Category — Weird

Scattered throughout Northern Japan are two dozen mummified Japanese monks known as Sokushinbutsu. Followers of Shugendô, an ancient form of Buddhism, the monks died in the ultimate act of self-denial.

The actual practice was first pioneered by a priest named Kuukai over 1000 years ago at the temple complex of Mount Koya, in Wakayama prefecture. Kuukai was founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, which is the sect that came up with the idea of enlightenment through physical punishment. There were three steps in the process of self-mummification that Kuukai proposed, and the full process took upwards of ten years to lead to a successful mummification.

The first step is a change of diet. The priest was only allowed to eat nuts and seeds that could be found in the forests surrounding his temple; this diet had to be stuck to for a 1000 day period, a little under three years. During this time, the priest was to continue to subject himself to all sorts of physical hardship in his daily training. The results were that the body fat of the priest was reduced to nearly nothing, thus removing a section of the body that easily decomposes after death.

In the second stage, the diet became more restrictive. The priest was now only allowed to eat a small amount of bark and roots from pine trees. This had to be endured for another 1000 day period, by the end of which the priest looked like a living skeleton. This also decreased the overall moisture contained in the body; and the less fluid left in the body, the easier to preserve it.

Towards the end of this 1000 day period, the priest also had to start to drink a special tea made from the sap of the urushi tree. This sap is used to make lacquer for bowls and furniture; but it is also very poisonous for most people. Drinking this tea induced vomiting, sweating, and urination, further reducing the fluid content of the priest’s body. But even more importantly, the build up of the poison in the priest’s body would kill any maggots or insects that tried to eat the priest’s remains after death, thus protecting it from yet another source of decay.

The last step of the process was to be entombed alive in a stone room just big enough for a man to sit lotus style in for a final 1000 day period. As long as the priest could ring a bell each day a tube remained in place to supply air; but when the bell finally stopped, the tube was removed and the tomb was sealed. When the tomb was finally opened, the results would be known. Some few would be fully mummified, and immediately be raised to the rank of Buddha; but most just rotted and, while respected for their incredible endurance, were not considered to be Buddhas. These were simply sealed back into their tombs.

The Japanese government outlawed Sokushunbutsu in the late 19th century, though the practice apparently continued into the 20th.

Castrati were young boys who were castrated (had their testicles removed) before they hit puberty, to ensure that their voices would not “break”. The result of the operation was that the boy would grow up being able to sing with the same voice as a boy soprano, but with the strength of a man. As the castrato’s body grew, his lack of testosterone meant that his epiphyses (bone-joints) did not harden in the normal manner. Thus the limbs of the castrati often grew unusually long, as did the bones of their ribs. This, combined with intensive training, gave them unrivalled lung-power and breath capacity. The boys were often fed opium to make them unaware of the operation. In the image to the left we see the instrument used to castrate the boys.

Once castrated, the young boys were sent to conservatories. At the “Conservatorio di Sant’ Onofrio” in Napoli, during the 1780s, the work schedule was as follows: In the morning, one hour of singing difficult passages, one hour of literature and one hour of solfeggi in front of mirrors. In the afternoon, one half hour of music theory, one half hour of counterpoint on improvisation and one hour of literature.

The history of Castrati

The first castrati were reported in Spain around 1550 and their presence in the Rome Sistine Chapel Choir was reported to have started around 1565. The Spanish falsettisti ruled the Sistine Chapel. The falsettisti’s voices were more agile and had a richer sound. It has been debated that some of the Spanish falsettisti were castrati. The change from falsettisti to castrati came about because the castrato’s voice sounded more natural.

The earliest castrati known were Jacomo Spagnoletti (probably a Spaniard) and Martino, both of whom were admitted to the Sistine Chapel Choir in 1588. Other two good castrati were mentioned in the archives of 1599, the Italians Pietro Folignani and Girolamo Rosini. By 1640, castrati were used throughout Italy despite much theological debate, the music need of the church always prevailing over anti-mutilation surgery. They were formally banned from the papal chapel by Pius X in 1903.

What do we know of Castrati?

