original document and translation. The Vatican offered the document was “not the property of the Vatican Museum” and that Tulli had “disappeared and was never found”, which is perhaps ominous in itself. They also stated they had discovered that Tulli was not an Egyptologist and, as such, was not qualified to have translated the document, if indeed it ever existed. Even more remarkable, they further claimed that “Rachelwitz, in a confidential letter, admitted that he had never seen the original document or Tulli’s original notes”. In short, the Vatican was not only distancing itself from the Tulli Papyrus, but they were also ensuring there was considerable doubt cast onto both Tulli and Rachelwitz.

As we might imagine, some researchers and investigators are suspicious of the Vatican’s comments, believing them to be nothing more than a cover-up of their knowledge regarding the document’s existence and authenticity. However, as intriguing and thought-provoking as the alleged document is, we need to treat the alleged documentation with a considerable pinch of salt.

While there might be doubt regarding the Tulli Papyrus, the records of ancient Rome are much more solid, especially given the meticulous procedures involved in record-keeping in the Roman Empire. And surprisingly or not, there are several documented incidents that sound very much like UFO encounters.

In the book Wonders in the Sky: Unexplained Aerial Objects from Antiquity to Modern Times, Jacques Vallee and Chris Aubeck relay just such an incident from 343 BC. The account is found in the writings of Diodorus Siculus, who documents the journey of Timoleon from Corinth to Sicily and who, ultimately, suggested that a strange light in the sky guided his route. He would write that “all through the night he was preceded by a torch blazing in the sky up to the moment when the squadron made harbor in Italy!” The insinuation that the light in question remained until Timoleon reached his destination upon which it disappeared might very well suggest some kind of purposeful interaction.

Just over a century later, between 218 to 201 BC, during the Second Punic War, the Pontifex Maximus of Rome documented several sightings of “gleaming round shields” in the Annales Maximi. Just under a hundred years later, in the year 122 BC, over the skies of Ariminium in modern-day Italy, when there were several reports of “three moons” appearing in the sky overhead. Furthermore, these “moons” were visible not only at night but also for several hours during the day. The incident was one of several documented by Pliny the Elder in his Historia Naturallis volumes, who wrote, “Three moons have appeared at once in the consulship of Gnaeus Domitius and Gaius Fannius”.

Just under 50 years later, in 74 BC in what is modern-day Turkey, a truly remarkable incident was documented by Roman historian Plutarch. According to his writings, on the day in question, under bright sunshine, Roman and Turkish soldiers were advancing toward each other in anticipation of a bloody battle when a sound like the rumble of thunder was heard, followed by a bright flash of light. The two battalions stopped their advances and looked upwards to the sky, where they saw a “huge flame-like body” that proceeded to “fall between the two armies!” Plutarch wrote that the object was shaped like a “wine jar” and was silver in color. Incidentally, both armies retreated a short time later, which perhaps should make us contemplate whether the intention of the landing was to cause the battle to be abandoned, and if that was true, it would suggest a definite interference in human affairs by the intelligence behind the object.  

There is another interesting sighting documented from the year 12 BC, and while there is not a great amount of detail, it features a detail that has been witnessed several times in UFO sightings of our contemporary era. According to the ancient report, residents of Rome witnessed the appearance of a “comet-like” object that hovered over the city for several days. After this, it then “melted”, with witnesses stating that pieces that melted away looked similar to flashing torches. What is interesting is that in the twenty-first century, there have been several sightings of glowing objects hovering overhead that then emit several “drips” that look similar to pieces melting from it. Whether these objects are extraterrestrial vehicles or not, it is interesting to see a report detailing an almost identical event.

A particularly thought-provoking incident was documented by historian Josephus and took place in Judea in the year 65, where the residents of the city witnessed what can only be described as a battle between aerial objects. In fact, Josephus would write that the account would “likely have been deemed a fable were it not for the narratives of eyewitnesses!” He continued that on the day in question, “armed battalions (were) hurtling through the clouds”, which then forced the ground to shake. Another historian, Tacitus, also documented the remarkable affair, writing that “in the sky appeared a vision of armies in conflict, of glittering armor!”

