What Was the Attraction on the Mountain?
The Vision
On December 22, 1962, William Branham claimed to have had a vision in which he saw himself and his seven-year-old son Joseph in the desert near Tucson, Arizona. He noticed a group of tiny birds in a nearby bush which soon flew away. Then he saw a flock of larger birds fly past him. As he looked to the west, while still in the vision, he saw what he said were, "five of the mightiest angels I have saw in my life," flying towards him. As they approached, he heard what sounded like a sonic boom in the distant south and thought that this might mean that he was to be killed in an explosion. He dismissed the notion when he saw that Joseph was not affected. Besides, there were five angels before him. A single angel would signify death, he reasoned, but five was the number of grace. He then understood that the angels were there to give him his "new commission." The vision suddenly ended without an explanation of what this commission would be. 1
For decades, followers of William Branham have believed that after sunset on February 28, 1963, over Flagstaff, AZ, a large, glowing cloud would provide William Branham with supernatural vindication of his commission.
Hunting at Sunset Mountain
WMB's Campsite at "Sunset Mountain"
3D satellite image © Google Earth
To see a satellite image of the area yourself online, Click Here.
In January, 1963, Branham moved to Tucson, Arizona, where Billy Paul had also moved. Between January 12 and February 23, he preached 17 sermons in the Phoenix area and Tucson. He had plans to go Javelina hunting in the desert northeast of Tucson on March 1, 1963, the date that hunting season began. The last sermon he preached before he was to leave was in Tucson on February 23 called, "A Door in a Door" (message #63-0223). Sometime between February 23 and March 3, Branham received a request to speak at a prayer gathering on March 4 in Houston, Texas. According to Branham's daughter, Rebekah Smith, Branham postponed his hunting plans and left Tucson for Houston on March 3 (see, "The Road to Sunset," Only Believe, magazine, pg. 6; see also, Supernatural: THE LIFE OF WILLIAM BRANHAM, VOL III, Book 6, p.127 by Owen Jorgensen). However, Lee Vayle (a close associate of Branham's) said that George Smith (Rebekah Smith's husband) told him that Branham was in Texas on February 28 ("Last Day Thoughts, Lee Vayle – August 2, 2009", accessed from https://christiangospelchurch.org/mystery-cloud-evidence/ on April 30, 2026). Now we have a husband (albeit hearsay) and his wife (Branham's own daughter) apparently disagreeing on whether Branham was in Tucson or in Texas on February 28, 1963.
In any case, Branham preached the sermon "A Absolute" (message #63-0304) on March 4 in Houston, where he told the audience:
And the other day, when I had arrangements made for something else...After the prayer meeting in Houston had finished, Branham immediately went back to Tucson, but Billy Paul continued east to Jeffersonville.
...That’s why I canceled out something else, and got in here. I got to drive hundreds of miles tonight, back to Tucson, Arizona, because I come to put my faith with yours.
On March 6, 1963, Branham and two friends (Eugene Norman and Fred Sothmann) set out to hunt javelina in a favorite location of his a few miles southeast of Klondyke, Arizona, in a wilderness area roughly 50 miles northeast of Tucson. They set up camp at their usual spot near the north end of Rattlesnake Mesa. Message believers commonly call the area "Sunset Mountain" after Branham referred to the area as such in a sermon in 1965. (Although their location was about 16 miles north of Sunset Peak, the area became known as "Sunset Mountain" after Branham began to call it that in 1965. See the sermon, "What Is the Attraction on the Mountain?" [message #65-0725E] where Branham once correctly identified the area as "Sunset Peak," but for the rest of the sermon he referred to it as "Sunset Mountain." He presumably did this because it fit well with his Message having come in what he believed to be the "evening time" of church history, as well as in reference to the many times the Bible points to important events happening on or at various mountain locations.)
On the morning of March 8, the three men separated to search for game individually. While they hunted, they were startled by a loud blast. When the three reunited, Branham immediately asked his two friends if they had heard the blast. They said they did, and continued hunting without any further discussion of the blast2, or even any noteworthy clouds in the sky. As we'll see later, Branham claimed the large cloud that appeared on February 28 accompanied the blast he and his friends heard while hunting. But there's a discrepancy with the dates here. The Cloud appeared on February 28, one day before hunting season. And the threesome hadn't even begun their hunting trip until March 6.
The Vision is Interpreted
After the hunting trip, Branham returned to his church in Jeffersonville,
Indiana, to hold a series of special meetings that he had announced almost 2 1/2
months earlier.3 The subject of the meetings was to be, "The Revelation of the
Seven Seals," based on Revelation 5 through 8. From March 18 through 24, Branham
devoted seven evening services to teaching his interpretation of the seven
seals. During the course of the meetings he claimed that the Holy Spirit
swept into his room each day to supernaturally open the seal that he was going to preach
on during each respective evening service.4 On the last evening of the meetings, Branham told his followers
that he finally knew what the vision from December 22 meant. He said that the
two flocks of birds represented two consecutive stages of his ministry, which he
called the First and Second Pulls.5 He told his congregation that after he heard the blast while
hunting with his friends at Sunset, the Holy Spirit told him to return to Jeffersonville to hold
his series of meetings on the seven seals.6 At this time I must point out that since the meetings began, Branham had changed the number
of angels he said he saw in his vision from five to seven.7He said the seven angels from his vision represented his journey back to
Jeffersonville to preach his revelation of the seven seals at those meetings.8
The following May, Eugene Norman showed Branham a curious article in the May 17,
1963 issue of LIFE magazine.9 It reported that a large, ring shaped cloud appeared over
Flagstaff, Arizona, and was so unusually high that it remained illuminated by
the sun for one half-hour after sunset. At the time of the article, the origin
of the cloud was still a mystery. A photograph of the cloud, taken at Flagstaff,
accompanied the article.10 On June 1, 1963, Branham commented on the cloud to a small
gathering of his followers. His explanation is somewhat vague, but he seemed to
say that the photograph depicted the seven angels as they appeared in his vision
of December 22.11 He pointed out that the presence of the cloud coincided with the
approximate dates of his hunting trip at Sunset Mountain. His explanation began
to evolve on June 23, 1963, when he said that the seven angels actually made a
physical appearance to him at Sunset and that the cloud was formed as they
approached.12 Between this date and December 4, 1965, Branham maintained on
several occasions that the photograph in LIFE was taken while he was on his
hunting trip and that his two friends also witnessed the appearance of the
angels (they did not).13
In July, 1965, Branham said that the Lord had just showed him that if he
turned the photo of the cloud 1/4 turn to the right, he would see that the cloud
formed the outline of Jesus' head. He offered this as further vindication that
his Message was the truth.14
There are several serious problems with Branham's explanation of the cloud.
