ARIEL SCHOOL |
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ADULT TESTIMONIES |
The case
Sep 16, 1994, Ruwa, Zimbabwe
During morning recess at Ariel Primary School (a private school est. 1991), dozens of children witnessed a UFO landing about 100 meters from their playground. Two small beings with huge eyes emerged, dressed in black. They ran up and down in slow motion while the children watched in awe amid spreading panic. Captivating several children with their stare, the creatures transmitted telepathic messages about the environment. No adults were on the playground to witness the event. When told by teachers to draw what they had seen, the children all drew exactly the same thing. Harvard psychiatrist Dr John Mack interviewed a dozen of the children and declared they were not lying, and that what they had experienced was real.
This case is a favorite among many in Ufology and came into the spotlight in recent years because several witnesses, now adults, started speaking about the event and its effect on their lives ahead of the release of a new documentary.
During morning recess at Ariel Primary School (a private school est. 1991), dozens of children witnessed a UFO landing about 100 meters from their playground. Two small beings with huge eyes emerged, dressed in black. They ran up and down in slow motion while the children watched in awe amid spreading panic. Captivating several children with their stare, the creatures transmitted telepathic messages about the environment. No adults were on the playground to witness the event. When told by teachers to draw what they had seen, the children all drew exactly the same thing. Harvard psychiatrist Dr John Mack interviewed a dozen of the children and declared they were not lying, and that what they had experienced was real.
This case is a favorite among many in Ufology and came into the spotlight in recent years because several witnesses, now adults, started speaking about the event and its effect on their lives ahead of the release of a new documentary.
What really happened at Ariel?
Who couldn't love this case? The multiple witnesses! The exotic locale! The cute children!
What a timeline of testimonies reveals is that the above description is not an accurate account of what happened. Initially, the children reported a fairly mundane sighting and drew differing pictures - some of which were clearly based on their interpretations of UFOs and aliens from popular culture.
Over the days and weeks that followed, the stories changed. Details were added that made the visitation more alien. Other details were forgotten, and a cohesive "averaged" narrative emerged that was trotted out for subsequent investigators and reporters.
Dr John Mack arrived in Africa 2.5 months later and interviewed the children. He "uncovered" memories of telepathic messages that had never been mentioned before. Snippets of these interviews have appeared on the internet for the last several years, edited into small chunks that can give a misleading impression of how he questioned the children.
Below is a timeline of events to orientate yourself. Follow the navigation links to read the children's words in the order in which they were given, including the reconstructed (to the best of my ability) interviews with Dr Mack. By reading these testimonies in order, you can see how the tale - as always - grew taller in the telling.
In no case am I suggesting the witnesses are lying, either the children in 1994 or their adult selves. The adults are recalling events they believed at the time to be true. The children were unwittingly copying each other in the context of a UFO narrative that appeared even before the sighting began, and was subsequently consolidated in the school environment.
[Adult Testimonies section to come]
What a timeline of testimonies reveals is that the above description is not an accurate account of what happened. Initially, the children reported a fairly mundane sighting and drew differing pictures - some of which were clearly based on their interpretations of UFOs and aliens from popular culture.
Over the days and weeks that followed, the stories changed. Details were added that made the visitation more alien. Other details were forgotten, and a cohesive "averaged" narrative emerged that was trotted out for subsequent investigators and reporters.
Dr John Mack arrived in Africa 2.5 months later and interviewed the children. He "uncovered" memories of telepathic messages that had never been mentioned before. Snippets of these interviews have appeared on the internet for the last several years, edited into small chunks that can give a misleading impression of how he questioned the children.
Below is a timeline of events to orientate yourself. Follow the navigation links to read the children's words in the order in which they were given, including the reconstructed (to the best of my ability) interviews with Dr Mack. By reading these testimonies in order, you can see how the tale - as always - grew taller in the telling.
In no case am I suggesting the witnesses are lying, either the children in 1994 or their adult selves. The adults are recalling events they believed at the time to be true. The children were unwittingly copying each other in the context of a UFO narrative that appeared even before the sighting began, and was subsequently consolidated in the school environment.
[Adult Testimonies section to come]
Thanks
- Michael Hesemann for clarifying some points for me in his 1997 article, written after he visited the school: some quotes from the children are based on what Hind told him in 1997 and what she wrote in her reports on Ruwa, not on what the witnesses told him (especially regarding the phone calls Hind made the weekend after the incident). Any quotes are translated from German.
