Italian ufologist Antonio Chiumienti indicates that in 2003, he recorded the story of Gianfranco Marocchi, whose CB nickname was "CB Phantom", born in 1941 and at the time of his alleged experience a civil servant in a big company. The latter said he remembered the events "with extreme clarity and much details" but with peace of mind and less apprehension, thinking at it again from time to time, especially because of telepathic messages announcing a further visit.
Gianfranco Marocchi reported that between the end of March 1978 and the beginning of April 1978, by a clear evening, at about 10:30 p.m. - 23:00 p.m., , drove on the road which goes from Tarcento in the Udine Province towards mount Bernadia. He was with his 14 year-old-son and wanted to reach a high place for better transmitting with the CB set.
When they crossed Cesariis di Lusevera, they coincidentally talked about appearances of strange lights or ball lightnings in this place a few days before, when by approaching a steep turn, they saw something luminous in the sky, a light of the globular type, initially of an intense white which gradually became orange, then reddish and more brilliant. When approaching, it grew and camed down, disappearing behind a hill, as if it had landed within approximately 400 meters of them.
Amazed and probably curious, Mr. Marocchi stopped his car on the roadside, went out with his son; and started to climb alone the slope that led to the top of the hill where a plate extended.
Walking, he saw in front of him something or somebody luminous which, apparently, seemed to be a shapeless light, but while advancing, he saw it was a being, approximately two meters tall, imposing, broad at the shoulders searing a luminous "diving-suit" made up of a brilliant silver plated suit comparable to medieval armours but of lighter aspect and more shining, resembling according to the witness "a grid broad meshs, like wire one would have worked with the hook..." and it gave him the impression that this fabric transmitted light by itself instead of reflecting it, if only because the only light source in the area was behind the creature, not in front of it. This suit did not have noticeable folds, it was made "pieces put together" and was connected to a helmet by a kind of large collar. This "helmet" was luminous too, but not transparent, and the witness thus did not see the head and the features of the face inside.
The witness did not remember the shoes well, they seemed to have no particular features and were perhaps part of the outfit. The being's hands were in silvery white gloves.
The being advanced in a rather upright position, in robotic steps, a slow and heavy step, barely folding the knees.
While they approached one another, Mr. Marocchi instinctively rose an arm and extended a hand to greet the being. At this moment he thought that somebody sent images, visions, into his brain, because he thought he was seeing a kind of classical spaceship in the shape of "priest's hat" with a very luminous part at the top which varied from orange to the blue at the bottom and on the edges.
From the lower part of this object beams of light came out, apparently used as levators to get people up and down the craft, and the witness thought that this spacecraft used light as source of energy.
These visions did not last. The witness and the entity stopped face to face, their right hands almost in contact. From the being's gloved hand, sparks of white color with blue ends escaped. These sparks were very numerous and seemed to attract the hand of the witness who started to be afraid. Noticing that his right hand appeared to be illuminated in its turn, he grabbed the alien's hand with his left hand to break free.
The being took some steps back, turned around, moved away, and at the same time, the witness went quickly back to the car, where his son had watched most of the event.
Once in the vehicle, the witness was about to start the engine when he noticed that beyond the hill, a luminosity increased, illuminant all the area. "The UFO rose quickly", stopped one moment and set out again in the direction from where it seemed to have come, North-East.
The witness then looked at his hands, in horror because the two palms seemed "mottled", skin was falling off and the flesh of an impressive red color was purplished. Until then he had not felt any pain but in the night, the pain started, and persisted in spite of the creams and the remedies, and the wounds did not heal.
He did not say anything about what had happened to him, not even to the doctor, by fear that he would not be believed or that he would be scoffed at.
Approximately a week later, a "mailman" rung his doorbell. He was a 1m70 - 1m80 man, not the usual person, and he made the witness sign a receipt in exchange of a small normally tied up and sealed anonymous package, but without sender address.
Inside, there was a small box of pomade and a handwritten ticket detailing the posology, as well as the adivce to destroy any excess cream.
The witness used it successfully, after two or three days his wounds started to heal and the skin grew back. The witness stated he threw the unused pomade away because at the time it seemed to him it was the best thing to do.
