C7: Aliens

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Aliens in the Holy Land

In the last ten years, hundreds of Israelis
claim to have had close encounters with alien beings. Their experiences range from mere sightings of UFOs or their "crop circle" landing sites, to actual communication and even several claimed abductions. The more bizarre accounts include descriptions of cattle "mutilated by aliens" and one woman from Acre says that aliens visited her to "warn against the peace process." Barry Chamish, a self-professed UFOlogist, says "Israel is recognised as an international UFO hot spot with an unsurpassed quantity and quality of evidence."

Avi Grief, head of the Israel Centre for UFO Research (a ragtag association of disunified amateurs) says that "considering the size of the country, the number of encounters, particularly of the second and third kind, is remarkable." (UFOlogists use the distinctions of American astronomer and UFO researcher Allen Hynek, who defined a sighting as an "encounter of the first kind"; the "second kind" is where physical evidence is found; and the "third kind", which was popularised by Steven Spielberg's film "Close Encounters", is actual contact.) Interestingly, UFOlogists are at a loss to explain the lack of sightings in Israel's neighbouring countries. It's as if the aliens, unlike most earthlings, are aware of Israel's borders.

Why Israel?

Israel UFOlogy divides into the majority rationalist and minority mystic camps. The mystics have no doubt as to the reason for the prevalence of sightings in the Holy Land: The angels of the Bible are returning. Mystics have constructed elaborate theories based on Biblical and kabbalistic texts to support their contention that the "miracles" of the Bible - such as the pillar of cloud and fire that guided the Israelites through the wilderness, or the chariot of fire which spirited Elijah to the heavens - are actually descriptions of alien encounters. Rationalists argue with this approach by pointing out that, with minimal effort, almost any Biblical passage can be interpreted as an encounter episode.

Israel is clearly becoming more and more like West Europe and America, with a steady growing interest in science fiction and cults. The introduction of commercial and tabloid television (especially "The X-Files," the U.S. series on paranormal activity) may also have contributed to the spate of recent sightings. One Israeli TV poll found a 43% positive response to the question: "Do you believe aliens exist?" and there is a Tel Aviv paper which runs a column titled "X-files" detailing local encounter stories of the week.

Famous Israeli Encounters

(i) On Sunday, January 8, 1995, Herzl Ksantini was relaxing at home with a friend in a small farming town in central Israel. Suddenly, at about 9pm, the house began to shake. He opened the front door to investigate and came "face-to-face with a three-metre monster." His friend tried to peek out through a window in the kid's bedroom, but was thrown to the ground. Moments later, the "monster" was gone. Ksantini, a 42-year-old married businessman who spoke convincingly of a "mud-coloured monster, with long legs and no arms," recalls lights shining from its head. He and his friend sat frozen with fear for 20mins. before calling local security who phoned the Border police. Early the next morning 30 officers scoured the area. No aliens showed up but they did find "deep footprints" which were tracked for 8 kms.

(ii) Between March and June 1993, five women claim to had one-to-one encounters with aliens in Kadimah. Each has given similar descriptions of a "2.5 metre (7ft) tall, bald, gray alien being, with an oval-shaped face, glittering eyes and a small dot-like nose." One of the women, Tziporet Carmel, says she conversed with her alien. It said, "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you." She asked the alien to take off a translucent mask that covered its face. When it refused and she asked why, it replied in colloquial Hebrew: "Kachah zeh" - "Just because." This conversation, like all others reported, was telepathic.

(iii) On November 6, 1991, there was a "visitation of a giant" to the home of police chief Yitzchak Mordechai in Beit She'an in the north of Israel. This led to a six hour chase involving 300 soldiers in 19 jeeps all the way to the Jordan. The being is said to have stopped at the border fence and disappeared.

(iv) In September 1987, a series of sightings, over a beach in Haifa, culminated in a spectacular November explosion which scorched the sand in the shape of a spaceship. Tens of thousands of residents came to see the unique "alien signature." The site was unusually magnetic and contained extremely high zinc concentrations. When a soil sample was tested in a specialised U.S. lab, it apparently "melted" under microscope light because of its photosensitive coating. Believers see this as an indication of UFO residue.

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