The Cloud: Difference between revisions

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[[Image:Cloud-Large.jpg|370px|right|thumb|Page 112 of the May 1963 edition of Life Magazine]]   

At around sunset on February 28, 1963, a cloud appeared in the vicinity of Flagstaff, AZ and remained sunlit for 28 minutes after sunset.  It was highlighted in the [[Life Magazine May1963 (Page 112)|May 1963 edition of Life Magazine]].  In addition to Life Magazine, various articles written appeared in [http://www.spokenwordchurch.com/themessageresourcelibrary/Articles/Cloud%20Article%20-%20Science%20Magazine%20Cloud%20Article%20April%201963.pdf Science Magazine (April 19, 1963)], [http://www.spokenwordchurch.com/themessageresourcelibrary/Articles/Cloud%20Article%20-%20Dr%20McDonalds%20Cloud%20Investigation%20Supplement%201963.pdf an independent report issued May 31, 1963], and in [http://www.spokenwordchurch.com/themessageresourcelibrary/Articles/Cloud%20Article%20-%20Weather%20Wise%20Magazine%20Cloud%20Article%20June%201963.pdf Weatherwise Magazine (June 1963)].

The cloud was very unusual and puzzled scientists at the time, who could not find a conclusive explanation for the cloud.  The height of the cloud was initially estimated by James E. McDonald from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Arizona, Tucson, as being approximately 35 kilometers but was later revised by him to be at approximately 43 kilometers (141,000 feet).

Believers of William Branham's message view the cloud as part of the fulfillment of a vision that William Branham had in December 1962 that Seven Angels would meet him outside of Tuscon, Arizona (see [[Prophecy of the Cloud]]). They see it as a supernatural sign the preceded William Branham's opening of the [[Seven Seals]].

Critics view the cloud as simply being the aftermath of the intentional destruction of a Thor rocket over Vandenburg air force base.  They also view William Branham's stories about the cloud being the aftermath of the angelic visitation as untruthful as these stories are in direct contravention with the facts. They believe that William Branham's own testimony clearly show that he made up the stories about being at the cloud's genesis and that these stories only began after he saw the article in Life Magazine.

'''The cloud appeared over Flagstaff but William Branham was hunting 200 miles from there at Rattlesnake Mesa.  Why does he say that he was at Flagstaff?  Why does he say it was a day or two before or after when, in fact, the cloud appeared 8 days before his experience?'''

 

 

 

:''How many saw, "A mysterious cloud in the sky"? You see the hands. And now the Life magazine picked it up. And I have the--the article here this morning, in the Life magazine, of to show. '''Now here It is, the same time I was there.''' See the pyramid of the Cloud? '''I was standing just below this'''. ''

::: STANDING.IN.THE.GAP_  JEFF.IN  V-6 N-7  SUNDAY_  63-0623M

 

 

 

 

And then while I was praying on this subject, of wondering what would happen to me, and you know where I was at? North of Tucson, east of Flagstaff; just exactly, positionally, where I told you, months before it happened, I'd be standing. '''And exactly according to this paper here, and of papers and this magazine, and our own testimony''', exactly where it taken place. God is perfect and cannot lie, and it will come to pass.

 

 

:''And now the Life magazine picked it up. And I have the--the article here this morning, in the Life magazine, of to show. Now here It is, the same time I was there. See the pyramid of the Cloud? I was standing just below this.

 

 

:''And science is baffled. '''Standing right under where it was happening there'''...  Now science took the picture of It, you seen It, went on Associated Press. They didn't know what It was. There is a Cloud hanging, twenty-six miles high. That's fifteen miles, or twenty, above even where vapor is at. They don't know what it's all going about, and they are trying to investigate It. '''And there, right under It, I was standing.''' '' 

:::O.LORD.JUST.ONCE.MORE_  HOT.SPRINGS.AR  V-20 N-10  FRIDAY_  63-0628M

 

 

'''Either he is being untruthful about where he was hunting or he is being untruthful about the cloud being over him?  Is it possible for such wild exaggeration to be an "honest" mistake?'''

 

:''Stand north of Tucson, witnesses standing here with it, when a blast come, that shook the mountains off the ground, almost. And at the same time, a circle of Light hanging yonder in the air, when the science took the pictures now. ''

 

 

:''It's a mysterious cloud. The cloud is twenty-six miles high and thirty miles across. And that's what we were speaking of here. That's where the Angel of the Lord came down and shook the place... ''

:''I met Brother Fred and Brother Norman, about a hour later, when I found them. They were excited and talking about it. There it is. And science says that it's impossible for--for any kind of a--a mist or anything get that high, fog, vapor

 

:''And right standing beneath that, a man that is sitting right present now, was right standing there by me, when seven Angels come down from God, visibly standing right there...''

