Yes, stealth fighters like the F-35, F-22, Su-57, and even China’s J-20 stealth fighter get a lot of attention. But there are many 4th generation fighters that deserve praise and respect. The Dassault Rafale is clearly one of them: In an era of 5th-generation stealth fighters, the older French Dassault Rafale often goes unnoticed. But those who ignore it do so at their peril as the French-made fighter jet is a great aircraft and formidable foe in capable hands.
A Capable Aircraft
The Dassault Rafale is a highly capable 4.5th generation air superiority, multirole fighter jet. It comes in single- and twin-seat versions and can perform several mission sets, including air sovereignty, deep strike, close air support, intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance (ISR), and nuclear deterrence. Depending on its loadout, the Rafale can be effective against air, ground, and sea targets.
The aircraft packs quite a punch. The Rafale can carry almost 20,000 pounds of ammunition in 14 hardpoints (13 for the carrier version) and is compatible with French and international weapon systems, including the AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile, AIM-120 AMRAAM radar-guided missile, the MICA heat-seeking/radar-homing missile, METEOR beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, and AM39 Exocet and AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles. The fighter jet can also carry a wide range of smart and dumb bombs.
Through its advanced sensors, such as the Active Electronically Scanned Array” (AESA) RBE2 radar, the Rafale can track up to 40 targets at the same time and engage four of them simultaneously. The aircraft can also refuel other Rafales thru its “buddy-buddy” refueling system. The Rafale has an operational ceiling of 50,000 feet and can reach speeds of 1,8 Mach (750 knots).
The Rafale is a deadly weapon in capable hands and can hold its own against more advanced fighter jets, including the F-22 Raptor, the world’s most advanced air superiority fighter. Back in 2009, a French pilot flying the Rafale scored a “kill” against a U.S. Air Force F-22 during mock combat in a training exercise in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Rafale first flew in 2001 and entered operational service in 2004, with the French Navy; two years later, the French Air Force, the aircraft’s biggest customer, added the first operational aircraft. Most Rafales in service are the F3R version, with the F4 version, which will incorporate operational feedback and upgrades, currently undergoing testing.
The fighter jet has seen action in Afghanistan, Syria, and the Sahel in Africa.
The Rafale Abroad
Although the French Air Force and Navy are the Rafale’s main customers, the French aircraft has relative success abroad too. India, Qatar, Egypt, and Greece have bought the aircraft and added it to their fleets.
Greece is the most recent customer for the Rafale. Last year, with Turkish aggression at its peak, the Hellenic Air Force decided to add the 4,5th generation fighter jet in its arsenal. The initial order of 18 aircraft—a mix of used and new—was reinforced with additional new Rafales for a total of 24 aircraft.
Dassault, moreover, pitches the Rafale in almost all national fighter competitions. For instance, when Switzerland was debating its new fighter jet aircraft to replace its fleet of aging F/A-18 Hornets, the Rafale competed with the JAS Gripen, F/A-18 Super Horner, and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, to which it ultimately lost.
The French military has ordered approximately 180 aircraft, the Indian military about 120 aircraft, the Egyptian military approximately 60 aircraft, the Qatari military 36 aircraft, and the Greek military 24.
The C-5 first flew in the late 1960s and should stay in US Air Force service well into the 2040s
Some of the most fascinating military aircraft are not always those that actually take part in attack missions. The world of heavy lifting and transportation is full of some pretty incredible machines. Take the C-130 Hercules, for example. This remarkable aircraft has been the backbone of several air forces transportation arms, including of course the United States and Great Britain. But despite being quite a large machine, one aircraft still dominated the military air lift scene. Both figuratively, and literally in terms of its unbelievable size.
Enter the awe-inspiring Lockheed C-5 Galaxy. This huge cargo aircraft is among the largest military aircraft in the world, and certainly one of the most impressive to look at. Incredibly, this giant aircraft first flew back in 1968, but it is still very much at the forefront of the modern United States Air Force. Various upgrades to the aircraft could see it fly with the USAF until at least 2040 and possibly beyond, making it one of the longest serving aircraft in the United States Air Force. Time and time again, it has proved its worth as a strategic airlifter.
Origins And Development Of The C-5
The need for the C-5 Galaxy is traceable back to 1961. Several American aircraft companies were looking at heavy jet transport designs to replace the aging Douglas C-133 Cargomaster, as well as to supplement the newer Lockheed C-141 Starlifter. Not only that, but the United States Army was looking for an aircraft with a larger cargo bay than the Starlifter which could not carry some of the army’s outsized equipment. What this then morphed into was the CX-4 program, and then the CX-X program for a new, larger strategic transport aircraft. This is what would become the C-5 Galaxy.
Various aircraft companies submitted proposals, including Boeing, Douglas and Lockheed. Those three companies were the ones shortlisted for one-year study contracts, and while the air force preferred the Boeing design, Lockheed’s had the lowest total-cost bid. Thus, Lockheed won the contract in September 1965. The General Electric TF39 engine was then selected after a similar process for the aircraft’s powerplant, and soon construction began on the first Lockheed C-5A Galaxy which rolled out of its plant in Georgia on March 2nd 1968, and the first flight took place on June 30th 1968.
The Galaxy Enters Production
Flight testing soon began for the Galaxy, with a lot of focus on the aircraft’s weight and the drag divergence Mach number. There were, as perhaps expected, cost overruns and technical issues for the aircraft, with issues around the wing highlighted after they failed at 128% of limit load, below the required 150%. There were worries that no more than 10% of the 79 airframes would reach the fatigue life of 19,000 hours. Despite this though, production of the Galaxy would continue, although production was temporarily halted for a period. But that wasn’t to be the end of the C-5 Galaxy by any means.
The C-5 would restart production in July 1982, partly thanks to the upcoming C-17 still being a few years away from completion. The new version was the C-5B, and this was first delivered to the United States Air Force in January 1986. In total, 50 new C-5B aircraft were built, which were added to the 77 examples of the C-5A already in USAF service. The Galaxy would get upgraded again in the 21st century, with the C-5M Super Galaxy going through reliability and engine upgrades. Throughout that time, the C-5 had proven itself well in Air Force service.
The C-5 Galaxy In Service
The C-5 was very much an operational success, with them first seeing active use during the Vietnam War, in 1970. They were then used to transport troops, tanks and even small aircraft, while also seeing usage in evacuation efforts during the fall of Saigon. The C-5 would join C-141 Starlifters in delivering critical supplies and other aid to Israel during the Yom Kippur war, and the aircraft was also a major supply asset during the Gulf War at the start of the 1990s. Despite now being over 50 years old, the C-5 Galaxy still has a place in US Air Force service.
The Future Of The Galaxy
Thanks to the upgraded C-5M Super Galaxy, it is unlikely the giant transport aircraft will be retired anytime soon. The new engines, avionics and more have helped to ensure the C-5M will be flying till at least 2040 and more than likely beyond that date too. As one of the largest aircraft in the world, the C-5 has proven an invaluable asset in resupplying armies, evacuating civilians and delivering medical aid. As a sign of how many are still in service, just two C-5’s are on display in museums at the time of writing. May the C-5 continue to serve for decades to come.
Willy Messerschmitt’s Me-262 was not quite the game changer it might have been if produced earlier and in greater numbers, but after its 1944 debut, air combat would never be the same.
On the morning of Aug. 27, 1939, a new era dawned when Ernst Heinkel telephoned Ernst Udet and told the just-awakened chief of the technical department of the German air ministry, “I wanted to inform you that Capt. Warnitz has just successfully flown the world’s first jet plane, the Heinkel He-178, and landed safely.”
After a drowsy pause, Udet congratulated Heinkel, then went right back to sleep. Neither Udet nor the German Luftwaffe was fully aware of the significance of Erich Warnitz’s unprecedented test flight. Just a few days later, however, Adolf Hitler’s invasion of Poland plunged Germany into a war that would compel the Luftwaffe to accelerate the jet’s development into a practical weapon.
Heinkel wasted no time in developing a twin-jet fighter, the He-280, which made its first powered flight on March 20, 1941. By then, however, he was not alone. In Britain Frank Whittle had long been working on a jet engine, which would finally propel a demonstrator airframe, the Gloster E.28/39, into the air on May 15, 1941. Closer to home, Heinkel’s rivals at Messerschmitt were working on a fighter of their own—one that would usher in the jet age in deadly earnest.