Documented reports of what we would determine from a modern perspective as being a battle between UFOs can be found a millennium and a half later on two separate occasions. The first occurred on April 14th, 1561, in the city of Nuremberg in Germany and was documented in an illustrated broadsheet the following week by Hanns Glaser, a “letter-painter” of the city. Glaser offered that the residents of the city were witness to “a very frightful spectacle” overhead as globes of “blood-red, bluish, or black” hung in the sky. Among these globes were “plates and blood-colored crosses”. Glaser continued that several of these objects were “three in a row”, which perhaps suggested they were in some kind of formation. Also mentioned was the presence of huge tube-shaped objects from which further “globes” emerged, perhaps suggesting they were motherships. Glaser went on to detail how these strange aerial vehicles went on to “fight one another” until “they all fell…from the sun and sky down to the earth as if everything was on fire!” When the flames died down all that was left was “immense smoke”.

Just over five later, during the course of several weeks between late July and early August 1566, in Basel, Switzerland, further apparent aerial battles were witnessed. These sightings would culminate just before dawn on August 7th, when “many large black globes were seen in the air, moving before the sun with great speed!” The incident was documented by Samuel Coccius, who stated that the black globes were “turning against each other as if fighting. Some of them became red and fiery and afterward faded and went out!” We might conclude that the “red and fiery” refers to some kind of aerial explosion that caused these craft to fall to the ground.

According to an account that can be found in the book Best UFO Cases – Europe by Illobrand Von Ludwiger, at around 2 pm on the afternoon of April 8th, 1665, in Stralsund, Germany, near the Baltic Sea, several fishermen noticed what they thought was a particularly large swarm of birds over the water. However, the longer they watched this swarm, the more they noticed that they “changed to battleships in the sky!” Clearly, we can conclude that no physical transformation took place, but that the birds were, in fact, aerial vehicles that simply became clearer to the fishermen the closer they got. The strangeness, though, was just beginning.

As the fishermen looked on, the object began fighting “one against the other” which caused a “lot of smoke” to develop. Even more amazing, further objects arrived in the sky, each joining the aerial battle that was clearly taking place. The fishermen watched this bizarre show for several hours. According to the 1680 writings of Erasmus Francisci (who was one of Ludwiger’s sources for his account), these aerial battles “were frequent in the medieval age” and were regarded as “air visions” that were often seen as a warning.

Then, the battle seemed to come to a stop and the objects dispersed before a huge object suddenly appeared overhead. Francisci described this “flat round form” as looking very much “like a plate” or “like the big hat of a man” and was “the color of the moon!” It proceeded to move slowly across the sky before coming to a stop directly over St. Nikolai Church. It remained there for several hours with multiple residents of the area now aware of its presence. While many witnesses at the time – who already, according to Francisci, believed these aerial displays were divine visions – believed its decision to stop over the church was a further sign of divinity, we should perhaps consider that as one of the tallest buildings of the times, it is understandable that apparent aerial visitors would focus on them as a point of interest. Whatever the truth, the large object eventually left the region and disappeared.

The following day, however, the main witnesses to the bizarre events, the fishermen, became suddenly ill, with descriptions offering that they were “trembling all over and (had) pain in (their) head and limbs!” One detail states that one of the men had even been physically sick “on his feet!” Two of the fishermen were eventually “interrogated” by local authorities, and it was determined that the entire episode had been a vision from God. Today, though, we can see the event for what it seemingly was: some kind of aerial battle involving vehicles that very well could have been from another world.

There are several things for us to quickly consider here. We have already examined two similar encounters from the previous century that took place in the same region of Europe. As bizarre as it might sound, should we contemplate that there was some kind of aerial conflict taking place on Earth between two warring cosmic visitors from elsewhere in the Universe, and if so, why had such potential alien civilizations chosen the Earth for this battle? Or might we consider that these futuristic vehicles belonged to two civilizations already present on Earth, and if this was the case, who were these advanced civilizations and where did they go?