For example, the cloud that was featured in LIFE magazine was photographed on February 28, 1963, and for years Branham led his followers to believe that he was at Sunset Mountain with his two friends on that date. For the next 30 years, this is the date that his followers believed he met with 7 angels while hunting javelina. However, javelina hunting season in Arizona would not begin until the next day, March 1. The Arizona Game and Fish Department's "1962 Big Game Map and Hunt Regulations" pamphlet (which includes February and March of 1963) confirms that javelina hunting season ran from March 1 through 10, 1963. Also, LIFE's cloud
appeared over Flagstaff, which is about 185 miles northwest as the crow flies from where Branham was hunting. William Branham was at the wrong place at the wrong time in relation to LIFE's Cloud. All things considered, there is no connection whatsoever between the appearance of the Cloud and William Branham's claimed angelic visitation at Sunset Mountain.15
From the time Branham had begun to claim that the angels formed the cloud, he
began to credit them for other incidents that he had not mentioned before. For example, if you recall,
Branham said that after he heard the blast while hunting, the Holy Spirit told
him to return to his church to preach on the seals. However, after his discovery of the
cloud he said that the angels told him to do so.16 Also, Branham originally said that the Holy Spirit opened the
seals to him each day of the meetings on the seals, but after the cloud, he said
that the angels took turns opening the seals to him each day.
17
Deuteronomy 18:22 says, " If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord
does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. The
prophet has spoken presumptuously." There are several parts of the vision that
did not come to pass as foretold. First, Branham plainly said he saw five angels
in his vision the first time he told of it. When it allegedly came to pass,
however, he said that seven angels actually appeared.
Second, Branham said that in the vision, his son Joseph was with him. On one
occasion he even said that Joseph was with him when the vision came to pass.18 I questioned Branham's son Joseph about what he saw at Sunset
and he told me that he did not accompany his father on the trip when the angels
supposedly met with Branham.19 The two flocks of birds were also absent from the vision's
fulfillment.
Third, even though Branham claimed to see a group of 5 or 7 angels in his vision (whichever sermon you choose to believe), it wasn't until after he learned of the Cloud in LIFE magazine that he said 7 angels actually appeared to him while he was hunting. Previously, in his series of sermons on the Seven Seals in late March, he claimed the angelic portion of his vision was symbolic of the Holy Spirit when, during each day of the series, He would visit him in his room and reveal to him the meaning of the Seal he was going to preach on that evening.
Finally, Branham said that the blast in his vision came from the distant
south. When it came to pass, however, it was apparently centered at his location
and "almost ... shook the mountains down."20
It is clear that Branham's "THUS SAITH THE LORD" prophetic vision was not from God.
In this article we have examined three aspects of Branham's vision and its
so-called fulfillment and have found ample reason to believe that he was a false
prophet. First, we found many discrepancies in his explanation for the cloud's
origin. Next, we noted that many details in Branham's account of what happened
during this entire episode changed frequently. Finally, we determined that his
vision did not come to pass as foretold. To see a list of quotes Wm. Branham made regarding the appearance of the Cloud, see ADDENDUM IV below.
My desire is that those who follow William Branham's teachings will discover
that his prophetic ministry could not have been commissioned by the Lord and
that the only Message of the hour is the Gospel of Jesus Christ as found in the
Bible.
Revised and updated from, "What Was the Attraction on the Mountain," by John Kennah, Copyright ©1996, The SERVANT, vol. II, issue 96, Christian Awareness Fellowship, Inc. Used by permission. ADDENDUM I: Origin of the Cloud and the Message Believers' Response
ADDENDUM II: Rewriting Message History
ADDENDUM III: Cloud Related Documents From the Files of John Kennah
ADDENDUM IV: Cloud Quotes: William Branham Explicitly Places Himself at Sunset Peak at the Time Cloud was Photographed
ADDENDUM V: Documented research of rocket trails and debris drifting hundreds of miles from their location of origin. 2. Rebekah Smith, "The Road to Sunset," Only Believe (Tucson, AZ, June,
1992), 5:1, pp. 6-7
3. Ibid., pp. 5-6
4. Branham, The Revelation of the Seven Seals (Spoken Word Publications), pp.
122, 178, 231, 269, 279, 336-337, 411, 448, 557
5. Ibid., pp. 565, 577
6. Wm. Branham said, "And the Holy Spirit turned, said, ‘Return to your home immediately, for the Seven Seals is going to be opened’" (Look, April 28, 1963 [tape #63-0428]).