Many things are known about castrati. For example, they were not allowed to marry in church and sing in Lutheran churches. In France , Italian singers and castrati were not welcomed because of their excessive ornamentation and decadent life style. In the 17th and 18th century Italy , castrati were considered to be natural sopranos, whereas falsettisti, which would still possess all tokens of masculinity, were considered to have artificial voices. They were so treasured that, in 1625, all sopranos in the choir of the Sistine Chapel were castrati. In Bach’s time, there was already heavy competition between the clerical courts of Venice and Rome, so that the local opera theatres were ordered to engage the best castrati. At the peak of time, there were 4000 boys between the age of 7 and 9 castrated per year.

What did they sound like?

Castrati loathed their parents and families for allowing the surgical intervention. Domenico Mustafa’s family told him that, when he was a child, his testicles were eaten by a pig and he always swore he would kill his father for lying.

Fortunately, Pope Leo XIII was a bit of a geek and he asked Thomas Edison to bring his new phonograph to the Cistene Chapel to record the choir. The choir master happened to be Alessandro Moreschi (image left), the last living true castrato. As a result of the meeting between Leo XIII and Edison’s aides, a series of recordings were made of Moreschi in 1908. While the quality is not the greatest, these recordings allow us to hear the true voice of a castrato.

Alessandro Moreschi was born into a large Roman Catholic family in the town of Monte Compatri, near Frascati. Baptised on the day of his birth, it is clear that his life was in danger. Perhaps he was born with an inguinal hernia, for which castration was still a “cure” in nineteenth-century Italy. Or he could have been castrated later, around 1865, which would have been more in line with the centuries-old practice of castrating vocally talented boys well before puberty. In any case, much later in life, he referred to his enjoying singing as a boy in the chapel of the Madonna del Castagno, just outside his native town.

Listen to Moreschi singing Ave Maria (MP3)
Listen to Moreschi singing Domine Salvum Fac (MP3)

During the evening of October 21, 1978, twenty year old Australian Pilot Frederick Valentich disappeared over Bass Strait, while flying from Melbourne’s Moorabbin Airport to King Island, off the coast of Victoria. His last communication occurred at 7:12 p.m., during the largest UFO flap in Australian history. Nearly fourteen years after that fatal Saturday evening, no trace has ever been found of either the pilot or his blue and white Cessna model 182 aircraft.

Frederick Valentich was not the only person who reported a strange object over and near Bass Strait that day and night. Researchers have found over fifty reported observations in that area which occurred before, during and after his encounter. Most of this information would never have been found without the diligence of researchers from the Victorian UFO Research Society, based at Moorabbin, near the location from whence the mysterious flight originated.

The Bass Strait Flap had been building up for over six weeks prior to the pilot’s disappearance. The UFO flap reached a peak that very weekend of October 21st. More daytime sightings were reported that day than in any flap period that we have ever investigated. Many of these reports have been published in the VUFORS publication, AUSTRALIAN UFO BULLETIN, the MUFON UFO JOURNAL, the INTERNATIONAL UFO REPORTER and other publications throughout the world.

It is a confirmed fact that many UFOs were reported in the vicinity of King Island and the area around Bass Strait on that day and night. Two months prior to this fateful event, we were receiving increasing telephone calls from individuals reporting strange lights in the sky. About this same time UFO reports were being passed on to the police and the King Island News. We were not aware of the reports occurring on this island until they were forwarded to us after news of the pilot’s disappearance became known.

On that same day and night something strange was taking place in the Melbourne and Victorian skies as well as over Bass Strait. That is the inescapable conclusion from startling files of evidence compiled by investigators in the vicinity. Documented interviews with people from unrelated locations up to 300 kilometres apart told similar stories of round objects, star-fish shaped objects and silver cigar shaped UFOs moving slowly in the sky apparently with no visible means of propulsion, no wings and no sound.

A similar encounter

The Valentich encounter is almost a carbon copy of the experience of a four man crew aboard an Army helicopter who encountered a frightening event on 18 October, 1973, almost five years to the day prior to the Valentich disappearance.

Captain Lawrence Coyne was flying near Mansfield, Ohio at 2500 feet when a crew member notified the captain that an object was approaching on a collision course. Coyne then initiated a ‘Control descent to 1700 feet. The UFO took up a position just ahead of the helicopter which was flying at 100 knots. The pilot was amazed his helicopter was climbing even though his controls were in descending position. At 3500 feet there was a thump when the helicopter broke loose from the object.

