I was reading Paul Perry's marvelous book Jesus in Egypt: Discovering the Secrets of Christ's Childhood Years
recently. Perry's Coptic Christian guide intimates that "Western researchers start by not believing something and then gather evidence until it is proven. On the other hand, religions such as the Coptic Church start by believing something until it is disproved" (p,48). This is also the difference between the Scientific Method and the Faith Method. As with Thomas the Doubter, some insist that "seeing is believing" while others are persuaded that "believing is really...seeing". They can complement each other. Indeed, in recent years these two approaches have begun to merge. So, what do we make of UFO observations?Over the years I have had what I regard to be genuine UFO sightings. Some I have been able to explain. A few not. Very recently I observed what I could only describe as an "unidentified flying object". I reported the incident to MUFON (http://www.mufon.com/) (Case No. 25378) as well as to our local Astronomical Centre in Durban:
Interested in Astronomy, I was observing the daytime, 11th September 2010, occultation of Venus by the Moon from Durban, South Africa when this unexpected sighting occurred. It was overcast all morning and there was considerable cloud when the occultation started at 14h43 local time. By 15h57 (13h57 GMT) when Venus reappeared the Moon and Venus were clearly visible through my 8x32 binoculars. Seeing Venus was a magnificent experience. While scanning for the crescent Moon I saw just slightly east of the Moon a luminescent green, triangular object with bright star-like lights at each corner. It was almost directly overhead and somewhat smaller than the Moon. The object then slowly moved off in a southerly direction and disappeared after two or three minutes. I couldn't see it with the naked eye.
The distinctive green first caught my attention and distracted me from the Moon. My initial thought was that it was a microlight but on reflection it seemed far too high and I heard no sound. Not expecting anything else I was somewhat surprised at the sighting. After I lost sight of it I felt a little incredulous and disappointed that it had gone before I could track it further. Unfortunately I was alone at the time so had no one to verify it for me. Since the original sighting there has been a suggestion that what I observed was the equally mysterious TR-3B. (Interested readers may wish to Google it: http://www.google.co.za/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4PRFA_enZA403ZA404&q=TR-3B)
While the local Astronomical Centre had not received reports to confirm my observation, interestingly there was a similar report posted on the MUFON site (Case No. 25379) of a similar observation made in the USA. It was reported immediately after mine but had occurred earlier:
Event Date: 2010-09-11 12:10 GMT
City: Manchester
Region: Connecticut
Country: US
Longitude: -72.5214754
Latitude: 41.7759324
Shape: Triangle
Distance: Unknown
Description: i was in my room doing a couple of chores and my father was outside standing in the driveway looking around in his binoculars and he noticed something had moved close to the moon which was very bright and triangle like so he came back in and told me so i went to check it out which it was true a triangle like object was extremely close to the moon, id say by looking at it almost touching the moon. at first we thought it was a really bright star that was just a coincidence to be near the moon but then it started to look like it was kinda moving back and forth but you barely see it like vibrating. the motion was quite dead still. my feelings on this are unsure and i dont know what to say about this and if its something then im glad ive seen something but if its just nothing then its fine no harm done.
Whether there was a connection between what was seen in America and what I saw from South Africa I can't say but the coincidence was intriguing.
I cannot substantiate what I observed. I discounted any optical anomaly in the binoculars. It wasn't a lens flare. What I saw had for me the force of self-evidence. To another it may be of little consequence, at best an interesting curiosity perhaps but “So what?”. So yes, it may have been subjective in that sense but that didn't make it any less real for me.
I am reminded of the story about Christopher Columbus related in What the Bleep Do We Know!?
. The story is possibly apocryphal but it illustrates a point. The story goes that when Columbus' ships anchored near the Caribbean Islands the local Islanders couldn't see them at all because it was so unlike anything they had ever seen before. They couldn't see it even though the sailing ships were there on their horizon. The reason that they never saw the ships was because they had no prior knowledge or experience that large clippers existed. It wasn't part of their world view. They were familiar with dugouts. But a shaman started to notice that there's ripples out in the ocean that he'd not seen before. But he sees no ship. He starts to wonder what was causing this unusual effect? So every day he goes out and looks and looks and looks. And after a period of time, he's able to see the ships. And once he sees the ships, he tells everybody else that ships exist out there. Because everybody trusted and believed in him, they begin to see them too. What to do if we find extraterrestrial life? What if disclosure is imminent?The question is already being asked and argued by cosmologists, scientists, and world leaders as happened at recent meetings of the Royal Society (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39675346/ns/technology_and_science/) Our natural response might be to stereotype Celestials as evil but that need not be the case. We are naturally xenophobic. The aggressors in this universe seem to be the Earthlings. As a Christian I am informed by my faith. The disclosure of celestial life might mean some revision of my own earthbound theology but I would certainly hope we could respond not only with biblical discernment but also with a gracious biblical hospitality. We may already have entertained "angels" unawares. The Wikipedia article on "Hospitality" illustrates the degree of the kind of Christian hospitality I envisage with this remarkable story from 17th Century Scotland:
The chief of Clan Lamont arrived at the home of the MacGregor chief in Glenstrae, told him that he was fleeing from foes and requested refuge. The MacGregor welcomed his brother chief with no questions asked. Later that night, members of the MacGregor clan came looking for the Lamont chief, informing their chief that the Lamont had in fact killed his son and heir in a quarrel. Holding to the sacred law of hospitality, the MacGregor not only refused to hand over the Lamont to his clansmen, but the next morning escorted him to his ancestral lands. This act would later be repaid when, during the time that the MacGregors were outlawed, the Lamonts gave safe haven to many of their number. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospitality
MacGregor rendered refuge. Have we the truly "catholic” spirit to do that? Do we have the heart to extend a welcome to visitors even from Outer Space if need be? I trust so.
When I explain to some that on September 11, 2010 I saw Venus in clear daylight I see them shaking their heads in disbelief. "You don't see 'stars' in the day light," I am told. The overwhelming majority of Earthlings never see stars on a Saturday afternoon. Nor had I ever seen one till then. But I saw it. Venus! It also so happened that I saw something more besides...
For further investigation:
Exopolitics, South Afica http://www.exopoliticssouthafrica.org/index.html
MUFON http://www.mufon.com/
For further reading:
©Colin G Garvie HomePage: http://www.garvies.co.za/
No comments:
Post a Comment