Alien Space Gods Of Ancient Greece and Rome (39 page)

B, who had also noticed the little man as well, said he had seen it later on when it came running quite close to A (and to me, the undersigned, who knew nothing of the event, but continued to pick whortle-berries, quite calmly about 10 metres from A). After a few strange movements the little man disappeared in a curious mariner from the vision of B also.

A peculiar thing about this was that A was utterly incapable in any way of drawing my attention to the appearance of the little man, though we were quite close. Also, more than half a year passed before A could bring himself to talk about his strange experience and it was only then discovered that B had also seen the same "little green man."   ‘Tapani Kiningas.’

This experience evokes those leprechauns in Irish bogs; the induced amnesia recalls certain UFO 'Contacts' who only remembered their adventure during hypnosis as though the Spacemen had commanded their conscious mind to forget what had happened.

82 BC 'During the era or Sulla a great clash of standards and of arms with dreadful shouting was heard between Capua and Volturnum, so that two armies seemed to be locked in combat for several days. When men investigated this marvel more closely the tracks of horses and of men and the freshly trampled grass and shrubs seemed to foretell the burden of a great war.' (Obsequens.)

The devastation near
Capua
in 82 BC parallels that sudden depression in an open meadow at Arpinum in 203 BC and the rain of earth in
Cephalonia
in 163 BC associated with intriguing omens in the skies. Such prodigies evoke 16 July 1963 when the people of Britain were astonished by an eight foot diameter crater, one foot deep in whose centre was a three feet deep hole, which had appeared overnight in a barley and potato field at Manor Farm, Charlton, in Wiltshire, radiating from the crater were four slits. Rumours of the landing of a spaceship from Uranus promptly goaded the Authorities to attribute the patch denuded of its potato crop to a meteorite which could not be found. Similar craters have appeared in many countries coincident with UFOs in the skies. It is believed that the gravitational field of the UFO exerts downward pressure causing a crater, on take-off the spacecraft's force field removes earth and crops which it jettisons elsewhere. The trampled ground near
Capua
in 82 BC seems evidence of a Spaceship.

73 BC The Consul, Lucullus, led the Roman legions against Mithridates of Pontus, who was laying waste
Asia Minor
.

Mithridates, once boastful and pompous, had reorganised his forces in the Roman fashion, he disciplined the Barbarians into a well-drilled phalanx, replaced their rich trappings with armour and ships formerly decked with canopies and concubines now stored missiles and munitions of war. The King's immense array of 120,000 footmen, 16,000 horsemen and a hundred scythe bearing four-horse chariots strained to hurl themselves upon the 35,000 infantry and 2,500 cavalry of Lucullus, eager to smash the invaders into the ground. Mithridates glanced proudly at his vast horde, the sun glinted on their armour, men yelled and brandished swords, horses neighed pawing the earth with impatience.

The King smiled;
Rome
itself was besieged by its own rebellious slaves under Spartacus, outnumbered four to one those silent legions awaited slaughter. He raised his band to signal attack.

In the graphic words of Plutarch:

'But presently as they were on the point of joining battle, with no apparent change of weather, but all on a sudden, the sky burst asunder, as a huge flame-like body was seen to fall between the two armies. In shape it was most like a wine-jar, and in colour like molten silver. Both sides were astonished at the sight and separated. This marvel, as they say, occurred in
Phrygia
, at a placed called Otryac.' (Near the
Dardanelles
, not far from
Troy
.)

Astounded at this wonder from heaven, Mithridates avoided battle, his hordes fled north to besiege Cyzicus in the
Sea
of
Marmos
. Lucullus followed slowly cutting off all provisions, the King's vast army suffering from starvation disintegrated to rout; the Romans after a series of victories won immense booty. Mithridates in disgrace sought refuge in
Armenia
.

After masterly campaigns Lucullus restored Roman power in Asia Minor, then resigned the command to Pompey and returned to Rome in a spectacular triumph displaying mule-loads of precious stones, gold beakers, ingots of silver and more than two million pieces of silver coins. Lucullus poured forth his vast and splendid wealth in ostentation, even today ‘luculent' is a by-word for the most extravagant luxury. He introduced the cherry into Italy, his gardens were the wonder of Rome; near Naples he bred fish and built dwellings in the sea, erected observatories and poured forth money for paintings and statues. When not planning fabulous banquets he was establishing libraries and debating philosophy with his ardent friend, Cicero. Lucullus eventually lost his mind through taking drugs and died in 57 BC mourned by all
Rome
.

In 71 BC hundreds of gladiators, who had fought for freedom with Spartacus, were crucified by Licinus Crassus along the whole length of the
Appian Way
. Vae Victis!

'It was a beautiful, small craft, shaped more like a heavy glass bell than a saucer.... It was translucent and of exquisite colour.'

This classic description by George Adamski of the Flying Saucer from Venus, which landed in the Californian "Desert on 20 November 1952, has since been imitated by hundreds of witnesses describing the Spaceships astounding them; some soar to lyrical beauty, others delineate in aeronautical detail, all agree on the startling, breath-taking wonder transforming their lives.

