The Blackout Of Nanesti UFO Case

By
Marcus Lowth
Published Date
February 21, 2020
Last Updated
October 5, 2021
Estimated Reading Time
9 min read
Posted in
UFOs, Close Encounters

In the summer of 2001, a small Romanian village would experience a strange and sudden power blackout. What’s more, it would occur right after the sighting of an equally strange object overhead. What’s more, the power would suddenly return after several hours, a short time after the bizarre object disappeared from sight.

There could be many reasons for such a power blackout. However, when investigators could find no reason for the sudden failure, many began to consider more seriously the connections between the events on the ground and the strange object in the sky.

An image of a UFO over a town at sunset

Did a UFO cause a blackout in a Romanian village in 1971?

As we shall see, there are many more cases that feature similar outages of power than we might think. Some of which are taking place right now in our contemporary age. Certainly, enough to consider such consequences a key factor that required our understanding if we are to progress to unlocking the secrets of the UFO and alien question.

Perhaps more than asking if there is a connection between strange aerial vehicles and sudden power outages, we should concentrate on just why these events happen in the first place. Is this an example of these mysterious visitors stealing such resources right from under our nose? Or is it a consequence of two electromagnetic forces working against each other? Understanding these questions and the potential answers that could be returned would almost certainly take us closer to the heart of the truth the UFO community desires.

Several local media platforms would show an interest in and draw attention to the incident. It was, however, ASFAN’s Gheorghe Cohal and Catalin Banica, who would conduct the first thorough “UFO” investigation. And it is from their efforts that most of the finer details are available today.

While A Small Village Watches TV, A Strange Object Hovers!

On the evening of 30th June 2001 in Nanesti, in the Vrancea region of Romania, at around 10:30 pm, a motorist (who sources claim was a resident of Bucharest traveling through the area) would suddenly notice a strange glowing light in the skies overhead. He would make a report to the press [1] shortly afterward.

The following day, several journalists and local television reporters would arrive in the area. It was from their investigations that a fuller picture of the events of that June evening entered the public domain. Following the interest of the press, the Association for the Study of Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena (ASFAN) would begin their own investigation of the case.

A superimposed UFO on an image of lightning in the sky

Many residents of the village witnessed the strange events

It would come to light that at around the same time of the sighting by the mystery motorist, the vast majority of the residents of Nanesti were inside their respective homes. Most were watching “a very popular program” which was broadcast on the national station TVR1.  They would speak to as many of these witnesses as possible. Ultimately they would estimate that at least 50 of the villagers likely witnessed the bizarre events.

As they were watching the TVR1 program, at around the same time as the motorist was witnessing the bizarre red glowing object in the sky, the residents of Nanesti were suddenly plunged into total darkness. Although power outages had occurred before, there was instantly a strange feeling about this one. And when they did occur, they were usually for a minute or two, nothing more.

So, after several minutes of waiting for the power to return, many residents began stepping outside, both out of frustration and curiosity.

A Persistent Display For All To See

As they ventured out into the elements of the summer’s evening, each of the respective residents noticed the strange red, “round shape” in the skies overhead. It would move slowly before stopping precisely and then spinning on its own axis. It would then “transform into a ring segmented by a light yellow”. This ring would then make its way to the ground, appearing to grow in size as it did so.

When it was around 1,000 feet from the ground it would begin to ascend back into the sky once more. As it moved higher into the sky, the spinning movements were clearly evident to all who were watching, which by this time was a great many of the village.

A superimposed UFO over an aerial shot of a city at night

Villagers reported that the incident lasted almost an hour

It would eventually return to the size and place where the villagers had first noticed it as if the descent was to investigate the villagers themselves. However, it would then repeat this action several times over the next 45 minutes. There are some intriguing details to examine here, though.

Many would describe how it moved as having a “swinging motion” to it, while others would claim that it appeared similar to how a boat moved on the water. These are both descriptions that show up in other UFO reports from around the world and over the years.

As the hour changed and 11 pm edged increasingly toward midnight, many of the residents would return inside their homes to await the return of the power. Others would continue to watch until around midnight when the bizarre object disappeared out of sight.

Wedding Guests Plunged Into Darkness

However, there would be other groups of witnesses in the village that evening. These witnesses would further corroborate those who had seen events from in front of their houses.