It is interesting that he would have been instructed to return to Jeffersonville
to hold these meetings since he had already announced plans for these meetings 2 1/2 months prior to this (see footnote #3).
7. Branham, The Revelation of the Seven Seals (Spoken Word Publications), pp. 565, 577
8. Branham, The Revelation of the Seven Seals, pp. 577-578
9. Smith, "The Road to Sunset," p. 7
10. "Odd Sights at Heights," Life (May 17, 1963), 54:20, p. 112
11. Branham, "Come, Follow Me," Voice of God Recordings (sermon preached
6-1-63), tape #63-0601
12. Branham, "Standing in the Gap," TSW (sermon preached 6-23-63), 6:7, pp.
20-21. After this date, he maintained that the cloud was formed as the angels
flew away (Cf., Branham, "The Rapture," TSW [sermon preached 12-4-65], 5:14, pp.
32-33)
13. Branham, "Testimony," TSW (sermon preached 11-28-63), 17:5, p.6 A list of
several other example references is available on request.
14. Branham, "What is the Attraction on the Mountain?" TSW (sermon preached
7-25-65) 8:8, p. 22. Later, he added that one could actually see features of
Jesus' face in the cloud (Branham, "Trying to Do God a Service Without it Being
God's Will," TSW [sermon preached 11-27-65], 7:2, pp. 13-14. However, no such
features are evident in the original photograph.
15. Air Force officials and other atmospheric scientists have determined that
the cloud was the result of a rocket launch over Vandenberg Air Force Base earlier that
day. It drifted to Flagstaff where it was discovered and photographed after
sunset. Documents on file.
16. Wm. Branham said, "And right standing beneath that, a man that is setting right present now, was right standing there by me, when seven Angels come down from God, visibly standing right there, and told me about the end time, and these revelations and things of the Book of Revelation, the Seven Seals, and said, ‘Return home, and one by one we'll bring the Message’" (Testimony, November 28, 1963 [tape #63-1128M]). Also, "This Day This Scripture is Fulfilled,"
TSW (sermon preached 2-19-65) 3:8, p. 25
17. Branham, "Standing in the Gap," p. 20
18. Branham, "What is the Attraction on the Mountain?" p.22
19. Letter received from Joseph Branham, Jeffersonville, IN, April 30, 1996.
Letter on file.
20. Branham, The Revelation of the Seven Seals, p. 560
Revised and updated from, "What Was the Attraction on the Mountain," by John Kennah, Copyright ©1996, The SERVANT, vol. II, issue 96, Christian Awareness Fellowship, Inc. Used by permission. Origin of the Cloud and the Message Believers' Response What caused this unusual Cloud formation over the Arizona desert on February 28, 1963? It is true that it was located about 26 miles in altitude. It is not true that clouds do not form this high. However, this cloud was not formed naturally or even supernaturally; it was man-made. During an investigation of the Cloud, Dr. James E. McDonald of the University of Arizona Institute of Atmospheric Physics learned that a series of test missiles were launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the coast north of Los Angeles, California in 1963. Several of those launches left trails in the sky similar to the one that appeared in the May 17, 1963 issue of LIFE magazine. Trails at the altitude of the Cloud are not visible during daylight hours because the sky is too bright for them to be seen (just as stars are not visible during daylight hours). When the sky is dark, these clouds are so high that they remain illuminated by the sun which shines directly on them (just as the sun continues to shine on the moon after sunset). This was a rare phenomenon in 1963 because missile tests were uncommon. When the clouds formed by the rockets began appearing, the public did not know what caused them. The formation of such clouds is now relatively common. I have seen this awesome phenomenon on at least four occasions during the past 8 years here in Tucson because of our close proximity to Vandenberg AFB and White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. It is a fantastic sight to see a brightly-lit cloud in a dark sky. Message believers have attempted to suggest that Dr. McDonald really wasn't sure what caused the formation of the Cloud based on a six page document he published in May 1963 titled, "Status of Investigation of the Northern Arizona Stratospheric Cloud of February 28, 1963". This document was a progress report of his investigation of the Cloud, during which he amassed a large volume of photographs and weather data pertaining to its appearance. It was not meant to be a final analysis of his investigation. However, Message believers misrepresent this report and refer to it as proof that Dr. McDonald was not convinced that the Cloud was formed by the Vandenberg rocket. On page 5 of the report, Dr. McDonald clearly stated, "... [I]t remains uncertain whether one may conclude that the Flagstaff cloud was due to the detonation at Vandenberg. It is necessary to seek still further cross-checks" (emphasis added). The "further cross-checks" were never made because such data was not collected and thus not available to Dr. McDonald. It is clear that in this report, Dr. McDonald had not finished his investigation nor had he drawn a final conclusion of what formed the Cloud. Subsequently, two more articles were published in June and August, 1963. He still had not determined the cause of the Cloud.
Some time later, he became satisfied that the Cloud was the result of the rocket launched from Vandenberg. What did he learn that he didn't previously know? At this point, it is interesting to note that after Dr. McDonald published the above mentioned articles pertaining to the Cloud, other similar clouds began appearing over southwestern skies (see Addendum V). These clouds were immediately explained in various news articles as noctilucent trails caused by the launches of rockets from from Vandenberg AFB.
In a 1996 letter to George Greene of Christian Awareness Fellowship, Aden and Marjorie Meinel (colleagues of Dr. McDonald's at the University of Arizona and authors of Sunsets, Twilights and Evening Skies) said, “Aden was involved with the launch of rockets from Vandenburg AFB, California and immediately recognized the McDonald cloud as from an explosion of a rocket the afternoon of 28 February 1963. We told McDonald of the event. . . . He was disappointed to learn that it was only a man-made cloud.” In a subsequent telephonic phone interview I did with Mrs. Meinel, she told me that Dr. McDonald stopped writing articles on the Cloud after he became convinced of its mundane human origin.