PROJECT P.1065
First proposed to the air ministry in the summer of 1938 as a research aircraft to use the new BMW P 3302 gas turbine engine, Messerschmitt’s Project P.1065 was pursued by a design team led by Woldemar Voigt. The airplane was intended as an interceptor from the outset, even though the Luftwaffe requirement had not specified that role for it. The original Me-262 had a tailwheel and slightly swept back wings to maintain the desired center of gravity. The prototype, powered by a single 690-hp Junkers Jumo 210 piston engine, was first flown at Augsburg by Captain Paul Wendel on April 18, 1941.
Messerschmitt’s Chief Test Pilot, Fritz Wendel flew a prototype Me-262 on its first purely jet powered flight. Problems with the aircraft as a “tail dragger” resulted in the fighter built with a tricycle style landing gear after the fifth prototype. (National Archives)
Although Hitler’s fixation on using the Me-262 as a fighter-bomber is popularly blamed for holding up its development, the real delaying factor was the engine. BMW had claimed its P 3302 turbojet would produce 1,300 pounds of thrust by the end of 1939, but when one of the engines was bench-tested in late 1940, it only managed 570. Meanwhile, Heinkel had developed his own engine, capable of producing 1,100 pounds, to power his He-178 on its historic first flight. The first of BMW’s P 3302 engines—redesignated 003s—did not arrive at Augsburg until November 1941, and on March 25, 1942, Wendel took the Me-262 up for its first jet-powered flight. When both of the 003s failed, he was forced to land using the auxiliary piston engine.
By then Junkers had developed the Jumo 004, which was tested at 2,200 pounds of thrust. Two 004s were installed on the third Me-262 prototype, and Wendel made a successful 20-minute flight on July 18, 1942. Even after plane and engine went into full production, however, the Jumo 004 would be an Achilles’ heel for the Me-262. Germany lacked adequate supplies of chromium and nickel, essential for the production of steel alloys necessary to operate at a jet engine’s high temperatures, and substitute metals, such as ordinary steel with a spray coating of aluminum, were prone to burning. At the end of the war the average Me-262 engine required an overhaul after 10 hours of use, and outright replacement after only 25 hours.
Heinkel and Messerschmitt vied for a production order until March 27, 1943, when the German chief of aircraft procurement, Erhard Milch, ruled in favor of the Me-262. Although the He-280 was faster, had a better climb rate and higher service ceiling, its twin vertical tail structure was suspect and its range was two-thirds that of the Me-262.
TOP TOP SECRET
The jet fighter program had proceeded with such secrecy that General of Fighters Adolf Galland knew nothing of it until he finally got to fly the Me-262 V-4 on May 22, 1943. He was instantly impressed, declaring that flying the jet felt “as if an angel were pushing,” and recommended that Me-109 production be halted so that Messerschmitt could concentrate on the new fighter. Galland’s influence did speed things up: 72 hours later, Milch ordered the Me-262 into series production. The first 100 would be issued to special test units that would use the fighters operationally while ironing out any shortcomings as they arose.
In mid-1943 German air defenses had been holding their own against British and American bombers. But the successful Allied invasions of North Africa in November 1942, Sicily in July 1943 and Italy in September fueled Hitler’s fears about a potential invasion of France. He proposed that a series of lightning airstrikes by high-speed “blitz bombers” could eliminate any beachhead the Allies might establish.
Such was the situation on November 2, 1943, when Hermann Göring, while visiting the Augsburg plant, first asked Willy Messerschmitt if the Me-262 could be adapted to the bombing role. “Herr Reichsmarschall, from the very outset we have provided for the fitting of two bomb pylons so it can carry bombs—either one 500 kg or two 250 kg,” Messerschmitt replied. When Hitler broached the same question while watching an Me-262 demonstration at Insterburg on November 26, Messerschmitt again answered affirmatively. But while the Führer blissfully assumed that his wish would be carried out, Messerschmitt proceeded with the Me-262 as a bomber interceptor, with four MK 108 low-velocity 30mm cannons in the nose.
The Luftwaffe accepted its first 16 preproduction Me-262A-0s, which had been waiting for engines, between April 18 and 29, 1944, and at the end of that month Erprobungskommando 262 was formed at Lechfeld, Bavaria, commanded by Captain Werner Thierfelder. As they gained experience, the test unit’s pilots wrote an operating manual for the Me-262A-1a Schwalbe (swallow) fighter.
On May 23, Hitler summoned Göring, Milch, Galland, Albert Speer and other officials to Berchtesgaden to discuss fighter production. When Milch’s report touched on the Me-262, Hitler interrupted him: “I thought the 262 was coming as a high-speed bomber? How many of the 262s already manufactured can carry bombs?”
“None, Mein Führer,” Milch replied. “The Me-262 is being manufactured exclusively as a fighter aircraft.” There was an awkward silence, then Milch added that extensive design changes would be necessary to convert the jet into a bomber, and even then it would not be able to carry more than 500 kilograms.
“Never mind!” Hitler exclaimed. “I wanted only one 250-kilo bomb.” Losing his composure, he demanded precise weight statistics on the fighter’s armor, guns and ammunition. “Who pays the slightest attention to the orders I give?” he railed. “I gave an unqualified order, and left nobody in any doubt that the aircraft was to be equipped as a fighter-bomber.” His confidence in Milch shattered, Hitler thereafter progressively stripped him of his authority, while making Göring personally responsible for implementing the blitz bomber program.
On May 27, a still-furious Führer ordered that the Me-262 be regarded strictly as a fighter-bomber. He allowed fighter testing to continue a few days later, but insisted that the first operational units be equipped with the bomber. Messerschmitt responded by mounting two pylons, each capable of carrying a 250-kg bomb, under the nose of the 10th prototype, and fitting an extra 132-gallon fuel tank in the rear fuselage. To compensate for their weight, two of the nose cannons and most of the cockpit armor plating were removed. While the Me-262A-2a Sturmvogel (storm bird) was hastened into production, a detachment from Kampfgeschwader (bomber wing) 51, commanded by Major Wolfgang Schenk, was sent to Lechfeld for conversion training.
TIME’S RUNNING OUT
Meanwhile, Allied forces landed in Normandy on June 6, and fought their way down the Cotentin Pensinsula to take St. Lô on July 18. Even then Hitler remained convinced that Normandy was only a feint and the main Allied landing was yet to come at Calais, for which the Sturmvogel would surely be ready.
An Me-262A-1a interceptor, probably from Kommando Nowotny, is towed out for takeoff by an NSU Kettenkrad in the fall of 1944. (BPK/Art Resource)
The first nine Me-262A-2as of Schenk’s detachment were finally transferred to Châteaudun, France, on July 20—the same day that Hitler was wounded by a bomb in an unsuccessful assassination attempt at his “Wolf’s Lair” headquarters in East Prussia. Only five of the fighter-bombers arrived, and their efforts were hobbled by an order from the Führer that they not fly faster than 750 kilometers per hour or dive below 4,000 meters. Consequently, the Sturmvogel pilots accomplished little as they joined the retreat to Chièvres, Belgium. On August 28, the unit suffered its only combat loss—the first Me-262 to be claimed by Allied fighters—when Republic P-47Ds flown by Major Joseph Myers and 1st Lt. Manfred O. Croy of the 82nd Squadron, 78th Fighter Group, sent Sgt. Maj. Hyronimus Lauer’s Sturmvogel crashing into a field west of Brussels, after which the pilot ran for his life while the rest of Myers’ flight demolished the jet.
It was an Me-262A-1a of Erprobungskommando 262, however, that had drawn first blood on July 26, when 2nd Lt. Alfred Schreiber caught a de Havilland Mosquito engaged in a high-altitude photoreconnaissance mission over the Alps. A former Me-110 pilot, Schreiber swiftly downed four more British and American photorecon intruders. But while taking off on November 26, he suffered an engine flameout, and the world’s first jet ace died in the ensuing crash.
On October 1, 1944, KG.54 became the second German bomber wing to receive Me-262A-2as. The unit was not combat-ready until mid-December, when its planes made desultory attacks on American ground targets in the Ardennes. By then, Allied air superiority had left Germany in such desperate straits that on February 9, 1945, KG.54’s fighter-bombers joined the interceptors in attacks on American bomber formations, downing two B-17s but losing four pilots. The wing claimed 50 Allied planes by war’s end, but between aerial combat, accidents and attacks on its bases, KG.54 lost 70 percent of the more than 150 Me-262A-2as assigned to it.
EFFECTIVE ADDITIONS
In August 1944, while the first Me-262s were starting to prove their worth, the Luftwaffe formed a new fighter wing, Jagdgeschwader 7. Its original equipment was to have been Focke-Wulf Fw-190Ds, then Messerschmitt Me-109G-14s, but while it waited for sufficient numbers of either to become available, the Luftwaffe decided to equip its three groups entirely with the new jets. “They came in sections on long railway trucks from the south of the Reich,” recalled JG.7’s first commander, Colonel Johannes Steinhoff, “and the mechanics, assisted by a team from the Messerschmitt works, started assembling them and shooting in the cannon. By the end of November we were in the air, training in flights of three and in small formations.”
