Ancient Astronauts: Core Concepts

If one or more extraterrestrial civilizations with advanced alien technologies have already done their boldly going exploring the galaxy thing, it stands to reason that at various times in our geological and historical past we would have received visitors from the stars. If one or more such occurrences happened in out historical past, there might be some suggestive evidence of same; and thus the concept of the ‘ancient astronaut’ would come to pass. The question is, is there such suggestive evidence?

INTRODUCTION: If there were only one line of evidence suggestive of ‘ancient astronauts’ then it could probably be easily dismissed. But when there are a half-dozen or more independent core concepts that point in the direction that at the very least ‘ancient astronauts’ is a plausible hypothesis, that’s another can of worms entirely and that’s what we have here.

IN THEORY: We can start off with arguments from theory like the Fermi Paradox which suggests that technologically advanced aliens (an extremely logical concept given the age and vastness of the cosmos) should have noted and logged the third rock out from the Sun many times over since the time it takes to explore the Milky Way Galaxy from stem to stern, even at one to ten percent the speed of light is but a tiny fraction of the age of the galaxy. Then there’s the theoretical argument that if the modern day UFO phenomena is at last in part due to extraterrestrial intelligence, then it would be such an extraordinary coincidence that our generation should just happen to be THE generation so blessed with alien visitations. Of course if aliens were here in the distant past, then that extraordinary coincidence goes down the gurgler.

IN ART: Ancient humans could draw and sculpt as accurately as modern humans; therefore otherworldly looking images need to be taken at face value barring any evidence to the contrary.

IN ARCHITECTURE: There just would appear to be several structures that when dated are incompatible with the ancient technologies required to construct them. For example, there are ‘impossible’ architectural structures like the Temple of Jupiter at Baalbek (Lebanon); Pumapunku within the Tiahuanaco/Tiwanaku complex (Bolivia); Nan Modol (Micronesia); and those Olmec heads (Mexico) with the added oddity that they appear African. (Note: I do not include the Egyptian pyramids here. There are some things humans can do.)

IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY: Cultural anthropological anomalies abound, like a) why the sudden emergence of human culture around 50,000 years ago and settlements around 10,000 years ago in unconnected geographical regions; b) why did some bands of humans choose to live in environments (like the tundra) totally unsuitable to their home environment of equatorial Africa.

IN PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: Physical anthropological anomalies also abound, like a) why did all our hominid ancestors go extinct (unless you want to count the as yet unconfirmed existence of Bigfoot, the Yeti, etc. as ancestors); b) why are humans (and their immediate ancestors) the only species to have a bipedal gait without benefit of a balancing tail; c) how can you get the ethnic or racial diversification of the human species in just 50,000 years; e) how is it that humans alone have evolved massive brain complexity, skyrocketing IQ, and the ability to have abstract thoughts and concepts; d) how is it that humans lost their natural fur only to then have to put on artificial fur (clothes). Might these all be explainable more by artificial selection (genetic engineering) than natural selection (a concept possibly reinforced today given the emphasis on genetics and breeding in UFO alien abduction cases).  

IN MYTHOLOGY: When mythologies of every society and culture share common (but unworldly) concepts then one has to sit up and take some notice that something extraordinary is going on. For example: a) animal-animal and animal-human hybrids; b) sky gods; c) dragons; d) gifts, like agriculture presented to humans from the gods; e) shape-shifters and shape-shifting; f) wars in heaven; g) an extraordinary focus of just a relatively few astronomical objects like Sirius, the Pleiades, and Orion; h) gods who left promising to return one day, much like Jesus, and much like Lono, a top god of the Hawaiian Islands who descended to Earth via a rainbow, was alas another case of mistaken identity since the natives originally mistook Captain James Cook for the return of their Lono. 

IN ABSTRACTIONS: Those rather strange concepts that humans have come up with like extremely long cycles of creation and destruction or for that matter the idea of creation itself which is anything but obvious from day-to-day observations and experience. Humans seem to have had ingrained some ideas that are rather unlikely to have developed naturally or which have or had no real relevance to their daily grind. For an example of the latter, the Mayans had this thing about tracking the cycle of the planet Venus from where it appeared in the sky until when it reappeared in the exact same spot. It must have been an overly academic exercise since it had no day-to-day relevance to say planting or harvesting crops. What was the real point of doing this? Well I gather it was an early form of ‘practical’ astrology, and important decisions (like going to war) were based on all of this. Reading tea leaves or chicken entrails, the throw of a dice, or even having their high priest/shaman smoke some magic mushrooms for inspiration/guidance  would have been far easier, so we see the extraordinary importance here of a celestial object. In an ‘ancient astronaut’ context, why Venus? Now Venus is certainly not a planet one would associate anymore as home to intelligent life (micro-organisms in the upper atmosphere could be another story). But there was that ‘satellite’ of Venus, called Neith, noted and logged numerous times by astronomers that just disappeared! Today, Venus does not have any natural satellite(s).  