In the same days he was visited by two strange characters who came in a black jeep, dressed in black, of high size, and who resembled each other so much that it was "almost as if they had been photocopied".
After having rung, they told his wife that they wanted to speak with him about what had occurred, which the witness refused, astonished that somebody knew about his experience. At other times, the witness noticed that he was followed by mysterious tall men dressed in black.
All that made him live long periods of anxiety which left him ill at ease and nervous, he frequently had nightmares in the night and in his half-sleep, thinking he was receiving "messages" directly in the brain saying the extraterrestrials would come back to give him "proof" that what it had lived was quite real and not the figment of his imagination.
The next days he even received various phone calls during which male voices with firm and peremptory tone invited him to be cautious for all was to remain secret.
This 2003 version matches former versions for the broad outline of the experience, however, the former versions give a quite different context. In these versions, the witness, not named, was with two other CB enthusiasts or "radio amateurs from Friuli", L. Spongero and L. Olivieri, practising theirhobby on Mount Bernardia on March 11, 1978, when they saw an orange ball passing above their car and landing in a nearby wood. They first approached, but were frightened by the brilliant gleam of the object and left.
One of the three, obviously Gianfranco Marocchi, was then urged on March 19 or 20, 1978, by a "telepathic message" to return on the sighting location, and that is when he meets and shake hands with the entity. There is no presence of his son since it was said that he first dropped his wife and son home and only then went to the sighting location. The continuations with the "mailman", the pomade, and the "men in black" are not mentioned in these earlier versions.
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[Ref. rh1:] RICHARD HALL:
Richard Hall indicates that according to Edoardo Russo, the earliest sightings of interest of 1978 in Italy took place in the far northern provinces, when on march 11, three radio amateurs from Friuli, Udine province, were practicing their avocation on Mt. Bernardia where they saw an orange ball pass over their car and land in nearby woods.
Curious, they approached to investigate but were frightened away by the brilliant glow from the landed object.
On March 20, one of the men was urged by a "telepathic message" to return to the scene; there he encountered a 2-meter-tall humanoid being wearing a one-piece suit and helmet. The being extended its hand, and when the man took it he felt pain and had to struggle free from the grasp.
The being then returned to a craft and was transported inside it by a conical beam of light.
The witness reported that his hand burned for several weeks. He received a message that the being would return.
Richard Hall indicates the case as one of a major wave of UFO sightings in Italy during 1978, mostly in the period from October through the first few days of January 1979, with more than 500 cases on record, with at least 130 of them close encounters, 25 involving humanoid entities. These sightings led to unprecedented public discussion and debate, even in the Italian Parliament, and were essentially ignored by conventional news media in the United States.
Richard Hall indicates that this comes from data supplied by Edoardo Russo of Centra Ufologica Nazionale, Milan; Massimo Greco, Brescia; and Maurizio Verga, Cermenate.
[Ref. mv1:] MAURIZIO VERGA:
Maurizio Verga indicates that on March 11, 1978 to 19:30 in Ciseriis (Udine), a man, with two of his friends, Mr. L. Spongero and Mr. L. Olivieri, observed a strange flying object maneuvering above their car, then landing 200 meters from them. The witnesses approached the object but when it increased its luminosity, they fled.
On March 19, 1978, at 00:30, the same witness returned home with his family, by car, when he suddenly received a kind of "telepathic signal" urging him to return on the spot of his previous observation.
He dropped his wife and son home, drove towards Ciseriis and once arrived stopped "in a field (in front of the road)".
He suddenly saw a strange 2-meter-tall creature, in very tight luminous outfit with stripes across, and a helmet on the head, of strong stature. The being approached the frightened witness, shook hands with him. The witness was strangely quiet and felt an impression of "serenity": he thus instinctively accepted the being's handshake. Immediately, he felt a deep pain in his hand. He tried to get clear but the inside of the creature's hand was viscous and sticking. He was able to break free using his other hand.
The creature looked a few moments at the now panicked man, and moved towards a strange object in the shape of a disc which was in the vicinity, and which the witness had not seen hitherto.
The UFO suddenly emitted three conical luminous rays, the central ray attracted the being towards the object and made him go up on board. Immediately, the UFO took off very fast, emitting an intense reddish gleam.
