Amicizia: buitenaardse ontmoetingen in Italië

Amicizia: Alien Encounters in Italy

The most credible account of alien contact yet? 

Beginning in 1956, some 200 people from all walks of life in Europe had extensive interaction with a group of very human-looking aliens. They included politicians, university professors, engineers, journalists, students and housewives. The level of contact varied from one-time encounters to deep involvement lasting over 40 years. Some of those involved entered underground and undersea alien bases for days at a time. Others entered and even flew in their craft. Over the years, hundreds of clear photographs, voice recordings and movies were taken, featuring some of the visitors themselves, but scores of these have been lost or are unavailable.

Because of the intense feelings of friendship engendered by the aliens in all whom they met, the name Amicizia ("Friendship" in Italian) has come to be the principal one used for the overall contact experience. Spontaneously, people in other European countries used this same term in their own languages to describe what was happening, although the name W56 was also used ("W" referring to a double "victory" in Italian, and "56" to the year in which the contact began). 1

The aliens themselves claimed to originate from a variety of planets of varying distances from Earth, and referred to themselves as the Akrij (pronounced "Aukree") Confederation. 2 They had individual languages on their home planets, but also a common language that facilitated communication.

For many years, however, the story was not well known outside the group of people involved.  Although this unprecedented saga unfolded in several countries for years, most participants kept their involvement secret for fear of ridicule and loss of their standing and employment in an uncertain post-war Europe. Some European UFO researchers became aware that "something major" was unfolding, but were unable to penetrate the secrecy. Many of the participants have since died, but a few felt the need to ensure that some record of their otherworldly experience was not lost. Some participants are still living.

Several works written by persons involved with, or aware of, the W56 case were published from 1958 onwards, but they only hinted at the source of the information.

Beginning in 2009, however, books openly describing these extraordinary events began to appear. Professor Stefano Breccia, an engineer and university lecturer living in central Italy and himself deeply involved in the Amicizia events, has written the best known of these: Mass Contacts. 3 With a foreword by Roberto Pinotti, General Secretary of the Italian UFO group Centro Ufologico Nazionale
(CUN), the book is primarily the account of the leader of the Italian group: prominent theologian and psychologist Bruno Sammaciccia (photograph 1).

Photograph 1: Bruno Sammaciccia (centre), with his friend and fellow key participant Giancarlo De Carlo, his wife Raffaela and Giancarlo's wife Aurora (behind). (Source: Stefano Breccia, reprinted in Mass Contacts, p. 346)

Before dying in 2003, Sammaciccia entrusted Breccia with publishing some aspects of his story. Breccia also includes in his book a short account from a German engineer by the name of Hans, who was in the group and who also died in 2003. Another participant, Paolo di Girolamo, a university professor, has now published his own version, 4 and another Italian professor has chosen to release his first-hand account through Italian-based Croatian-born researcher Nikola Duper. 5 It is hoped that participants from the other countries will now come forward, as only parts of Sammaciccia's experiences have been published and Breccia himself has still to tell the full story of his own  involvement.

The significance of this case is only just beginning to become apparent to UFO researchers. With hundreds of credible eyewitnesses and an abundance of supporting evidence, Amicizia is simply in a league of its own as far as "alien" contact is concerned.

In my opinion, it is a major turning point in UFO research and will reverberate for years to come. Far more than any other case that I know of, it may be the equivalent of the Rosetta Stone that helps us put many pieces of the alien jigsaw puzzle into place.

In particular, UFO researchers will see strong evidence supporting the widespread belief that the United States government was contacted officially decades ago by an alien group offering to help us develop spiritually, provided that the US halt its nuclear weapons program. A number of eyewitnesses and whistleblowers have long claimed that a meeting took place in February 1954, with President Eisenhower being secretly taken to Edwards Air Force Base in California and with other selected persons representing a spectrum of US society present. 6 The US, of course, refused to halt its nuclear weapons program, but is also understood to have entered subsequently into treaties and agreements with other alien groups in exchange for advanced technology.

It appears that the Akrij aliens, usually referred to as "Nordics", were the group who had made the offer to the US government, and therefore the timing of the Amicizia contacts is interesting. It suggests that the Akrij, having been rebuffed officially, may have changed their strategy instead to take their message directly to ordinary, but also influential, humans in a wide number of places, beginning two years after the 1954 contact.

Over the course of four decades, the Akrij reportedly conveyed detailed information to the humans, who acted as an interface to spread their concepts among human society. The entire Akrij focus with their human friends was on morality, ethics and friendship—not on technology, which to them was very much secondary.

While there is much that will be familiar to the seasoned researcher, the writings that we have so far are a treasure trove of data and concepts to be mined. Scattered throughout the accounts is
substantial information about the Akrij concepts of God, the Universe and the Earth's history.

A number of claims are especially fascinating and perhaps, in some cases, amenable to verification.
One claim is of particular interest currently. In a 1967 conversation recorded by Breccia, a W56 crew member mentioned to him that there is another star nearer to Earth than the Centauri stars. At first, the claim seems ridiculous, but scientists recently announced that NASA's WISE infrared telescope, launched in December 2009, may be close to discovering a brown dwarf star—a binary companion to the Sun—suspected of influencing comets, asteroids and outer planetoids in our solar system. 7 Stay tuned.