In a letter dated June 5, 1980, Dr. Louis J. Battan (then Director of the University of Arizona Institute of Atmospheric Physics) wrote, "He [Dr. McDonald] convinced himself and others here at the Institute that the cloud was caused by the release of water into the upper atmosphere by the detonation of a rocket fired from Vandenberg." On October 12, 1990, I visited the Physics and Atmospheric Sciences building at the University of Arizona and there I spoke with Dr. Benjamin Herman who was a colleague of Dr. McDonald, along with other staff members there who knew him. Dr. Herman affirmed what Dr. Battan said in his letter, saying that Dr. McDonald knew "without any doubt" that the Cloud was formed as a result of the rocket detonation over Vandenberg AFB.
The simple explanation for the Cloud as being man-made caused Dr. McDonald to lose all interest in publishing any further articles about it. He was convinced that the Cloud was the result of a test missile which was launched from Vandenberg AFB and detonated nearly directly overhead earlier in the day of February 28, 1963. The steady, high speed stratospheric wind carried the Cloud to where it was later discovered over Flagstaff, Arizona after sunset. His interest returned to his real passion, the investigation of UFOs, of which he was a firm believer. Message believers' claims that Dr. McDonald was never sure how the Cloud was formed are therefore unfounded, and they continue to insist that there is no scientific explanation for the Cloud. For those who are still inclined to believe that the Cloud was a supernatural sign sent to confirm Branham's Message, please consider the following:
When the facts are known, we find that there is no connection whatsoever between the Cloud's appearance and Branham's hunting trip in Arizona. In fact, there is nothing in common between the Cloud formation and William Branham at all! Don't take my word for it. Search the facts for yourself!
Rewriting Message History Followers of the Message who admit that the Cloud could not have been photographed while WMB was hunting refer to a single quote as proof that he never said the Cloud in LIFE was the same Cloud he saw while hunting at Sunset Peak. What is the quote they have discovered which changes the whole story? It's this: To many Message believers today, this quote is used to reinterpret over two dozen statements Wm. Branham made between June 23, 1963 and December 4, 1965 where he unambiguously stated that the Cloud in LIFE magazine is photographic affirmation that 7 angels appeared to him while he was hunting. Just one vague statement negates two dozen clear statements he made in the next two and half years of his life. One statement would change what his followers believed—including Billy Paul—for nearly three decades. Message believers say that this statement proves that Wm. Branham said that the Cloud was not formed while he was hunting. They claim he was saying that the Cloud in LIFE appeared either a day or two before, or a day or two after he was hunting at Sunset Peak when the angels appeared to him, but nowhere in between. In other words, they believe he said the Cloud really appeared either before or after he was hunting, but definitely not on the same day. That makes no sense. Especially when you consider that if he the Cloud appeared a day or two after he was there, then he was hunting two or three days before hunting season started! If the Cloud appeared a day or two after he was hunting, that would mean it didn't appear until a day or two after he had alreay left Sunset Peak. This would have placed the date at March 10 or 11, according to the dates of the hunting trip that appear in Rebekah Smith’s June 1992 article in Only Believe magazine. I don’t know of a single Message believer who thinks the Cloud was formed after the angels visited him. Besides, there is too much documentation to suggest that the February 28 date of the Cloud’s appearance is wrong. But, if the Cloud was formed a day or two before he was hunting, that would have meant that it really appeared on March 4 or 5. Again, it's not arguable that the Cloud appeared on any date other than February 28. “...'[B]out day or two before or, day or two after...”. The very quote they’ve interpreted to prove that the Cloud in LIFE was not what Wm. Branham saw at Sunset Peak really indicates that Wm. Branham had no idea when the Cloud appeared in relation to his hunting trip. Instead of supporting their case, this quote actually contradicts what they want it to say. So what did he mean by his statement? If one examines his remarks in context of the entire quote, Wm. Branham isn’t saying that the Cloud was not formed when he was hunting. He is laying the groundwork for the eventual claim that the Cloud in LIFE was indeed photographed at the same time and place he was hunting javelina with his two friends. In this statement, he was saying in effect, “I looked at the date of when the Cloud was photographed and noticed that I was there at about that same time!” The implication being that it was formed at the same time he was hunting at Sunset Peak. The next time he mentioned the Cloud three weeks later, he is not the least ambiguous: And now, the "Life" Magazine picked it up. And I have the--the article here this morning in the "Life" Magazine there, of the show... Now, here it is, the same time I was there. Just five days later, he said, Now, science took the picture of It, you seen It, went on Associated Press. They didn't know what It was. There's a Cloud hanging, twenty-six miles high. That's fifteen miles, or twenty, above even where vapor's at. They don't know what it's all going about, and they're trying to investigate It. And there, right under It, I was standing. And those seven Angels roaring out their voices, of those Seven Seals, standing there. And the witness, three of us, as a witness of the things that was prophesied on the tape, "Sirs, What Time Is It?" And there now they're trying to find out. It's a mystery to them. To those who follow the Message, one seemingly ambiguous statement has negated 25 quotes and nearly 30 years of what this Cloud was said to represent by Wm. Branham’s followers, even forcing Pearry Green to revise his book, The Acts of the Prophet. I believe that this statement, when read in context and compared with 25 others, clearly shows Wm. Branham’s intent was that his followers believe that the Cloud was formed by the 7 angels when they commissioned him while he was hunting javelina on February 28, 1963--something which has been proven by Message believers such as Rebekah Smith and accepted by Message believers worldwide to have been an impossibility. There is a popular video by Message preacher Chad Lamb, in which he attempts to resolve the apparent discrepancies on the issue of the Cloud. To see the video and a discussion at our forum that addresses the flaws and weaknesses in Lamb’s defense, click here. If you're not a registered member, you will then need to click "Continue as Guest" below the green button on the left.
