The Ancient History of UFOs
From indigenous tribes to religion, the UFO phenomenon has existed in many forms throughout history.
In 1947, Businessman Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine fast-moving objects near Mount Rainier in Washington while piloting his tiny plane. This is the first well-known UFO event that occurred. He claimed that the crescent-shaped objects moved at a speed of several thousand miles per hour, “like saucers skipping on water.” Since then, there have been countless UFO sightings. This interactive map is an excellent resource; while not listing all known sightings, it gives a good representation of just how many sightings have occurred in the U.S. alone. However, while this is considered one of the earliest reported UFO sightings, this may not be the first time UFOs have visited our planet.
To investigate this, we must go back in time to ancient times. Indigenous beliefs directly influenced other phenomenons, such as the Sasquatch species (Bigfoot), Skinwalkers, fairies, and “little people” (leprechaun-like creatures). Their beliefs are, after all, the source material for many fairy tales. More importantly, the natives depicted flying objects that resemble the UFOs we see today.
Native Rock Art
A tool used to investigate these phenomena is Native rock art. This art form is one of the most important discoveries humanity has ever made. Not only is it fascinating to see how advanced these tribes were artistically, but these findings are vital in identifying how different our planet was all those years ago. Before the conquistadors arrived at the — soon to be named — United States of America, the land was populated by Native American tribes, who describe a much different world than we know today. Pictographs from Barrier Canyon, which can be found across the Colorado Plateau, are the oldest of the tens of thousands of Native American rock art panels in the Southwest. Some of these paintings depict what we now identify as flying saucers accompanied by little green men. These beings range from tiny five-inch animal figures to stunning eight-foot-tall human figures with no arms or legs and alien-like bug eyes.
To put into perspective just how old these illustrations are, the carbon dating of an embedded hair from a paintbrush dates from 6750 BC, over 9,000 years ago. There’s an interesting article going into more detail about this, by the Federal Agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities that’s accessible below.
Aboriginal Australian Beliefs
These findings aren’t exclusive to the United States. In Australia, multiple cave paintings that feature abnormal entities with unsettlingly large eyes have been uncovered. In these paintings, various figures are seen wearing spacesuit-looking outfits. These paintings are known as the “Wandjina Petroglyphs” and date back to 3,000 B.C. In Native Australian culture, the Wandjina were “sky-beings” or “spirits from the clouds” who came down from the Milky Way during Dreamtime (the beginning, according to Aboriginal religion) and created the Earth and all its inhabitants.
Then Wandjina looked upon the inhabitants, realised the task’s enormity, and returned home to bring more Wandjinas. With the aid of the Dreamtime snake, a creature who held great power and gave shape to the Earth, the Wandjina descended and spent their Dreamtime creating, teaching and acting as Gods to the Aboriginals they created.
It’s said that the Wandjinas descended to Earth and vanished after some time. They continuously create fresh “child seeds” there, which are thought to be the origin of all human life. A few Wandjina reappeared and can now be seen as moving lights far above the Earth in the night sky.
This story is the Native Australian reasoning behind what UFOs are. While it’s not a belief many subscribe to, it’s interesting to note that different aboriginal tribes across the planet all detail witnessing flying saucer UFOs and encountering alien-like beings. What’s interesting Wandjinas look similar to descriptions of extraterrestrial beings from witnesses, as well as the stereotypical “alien” that we recognise in pop culture. Are the Wandjinas’ the ones currently populating our skies, or were extraterrestrial beings also present thousands of years ago? While you might not consider an aboriginal religion credible, it isn’t the only one to depict the UFO phenomenon.
UFOs in Religion
One of the most common world religions, Christianity is practised by the majority of the Western population and is considered one of the world’s leading belief systems. A common reason behind UFO disbelief is that it goes against an individual’s religious faith. Yet UFOs are depicted in various religious texts, including Christianity.
The Baptism Of Christ, 1710
UFOs have been depicted in many Historical Paintings dating back generations, including the Baptism Of Christ from 1710. In this painting, a large disc-shaped object hovers above Jesus, casting down four large collum beams during his baptism. Many believe Aert de Gelde, the Dutch painter behind this piece, was projecting his secret knowledge of UFOs onto the public.
A Miracle of the Snow, 1428–1432
A painting titled ‘The Miracle of the Snow’, by Masolino da Panicale, depicts a legendary event in which it snowed on a hot summer day in Rome during the fourth century. In the painting, Jesus and Mary are depicted as watching the incident from a cloud, but with many round shapes behind them. These could be the artist’s interpretation of clouds; however, the consistent disc-shaped pattern has sparked discussion and raised suspicion from many Ufologists.
The Madonna with Saint Giovannino, late 1400s
Finally, the most well-known example, ‘The Madonna with Saint Giovannino’ painted in the late 1400s. This fascinating painting shows an airborne craft hovering behind Mary’s shoulder as she prays over baby Jesus. Some have speculated that she may be protecting Jesus from this object, or it could’ve been hovering in the background during the painting’s inception. Interestingly, there is a man observing this object in the background.
Tying it all together
Scepticism is essential, and in some cases, there may be reasonable explanations for depictions of UFOs. For example, the “Miracle of Snow” painting could potentially represent clouds, as similar artworks from that era portrayed clouds in a similar way. Additionally, with the Crucifixion of Christ, some suggest that the flying objects are meant to represent the sun and moon and are painted with manned occupants for stylistic purposes.
However, the other two paintings depict a genuine UFO phenomenon. While some religious publications insist that the objects in question are angels and similar depictions of angels can be found in historical paintings, there needs to be a compelling conclusion, as this isn’t widely accepted. Only a few paintings depict angels this way. There is evidence of encounters with similar beings by aboriginals dating back to before the rise of human civilisations, which supports the theory that these are UFO phenomena.
Given that these objects are present in our skies, it is not unreasonable to consider the possibility that they have been present for longer than we have been aware. Encounters with such objects date back to biblical times, as evidenced by religious paintings and the accounts of indigenous human tribes. Regardless of your views on religion, which religion is true, or how credible religious stories are, it’s hard to deny the similarities between the worldview of different beliefs. Many religions feature accounts of a significant flood between 1300 and 1000 B.C. While academics still view this event as a myth, its credibility increases because every group of people inhabiting the Earth during that period has recorded it in some way. The same can be said for the UFO phenomenon. Numerous religions, indigenous tribes, ancient scholars, and historians have all depicted flying objects and entities that resemble aliens in their artwork and literature. Given this widespread depiction, it’s reasonable to wonder if they all described the same phenomenon, but tailored it to their individual beliefs.
Although this is a bit of a tangent from the broader study into UFOs, it’s important to understand the history of these objects before exploring well-known sightings and current events. These sightings have been happening for a thousands of years, so its essential to highlight the history behind them. Whatever these crafts are, whether it be extraterrestrial beings or something else, they’ve been visiting our planet for a long time.
-
For more content on UFOs and more other worldly topics, follow Other World Media on Medium and visit @otherworld_media on Instagram.