Meanwhile, an interim unit based at Achmer and Hesepe airfields was formed under Austrian ace Major Walter Nowotny on September 26. Having difficulty getting his troublesome jets operational due to the growing danger from Allied fighters, Nowotny arranged for Fw-190Ds to provide air cover for the 262s during takeoff and landing, when they were most vulnerable.
Kommando Nowotny was credited with 22 victories before being incorporated into JG.7. These included a B-24 downed by “Nowi” Nowotny himself on November 7, and a B-17 and a P-51 on the 8th, raising his overall tally to 258. As he was returning from that last mission, however, one of Nowotny’s engines flamed out. General Galland, who was visiting Hesepe at the time, recalled what followed:
I was outside with [1st Lt. Georg-Peter] Eder, [Lufwaffe chief of staff] Generaloberst [Günther] Korten and other pilots including Karl “Quax” Schnörrer, Nowi’s best friend and wingman for many years, and the ground crew personnel to watch his approach to the field, when an enemy fighter, clearly a Mustang, pulled away not far from us. I remember being surprised because rather than coming in from altitude, this Mustang was low….The explosion of the jet rocked the air, and only a column of black smoke rose from behind the trees.
We all jumped in a car and took off and reached the wreckage, and it was Nowotny’s plane. After sifting through the wreckage, the only salvageable things found were his left hand and pieces of his Knight’s Cross, Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds decoration. He had simply disintegrated. The hole in the ground was about four meters deep and the area for about 100 meters all around was on fire and smoking. I remember the smell of the jet fuel being quite heavy in the air….Eder was standing next me as we looked through the wreckage, and I promoted him on the spot to take over command of the unit. He just looked at me and said, “Yes sir,” and then turned away.
Some 70 percent of JG.7’s personnel were experienced pilots, many of them aces, but the others were new and inadequately trained. Steinhoff spent six weeks at the Lechfeld air base trying to familiarize his men with the new fighters. Only one of the four Me-262A-1as slated for the wing’s first operational mission got off the ground on November 28, 1944, but its pilot, Sgt. Maj. Hermann Büchner, intercepted and shot down a Lockheed F-5E, the photoreconnaissance version of the P-38 Lightning. Later that same day Major Rudolf Sinner downed another F-5E over Lake Ammer.
KITTED OUT
Besides basic armament, some Me-262s carried underwing racks with R4M 55mm rockets, and a few sported 210mm rockets on the nose rack in place of bombs. Major Heinz Bär flew a special Me-262A with six MK 108 nose cannons, while Major Wilhelm Herget piloted one of two Me-262A-1a/U4s fitted with a single 50mm MK 214 cannon that one American who spotted it likened to “a giant telegraph pole.”
Messerschmitt built a two-seat trainer, the Me-262B-1a. Seven of them were fitted with radar arrays, designated Me-262B-1a/U1s and fought alongside the single-seaters operating with a night fighter squadron led by 1st Lt. Kurt Welter. The unit was credited with 48 victories, of which 30 were claimed by and at least 20 confirmed to its commander, making Welter the most successful 262 pilot of the war.
By the late autumn of 1944, Me-262As were making their presence felt among the American bomber streams and, to a considerably lesser degree, among the Allied ground forces. They were, however, too little and too late to affect the course of the air war over Europe. The presence of the long-ranging P-51D Mustang and the steady Allied advance across the Continent brought Me-262 air bases within striking distance of an increasing number of Allied fighters. If the jets were too fast to catch in the air (though some were shot down by a handful of lucky pilots), they could be ambushed as they took off or landed.
In spite of disagreements with Goering, Adolf Galland (right) formed an elite jet fighter unit, Jagdverband 44. His second in command was 197 victory ace Walter Krupinski. (National Archives, both)
GOING AGAINST GOERING
On January 19, 1945, a coterie of fighter pilots, represented by Colonel Günther Lützow, confronted Göring regarding his inflexible, incompetent running of the Luftwaffe. The five-hour session ended with an apoplectic Göring demanding that Lützow be shot (his punishment was later changed to exile on the northern Italian front) and that Galland step down as general of fighters in favor of Gordon Gollob. Hitler intervened with a decree for Galland to form his own squadron of Me-262s, flown by his pick of the Luftwaffe’s surviving aces. Consisting primarily of “disgraced” senior officers who had stood up to Göring, Jagdverband 44’s ranks included such veterans as Lützow, Steinhoff, Bär, Herget, Walter Krupinski and Gerhard Barkhorn, Germany’s second-ranking ace with 301 victories.
Flying from Munich-Reim, JV.44 did not enter combat until April 4, and its first victory was a P-38 that was accidentally clipped by an enlisted member, Eduard Schallmoser. Schallmoser would down two more of his four victims in similar fashion, earning his own place in JV.44 legend as the “Jet Rammer.”
JV.44’s adjutant, Major Krupinski, who scored the last two of his 197 victories in the Me-262, recalled what it was like to fly the jet:
The first time I saw them work was I think on April 5, 1945, as the unit shot down five heavy bombers. There were quite a large number of enemy escort fighters around, so that tended to keep you busy in the cockpit. There was no way we were going to dogfight with these Mustangs, Thunderbolts and Lightnings. We had to just come in fast, hit [the bombers] very hard and then get away very quickly. Once we were at least four to five miles away we could turn back and line up another target. The one great advantage that we had in the 262 over the 109 or 190 was our approach and climbing speed. This was both a positive and a negative thing.
Our speed allowed us, as I said before, to attack rapidly and then leave. That speed gave the enemy gunners on the bombers much less reaction time to sight in, lead us and get a solid killing burst. Our speed also allowed us to approach from underneath, closing the gap quickly, and if you had the rockets that gave you a great advantage, as you could fire the R4Ms from outside the effective range of the .50-caliber machine guns. The rockets also gave you a better chance of a hit, as they spread out, like a shotgun. This allowed us to pull away before we could be fired upon in many cases. However, the rockets also increased drag, thus slowing us down from our 100 mph speed advantage over the Mustangs to just over 70-75 mph speed advantage….
[Allied escort fighters] would have to drop from very high altitude, convert that into increased airspeed and then hope to close in on one of us, and even get a good deflection shot. This was the most common way our jets were shot down, other than being shot up trying to take off or land, when we were very vulnerable and had no maneuverability or speed until about two to three minutes after takeoff. That is a lot of time when you have the enemy on your tail.
The Hunter becomes the hunted: While flying an Me-262A-2a “blitz bomber,” 2nd Lt. Joachim Fingerlos attacks a P-51 on October 6, 1944. Seconds after this photo was taken, the German jet was hit by another Mustang, and Fingerlos—severely wounded—bailed out. (National Archives)
The only great downside to having the jet was the loss of maneuverability; we could not turn as tight as the other fighters, so speed was our life insurance. The other problem with such a fast attacking and closing speed was that, just as the enemy gunners had little time to lead you for a kill, you had much less time to pick out a target. You had to be right the first time, and if you did not have rockets, you had to adjust your shooting to compensate for the much slower targets. In this case there was very little deflection shooting. You closed in quickly, fired a quick burst and then you left.
Krupinski was well aware of the danger that attended completing a mission with enemy fighters still on the prowl:
The one method they would use was going to our airfields and shooting them up. They knew where we were; it was no great secret. These guys would hang around and try to catch us landing, hoping for an easy kill. This was why we had Fw-190s or Me-109s that would fly cover for us to protect our landings. The other problem was that after you broke contact, and were usually out of ammunition and low on fuel, the enemy fighters would be following….On a good day, you probably had about 10 to 15 minutes to approach, extend your gear hoping it would work, land and get out of the cockpit. Many times we jumped out of our jets to have the shadows of enemy fighters pass overhead as they strafed us….
Taking off and landing, as I have said, were the most tense moments for a 262 pilot, as the plane built up speed slowly, and you could stall out easily if you pushed the throttles forward too quickly, which caused a flameout. This happened several times…and we finally learned how to throttle up slowly without killing ourselves.
I flamed out once when I was in transition training. I was used to pushing the throttle full to increase takeoff power. This was a great error in the jet. I know that many of the pilots who were killed flying the jet probably died due to stalling out this way. The 262 was a very heavy aircraft when compared to the 109 and 190, and at low speed I would equate it to flying a brick.