At the same time, the man reportedly mentally received the message: "We will return and will give you information... do not tell what happened to you. The next time, we will bring you something that will prove our existence."
Thereafter, the witness felt a violent pain in the fingers of his right hand, which became darker as if they had been "tanned".
The source is indicated as "'NOTIZIARIO CTRU' #4 Investigation by Mr. A. Chiumiento".
[Ref. gv1:] GENEVIEVE VANQUELEF:
Genevieve Vanquelef indicates that on March 19, 1978, in Ciserilo in Italy, one of the three witnesses of a landing which occurred 8 days earlier, returned on the place. He saw a 2 meters tell creature, helmeted and wearing a gray tight-fitting suit. The being gave an impression of calms and serenity, and extended his hand towards the Italian. The latter took it without hesitation but immediately felt a sharp pain. He manages to free his hand, only with the help of hisother hand. The strange creature looked at its victim then moved towards a round object which rested a little further. The burned hand changed color and turned brownish.
Genevière Vanquelef indicates that the source is "LDLN 207."
[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:
Albert Rosales indicates in his catalogue that in Mt. Bernardia, Udine, Italy, on March 20, 1978, at night on the third of the month three witnesses had seen a large orange sphere pass over their car and land on a nearby wooded area, they became frightened and left. On the above date one of them received a telepathic message urging him to return to the scene. There he encountered a very tall humanoid wearing a one-piece suit and a helmet. The being extended his hand and when the witness took it he felt pain and had to struggle free from its grasp. The being was then transported into the craft by a conical beam of light. The witness suffered burns to his hand.
Albert Rosales indicates that the source is "Richard Hall, Mufon Journal #153."
[Ref. ac1:] ANTONIO CHIUMIENTO:
The Italian ufologist indicates that between the end of March 1978 and the beginning of April 1978, by a clear evening, at about 10:30 p.m. - 23:00 p.m., Gianfranco Marocchi whose CB nickname was "CB Phantom", born in 1941 and at the time civil servant in a big company, drove on the road which goes from Tarcento in the Udine Province towards mount Bernadia. He was with his 14 year-old-son and wanted to reach a high place for better transmitting with the CB set.
When they crossed Cesariis di Lusevera, they coincidentally talked about appearances of strange lights or ball lightnings in this place a few days before, when by approaching a steep turn, they saw something luminous in the sky, a light of the globular type, initially of an intense white which gradually became orange, then reddish and more brilliant. When approaching, it grew and camed down, disappearing behind a hill, as if it had landed within approximately 400 meters of them.
Amazed and probably curious, Mr. Marocchi stopped his car on the roadside, went out with his son; and started to climb alone the slope that led to the top of the hill where a plate extended.
Walking, he saw in front of him something or somebody luminous which, apparently, seemed to be a shapeless light, but while advancing, he saw it was a being, approximately two meters tall, imposing, broad at the shoulders searing a luminous "diving-suit" made up of a brilliant silver plated suit comparable to medieval armours but of lighter aspect and more shining, resembling according to the witness "a grid broad meshs, like wire one would have worked with the hook..." and it gave him the impression that this fabric transmitted light by itself instead of reflecting it, if only because the only light source in the area was behind the creature, not in front of it. This suit did not have noticeable folds, it was made "pieces put together" and was connected to a helmet by a kind of large collar. This "helmet" was luminous too, but not transparent, and the witness thus did not see the head and the features of the face inside.
The witness did not remember the shoes well, they seemed to have no particular features and were perhaps part of the outfit. The being's hands were in silvery white gloves.
The being advanced in a rather upright position, in robotic steps, a slow and heavy step, barely folding the knees.
While they approached one another, Mr. Marocchi instinctively rose an arm and extended a hand to greet the being. At this moment he thought that somebody sent images, visions, into his brain, because he thought he was seeing a kind of classical spaceship in the shape of "priest's hat" with a very luminous part at the top which varied from orange to the blue at the bottom and on the edges.
From the lower part of this object beams of light came out, apparently used as levators to get people up and down the craft, and the witness thought that this spacecraft used light as source of energy.
