 Page 112 of the May 1963 edition of Life Magazine The table of contents in the May 1963 edition of Life Magazine read Haunting photographs of a moonbeam rainbow and a cloud ring too big to be true. While this may have seemed an oddity to the average reader, the cloud baffled scientists, who could not find a conclusive explaination for this "supernatural" cloud that remained sunlit for 28 minutes after sunset, was 27 miles high (too high for moisture to form), and was even visible from Mexico.
In addition to Life Magazine, various articles written by James E. McDonald from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Arizona, Tucson, appeared in Science Magazine (April 19, 1963), an independent report issued May 31, 1963, and in Weatherwise Magazine (June 1963).
Some excerpts from these articles include:
- The hydrodynamics of the field of vertical motion that produced such a toroidal cloud form are very puzzling.
- After three months of effort to determine just what it was that caught their eyes, I am still not sure myself,
- I had hoped that a fairly complete summary of the work might have become possible some weeks back, but new questions have arisen that are not settled even yet.
- This revised altitude takes the cloud still further above the height-interval of even Arctic nacreous clouds, and puts it disconcertingly near the base of an “exclusion region” of the mesosphere in which the temperatures are so high (due to ozone absorption of solar ultraviolet radiation) that the saturation vapor pressure of water (or ice) exceeds the total ambient air pressure. In that exclusion region (typically from about 42 km to about 65 km), no water drops or ice particles can exist. Water can be present there only in vapor form. The indicated altitude of the Flagstaff cloud is slightly above the mean base of this exclusion layer, adding further interest to the entire phenomenon.
- But the most distant sighting reliably checked was made in Juarez, Mexico, by J. H. Buels, of El Paso, Texas. Mr. Buels’ location was approximately 380 miles from the cloud!
These comments are in spite of over 70 photographs and two videos of the cloud. Incidently, the videos of the cloud showed little motion in the cloud.
The Mystery Picture Explained
- And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow [was] upon his head, and his face [was] as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: (Revelation 10:1)
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William Branham prophecied in December 1962 that Seven Angels would meet him outside of Tuscon, Arizona, and would give him a commission to return to the East and preach a series of sermons on the Seven Seals. On March 18, 1963, William Branham returned to Jeffersonville, Indiana, and began to fulfill this prophecy.
- Now, do you see it? The Truth of God's vision, the seven Angels, bringing me from the west. They were coming from the west, coming back east, bringing here for this message tonight. Oh, my.
- SEVENTH.SEAL.THE_ JEFF.IN MONDAY_ 63-0324E
Two years after identifying Life Magazine's photo of the cloud above Flagstaff as the same constellation of Angels in which he was caught up into, William Branham was given another revelation: he turned the cloud 90 degrees to the right:
- You see the picture the other day, how He turned that picture sideways there? And the very picture of those seven Angels being lifted up, turn it to the right-hand side, and there is the face of the Lord Jesus looking down to the earth again. You remember when I preached The Seven Church Ages, I couldn't understand why Jesus standing there with a "white" over His head. He was a young Man. I took it back in the Bible, it said, "He came to the Ancient of Days, Whose hair was white as wool." Jesus was only thirty-three and a half years old, at His crucifixion....I went up there and started on that first church age, there the Holy Spirit revealed it. Now you got it right on your Church Ages. I guess the books will be out pretty soon now, the full detail of it. And it showed that Jesus was Judge. There is a white wig that they used to wear, put a wig on and wear it as a judge, England still does it when you got supreme authority. And that turning sideways in this picture, there He is, His black hair, you can see it in the side of His beard, and the white wig on. He is the last of the authority, He is Supreme Authority. Even God said so, Himself, "This is My beloved Son, hear ye Him."
- Sermon: ASHAMED_ JEFF.IN V-3 N-9 SUNDAY_ 65-0711
To confirm that the outline of the cloud was the "wig" of Jesus Christ, the famous painting of Jesus, known as Hofmann's Head, fit like a glove into the hair of the cloud. This painting of Hofmann's had been a favourite of William Branham's for years, as it reminded him of the character of the face of Jesus Christ that he had seen in a vision years before.
- There's not an artist in the world could paint His picture, the character of His face. The best I've ever seen was that Hofmann's Head of Christ at Thirty-three, I've got it on all literature and everything I use. That's it, 'cause that looks just like it, and so then--or pretty near, as close as it could be.
- Sermon: How the Angel came to me. Chicagom IL, January 17, 1955.
As if that wasn't enough, page 112 of the Life magazine (the picture of the cloud) had a moonbeam rainbow on the back. When held to the light, this rainbow hung just over the image of the cloud. Pages 111 and 112 of the June issue of Life magazine can be seen as the prophecy of Revelation 10:1 and 1:14 in image form. Spiritually speaking, a moon rainbow speaks of God's covenant with his Bride.
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- His head and [his] hairs [were] white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes [were] as a flame of fire; (Revelation 1:14)
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Sunset Mountain
William Branham said:
- And it shall be Light at the evening time, upon Sunset Mountain in the Coronado Forest, forty miles north of Tucson. Get on the map and see if Sunset Peak there. That's exactly where it happened.
- Sermon: What is the Attraction on the Mountain, Jeffersonville, IN, July 25, 1965.
The attached map is near-to-scale, and shows the size and location of the cloud as it would have appeared from space. From William Branham's testimony, it was morning when the blast hit Sunset Peak, 40 miles north-east of Tucson in Arizona's Coronado National Forest, and a constellation of seven angels appeared from the west.
It was evening when the cloud appeared just north of Flagstaff, Arizona. More specifically, the southern edge of this cloud rested above Sunset Crater (called Sunset Mountain until 1930), which was 10 miles north of Flagstaff and 190 miles north of where William Branham was located. In spite of this great distance, the cloud was visible from Sunset Peak, Tucson, and beyond.
The same constellation of angels that appeared to William Branham on Sunset Peak (a peak on a mountain of a different name, although called Sunset Mountain by the locals) appeared in cloud form above Sunset Crater (a mountain without a peak).
- And you know, the pyramid never was capped. The Headstone's yet to come. It's been rejected. Could it be, brethren, sisters? Or is this that third pull that He told me three or four years ago?
- Sermon: "Is this the sign of the end, Sir?" (December 30, 1962)
File:Sunset Crater.jpg The southern tip of the cloud was located above Sunset Crater - a mountain without a top. Compare with the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States. |
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