RACKING UP WINS
Overall, JV.44 claimed more than 55 victories by April 29, when Bär used his six-cannon plane to down a P-47. But the cost was high, including Steinhoff, severely burned after a landing gear collapsed on April 17; Lützow, killed by P-47s on April 24; and Galland, wounded by a P-47 on April 25. On May 4, as the Seventh Army closed in on JV.44’s last base, Krupinski oversaw the destruction of its last two dozen jets.
During their advance into Germany, American troops examine a newly captured Me-262A. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
Although the Me-262 didn’t enter service until Allied numbers were too overwhelming to overcome, the jet units were credited with at least 735 planes. They left an indelible impression on their enemies, accelerating the drive among post war powers to develop their own turbojet warplanes. Czechoslovakia’s Avia plant continued to build its own version of the 262, the S-92, until the Communist coup of 1948, followed by a 1951 order for production to cease in favor of license-built Soviet designs.
One of many Allied pilots who got to evaluate the Me-262A after the war, Royal Navy Captain Eric Brown said the cockpit had “a complex but neat layout.” Starting the jet was an involved affair, and its slow acceleration revealed how underpowered it was. But once it built up some speed, Brown said it was “a very responsive and docile aeroplane, leaving one with a confident impression of both a first-class combat aircraft for both fighter and ground attack roles.” He reported a pleasant harmony of controls, but noted the “landing run was long and was always accompanied by that unpleasant suspicion of fading brakes that one had with all German aircraft of the period.” Overall, though, he considered the 262 “in my view unquestionably the foremost warplane of its day.”
Aviation History research director Jon Guttman wishes to thank Colin D. Heaton for permission to use quotes from his interviews with Adolf Galland and Walter Krupinski from his upcoming book Voices of War, Vol. 1: The Luftwaffe Aces, No. 1. Additional reading: The German Jets in Combat, by Jeffrey Ethell and Alfred Price; Stormbird: One of the Luftwaffe’s Highest Scoring Me262 Aces, by Hermann Büchner; and Messerschmitt Me 262 Sturmvogel, by Dennis R. Jenkins.
Around the 8th century BCE, the Euboean Greeks founded the settlement of Cumae close to Lake Avernus just west of Naples, Italy. The lake is an extinct crater that sits in an enormous caldera called the Phlegraean Fields. Abundant fumaroles and geothermal hot springs dot this dramatically volcanic zone and inspired dark religious beliefs. Avernus Lake became an important place of pagan ritual and worship and is famous for its rich mythology describing chthonic gods, oracles, and sacrifices. Virgil made it famous in the Aeneid. But it was really the Greeks who first associated it with infernal elements. For them, it was a doorway to the underworld of Hades where all dead souls dwelled.
Lake Avernus is steeped in a mythological past as a portal to the underworld. Photo: Historic Mysteries, 2020.
About the Lake
Lying close to the Mediterranean coast, Lake Avernus has a circumference of nearly two miles and reaches a depth of 213 feet. Green slopes, once thick with cypress woods, rise from their base up to a height of 360 feet. Views from the rim of the volcano include the Tyrrhenian sea with its islands of Capri and Ischia. The name Avernus (Latin) stems from Aornos, meaning without birds in Greek, for the belief that toxic gases rose from the lake and kept all the birds away.
Lake Avernus Mythology
Ancient Greeks and Romans associated all of nature with their pantheons of gods. Thunder and lightning meant that Zeus was on a rampage. Rough, deadly seas and earthquakes resulted from an angry Poseidon. Therefore, it seems natural that a region with fumaroles and hellish gas emissions from the hot ground could be interpreted as a portal to Hades.
In fact, the word inferno — the Italian word for underworld or hell — is related to Averno, the Italian form of Avernus. At one time, people living around the lake believed that it was bottomless and called it the Styx (Tesoriero:221). Running between Earth and the Underworld, the Styx carried the departed to Hades. So strong was this belief, that residents refused to drink from the stream nearby that ran underground out to the sea.
Charon ferrying souls across the River Styx. Dmitrievich Litovchenko 1861 Russian Museum.
Many people believe that Homer (c. 850 BCE) wrote about Lake Avernus. Although he did not name the exact place, his geographic descriptions in the Odyssey have some similarities to the area. In the story, Odysseus holds a meeting with the ghosts of the dead at a temple on the shores of a lake at the entrance to Hades. Homer also wrote about the Cimmerians who dwell in the subterranean caves around a lake and never see the light of day. (Strabo).
Virgil Immortalizes Avernus
Like Homer, the author and poet Virgil blended Greek mythology with real geographical areas in Aeneas’ adventures in the Aeneid. However, unlike the former poet, Virgil specifically names Avernus. The plot involves Aeneas who flees the war in Troy and conquers the Latins to found Rome on the Italian Peninsula. Avernus enters in Book Six when Aeneas seeks out the prophetess sibyl at the Greek settlement of Cumae for her help. Aeneas wishes to descend into the underworld to speak to his father who died on the sea voyage from Troy. In an ecstatic trance, the sibyl channels the god Apollo to foretell Aeneas’ great future and gives him tasks that he must accomplish before he can enter Hades.
One of the tasks requires Aeneas to collect a golden leaf in the woods of Avernus to offer as a gift to Proserpina, the queen of Hades. After finding the leaf, the Sibyl leads Aeneas to a deep cave with a wide entrance near the lake where they sacrifice four young bulls. The blood is collected in bowls, and the entrails are placed on the fire at the altar built in honor of Pluto (god of the dead). After a night of intense witchcraft, invocations of gods, and more sacrifices, they enter into the wide cave to descend into Hades.
Aeneas with the Cumaean Sibyl at Lake Avernus. Public domain painting by J.M.W. Turner c. 1814.
[blockquote align=”none” author=”Virgil”]“Straightway they find a cave profound, of entrance gaping wide, O’erhung with rock, in gloom of sheltering grove, Near the dark waters of a lake, whereby No bird might ever pass with scathless wing, So dire an exhalation is breathed out From that dark deep of death to upper air:— Hence, in the Grecian tongue, Aornos called.”[/blockquote]
The Oracle of the Cumaean Sibyl
Aside from the stuff of poems and epic tales, seer-healers and divination were very real aspects of early Greek, pre-Roman, and Roman societies. In fact, this is true of most early cultures. Thus, oracles were common and undoubtedly existed around Lake Avernus. The term oracle usually refers to a seer or a place where a seer prophecies. The Cumaean Sibyl was one such oracle who was probably a real priestess living in Cumae at one time. However, there were many seers around the ancient world, the most famous of which was Pythia at Delphi, Greece.
Known for their intoxicated trances and sometimes wild prophetic frenzies, prophetesses served as intermediaries between humans and the gods. The Cumaean Sibyl, for example, channeled the voice and will of Apollo, the god of prophecy and sunlight.
Where is Sibyl’s Cave?
The actual temple or cave where the priestess lived is still uncertain. However, in 1932 the Italian archaeologist Amadeo Maiuri excavated a tunnel in the hillside at Cumae. He believed it to be the Sibyl’s Cave with the “Seat of the Sibyl” at the back of a 140 m. long gallery where a chamber opens into three niches. On the left of the chamber, a stone bench lies outside a niche that contains yet three smaller nooks.
A long trapezoidal gallery leads to a chamber at the end. Photo: Historic Mysteries 2020.
Interestingly, the chamber at the end of the cave resonates with amazing acoustics and a circular opening in the roof of the tunnel leads directly up to the floor of the Temple of Apollo. Whether or not this was an original feature or was a later addition is uncertain.
Some experts believe the architecture of the tunnel and chamber niches appear funerary in nature. However, “recent studies attribute to the structure a defensive function” (Iannace) that probably occurred in Augustus’ time. In their paper, The Acoustic of Cumaean Sibyl, Iannace and Berardi speculate that the cave was several things through the years: Sibyl’s Cave during the Greek period, possibly a defensive structure during the Roman occupation, and a Christian graveyard.
The Oracle of the Dead
In addition to the Cumaean Sibyl, old stories of another oracle exist. In his book Geography, Strabo (63 BCE-23 CE) wrote that other writers made claims about an Oracle of the Dead living at Avernus. Some people believe that the site of this oracle is in Baiae, just next to the lake on the coast. In the 1960s, the amateur explorer Dr. Robert Paget was searching for Sibyl’s Cave when he found a sulfuric, hot opening amongst the ruins of the ancient Roman baths.
The entrance to the cave of the Oracle of the Dead at the ruins of Baiae Terme. Photo: Historic Mysteries.
