The Power of Pluto Angular in 31 UFO Moments
The Power of Pluto Angular in 31 UFO Moments 1949 – 2023
Astrologer Maureen Richmond, Ph.D.
Pluto may not be an authentic planet in the eyes of official science, but when it comes to moments in time when the portals of consciousness open to let a ray of paranormality enter this world via UFO encounters, tiny Pluto manages to pack a considerable punch.
[See Pluto in the outermost orbit, which is plainly tilted to the plane of the solar system. The eccentricity of Pluto’s orbit is one reason why conventional science does not consider Pluto a member of the solar system’s planetary family.]
Relegated now by mainstream science to mere planetoid status, Pluto nevertheless seems to show up in all the right astrological places. And what are those right places? None other than positions conjunct the Ascendant, Zenith, Descendant, or Nadir of event charts cast for the times when unidentified flying objects have manifested to human observers, sparking some of the most extraordinary and transformative experiences known to humankind.
[See the Ascendant at left, the Midheaven or Zenith at top, the Descendant at right, and the IC or Nadir at bottom.]
Angular position in the astrological chart has long been known by the astrological community to carry considerable influence, whether for an event or an individual person’s chart. When any planetary body, the Sun, or the Moon are conjunct the Ascendant or rising point, the Zenith or overhead point, the Descendant or setting point, or the Nadir or root of the sky point, the nature of that celestial body is strongly imprinted on the events of the corresponding moment. Interestingly, this was the case in regard to Pluto for 31 UFO encounters which transpired between 1949 and 2023, as is shown in the examples below. (All calculations are in the Tropical Zodiac and Placidus House System.)
Pluto Conjunct the Ascendant in 7 UFO Encounters 1953 – 2023
On January 28, 1953, at 9:35 pm in airspace over Albany, New York, a strange sight was observed by a U.S. Air Force pilot flying at an altitude of 6000 feet. The pilot encountered one bright light which then morphed into a triangular shaped craft, split into 2 triangles, and then vanished. A chart calculated for the ground location shows retrograde Pluto at 22 degrees of Leo just 6 degrees above the Ascendant at 28 degrees of Leo, having just risen, therefor conjunct the Ascendant and hence angular. This position would be relevant for an altitude of 6000 feet as well. (Source of sighting data: David Marler, Triangular UFOs, 129.)
Pluto was only 4 degrees above the Ascendant on March 19, 1977, when at 8 pm in Ontario, Canada, a red triangular UFO streaked out of the sky and silently hovered over a car on the highway, pulsating with a red glow as it flashed red and turquoise lights and emitted a golden glow from its undercarriage. With the event Ascendant at 17 degrees of Libra, Pluto at 13 degrees of Libra had just risen, and so was conjunct the Ascendant and hence angular. (Source of sighting data: David Marler, Triangular UFOs, 96.)
Again, Pluto was conjunct the Ascendant when on January 31, 1978, at 11 pm in Vineland, NJ, a witness observed a silent triangular craft with base forward as it flew. The Ascendant of the event was 20 degrees of Libra, with Pluto at 17 degrees of Libra just 3 degrees above the eastern horizon line, making Pluto conjunct the Ascendant and hence angular. (Source of sighting data: David Marler, Triangular UFOs, 98 – 99.)
Pluto was also conjunct the Ascendant and therefore angular on February 22, 1978, when at 9:40 pm in Newcastle, CA, several witnesses observed a triangular or delta-shaped craft moving slowly and hovering 2000 to 3000 feet above a highway as it emitted a low pitched hum. With the Ascendant of the moment at 21 degrees of Libra, Pluto at 16 degrees of Libra was only 5 degrees of zodiacal longitude above the Ascendant, had just risen, was still conjunct the Ascendant, and hence was angular. (Source of sighting data: David Marler, Triangular UFOs, 100.)
Pluto also made quite an astrological appearance during the Belgian Triangle Wave of 1990. On March 30, 1990, at 11:49 pm over Semmerzake, Belgium, radar registered a triangular mystery craft, one of many which traveled at astounding speeds but produced no sonic booms. At the time of radar contact, the Ascendant of the moment was 19 degrees of Scorpio, with Pluto tightly conjunct the Ascendant at 17 degrees of Scorpio. (Source of sighting data: David Marler, Triangular UFOs, 22.)
[Pluto conjunct the Ascendant at the time a triangular ufo registered on Belgian radar.]