During this period Coyne tried to contact air fields nearby but both UHF and VHF frequencies had failed. Coyne also reported that his compass was rotating slowly. The shape of the object was described as cigar or long shaped and its manoeuvrability was identical to the one reported by Valentich. The instruments were later checked out in Cleveland and found to be satisfactory. In this case Larry Coyne and his crew got back to tell the story, Frederick Valentich did not.

While military and civilian aircraft searched the area over Bass Strait, VUFORS investigators concentrated their efforts with interviews of witnesses who had reported objects they had seen flying that same day and night. Some examples of reports follow: (Names are on file with VUFORS) Currie, King Island, 2:00 p.m.: The sky was clear, except one large cloud directly overhead. Out of this cloud came an object similar to a huge golf ball about a quarter-size of the moon. The object was white or silver in colour. It moved slowly to the west toward the sea. The UFO stopped at an angle of 70 degrees above the horizon, then started moving back in the direction from whence it came. At that time there was no wind. The cloud remained stationary. The UFO was the only object seen to be moving in the sky. No balloons are released at King Island on the weekends.

Beginning less than one hour after the King Island UFO was seen, twin cigar shaped objects were reported to be moving from west to east over Victoria, near Bass Strait. They were last seen about 4:30 p.m. when suddenly they changed colour from silver to white, made a sweeping curve to the north and sped away. The movement of these objects was traced by interviewing witnesses scattered along a flight path until the objects sped away. The observers nearest to the UFOs were almost directly udder the objects. They described them to be about three-quarters the size of a Boeing 747 aircraft, joined together with two silver beams. They were last seen over the ranges near Cape Otway.

Evidence

[Click the images above to launch video clips from a History Channel documentary series on the dissapearance.]

At 6:45 p.m., just 21 minutes before Pilot Valentich radioed Melbourne Flight Service that he was encountering an unknown aircraft, Roy Manifold, of Melbourne, photographed on 35mm film, an object hurtling in a blur of speed and mist out of the water neat Cape Otway lighthouse. All modes of computer analysis were used to gain data. including edge enhancement, colour contouring, digitising and filtering. The analysis was made by GSW and critique issued by William H. Spaulding, GSW Director. The photos were also examined by other photo specialists.

Publication of the photos brought “Professors of Impossibility” out of their arm chairs for another debunking attempt. They decreed that the photos showed “a cloud or a puff of smoke”. VUFORS advisors quickly exploded this hasty announcement. The object appears only in two of the six pictures, taken while the camera was in automatic sequencing. The time interval between each photograph is confirmed by the setting sun’s Position. In the last picture the so called cloud is already nine degrees into the shot. This means it would have been moving at 200 miles per hour. It is not possible for a cloud or puff of smoke to move at this speed on a calm day.

Communications between Valentich and Melbourne Flight Service were recorded from 7:06 to 7:12 p.m., before an unexplained sound abruptly terminated the voice communications. During that time, twenty people located in different areas around Bass Strait observed a green light in the same direction and at the same time the pilot was reporting the approach and description of an object with a green light.

Full transcript

You can read the full transcript of Valentich’s eerie last communications with ground control here: page 1, page 2, page 3.

More sightings

In addition, other reports have been forthcoming, such as: In the southern suburb of Frankston, a mother and four teenagers reported what appeared to resemble a sky rocket, although the object was stationary. The colour appeared to be a mixture of red, pink and white. The witnesses estimated the object to be a quarter-size of the moon. The mother said that at the time of the sighting she did not realise it was a UFO, until later when she learned that other people had seen the same object. At the same time, a bank manager and his wife, while driving on the highway west of Melbourne, observed a star-fish shaped object out over the Strait. They noticed green flickering lights at the ends. The couple are of the opinion that it was the same object that Valentich was reporting before the strange sound jammed his radio transmission.

Another sighting was reported from Ormond, a suburb in southern Melbourne, occurring at 7:15 p.m. when lights were noted in a cigar shaped arrangement. The lights were described as looking like “silver rain” as they appeared to fall or else were turned off from top to bottom.

