Does the Chronovisor, the much-hyped Vatican invention that allows you to see past events, really exist?

2023-08-28 12:01:00, Blog CNA

Does the Chronovisor, the much-hyped Vatican invention that allows you to see

From the still-unsolved disappearance of teenager Emanuela Orlandi in 1983, to a secret collection of documents known as the Apostolic Archives, the history of the Vatican is full of secrets. And of all the supposed secrets of the Vatican, none could be stranger than the legend of Kronovizor.

It is said to be a device that gives the user the ability to see past events. And while its existence has never been proven, a 2002 book by Vatican priest Father Francois Brune says otherwise. According to Brune, Kronovizor was built by Father Pelegrino Erneti, a monk of the Benedictine order.

Does the Chronovisor, the much-hyped Vatican invention that allows you to see

Ernet allegedly kept the device secret until the early 1960s, when he confided in Brune and told him that 12 scientists, including famed physicist Enrico Fermi and former Nazi scientist Werner Von Braun, helped him build it.

Consisting of cathode rays, antennas and metals that receive sound and light signals at all wavelengths, the Chronovisor supposedly allowed the team of scientists to document past events, including the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, the machine can validate the teachings of the Bible, simply by providing a direct record of the past.

Enrico Fermi, who allegedly helped build the Chronovizor, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1938. The de facto source on the Chronovizor is Brune's 2002 book Le Nouveau Mystère du Vatican (The New Mysteries of the Vatican).

In it, Brune explains how he met Father Ernet on a boat trip through Venice's Grand Canal in the early 1960s. Like Brune, Ernet was well versed in the history of ancient languages, which made him naturally the conversation on this topic.

But very soon, Erneti turned the conversation towards science. Brune explained the many ways the Christian Bible could be interpreted, as Ernett told him that he accesses the truth through a time travel device.

Ernet claimed that he and a group of renowned scientists joined in a joint quest to discover the past. One of these scientists was Fermi, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1938, while the other was the former Nazi Von Braun, whose work at NASA led the US to send the first men to the moon.

Does the Chronovisor, the much-hyped Vatican invention that allows you to see

According to Ernet, the device contained several antennas, three of which were made of "mysterious" metals that picked up sound and light waves across their respective spectrums. A "direction detector" in the device was supposedly tuned to the specific era one wanted to watch, while a screen displayed it and a recording device captured the footage.

Does the Chronovisor, the much-hyped Vatican invention that allows you to see

Thus, Kronovizor was more than a window on the past or a time travel machine. Ernet said it worked like a television, picking up echoes from the days of yore when they had "floated" in space, and he claimed to have seen some amazing things.

Ernets recounted having seen Marcus Tullius Cicero's speech to the Roman Senate in 63 BC.

"His gestures, his intonation. How powerful they were! What an oratory" - declared Ernet, making other, increasingly bold claims, such as seeing the moment of Jesus Christ's crucifixion.

From the founding of the Roman Empire to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Ernett claimed that he and his team had glimpsed some of the most important events in the Bible.

On May 2, 1972, an Italian publication called "La Domenica del Corriere" gave a special echo in an article with the title "A machine that photographs the past has finally been invented." It was based on Ernet's shocking statements, which according to the author of the article should be read throughout Italy.

Along with the dubious claims, the magazine published a purported photograph of the Chronovizor device, which Ernett claimed showed the Romans crucifying Jesus Christ. Likewise, the 1972 article claimed that Ernet himself had witnessed the Last Supper and kept a photograph of the biblical event as a memento.

Does the Chronovisor, the much-hyped Vatican invention that allows you to see

Until his death in 1994, the Catholic priest insisted that the car was hidden from the Vatican to protect it from falling into the wrong hands. It is interesting that the Vatican published in 1988 a decree according to which "anyone who uses an instrument of these characteristics will be excommunicated".

Shortly before he died, Father Ernet wrote an open letter reiterating his insistence that the device really existed. He claimed that "Pope Pius XII forbade us to reveal any details about this device, because the machine was too dangerous and could curb human freedom."

Does the Chronovisor, the much-hyped Vatican invention that allows you to see

As impressive as Kronovizor may seem, many of Ernet's claims about it have been debunked today. Skeptics have claimed that the picture supposedly showing Jesus was simply a cheap reproduction of a statue in a church in Umbria. Another magazine argued that the photo was simply an inverted image of Jesus from a postcard made in the Italian town of Colevalenza.

In 1996, the magazine "Paracelsus" made some new criticisms of Ernet's claims. The article questioned why Ernet had not published detailed instructions on how to build the device in order to legitimize his claims. Additionally, the article revealed how the Kronovizor's design bore a strong resemblance to a similar device in a 1947 science fiction novel.

Does the Chronovisor, the much-hyped Vatican invention that allows you to see

Some say that Father Erneti Pellegrino confessed to fabricating the whole story before his death on April 8, 1994, but this remains disputed. Given that Von Braun, Fermi, Ernet and Brune are dead, the mystery continues to be intriguing. In this sense, Kronovizor has stood the test of time as a Vatican mystery for centuries./ Adapted from CNA