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63 in the Fifties, there was a tendence to deny at all costs the object of parapsychological studies amongst the public, some scientists and also amongst us clergymen. They said that there was no basis for acknowledging parapsychology and phenomena which were called nonsense and fantasy. To put it simply, they denied everything. This was reflected in ufology, which is linked to other frontier topics. As I collected material, I realized that this generalized denial stemmed from illogical fanaticism. There must be something there, even if you just use your common sense, and, using reason, the phenomenon is undeniable. Strict criticism goes against common sense because it goes against the value of human testimonies. In recent years, accounts of ufological events have greatly increased and yet there are still too many people who tend to pass everything off as nonsense. Of course, in many cases, natural phenomena for example, may be wrongly interpreted, but it's absolutelyunthinkable to put eveything into that category. Total scepticism is compeletly unjustified. AF: And what's happening at the moment in your field? MB: I've never told anyone this, but I'll tell you: some theologists have said to me "Balducci, what are you doing, it's all just fantasy! ", and they were important theologists, not just anyone. Then when I explained my interest, I defended it tooth and nail so as to say that it's time to change this attitude because if we go on like this, we'll end up weakening and destroying the value of human testimonies. This is what worries me because human testimonies are the basis for our life as an individual, our life in society but above all the basis for the spiritual life of Christians, given that the Divine Revelation is a historical fact that was testified to. God's Revelation is testified to by people and by the gospels. If we believe in the accounts of Biblical miracles, then using reason, we must also believe the accounts of extraordinary events that happen today. It's obvious that we must prove that every affirmation is based on credible foundations. Above all, I decided to get involved in ufology in order to Alf A at te evolved spiritually than we are. MB: I must start by saying that angels do not use spaceships. As purely spiritual beings, they are where they want to be and if they wanted to show themselves, they wouldn't have any trouble taking on visible forms. So, when we talk about extraterrestrials, we have to think either of beings like us or, preferably, other types of beings who always combine a spiritual part with a material part, a body, even though they have a different relationship compared with us terrestrial humans. Nowadays, science accepts the existence of forms of life in the cosmos, even though it doesn't want to take into account the fact that these intelligences could already be here in our planetary sphere, at least in an obvious form. How does theology tackle this problem? Opinions in favour of the habitability of other worlds are held not only by secular scientists, but also theologists and people who died and were made saints like Padre Pio. The book written in 1974 by the priest Don Nello Castello, "CosI parlU Padre Pio" ("Thus Spoke Padre Pio"), says that someone in Padre Pio's confraternity asked him "Father, I thought Earth was nothing compared to the stars and all the other planets", to which Padre Pio replied "Yes, and if we leave the Earth we are nothing. The Lord certainly didn't restrict his glory to this little planet. On other planets, there will be beings without sin.". Ican also mention Cardinal NiccolU Cusano (1401-1464) who wrote "there is no star from which we are authorized to exlude the existence of beings, who may even be different to us". The Jesuit and astronomer, Father Angelo Secchi (1818-1866) wrote "It's absurd to consider the worlds that surround us as uninhabited deserts". And I could go on and on. Of course, we aya odt soa o ’ cue still don't have scientific confirmation of this particular issue. However, in the field of theology and the Scriptures we can make some observations. As defend human testimonies. AF: On various occasions you have said that the occupants of UFOs could be more highly