In the
UFO literature, one of the older cases frequently quoted as the first ever UFO
photographs (see Blum, Ralph and Judy, Beyond
Earth: Man’s Contact with UFOs, page 45; Vallee, Jacques, Anatomy of a Phenomenon, page 30, for
example) happened on August 12, 1883. Jose Bonilla, an astronomer at the
Zacatecas Observatory, saw dozens of objects cross the disk of the sun and he
photographed some of them. He reported that they seemed to be grouped in
formations of fifteen to twenty and appeared at regular intervals. The Blums
reported that the photographs showed circular or spindle-shaped objects.
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| One of Bonilla's Photographs. |
Over
the years, the number of object reported to be seen by Bonilla ranged from 150
to 283 to over 400. He informed other observatories in Mexico City and Puebla
but they reported nothing out of the ordinary. The photographs, of course, did
prove that he had seen something unusual.
There
seemed to be no explanation for the sighting or the photographs until 2011.
Researchers at the National Autonomous University in Mexico suggested that the
objects were the result of a gigantic comet that nearly hit the Earth. The gravitation
pull of the planet caused the break up. Because the objects, ranging in size
from a few hundred feet across to some that might have been two or three miles
across, were close to the Earth, they were visible only in certain areas much
in the way that total solar eclipses are seen in a narrow band. Most of the
points of observation were in regions that had few if any astronomical
observatories.
Bonilla
reported that the objects had a “mistiness” around them and astronomers say
that the only objects that have a similar “mistiness” are comets. The
conclusion of scientists in Mexico in 2011 was that Bonilla observed and
photographed the remnants a comet. It seems to be a reasonable suggestion, but
one, at the moment, that is not proven, just likely.
The other
point is that had the comet not broken up and had hit the Earth, life, if it
survived would have been radically altered. If one or two of the larger
fragments had hit, they might be what are called “continent killers.” That
means that there would have been widespread damage to the continent where they
hit but other parts of the Earth would have survived, thought radically altered
as well. In other words, we dodged a bullet that could have wiped out the human
race, destroyed much of civilization as it was in 1883, and set back human
progress centuries providing the human race survived.
I
thought this solution for the sighting and the photographs interesting, if
nothing else. It just shows that there are often good explanations for what was
once considered to be inexplicable.
And
yes, it seems that I’m about four years later on reporting this “breaking news.”
