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ASTRONAUTS IN ANTIQUITY

There’s a Starman waiting in the sky
He’ d like to come and meet us
But he thinks he’ d blow our minds

DAVID BOWIE, ROCK MUSICIAN

BEFORE GOING INTO THE EIGHTEENTH DYNASTY and the era of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, let us first familiarize ourselves with the construct of the ancient astronaut. The majority of modern minds don’t give credence to ancient writings. The records found in the world’s oldest manuscripts and carved on stone or clay tablets contain fantastic and legendary tales that are, for many, simply too incredible to believe.

With the arrival of the space age, humanity began to understand that incidents once considered ancient miracles and supernatural beliefs now have explanations based on high technology and advanced mathematics. Early humans were not capable of adequately describing something they did not understand because they didn’t know what they were seeing. Even today the great majority of people are not aware that there are things we don’t even know that we don’t know. If we accept this simple concept, it becomes easier to unravel what actually occurred in antiquity, as described by our own time line of ancient scriptures. In the world’s oldest writings, including hieroglyphs and petroglyphs, we find consistent commonalities among stories of spaceships and alien visitations. Over the next few chapters, we will point out some references to this, shed light on where the theory of the ancient astronaut comes from, and consider who is responsible for this seismic shift in thinking.

Some assert that the French works of Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier, the Italian works of Peter Kolosimo, the work of Robert of Charroux (inspired by Pauwels and Bergier), and even early twentieth-century American horror master H. P. Lovecraft all serve as the origin of the idea of ancient astronauts in antiquity. But only one man actually brought this theory to the mainstream. Looking up at the Great Pyramid in Egypt, nineteen-year-old Erich von Däniken knew he was facing something that would totally and irrevocably undermine the foundation of his religious upbringing in Switzerland. The Christian holy scriptures he had been studying since he was a child perplexed von Däniken. His epiphany came when he couldn’t understand why God would need to create earthquakes and smoke every time he wanted to speak. Had this god just been misunderstood by the ancients, who were unable to grasp that they were actually seeing a rocket and an astronaut?

More than fifteen years after his first visit to the Giza Plateau, von Däniken was working as a manager at a fancy Swiss resort and preparing to publish his thesis. In 1967 his ancient astronaut theory was first published in German and a year later translated into English as Chariots of the Gods? The impact was meteoric. Von Däniken became famous almost overnight. His theory struck a nerve with the people and his book was in worldwide demand. Needless to say, the establishment was not happy. Von Däniken was convicted of fraud and thrown into prison for three years.1 This is enough to shut anybody up, but von Däniken is no ordinary man. He refused to be broken or bought off, and to the dismay of the world’s academics, he continues to write books that are sold all over the globe. They bashed him at every opportunity, but this stubborn man did not go away.

Influential documentaries and more books followed, and despite being called out on a few exaggerations (including a nonrusting iron pillar in India and a gigantic subterranean tunnel system in Ecuador) von Däniken2 has managed to sell over sixty million copies of his books, translated into thirty-two languages. Although relegated unfairly to the realm of pseudoarchaeology, von Däniken’s theory is more popular and better accepted than ever, thanks in part to the success of the History channel’s Ancient Aliens series—one of the highest-rated shows on cable. These high ratings prove that more and more people are ready and willing to start accepting and looking into the clues of extraterrestrial visitations in humanity’s past.

Zecharia Sitchin is another famous name associated with the ancient astronaut theory. Sitchin has written a collection of works, including the immensely popular book The 12th Planet, first published in 1976. This book claims that aliens came from a distant planet called Nibiru and created humankind in order to mine for gold.3 Sitchin backed up these claims by pointing out that he was a master linguist and perhaps the only living person in the world able to decipher the ancient dead cuneiform language. He sparked a whole new interest in aliens and ushered in many ideas that eventually wound up in mass culture, thanks to popular movies, such as Stargate and Cowboys & Aliens, plus video games like The Conduit. The validity of his analysis has not, of course, been proven. Sitchin may have been one of a rare handful of people capable of translating Sumerian text back in the 1970s, but how will his translations hold up in the twenty-first century?

Figure 3.1. Zecharia Sitchin. Courtesy of Lapavaestacaliente.

Most of what we know about the Sumerian language stems from the Akkadian/Semitic translations. Sumerian itself is the world’s oldest written language and has no known associates in the linguistic family tree. It simply appeared from nowhere and vanished into fragmented Akkadian.4 Everything scholars have been able to piece together about this language is sadly inaccurate. Supposedly, in the early nineteenth century, the Sumerian language was deciphered. But that only added an extra layer to the mystery, when the confused scholars found it to be different from both the Indo-European and Semitic language groups. Despite this, linguists have established a framework of the dead language aided by the available Akkadian texts handed down by ancient scribes. And according to them, there are no mentions of aliens or spaceships in ancient Sumerian writings.