- Gilles Fernandez for his two blog posts (6/26/16 and 5/14/19) examining the psychology of how the children were interviewed. I've relied on some of his insights on my Analysis page.
- Michael for some additional documents and footage.
- Various others who sent me links and documents.
- Sources as listed on each page, from which I transcribed the interviews.
Timeline of the Ariel School event
DATE |
EVENT |
Wed Sep 14, 1994 |
9PM: UFO mania hits southern Africa, caused by sightings of the re-entry of the Zenit-2 rocket from the Cosmos 2290 satellite launch. |
Thu Sep 15, 1994 |
A handful of children will later report seeing a UFO in the sky on this day - a pencil, cigarette, or "circle" with a flashing light at one end. |
Fri Sep 16, 1994 |
10:15AM: Children at Ariel Primary School run screaming for the teachers after seeing what they believe is a UFO and aliens. Parents picking kids up at lunchtime walk out to examine the landing site. 2PM: Tim Leach, BBC correspondent in Zimbabwe, calls MUFON investigator Cynthia Hind after hearing about the Ariel incident. (They were friends, according to Hesemann.) They arrange to visit the school on Monday or Tuesday. At some point she recommends he call John Mack, and he leaves a voicemail. |
Sat-Sun 17-18, 1994 |
Over the weekend, Hind calls to talk with the mother in the tuckshop and three students. She calls Mr Mackie and suggests he have the children draw what they saw. |
Mon Sep 19, 1994 |
Morning: The children are asked to draw what they saw on Friday. Noon: Tim Leach visits the school and interviews the head Mr Mackie along with three witnesses on camera. (His report begins with a date and timestamp: 12:12 local time.) During this time: Leach faxes the BBC about the UFO seen across southern Africa and links it to the UFO seen by the children. |
Tue Sep 20, 1994 |
Morning: Cynthia Hind visits Ariel with Leach & BBC film crew. She examines the children's pictures with Mackie; interviews a group of six children (grade 7), then two more girls while other children listen in, and is shown the landing site. Her assistant Gunter Hofer finds no physical evidence at the site. She and Gunter give statements to Leach. Soon after, Mackie writes to parents telling them not to attach too much value to the hype. [Hesemann, 1997] |
Late Sep thu Oct, 1994 |
At least two TV crews visit the school and interview the children in large groups: Nicole Carter (SABC) and Jill Darke (ZBC) |
Nov 22, 1994 |
Documentary about Ariel airs on the South African TV show AGENDA and features John Mack who arrives in Africa around this time. |
Dec 2-3, 1994 |
John Mack visits Ariel with his associate Dominique Callimanopulos. He interviews 12 children, and talks to the headmaster and teachers. He elicits "memories" of environmental messages sent telepathically to a few of the children. |
Dec 1994 |
MUFON UFO Journal #320 publishes an article by Cynthia Hind writing about Ariel. |
Feb & Jul, 1995 |
Hind writes about Ariel in her UFO AFRINEWS newsletter #11 & #12, quoting several witnesses and reproducing some drawings. |
Mar 1997 |
Michael Hesemann (UFO researcher, a friend and colleague of Mack's) visits Ariel and interviews witnesses, teachers, parents, and Hind. |
2007-2022 |
Randall Nickerson, experiencer and former patient of John Mack's, is making a documentary of the incident: Ariel Phenomenon, which features interviews with the child witnesses, now adults (released May 2022). |
Map of the sighting
This is my best guess based on the descriptions given, the map Hind printed in her newsletter in 1995, and her 1996 description from her book UFOs Over Africa, where she says the distance was 200 meters. The satellite image is recent and the vegetation would have been different in 1994.
The UFO was seen in tall grassland among trees. A cross-country track, used by students, ran through it. The students were not allowed to venture into this bush past the playground, which was bordered by logs. The closest the children could have been to the clump of trees in this 2005 satellite photo is about 220 meters (243 yards).
The UFO was seen in tall grassland among trees. A cross-country track, used by students, ran through it. The students were not allowed to venture into this bush past the playground, which was bordered by logs. The closest the children could have been to the clump of trees in this 2005 satellite photo is about 220 meters (243 yards).
2005 satellite image of Ariel School with playground boundary 220 meters from clump of trees
(c) Charlie Wiser 2022