Cloud Related Documents From the Files of John Kennah Letter from Dr. Louis J. Battan, 6-5-80
Discovery of the Cloud
Discrepancies in Branham's Testimony
And what about you, church, that about six or eight months ago hearing, standing here saying,
"IT’S THUS SAITH THE LORD, that I'm going to Tucson, Arizona. There'll be a blast and seven Angels will appear."
You remember? Not even... God making it so real ‘til the Look magazine took the pictures of it.
Can we prove that William Branham's vision was a false prophecy? Let's examine the evidence.
—William Branham
("Souls in Prison Now," November 10, 1963, message #63-1110M)
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It's interesting to note that Fred Sothmann once said that it sounded like a "tremendous blast like a jet plane breaking the sound barrier, only louder." ("The Cloud," Arizona Republic, March 26, 1967). While reseaching the issue of the Cloud at the University of Arizona microfilm library in 2004, I discovered a possibly related article written the day after the Cloud appeared over Arizona. The Phoenix newspaper, Arizona Republic, had reported of complaints by residents and businesses in Springerville, AZ, of shattered windows caused by two unusually loud sonic booms made by military jets flying out of Williams Air Force Base near Phoenix two days previously. The article goes on to say that such sonic booms had been occurring more loudly in previous weeks. (see, Arizona Republic, "Springerville Shaken Up by Sonic Booms", March 1, 1963)
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Also, even though neither Norman nor Sothmann witnessed the angels, Sothmann testified of seeing an unusual cloud that day which he associated with the cloud that appeared in the LIFE magazine. See, "The Cloud," by Dave Davies (Arizona Republic, March 26, 1967)
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I looked to see when it was, and it was time, same 'bout day or two before or, day or two after I was up there.
("Come, Follow Me," June 1, 1963, message #63-0601)
I looked to see when it was, and it was time, same 'bout day or two before or, day or two after I was up there.
I looked to see when it was, and it was time, same 'bout day or two before or, day or two after I was up there.
("Standing in the Gap," June 23, 1963, message #63-0623)
("Lord, Just Once More," June 28, 1963, message #63-0628)
Dr. Battan was a professor and colleague of Dr. McDonald at the University of Arizona during the time McDonald was investigating the Cloud. Battan later became Director of the University of Arizona Institute of Atmospheric Physics from 1973-1982. He wrote the letter to ex-Message believer Robert Moore in 1980 stating that Dr. McDonald was convinced of the Cloud's man-made origin. C. Douglas Weaver, author of, The Healer-Prophet, William Marrion Branham, graciously provided me with my copy of the letter. I redacted Mr. Moore's address to protect his privacy.
Letter from the Department of the Air Force, p. 1 & p. 2, 1-26-96
Letter from the Chief Officer of History in the US Air Force, to my friend, George Greene*, confirming the fact that the Cloud was caused by one or the other of two Missiles launched from Vandenberg AFB on February 28, 1963. The date of the letter contains a typo. It was actually written on 26 January, 1996. This is a copy of the letter my friend George Greene gave to me personally. I redacted the last name of the Air Force Historian to protect him from any unwanted publicity.
Incidentally, the last name of the historian is not "Jackson," as has been reported in other anti-Branham resources which have referred to this letter.
Letter from Aden and Marjorie Meinel, 8-23-96
In their letter to my George Greene, the Meinels said they knew what formed the cloud and that they informed Dr. McDonald of its man-made origin. In a personal phone call I made to Mrs. Meinel, she told me that Dr. McDonald stopped writing about the Cloud when he became convinced that it was man-made. This letter is a copy that George gave to me. I redacted the address of the late Mr. and Mrs. Meinel to protect their family's privacy as well as George's private PO Box number since he was still alive at the time I orininally posted this.
Thrust Augmented Thor Report
Unclassified report of the Thrust Augmented Thor 354/Agena 1159 Missile that created the Cloud on February 28, 1963.
Letter from Betsy McDonald, 9-10-96
Letter from the widow of Dr. James McDonald to George Greene confirming Dr. McDonald's conclusion of the human origin of the Cloud. Again, this letter is a copy that George gave to me. I redacted Mrs. McDonald's address to protect her family's privacy.
Timeline
Timeline of events surrounding the Cloud as it appears in my booklet, "The Message: What every follower of William Branham should know (1991).
State of Arizona 1962-63 Javelina Hunting Regulations
See also the cover page.
Last page of the "Seals Book"
Photo of the Cloud in the "Seals Book" falsely claiming in the caption that Branham mentioned the Cloud throughout the book (referenced in my booklet, "The Message: What every follower of William Branham should know" [1991]).
_____________________________________________________________________
*George Greene was president and chaplain of Christian Awareness Fellowship, of which I had served as treasurer, and later on its board of directors.