 

'''Why is he now elaborating on his prior exaggeration, something that never happened?  How can he claim to be standing under a cloud that appeared 8 days earlier and 200 miles away?'''

 

:''I didn't know it; but '''cameras from all over the country was taking the picture of That, as the white Cloud settled down''', went on the Associated Press. I think your Chicago paper packed it, all around. Life magazine packed it. How many has seen it in there, that Mr.... That, see, that was it right there, just exactly the way it said it, standing right under It when It come down and formed. They said, "It was way beyond, and it's... hunted the country, there was no airplanes or nothing in there. And It was too high, twenty-six miles high, where there is no vapor or nothing. You couldn't, they couldn't make vapor, anyhow. And thirty miles across It."

 

'''Some people claim that William Branham told someone that the angels had been waiting at Rattlesnake Mesa for a week before he got there.  Doesn't that sound like hearsay evidence?  '''

 

 

:''Now, some sister here, Billy just showed me, was nice enough to go get this Life magazine, this picture, and blow it up, of that of the seven Angels, and have it taken and sent to me. That is the picture. And now if you'll notice here, as it was <u>leaving</u>, ascending back, when the Angels had brought Their Message,

 

:''And when they <u>ascended</u> up on High, like that, went thirty miles high in the air; and, on the same day, they took the picture of It, science did, and went around the world.

 

:''Later, the Angels appeared as was prophesied. <u>And at the same time, a great cluster of Light left where I was standing</u>, and moved thirty miles high in the air, and around the circle, like the wings of the Angels, and drawed into the skies a shape of a pyramid in the same constellation of Angels that appeared.

 

'''Some message believers point to the cloud and say that William Branham explained the cloud as being a sign that appeared in the heavens before the experience on the hunting trip, i.e. He declares it in the heavens before He does it on earth. He always does that. He shows His signs in the heavens first.  However, doesn't this statement appear to be talking about the fact that these events took place before the meetings that were held where William Branham spoke his series on the Seven Seals?'''

 

 

:''But did you notice before the Seven Seals was revealed, before the great mysterious Light showed forth in the heavens up here at above Tucson, Flagstaff, <u>where we were</u>? Brother Fred, two of the man that was... the two men was with me that morning...

:''<u>'''That day'''</u> they took pictures all across southern United States and Mexico. There it hangs now in the Life Magazine, still a mystery to them. But He declares it in the heavens before He does it on earth. He always does that. He shows His signs in the heavens first.''

 

 

:''And I started up the mountain, running as hard as I could on the other side. All of a sudden, I thought somebody shot me. I never heard such a blast; it shook the whole country. And, when it did, standing before me was seven Angels in a cluster.

:''<u>There was that circle coming up from the earth, like a mist forming. When It did, It went plumb up into the mountain, begin to circle on westward, from the way It come. Science found It after a while, thirty miles high and twenty-five miles across</u>, just exactly in the circle of the pyramid.

 

:''In there I watched it until that circle went up, started sweeping up, and they turned into like a mystic light, like a fog. Just exactly the way... How many seen the picture of It that was taken in Houston? Remember that? See? Well, that's just the way this was. It turned into the same thing, It kept going higher and higher. 

 

'''Are you surprised that you haven't noticed these quotes earlier?  It appears that even Billy Paul Branham was confused by all of this, believing himself that his dad was hunting below the cloud when it appeared.  Here is what Billy Paul said in the preface to the book, The Revelation of the Seven Seals. '''

 

:''The Word of the Lord has promised that He would send to the earth once again the spirit of Elijah in the form of that End Time Messenger who was the Angel to the Seventh Church Age in these final closing days of time. We believe firmly that this promise was fulfilled in the vindicated ministry of our precious brother, William Marrion Branham. Throughout the life of this humble servant of the Lord, who so epitomized the Spirit of Christ, we find manifestations of God, which were so perfectly vindicated that they cannot be explained away by any natural reasoning. Of the hundreds of thousands of visions which the Lord gave to Brother Branham around the world, not one time has there ever occurred a vision which was not confirmed and attested to be the Word of the Lord. On December 30, 1962 at the Branham Tabernacle, Jeffersonville, Indiana, Brother Branham brought a message entitled Sirs, Is This The Time? [The Spoken Word Vol. II No.11] In this Message he told of a vision that instructed him to move to Tucson, Arizona with his family. This vision foretold a blast that would take place, the force of which would shake the whole country. '''<u>This vision was fulfilled on Feb. 28, 1963 when 40 miles northeast of Tucson, Brother Branham was caught up in a constellation of seven angels and was told to return to his church in Jeffersonville, Indiana, where the mysteries of the Seven Seals would be revealed to him</u>.''' ''

 

 

 

 

 

On February 28, 1963, a thrust assisted Thor rocket was launched from pad 75-3-5 at Vandenburg Air Force base in California carrying a Keyhole 4 military surveillance satellite.  The rocket started to veer off course and was intentionally destroyed at an altitude of 146,000 feet at 1:52pm.

