In August 1930, in the early morning, on a beautiful day, at the mountain hamlet of Montebenichi, west of Arezzo, Italy, a young farmer woman, then aged 16 according to some sources, "aged" according to others, from Arezzo, had gone near a mountain river near Ambrella to wash her linen in the water of the river, as she had done many times before.
She had cleaned two pairs of handmade black wool socks and hung them on a clothesline when she heard an unusual noise.
She said, "Suddenly, I heard a hissing sound in the air, and at the same time, I felt a gust of wind from behind. For a moment, I thought the weather had suddenly changed. But when I looked over my shoulder, I froze with terror, just twenty steps from me stood a strange and shimmering structure, which looked like a big top, with the tip up."
"Two little men came out of the lower part at that time and spoke in a way that seemed to be a tweet, then they took the still damp laundry off the clothesline and went up into their top. They had barely entered, it was whistling again so strangely, and as another gust of wind struck me, the strange top rose incredibly fast, disappearing a few moments later. "
She also said that the little men, about 1-meter-tall, came out of the lower part of the object by a trapdoor that had opened, from where a ladder came down. The beings would have moved around her several times. They allegedly took stole the stolen socks into their gear.
"As if driven by fury, I went back to our village and told about my unusual experience, everyone laughed at me, nobody wanted to believe me, I was very angry about it and I'm still angry. today, because I had seen everything with my own eyes."
The woman reportedly told this story in 1930 to a land surveyor from Arezzo, Edoardo Lavacchi, who was apparently 20 years old at the time. He would have heard of the story from another inhabitant of Montebenichi.
It was 53 years after the alleged events, in 1983, that Lavacchi or someone else reportedly told the story to an ufology group, following the publication of an article about a similar UFO landing in a diary - probably La Nazione, the case being probably that of Cennina in 1954.
A "skeptical" Italian ufologist who produced a catalog of CE3s in his country said that the witness had difficulty expressing herself, that the details she had provided were few, and as the man reported the facts so much later, the memories could be altered. Moreover, the affair is very similar to the well-known 1954 case of Cennina, which is a few kilometers from Montebenichi. The man might have mixed the memories of the two incidents. He noted that besides the possible alteration of memories, there is the doubtful credibility of the statements of the man - Lavacchi no doubt - who might have invented everything,
For its part, the Centro Ufologic Nazionale (CUN) indicates that there has been research on the case by the S.U.F. from Florence, the C.R.U.V. of Figline Valdarno and G.A.U. from Arezzo, coordinating an investigation by Massimo Beneduci. They confirm that the first news of the event was received by ufologists in 1983.
Despite the silence maintained on the affait by the people of Montebenichi during the investigations, it seems that a researcher, using the friendship of people with links to the local population, has received confirmation of the facts from some elders. In addition, a lady from Florence remembers something like that for having read an article published at the time in the newspaper La Nazione.
This is the story that can be reconstructed based on the second-hand Internet sources. But luckily, there was a written report on the case, ufologist Bruno Mancusi gave its content in the ufologiy magazine OVNI-Presence in September 1983; which issue I have. This source is much closer to primary sources and gives information that is lacking in subsequent sources, reinforcing the credibility of the case on certain points. I thus give its content so below, the complete original being available in this file.
On August 13, 1983, the daily newspaper La Nazione in Florence published an article presenting a local ufology group, the Centro Ricerche Ufologiche Caldarnese (CRUV), of Matassino, representing the Sezione Ufologica Fiorentina (S.U.F.) for the Valdarno. A few days later, the CRUV received a letter from one Edoardo Lavacchi, who reported a close encounter of the thir kind similar to that of Cennina in 1954, but which he said took place in 1930.
The investigation was written by Andrea Pasquini and Sauro Grilli of the CRUV, Solas Boncompagni and Roberto Ricci from the SUF, and Gruppo Avvistamiento Ufo (GAU) from Arezzo. This description of the investigation by Bruno Mancusi is adapted from the original S.U.F. report.
