1963 Mystery Cloud: Worship of the Missile

One of William Branham's claims fundamental to "The Message" is that of the 1963 cloud, which he eventually claimed to have been the result of seven angels that visited him in Arizona.  This becomes problematic for two reasons: not only was William Branham not in Arizona during the cloud event,[1] but the Vandenberg Air Force Base also confirmed that the cloud rings were the result of a military operation.[2] [3]

"The sighting reported in Life was the result of a military operation, not divine intervention"
- 30th Space Wing, History Office, 747 Nebraska Ave, Vandenberg, AFB, Department of History, United States Air Force

In December of 1962, William Branham began claiming to have had a vision of five angels[4] that would come from the heavens in the form of a "pyramid", which prompted Branham to travel West for a hunting trip. According to Branham, his meeting five angels out west would be spiritually significant because the number of the letters in the word "grace" was also five. He claimed that these five angels would bring him the "Message from the Lord."

Branham made preparations to travel West and hunt javelina hogs in Arizona. Prior to javelina season-opening, in late February of 1963, a strange cloud formed over Northern Arizona. This cloud and another smaller, similar cloud [5] floated across Arizona heading southeast and drew national attention while scientists scrambled to determine its origin.

According to research by James McDonald, UFO researcher [6] whose preliminary report was included in Science magazine, the cloud formed the same day Vandenberg AFB intentionally destroyed a T.H.O.R. rocket booster, [7] which he admitted could have accounted for the cloud and had only begun researching. [8] McDonald had for some time been collecting research on unidentified flying objects to present his case to the House of Representatives that "There is no sensible alternative to the utterly shocking hypothesis that UFOs are extraterrestrial probes". [9] This particular cloud was not helpful towards that objective, however; the "mystery" cloud of February 28, 1963 was not unidentified or unexplainable. As McDonald continued his research, the T.H.O.R. detonation was documented as part of his scientific theory. [10]

Nether William Branham or his converts living in Tucson, AZ where McDonald's research was published mentioned the continued research or its ongoing publication in newspapers across Arizona. [11] Instead, William Branham changed the number of alleged "angels" from five to seven, [12] and began claiming that he was standing directly underneath the cloud at the time of its formation. [13] Interestingly, this claim was not made for several weeks after the event; Branham's recorded first mention of his alleged association to the cloud was on June 23, 1963 after the research was published in Science and Life magazines. [14]

This timeline becomes more problematic when examining Arizona's javelina season, Branham's hunting location, and Branham's association to the stay of execution for Leslie Douglas Ashley, the nephew of photographers Ted Kipperman and Jim Ayers who captured Branham's "halo" photograph.  Their execution was scheduled for February 28, 1963, the same day of the cloud event.[15] According to the Arizona Game and Fish department, javelina season in 1963 was open March 1 through March 10. Branham's hunt took place at Rattlesnake Mesa, [16] over 310 kilometers south of the cloud's path. [17] If Branham was hunting javelina as he claimed, he was doing so illegally. This does not appear to be the case, however, according to statements Branham made during the sermons following the cloud event. Branham preached the sermon entitled "A Absolute" on March 4, 1963 in Houston, TX [18] while organizing support for Leslie Douglas Ashley, and then returned to Arizona for the hunt during season. According to Branham, it was after his return to Arizona that he stood underneath the "seven angels" which he claimed to have formed the cloud after giving him the "Message". [19]

During the span of weeks prior to his usage of the Science and Life magazine publication of McDonald's report, however, the alleged location of the "angels" delivering the "Message" shifted several hundred miles. After returning to his Branham Tabernacle in Jeffersonville, IN, Branham began preaching a series of sermons he claimed to be his "revelation" of the "Seven Seals" described in the Book of Revelation. During this series of sermons, Branham alleged that the seven angels formed the shape of a pyramid[20] (as he originally stated in his original "vision" of five angels), and claimed that each of the "seven angels" met him in personally in his room, one-by-one, delivering his "revelation". [21]

Watch George Smith, publisher of the Only Believe Magazine, admitting that William Branham was not in Arizona during the 1963 cloud event:
George Smith Admits William Branham Not In Arizona During 1963 Cloud Event