Medina, Saudi Arabia Angel apparition to Islam’s prophet — 610
This event concerns the apparition of angel Gabriel to 40-year old Mohammed, Islam’s prophet. Muhammad received his first revelation on the mountain of Hira outside Mecca, while he searched for solitude. At the time of the contact with the angel he first experienced great pain, and feared that he was going to die. The first fraction of the Koran Muhammad received is believed to be the beginning of Sura 96: “Recite in the name of your Lord, who created mankind from clots of blood. Recite, and your Lord will be bountiful He who has taught by the pen taught mankind what was not known. ” One could argue that this event does not include any description of an aerial phenomenon, and thus does not belong in this compilation. However it does involve an entity from the sky (an angel) and an episode of contact with transmission of a message that has had a major impact on men’s beliefs - an impact that continues to this day. In that sense it epitomizes the complexity of “contact” claims that are an integral part of the phenomenon, both in a social sense and in the larger scope of the societal significance of the relationship between men and the higher worlds in which they believe. Fig. 48: The apparition to Mohammed
Source: Case: W477