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June 4, 1947, Casanova Staffora, Lombardia, Italy, Angela Volpini:

Brief summary of the event and follow-up:

About 2009, proponent author Albert Rosales said in his ufology CE3 catalogue that in Varizi, Italy, on July 4, 1947, at an unknown time, Angela Volpini, 7, experienced many visions of the Virgin Mary wearing a pink dress a blue cloak and a white veil, and that there is "no other information."

He said it comes from Erich Von Däniken's "Erscheinungen" and expressed fascination "that on the same date there would be a report of a crashed UFO and of a Marian encounter."

About 2016, "skeptical" ufologist Peter Rogerson said that according to "Maunder 2016 p128", on June 4, 1947, a t 4:00 p.m., in Casanova Staffora, Lombardia, Italy, Angela Volpini, age 7, was sitting on the grass at a place called Bocco just outside the village, making bunches of flowers while looking after the cattle.

She felt herself lifted up into someone’s arms, thought it was her aunt, but when she looked she saw it was a beautiful unknown woman who claimed to be bringing the world happiness, anf this was interpreted as a Marian vision .Similar visions continued until Angela was 16.

Basic information table:

Narratives:

[Ref. cm1:] CHRIS MAUNDER:

The author indicates that in Casanova Staffora, Tortona, Lombaridia, the fourth of each month, June 1947 to June 1954, Angela Volpini, born in 1940, experienced apparitions of the "blessed Virgin"; which were not recongiszed by the Church, but a chapel was allowed and there were Episcopal visits.

He says the story of Casanova Staffora is something of an enigma, that started in the pst-war crusade against communism in which Fatima was centeal, but the visionary took a rather left-wing direction.

About the events, he says it took place on 4 July 1947 in the Appenine hamlet of Casanova-di-Sinitra, on the left bank of the Staffora river (Casanova Staffora being on the other bank).

7-year-old farmers' daughter Angela Volpina experienced an appartion of the "Virgin Mary" on wooded hills at a place called Bocco, where she was taking cows with other children at about 4 p.m.

She felt someone lifted her under her arms to carry her. She thought it was her aunt but when she looked round she saw it was a beautiful unknown woman who claimed to be bringing the world happiness. This was interpreted as a Marian vision and similar visions continued until Angela was 16.

64 years later, Volpina still appears as a "popular theologian" on Youtube in TV interviews and filmed lectures, and in newspapers such as La Provincia Pavese in 2008.

[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:

Rosales says that in Varizi, Italy, on July 4, 1947, at an unknown time, Angela Volpini, 7, experienced "many visions of the Virgin Mary wearing a pink dress a blue cloak and a white veil. No other information."

He indicates that the source is "Erich Von Danlken 'Erscheinungen'".

He comments: "I Just think that is fascinating that on the same date there would be a report of a crashed UFO and of a Marian encounter."

[Ref. pr1:] PETER ROGERSON:

Points to consider:

Angela Volpina wrote several books and has a website at http://www.angelavolpini.it/it/home.htm where she tells her story herself:

"I was born on June 1, 1940, in a family of farmers, in Casanova Staffora, a charming village of the Oltrepò Pavese - where I still live - immersed in the woods, crossed by a stream. In this farm environment, we children also had to contribute to the domestic economy, accompanying cows to pasture in the morning and evening. At the age of seven, June 4, 1947, I was with my peers to graze the cows in the pastures of Bocco, a town about half an hour from the village. I was sitting on the grass making up bunches of flowers when I suddenly felt a person take me under my arms, from behind, and lift me up as if to take me in my arms. I turned, convinced to find myself face to face with my aunt, and instead I found myself faced with a face of a beautiful woman, very sweet and unknown."

"That was the first of 80 apparitions of Mary that were repeated every 4th of the month, except for two interruptions, until June 4, 1956. From that day on it was not only my own, but also the life of my family. In a short time the news came to the forefront of newspapers and immense crowds - up to 300,000 people in a day - came to Casanova, with the rickety buses of the time, to witness my ecstasies, with the hope of seeing the Madonna too. The newspapers of the time reported extraordinary solar phenomena concomitant to some apparitions. March 4, 1948 was the time of greatest turnout and also of greater tension. With different motivations, both the ecclesiastical and the civil authorities took drastic measures against this little girl who claimed to see and talk with Our Lady."