Two lads were out in the street communicating with their walkie-talkies when they saw a star-shaped object appear at a low altitude over their heads. It was moving slightly faster than an aircraft as if oh an approach run to an airport. During the observation both witnesses recall a sound like a low pulsating ,hum was associated with the object. Each of the walkie-talkies first became jammed with static then communication was lost altogether, even though the lads were only a short distance apart. Communication was restored when the UFO flew away. Their description was of an object with bright white lights placed intermittently at each tip of a star-fish shaped object and at Various points along the arcs to the tips.

There were many other similar reports of flying objects throughout southern Victoria during that same day and night and they continued for several days following this strange encounter. These reports were being referred to VUFORS from various sources.

An outstanding sighting was reported on Monday evening, 23 October, 1978, only two days later. It occurred at 9.00 p.m. as two families were preparing to leave the beach. They saw a cigar shaped light speeding low over Port Philip Bay, from the direction of Bass Strait. When it reached a position about halfway across the bay, between the observers on the Frankston beach and Williamstown on the opposite shore, the UFO flashed a brilliant white ray of light. Following this event a smaller red light was noted to have detached itself from the larger object. As the large UFO sped away to the north, the smaller red one flew at a much slower speed toward the beach where the observers were standing. As the smaller object approached the beach, the nine people observed that the object was shaped like a star-fish with red lights at each tip. They could also hear a low humming sound as it flew nearby. When the red lighted UFO was a mile or so past the group, it stopped in mid air for a few minutes. It then accelerated away at a much faster speed in the direction of Bass Strait where the larger lighted object had first appeared.

One of the best indications from observers that a UFO was involved in Frederick’s experience came a few years after the event when four witnesses came forward to report sighting both the aircraft and the UFO flying directly above the Cessna. They had hesitated reporting outside their immediate friends because of fear of ridicule. They came forward when they did because the information bore on their conscience.

An uncle, his son and two nieces were rabbit hunting at Cape Otway. A niece looked up and saw the green light and called to her uncle, “What is that light?” The uncle looked up and answered, “An aeroplane light”. The niece then said, “No, the light above the aeroplane”. Frederick was the only pilot flying in the area at that time. Sight of the aeroplane and object was lost when they flew behind the hills. This sighting completely rules out all speculations and fictitious stories - other than that a UFO was involved in the pilot’s disappearance.

CONCLUSIONS

The Frederick Valentich encounter provides an excellent case for study. It is an incident that can be compared with several other encounters where objects have revealed similar characteristics such as magnetic effects, ignition failure as well as communication failures etc. There is no doubt in my mind that the disappearance of Frederick Valentich and his Cessna was caused by a UFO. 1 do not know whether he went up, down or was disintegrated. The electromagnetic effect from the UFO may have stalled his engine (since he did report the engine was rough-idling or “coughing”) and caused him to crash into the water. There is also the possibility that the mystery sound which ended the transmission between Melbourne Flight Service and the pilot was the sound of his aircraft in the early stages of disintegration. Another possibility is that his radio frequency may have been jammed deliberately by persons or entities.

REFERENCES

Australian UFO Bulletin: Victorian UFO Research Society (VUFORS)
P.O. Box 1043, Moorabbin, Victoria 3189, Australia.
International UFO Reporter:
J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies, 2457 West Peterson Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60659, USA
Melbourne Episode: Case study of a missing pilot,
Dr Richard F. Haines, L.D.A. Press, Los Altos, California, 1987
MUFON UFO Journal:
Mutual UFO Network, Inc., 103 Oldtowne Road, Seguin, Texas 78155, USA
“The Bass Strait Flap”:
Norman, Paul, Australian UFO Bulletin, December 1978 and 1979,Bulletins.
“Mystery Deepens in Pilot Disappearance Case”,
Norman, Paul, MUFON UFO Journal, No. 141, November 1979, pp.5-7.
“Frederick Valentich Encounter Update”:
Norman, Paul, BUFORA BULLETIN, June 1983: British UFO Research Association(BUFORA),
40 Jones Drive, Whittlesey, Peterborough, PE7 2HW, England
“Pilot Valentich, Death or Abduction?”,
VUFORS Committee: The Australian Annual Flying Saucer Review: 1981 edition published by VUFORS.