 

 

 

 

#The explosion of the rocket was at the same height as the height of the cloud (the height of the explosion was exact while the height of the cloud was estimated). 

Dr. McDonald reports that the cloud appeared in the Mesosphere, but that clouds cannot form at this height. <ref> http://www.spokenwordchurch.com/themessageresourcelibrary/Articles/Cloud%20Article%20-%20Dr%20McDonalds%20Cloud%20Investigation%20Supplement%201963.pdf </ref>  However, Dr. McDonald has subsequently been proven wrong - visible exhaust clouds can reach into the Mesosphere. <ref>http://www.atoptics.co.uk/highsky/rktr1j.htm </ref> More recently, NASA has been testing wind currents at high altitudes by creating extremely high clouds with chemicals.  Some of these appear shapes similar to the February 28, 1963 photograph published in Life Magazine and exist without an “exhaust trail” back to the launch site. <ref>http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/pictures/120327-nasa-rockets-clouds-wallops-jet-stream-edge-space-science/#/nasa-rocket-launch-strange-clouds-blue_50490_600x450.jpg</ref> 

Unlike the 1960s, anyone can now see rocket launches from the Vandenburg Air Force Base in California on Youtube.<ref> http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=SGBuQL-FvGI </ref>  Depending on conditions, these launches can be seen from Tucson and beyond, and can leave clouds stretching into the mesosphere that remain illuminated long after sunset. <ref> http://spaceflightnow.com/minotaur/cosmic/launch.html and http://www.atoptics.co.uk/highsky/rktr1j.htm </ref>   

Questions have also been raised as to why was the cloud not seen prior to appearing over Flagstaff. However, as the cloud was similar to a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctilucent_cloud noctilucent cloud], it would not be visible until the sky began to darken at sunset.  Dr. MacDonald made no mention of the noctilucent cloud phenomena in his report.

Questions have also been raised about a second cloud accompanying the cloud.  While this does present an issue for the Thor rocket explanation (although not insurmountable), it also presents a problem for those vying for a supernatural explanation.  Were there 2 sets of angels?  Why didn't William Branham mention the second cloud if he was standing right underneath it?

Those who judge William Branham to be a prophet will spiritualize these discrepancies, rather than admitting that he made an error.  Some of these spiritual interpretations include:

#The southern tip of the cloud was 10 miles north of Flagstaff when the picture in Life magazine was taken.<ref> http://www.spokenwordchurch.com/themessageresourcelibrary/Articles/Cloud%20Article%20-%20Dr%20McDonalds%20Cloud%20Investigation%20Supplement%201963.pdf  </ref>  10 miles north of Flagstaff there is a mountain called “Sunset Crater” that is a cone-shaped volcano without a peak. <ref> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset_Crater </ref>

#Junior Jackson told William Branham a dream in 1962 <ref> Reproach for the Cause of the Word, 12-23-62</ref> of William Branham taking the top off of a pyramid mountain and exposing white rock.  William Branham often relays this dream when speaking about the Angels coming to meet him. Sunset Peak, which looks like a pyramid from the east, is located on the east ridge of the Galiuro Mountains in the Coronado National Forest.  

#In the book of Daniel, the Angel Gabriel was caught for 21 days fighting with the Prince of Persia before he appeared to Daniel. Perhaps these angels were caught for a few days between Flagstaff and Sunset.  

#In 1955, William Branham said that based on his personal vision of Jesus Christ, that Hofmann’s head of “Christ at thirty-three” was the most accurate painting of Jesus that he had ever seen. <ref> In the sermon “How the Angel Came to Me” (January 17, 1955)</ref>  Nelson Rockerfeller, the son of the man who had purchased this painting of Jesus from Hofmann, appears on the front cover of the May 1963 Life Magazine. #William Branham discovered that the inverse of this picture fits into the circle of the cloud <ref>“Rising of the Sun” (April 18, 1965)</ref> like white wig over a judge. Behind the picture of the cloud in the May issue of Life Magazine was a picture of a moon rainbow.  When held to the light, it is reminiscent of Revelation 10:1 which says, And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head”  

==Problems with the Spiritual Interpretation==

Questions that must be asked if the cloud is seen to be supernatural in origin:

#If the cloud is related to the events which occurred at [[Rattlesnake Mesa]], why didn't the cloud appear there?

#Why did the Cloud appear 8 days prior to the fulfillment of the [[Prophecy of the Cloud|vision]]?

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