Just over four centuries earlier, in 1180 in Kii Province in Japan, as documented in The Book of Ghosts, UFOs, and the Unexplained by James Paton, several fishermen witnessed a bright object they described as an “earthen-ware vessel” in the night sky. An earthen-ware vessel, incidentally, is similar to a soup bowl or saucer – similar to how objects were often described at the start of the modern UFO era. The fishermen offered that the object had first appeared from the direction of Mount Nyoigadake before suddenly changing direction and disappearing into the distance with great speed.

Just over half a century later, also in Japan, in 1235, according to an account documented in the medieval Japanese text, the Azuma Kagami, General Yoritsune ordered what could possibly be regarded as the first UFO investigation on record. The orders were issued after Yoritsune and his men witnessed several strange lights dancing in the night sky as they camped for the night. They watched them for several hours as they performed bizarre maneuvers overhead. Following the lights vanishing, Yoritsune gathered his most intelligent men and ordered them to investigate what the lights might have been and report their findings to him. Incidentally, his men insisted that the lights were “completely natural” and that the aerial anomaly was likely the result of “the wind making the stars sway!”

Another account detailed in James Paton’s The Book of Ghosts, UFOs, and the Unexplained occurred just short of 20 years later, on New Year’s Day 1254 in St. Albans in Hertfordshire, England. On the night in question, several monks had gathered at the local church in order to celebrate the New Year festivities and witnessed “a kind of large ship, elegantly shaped and of marvelous color!” According to the writing of the incident – documented by Matthew of Paris – hovered silently over the church, clearly standing out against the stars in the early evening sky. The object remained where it was for several minutes before ascending high into the sky and disappearing from sight. Whatever the object was, it is widely agreed by UFO investigators and historians alike that they most certainly saw something very strange.

Across the Atlantic in the New World that would become the United States of America, we find many more sightings of strange, out-of-place aerial objects. Arguably, the first recorded sighting of what we would today call a UFO occurred on the banks of the Muddy River near Boston, Massachusetts, one evening in 1638. Jeff Belanger relays the account in the book Picture Yourself Legend Tripping: Your Complete Guide to Finding UFOs, Monster, Ghosts, and Urban Legends in Your Own Backyard, offering the incident was first recorded in the journal of Governor John Winthrop. Winthrop wrote that a local man named James Everell – widely regarded as a “sober, discreet” man – along with two other unnamed men, witnessed a large, bright light moving across the night sky on the evening in question. Further, according to the report, the object stopped and hovered momentarily – where it would “flare up” – before moving once more, when it “took on the shape of a swine” (we might imagine that the object Winthrop was trying to describe was cigar or tube-shaped). The report continues that the witnesses followed the object for around a mile, noting that it was “swift as an arrow”, before it eventually disappeared into the distance.

At around 9 pm on the evening of June 30th, 1790, in the Schoharie County region of New York, a “bright shining light” was witnessed by a local German immigrant to the United States while sitting on his porch, who would eventually speak of the incident in 1823 in an official statement to the Historical Philosophical Society of the State of New York. At the same time that he noticed the light, he heard a “great roar” that seemed to come from the glowing object. The brightness of the object continued to increase, so much so that the witness stated it appeared as though he was sitting in the “noonday sun!”

To begin with, this strange craft moved across the sky in a similar fashion to a meteorite. However, after several moments, it leveled out somewhat and maintained the same altitude as it carried on its path just above the treetops before it ascended slightly with the speed of a “galloping horse” as it went over Owelus Sowless Hill. The witness further described the object as being around 300 yards long and a similar shape to a snake but with a shape similar to “the roots of a tree plucked up by force” where the head should be. The exterior of the object, according to the witness’s statement, “closely resembled a welding hot iron and sparked similar to it!” Even more remarkable, the witness claimed to have felt a considerable heat coming from the craft, despite being a significant distance away from it. In fact, such was the heat coming from the object that it warmed his entire house. What’s more, an aroma of burning sulfur and tar permeated the air around him and remained until well into the next day long after the object had gone.