In the cultural house of the town, one of the village manager’s son’s wedding was taking place. Then the power suddenly ceased, plunging the just-married couple and their wedding guests into total darkness. It was around midnight when the guests and the bride and groom were preparing to leave the premises.

During this time, several of the guests would enquire with one of the local plants (Vulturu) as to what the fault might be. However, they were told that everything was in order and how it should be. Furthermore, they would even claim that the fault must be with the other power plant to the area in Focsani.

A UFO superimposed onto a picture of sunset sky

Was the blackout coincidence or did the UFO cut the power purposely?

At around 2 am, with some of the wedding guests still at the cultural house, the power returned. They would remain where they were and resume the wedding celebrations. However, as the days went by following the incident, several intriguing details would come to light. Specifically, regarding the power supply to the region on the night in question.

For example, perhaps we should appreciate the sheer power required to result in such a blackout of an entire village. And, as we shall examine a little more shortly, entire regions so large they cross international borders. Perhaps this fact, much like UFO sightings themselves, is what keeps such incidents “unresearched” and out of the public mindset. That the powers and technology would indeed suggest an advancement beyond what we could defend against? Certainly not a comforting notion.

No Signs Of Power Failure!

The Renel company would conduct an investigation regarding where the distribution of electricity may or may not have come from. They would find, however, that there was no fault at either of the power plants on the night in question.

Furthermore, the company would discover what appeared to be a charred transformer at one of the plants. However, one charred transformer should not have resulted in the power outage that occurred for several hours. Perhaps what was of even more intrigue, if we assume that the charring was the result of the mystery power outage, why did it suddenly return in full after only three hours?

A superimposed UFO over a picture of power lines

No reason for the power failure could be found

We have examined several UFO cases where the glowing object in question appears to be involved in some kind of “zapping” of power of their environment. Perhaps this is a purposeful action? One that somehow “refuels” these craft before they then go on their way. Or might it be an unintentional consequence of such close contact with these seemingly otherworldly vehicles?

It is perhaps interesting to note that many of the witnesses would speak of the object as a light or an energy, that also appeared to change shape somewhat at times. Others would describe the object as being similar to a red ball. At least one witness claimed to see several “windows” in the ball. These would, when opened, cast their light on the ground below. All claimed the object to be completely silent.

Whatever the reasons might one day prove to be, the events over Nanesti that June evening in 2001 were certainly something out of the ordinary. And what’s more, the events are far from unique.

Blackouts And UFO Activity Has Been Happening For Decades!

There are several significant blackouts on record that also have UFO activity around them. Perhaps one of the most well-known occurred almost 40 years earlier in November 1965, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, in the northeast region of the United States and the southeastern regions of parts of Canada.

What’s more, as the UFO activity persisted – which was incidentally or not, right before the 1967 UFO wave – several other blackouts would take place throughout the United States as well as around the world. These would hit such seemingly random locations as London in the UK, Lima in Peru, Buenos Aries in Argentina, and various towns in the south of Italy all experiencing prolonged blackouts.

These sightings, albeit perhaps on a smaller level, still occur in more recent times. For example, in July 2017 in the Northern Territory of Australia, “thousands of reports” [2] appeared online of “lights flickering” as well as wifi disconnecting for several moments. What’s more, this outage occurred after a “shooting-star streak” was witnessed moving across the sky with great speed. It is thought that the outage, in this instance, was likely due to solar activity. However, it is one that many UFO researchers examined, if only briefly.

Six months earlier, in January 2017, in Playa del Rey in California, a local resident would witness a “large oval-shaped object” above the region at the same time as a sudden power outage. The witness was at home when the lights flickered and then after recovering for a second, went out completely. Stepping outside to inspect the fuse box, the witness then noticed the bizarre craft overhead.

After coming to their senses, the witness reached for their phone and began filming the bizarre scene. You can check out that video below.

Blackouts Create The Chances For Blackouts!

While there are no reports – to the best of our knowledge – of UFO activity on the evening of 17th December 2017, it is perhaps worth reminding ourselves of the suspicious activity that surrounded the power blackout in Atlanta that would ground several planes from taking off. All, that is, except one. This mystery plane would arrive just before the power outage occurred. And leave a short time before it returned.

There are many rumors and conspiracies surrounding the events of December 2017. Was there UFO activity that authorities wished to cover-up? It would seem unlikely that not one stranded passenger at the airport that day wouldn’t have witnessed and reported something, however, had that been the case.