Another, much publicised, claim concerns the clear, daytime photograph in Breccia's book of one of the Akrij aliens, casually dressed (see photograph 2). The picture was taken by Sammaciccia in the grounds of his villa and shows what is claimed to be an alien by the name of Kenio, who stood as much as three metres (nearly 10 feet) tall! An analysis of the colour image appears to confirm
the height. 8 Not all the Akrij aliens were of that height, incidentally: some were even taller, while others were much shorter than an average-height human.

Photograph 2: Kenio, who was a W56 crew member. (Source: Photograph by Bruno Sammaciccia, from Stefano Breccia, reprinted in Mass Contacts, p. 372)

To date, Breccia's book remains the most accessible source of information on the case and, despite editing shortcomings, it also manages to capture the personalities and sense of humour of those involved, humans and aliens alike. A favourite passage of mine, for example, describes the second physical encounter with some of the aliens in an arranged meeting. It was a spring evening in 1957, in the woods near an old castle near the town of Ascoli Piceno in the central east coast Marche
region of Italy. Bruno Sammaciccia relates:
We were met by the three newcomers; they approached us, smiling ... the first thing Romolo [the name given to one of the aliens] told me, in perfect Italian, was: "Our dear friends, what were you expecting? To see monsters? Look how handsome we are!" 9

Much of Sammaciccia's account centres on Dimpietro, the tall commander of the main base in Italy. He claimed to have lived at various places on Earth since at least the 17th century and had adapted well to such earthly pleasures as drinking wine and coffee and smoking cigars.

When meeting Sammaciccia's wife Raffaela for the first time, Dimpietro sat on the floor of their apartment kitchen to avoid frightening her with his height. Like others of the alien team, in his long stay here he had mastered not only Italian but also its various dialects and cultural intricacies.

A long history of alien interest

The overall picture painted over four decades of Akrij contacts is a complex one. There are alliances
of worlds. There are good, highly ethical, aliens and there are bad aliens. There are some whose
agenda is strictly scientific and dispassionate. One group has a particular interest in studying
insects, which apparently are a rare form of life in the Universe. Most are physical beings but some are interdimensional, incorporeal entities, such as the purpleskinned "Red" race who are not part of the Akrij group but are allies. Sammaciccia claimed to have interacted with them (see photograph 3).
Sammaciccia and the others learned that the Akrij races are not the only visitors coming to Earth: at least six other alien groups are mentioned. 10

Photograph 3: One of the interdimensional "Red" alien beings with whom Sammaciccia interacted. Note the emphasis on the heart region. (Source: Photograph by Bruno Sammaciccia, from Stefano Breccia)

Central to the story are the Weiros—cloned biological robots that are essentially indistinguishable from humans and intent on their own agenda. They are essentially at war with the W56 group. If their description and activities are any indication, the Weiros, or CTRs as they are usually referred to in Breccia's book, will likely provide one answer to the "Men in Black" phenomenon. ("CTR" is a sort of
acronym coined by Sammaciccia for contrari, or "contrary".)

There is also a definite hierarchy of beings in the Cosmos. The Akrij alien races themselves are  overseen by another group which Sammaciccia called the UTI, although he did not record what this name means. The UTI also had human representatives working with them, including an Austrian General.

The visitors have been around since the beginning of the human experience, interacting with us and nudging us forward over aeons of time. According to the Akrij, they and other races have had roles interacting with Earth over untold ages, far longer than our science recognises. Their present mission here is to watch over Earth and our safety without interfering openly. They spoke of previous
civilisations on Earth, some of which had achieved a science even more advanced than our own, but all had self-destructed—most recently resulting in what we term "the Stone Age".

Contrary to recent perceptions in consensus science that our planet is probably an insignificant, very ordinary world in a galactic backwater, the Akrij often spoke of Earth as being exceptional, one of the most beautiful of worlds and, as far as they knew, one of only about 50 "mother planets".

Additionally, they made it clear that countless other worlds are also inhabited, almost all of them peopled with human-like beings. An interesting nugget is the claim that another intelligent race also lives on or in the Earth: the elves or gnomes or little people of legend. Said to be about 35–40 centimetres tall and "harmless, simple people", this race is aware of us but afraid of human contact. This was confirmed by Breccia himself, who had befriended one of the Akrij who was living openly in
human society. In a recorded interview in Bologna in 1967, the alien also revealed that there are
"humans" living in different "dimensional levels" on Earth.

A belief in God or a Supreme entity appears to be universal and is taken for granted by the Akrij. In some way, many of them are related to us genetically and they can easily live incognito on Earth and even interbreed with humans. Given this, it is tempting to speculate that some of these "alien" races may have originated on Earth or been involved in "seeding" humanity. At all times, however, we must see the bits and pieces of information as just that: they correspond amazingly well, but there are some significant gaps that should encourage caution. Much more of the story remains to be told.

