According to French priest and paranormal author, François Brune, the Chronovisor was a device owned by the Vatican which allowed people to view events in the past or future. Brune’s 2002 book, “The Vatican’s New Mystery” alleges that the Chronovisor was built in the 1950s by Italian scientist and priest, Father Pellegrino Maria Ernetti (1925-1994), along with twelve world-renowned scientists. Among the scientists named by Father Ernetti, were Nobel Laureate and physicist Enrico Fermi, and rocket scientist Wernher von Braun.
The Chronovisor has been described as a large cabinet with antennae made from alloys of unknown metals, a connected cathode ray tube, and a control panel of buttons and levers. According to “The Vatican’s New Mystery”, Father Ernetti claimed that the Chronovisor could be programmed to view and record specific times, locations, and even people in the past or future. Father Ernetti further claimed that the Chronovisor functioned by processing electromagnetic radiation residue from past events.
Father Ernetti purported to have personally seen a number of important historical events with the Chronovisor, the most notable being the crucifixion of Christ. In 1972, the May issue of Italian weekly news magazine, “La Domenica del Corriere” (Courier's Sunday), published a photo depicting the crucifixion and claimed that it had been taken with the Chronovisor. Father Ernetti denied this, citing the photo’s clarity and proximity as uncharacteristic of the Chronovisor’s photographic capabilities. The photo later revealed to be strikingly similar to a reverse-image of a wood carving by sculptor, Cullot Valera.
In addition to the crucifixion and a speech given by Napoleon Bonaparte, Father Ernetti also claimed to have seen a 169 BC production of the tragedy, “Thyestes”, which has been considered a lost work in modern times as only a few fragments of the text remain intact. Father Ernetti claimed to have reconstructed the entire text, which was later translated to English by Princeton University professor, Dr. Katherine Owen Eldred. Eldred noted in her analysis that she believed Ernetti had written the play himself rather than transcribing an original performance.
In a 2003 interview, François Brune relayed that a few months prior to Father Ernetti’s death in 1994, Ernetti told him that he had just partaken in a meeting at the Vatican with the last remaining scientists who worked on the Chronovisor. According to Father Ernetti via Brune, the Chronovisor had been dismantled by that time. On his death bed, Father Ernetti reportedly recanted his claims of the Chronovisor; however, Brune theorized that Ernetti was coerced into making a false confession.