Observations placeholder
Suketoshi Abe - 2 October 1235, Japan: circling lights in the sky
Identifier
028858
Type of Spiritual Experience
None
Background
A description of the experience
As quoted in Wonders In The Sky - Unexplained Aerial Objects From Antiquity To Modern Times - and Their Impact on Human Culture, History, and Beliefs - Jacques Vallee and Chris Aubeck
About 8 P.M., by clear sky, a fortune teller named Suketoshi Abe, consultant to Shogun (Warlord) Yoritsune Fujiwara, reported to his palace that mysterious sources of light had been seen swinging and circling in the southwest. These lights moved in loops until the early hours of the morning. Yoritsune ordered an investigation and his astrology consultants, who were skilled in astronomy, conducted the study: "It is only the wind making the stars sway," they reported after hearing the statements of Suketoshi Abe.
With arrogance worthy of our modern academic experts, they even suggested that he should write a letter of apology. A high government official, Yasutoki Houjo, denied their request.
Source: This case is mentioned in the Japanese magazine Brothers (No. I) and by one of us (Vallee) in Anatomy of a Phenomenon (1965) with an incorrect date. The original source is the book Azumakagami, edited in 1605 (see Shlnjinbutuouraisha, vol. 4, 1977). Azumakagami means "Mirror of the East." It was a chronicle covering the period 1180 t(§ 6 1266, and was compiled after 1266 under the directive of the Hojo regent. It is usually written in two words: Azuma Agami.