The so-called Illinois Invasion of January 2000 also contained an event apparently driven by Pluto conjunct the Ascendant and hence angular. At 5:03 am on January 5, 2000, witnesses observed a UFO over Millstadt, IL. Pluto was precisely conjunct the Ascendant at the time, with both Pluto and the Ascendant located at 12 degrees of Sagittarius.
Then, in 2023, yet another UFO sighting took place with Pluto at the Ascendant and therefore angular. On July 28, 2023, at 8:18 pm, witnesses observed a silent orb trailing a tail of light as it crossed the sky in Lexington, MO. The Ascendant of the moment was 3 degrees of Aquarius, with retrograde Pluto at 29 degrees of Capricorn just 4 degrees of zodiacal longitude above the Ascendant, and therefore angular. (Source of sighting data: MUFON Journal, September 2023, 7 – 8.)
Pluto Conjunct the Zenith or Midheaven in 7 UFO Encounters 1949 – 2017
Pluto has also played a role in ufo sightings and encounters from a position directly overhead, or conjunct the Zenith. One such event occurred early in modern ufo history. In the mid-twentieth century, Albuquerque’s Sandia Base was a beehive of activity centered around the development of nuclear weaponry. On March 13, 1949, at 9:53 pm, two military policemen sighted a bluish or greenish-white silent spherical object as it hovered in the sky over the military base stocked with the only nuclear arsenal in the world at that time. The overhead or zenith point of the moment, and hence the Midheaven, sat at 15 degrees of Leo, the precise positioning of retrograde Pluto, also 15 degrees of Leo. For this event apparently intended as a comment on the presence of nuclear weapons, Pluto was smack dab on the Zenith or Midheaven and hence powerfully angular. (Source of sighting data: Robert L. Hastings, UFOs and Nukes, electronic copy with no pagination.)
Pluto was again conjunct the Zenith or Midheaven on January 6, 1953, when at 3 am, police officers and citizens in Dallas, TX, viewed an arrowhead-shaped unknown craft. With a green nose light and white light coming off what appeared to be wings, the craft rose to an astounding altitude of 100,000 feet, according to an air traffic controller who also observed the event. At the time of the event, Pluto at 22 degrees of Leo was conjunct the Zenith or Midheaven at 21 degrees of Leo. Pluto was therefore only one degree past an exact conjunction to the Zenith point and therefore was astrologically powerful at this moment when the laws of flight were apparently transcended. (Source of sighting data: David Marler, Triangular UFOs, 67 – 68.)
On November 14, 1957 at 6:22 am in Camarillo, CA, a hospital employee on the way to work sighted a mysterious triangular craft moving with base forward, not point forward as standard aeronautics would dictate. Pluto at 2 degrees of health-care related Virgo was just 5 degrees past the Zenith point at 27 degrees of Leo, and therefore angular. (Source of sighting data: David Marler, Triangular UFOs, 73.)
A large, silent triangular craft was seen hovering and in flight by a scientific observation team at work on the tarmac of an abandoned airfield on May 24, 1973, at 9:20 pm in Farmington, MO. Pluto at 2 degrees of Libra was just 5 degrees away from precise conjunction to the Zenith or Midheaven, located at 7 degrees of Libra at event time. Pluto was thus angular and powerful by virtue of conjunction to the Midheaven. (Source of sighting data: David Marler, Triangular UFOs, 88.)
Pluto was angular at the sighting of yet another triangular craft on April 4, 1975, when at 1 am in Newton Grove, NC, a silent triangle-shaped craft with edges lit and a central light was observed hovering, moving much more slowly than aircraft, and emitting a slight humming as observers watched. Pluto was zodiacally located at 8 degrees of Libra, with the Zenith of the moment at 9 degrees of Libra. Pluto was thus only one degree shy of the Zenith. Pluto was therefore conjunct the Midheaven, angular, and hence powerful to generate effects. (Source of sighting data: David Marler, Triangular UFOs, 93 – 94.)
[Chart for Newton Grove UFO Sighting with Pluto conjunct the Zenith or MC.]
In Canada only a few years later, yet another sighting of a triangular UFO occurred with Pluto at the Midheaven and therefore angular. On April 26, 1978, at 11 pm in Welland, Ontario, three adults in a car watched as a silent triangular craft flashed red, white, and blue lights. Pluto at 15 degrees of Libra was just one degree shy of the Zenith or Midheaven at 16 degrees of Libra. Pluto was therefore angular and thus influential. (Source of sighting data: David Marler, Triangular UFOs, 102.)