A complex of narrow but tall tunnels shocked Paget. About 140 feet underground and 600 feet from the entrance of the cave, he found a river with flowing hot water. Some propose that this probably fed the huge Roman thermal bath resort directly above. However, Paget and others believe that this was part of an elaborate ritual in which perhaps a priestess led people on a physical journey down the river Styx to the imagined underworld. (Dash). The Oracle of the Dead could then channel loved ones who had passed on.
Gods and Sacrifice at Lake Avernus
Naturally, any underworld or even any body of water involved the Greek and Roman gods. This meant that Lake Avernus was once a highly sacred place of cult ritual. “Sacrifices were regularly made here to the chthonic deities that lurked beneath the murky surface” (Dunford). Not only did Virgil write a detailed description of sacrifices before Aeneas entered the cave to the underworld. Hannibal actually visited the lake in 214 BCE, where many believe he prayed and made sacrifices and offerings to the gods. He may have been seeking their favor, as he had high hopes for conquering the whole region and, in fact, subsequently attacked Cumae unsuccessfully. (Smith).
[blockquote align=”none” author=”William Smith”]”Avernus was also regarded as a divine being; for Servius speaks of a statue of Avernus, which perspired during the storm after the union of the Avernian and Lucrinian lakes, and to which expiatory sacrifices were offered.”[/blockquote]
Temple and Bathhouse in Ruins
Ruins of a Roman building still stand on the southeast bank. Unfortunately, only the dome is now visible as it lies under much sediment. Most people know this structure as the Temple of Apollo. However, many scholars dispute this. Others say that it was in honor of Proserpina, Pluto, Hecate, or that it was simply a Roman bathhouse and nothing more. Pietro Micheletti who authored History of the Monuments of the Realm of Two Sicilies believes that it was a temple honoring the deity of the lake, also called Avernus.
Ruins of a temple bathhouse still exist. Only the dome is visible. Image: Historic Mysteries, 2020.
The circular building came into existence at the time of Agrippa or shortly thereafter, around the end of the first century BCE. It did serve as thermal baths for the increasing population and Roman workers at the lake. However, the gods were always involved in everything, and features at Roman baths were commonly dedicated to certain gods. The real question is, what existed at this spot before the bathhouse? Although some experts speculate that earlier altars probably existed here, no one is certain.
Roman Use of the Crater Lake
An unfortunate end to the mythological beliefs and dark superstitions at Lago d’Averno came in the last century BCE. At this time, Sextus Pompeius was launching attacks of strategic shipping ports in his quest for control of the Mediterranean trade. Thus, defeating him became a huge priority for Augustus.
Roman general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa undertook a major engineering project when in 37 BCE he turned Avernus into a hidden naval base. First, he built a discreet man-made canal to connect Avernus to the adjacent Lake Lucrino. Another hidden channel joined Lake Lucrino to the sea. Then in honor of Julius Caesar, they called their new base Portus Julius. (Tesoriero).
Historical features of Portus Julius and tunnels at Lago d’Averno. Image: Roman Aquaducts
At the same time, Agrippa hired Lucius Cocceius Auctus to build a secret tunnel. This gallery cuts through the mountain connecting Lake Avernus to Cumae. Through Cocceio’s Cave, they hauled supplies to the lake for the construction of a fleet of ships that would attack Pompeius by surprise. This arrangement was ingenious, as Avernus was a secure location that could not be seen from the sea.
The End of the Avernian Underworld
After Pompeius’s defeat, the Romans abandoned Portus Julius due to silt deposits that had collected on the lakebed. This made navigation difficult. Even before the construction of Portus Julius, Caesar had already cleared the trees around Avernus turning the land into farms to support the growing Roman resort town of Baiae. This, in addition to the larger naval engineering projects, changed the atmosphere of the lake into a much brighter, happier place free of ghosts and oracles. By then, there were no emissions of toxic gases — at least not from the lake itself — if they ever existed at all. In one fell swoop, the introduction of the Roman Republic into the area displaced all that was mysterious and hellish around what became Lago d’Averno.
Avernus Today
Now life abounds at Lake Avernus as it peacefully lies in the modern town of Pozzuoli. There is no longer any evidence of the dark underworld, aside from occasional wafts of sulfur from the Solfatara crater a few miles away. With plentiful vineyards, orchards, fish, birds, and a few restaurants, the crater lake has become a destination for tourists and locals out for a run or a quiet walk.
Feathered residents include both ducks and geese, and a slew of birds fly overhead, including crows, seagulls, and sometimes small bats that dwell in Cocceio’s Cave. A pleasant footpath encircles the shore of the lake. Pedestrians can walk to the temple ruins on its east end and the Grotta di Cocceio to the north. Though no longer believed to be the entrance to Hades, the stunning beauty of the crater lake makes this place no less magical.
Once video games entered the market, titles began to spring up almost out of the woodwork. Among the more popular were Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, and Pac-Man. But others had a loyal and cult following. Some of these arcade machines have gone down in history for their mass appeal and virtual dominance of the market of that time. One alleged game of that generation called Polybius has become popular for an entirely different reason.
Game Controversy and its Nefarious Purpose
Legend states Polybius was an arcade game that made its initial appearance in Portland, Oregon in 1981. The machine wasn’t there for very long, perhaps a period of several months. Many gamers that played this game suffered adverse reactions ranging from amnesia to night terrors. Some players allegedly gave up video gaming altogether and became outspoken critics of the pastime.
Despite all of these apparent problems, the game is said to have been immensely popular in its short existence. So much so that scuffles and altercations took place over who gets to play it first.
Occasionally, technicians wearing dark suits tended to these arcade machines. They seemed as though they sought out something specific from within the machine. Allegedly, the technicians are in some way connected to the Government. They are there purely to collect empirical data on the psychological effects the game had on players.
Others dispute this idea and state the game was some kind of training tool or initiation for the military. This is not too dissimilar to the plot of ‘The Last Starfighter‘, a popular science fiction film from the early 1980s.
Anonymous Author Mentions it on Coinop
The first known mention of this game occurred on the coinop.org homepage in August 1998 by an anonymous author. As well as the title of the game, the game’s developers or publishers were cited as Sinneslöschen. No other details were really forthcoming and almost nothing mentioned in regards to gameplay or even plot.
However, the name Sinneslöschen can be loosely translated as sensory deprivation. Perhaps it was this that led some to insist that something was going on that more than met the eye.
Confusion Between Polybius and Tempest Arcade Game?
Like all urban legends or conspiracy theories, there are people who do not believe a word of it. In the case of Polybius, those who write it off as fantasy or an invention are more than prepared to admit that perhaps Polybius may be confused with Tempest.
Was Polybius really just the Tempest arcade game?
Tempest was a genuine arcade game that had genuine and documented effects on a number of players within the span of a week. One suffered from his first-ever migraine. Another person fell ill after a marathon 28-hour session and two more, unfortunately, died from heart failure trying to match this achievement.
Polybius in Mainstream Media
Whether or not there was a real arcade game called Polybius, it has secured its place in pop culture. The game has subsequently appeared on numerous television productions.
The game Polybius on The Simpsons’ “Please Homer, Don’t Hammer ‘Em”
In The Simpsons’ “Please Homer, Don’t Hammer ‘Em“, Bart strolls through an arcade, passing a Government-issued machine.
Polybius in The Goldbergs “The Age of Darkness”.
In The Goldbergs “The Age of Darkness“, an unnamed young girl scrutinizes an unused machine.
A Myth Referencing a Fact Checker
Gamers have questioned the authenticity of the game for quite some time now. Perhaps the clue is in the title. For example, Polybius was a real person in Ancient Greece. This historian advocated factual integrity and the use of first-hand accounts in recording events. This was an unconventional or revolutionary stance to take during that time. The same charges can be levied at the modern-day internet, where conspiracy theories and personal opinions dominate.
The popular consensus is that this game is simply a myth. However, others say it is a real game that some people are desperately trying to portray as a myth.
For centuries, Great Zimbabwe has led to spirited debate about its place in the heritage and history of Africa. But all the debate and theorizing comes down to one, insurmountable basic question: what exactly is Great Zimbabwe?
Structurally, Great Zimbabwe appears to be a medieval African city near Masvingo in Zimbabwe, with a large conical tower and circular curtain wall. Right from its beginning around 1100 AD, people used to live in Great Zimbabwe.
However, during the 15th century, it was abandoned due to unclear reasons, and only the stone remains can be seen today.
Great Ruins Of The Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe is believed to have been constructed over centuries, between 1100 AD and 1600 AD. Towards the end of this period in 1531, the name of Great Zimbabwe was recorded by Vicente Pegado. “Zimbabwe” is known to be a Shona (indigenous farmers) name given to the ruins, referring to the stone houses found in the ruins.