The place is Montebenichi, Province of Arezzo, Center Italy, the date was mid-August 1930, the time was between 6 and 8 a.m., the observation had lasted approximately D5 minutes, the witness was a peasant woman in her forties.
In August - September 1930, 21-year-old Edoardo Lavacho was part of a team performing tacheometric survey of cadastral plans in Bucine commune on behalf of the Cadastre Office of Arezzo. During this period, all the people of the country were talking about a "story" that would have happened to a local woman, and scoffed at her. In one of the first days of September, Mr. Lavacho could finally hear the story from the mouth of the witness:
She was doing laundry in a small mountain stream, the Ambrella, and had just washed two pairs of black, hand-knitted, woolen stockings. She hung them on the bank, in a small clearing where she had stretched a wire between two poles, and she returned to the stream. Suddenly she heard a loud hissing sound and felt a gust of wind. She went back up on the bank and saw at about 20 meters "a kind of spinning top placed on the ground". This "top" would have a diameter of five or six meters and was wider than it was high.
She approached, intrigued, but quickly stopped: from the lower part of the craft, a kind of hatch opened, from a ladder came down. Two little beings descended the ladder. They made strange sounds between them. They turned several times around the woman, who was petrified by fear, touched her, still "chirping" and, she told Lavacchi, after "a few minutes, they took my stockings off the wire and took them to the inside the top, and then another whistling, a big gust of wind, and everything went up vertically in an instant I dis not see anything anymore ".
The witness was a small-size, illiterate peasant woman, apparently of sane mind, who had been very upset because no one had wanted to believe her. Mr. Lavacchi does not remember her name, perhaps he had not even ask her her name.
Mancusi comments that the story looks like a legend, since we do not know the name of the witness, nor the exact date. The investigators looked for other people in the area who would have heard about this case, they explored the archives of the daily La Nazione, all without result. Yet, says Mancusi, there was some facts to support Mr. Lavachi's story:
1) The place looked as he had described it.
2) Elders in the area remembered that there had been a team of surveyors there in the summer of 1930.
3) In 1930, nobody talked of of "flying saucers" or "UFOs", so one can dismiss the idea that the woman would have invented the story.
A very troubling element is that 24 years later, on November 1, 1954, an almost identical sighting was reported, the place being only five or six kilometers from Montebenichi: the famous Cennina landing. The analogies are:
1) The witness, Mrs. Rosa Lotti, held in her hands two black stockings, a pair of shoes and a bouquet of flowers. The ufonauts took some of her flowers and a stocking.
2) The two humanoids were about 1-meter-tall and they spoke an unknown language.
3) The craft was also a kind of top with hatch, however, higher than wide (a "spindle" shape).
(Bruno Mancusi gives the references of the sources corresponding to the two cases, I noted these further down in this file.)
Bruno Mancusi commented:
"The curious analogies between the Montebenicchi and Cennina cases , the fact that the first event goes back to fifty-four years and that during such a long period memories can fade away and no longer necessarily relate the original facts, all this can make it possible to formulate the two following hypotheses:"
"- Mr. Lavacchi would have described the case of Cennina but by mistakenly locating it in 1930 in Montebenichi."
"- Mr. Lavacchi could have known about the case of Cennina and could have confused the characteristics of this case with that of the case he wanted to talk about and which dates back to 1930."
For the first hypothesis, he explains:
"The answer (first hypothesis) is in the first lines of the article by the SUF (GdM 152):
"'The analogy between the two cases is such that when we heard the news, we were almost certain that the author of this indirect testimony was referring to the case of 54 and had simply confused, in good faith, the date. However, after two interrogations of this witness, we had to admit that it was not a mistake of date, but an event dating back to 1930...'"
"Mr. Lavacchi did not confuse the two cases."
For the second hypothesis, that the case of Cennina "tainted" that of Montebenichi, he considers this plausible but, "it seems unlikely to me in view of the following excerpt from the letter of Mr. Lavacchi to the CRUV:"
"'One of my colleagues, Padelli, who died today, whom I told the story right away because he was doing measurements at Cennina, was naturally incredulous, but when in 1954 we knew that in this locality a similar event had happened, he changed his opinion a little!'"