Michael S. Heiser holds an MA and a PhD in Hebrew Bible and Semitic languages from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He claims that Sitchin’s theories are wrong and that anybody can prove this by going to Oxford’s online electronic text corpus and typing a word into the search category.5 Of course, nothing suspicious, other than Oxford’s uninspiring website, comes up. There are other online Sumerian libraries that are also quick to dismiss Sitchin’s theories as false. When engaging in these translation wars, one might forget the whole point of what we are looking for—in this case, certain words that are out of place even in the Akkadian translations. And scholars agree that these words do indeed exist; one of them—the mysterious Elohim—doesn’t seem to be properly understood by any of its translators, whether ancient or modern.6 So we’re confronted with a line in the sand on what to believe, considering that none of us are going to spend years of our lives learning a language of which only 10 percent is known.7

The one thing Sitchin’s popularity clearly accomplished was to etch in our modern consciousness the belief that an alien presence appeared in our midst in ancient times. In movies such as Independence Day and War of the Worlds, Hollywood reinforces the notion that this alien presence was malicious. These movies convey the subliminal message that alien life is bent on our destruction. No big-budget script in Hollywood relating to an alien invasion of Earth gets made without first receiving the approval of the Pentagon. It would appear that, at the highest level of government, there is an interest in propounding the idea that anything alien is unfriendly and dangerous. This, in turn, gives credence to those who claim there is a plan by the New World Order to stage a fake alien invasion and then swoop in with an international, unified armed force as the saviors, thus leading to the fabled endgame, centuries in the planning, known as One World Government. Despite being a major influence in the field of alien research, and providing us with valuable knowledge concerning ancient history, Sitchin’s credibility will always be called into question, especially considering that his office was, of all places, in Rockefeller Center!

So far, we have seen how influential—whether negative or positive (depending on your individual beliefs)—von Däniken’s and Sitchin’s works have been concerning the subject of ancient astronauts. Both have sold millions of copies of their works and have thumbed their noses at academia for decades. But their sales are dismal in comparison to the all-time champion of best-selling literature. The Holy Bible is the undisputed, undefeated, number-one bestseller of the Western world. For most of us, our earliest memories involve our grandmothers and some type of church. And while the verdict may still be out as to whether the Sumerian tablets spoke of rockets and alien commanders, it may come as a shock to learn what the Bible has to say about our earliest ancestors.

Even the most butchered translations of the Christian holy texts contain verses that strongly support the ancient astronaut theory. The Christian passages are a great starting point for learning how to break down what to look for when searching ancient records for clues. They’re easily accessible and familiar to most readers. We will examine some of the relevant passages in the Bible and pinpoint what to look for as we peer through our new lens of alternative thinking and bring to bear our understanding of how modern technology works.

Figure 3.2. Annunciation with Saint Emidius (1486). Carlo Crivelli’s fifteenth-century painting details a saucer-shaped object emitting a beam of light.

One of the most frequently used terms to describe spaceships in the Bible is the word cloud, which makes sense, considering how they must have been perceived spaceships as moving at that time. The Greek variant of the Hebrew word for cloud is “'anan,” which is defined as “a cloud (as covering the sky), i.e., the nimbus or thundercloud.”8 The various descriptions of the clouds always pictured them as dark, which tells us these were not normal, white clouds but abnormal, metallic-colored clouds. These clouds had erratic flight patterns and the ability to glow at night and therefore cannot be related to the clouds any of us see each time we step outside.

All passages below are from the 1769 Oxford King James Bible:

And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the glory of the LORD [was] like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights. (Exodus 24:15–18)

Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. . . . For the cloud of the LORD [was] upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys. (Exodus 40:35–38)

And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, [namely], the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning. So it was always: the cloud covered it [by day], and the appearance of fire by night. And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. (Numbers 9:15–17)

The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. (Isaiah 19:1)

Who [are] these [that] fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their win dows? (Isaiah 60:8)

Descriptive passages associated with rocket or space-age technology can be found as well. Earthquakes and billowing smoke, similar to that spewed by NASA rockets as they rise into the sky, accompanied the fast-moving metallic “clouds” described above. Even with limited knowledge of stealth bombers and helicopters, we can read the Bible verses below with fresh technological insight:

Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness [was] under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind. And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, [and] thick clouds of the skies. Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled. The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice. And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them. And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. (2 Samuel 22:8–17)

And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceedingly loud; so that all the people that [were] in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. (Exodus 19:16–18)

Figure 3.3. Woodcut: Ezekiel’s vision from the Zürich Bible (ca. 1538). Courtesy of Hans Holbein der Jüngere.