Cloud Quotes
William Branham Explicitly Places Himself at Sunset Peak at the Time Cloud was Photographed
And now, I didn't know at the time, that they were taking pictures of that, scientists was, as the Angels lowered themselves from heaven to bring the message. And you remember, I said the one on the right side of the constellation had His--kinda chest back, and His wings... You remember me saying that, all of you? And how that I watched him? He was very distinctive from the others. And I didn't know they were taking a picture of It, 'cause immediately I hurried east. But going back home to Tucson, there it was all through the papers that had been seen almost nationwide or--or plumb into Mexico, all the western States. And I think the "Courier" over here... It was on the Associated Press. How many saw a mysterious cloud in the sky? Lets see the hands. And now, the "Life" Magazine picked it up. And I have the--the article here this morning in the "Life" Magazine there, of the show... Now, here it is, the same time I was there. See the pyramid or the Cloud? I was standing just below this. And there... See the distinctive Angel on the right hand side? See the pointed wing of It? Just exactly what was said. And here's interview of Mexico and different places from where they took the picture. Now, this scientist here is trying to--to get all the information about the picture that he can, about the people who has the picture. He's studying it.
Now, he says here that it would be impossible for it to be a cloud, because moisture doesn't go over about--I'd say about six or eight miles high, something like that. When we go overseas we usually fly nineteen thousand feet; we're above the storms then. But this cloud, according to this article here of this scientist, is twenty-six miles high. It would be miles and miles beyond moisture. And he said, checking the area... And now, you know I... How many remembers that I told you, "It sounded like the sound breaker on a plane"? Remember? But there was no plane in the district. The book says so here. They checked it. There wasn't no--wasn't no planes up there. And besides, it couldn't... That fog behind a plane is nothing but broken up air, moisture. 'Cause it sucks through this unit, as a jet. As it's pulling itself, it breaks the moisture in the air. They can never get rid of it as long as there's a jet, because it's got to... That's what it propels on. And it's the moisture scooting out from it.
But here it is, miles above where there could be moisture, and no planes in the district. And it couldn't be moisture up there, and hung up there that day. It's thirty miles across it, twenty-six miles high. You see? Just as the same, it was that picture there, when I told you, "the Angel of the Lord looked like a Pillar of Fire years ago," before it was ever took. God made science recognize that it's truth. And here of the prophecy that was given, God made science testify that it's the truth. Now, where do we stand? I want to keep this, for I--I may speak to a friend of mine that's present this morning to--to write those Seven Seals. He might want to use this for it. And so, you have a copy of it... Why, if you get one, hold it for reference. See?
Now, he's wanting to find out, but what good would it do to go to tell him that? He'd laugh at it. He would just merely laugh. So don't cast our pearls like that. But we know, the church knows, and God knows that it's the truth.
And then while I was praying on this subject, a 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 the papers--or this magazine, and our own testimony, exactly where it taken place. God is perfect and cannot lie. And it will come to pass. See?
STANDING.IN.THE.GAP_ JEFF.IN V-6 N-7 SUNDAY_ 63-0623M
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Now, science took the picture of It, you seen It, went on Associated Press. They didn't know what It was. There's a Cloud hanging, twenty-six miles high. That's fifteen miles, or twenty, above even where vapor's at. They don't know what it's all going about, and they're trying to investigate It. And there, right under It, I was standing. And those seven Angels roaring out their voices, of those Seven Seals, standing there. And the witness, three of us, as a witness of the things that was prophesied on the tape, "Sirs, What Time Is It?" And there now they're trying to find out. It's a mystery to them.
Some of them said, "Go, go... Why don't you go tell them?"
It'd be just like when the Angel of the Lord appeared here at Houston, Texas, in that Light. I told the people all my life I seen that Light.
The church knows it. Science knows it. It's... Everything has to testify when Jesus Christ makes a move. There it is. The magazine, if you want to look in it, it's the one that's got Rockefeller and his new wife on the back. I think it's May's issue of the "Life" magazine. He's God. We're living in the last days.
LORD.JUST.ONCE.MORE_ HOT.SPRINGS.AR V-20 N-10 FRIDAY_ 63-0628A
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The reason that was such a tremendous thing, that He spoke of it here and showed those Seven Thunders and "Look" and "Life" my "Life" magazine there, packed that circle of cloud and light there that they could not understand and don't know it yet, but here telling, "Go there and wait for these mysteries to be revealed" and here months before it happened; and then it happened, and exactly the way He said it would do.
Did you notice in that picture even that Angel on the right when He was being materialized, coming down, with His wings back and His head setting sideways? There it is right there in the picture just exactly: months before it happened, told here that He's going to bring the Body of believers together to reveal, take up them lost ends.
CHRIST.IS.THE.MYSTERY_ JEFF.IN V-3 N-7 SUNDAY_ 63-0728
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I seen the rocks tumbling off the side of the hill, rolling down. And I looked up, there was that white circle above me there, circling around. Here come seven Angels, come moving down out of the air, picked me up, and said, "Go back to your home to the East, right away, and bring those Seven Seals where there's seven mysteries, for the complete Word is revealed now in these seven mysteries." If you've never heard, if you ever believed I ever said anything in a sermon inspired, you take them tapes of the Seven Seals. I'm not a tape salesman. I am the... Mr. Sothmann here sells tapes, him and Mr. Maguire, but I don't sell tapes. They take them. And if you ever heard anything that's really, as I can say it's THUS SAITH THE LORD, get those.
And you know, not in that time, 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, standing right under it when it come down and formed. They said, "It was way beyond, and they hunted the country, and there's 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 have made vapor, anyhow. And thirty miles across it...
And here it come, settling down. And watch on the right-hand side of that constellation, if it isn't... Read the tapes, or listen to the tape, "Sirs, What Time Is It?," about three or four months before it happened. There it is.
Even science has to recognize it to be true. They're studying It. They say it's a mystery; they can't understand. The science down there in Tucson are trying to understand it, what it is. I thought first I'd go talk to them; I thought, "No, it'd be just like that picture of the Angel of the Lord on the picture; they wouldn't believe It. There's no need to tell them." So, but you see, in the face of all of it, they have to know that it's truth, anyhow (See?) that it's the truth.