He stated that Mr. Lavacchi had already made the connection in 1954. He added that the investigators considered rather that the case of Montebenichi had influenced that of Cennina, since Mrs. Lotti was 16 in 1930, and that it is therefore likely that she had heard about the 1930 story.
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[Ref. op1:] BRUNO MANCUSI, "OVNI PRESENCE":
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Close encounter of the 3rd type in 1930On August 13, 1983, the Florentine daily "La Nazione" published an article presenting a ufological group, the Centro Ricerche Ufologiche Caldarnese (CRUV) of Matassino (Figline Valdarano), representative of the Sezione Ufologica Fiorentina (SUF) for the Valdarno . A few days later, the CRUV received a letter from one Edoardo Lavacchi who was referring to a case of landing similar to that of Cennina in 1954 (1), but which would have occurred in 1930. The investigation, the description of which was made by Mssrs. Andrea Pasquini and Sauro Grilli of CRUV, Mssrs. Solas Boncompagni and Roberto Ricci from the SUF and the Gruppo Avvistamiento Ufo (GAU) from Arezzo. The description of the investigation is adapted from the original report of the S.U.F (2). Place: Montebenichi (Province of Arezzo, Central Italy). FACTS In August - September 1930, 21-year-old Edoardo Lavacho was part of a team performing tacheometric survey of cadastral plans in the Bucine community on behalf of the Arezzo cadastre office. During this period, all the people of the country were talking about a "story" that would have happened to a local woman and scoffed at her. One of the first days of September, Mr. Lavacho finally heard "the story" from the witness's mouth. This woman was doing laundry in a small stream, the Ambrella, and had just washed two pairs of black woolen stockings, hand-knitted. She hung them on the bank, in a small clearing where she had stretched a wire between two poles and returned to the stream. Suddenly she heard a loud hissing sound and felt a gust of wind. She went up on the bank and saw at about 20 meters "a kind of spinning top posed on the ground". The "spinning top" must have been of a diameter of five or six meters and was wider than it was high. She approached, intrigued, but stopped quickly: from the lower part a kind of hatch opened from which descended a ladder. Two little beings came down, they emitted strange sounds between them. They circled the woman (naturally petrified by fear) several times, touched her, still "chirping" and after "a few minutes, they took off my stockings and took them inside the top; then, another whistling, a big gust of wind, and everything went up vertically in an instant I dis not see anything anymore." The witness was an illiterate, petite, apparently of sane mind, peasant woman, who was angry because nobody |
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wanted to believe her. Mr. Lavacchi does not remember her name, perhaps he did not even ask her. COMMENT This story is like a legend, because we do not know the name of the witness, nor the exact date. The investigators looked for other people in the area who would have heard of this case and searched the archives of the daily newspaper La Nazione, all without result. Yet there is some evidence to support Mr. Lavacchi's story: 1) The places are like they have been described. 2) Elders from the region remember perfectly well that there was a team of surveyors in the summer of 1930. 3) In 1930, there was still no mention of "flying saucers" or "UFOs". The hypothesis of a hoax perpetrated by the woman is therefore to be excluded. (4) Mr. Lavacchi is now 75 years old, and it took a great deal of persuasion on the part of the investigators to make him agree to publish his name. He is not looking for publicity. Messrs. Boncompagni and Ricci are convinced of his sincerity. But the most disturbing is that 24 years later, on November 1, 1954, an almost identical observation was made just five or six kilometers from Montebenichi: the famous landing of Ceccina [Cennina]! We find the following analogies (1): a) The witness, Mrs. Rosa Lotti, held in her hands two black stockings, a pair of shoes and a bouquet of flowers. The ufonauts took some of her flowers and a stocking. b) The two humanoids were about a meter high and they [Photo caption:] Il Giornale dei Misteri has dedicated the "a" of his No. 152 to this case. |