According to the researchers, Great Zimbabwe was not built on a central plan. Instead, it was designed in such a way so as to be able to adapt to its changing population and roles. The historical site was clearly successful in this, growing to an area of nearly 720 hectares (1,779 acres).
The center of Great Zimbabwe consists of three main areas, namely, the Great Enclosure, the Valley Ruins, and the Hill Complex.
The Hill Complex is the oldest among the three, with some studies suggesting that it may have been constructed as early as 900 AD. It forms a structural ruin series located on the top of the steepest hill of Great Zimbabwe, and is believed to be the religious center of the historical site.
The Great Enclosure (Janice Bell / CC BY-SA 4.0)
The second area, the Great Enclosure, lies just below the Hill Complex and is a circular, walled area dating back to the 14th century. The circumference of the enclosure is about 820 feet (250 m), and the height of the walls is 32 feet (10 m). The actual function of the Great Enclosure is not known. However, a number of archaeologists believe that it could be a symbolic facility used for storing grains or a royal residence.
The third significant area of Great Zimbabwe is the Valley Ruins. The Valley Ruins include a number of mud-brick houses located close to the Great Enclosure. The number of houses and their distributions hinted that Great Zimbabwe had a huge population, of nearly 10,000 to 20,000 people.
Great Zimbabwe is quite unusual not just in terms of the size but also in terms of the stonework. A number of structures present at the site were constructed from rectangular blocks. In some places, the stonework is surprisingly sophisticated.
At the entrance of a number of houses, there were rounded steps that looked carefully carved. Certain walls were decorated with chevron designs. All of this points to a city of decoration and beauty.
Not a “Lost City”
Many researchers refer to Great Zimbabwe as a lost city. However, the real fact is that it was never lost. The Zimbabwe people have always known about the ruins.
During the 19th and 20th centuries, European explorers reached Great Zimbabwe, took some artifacts, and promptly started claiming that the city was not built by the Africans. Led by misguided prejudice and racism, they refused to accept that an African culture could have built such a structure.
Instead, they decided that Phoenicians or groups from Europe or Asia were actually responsible for building Great Zimbabwe. Karl Mauch was among the earliest Europeans who described Great Zimbabwe. He claimed that the Queen of Sheba, a Biblical figure, was behind the building of Great Zimbabwe.
However, all such claims have been dismissed by mainstream current archaeologists. Today, it is believed by scholars that Great Zimbabwe has indeed been built by ancestors of the Shona, and other groups in Zimbabwe.
The People And The Climate
When it comes to people living in Great Zimbabwe, many have concluded that a type of Shona-speaking people named Karanga were the rulers of the ruins, but this is far from settled in the scientific community.
Certainly, evidence such as the pottery found in ruins suggests that Karanga people lived in Great Zimbabwe. However, this is not conclusive, and there is another theory relating to the people living in Great Zimbabwe.
According to that theory, it is believed that the people were descendants of the people at Leopard’s Kopje, an Iron Age site located at a distance of approximately 100 miles (161 km) from Great Zimbabwe.
A Shona witch doctor (Hans Hillewaert / CC BY-SA 3.0)
Nevertheless, the reason for choosing the site appears clear from the perspective of the weather. Great Zimbabwe has a tropical savanna climate that receives rainfall from October, through to the month of April or May.
A majority of rainfall in ruins occurs in the form of a fine mist, brought in by the southeast trade winds. The climatic conditions were quite favorable in the region and were entirely suitable for supporting a growing population.
Treasures Of The Great Zimbabwe
Throughout its human occupation, the material culture of Great Zimbabwe mainly consisted of imported glass beads, local pottery, grinding stones, spindle whorls, and finished metal objects. But there were treasures to be found here as well.
The most significant artifacts discovered from Great Zimbabwe were eight birds made of soapstone, each about 13 inches (33 cm) high. Most researchers believe that the eight birds are birds of prey. However, the species has not been identified clearly, and the carvings seems to combine avian and human elements.
According to Paul Hubbard, a researcher at the National Museum and Monuments of Zimbabwe, some of the birds had human lips. Moreover, all the birds had four or five fingers or toes. Each of the eight birds had a unique marking or pattern. However, none of them had any resemblance to the local creatures.
Out of the eight birds, six of them were found in a location in the Great Zimbabwe called the Eastern Enclosure, on a hill. A large amount of cultural evidence found in the Eastern Enclosures indicates that it was mainly used for ceremonial functions.
Other notable artifacts found in Great Zimbabwe include iron gongs, copper and iron wire, bronze spearheads, copper crucibles, and ingots, worked ivory, iron holes, sheaths, pendants, gold beads, and bracelets. Various artifacts were also recovered from Great Zimbabwe which evidence its long-distance trade routes.
Three bird statues found at the Great Zimbabwe (James Theodore Bent / Public Domain)
These include porcelain and glass beads from Persia and China, and an Arab coin of the 14th century. Syrian glass, iron spoons, bronze bells, coral, Persian faience bowls, and celadon dishes of China were other artifacts that seem to have been acquired from distant lands.
Great Wealth
Great Zimbabwe certainly seems to have been a wealthy city. Aside from trade, the wealth of the site was mainly generated through gold and cattle production. Towards the west side of Great Zimbabwe, there are various mines at a distance of nearly 25 miles (40 km).
According to one popular theory, the rulers of Great Zimbabwe did not have any direct control over these different gold mines, instead trading for it with the miners. They used to buy huge quantities of gold in exchange for their cattle. And for this Great Zimbabwe was perfectly placed, in a central location which allowed it to trade across Africa and beyond. There are definitely links with the great trading towns of the East African Coast like Malindi, Mogadishu, and Kilwa. The trade networks even extended to different towns in the Persian Gulf, China, and the western region of India.
Decline Of Great Zimbabwe
By the 15th century, Great Zimbabwe appears to have been in decline. The actual reasons for the abandonment and decline of the site are still unknown. Researchers suggest that some of the possible reasons for the decline of Great Zimbabwe could be political instability, water shortages and famine due to climatic changes, declining trade, or exhaustion of the gold mines.
While there are a number of theories relating to the decline of the city, one of the most prominent is the environmental one. It is believed that drought and overgrazing resulted in the exhaustion of the Zimbabwe soil.
According to the estimations made by the researchers, about 30,000 people used to live on the land of Great Zimbabwe and in nearby areas. The drop in productivity from their lands resulted in famine and would have made survival quite difficult for the people of Great Zimbabwe.
Another prominent explanation of the decline of Great Zimbabwe is that the people had to shift in order to enhance and grow their gold trade networks. Whatever the cause, by 1500 AD the Great Zimbabwe site was completely abandoned, its people scattered to the north and the south.
Misappropriation and Plunder
After its abandonment Great Zimbabwe lay abandoned for about 200 years, occasionally used for some religious ceremonies. But by the late 1800s Europeans reached Great Zimbabwe, attracted by legends of the gold mines of King Solomon.
Sadly, this influx of adventurers led to the archaeological record of the site being completely damaged. What is left is very hard to interpret. Karl Mauch, the German explorer mentioned previously, first arrived at Great Zimbabwe in 1871.
The Hill Complex and Great Enclosure (Janice Bell / CC BY-SA 4.0)
He befriended Adam Render, another German and a Karanga leader, who guided him to the site. Simply viewing the ruins, Mauch immediately concluded that Great Zimbabwe was not built by the Africans. As the culture of the site was advanced, and the stonework was sophisticated, he believed that it could only be the works of Israelite settlers or Phoenicians.
After Karl Mauch, Willi Posselt, a less scrupulous man, visited Great Zimbabwe. He looted the carved birds and went on to hide other artifacts of the site, so that he could return and collect them later.
Following Posselt, there were a number of other visitors who went to the site and took away gold and other valuable assets. Much of what was not valuable to them was destroyed.
Clumsy Archaeology
James Theodore Bent was known to be the first true archaeologist who visited Great Zimbabwe. However, his methods were not ideal, and in 1891 he created more confusion by digging at the conical tower in the Great Enclosure.
This not only destroyed the stratigraphy but also made it next to impossible for other archaeologists to determine the real age of the enclosure. Bent even threw away the metal and clay artifacts found on the site as he considered them to be insignificant.
Later, in 1905, the site was again excavated by an Egyptologist named David Randall-MacIver. David had studied under the guidance of the famous archaeologist William Matthew Flinders Petrie. He found a number of artifacts that were similar to those used by Karanga or Shona-speaking people.
