The Fourth Moon
- Classification (Hynek): CE3.
- Witness: Mario Zuccala (26).
- Time & Place: 9.30pm April 10 1962; Cidinella, Val di Pesa, Italy
- Entity Type (Lawson): Humanoid.
- Craft: 25-ft-wide disc-shaped craft.
- Summary: A tailor is given a cryptic message.
Saucermen in Shining Armour
Ray Harryhausen's saucer design for Earth Vs The Flying Saucers featured a descending cylindrical lift.
On the night of April 10, 1962, an Italian tailor walking home from work encountered a UFO that might have flown straight out of the film Earth Vs the Flying Saucers.
Mario Zuccala was walking through woodland near his home in Cidinella when he felt a "sharp gust of wind" and saw a saucer-shaped craft hovering in a clearing.
A cylinder emerged from the underside and descended to ground level. A door slid open in the cylinder to reveal a brightly-lit staircase, and two humanoids stepped out.
The 5-ft-tall beings wore an "armour of shining metal" and sported antennae on their heads. They took hold of Zuccala's arms and silently led him up the stairs into the craft.
The Message
Zuccala's sketch of the saucer.
The interior of the saucer was utterly featureless, with no furniture or visible controls. It was lit by a brilliant diffused light with no apparent source. An echoing disembodied voice spoke to the bewildered Italian.
"At the fourth moon we shall come at one o'clock in the morning to bring you a message for humanity," it boomed. "We shall give notice of this to another person in order to confirm that that which you have seen is true."
The humanoids led Zuccala back down the staircase. Then he suddenly found himself standing outside his front door with no recollection of how he got there.
Despite their promise, the Ufonauts did not return "at the fourth moon" or at any other time. Their "message for humanity" remains undelivered.
Sources
Timothy Good: Alien Base, pp309-311.