Others believe that a discreet and top-secret cargo was moving through the airport that day. Something that was so secret and classified, that no other plane was allowed to venture onto either the relevant runway or even witness it from the airspace above the airport.

This last point perhaps does force us to ask just what was taking place that afternoon? And if the events might have had a UFO connection? Perhaps more than anything else, though, is the appreciation that a power outage or a blackout over entire cities and regions, create the potential to carry out discrete aerial activity away from almost all prying eyes.

Before we move on, you can check out the video below for a brief reminder of the Atlanta Blackout conspiracy.

Power (Or Lack Thereof!) – Another Key Factor In Understanding The UFO Mystery?

It would occur, then, much like other intriguing factors such as water, mountains, and cave systems, power outages and blackouts are also a factor that accompanies UFO sightings. Blackouts of entire towns and cities are indeed a rare thing. However, we know that such failings in vehicles and other minor electronic equipment are well documented.

The key element here is electricity. Many researchers have previously suggested that these seemingly otherworldly crafts perhaps use some kind of electromagnetic propulsion system. Even more, that the Earth’s own magnetic influence “interferes” with these propulsion systems. Which, in turn, result in many of the sightings around the world. And in some extreme cases, crashes such as the Roswell incident, the UFO crash that most would agree kickstarted the modern era.

What is perhaps also interesting, according to a NICAP report, [3] is that incidents of power failures and UFO reports appeared to coincide with each other (based on data between 1954-1969 – during which there were several UFO waves). Perhaps also of interest, there was a particularly high spike in power failures during 1967. This year, coincidentally or not, also saw one of the most active years in UFO history. You can view a graph that demonstrates this below.

A graph showing correlation between power failures and UFO sightings

A graph showing correlation between power failures and UFO sightings

It would indeed be intriguing to analyze such data of all the decades that have passed since that time. Might we also see comparisons, for example, to UFO activity and some of the nuclear disasters that have struck various parts of the world? Perhaps not least the Chernobyl plant in the spring of 1986? And might other patterns, currently not on our collective radar also emerge from this potential data?

Electricity An Important Factor In UFO Cases?

Rather than these respective power failures being a result of the actual objects themselves, perhaps we should examine the possibility that it is the energetic remains of a portal or gateway utilized by these strange crafts going to and from their part of the universe to ours.

There are, as we have documented on several occasions, many researchers who suspect that UFOs and their occupants are not traveling across the vast reaches of space. They are, instead, bending or manipulating it. Making journeys that would otherwise take thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of years, become instantaneous.

Might it be that explanations lie in the field of interest that we would associate with apparitions and ghostly activity? Especially when we consider such notions as phantom vehicles and ghost planes – both of which we examined before.

Might it be, then, that the vehicles most of us would describe as a “flying saucer” are perhaps “ghosts” of vehicles from a bygone age? Perhaps ones belonging to a long-lost and advanced civilization from antiquity. Might they even be ghostly remnants of vehicles from such mythical lands as Atlantis?

It is perhaps interesting that many paranormal researchers suggest that such apparitions are essentially, releases of energy. With this in mind, this would perhaps explain why there is often power outages when these strange crafts are nearby.

Like other aspects and pieces of the puzzle, this adds yet another dynamic aspect to the UFO and alien question.

Check out the video below. It looks at the potential connection between UFO and alien actions and other activities used to cover it up.

References

References
1 The mysterious case from Nanesti-Vrancea, Asfan Romania, February 13th, 2014 http://www.asfanufo.ro/istorie/116.html
2 Major power cut in thousands of homes just SECONDS after ‘UFO’ spotted hurtling over sky, Zoe Drewett, The Star, July 20th, 2017 https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/alien-ufo-power-cut-solar-16978686
3  Power Outages & UFOS, Nicap https://www.nicap.org/outage_main.htm

Marcus Lowth

Marcus Lowth is a writer with a love for UFOs, aliens, and the Ancient Astronaut Theory, to the paranormal, general conspiracies, and unsolved mysteries. He has been writing and researching with over 20 years of experience.

Marcus has been Editor-in-Chief for several years due to his excellent knowledge in these fields. Marcus also regularly appears as an expert on radio talk shows including Troubled Minds and Unexplained Radio discussing these topics.

Read Marcus' full bio.

You can contact Marcus via email.

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