PERSEVERANT_ CHICAGO.IL V-21 N-4 FRIDAY_ 63-0802
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Then all at once, when it's happening, a vision broke, said, "Go to Tucson, a great noise will take place at this time so you'll be thoroughly understanding and know that it's sent. It'll just shake the earth nearly." All of you know about it. It's on tape months before it happened. And there it happened, There appeared in the skies, "Shalom."
SHALOM_ SIERRA.VISTA.AZ V-13 N-5 SUNDAY_ 64-0112
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Now, a few, about three years ago, it will be now, that, at home, at my home church, the Holy Spirit spoke to me, said, "Go to Tucson; there's a--something waiting." I stood on this platform and told every one of you, "THUS SAITH THE LORD, something's fixing to happen." There's probably hundreds of people setting here that know it. I just told you what I saw. The message is on tape, "What Time Is It, Sir?" I saw a constellation of Angels like a--a pyramid come down just north of Tucson; up in this way, north of Tucson. And They spoke to me something, and I didn't know what it was. And one day there... There's men setting right present now, two of them, that was with me, back over there when that happened.
And they took the picture of It in the sky. It come out in--in the magazine. I thought I had a copy. I do. That's it. You see it here in "Life" magazine, this copy, just exactly the way the Holy Spirit said it would be.
And there stood those seven Angels just as natural as you see me standing here, and told me to return to my home, that the mysteries that the reformers down through the ages had failed to pick up, the mysteries of the Bible, which the Seven Seals held, would be revealed.
SHALOM_ PHOENIX.AZ V-22 N-1 SUNDAY_ 64-0119
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Now, notice again before the--the Seven Seals, which I had no idea it was that way... Here at the tabernacle He spoke of it and sent me to Tucson, Arizona, telling you all what would happen. And there's men setting present today who was there to see it happen just exactly the way it was told here would happen: seven angels would come. Then the newspapers packed that, and the magazines, across the nation: Mysterious circle of Light, in a form of a pyramid, just like I drawed it here and showed you, raised up from where those angels was standing and went thirty miles high and was twenty-seven miles across, or either twenty-seven miles high and thirty miles across, I forget which it was. And was seen throughout the states, just up above Tucson, Arizona, right where it happened, same time.
RECOGNIZING.YOUR.DAY_ JEFF.IN V-5 N-1 SUNDAY_ 64-0726M
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The "Life" magazine packed an article of it, "Mystic circle of light goes up in the air above Tucson and Phoenix" in the same way that I told you nearly a year before it happened, how it would be in a--like a triangle. The picture hangs in the church down there. You that took that magazine has it. There it was just exactly. They said it was twenty-seven miles high and thirty miles across. They don't understand yet what happened. It appeared mysteriously and went away mysteriously.
And Brother Fred Sothmann, Brother Gene Norman, and I stand there, three as a witness, like it was up on top of the mountain: Peter, James, and John to give witness; stood there and watched it when it happened and seen it done. There it is, hanging in the sky so far there's no humidity, no moisture, nothing to make a--a fog. How could it come there? It was the Angels of God returning back after their Message.
THIS.DAY.THIS.SCRIPTURE_ JEFF.IN V-3 N-8 FRIDAY_ 65-0219
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Now, you remember the Voice said, "Go to Tucson." You remember a mystic Light in the skies, the seven Angels standing there?
MARRIAGE.AND.DIVORCE_ JEFF.IN V-3 N-13 SUNDAY_ 65-0221
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I saw seven angels come. Didn't "Life" Magazine pack it, just a fog of It floated across here twenty-seven miles high and thirty miles across. Is not Fred Sothmann and these others, Gene Norman and them setting back there, stood right there when them seven Angels appeared right there on the hill? It shook the hills for miles around like that.
EASTER.SEAL_ PHOENIX.AZ V-2 N-6 SATURDAY_ 65-0410
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Realizing that our time is limited here, especially for those friends who are listening in by this telephone, I would like to call your attention this morning to a--a picture that some time ago was taken by the camera of a vision that I had here at the Tabernacle of leaving Indiana to Arizona, where I was to meet in the form of a pyramid, seven Angels. Not knowing what would happen, later when I got there, thinking it was the end of my life, that no one could stand the blast... (And I'm sure all of you are acquainted with the story.) And then in Sabino Canyon one morning like this, while in prayer, there had been a sword placed in my hand and said, "This is the Word and--the Sword of the Word."
Later the Angels appeared as was prophesied. And at the same time, a great cluster of--of Light left to where I was standing 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.
Science took the picture all the way from Mexico as it moved from northern Arizona, where the Holy Spirit said I would be standing (forty miles northeast of Tucson). And it went into the air, and "Life" magazine packed the pictures: a mystic something way in the spheres where there can be no moisture, where there can be no evaporations of anything, thirty miles high and twenty-seven miles across and coming right up from where those Angels were.
Now, they asked to know (science); the--one of them at Tucson wanted to know any significance, but I didn't tell them. You all knew it told beforehand, but it wasn't for them; it was for you.
RISING.OF.THE.SUN_ JEFF.IN V-3 N-12 SUNDAY_ 65-0418M
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And there the--the "Life" magazine packed the article of it, this great flame going up into the air thirty miles high, twenty-seven miles across, and they said they couldn't make out what is was, don't know yet. And men setting right here in this building tonight was standing right there with me when it happened, just exactly the way it said.