He turned to the indigenous people in order to provide him with cultural clues which would help him interpret his finds. According to Randall-MacIver, the Persian and Arab beads in Great Zimbabwe belonged to the 14th or 15th centuries.
He also concluded that the stonework was not Arabic, and that the Great Zimbabwe was built by the native Africans. Two other researchers also agreed with Randall-MacIver’s findings: J. F. Schofield in 1926 and Gertrude Caton-Thompson in 1929.
While archaeological evidence kept mounting over the years, the majority of the European settlers continued to reject these conclusions. Archaeologists like Peter S. Garlake, who were vocal about Great Zimbabwe’s native origin, were imprisoned.
Africans holding similar views were terminated from their jobs. Displays at Great Zimbabwe site were censored, and the locals were prevented from using the site for their ceremonies.
The Rejection Of Colonial Prejudice
Coming back to the present, Great Zimbabwe is symbolic of African cultural development. A number of popular books on Great Zimbabwe have made the site more accessible to the Zimbabwe people.
However, due to the various archaeological mistakes made in the past, the history of Great Zimbabwe is still elusive. The ruins are now offered protection by the “National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe.” Great Zimbabwe has also been declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
The central conical tower in 2016. This tower has now been largely destroyed by treasure hunters (amanderson2 / CC BY 2.0)
However, fewer than 10 archaeologists and only 2 conservators are present in Zimbabwe in order to look after and study all archaeological sites in the country, including the Great Zimbabwe. While some efforts are being made, the site will continue to decline, and more secrets of this enigmatic African trading nation may be lost forever.
Top Image: Ruins at the Great Zimbabwe. Source: Marco / Adobe Stock.
On May 6, 1937, the 30-year era of rigid airships came to a sudden, shocking end. The massive, lighter-than-air civilian aircraft known as zeppelins had been the last word in luxury transport for more than a decade, crossing the Atlantic in near silence and bringing Europe and the United States within easy aerial reach for the first time.
But, on that fateful day, it all came crashing down. The mighty Hindenburg, pride of the Nazi regime and wonder of the age, burst into flame as it came in to land at the Naval Air Station Lakehurst, near Manchester Township in New Jersey.
Airships when grounded were tethered to a mooring tower, the most famous of which sits atop the Empire State Building (although passengers were understandably queasy about disembarking there). As the airship came in to its mooring tower, in an instant it caught fire and crashed to the ground. The whole incident took fewer than 40 seconds.
The disaster took 35 lives on that airship, and one ground crew member was also killed, but amazingly 62 out of the 97 passengers and crew did survive this accident. The entire event was sensationalized when reporters and film crews captured the explosion and crash from the ground, with Herbert Morrison recording the famous words “Oh! The Humanity!” as the flaming wreckage came down in front of his eyes
But even now, almost a century later, mystery surrounds the crash of the Hindenburg. There are several competing theories as to what caused the fire and why the airship crashed. How could such a terrible thing happen to something supposedly “safe”?
The End of the Zeppelin Era
Thirty years of passenger travel with the commercial zeppelins came to an end on that day. By the time the Hindenburg came in to land, there had been around 2,000 operational flights without a single injury being recorded.
The spacious and luxurious interior of the Hindenburg (Minneapolis Journal / Public Domain)
Furthermore, zeppelins were the last word in luxury travel. Passengers onboard the Hindenburg were able to travel from Europe to North and South America in just half the time that the fastest ocean liner took. Moreover, the interiors were also more luxurious than any aircraft before or since, spacious and comfortable. There were dining rooms, a piano lounge, comfortable sleeping cabins and even a smoking room nestled between the vast hydrogen cells that kept the airship afloat.
But was it the hydrogen, the very gas which allowed the Hindenburg to float in the sky, also the cause of the disaster? After all, 7 million cubic feet (200,000 cubic meters) of highly flammable hydrogen gas was stored right above the passenger quarters.
Inherently Flammable
And, after around 80 years of scientific and research tests, this is one of the preferred conclusions for the cause of the explosion. Many believe that the Hindenburg disaster occurred due to an electrostatic discharge or spark, which then ignited hydrogen which was leaking from one of the cells.
Conditions were not unmanageable that day, but there was a thunderstorm in the area and the pilots of the Hindenburg noted a strong, gusting crosswind as they came in to land. Although there was only a light rain, it was also noted that a strong static force had built up in the air, capable of creating a spark at any moment.
When the accident took place, the airship was only 200 feet (60 meters) above the ground of the airfield. The atmosphere was electrically charged, but the metal framework of the zeppelin was grounded with the landing line.
The difference in this electric potential may well have caused a spark to jump off the fabric covering of the ship to the framework of the ship, which was grounded to the landing line. The fabric covering was supposed to prevent any dangerous sparks from reaching the interior structure, but somehow this still happened.
Answers to the Wrong Questions
That the Hindenburg disaster was due to the hydrogen igniting is hardly surprising, however. The fact that hydrogen was highly flammable was well known to the designers and operators of airships, and safety procedures were in place to ensure it could not catch fire.
So the issue with the Hindenburg fire is much more about how the hydrogen could ignite, the first such occurrence in 30 years. And here there are various theories as to the cause, and the original site of the fire which ignited the gas.
Many believe that there was some kind of hydrogen leak caused by the gusting wind in the moments before the crash. This is supported by later testimony from eyewitnesses on the ground, who reported seeing fluttering fabric panels towards the rear of the Hindenburg, just forward of the rear vertical fin.
The fabric should have been taut and it seemed the fluttering could only have been caused by a tear in the surface layer of the ship. This could have allowed hydrogen to escape, and also potentially exposed the metal framework of the ship to a static discharge.
Some eyewitnesses also observed a blue glow in the same area of the ship, potentially these static sparks. And, tellingly, the first area of the Hindenburg to catch fire was this exact location.
The Hindenburg moored at a mast tower in front of her hanger (PICRYL / Public Domain)
So, is that it? A hole in the Hindenburg allowed hydrogen to escape, and then a spark from the metal framework ignited the leak? Sadly, this does not offer a full explanation and there are other competing theories which merit consideration.
A Poor Choice of Fabric
The Hindenburg’s distinct and beautiful silver color was due to the use of aluminum powder in the fabric covering the ship. This strengthened the fabric and protected it from ultraviolet deterioration, and the impact of water, wind and other small objects.
But aluminum powder is a dangerous and potentially highly flammable substance, every bit as risky as hydrogen under the wrong circumstances. In fact, it is even used as a component of rocket fuel, albeit in a much different configuration to its use on the Hindenburg.
Could the fabric have caught on fire and the damage to the outer skin of the Hindenburg led to one of the hydrogen cells inside igniting? Notably, this would also explain what the eyewitnesses saw: the fluttering would have been caused by the fabric losing rigidity as it was consumed as well as the heat itself, and the blue glow would come from the flames as the fabric burned.
It may seem an unimportant distinction, but in reality these two different causes have massive implications for rigid airships. These may even come to be relevant if, in the future, such designs are ever revived.
If a spark on the exposed framework ignited hydrogen gas then the problem was one of structural strength. Design improvements should consider strengthening the skin of the aircraft and the hydrogen cells within, as without the hydrogen leak the aircraft would have landed safely.
However, if a spark was able to ignite the fabric itself then the problem is with the material used in her construction. If another, more safely inert material were to be used the fire could not have started, and crucially this suggests the structural design of the Hindenburg herself was not at fault: She was strong enough to survive that day.
The Last Flight of the Hindenburg
Over the years, other, more outlandish theories have been suggested. Could the Hindenburg have been struck by lightning, or destroyed due to sabotage within or without?
The Hindenburg was destroyed in just 40 seconds (Arthur Cofod Jr / Public Domain)
None of the other theories are really plausible, however. The camera footage of the accident and statements from the witnesses on the ground do not show evidence of any lightning strike, and it is clear that the fire starts on the upwards rear surface of the zepellin, and not from some internal explosion.
In the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum in Washington DC, there is a small chunk of the internal-support girder of Hindenburg aircraft. People still mourn for the lives lost that day, and the world lost one of its great innovations in transport, gone in seconds and in flames.
Top Image: The Hindenburg bursts into flame. Source: Arthur Cofod Jr / Public Domain.
It’s a somewhat disturbing fable, but is there truth behind the tale? It is a folktale known to most people — the story of a man dressed in multi-color (“pied”) clothes who agreed to remove an infestation of rats from the German village of Hamelin and, after not being paid for his services, lured the children out of the village as revenge.
The fable of the Pied Piper may be based on a very disturbing event in history.
Some believe that the tale chronicles a real set of events that took place in Hamelin.
Long before the Brothers Grimm chronicled the fairy tale in their anthology of stories, curious writings regarding the piper story appeared.
