The Mercury-Mars Combination and UFO Sightings

The Mercury - Mars Combination and UFO Sightings

Astrologer Maureen Richmond, Ph.D.

Chatty Mercury and testy Mars working together in the zodiac have a tendency to kick up a ruckus. When the inherently responsive Mercury gets jazzed up by the volatile nature of Mars, tempers boil and harsh words fly. Sometimes, however, the commotion takes a different direction, erupting not in verbal contention but rather in the potentially disconcerting form of anomalous sightings and encounters. That was the case in four dramatic ufo sighting encounters, all of which occurred when the planets Mercury and Mars were in tight zodiacal interaction.

Three Conjunctions

Take, for example, an astounding moment which occurred on January 6, 1949 at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Adjacent to Kirtland AFB at that time was an atomic weapons storage site. At 5:30 pm on the day in question, military police at the base sighted a diamond shaped, bright white ufo moving faster over the base than any jet ever seen. Given the sensitive nature of the military installation, the appearance of such a craft in the vicinity of nuclear armaments caused quite a stir. As the chart below indicates, travel oriented Mercury at 1 degree of futuristic Aquarius stood closely conjunct speed demon Mars at 2 degrees of Aquarius. The one degree of difference takes nothing away, qualifying this arrangement as a close conjunction, thus blending Mercury energy with that of Mars. As all astrological aficionados know, Mars is martial. When in conjunction with the mental planet, it awakens the potential for events directly related to and concerns about implements of war, which nuclear weapons surely are.

Mercury and Mars were also conjunct on March 30, 1998, when a silent black triangular-shaped ufo was sighted by civilian passersby in Stafford, England at 8:30 pm. As the chart below indicates, Mercury was retrograde, a distinctive astrological signature seen in many ufo sightings. In this case, retrograde Mercury was positioned at 21 degrees of Aries, just one degree off the exact conjunction to Mars, located zodiacally at 20 degrees of Aries, and fast approaching the exact retrograde conjunction. In addition, both Mercury and Mars were closely conjunct Saturn, further emphasizing the Mercury-Mars conjunction itself. In fact, Mercury was in between conjunctions to Saturn and Mars in the sign of Aries. The whole Mercury-Mars-Saturn group was precisely setting at the time of the event and therefore conjunct the Descendant, a clear indication that angularity of prominent configurations corresponds to noticeable events. See below.

A similar Mercury-Mars pattern pertained in August of 2004 when a rash of triangular ufo sightings occurred in the area of Tinley Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. On August 21, thousands of civilian witnesses observed massive black triangle craft in various locations. Just two days before, an exact conjunction between retrograde Mercury and Mars had formed at 5 degrees of Virgo Mars. Greatly enhancing the Mercury-Mars conjunction at 5 degrees of Virgo was an exact opposition of these two to the planet Uranus at 5 degrees of Pisces. From such a configuration there might legitimately be expected highly anomalistic events. Interestingly, in the days before and after the Tinley Park sightings, similar ufo sightings were reported from around the world, making August 2004 a true flap period. As is apparent, this worldwide wave of ufo sightings took place in late August 2004 under retrograde Mercury conjunct Mars, with both in opposition to Uranus.

An Opposition

The Kirtland 1949, Stafford 1998, and Tinley Park 2004 ufo sightings all took place during a conjunction of Mercury and Mars. Equally powerful in the production of ufo sighting events appears to have been the opposition of these two bodies. Such was the case on March 24, 1950, at 3:05 and 3:47 pm, when military police at Sandia Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico spotted several round silver ufos hovering over the base and then rocketing into infinity at around 700 miles per hour. At the time, Mercury stood at 1 degree of Aries and Mars stood at 1 degree of Libra, an exact opposition. What is more, both Mercury and Mars stood square to Uranus, then located zodiacally at 1 degree of Cancer. Thus, a T square formation was in place during this event, with Mercury opposite Mars and both of these square to Uranus. Reflected in this event featuring anomalous sightings and high speed flight are the rapid action of Mercury, the militaristic overtones of Mars, and the futuristic advanced technology associated with Uranus.

Summary and Conclusion

As these four examples demonstrate, compelling ufo sighting encounters have been known to occur shortly after and during exact conjunctions and oppositions between transiting Mercury and Mars. In fact, the conjunction and opposition of these two bodies correspond convincingly to gripping ufo sightings, including stand-offs at military bases and summer night high drama witnessed by large civilian populations. Such sighting encounters grow even more startling when in combination with other planets, such as the conjunction to Saturn in the Stafford 1998 event, the opposition to Uranus and the worldwide flap of August 2004, and the square to Uranus in the Sandia 1950 event.

Enthusiasts of astrological timing should therefore keep their eyes on the ephemeris whenever not searching the skies for anomalistic sightings. A case in point is January 27, 2024, when Mercury and Mars will conjoin at 17 degrees of Capricorn. Adding power is a direct station of Uranus which takes place on the same date.

January 27, 2024 with the Mercury-Mars conjunction and Uranus direct station approaches fast. It brings with it notable potential for anomalistic sightings and encounters, especially of the ufo kind.