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spoke an unknown language. c) The craft was also a kind of top with a hatch, but it was higher than wide (a "spindle"). The case of Montebenichi, if it proves to be genuine, would be of great importance for Italian ufology, because, not only does it shed new light on the case of Cennina, but it is also the first case of CE3 in the Peninsula! So far, the first humanoid observation in Italy in the twentieth century was that of Luigi Rapuzzi in Ravéo (Friuli), August 14, 1947 (3). To my knowledge, there have been only nine cases of CE3 in the world between 1900 and 1946 (4). Bruno Mancusi BIBLIOGRAPHY (1) S. Boncompagni, S. Conti, M. Coppetti, F. Lamperi. R. Ricci and P.L. Sani, UFO in Italia. Vol II, 191 U, Corrado Tedeschi, Florence, 1980. The description of the facts is inaccurate in the following books: M. Carrouges, Les Apparitions de Martiens, p. 109, 120, Fayard, Paris, 1963; J. Guieu, Blackout sur les soucoupes volantes, p. 233, Omnium Littéraire, Paris 1972; R. Pacaut, Ils ont rencontré les extraterrestres, p. 208, Alain Lefeuvre, Nice 1975; C. Garreau, Alerte dans le iel, new pub. p., p. 256, Alain Lefeuvre, Nice 1981. (2) SUF, Il Giornale dei Mister, No. 152, 5 (1984). (3) S. Boncompagni, S. Conti, F. Lamperi, R. Ricci and P. L. Sani, UFO in Italia, Vol, 1, 17 Corrado Tedeschi, Florence 1974; G. Creighton in A la recherche des humanoïdes, p. 227, C. Bowen (eds), J'Ai Lu, Paris 1974; P.L. Sani, Il Giornale dei Misteri, No. 56, 6 (1975). (4) M. Bougard, Histoire général des O.V.N.I., volume 1, pp. 224-263, Encyclopedies and Knowledge, Paris 1978. ADDITIONS The curious analogies between the Montebenicchi and Cennina cases, the fact that the first event goes back to fifty-four years and that during such a long period memories can fade away and no longer necessarily relate the original facts, all of this can lead to the formulation of the following two hypotheses: - Mr Lavacchi would have described the Cennina case but mistakenly located it in 1930 in Montebenichi. - Mr. Lavacchi was able to get knowledge of the case of Cennina and could have confused the characteristics of this case with that of the case of which he wanted to speak and which goes back to 1930. It is Bruno Mancusi who answers: "The answer (to the first hypothesis) is in the first lines of the article of the SUF (GdM 152): "The analogy between the two cases is such that by the time we heard the news, we were almost certain that the author of this indirect testimony was referring to the case of 54 and had simply confused, in good faith, the date. However, after two interrogations of this witness, we had to admit that it was not a mistake of date, but an event dating back to 1930..." Mr. Lavacchi did not confuse the two cases, but the second hypothesis (the case of Cennina would have "tainted" that of Montebenichi) is plausible. However, it seems unlikely to me in view of the following excerpt from Mr. Lavacchi's letter to CRUV: "One of my colleagues, Padelli, who is dead now, whom I was telling about it right away because he was doing measurements in Cennina, was naturally incredulous, but when in 1954 we learned that a similar event had happened there, he changed his opinion a little!" Mr. Lavacchi is said to have already made the connection in 1954. The investigators consider rather that the case of Montebenichi had influenced that of Cennina (Mrs. Lotti was 16-year-old in 1930, so it is likely that she heard about this story")". |
[Ref. it1:] "ITACAT", MAURIZIO VERGA:
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3001. AUGUST 1930 MATT. RR3 INS./N.AF.BUCINE (AR), Montebenichi - An old peasant woman was washing clothes in a stream: she had just put to dry two pairs of black stockings on a wire stretched between two masts, when, suddenly, she heard a loud hissing sound and a gust of wind. About twenty meters away, he saw a kind of "spinning top" resting on the ground. In the lower part of the object a door opened, from which a ladder descended, through which two strange beings descended, about a meter high. They turned around the head several times, touching it and emitting "chirps". After a few minutes, they pulled the socks over the wire and brought them inside the object, which took off vertically, producing a whistling sound and a gust or air. (GdM 14, 152, 5-10)
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Version originale:
3001. AGOSTO 1930 MATT. IR3 INS./N.AF.BUCINE (AR), Montebenichi - Un’anziana contadina stava lavando dei panni in un torrente: aveva appena steso due paia di calze nere su un filo di ferro steso fra due pali, quando, improvvisamente, sentì un forte sibilo ed una ventata. A circa venti metri di distanza vide una specie di "trottola" appoggiata sul terreno. Nella parte inferiore dell’oggetto si aprì una porta, dalla quale calò una scala, tramite cui scesero due strani esseri, alti circa un metro. Girarono attorno alla teste più volte, sfiorandola ed emettendo dei "cinguettii". Dopo qualche minuto, staccarono le calze stese sul filo e le portarono all’interno dell’oggetto, che decollò verticalmente, producendo un fischio ed una ventata. (GdM 14, 152, 5-10)
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[Ref. cu1:] "CENTRO UFOLOGICO NAZIONALE":
1930 AR 01 - August 1930 - Montebenichi - Between 06:00 and 08:00 - CE-3The Cav. Edoardo Lavacchi, from Florence, recounted that while he was working for his job in the Montebenichi area in the summer of 1930, he was able to listen directly to the story of a woman, a witness if a close encounter shortly before. While she was washing clothes at the Ambrella torrent, between 6 and 8 a.m,, she heard a loud hissing sound and felt a gust; standing on the shore, at about twenty meters, she saw "a kind of spinning top resting on the ground", at its lower part a sort of trap door opened from which a small ladder appeared. Two small beings emerged, about a meter high, emitting strange sounds. They circled her several times, "touched her", and then detached a pair of wool socks hanging from a wire and then returned to the object which, "after a whistling and another wind", took off rapidly. Despite the silence kept on the affair by the inhabitants of Montebenichi during the investigations, it seems that a researcher, availing himself of the friendship of people related to local people, has had confirmation of the facts by some elderly people. In addition, a lady from Florence says she remembers something like this for reading about it in an article published at the time in the newspaper "La Nazione". (Coordinated inquiries, conducted by the S.U. F. of Florence, by the C.R.U.V. of Figline Valdarno and by G.A.U. of Arezzo. Investigation by Massimo Beneduci. First news of the fact received by researchers in 1983- (n.37)) |
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1930 AR 01 - Agosto 1930 - Montebenichi - Tra le 06:00 e le 08:00 - IR-3Il Cav. Edoardo Lavacchi, di Firenze, racconta che, mentre si trovava per motivi di lavoro nella zona di Montebenichi, nell'estate del 1930, ebbe modo di ascoltare direttamente il racconto di una donna, testimone poco tempo prima di un incontro ravvicinato. Mentre stava lavando i panni presso il torrente Ambrella, tra le 6 e le 8 del mattino, ud un forte sibilo ed avvert una ventata; risalita sulla sponda vide, a circa venti metri, "una specie di trottola appoggiata al terreno", dalla cui parte inferiore si apr una specie di botola dalla quale cal• una scaletta. Ne uscirono due piccoli esseri, di altezza intorno al metro, che emettevano strani suoni. Le girarono attorno pi— volte, la "sfiorarono", e poi staccarono un paio di calze di lana appese ad un filo rientrando infine nell'oggetto che, "dopo un fischio e un'altra ventata" decoll• sparendo rapidamente di vista. Nonostante il silenzio mantenuto sulla vicenda dagli abitanti di Montebenichi durante le indagini, pare che un ricercatore, avvalendosi dell'amicizia di persone imparentate con gente del posto, abbia avuto conferma dei fatti da parte di alcuni anziani. Inoltre, una signora di Firenze afferma di ricordare un fatto del genere per averne letto su di un articolo pubblicato all'epoca nel quotidiano "La Nazione". (Inchieste coordinate, condotte dal S.U.F. di Firenze, dal C.R.U.V. di Figline Valdarno e dal G.A.U. di Arezzo. Inchiesta di Massimo Beneduci. Prima notizia del fatto ricevuta dai ricercatori nel 1983-(n.37)) |
[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:
Albert Rosales indicates in his catalogue that in Montebenichi, Italy, in August 1930, in the morning, "An elderly farmer was washing some pans and laundry in a stream when she heard a whistling sound and felt a strong gush of wind. She then saw, 20 meters away a top shaped craft on the ground. On the bottom section of the object a hatch was opened and a ladder was lowered to the ground. Two strange short beings then appeared. They turned and walked towards the witness grazing her as they walked by. Both emitted strange "chirping" type sounds. One of them grabbed a stocking that the witness had been washing and took it back inside the object. The object then took off emitting a loud whistling sound."