She said the Church and authorities tried to stop all this by preventing her to go to place of the apparitions and they they practically kidnapped her for 40 days, subjecting her to examinations, interrogations; "they even moved the hands of the clocks to deceive me". I was subjected to a kind of brainwashing to convince myself that what I had seen was just hallucinations. A commission of theologians and psychiatrists was formed, which eventually issued the verdict: "There is no evidence to say that the event is supernatural, nor to say that it is a fraud. The child is sane and in good faith".

Rosales ([ar1]) is fascinated that there was a UFO crash report at the same date. But there wasn't. I guess he mistook as "June 4, 1947" the alleged date of the alleged "July 4, 1947" Roswell crash (with debris likely found way before July 4, 1947, by the way).

Rogerson ([pr1]), of course, does not publish this case because of a coincidence with a saucer crash. His reasoning was that since people claimed they saw "things" like ghosts, fairies, "Mary" etc., then people have alsways been inventing stories, hence, "close cnounters of the thrd kind" and "UFO sight reports" are also inventions, except those that are misinterpretations.

Of course I do agree that inventions and misinterpretations always occurred, but I do not agree that this is a sfficient and final answer to UFO matters.

Interestingly, many "skeptics" criticize "believers" for including fairies, ghost and religious visions stories in their CE3 catalogues; and this is a fittinh example. But "skeptics" do the same, for exactly symatrical reason: both think it is "the same dtuff". The ones claiming it is the same false stuff, the other claiming it is the same true stuff. Most of both types of researchers to often fail to give any argumented explanation of their cases and get mistaken of the facts. In htis case, neither Rosales not Rogerson try to demonstrate the explanation this story is supposed to get.

What about this "case"?

Angela Volpini, born in a farmers family in Casanova Staffora on June 3, 1940, is an Italian "mystic."

She recounted that on June 4, 1947, she was in the countryside to watche the cows with other children, when she heard "the sweet call of a beautiful woman" who hugged her and kissed her while saying to her, "I have come to teach you the way to happiness on earth." Volpini told:

"I was sitting on the grass and making bouquets of flowers when I suddenly felt a person take me under my arms from behind and lift myself, as if to get up." I turned around, convinced to find myself facing face with my aunt and I found myself facing the face of a beautiful woman, very sweet and unknown... "

(Angela Volpini, autobiography)

But the other children only saw Angela stand up from the ground, and no "beautiful woman".

Then appearances reportedöy took place regularly every 4th of the month with some exceptions until June 4th, 1956, totaling nearly 80 appearances, with speeches by "Mary" of this kind:

"I came to teach you the way to happiness on earth".

And:

"Be good, pray, and I will be the salvation of your country".

Pilgrims and the curious went to the village to witness these ecstasies, with peaks of 300,000 people. Angela "saw", but no one else saw or heard anything, as one might expect. Also predictable, some newspapers of the time reported "special solar phenomena" coinciding with these events, as in Fatima.

A commission of theologians and psychiatrists was set to "examine" Angela, and concluded that she was "sane and of good faith" - according to www.angelavolpini.it, Angela's official website. In fact, the Catholic Church did not recognize her apparitions.

Having written no less than 8 books and given many conferences - some are on Youtube, she is well known in Italy and abroad.

In short, if this were an "alien encounter", it would be a case with a single witness claiming to see an extraterrestrial while crowds around her would not see it, this on many occasions, and with the equivalent of "ufologists" not recognizing the apparitions as genuine. Would it be a "good" case?

Proponent ufologist Albert Rosales said there is "no other information" than his short summary. Not true. It was easily accessible all over the web when he wote it.

"Skeptic" ufologist Peter Rogerson says "This was interpreted as a Marian vision", as if it weren't. But it was, clearly, interpreted as a Marian vision by the witness, who ghas a whole webiste about her interpretation.

Above: 1947 movie newsreel footage showing Angela seeing the "Blessed Virgin" as the crows sees nothing.

List of issues:

Evaluation:

Invention, not UFO-related.

Sources references:

* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.

• [cm1] * "Our Lady of the Nations: Apparitions of Mary in Twentieth-century Catholic Europe", nook by Chris Maunder, Oxford University Press publishers, U-K., pages 127, 128, 2016.
• [ar1] * "Humanoid Encounters - International Catalogue - 1947", book by Albert Rosales, Digital Mirage publishers, page 38, 2009.
• [pr1] * "INTCAT 1946-1949 - International Catalog of Entity Reports", catalog by Peter Rogerson, U-K., 2016, at http://intcat.blogspot.com/2018/02/intcat-1946-1949.html

Document history:

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This page was last updated on November 14, 2018.