Around half a century later, in the November 26th, 1846, edition of the Official Gazette of the Empire of Brazil newspaper, we can find what is widely agreed to be Brazil’s first officially documented UFO encounter. Furthermore, and lending immediate credibility to the case, the writer of the article, who was also the main witness, was a highly respected and decorated member of the Brazilian Navy, Augusto Lerverger.

The incident unfolded just before 6 am one morning in June 1846, when Lerverger was leading two gunboats down the Paraguay River, which runs between Paraguay and Brazil’s Matto Grasso area, on their way to Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay (the expedition was said to be a “military muscle-flexing” exercise on the part of the Brazilian government). They were just under 20 miles away from their destination when they witnessed a “phenomenon never seen before!” Lerverger wrote that out of the clear and calm sky, a “luminous globe performed with instant speed a 30-degree curve” ahead of them. He continued that a “light band” was connected to this globe, along which were “three bodies whose brightness was much more lively!” This object – as well as the three separate objects – continued to increase in brightness. Lerverger further stated that the three objects were separate from each other and were different shapes – one being circular, one an “irregular quadrangle” and the last “an arc of a circle” – with a “ribbon of very faint light” moving around them in a zig-zag motion.

The crew watched the object as it moved, noting that it began to change shape once more, this time appearing like a “flat elliptical shape” before it disappeared into the distance. In total, it was in view for around 25 minutes. By the time they arrived at their destination a short time later, it was clear to all onboard – including the Brazilian Ambassador, Dr. Jose Antonio Bueno, who was also present - that many other people had also seen the aerial anomaly. Lerverger speculated whether they had witnessed a meteor or some other kind of atmospheric phenomena. However, certainly, when examined from a modern perspective, it would appear the crew witnessed some kind of nuts-and-bolts mechanical craft.

As strange as it might sound, 1846 appears to have been quite the year for UFO sightings, with several others on record around the world. A little over a month later, at around 2:30 am on August 25th, 1846, in Saint-Apre, France, Dr. Moreau was making his way home following a late-night house call to one of his patients. As he walked along, a strange light suddenly appeared and enveloped him. When he looked up, he saw a mysterious globe that opened. A moment later, “hundreds of star-like objects” emerged from the globe and went into the air. This bizarre display continued for five minutes before the object disappeared back into the night sky.

Several weeks later, also in France in La Salette on September 19th, 11-year-old Maximin and 14-year-old Melanie Calvat were herding cattle when they reported seeing a suddenly appearing bright light flash across the sky. Although the sighting unfolded during the middle of the day, Melanie offered that the object was “shining more brightly than the sun!” Melanie recalled that she was immediately captivated by the strange glow, stating that as she watched, “something inconceivably fantastic passed” through her. Then, things turned even stranger. Melanie recalled that she witnessed a “lady” emerge from the light, a lady that she claimed was the “Virgin Mary” and that her appearance was a warning or omen.

In November 1846, on the Rangoon River in China, several people onboard a ship making its way down the river noticed a strange light suddenly appear in front of it. The main witness, the ship owner’s wife, and her four-year-old child, along with the ship’s captain, were standing at the front of the vessel when the light appeared. They recalled how the light had the appearance of a “compact flame” which appeared to move for several moments along the water’s edge.

According to another account in the book Wonders in the Sky, several months later, at around 8:30 pm on the evening of March 19th, 1847, in London, England, a witness referred to only as “A”, along with a friend, was walking down Albion Road when the evening took a most unusual turn. The pair suddenly noticed what they believed to be a balloon descending out of the night sky. However, as they watched it, and the lower it got, they quickly realized from “its intense brightness” that the object was “not an Earthly thing!” They continued to watch, noting that every now and then, several “fiery coruscations” were projected from the object as it took on the appearance of an “intensely radiant cloud!” The witness further offered that the object was so bright that it “cast a brilliant light on the houses” below. Both looked on as a second object appeared and descended to the same altitude as the first one. They both hovered in the air for around two minutes before the first object “absorbed” the second one and then began to ascend and disappear into the night sky.