Albert Rosales indicates that the source is "Maurizio Verga, Itacat".
[Ref. pf1:] PAOLO FIORINI:
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All other Italian CE-III's for the 1900-1950 period were collected by ufologists only several years later: [... other cases ...]; the Monte Benichi, Arezzo, case of August 1930, as late as 1984. |
[Ref. js1:] JEAN SIDER:
The author indicates that in 1930, in the morning, in Montebenichi, Bucine, Arezzo, Italy, there was a close encounter of the third kind.
He indicates that this observation was gathered from the mouth of the witness by Mr. Edoardo Lavacchi, 21, who communicated the details by letter in 1983 to an Italian private association, the CRUV, and that this was revealed in the Florence newspaper, La Nazione for August 13, 1983.
He indicates that Mr. Lavacchi was part of a team of investigators who was in Montebenichi shortly after the incident, and a cross-investigation of two private Italian groups, the CRUV of Valdarno and the CAU of Arezzo confirmed its authenticity.
The story is that a 40-year-old farm woman washed her clothes in a small stream when she heard a hissing sound and felt like a powerful air movement. Then she saw 20 meters from her an object in the shape of a top lying on the ground. In the lower part of the object, a trapdoor opened, a ladder was lowered to the ground, and two strange little beings appeared.
They started to walk, then changed direction towards the old woman, rushing past her, passing her by. They made curious sounds that sounded like chirps. One of them grabbed a stocking that the woman had just washed, and the two creatures then turned around and returned to their craft carrying the stocking.
Then the "big top" took off while emitting the same hissing noise already heard at the beginning of the incident.
Jean Sider indicates that the sources are "UFO Notiziario, XXXVIII, 47, October-November 2003, p. 35, and Il Giornale dei Misteri, Nr. 152, p. 5, 1984."
He comments that it is surprising that the scenario of this case is almost identical to that of another "post-Arnoldian" Italian CE3 recorded on November 1, 1954 during the large wave of flying saucers on Western Europe, in Cennina, in the same province of Arezzo. The witness was also a woman, Mrs. Rosa Lotti, who was going to the local cemetery to bloom a grave, and along the way she took off her shoes and her pair of stockings to cross a stream, then two little beings sprang from a flying machine in the form of a spindle (like the "carrot" signs of French tobacco shops), and they stole some flowers and a stocking. He indicates that the source for this latter incident is "Sider 5, pp. 123-124," according to an investigation by Pier Luigi Sani and Roberto Pinotti, see also Roberto Conti's text in FSR Vol 18, No 5, 1972, 11, originally published in "Giornale dei Misteri", No. 17, 1972."