The book of Kings details the close encounters and eventual abduction of the prophet Elijah, who disappeared into a spaceship that roared off toward heaven:

And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, [there appeared] a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. (2 Kings 2:11)

Even a passage related to the Exodus describes a UFO guiding the way in the dark of night with a powerful beam of light:

And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night. (Exodus 13:21)

The most supportive scientist behind the notion of the ancient flying machines is former NASA engineer J. F. Blumrich. In his classic book Spaceships of Ezekiel, Blumrich paints a vividly descriptive narrative picture of Ezekiel, the mysterious prophet of the Old Testament. Published in 1974, Spaceships of Ezekiel opens with an indirect homage to Erich von Däniken. The NASA engineer and skeptic was at home relaxing by the fire when he received a phone call from his son away in college. His son had just finished reading an amazing book and wanted to send his father a copy immediately. It can’t be understated how profound Chariots of the Gods? was to college students in the late 1960s and the 1970s. Blumrich recalls that fateful evening when his phone rang:

It all began with a telephone conversation between Long Island and Huntsville. Our son, Christoph, mentioned that he had just read a fascinating book about visits from outer space. Its title: Chariots of the Gods? Its author: a certain von Däniken. For me, an engineer who began his career in aircraft design in 1934, and who was working on large rockets and spacecraft, such books provide wonderful entertainment, and no more: they describe exciting events that occurred at times and in places that cannot be checked. So, when the [book] arrived, I read, smiled, grinned, and laughed—until I found the passage in which von Däniken writes about the prophet Ezekiel. Here were technical statements and claims right in the fields of my own professional knowledge! Suddenly it seemed very easy—I would take a Bible and would explain why a certain von Däniken was wrong. How sure I was! I soon lost my grin, became profoundly curious, and what followed was a wonderful experience, unusual in every respect, an undertaking which was done exclusively in my spare time, since NASA my employer, is not engaged in such matters. Hardly ever was a total defeat so rewarding, so fascinating, so delightful!9

Blumrich’s book is full of sketches and mechanical designs that fully illustrate his opinions as to what type of crafts were flown during the age of Ezekiel. There are references not only to motherships but also helicopters and fast-moving jets. It appears that a fully formed space platoon was interested in showing Ezekiel the proper workings of their crafts by bringing him along for a ride.

The Book of Ezekiel, which on its own stands as one of history’s most astonishing works of literature, expands to mind-blowing proportions when reinforced with Blumrich’s technical prowess. This iconic passage, describing an alien military reconnaissance mission, is once again from the 1769 Oxford King James Bible. This section details a fleet of helicopters detaching from another ship and how Ezekiel struggled to explain what he saw:

And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness [was] about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst thereof [came] the likeness of four living creatures. And this [was] their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. And their feet [were] straight feet; and the sole of their feet [was] like the sole of a calf ’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. And [they had] the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings. Their wings [were] joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward . . . their appearance [was] like burning coals of fire, [and] like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning . . . The appearance of the wheels and their work [was] like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work [was] as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. When they went, they went upon their four sides: [and] they turned not when they went. As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings [were] full of eyes round about them four . . . and the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature [was] as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above. And under the firmament [were] their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies. And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters. (Ezekiel 1:4–28)

Even using the transliterations that are available to us, we can begin to understand what early historians had to say regarding ancient beings flying high above earthbound mortals. The Hindu records of prehistoric India are an inexhaustible source of data in relation to the ancient astronaut theory. Sanskrit legends compiled over two millennia ago provide some of the oldest available accounts of mythical spaceships, atomic wars, and a space opera history that would put Battlestar Galactica to shame. Some of the passages found in India’s national epic The Mahabharata speak of large celestial chariots equipped with wings of lightning that soar through the skies like fading comets (see plate 9).

These descriptions can be found throughout the Vedic literature, which may constitute the earliest form of science-fiction writing or a physical history that stretches far beyond the academic acceptance of humanity’s known history. Hindu conceptualizations of time stretch back billions of years, intertwined in a cyclic procession of endless creation and eventual destruction. Indian sages chronicled tales of great wars with fabulous weapons, such as the “flame of Indra,”10 that had the ability to decimate entire regions over three thousand years ago. W. Raymond Drake, a British student of the great “anomalous phenomena” pioneer Charles Fort and a contemporary of Erich von Däniken, spent decades researching the ancient astronaut theory. His tireless combing of ancient manuscripts resulted in eleven books that document the exploits of ancient aliens exploring various corners of the globe.

In his most famous work, Gods and Spacemen in the Ancient East, he recounts the fascinating love story of the Hindu deity Rama:

The Ramayana, telling in magic imagery the quest of Rama for his stolen wife Sita, has thrilled the people of India for thousands of years; generations of wandering story-tellers have recited its 24,000 verses to marveling audiences captivated by this brilliant panorama of the fantastic past, the passions of heroic love, tragedies of dark revenge, aerial battles between Gods and Demons waged with nuclear bombs; the glory of noble deeds; the thrilling poetry of life, the philosophy of destiny and death. This wonderful epic of the Ramayana, the inspiration of the world’s great classic literature, intrigues us most today by its frequent allusions to aerial vehicles and annihilating bombs, which we consider to be inventions of our own 20th century impossible in the far past. Students of Sanskrit literature soon revise their preconceived ideas and find that the heroes of Ancient India were apparently equipped with aircraft and missiles more sophisticated than those we boast today.11

Using the Hindu examples of the flying vimanas and epic wars with futuristic technology, depicted in the Vedic literature, plus the space-themed biblical stories, we can compare the references in our ancient texts to spaceships and strange alien beings—whether humanoid in appearance or not. If we apply this same method to ancient Egyptian scrolls and papyri, the picture that emerges is exhilarating.