In a letter to the Scientific American, Professor A.C. Carnes relayed another account of a strange aerial object that unfolded in the early hours of June 1st, 1854, on the campus of a Tennessee college. According to the report, several students awoke on the morning in question to see two strange objects hovering in the sky overhead. The witnesses claimed that one of the objects appeared moon-like while the other appeared like a star. The moon-like object began to decrease in size until it eventually disappeared. Then, the other object began to grow. Eventually, it began to change form, first into a globe or spherical object and then into an elongated shape.

In his letter, Carnes wrote, “The first (object) became visible again, and increased rapidly in size, while the other diminished, and the two spots kept changing thus for about half an hour!” After watching the objects until they disappeared, the students sought the advice of their professors, including Carnes, but none of them could offer an explanation. The incident remains a complete mystery today.

Another intriguing incident occurred a little over half a decade later, in March 1861, a short time after the inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln’s first term as President of the United States, once more in New York, a city still far from the sprawling metropolis it is today, but still a jungle of tall buildings that was a “cramped urban setting” for the people who resided there. On the night in question, in an area known as Five Points, Mrs. Kinder was looking out of her bedroom window at the church near her upper-floor apartment when she saw a “cross-like object with a flaming luminosity” moving across the sky. She immediately woke her husband, who also saw the bizarre aerial anomaly. The pair watched the object at the window until it disappeared into the distance. Mrs. Kinder would speak of the encounter to her priest at St. Peters Church in Jersey City, who would document the report in his Baptismal records. Also of interest, around the same time as the sighting, only six blocks from Kinder’s apartment, an entire block of buildings was brought to the ground by a raging fire. Whether there is a connection between this brutal blaze of the fiery object witnessed by Kinder remains open to debate.  

While there have undoubtedly been apparent encounters with alien entities long before the twentieth century (some of which we will examine shortly), there is little doubt that an encounter from early 1917 – an account I relay in From Deep Within The Archives Of UFO Insight: History’s Most Bizarre, Outlandish, And Controversial UFO And Alien Encounters -  is worth our time exploring here, not least as it features some of the specific details of the alien abduction phenomenon that would sweep the planet decades after the start of the modern UFO era.

According to most sources, the account first appeared in the June 9th, 1978, edition of the Finnish newspaper Kurkijokelainen, in an article written by Latomaen Aino, and documents what appears to be a classic case of alien abduction. According to the account, somewhere between January and Easter of 1917, in the North Karelia region of Finland, a local woman, Anni Lattu, who lived in a small house near the church of Kurkijoki, disappeared for several days before reappearing just as mysteriously. Although many of the local villagers thought it strange that she had seemingly left without saying anything to anyone, they assumed she had gone to visit family, and so no alarm was raised. When Anni returned, however, she did so with a bizarre tale.

She claimed that one morning, while going about her usual chores, a “large apparatus, like a big wash basin” appeared in the sky overhead and descended to the ground near her home. It is worth noting straight away that Anni’s description of this apparent aerial object is disc-shaped, just like many of the objects that would be reported over the second half of the twentieth century, as wash basins in Finland during this time were shaped like large soup bowls. That, though, was far from the only detail that resonated very nicely with close encounters of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

She stated that several moments after the strange object landed on the ground outside her house, a ladder emerged from the side of the craft and stretched slowly to the ground. A moment after that, several “small creatures” that she referred to as “little devils” appeared on the ladder. They walked down it and over to where she was standing. Although she wasn’t certain how, she knew that these creatures wanted her to go with them, and although she attempted to resist, the figures forcibly took her aboard. She stated that the walls of this futuristic craft shone brightly and that a moment after stepping foot inside, the object was moving. She stated it “traveled very quickly” and that “many wonders were shown to her!” Perhaps most interesting of all, in terms of details that can be found in UFO and alien abduction reports decades later, was that this strange vehicle was silent and “did not make any noise as in the train!” There were, though, further revelations from her remarkable tale.