More recently, Pluto was again conjunct the Zenith on August 26, 2017, when at 10 pm in West Islip, NY, a silent diamond shaped craft was observed on a deserted beach. For this event, Pluto at 17 degrees of Capricorn was just 3 degrees shy of the Zenith or Midheaven at 20 degrees of Capricorn. Pluto was thus angular and powerful. (Source of sighting data: MUFON Journal, December 2023, 15.)
Pluto Conjunct the Descendant in 13 UFO Encounters 1969 - 2023
On August 30, 1969, at 7:30 pm in Bucharest, Romania, witnesses saw a dull orange triangular craft flying with base forward, followed by three blobs or globules. Pluto at 24 degrees of Virgo was precisely setting and therefore conjunct the Descendant of the moment at 24 degrees of Virgo. (Source of sighting data: David Marler, Triangular UFOs, 81.)
On May 10, 1977, at 5:10 am in Rome, GA, two witnesses saw a triangular craft as it hovered for 10 minutes at an altitude of 1000 feet. Pluto at 12 degrees of Libra had just set in the west and was 3 degrees of zodiacal longitude below the Descendant of the moment at 15 degrees of Libra. Pluto was therefore angular and powerful. (Source of sighting data: David Marler, Triangular UFOs, 97.)
A mere week later, yet another riveting ufo encounter took place while Pluto was conjunct the Descendant. On May 17, 1977, at 3:45 am in Memphis, TN, police officers sighted a pyramid-shaped ufo the size of a football field as it hovered low at a mere 200 feet above ground level over power lines and roads in the urban landscape, blinking red and green lights. Pluto at 12 degrees of Libra was 3 degrees of zodiacal longitude above the Descendant of the event moment at 9 degrees of Libra. Pluto was thus setting, conjunct the Descendant of the event moment, and angular. (Source of sighting data: David Marler, Triangular UFOs, 94 – 96.)
[Chart for Huge Pyramid UFO of Memphis with Pluto setting.]
Pluto was also setting on August 2, 1979, at 11:30 pm in Herndon, KS, when numerous observers saw a silent fifty-foot long triangular craft with red lights on each corner as it hovered and then emitted sound as it began to move. Pluto was astrologically located at 17 degrees of Libra, just 4 degrees above the Descendant of the moment at 13 degrees of Libra. Pluto was therefore angular and powerful. (Source of sighting data: David Marler, Triangular UFOs, 104.)
Low Bradfield Village in England was the scene of a ufo sighting which occurred at a time when Pluto was angular and hence influential. On July 29, 1995, at 12:15 am, residents noticed a triangular craft larger than an airliner as it flew low and made a humming sound. Pluto at 28 degrees of Scorpio was 6 degrees above the Descendant or setting point of the moment at 22 degrees of Scorpio. Pluto was thus angular and powerful during this suburban sighting. (Source of sighting data: David Marler, Triangular UFOs, 143 – 144.)
In Chicago, IL, on October 31, 2004, at 6:45 pm, hundreds of residents of the Tinley Park area watched as a black triangle ufo hung in the sky. Pluto at 21 degrees of travel-oriented Sagittarius was just 4 degrees above the Descendant of the moment at 17 degrees of Sagittarius. Pluto was thus angular and hence powerful in this mass ufo sighting. (Source of sighting data: Unknown.)
In 2020, hundreds of residents in the area of Kansas City, MO, also experienced a mass sighting while Pluto was angular. On April 12, observers noted a disc-shaped ufo at 12:45 pm. At event time, Pluto at 25 degrees of Capricorn was just 3 degrees below the Descendant of the moment at 28 degrees of Capricorn. Pluto was therefore conjunct the Descendant, angular, and astrologically potent during this mass ufo sighting in middle America. (Source of sighting data: Missouri MUFON Website.)
On October 31, 2021, Pluto was also setting and conjunct the Descendant when at 11 pm in St. Ignace, MI, witnesses observed a hexagon-shaped ufo some 30 – 100 feet in diameter as it hovered over a Great Lakes harbor area. At event time, Pluto at 25 degrees of Capricorn was 3 degrees of zodiacal longitude above the Descendant at 22 degrees of Capricorn. Pluto was thus conjunct the Descendant and angular for this unique sighting, which occurred in a location where one year later, a similarly configured ufo would be gunned out of the sky by U.S. military, under order from the White House. (Source of sighting data: MUFON Journal, December 2023, 17.)
