by UFO History Buff & Author, Charles Lear
In last week’s blog, we looked at the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena 1978 UFO Chronology and noted that there seemed to be a large number of humanoid reports where the creatures were said to be wearing silvery space suits and helmets with antennas. Towards the end of the chronology, in December, a flap seemed to be emerging in Italy, and we broke off to devote this week’s blog to that.
Out of the 27 cases in Italy listed that year (19 of which were in December), more than one involved car failure. There is a case from Giulianova, Italy, dated December 1, 1978, where a car’s entire electrical system is reported to have failed in the presence of 1.5-meter-diameter “luminous, orange and green saucer-shaped UFO” overhead. It is said to have functioned normally after the UFO flew off.
A case dated Dec. 8, 1978, from Portegrandi, Italy, involved a report by three policemen of a domed object with four windows that hovered over a roadway and “emitted rays of light,” and then shot off as they put their spotlight on it.
A case that was quite similar, dated December 9, from Reggio di Calabria, Sicily, involved policemen putting a spotlight on “a multi-colored object with intermittent flashing lights,” whereupon it reportedly shone a beam down onto their car. According to the account, when the spotlight was turned off, the beam went out.
A policeman in Avellino is reported to have taken a photo on December 11, of “a round, possibly disc-shaped object that was directing an intense beam of energy at the ground.” The photo is described as showing “a black dot on white background.”
That night, at 10:00 p.m., a taxi is reported to have been forced to stop by two luminous globes blocking the road. Its engine is said to have died, and two humanoids are described as floating as they glided across the ground.
On December 12, along with a report from Marzocca of a beam from a UFO causing a car’s tape player to malfunction and UFOs over Messina, there is a report “near Navelli” of Alfonso Marinelli seeing two lights approach him after his car engine died, and seeing that they were strapped to the chests of two humanoids that were wearing “luminous suits,” and “huge oval-shaped helmets” with black visors. They are said to have lifted off the ground to a height of 90 cm, flown over the car, and moved off until they were no longer seen. Marinelli was reportedly able to start his car and drive off.
December 13: Report of two witnesses seeing “a luminous mass” come close to the ground and then take off towards Puglia. “Shortly after,” two soldiers on guard duty at Brindisi Air Force Base are said to have seen “a UFO with Pulsating lights” hovering near them and “a strange being” shoot up from the ground into the sky as the object was leaving.
December 15: A truck driver stopped in Ragusa to fix his malfunctioning radio and reportedly saw two tall humanoids wearing tight-fitting black coveralls and helmets with antenna-like things and face plates, through which human faces could be seen. According to the report, two beams of light came from their helmets that lit up the cab, the creatures came forward uttering “unintelligible sounds, then turned and left.” A “dome-shaped craft” was seen taking off “with a bright flash” and a strong sulfur smell is said to have been present.
That same day, two boys are reported to have been playing in a yard in Catania, Sicily when the sky got dark and “a large disc-shaped craft hovered over a nearby TV antenna, tilted, and “emitted multicolored rays of light.” A bright beam of light reportedly came out of an opening in the center, and said to be descending within it was a 1.5-meter-tall creature described as “ugly” with two big eyes and an antenna-like thing on its head. Another creature is also said to have descended in the same manner, shot a laser-type gun at a rock making it explode, touched the ground, and poured black liquid on it. “Ground traces were reportedly found.”
December 16, Francavilla: A college girl reportedly saw an oval UFO in a white mist with a red and green pulsating light at each end. According to the account, it descended to the surface of the sea which it lit up with a bright white light. She then saw two figures in the garden next to her apartment with “large squarish heads and large feet” and wearing “dark grey tight-fitting uniforms.” Moving off in a slow limping motion, they went around a corner, and the light on the water disappeared just after.
December 19, Montebello di Bertona: Report of “cylindrical space capsule” with rotating lights landing and taking off.
December 20, Sorrento: Three witnesses reported to have seen a “huge sphere” that “made an odd noise like radio static and vanished.”
December 25, Cicagna, Liguria: A report of an oddly-shaped, three-meter-long UFO with what looked like iron claws on one end. It is said to have “fired a beam of light, then shot off to the south.”
Dec. 28, Santa Tecla: Report of a power plant generator stopping for five minutes and instruments going “haywire” after several technicians saw “a luminous object with a red halo” hovering several hundred meters above.
December 28, Marzano Di Torriglia: A security guard, Fortunato Zanfretta, was reportedly out on patrol when he yelled over his radio that his car was speeding down a mountain road on its own. He is said to have gotten out after the car stopped, to investigate a strange light in the sky. According to the account, he was found later, “lying incoherent next to his car,” with his pistol having been fired six times. It is reported that giant foot prints were found at the site, and that Zanfretta recalled under hypnosis being taken aboard a craft and examined by “giant humanoids.”
December 31, Posada: Report of a three-meter-diameter glowing sphere over a marsh with “dark triangular spots that moved back and forth on the surface of the object.”
As indicated by the chronology, 1978 was a busy year full of humanoid reports, especially in Italy, and for some reason, space suits, helmets, and antennas show up in the descriptions repeatedly. The case involving Zanfretta is quite remarkable and deserves a blog of its own, so…
Next week: The Zanfretta Case.