She went on to describe being taken “above the world” and “between the stars”, clearly indicating she had left the planet and was taken into space. She further claimed that although she didn’t at all know their language, she understood everything the strange entities said to her, leading some researchers to question if her apparent abductors were using telepathy to communicate, something else that often shows up in other alien abduction encounters. The next thing she recalled was standing outside her house. To Anni, she had been gone only a short time. It was only when she spoke to friends and neighbors that she realized several days had passed.

According to the article, Anni was happy to speak to anyone who would listen about her fantastic adventure. However, as we might expect, most of the villagers dismissed her account, suspecting she had hallucinated the entire thing, perhaps as a result of suffering an intense fever from exposure to the cold, they reasoned. Or perhaps she had suffered a mental breakdown. Anni, though, never wavered from her version of events.

Several months after the publication of the article in the summer of 1978, Finish UFO investigator Mauritz Heitamaki took an interest in the case. So much so, in fact, that he ventured to the village where the apparent abduction had taken place. Even more remarkable, during his investigation, he managed to track down a witness who claimed to have known Anni shortly after the abduction happened.

The witness – referred to in Heitamaki’s report only as NM – claimed that when she was seven years old, her mother was Anni’s neighbor, and the pair would often speak. NM would listen to these conversations and clearly remembered hearing Anni speaking of the bizarre affair with her mother on several occasions. As was reported in the newspaper article, NM insisted that Anni always told the exact same story, never once differing in her account.  NM also offered that despite reports that Anni was a widow, she was, in fact, married, although her husband often left Anni alone for weeks at a time. Further, according to NM, Anni remained in the same village where the encounter took place until her death in 1930.

It is also worth our time to examine an account of an alien encounter that occurred in the small town of Lodi in California. According to reports, one evening during the summer of 1896, Colonel HG Shaw was traveling to Fresno by horse and carriage with a friend for an upcoming exhibition that they were to organize. However, out of nowhere, their horse would suddenly come to a complete stop. Not only would it refuse to move forward, but it was clearly in a severe state of fright and stress.

At this point, Shaw and his friend decided to investigate, and upon looking ahead of the horse, they could make out three tall figures standing a little way off in the middle of the road. The description Shaw gave of these creatures – large, hairless heads with large dark eyes and legs and arms that appeared too thin and out of proportion to their frames – is the same as many of the descriptions of grey aliens from throughout the Modern UFO era, and we should keep in mind, this report came six decades before the Roswell incident.

The two men watched the three figures for several moments and noticed how, every so often, they would place a bag with some kind of tube attached to their mouths, perhaps suggesting that it was some kind of breathing aid or apparatus. On the other hand, each figure carried some kind of glowing lamp. Furthermore, the two men could hear these mysterious creatures speaking to each other in a language they were unfamiliar with.

Several moments later, the three figures suddenly turned around and walked toward a nearby bridge. The two men watched them go, the light from their lamps revealing a hovering, metallic object close to the bridge. The three figures entered the hovering craft, which then began to ascend, eventually disappearing into the night sky. Although he wasn’t entirely sure what he and his friend had seen that night (although he stated in his report these figures could have been from Mars), he was certain they had witnessed something quite extraordinary.

There have been many other apparent encounters worth exploring. On the morning of August 5th, 1608, in Nice, France, for example, multiple residents of the city witnessed three glowing objects overhead. According to the reports, the objects revolved in the air as they moved in the direction of the city fortress. The three aerial vehicles continued across the fortress and headed out toward the Mediterranean Sea. They eventually came to a stop where the witnesses claimed to see them float on the water. Even more remarkable, as the witnesses watched the object, they could clearly see two humanoid figures emerge from one of them, a tube connected to their bodies from inside the craft. They each had a “large head” with “luminous eyes” and wore silver and red clothing. It appeared the entities were carrying out repairs of some kind before they reentered the craft. Following this, the three objects ascended high into the sky and then sped off into the distance.