The Kansas City area again in 2022 was the location of a mass ufo sighting which transpired while Pluto was setting, or conjunct the Descendant. On August 10, at 5 am, witnesses saw a ufo hovering over an urban area. Pluto at 27 degrees of Capricorn sat just 2 degrees below the Descendant of the moment at 29 degrees of Capricorn. Pluto was therefore conjunct the Descendant, angular, and hence astrologically powerful. On the same day in northwest Missouri, another sighting occurred at 5:15 am. There, the Descendant of the moment was 2 degrees of Aquarius. Pluto at 27 degrees of Capricorn was just 5 degrees below the Descendant of the event moment and therefore angular. (Source of sighting data: Unknown.)
Another hexagonally-themed ufo sighting occurred while Pluto was setting or conjunct the Descendant on August 28, 2022. In Louisville, KY, at 4:15 am, observers saw a strange sight. In the sky a mere 300 feet above ground level hovered two ufo objects, one round with a hexagonally-shaped bank of lights in the undercarriage, the other a bluntly shaped oval. At the same time but unbeknown to the observers, a nearby MADAR node registered an urgent alert for the potential presence of a ufo. Pluto in retrograde motion was located zodiacally at 27 degrees of Capricorn, just 2 degrees below the Descendant for the event moment at 29 degrees of Capricorn. Pluto was thus setting, conjunct the Descendant, and angular. (Source of sighting data: MUFON Journal, December 2023, 17 – 18.)
On February 1, 2023, at 3:47 pm in Columbia, NJ, observers watched as some 50 white orbs flew low in formation, making patterns as they went, and then vanished. Pluto was zodiacally located at 29 degrees of Capricorn, just 4 degrees above the Descendant of the event moment at 25 degrees of Capricorn. Pluto was thus setting, conjunct the Descendant, angular, and astrologically powerful for this mystifying encounter. (Source of sighting data: MUFON Journal, November 2023, 13.)
A month later in Manchester, UK, yet another unusual ufo sighting took place while Pluto was angular. On March 1, 2023, at 1:21 pm, a witness looking out over a construction site saw a sphere with no visible means of propulsion traversing the site. Pluto at 29 degrees and 30 minutes of Capricorn was almost 4 degrees above the Descendant of the moment at 26 degrees of Capricorn, making Pluto conjunct the Descendant, angular, and powerful at this time. (Source of sighting data: MUFON Journal, April 2023, 7.)
The same month saw yet another distinctive ufo sighting which occurred with Pluto conjunct the Descendant and therefore angular. On March 27, 2023, at 1:38 pm in Tacoma, WA, observers saw a silent, domed ufo as it flew at low altitude in a tumbling movement, heading against the wind. Pluto was then located at 0 degrees of air sign Aquarius, just 2 degrees of zodiacal longitude below the Descendant of the moment at 2 degrees of Aquarius. Pluto was thus setting and hence highly influential on this event. (Source of sighting data; MUFON Journal, May 2023, 9.)
Pluto Conjunct the Nadir in 4 UFO Encounters 1966 – 2023
Pluto was conjunct the Nadir in the event chart for one of the world’s most compelling ufo encounters. This one occurred in the mid 1960s in Australia, and has been the subject of intense discussion and scrutiny ever since. On April 6, 1966, at 10:30 am, more than 100 students and teachers at Westall High School in Melbourne were shocked to view multiple silver disc-shaped ufos hovering and descending near their school grounds. One craft even landed in a nearby wooded area and was viewed at close range by one of the students. The whole event persisted for many minutes, offering all the witnesses an extended viewing opportunity. At the time the encounter began, Pluto was located at 16 degrees of Virgo, just 1 degree beyond the Nadir for the event moment at 15 degrees of Virgo. Pluto was therefore conjunct the Nadir and angular for this world-changing occurrence. (Source of sighting data: Ross Coulthart, In Plain Sight, 54 – 55.)
[Chart for Westall School Incident with Pluto Conjunct the Nadir.]
