Aikaterinidis Tribute
Written by Dimitra Kallinikou & Nikos Apostolopoulos
Unlocking the Truth Magazine, Issue 6, October 2019
Sokratis Aikaterinidis – A Romantic Traveler of the Unknown
Sokratis Aikaterinidis was a personality who deeply marked the field of UFO research in Greece. His name is linked with perhaps the most important UFO incident in our country, that of Atalanti in 1991.
Those who lived through the 1990s will remember that it was a time when, after the Atalanti incident, interest in UFOs and extraterrestrial visitors exploded in Greece. During that period, Greek television began to be flooded with shows that devoted more and more time to the UFO phenomenon, the possibility of extraterrestrial life, and a multitude of other paranormal topics. Presenters such as Giannis Vouros, Tzouli Pitsouli, Nana Palaitsaki, Anna Drouza and many others invited researchers in the field to give answers. Throughout the 1990s, new and older researchers met not only on TV shows but also in the mystery and research magazines that were being published one after another.
In that era his first book Extraterrestrial Beings in Greece appeared, and it left its own distinct mark on the field of UFO research.
Biographical Information
Sokratis Aikaterinidis was born on 20 May 1941 in Neapoli, in the prefecture of Lasithi, Crete, where he spent his childhood. After school he moved to Athens, where he studied at the Law School up to the 4th year, but did not obtain his degree, as he was working in parallel as a cash register salesman a job he ended up liking very much and which was also financially rewarding. After a few years he opened his own business dealing with general shop fittings. A strange experience was the trigger that made him one of the best known UFO researchers in Greece. He devoted his life until the end to research, approached the mystery of UFOs with seriousness, and examined any testimony with thoroughness, even if he had to travel many kilometers outside Attica.
Aikaterinidis was one of the most methodical and hard working students of the phenomenon. Always curious, always ready, he would lay out his plans for the next investigation, to seek the unknown, the bizarre, the wondrous. He had gathered a vast archive of witness experiences from all over Greece.
He left his mark in the field of the Unknown, inspiring the next generation of researchers and leading them onto new paths. He was a modest, low key man, very sweet in character, highly educated and bold, but also worn down by health problems.
In the last years of his life he was particularly solitary, with few but good friends. He died on 24 December 2005 in Evangelismos Hospital.
The Researcher
From a young age, Aikaterinidis was familiar with the UFO phenomenon, but had never dealt with it systematically. That changed in late August 1969, when he himself became a witness to a strange incident. Shortly after midnight, while he was outside his house, he noticed a huge luminous object crossing the horizon in a short time.
The event was so shocking for him that he stayed on his balcony until morning, sensing that from that night on his life would change. This incident became the starting point for him to begin researching newspapers and magazines of the time. From 1985 he decided to write articles for popular magazines, starting with Anexigito (“The Unexplained”) and also in general interest magazines such as Klik, Romantso, Tachydromos, Oikogeneiakos Thisavros and others. Sokratis Aikaterinidis devoted what little free time he had to trying to solve the strange mystery of UFO sightings, abductions, and contact with otherworldly beings. Like other researchers of his era, he faced ridicule and hostility from narrow minded people and those who denied the existence of the phenomenon.
He wrote endlessly in the press for many years and spoke about his investigations as a guest on radio and television. He was a seeker of the unknown, in a state of constant concern about “unexplained” or deliberately hidden subjects. He was a pioneer and courageous in the field of investigation, to the point that he sacrificed his family peace and personal quiet on the altar of research. All this effort led him to envision the creation of a magazine devoted exclusively to reporting UFO and extraterrestrial cases. That magazine was Astriki Epafi – UFO (“Astral Contact – UFO”), where among others, Giorgos Balanos served as a special consultant. It was first published in March 1981 and became the occasion for him to meet other researchers. Astral Contact – UFO ended its run after 23 issues and was one of the first mystery magazines of that era. He collaborated with many well known researchers in the field of investigation, such as Thanasis Vempos, Dimitris Koutsoukis, Makis Podotas, Panagiotis Pappas, Lefteris Saragas, Giorgos Karpodinis and many others. In 1981 the group “Seirios” (“Sirius”) was founded, whose members met weekly in a storage space he provided, and from which many important researchers in the field passed.
In 1996 he published his first book Extraterrestrial Beings in Greece, in which he referred to UFO sightings, categories of extraterrestrial entities, cases proving the timeless nature of the phenomenon, and important Greek and foreign researchers. Two further books with the same title followed (1996, 1999), while due to health issues he did not manage to complete the fourth, which would have been dedicated to alien abductions.
Aikaterinidis considered it his duty to provide whatever data or knowledge he had, in order to help especially young people on the difficult path of research.
He always said:
“In order for someone to end up becoming a true Seeker and Researcher, they must above all respect themselves! They must have faith in what they do, as well as passion and courage, but above all, a Clear Mind! They must be humble and, if possible, unknown…”
“Many times,” he would say, “someone will be called to deny even themselves, called to go beyond their limits. Something that most of you don’t know is that the path of a true researcher often leads to loneliness. So, to walk that path, one must know that it is strewn with thorns, and if one doesn’t understand this, one risks getting hurt and suffering…”
Thanasis Vempos
The phrase that could succinctly yet representatively describe Sokratis Aikaterinidis is: “a good man.”