CHOOSING.OF.A.BRIDE_ LA.CA V-2 N-28 THURSDAY_ 65-0429E
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Then when that went up, the big observatories from way down in California, plumb down in Mexico, over Tucson, everywhere, taking the picture of It. It was a mysterious sight. Brother Fred Sothmann there, setting right back there, and I and Brother Gene Norman, standing right there present when it went up... They took the picture, still they don't know what about it. Here sometime ago, everybody saying, "Looky here at this, looks like this, and the--them angels' wings, how they're folded in there."
SPIRITUAL.FOOD.IN.DUE.SEASON_ JEFF.IN V-8 N-7 SUNDAY_ 65-0718E
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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.
I met Brother Fred and them a little after. Said, "What was it?"
I said, "That was it."
"What are you going to do?"
"Return home. For, THUS SAITH THE LORD, the seven mysteries that's been hid in the Bible all these years, these denominations and everything, God is going to open those seven mysteries to us in the Seven Seals."
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 while, thirty miles high and twenty-five miles across, just exactly in the circle of the pyramid.
WHAT.IS.THE.ATTRACTION?_ JEFF.IN V-8 N-8 SUNDAY_ 65-0725E
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It was revealed to me, "I was going to Arizona, and there I'd meet seven Angels. And they'd tell me then what--a Message that I was to preach." And that was the Seven Seals. It happened. How many remembers me saying that, the tapes and things before it happened? And it happened. Magazines, everything else took the picture of It. That Light there in the air, they can't even understand It yet. There it was.
I remember calling Brother Jack and asking him about that, Christ being standing there, and Brother Jack said, "That's in His glorified state." See? I love Brother Jack. He's one of the best theologians I know of, but I just couldn't hit it just right.
I was standing there, I said, "Lord, how is this? Young man here" I said, "with hair like wool."
And He said, "He is wigged." Watch in the book, before it ever happened, I said that. And that day when that happened, it went up. And then you turn that picture sideways, if you've got "Look" magazine or "Life" magazine. Turn it sideways. There He is, just perfectly Hofmann's Head of Christ, looking right down where I was standing; there It is in the magazine. How many's ever seen It? 'Course, you've all seen. There, looking right back, proved exactly the revelation was correct.
WORKS.IS.FAITH.EXPRESSED_ SHREVEPORT.LA V-7 N-1 FRIDAY_ 65-1126
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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? Nearly all. See? Well, that's just the way this was. It turned into the same thing, It kept going higher and higher. I was running and running, trying to find Brother Fred and them. After while, about a half hour later, I could see him way down, waving his hands; and Brother Gene coming, waving. They knowed something had happened. And so then I got with them. That's Brother Fred setting right there. As it went up, I didn't know that the observatories and things, plumb into Mexico, was taking that picture. "Life" magazine packed it as It went up. And many of you... Here's "Life" magazine packing the picture of It. A mysterious thing here, they said they don't know where it come from; it's too high. It's above all the spheres and everything else to be... It's too high for fog, because it's thirty miles high and twenty-seven miles across after it got up that high. There's not even humidity nor nothing up there. You see?
And they thought of a plane; so they checked all the places, no planes up that day. See, they have to, on account of shaking windows and things. "There's no planes up." Here it is right here in the magazine, will tell you the same thing. And--and it went on and on. And today right in the...
Here it is in "Science" magazine, where they can't understand; they don't know what It is.
Tucson, at the university, a friend of mine went over the other day and was talking to them about it. Said, "We can't understand what..."
I said, "Don't say nothing, don't do no good. 'Cast not your pearls before swine.'" See? It's to the church, to the elected, the called-out. See?
And then each one was coming, saying, "Brother Branham, I see your picture here. I see this. I..." You know how it is. But that--that long sweep as this brother has on here where its... Excuse me [Brother Branham gets the photograph--Ed.]. Here's the way It started up, sweeping up. Actually this was on the right hand side. And you all remember I said, "The noted Angel was the one that talked to me, was on the right hand side," even before it happened. You remember? His wings pointed back like that, that's exactly the wings of that Angel as it went up. See, as it... So they started taking the pictures because it was so mysterious. But when the last picture, when It formed Itself into the skies and so forth, this is it as "Look" here packed it. You see how it rose up just as they begin to see it. You see? And there comes the--the real main and last picture, when it formed.
TRYING.TO.DO.GOD.A.SERVICE_ SHP.LA V-7 N-2 SATURDAY_ 65-1127
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And them Seven Seals opened, those mysteries and showing those things is what's happened. I didn't know it, but there's men standing right here now was standing right with me when you all heard me preach that sermon, "Sirs, What Time Is It?" And that morning exactly where it said it would be, there stood seven Angels standing right there from the heaven. And as they went up, and that whirlwind taken them up there, we standing, watching as they went away, science took the picture of it all the way across the nations, down into Mexico. And there when I was watching...
RAPTURE.THE_ YUMA.AZ V-5 N-14 SATURDAY_ 65-1204
Science, June 15, 1963
"A bright noctilucent cloud was observed and photographed northwest of Tucson on 15 June 1963. Results of computations indicate that the cloud was at a height of 71 kilometers. The cloud appears to have resulted from the launching of a Scout space vehicle."
Science, November 2, 1963
"Measurement of the filamentary noctilucent cloud of 2 November 1963 yields a height of 56 km. Study of the motion and orientation of the cloud confirms the hypothesis that these unusual clouds appearing in the southwestern states are produced by the launching of rocket vehicles from the Pacific Missile Range."
Atmospheric Optics
"High altitude winds deform and twist the trails and carry them long distances. The trail below was 1300 miles from the launch."
American Geophysical Union, June 6, 2013
"[W]e show evidence that the rocket exhaust trail persisted without any changes during its motion from Plesetsk via Denmark to the UK for 9 h, indicating extremely stable atmospheric conditions."