More than a hundred years after that dramatic confrontation between Lucullus and Mithridates, Plutarch, whose writings inspired Shakespeare's plays, marvelled at the astounding apparition of this 'huge flame-like body like a wine-jar and in colour like molten silver' in eloquence worthy of the Bard himself. What prodigy from the heavens could possibly terrify proud Mithridates in the midst of his immense army ready to achieve his crowning ambition of driving the Romans into the sea? What miracle saved the legions from certain destruction?

In 480 BC179 that great light flamed over Salamis watching the Greeks smash the invasion-fleet of Xerxes; in 394 BC180 the celestial 'beam' over Cnidus and the Spartans defeated at sea to lose the Empire of Greece; for a decade globes of fire followed Hannibal ravaging Italy looking down in 217 BC181 on the Romans routed at Lake Trasimenc, now in 73 BC Spacemen were studying this campaign of Lucullus in the East. The Spaceship burst down through the sky breaking the sound-barrier, its thunder and radiance paralysed the armies hushed at this Wonder between them. Even from some distance that unknown reporter was visibly thrilled, his account, alas, lost, impressed Plutarch a century later as it excites us today. The Celestials probably waited content to separate the contestants until the Barbarians ran terrified in retreat; local tradition probably told of other Spaceships landing in the past; a thousand years earlier the 'Gods' had materialised in this area amid the Trojan War. This Spaceship won the day for
Rome
; from that hour Mithridates toppled to destruction; more than eight hundred years later in AD 776 two Flying Shields would save those Knights of Charlemagne at Sigiburg.

While Lucullus was feasting his guests at those fabulous banquets in his 'cups' did he sometimes recall that celestial 'wine jar', which once had stood between him and Mithridates? The Ship of the Gods?

66 BC 'In the Consulship of Gnaeus Octavius and Gaius Scribonius a spark was seen to fall from a star and increase in size as it approached the earth, and after becoming as large as the moon it diffused a sort of cloudy daylight, and then returning to the sky changed into a torch; this is the only record of this occurring. It was seen by the proconsul, Silenus, and his suite.' (Pliny, Book II, XXXV.)

Surely this seems one of the best sightings in all Antiquity, certainly Pliny thought so! Even our most cynical sceptics can hardly dismiss such a classic UFO as a meteor, fireball or the planet Venus. Today our Air Ministry would perhaps explain it away as some bomber making a mock attack, fortunately for their neighbours the Romans had no Air Force.

For several decades
Rome
was torn by rival Dictators, verging on civil war; the City's unrest would likely attract the interest of Spacemen. Plutarch commented 'Moreover even the Heavenly Powers seemed by earthquakes and thunderbolts and apparitions to foreshow what was coming to pass.

63 BC 'A blazing beam from the west swept across the sky. All Spoletium was shaken by earthquakes.' (Obsequens, Manilius 1184.)

UFOs today are believed to pay particular attention to the Earth's fault zones, lights in the sky frequently coincide with earthquakes.

In troubled
Rome
nobles lorded in riotous extravagance, the poor lazed on public doles of bread and circuses; troops demobbed from the wars were shocked at their shameful neglect. During the consulship of Cicero an unscrupulous and profligate patrician, Catiline, played on the discontent of the mob and the grievances of the veterans and conspired to murder both Consuls then to set up his gangster rule. With surprising vigilance,
Cicero
smashed the conspiracy and executed the ringleaders. Catiline died in forlorn battle the following year.

Crassus, who defeated Spartacus, was also noted for his multitude of slaves toiling to amass vast wealth which he prodigally squandered. In 60 BC with Pompey and Caesar Crassus shared in the triumvirate ruling
Rome
, then lured by the fabled riches of the East he invaded
Parthia
, modern
Iran
. After defeat at Carrhae, the head of Crassus was cut off and sent to Orodes, the Parthian King, who caused melted gold to be poured into the mouth of his fallen enemy saying 'Sate thyself now with that metal of which in life thou wast so greedy!' Perhaps the main contribution of Crassus to posterity is that he is said to have started the first fire-brigade. He would rush to the scene of the conflagration but before extinguishing the flames would make the owner a bid for the building, the owner was only too pleased to sell, only then did Crassus get his water-pumps into action. A suggestion for poorly-paid fire-chiefs today!

The death of Crassus left Pompey and Caesar to their destined struggle for power. Gnaeus Pompeius, well-known as the Great, six years older than Caesar, a veteran of Sulla's civil wars, whose memories still rent Rome, bad distinguished himself by brilliant campaigns in Africa, Syria, Jerusalem and Asia; in 52 BC he returned as sole Consul determined to pass laws aimed at his .dangerous rival, Caius Julius Caesar born on 12th July 100 BC, is said to have been tall, fair and well-built with a rather broad face and keen dark-brown eyes; usually in sound health, like Napoleon he suffered from epilepsy. Adoring soldiers mocked their General's bald head but worshipped his military genius and brilliant audacity confounding his enemies; even in that licentious age Caesar was scoffed for his scandalous love-affairs; gossips swore he was every woman's husband and every man's wife. Foreseeing strife with Pompey Caesar sought army support; in nine years he bridged the
Rhine
and conquered the whole of
Gaul
. In 55 BC Caesar invaded
Britain
, lured it was believed by fresh-water pearls for which our island was famous. Caesar's varied talents were brilliantly displayed in his Commentary on the Gallic Wars, especially his colourful account of Ancient Britain.