[Ref. sc1:] "SOCIETA COOPARATIVA DRAMATICA FILARMONICA DI AMBRA":
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1/8/1930 "Le Cav. Edward Lavacchi, de Florence, a déclaré qu'alors qu'il était en affaires dans le secteur de Montebenichi, à l'été 1930, il a eu l'occasion d'entendre directement l'histoire d'une femme, témoin peu avant d'une rencontre rapprochée. Alors qu'elle se lavait des vêtements à la rivière Ambrella, entre 6 heures et 8 heures, elle entendit un sifflement fort et sentit un coup de vent; elle a vu posé sur la rive à une vingtaine de mètres, "une sorte de toupie reposant sur le sol," à partir du fond de laquelle s'est ouvert une sorte de trappe d'où est descendue une échelle. Il en sortit deux petits êtres, d'environ un mètre de hauteur, émettant des sons étranges. Ils l'ont encerclée plusieurs fois, la "frolant", puis sont partis avec une paire de bas de laine suspendus par un fil retournant finalement à l'objet qui, "après un sifflement et une autre rafale" a décollé pour disparaître de la vue. Malgré le silence entretenu par les habitants de Montebenichi sur la question au cours de l'enquête, il semble qu'un chercheur, en utilisant l'amitié de personnes liées à la population locale, a reçu la confirmation des faits par certaines personnes âgées. En outre, une dame de Florence prétend se souvenir d'une d'avoir lu quelaue chose dans un article publié à l'époque dans le journal "La Nazione". (Coordonnées des enquêtes, menées par le S.U.F. de Florence, le C.R.U.V. Figline Valdarno et G.A.U. d'Arezzo. Enquête Massimo Beneduci. Premières nouvelles de l'incident reçu par les chercheurs en 1983 - (37))" (Cas 01 AR 1930-1930 Août - Montebenichi - Entre 06h00 et 08h00 - RR-3) |
[Ref. ud1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
In August 1930 - Montebenichi, ItalyIn August 1930 08:00 Montebenichi, Italy Top shaped UFO lands, door drops, two humanoids descend ladder, steal Calze Steso. Close encounter with a an unidentified craft and its occupants. One top-shaped object was observed in a residential area for two minutes. Two beings were seen. Hynek rating: CE3 Vallee rating: CE3 |
The source are indicated as: "Verga, Maurizio, Italian UFO Catalogue" and "Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Author, Redwood City, 2002".
[Ref. ud2:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
August 1930 - Montebenichi, ItalyAugust 1930 08:00 Montebenichi, Italy An elderly farmer was washing some pans and laundry in a stream when... An elderly farmer was washing some pans and laundry in a stream when she heard a whistling sound and felt a strong gush of wind. She then saw, 20 meters away a top shaped craft on the ground. On the bottom section of the object a hatch was opened and a ladder was lowered to the ground. Two strange short beings then appeared. They turned and walked towards the witness grazing her as they walked by. Both emitted strange "chirping" type sounds. One of them grabbed a stocking that the witness had been washing and took it back inside the object. The object then took off emitting a loud whistling sound. Hynek rating: CE3 |
The source is indicated as "Rosales, Albert, Humanoid Sighting Reports Database".
[Ref. ta1:] "THINK ABOUT IT" WEBSITE:
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Date: August 1930 Location: Montebenichi Italy Time: morning Summary: An elderly farmer was washing some pans and laundry in a stream when she heard a whistling sound and felt a strong gush of wind. She then saw, 20 meters away a top shaped craft on the ground. On the bottom section of the object a hatch was opened and a ladder was lowered to the ground. Two strange short beings then appeared. They turned and walked towards the witness grazing her as they walked by. Both emitted strange "chirping" type sounds. One of them grabbed a stocking that the witness had been washing and took it back inside the object. The object then took off emitting a loud whistling sound. Source: Maurizio Verga, Itacat |
[Ref. hh1:] HARTWIG HAUSDORF:
This author indicates that while the UFO mystery did not yet exist, a 16-year-old peasant girl from the mountain hamlet of Montebenichi, west of Arezzo, had gone on a beautiful day of August 1930 early morning near a river near Ambrella. She wanted to wash her clothes in the crystal clear water of the mountain, as she had done many times before.
The young woman had cleaned two pairs of hamdmade black woolen socks and hung them on a clothesline when she heard an unusual noise.
