Copper Cauldrons & Flaming Crosses Unknown UFO Chronicles from 17th–19th Century Russian Archives

[Aleksandr]

It is commonly believed that the history of UFOs begins in 1947, when businessman Kenneth Arnold, flying his private plane past Mount Rainier near Washington, spotted nine gleaming disc-shaped objects moving alongside him at incredible speed. Describing the incident, Kenneth Arnold likened them to saucers skipping across water. Several similar encounters in the late 1940s sparked the boom around so-called unidentified flying objects. However, our observant ancestors had long since taken notice of mysterious celestial objects and even deemed it necessary to leave documentary records of them.

The exact date of the first encounter between Russians and aliens is only approximate. A chronicle preserved in the archives of Kazan University tells of a mysterious incident that occurred in the first half of the 17th century, when the Russian tsar was Mikhail, nicknamed "the Meek," the founder of the Romanov dynasty. A serf by the name of Yashka once encountered in the forest "a most strange man in white clothing." The stranger allegedly invited Yashka "to fly up to the sky," and the latter agreed out of curiosity, since he was promised that he would afterward be returned to earth. After that, they soared into the sky in a large gleaming "copper cauldron," where they joined — we would now say "docked" — with "an enormous white house, very clean inside." In this "house," Yashka was taught "various sciences and great sorceries." Then, in the same "cauldron," he was returned to earth, presented with "three magic coins" as a keepsake.
The next UFO encounter is recorded more precisely: it occurred on August 15, 1663. Reliable evidence of it was found in the archive of the St. Petersburg branch of the Institute of History. In a report addressed to the capital authorities, the monks of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery describe a wonder that had no explanation.

The "Marvel" of Robozero
In the village of Robozero, Vologda Province, clergy and local residents watched for over an hour the intricate maneuvers of a "fireball" about 40 arshins in diameter (roughly 28.5 meters) above the lake. It flew "slowly and whimsically" over the surface of the water, emitted rays, and "capriciously" changed its brightness. At times it seemed to melt in the air, and then ignite again. Moreover, the observant monks noticed a curious detail: the light from the round marvel did not emanate as a continuous stream but seemed to split into two rays that merged with each other. There is no doubt that the witnesses saw an actual UFO, since so strange a phenomenon could not have been imagined simultaneously by many observers. What is more: peasants attempted to approach the sphere by boat, but were stopped by the intense heat emanating from it. The braver souls, however, managed to discern that next to the sphere even the lake bottom at a depth of 8 meters was brightly illuminated, so that stones and schools of small fish could be made out. Then the sphere vanished silently into the sky.

In 1847, the Moskovsky Gorodskoy Listok published a reprint of an article from the Mogilev Gubernskiye Vedomosti, which read: "On the 14th of last July, in Mogilev and its outskirts, on the southwestern side of the horizon, near the Moon, a rare phenomenon was visible — a large four-pointed cross of a bright fiery color. The Moon, in its first quarter, appeared in its usual form and color, right in the middle of the crossbar of the cross. The phenomenon began in the tenth hour and lasted until three o'clock in the morning. The cross was initially small and pale in color, then grew to a sazhen (about 7 feet) and more and took on a red-fiery hue, which changed several times — growing pale, then turning red. When the cross had enlarged, rays of the same color as the cross, though somewhat paler, were visible in the angles connecting its upper part with the crossbar, above the Moon. The lower part of the cross was much longer than the upper. This phenomenon was observed by many townspeople and rural residents. Here it is recorded from the words of a most reliable person — a rural resident who witnessed it not only with his family but also in the presence of many outside witnesses."

If we analyze the Mogilev phenomenon from the standpoint of modern ufology, several important points emerge. Firstly, the cross-shaped object observed over the course of five hours was a type of UFO, not a divine sign. It is telling that the witnesses in the 19th century did not regard it as such. The technogenic nature of the "cross" is also indicated by its apparent hovering in near-Earth orbit between the Moon and Earth for an extended period. No natural object could remain stationary for a full five hours against the forces of gravity. And the change in color — from pale to red-fiery — points to the intense operation of the engines of this spacecraft, which held it in orbit in the same spot.