A particularly intriguing account that could very well be a case of alien abduction in the seventeenth century can be found in the 1841 publication by Charles McKay, Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. The case in question features Major Thomas Weir, a respected Scottish soldier and commander of the Edinburgh Town Guard who, in 1670, while gravely sick and bed-ridden, seemingly confessed to bizarre activities involving his sister, Jean Weir, to the Lord Provost, activities that appeared to be ground in the Occult. When his sister was confronted with her brother’s confession, she broke down, claiming they had been involved in a lifetime of strange and bizarre events.

Of most interest to us here, though, is an account offered by Jean that took place at some time in 1648, when a mysterious stranger arrived out of nowhere in a “fiery coach” and proceeded to take her brother away. During this journey, this mysterious stranger imparted “supernatural intelligence” to Thomas, including information about a battle taking place at Worcester, a battle, incidentally, that the Scots lost. We might consider that the “fiery coach” described by Jean was, in fact, some kind of aerial object – essentially, a UFO – and this mysterious journey he embarked on was actually an alien abduction. Furthermore, the “lifetime of strange and bizarre events” could very well be an indication of repeat alien abduction. We might also consider the fact of this “supernatural intelligence” passed to Thomas. In many cases of alien abduction, many abductees speak of being given information, sometimes about future events. Could that have been the case here? Whatever the truth, the confession of Thomas and Jean would have tragic and unfortunate consequences for the siblings.

To begin with, the apparent confession of Thomas Weir was not taken seriously, not least because of Weir’s noble standing, but also because it was suspected he was suffering from senility. However, following his sister’s statements, both were arrested and eventually tried for practicing witchcraft. Both were found guilty, although Thomas’s conviction was on the much lesser charges (for the times) of incest and beastiality. Both, however, were sentenced to death.

Another bizarre encounter unfolded in October 1847 in the Saratov region of Russia when local residents witnessed “four fiery columns of light” overhead. These columns remained in sight for almost two hours and sparkled between shades of white and blue. Then, without warning, the four columns simply disappeared. The strangeness, though, was far from over. As the next few hours, days, and weeks progressed, residents of Saratov began commenting on several “bizarre-looking strangers” seen walking around the area. In fact, several people even approached these strangers and attempted to talk to them, although it was clear they didn’t understand them, and nor could residents understand the strangers.

These strange figures were described as looking similar to “elderly men” with “yellow-greenish faces” and without a beard (something that almost all male residents of the area sported). Most of the locals determined that these strangers were likely “eccentric travelers” who were friendly enough with those who encountered them. These strangers would appear regularly, each day in a different part of the region, always disappearing before nightfall. The last recorded sighting of them was on the evening of October 6th, 1848, almost a year after the strange columns of light appeared over the region. On this night, at around 9 pm, a bright light suddenly appeared overhead lighting up the entire area. At the same time, a low thunder-like rumbling sound could also be heard. This went on for around an hour before a “blood red colored spot” appeared within the light, which then morphed into an “elongated form” before finally splitting into several columns of sparkling light. These columns remained until around 11 pm when they suddenly disappeared – as had the strangers, who were never seen again.

Might we assume that these “eccentric travelers” were connected to the strange columns of light witnessed that October evening, and that they might have traveled from much further away than most would imagine?  Could it be that the columns of light transported them from the ground to an aerial craft overhead? Or might they even have been some kind of portals or gateways to another realm or part of the universe? The incident remains completely unexplained.

As we can see, then, it is clear that UFO sightings and encounters with alien entities, including apparent alien abductions, have been happening throughout human history. And the incidents we have explored here are just some of the many encounters on record from across the centuries. Indeed, to examine them all would likely take an entire volume. We can only imagine how many other sightings and encounters went undocumented and, as such, are now lost to history, buried under the sands of time. Or how many from antiquity were recorded in the records that were destroyed during such episodes as the burning of the library of Alexandria, and the wiping out of records of many of the North and South American native populations by European explorers. We might also consider how many cases have been documented but now reside in locked-away vaults in various destinations around the world. Perhaps the one certain thing is that our history is littered with these strange accounts, which should alert us to the fact that our collective reality and place in the universe are far different from what most might think.