These visions did not last. The witness and the entity stopped face to face, their right hands almost in contact. From the being's gloved hand, sparks of white color with blue ends escaped. These sparks were very numerous and seemed to attract the hand of the witness who started to be afraid. Noticing that his right hand appeared to be illuminated in its turn, he grabbed the alien's hand with his left hand to break free.
The being took some steps back, turned around, moved away, and at the same time, the witness went quickly back to the car, where his son had watched most of the event.
Once in the vehicle, the witness was about to start the engine when he noticed that beyond the hill, a luminosity increased, illuminant all the area. "The UFO rose quickly", stopped one moment and set out again in the direction from where it seemed to have come, North-East.
The witness then looked at his hands, in horror because the two palms seemed "mottled", skin was falling off and the flesh of an impressive red color was purplished. Until then he had not felt any pain but in the night, the pain started, and persisted in spite of the creams and the remedies, and the wounds did not heal.
He did not say anything about what had happened to him, not even to the doctor, by fear that he would not be believed or that he would be scoffed at.
Approximately a week later, a "mailman" rung his doorbell. He was a 1m70 - 1m80 man, not the usual person, and he made the witness sign a receipt in exchange of a small normally tied up and sealed anonymous package, but without sender address.
Inside, there was a small box of pomade and a handwritten ticket detailing the posology, as well as the adivce to destroy any excess cream.
The witness used it successfully, after two or three days his wounds started to heal and the skin grew back. The witness stated he threw the unused pomade away because at the time it seemed to him it was the best thing to do.
In the same days he was visited by two strange characters who came in a black jeep, dressed in black, of high size, and who resembled each other so much that it was "almost as if they had been photocopied".
After having rung, they told his wife that they wanted to speak with him about what had occurred, which the witness refused, astonished that somebody knew about his experience. At other times, the witness noticed that he was followed by mysterious tall men dressed in black.
All that made him live long periods of anxiety which left him ill at ease and nervous, he frequently had nightmares in the night and in his half-sleep, thinking he was receiving "messages" directly in the brain saying the extraterrestrials would come back to give him "proof" that what it had lived was quite real and not the figment of his imagination.
The next days he even received various phone calls during which male voices with firm and peremptory tone invited him to be cautious for all was to remain secret.
Twenty-five years later, questioned by the author, he remembers the events "with extreme clarity and much details" but with peace of mind and less apprehension, thinking at it again from time to time, especially about the message announcing another visit.
[Ref. ud1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on March 20, 1978, at 19:30, in Ciserilo, Italy, there was a "Phantom incident", a "Close encounter with a an unidentified craft and its occupants. An unidentified object at close range and its occupants were observed by one male witness at a mountain."
The sources are indicated as Webb, David, HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports; Bullard, Thomas E., UFO Abductions: The Measure of a Mystery. Volume 1: Comparative Study of Abduction Reports, FUFOR, Bloomington, 1987.
The fact that there is a major contradiction between the early version and the 2003 version are one reason to doubt the reality of the alleged encounter. Both cannot be true: either the witness was with his son, or he had dropped the son and wife home before the encounter. Either the encounter was by chance, or he was urged to go to the place by a "telepathic message".
My overall feeling is that there is nothing more than a changing story here, a far cry from an investigation. The son, the wife, the two other men, were apparently not interrogated. No evidence were looked for, and, in typical "contactee" manner, the one hard evidence that should have been produced, the pommade, was conveniently thrown away.
| Id: | Topic: | Severity: | Date noted: | Raised by: | Noted by: | Description: | Proposal: | Status: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Data | Severe | November 15, 2009 | Patrick Gross | Patrick Gross | Primary source not available. | Help needed. | Opened. |
| 2 | Ufology | Severe | November 15, 2009 | Patrick Gross | Patrick Gross | . | Help needed. | Opened. |
| 3 | Ufology | Severe | November 15, 2009 | Patrick Gross | Patrick Gross | . | Help needed. | Opened. |
"Contactee" type fable, psychological.
* = 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 | November 15, 2009 | Creation, [rh1], [mv1], [gv1], [ac1], [ar1], [ud1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | November 15, 2009 | First published. |