That same calendar year brought yet another ufo encounter which would occur while Pluto was conjunct the Nadir. In Elmer, NJ, on December 15, 1966, at 5:30 pm, four persons witnessed a triangle-shaped ufo with blinking lights as it hovered over a car on a highway, the ufo flying with the blunt edge forward, defying known principles of aeronautics. Pluto at the time was located at 21 degrees of Virgo, 6 degrees beyond the Nadir point at 15 degrees of Virgo. Pluto was thus widely conjunct the Nadir at event time and therefore can be considered angular. (Source of sighting data: David Marler, Triangular UFOs, 134 – 135.)
On March 27, 2023, at 9:38 pm in Marietta, GA, a video camera caught an image of what appears to have been a ufo concealing itself in a chemtrail or jet exhaust trail. Pluto was then located at 0 degrees of air sign Aquarius, with the Nadir of the event moment at 2 degrees of Aquarius. Pluto newly in the innovative and futuristic sign of Aquarius was thus conjunct the Nadir and therefore angular in this ufo sighting. (Source of sighting data: MUFON Journal, May 2023, 6.)
Pluto again played a critical role in the timing of a ufo sighting which occurred on April 3, 2023, when at 8:37 pm in Holly Hill, FL, observers noted two orange boomerang-shaped ufos travelling at high speed. Pluto was located at 0 degrees of space-age Aquarius, with the Nadir of the moment positioned at 28 degrees of Capricorn. Pluto was only 2 degrees beyond the Nadir. Pluto was thus conjunct the Nadir and angular for this ufo sighting. (Source of sighting data: MUFON Journal, June 2023, 7 – 8.)
The Implications
As the 31 ufo sightings and encounters described above have demonstrated, moments of contact with a reality beyond the everyday world have taken place in many cases when the planetoid Pluto was either rising and conjunct the Ascendant, culminating or conjunct the Zenith, setting or conjunct the Descendant, or anti-culminating and hence conjunct the Nadir of the event chart.
These celestial positionings depend entirely upon the rotation of the Earth. It is the regular eastward turning of the Earth on its own axis which causes the appearance that celestial bodies rise, culminate, set, or anti-culminate. That such a fundamental astronomical movement of our own planet could be determinative for the timing of ufo sightings and encounters is a stunning thought, suggesting the notion that fundamental natural rhythms of the solar system play some role in the formation of meetings with the next levels of reality. In the case of this particular study, the implication is that opportunities to meet the next level of cosmic existence sometimes come when the planetoid Pluto has been made angular by virtue of the Earth’s normal daily rotation.
Obviously, however, stunning moments of cosmic connection do not happen every single time Pluto becomes angular in a day, nor do they occur all over our planet every day. Instead, the occurrence of such encounters is rare, even though the opportunity is abundant. All the same, the involvement of angular Pluto is impossible to ignore.
In ancient myth, Pluto is a figure linked to drastic change, thorough-going transformation, elimination of waste and detritus, and complete catharsis.
Pluto draws its astrological themes from the Greek god Hades, who is the template for the Roman deity Pluto. Hades ruled over the kingdom of the dead, and saw to it that souls in between incarnations benefitted spiritually from their time in his underground zone. Similar to purgatory but not permanent, the underground zone of Hades served as a spiritual clearing house preparatory to experiencing a next stage in existence. Still, Hades had power, and much more of it than did any of his subjects, they being the mere shades of the dead. Hades had the upper hand and could compel. As a result, Pluto in modern astrology is connected with immense power and even with coercion.
As a result, Pluto as a symbolic indicator of ufo moments could well be saying that when humans encounter these craft or whatever they may be, they are face to face with a massively superior power. We might have guessed as much.
Even so, this may not be all there is to the implications of Pluto’s position of angularity in notable ufo encounters. Much more research is needed on the relationship of celestial positioning correlated to ufo sightings and encounters, but even at this early stage, it is possible to conclude that there exists a close relationship between ufo sightings and encounters on one hand, and celestial factors on the other.
In the case of Pluto in particular, it is possible to conclude that whenever Pluto is angular, potential exists for confrontation with the extraordinary. Interestingly, Pluto is angular four times every day for a period of about 40 minutes each time, allowing a 5 degree orb before and after each angle of the chart. This means that roughly 11% of every day, the opening of a Plutonian portal into the unknown takes place. With today’s computer-based calculational capacity, these times of day can be rather conveniently pre-identified for those who wish to know.