For example, a document from 1384 about Hamelin’s history states that an unrelated event took place “…100 years since our children left.”
Dated to about 1440 C.E., another manuscript states: “In the year of 1284, on June 26…a piper, clothed in many kinds of colours, (there were) 130 children born in Hamelin were seduced, and lost at the place of execution near the hill.”
It is interesting to note that at no place in the above manuscripts is there any mention of rats. The rodents don’t get added into the story until Count von Zimmern’s 16th century “Zimmern Chronicle.”
Richard Rowland Verstegan wrote a book in 1605 that states that the children were not harmed, but emigrated to Transylvania.
Versions in later books consider the story to be merely a fairy tale and add whimsical bits such as some disabled children were spared because they were unable to keep up with the other children, who met their doom by being marched into a cave, never to be seen again.
So if the story is based in reality, what actually happened?
Some theorists of centuries past believe the piper was the devil and spirited the children away for his own nefarious purposes. More recent researchers believe the piper represents a plague that struck the town, claiming mainly children as its victims. Others believe the story tells of a children’s religious crusade to Jerusalem that did not meet with success. And others believe the tale merely chronicles a large but sudden emigration (not only of children but of adults as well) from Hamelin to other places in Europe.
Like many folktales, there may be a germ of truth in the Pied Piper story. Unfortunately, there is not enough evidence passed down through time to determine what actually happened in the small village of medieval Hamelin.
This Los Angeles highway UFO was photographed. This strangely resembles another UFO filmed between Earth and the Moon.
There’s two UFOs here which the eye witness was only able to photograph instead of film these UFOs.
It’s not a bad thing because these are still amazing. Some people can go through their entire life and not see or photograph a UFO so to get a double UFO sighting in one sitting (so-to-speak) it’s actually good going.
Uploaded to YouTube by TMZ TV on 2nd February 2021.
Even TMZ News has classed this double UFO sighting as a “stand alone” UFO sighting and a clear UFO sighting. It’s the details of both UFOs which stands out. The white disk really does give it the definition that has anyone who sees it really start to think about just what are we looking at here?
These UFO photo’s where sent to TMZ news channel and they uploaded these to YouTube because they’ve even classed this UFO sighting as a “stand alone” as the best UFO sighting they’ve seen. Here’s the YouTube description:
“We got another UFO sighting on our hands here in L.A., folks – but this one stands alone, as it offers some the best clear shots we’ve seen of what appears, well, you make the call.” 2 Feb 2021.
It’s a round almost disk type of UFO with strange prongs or spokes within the disk that are radiating out from the centre of the craft. There’s two half domes on the underside of this disk and red mini Orb just to the right of this white disk. Why are these two amazing UFOs together, why are they flying over the Los Angeles highway? I ask this because it’s almost as if Los Angeles has a magnetic force pulling these UFOs into it’s domain.
Is there a reason why these craft’s are heading out towards the LA California area? We know that there’s military bases in California and there’s reportedly underground bases but in my own opinion, there has to be something that’s drawing them in?
If we take a UFO sighting from LA and do a simple Google search through Google Lens we see that it brings up a UFO sighting dubbed “the best ever UFO sighting” filmed over Porto Alegre in Brazil.
If you’ve got any thought’s or opinions on this amazing UFO sighting then please share it with us in the comments section below, thanks and also please can you share this post with someone who’ll appreciate it, cheers.
Okay, digging through the masses of information and evidence of this triangle slash Pyramid shape UFO sighting over the Kremlin, it just goes deeper and deeper.
Let’s get into it.
There’s a lot of people and news agencies around the world that have looked into this UFO sighting and backed it. We’re talking about most major news agencies that covered this and the UK’s very own Mulder weighing in on this by stating “it was one of the most extraordinary UFO clips that he had ever seen.”
December 9th, 2009.
The New York Post reported on a large Pyramid shape UFO over Moscow and the Red Square in Seperate individual clips! This is what I’m calling possible, a possible UFO sighting of probably secret technology.
Research
I’ve researched a lot of UFO sightings and read countless UFO events over a long time, decades. I’ve read books, TV shows basically as much as I could. Recently though I’ve had a lot of that research start to make sense to me overall. I mean, there’s one thing researching something “anything” to the point that you could quote it word but it’s another thing to find life changing beliefs start to manifest from that research. It’s the whole point of it I suppose.
Real or a Hoax UFO
This UFO sighting if real has to be one of the best on record. When you see the video you’ll probably start to think about how many people must have seen it. The military based in and around the Red Square must have seen it.
The video looks genuine enough and it does seem to be tracking the object as opposed to just a copy and past into a random video. A holiday video that someone’s manipulated. But that doesn’t seem to be the case here.
I mean, the thing that probably caught Nick Pope’s attention is the same thing as what’s grabbing my attention. The camera operator is zooming into the UFO!
What Stands Out
That’s what makes this stand out from at least 70% of every other UFO sighting with UFOs of this size! That’s what stands out to me. The other thing is that if we take away the UFO, there’s nothing else there, no reason for the camera operator to zoom in.
This already bizarre story becomes more unusual when Michael Salla, Ph., claims “the pyramid UFO appeared on December 9, the same day of the mysterious Norway Spiral Lights.” Yet Pravda, for some reason, reported the flying pyramid not when the incident occurred, but nine days later. Was Pravda trying to downplay any possible link?
Yogaesoteric
That’s why again, this looks so genuine. It’s not a lot in terms of evidence but if we compare it to other UFO sightings, guy it’s a 2 fold increase in evidence! That’s why for, I lit. It will look to some, to fantastic, they literally or simply (whichever you like) for them to accept it. Conditioning unfortunately has them in this bubble where anything outside of “their” life, their reality or their sphere of influence call it whacallsu like, but they will not accept it. The first typical thing is they will ridicule it. Because they don’t understand what it is, what they’re seeing.
They’ll revert to an age-old stance of poking a stick at it, while not computing what they’re seeing. “They” will not be able to tell you why they don’t believe it or like it except for “it doesn’t look like one” because you know, they do know what they look like! Lol.
Government Turnaround
But anyway, it’s a truly good job for UFO believers that the people who were once in Government and were involved in keeping it all secret are now in retirement homes. If this generation had gone on record (by the way) and said that these have been going on for a long time, they’d be saying that the last Government and the one before that was covering it up. So it only goes back to the early 2000’s.
Do we want to blame or the truth? Both “and why not?” There’s evidence of UAPs going way, way back and reports from pilots going way back so why not hold account for the ones who actively covered it up? Because if they do, someone might ask “What else was they lying about, what else is there along the same evidence-based path, that they deliberately covered up?”
Video
Moving Forward
Onwards and upwards for Ufology where what was once laughed at, belittled and even stigmatized has now become reality in the form of UAP disclosure. Even though I don’t need the Government to tell what 2+2=4. I understand that some people do need that reassuring voice before they’ll believe anything.
Here’s the video description:
“UFO pyramid reported over the Kremlin”
A giant pyramid which appears to be a UFO hovering over the Kremlin has caused frenzied speculation in Russia that it is an alien spacecraft. The object has been compared to an Imperial Cruiser in the Star Wars films and witnesses estimated it could be up to a mile wide.
Two film clips exist which appear to show the same object and footage has been repeatedly playing on Russian television news channels. The shots, one taken at night from a car and one during the day, were both filmed by amateurs.
The ‘craft’ was said to have hovered for hours over Red Square in the Russian capital. The clips of the ‘invasion’ have gone to the top of the country’s version of YouTube.
Nick Pope, a former Ministry of Defence UFO analyst, said it was “one of the most extraordinary UFO clips I’ve ever seen”. “At first I thought this was a reflection but it appears to move behind a power line, ruling out this theory.”
A spokesman for aerospace journal Jane’s News said: “We have no idea what it is.” The New York Post is your source for breaking news, news about New York, sports, business, entertainment, opinion, real estate, culture, fashion, and more.
In conclusion
It’s a long quotation for a simple UFO sighting don’t you think? The major news agencies around the world have gone for this one like a Donkey for l… Whatever Donkies eat. It’s a great big craft of some sort just rotating in the sky above the Kremlin and the Red Square. This isn’t a normal day at the office by any stretch of the imagination.
Here are just a few of the worldwide news agencies that ran this story, they are as follows: Yogaesoteric, New York Post, The Mirror, The Telegraph, RT, Pravda and the list continues! Seriously, that’s just a few and without mentioning all the huge names in Ufology disclosure and the research side of Ufology.
Here’s the extraordinary video which was uploaded to YouTube by “New York Post” above.