A little less than twenty years passed, and a UFO in the shape of a cross once again appeared in the sky over Russia. The Stavropolskiye Gubernskiye Vedomosti of 1855 published the following notice: "In the provincial city of Stavropol, on December 10, a most remarkable meteor was seen. At five o'clock in the evening the Moon rose above the horizon, and although wispy clouds were drifting across the sky at the time, they did not diminish the brilliance of its rays in the least. Three-quarters of an hour later, under a perfectly clear sky, a sizable cross formed, with the Moon at its center. The meteor remained in this form for about an hour; then small reddish glows appeared on both sides of the Moon, and they immediately formed a circle with a visible diameter of up to three sazhens (about 21 feet). Thus the Moon, crowned by a cross and ringed by a glowing circle, presented a magnificent spectacle. The meteor remained unchanged throughout the night and disappeared only at dawn." This time the observers took the UFO for a meteor, since they could not come up with any other explanation for so unusual a sight.

In the town of Balashov, Saratov Province, however, a UFO visit took a different form. At three o'clock in the morning of October 12–13, 1847, "under a clear sky, on the northeastern side of the horizon, four pillars of fire formed at a close distance from one another, with bluish and white tints. This phenomenon lasted about two hours. Afterward it grew dark at that spot, and then, after a few minutes, the sky became clear again as before." And so, for a full two hours, "pillars of fire" stood in the sky, closely resembling the operation of rocket engines. And since no other effects — glow, flame, explosion — were observed, this phenomenon suggests that a spacecraft was making a smooth landing on Earth.

A year passed, and on October 6, 1848, the Balashov district police chief (an official) sent the following report to the police office: "The day was overcast, a light autumn rain had been falling since morning with little letup. At nine o'clock in the evening, in pitch darkness, the sky was suddenly illuminated by bright lightning, accompanied by peals of thunder. The lightning, not entirely fiery in color but with bluish tints, and the heavy thunderclaps repeated up to ten times. At last the storm subsided and stars appeared in the clear sky. Then, at about ten o'clock, in the middle of the sky, to the north, a blood-red fiery spot appeared, apparently about 200 sazhens (roughly 427 meters) in size, with no reflection of light on surrounding objects; on this spot, stars and white streaks were visible. This lasted for five minutes; then the spot began to spread and, inclining toward the northwest, took on an elongated shape and a pink color. Half an hour later the sky cleared completely, and the red area shifted entirely to the west and split into several dozen cone-shaped columns touching the horizon, which had taken on a dark red color. After that the north became covered with whitish-red bands, and, as they slowly inclined westward, the entire phenomenon disappeared at eleven o'clock."

Comparatively recently, Doctor of Historical Sciences Valentin Korneev discovered a curious fact. It turns out that in the 19th century, the UFO phenomenon attracted the attention of the authorities at the very highest level. This is evidenced by the fact that reports to the tsars about "inexplicable aerial phenomena" within the territory of the Russian Empire began to be included in the "Tables of the Chief Occurrences in the Empire." Finally, the trajectory of the ascent — "then the spot began to spread and, inclining toward the northwest, took on an elongated shape and a pink color." One need only watch any video recording of a modern rocket launch to see the inclined trajectory of an ascending spacecraft, which is explained by the physical laws of Earth's gravity.

However, it is not impossible that the aliens themselves were also seen. Around the same time, unusual pilgrims appeared in Saratov Province. They looked like old men, their faces were somewhat yellow-green, and they were beardless, like members of the Skoptsy, a religious sect that practiced castration. These pilgrims wandered through the villages but did not beg for alms. When people spoke to them, they would mutter something incomprehensible in reply. For that reason they were considered holy fools. For alien scouts — if these people were indeed that — such behavior served as excellent camouflage, allowing them to avoid drawing undue attention. Neither village elders nor police chiefs detained them. True, as it later turned out, some local authorities did grow suspicious: these pilgrims moved between villages far too quickly and, moreover, never stayed anywhere overnight. But the suspicions could not be pursued, as the pilgrims all vanished at once, every one of them.

Professor Korneev gives credit to the enlightened officials of the time for taking notice of highly unusual phenomena. However, the historian faults them for not showing greater curiosity and for not investigating the cause-and-effect relationship behind these extraordinary events. But what cause-and-effect relationship could have been surmised at that time — not only by officials but by men of science — if even now UFOs remain among the phenomena that official science does not recognize? No, the officials rose to the occasion: they did not attribute the appearance of UFOs to mass hallucinations, but linked them to quite real objects — meteors. That is, they attempted to explain the mysterious occurrences through natural causes.