Spirituality

Researchers are seeking UFO and paranormal files in Vatican's archives

By T.K. Randall
June 20, 2024

Image: The Vatican, Vatican City
Credit: NoFear0710 / (PD) Known officially as the Vatican Apostolic Archive, the collection contains thousands of documents ranging from books and manuscripts to state papers, letters and even presidential missives.

One of the largest and most mysterious collections in the world, the documents are stored on many miles of shelving deep beneath the Vatican.

Historians and researchers have long sought to gain access to this treasure trove of knowledge which is thought to contain valuable information on events spanning hundreds of years.

More recently, proponents or UFO disclosure have been attempting to gain access to the archives to look for evidence of historical accounts of unidentified flying objects and other similar phenomena.

Paranormal researchers are also similarly interested in accessing records of supernatural accounts.

While efforts have been made in recent years to digitize and publish some of the material stored in the archives, much of what these researchers are interested in finding is unlikely to be a priority."The historical record is filled with these kinds of [supernatural] events," said author and religious studies professor Diana Walsh Pasulka of the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

"The people at the Vatican, they don't even know where to look; it's in their basements."

"[The archivists are in a] mad rush to digitize what they have; they have to prioritize what they think is most important. They aren't really prioritizing orbs that are bothering nuns in the 1800s."

Garry Nolan, a professor of medicine at Stanford University, is also interested in the archive.

"The Vatican is probably the oldest library system of paranormal or supernatural knowledge still extant," he said. "[It has] an aura of both mysticism and a feeling of deep truth that if you just know how to read it, you can pull that information out."

Exactly when the Vatican is likely to provide access to its centuries-old X-Files, however, remains - for the moment at least - unclear.


Source: usccb.org

Tags: Vatican, UFO