She described what happened next several years later in an interview with the land surveyor Edoardo Lavacchi of the land registry office in Arezzo: "Suddenly, I heard a hissing sound in the air, and at the same time I felt a gust of wind from behind, for a moment I thought the weather had suddenly changed, but when I looked over my shoulder, I froze with terror. At only twenty steps from me stood a strange and shimmering structure, which looked like a big top, with the tip upwards.Two little men came out of the bottom at that time and spoke in a way that seemed to be a tweet. Then they removed the still damp clothes from the clothesline and went up in their top. They had barely entered, that it was whistling again very strangely. When another gust of wind hit me, the strange spinning top rose incredibly fast, disappearing a few moments later. As if driven by anger, I returned to our village and told my unusual experience. Everyone laughed at me, nobody wanted to believe me. I was very angry about it and I am still angry today because I saw everything with my own eyes."
Regarding the experience of the peasant woman, as she had told it out to the mentioned expert from Arezzo, he had been made aware of the story of the now elderly woman by another inhabitant of that Mountain village.
[Ref. pr1:] PETER ROGERSON:
August 1930.BUCINE (TOSCANA : ITALY) At a place called Montebenichi an old woman hanging out washing she had washed in the creek heard a loud noise and felt a gust of wind. Something like a spinning top landed 20m away, an opening appeared in the lower part from which a ladder descended, and two 1m tall beings came down. They walked around the woman several times, uttering “twittering” sounds. They then took socks from the rope where they were hanging and went back into their craft, which then took off with a hissing sound. Verga 2007 16 case 3001 citing Il Picolo 27 March 1990 + Fabrizio Massi in Il Giornale dei Misteri 152 p5 + 165 p13 Ricci and Boncompagni in OVNI Presence 31 p8 all citing a letter by Edoaordo Lavacchi who claimed to have heard the story from the woman in 1930 Evaluation - Little more than a rumour at best; probably an imitative hoax based on the 1954 Cennina case |
[Ref. ra1:] "RAI" TV:
|
Close Encounter of the Third kind in 1930. Another episode of many years ago noted in the casuistry of the Centro ufologico nazionale (National UFO Center) is also what is called "a precursory case of close encounter of the third kind": the meeting face to face with a flying saucer that would have happened in Montebenichi, in the Arezzo area, in the first ten days of August 1930. - See more at: http://www.rainews.it/dl/rainews/articoli/Ufo-oltre-12mila-avvistamenti-in-Italia -from-1900-center-UFO-national-b804081a-c91c-40d2-9339-f620070d67ae.html |
Note: the indicated link leads to a nonexistent page.
It was clear that the "weaknesses" of credibility of the case had been considered from the beginning by the Italian investigators, and that they had found some objections to these possible weaknesses, as explained by Bruno Mancusi.
It is just as clear that "skeptical" authors reporting the case later reiterated these objections, ignoring the elements that weakened them, and this, often knowingly, since they quote the source containing these answers to these objections. Why?
In my opinion, there are only two possible explanations: either the peasant woman told the truth to Edoardo Lavachi who in his turn reported her story sincerely, and it could only be an encounter with extraterrestrial visitors, or it is Edoardo Lavachi who, with a certain talent, since he convinced the investigators, who would have invented everything.
| Id: | Topic: | Severity: | Date noted: | Raised by: | Noted by: | Description: | Proposal: | Status: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Data | Medium | October 2, 2018 | Patrick Gross | Patrick Gross | Missing primary sources (GdM, SUF...). | Help needed. | Opened. |
| 2 | Ufology | Severe | October 2, 2018 | Patrick Gross | Patrick Gross | Almost no description ot the entities. | Help needed. | Opened. |
| 3 | Ufology | Severe | October 2, 2018 | Patrick Gross | Patrick Gross | Single witness case reported second-hand. | Help needed. | Opened. |
Extraterrestrial visitors or hoax.
* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.
| Main Author: | Patrick Gross |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Created/Changed By: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | October 2, 2018 | Creation, [op1], [it1], [cu1], [ar1], [pf1], [ud1], [ud2], [sc1], [js1], [ta1], [hh1], [pr1], [ra1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | October 2, 2018 | First published. |