He possessed innate kindness, politeness and modesty. I first met him around 1981–82, when the research group “Seirios” was founded and Sokratis offered a ground floor storage space he had on Kolokynthous Street, where we would gather every Sunday, discuss various research topics, organize excursions, etc.
He himself was publishing the magazine Astriki Epafi – UFO, which was constantly losing money who knows how much money Sokratis spent, burning with his passion for UFO research… He was so enthusiastic that sometimes he would go outside onto Kolokynthous Street and look around half jokingly, half seriously, in case some Black clad Man was watching us from some corner! The truth is that in our first gatherings we were discreetly watched by plainclothes Security people, obviously the times were different back then.
Another time we were outside with Sokratis and Dimitris Koutsoukis (another pioneering researcher) and we were looking at brilliant Venus in the sky. Sokratis exclaimed ecstatically:
“Wow, what a UFO this is, Koutsoukis!”
“What are you talking about, Sokratis,” the other replied, “that’s Venus.”
“UFO it is, Koutsoukis, you don’t know it well,” meaning of course that it could make for a very nice UFO case.
Sokratis was a big child, in the best sense. If only there were more such big children. Tireless researcher, he collected data until his death. I had lost touch with him for years and saw him for the last time in November 2002 at an event at the Stoa tou Vivliou. We talked a lot. Unfortunately, I never saw him again…
Giannis Manias
I was twelve years old when I realized that my views annoyed those around me. Others spoke and believed only in what they saw, and I spoke of what they did not see. Astral bodies (soul), unknown galaxies and civilizations, and the origin of the human species and indeed of the Greeks from somewhere up there. My only true supporters were my parents. The others ridiculed me, mocked me, considered me a crank. Until one night I discovered that there were others like me.
Through a friend I came to know the Society for the Study of the Universe and Extraterrestrial Civilizations (SESEP). Their “spaceport” was based at 216 Patision Street, until they made us disappear. After all, isn’t that what happens to those who resist the establishment under construction? Before that, however, I had discovered the first magazine in the field: Astriki Epafi – UFO. Its creator was Sokratis Aikaterinidis, the first teacher. He was the superhero of my childhood. If he were alive today, he would laugh at me for thinking of him that way.
My dream of meeting him came true that night when I also met the Society. The crew of the ship: captain (founder) Giorgos Karpodinis, Makis Podotas, Ion Panidis, Panagiotis Pappas, Kostas Georgonas, Lefteris Saragas, Thanasis Vempos and so many others. I was searching for Sokratis among them, until late that night, when I was about to leave for Glyfada where I lived, Giorgos Karpodinis introduced me to my superhero.
“Pleased to meet you, I’m Sokratis Aikaterinidis,” he said.
“Could you perhaps give me a lift as far as Vyronas, where I live?” he asked me.
And I took him as a co passenger in my own “starship.” From then until his “departure” for the places he loved, he was my friend, my father, my “Saint.”
Simple, compassionate, sensitive, true. A big child. Without malice, hatred or false hopes. His hopes for us spoke of the cosmic brothers who are waiting for us up there. He was lucky. He has now already met them, since he “travelled on.” His companion in life was grandma Agapi, his good Cretan mother. I remember his words when I went to his house, on Kioutacheias Street in Vyronas:
“Mum, make a coffee for Giannis, he’s come so we can study.”
And she would happily run to make it. Beloved mother. Human, Mrs. Agapi.
I am very lucky to have travelled and to still travel with these people in life. Giorgos, Makis, Ion, Panagiotis, Thanasis, Lefteris, Kostas, I love you from the depths of my soul. My life became better with you.
And you, my Sokratis, until we meet again, all together, from where we came. In the eternal homeland of the Greeks.
“ESSETAI IMAR” (“The day will come”)
Rozy Michikian
What can one say, what can one remember about a man who placed his life on the altar of a kind of “monasticism” for the sake of the research he believed in and loved.
A lover of the metaphysical and of extraterrestrial research, I had the good fortune to know him for just two years, through Mr. Podotas. I experienced him very closely, since I also lived in Vyronas and was a novice researcher.
He had a soul full of kindness, always eager to help young men and women who wanted seriously to engage in research, offering them invaluable advice drawn from his experiences.
He always stressed that:
“This path is lonely and difficult. Also, expensive. You will start out for one place and end up somewhere else.”
“Always rely exclusively on your own strength, especially financially.”
“You must serve the truth. Be responsible and respect the research. Always have another person with you, as a witness, to confirm any findings or sightings.”
“Humility is a virtue. Not fantasies.”
“Do not be ashamed, if you are unable to cope, to ask for the help of experienced researchers, otherwise you may fall into traps.”
“Whatever you learn as knowledge, share it with those who wish it, because knowledge must be spread.”
“The universe speaks to us. It speaks to those who want to listen.”
Sokratis was the father who dared and officially founded the extraterrestrial research group, publishing a magazine at the same time. Only respect and appreciation for his memory.
He passed away on a winter morning, in a lonely ward of Evangelismos Hospital, leaving us with a great void.
But in our hearts, his image will always be etched with love the image of the father of research, Sokratis!
With respect and appreciation,
Rozy Michikian