Ongoing interaction with the Akrij

Sammaciccia and a growing number of other local people continued to assist the W56 aliens in their mission of monitoring Earth civilisation and spreading their message. Often this assistance took the form of obtaining and delivering huge quantities of fresh fruit and vegetables for the underground bases. Breccia admits that the visitors certainly had the technology to do this unassisted, but he speculates that they were simply allowing the humans to feel that they were contributing.

These supplies were sometimes dematerialised remotely by the aliens in front of multiple witnesses and rematerialised inside their base.  Some members of Sammaciccia's group had their own sightings of UFOs and aliens and thus joined the group.

The best-known story in this regard is from the TV and print science journalist Bruno Ghibaudi. Assigned in 1961 to investigate the rash of sightings in Italy, Ghibaudi— who had no interest in the subject up to that point— became amazed at the consistency of the reports being made by sober, ordinary citizens. He had his own daylight sightings of unearthly craft and photographed some at close range.11 Eventually he was invited to meet the Akrij visitors and became a member of Sammaciccia's group.

When interviewed for Le Ore magazine in 1963, Ghibaudi, asked about his detailed knowledge of the visiting aliens, affirmed his contact:
How are you aware of all this?
For the very simple reason that I too have met them, not long ago.
And have you spoken to them?
Sure.
Are they like us?
Absolutely so. Strangely enough, the idea that the human form is universal has often been discarded as improbable. Most of the time, truth is too simple to be accepted. 12

Meantime, at great expense, Sammaciccia constructed a large villa at Montesilvano on the Adriatic coast near Pescara, where the Akrij teachings could be disseminated. The group soon grew in size as a result. However, the all-important love, harmony and trust (uredda in the W56 language) required in such a situation eventually began to disintegrate and the group fell apart.

Beginning in 1978, the W56 group was attacked by their "enemy brothers", the CTRs, and later that year their larger bases were destroyed. Convulsions of the Adriatic Sea were widely reported for about two months afterwards.

Following this disaster, many of the participants returned to their former lives, often in denial about the strange experiences that had been their life for so long. In fact, the story does not end there. While the W56 aliens had ostensibly all departed Italy by December 1986, there is mounting evidence that not only have some remained here on Earth and activated other bases elsewhere but they are also still operating in Italy, albeit apparently on a smaller scale. Encounters with the Akrij and the CTRs continue, as recently as January 2010 according to Breccia. 13

Bruno Sammaciccia expressed his hope that those who read his story would "look at the night sky  with different eyes, being persuaded that, in those distances beyond any imagination, beings live that are friends to all of us". 14

The Akrij Friendship story is far from over.

About the Author:

Warren Aston has been an independent UFO researcher and writer for over 30 years. Based in  Brisbane, Australia, he travels widely overseas in pursuing cases. He has spoken at UFO symposia in Australia and the USA. He can be contacted by email at astonwarren@hotmail.com.

Endnotes

1. Italy seems to have been the focus of this initial contact phase, but the W56 were also very active in Germany especially and also in Switzerland, France and Austria. Other countries and perhaps other continents are also possible.
2. Fifteen stars of various spectral types are listed in the Breccia book as origins for the Akrij Confederation but there are apparently others.
3. See Stefano Breccia, Mass Contacts (AuthorHouse, 2009, 383pp; available through Amazon.com). The book contains excellent information about early European cases plus, unfortunately in my view, a long section on the controversial Ummo case—not only the Spanish-based story which most researchers would know of, but an account of the activities of an Italian group active for many years.  Breccia refers to this group as "Italian Ummites", but notes that they were likely nothing of the sort.  In personal correspondence, he has confirmed that they are in fact the CTRs, who had adopted the  Ummite name to encourage their acceptance.
4. Paolo di Girolamo's book has been published in Italian and will shortly be released in English.
5. See Nikola Duper's web pages http://www.openminds.tv/thesensational-case-of-friendshipand http://www.openminds.tv/friendshippart-2-a- to follow the release of the Padova professor's book.
6. See http://www.exopolitics.org/Studypaper-8.htm.
7. See http://www.space.com/*scienceastronomy/nemesis-comets-earth-am-100311.html.
8. The primary analysis of the picture was undertaken in 2009 by researcher Teresa Barbatelli; see posting at http://www.paolaharris.com/masscontactinterview.html. This posting includes a short interview with Breccia.
9. See Breccia, Mass Contacts, p. 182.
10. In addition to the W56 races and the CTRs, there are the Elta V, the UTI, the Wan people with almost transparent skins, the purple-skinned "Red" race supportive of the W56, and another unnamed race described as somewhat apelike in appearance. Most of these are listed in Mass Contacts, p. 240.
11. Ghibaudi's story is summarised in Timothy Good's book Alien Base (Century, London, 1998, pp. 215-217), and includes the 1961 photograph for which he is best known. Ghibaudi is still alive and lives in Rome.
12. Extracted from "Martians among us?", Le Ore, 24 January 1963; transcript in possession of author.
13. Email received from Stefano Breccia, 23 January 2010.
14. See Breccia, Mass Contacts, p. 226.