IN ASTROARCHAEOLOGY (ASTROLOGY): Ancient cultures around the world engaged in astronomical observations that had no relevance to their immediate survival needs* – you don’t need a Stonehenge in order to do agriculture. Whether it is ten, eight, six, four, or even two thousand years ago, your basic priorities were food, shelter, sex, family, community and defence. The only real celestial object of any relevance to the above is the Sun – warmth, light and food (via photosynthesis, though that wouldn’t have been an obvious connection). Why the emphasis by our ancient ancestors on observational astronomy (studied today as the discipline of astroarchaeology), unless of course the sky and celestial objects therein had some extra special meaning? That’s sort of like to what we would call today astrology. 

The most obvious reason for intense sky-watching is to chart the ever changing seasons, of obvious importance to any culture dependent on agriculture and hunting. Except - you don’t really need celestial alignments to tell you when to plant your crops or go fishing. Mother Nature’s own local signals should easily clue you and give you all the signs you need, like when the trees start putting forth leaves; flowers start to appear; or when a particular migrating bird species reappears in the sky; or when you see the fish. And you certainly don’t need celestial cycles to tell you when to harvest your produce or go hunting. An apple that’s ready for eating is pretty obvious. A herd of livestock in the distance is pretty obvious too, only of course by ten thousand years ago one didn’t have to rely on the hit-or-miss appearance of game animals as domestic animal husbandry had already come to pass (there were chicken farmers and cow farmers and sheep farmers and pig farmers, etc).

Another related oddity is while everyone and their great grandma put emphasis on the solstices – the longest and shortest periods of daylight of the year – the equinoxes are far more significant. On the shortest day of the year (winter solstice) you can’t start immediate planting even though the days are now going to get longer. It might be yea, spring’s coming – eventually in three or four month’s time. On the longest day of the year (summer solstice) you can’t yet harvest though the days are now going to get shorter. It might be oh dear; winter’s now coming – eventually in three or four month’s time. Eventually is hardly a reason to pay special attention to the solstices. However, it is close to planting time at the spring equinox; close to harvest time at the autumn equinox.

Another oft given reason for sky-watching is to predict eclipses.  How many lunar eclipses do you need to predict and see before you realise they are of no terrestrial consequence (and the waxing and waning of the Moon gets a bit boring too after several cycles)? And you are petty much unlikely to see even one solar eclipse in your lifetime, even if you can predict them, so there’s hardly any need to predict them. If by chance you do just happen to be in the right spot at the right time under the right conditions, well you might in you astronomical ignorance, experience up to seven minutes of terror, but you’ll survive none the worse for wear. Eclipses are non-events within the broad context of your day-to-day living and survival.  

But you might need to chart celestial alignments or cycles to honour your ‘gods’ that are identified with such celestial objects for whatever reason. That just might be what turned ancient humans on to intently charting what are just a relatively few points of light in the sky (comets, the Sun and the Moon I can understand as being interesting in their own right, but I don’t care how many Stonehenge equivalents are constructed; they can’t be used to predict comets).

Speaking of honouring the ‘gods’ it’s one thing to come up with all manner of tall tales as to how the constellations came to be, it’s quite another thing to position your structures to mirror the pattern of those constellations. That’s elevating their importance to the realm of honouring the ‘gods’ identified with them.

In fact the entire concept of astrology (using celestial alignments to predict the future) shows some extraordinary and extensive fascination with celestial bodies that not only make no practical sense but are certainly not consistent and therefore offer up no practical results. I mean take twins – same birthday and birth-year, more likely as not, different fates. There are some 400,000 people born every day. Will they all share the same fate?

IN WTF IS GOING ON HERE: Even some of the ancients wondered how some of their own constructions came to be. The ancient Greeks attributed some of their massive walls and fortifications to the Cyclopes, calling them Cyclopean Walls. The Eastern Islanders didn’t move their massive stone statues from quarries to where they are found today – the statues walked all by themselves. Other cultures attributed the movement of massive stone blocks as having been carried on the backs of dragons. When humans don’t take cedit for allegedly human achievements, something is screwy somewhere, like human mythologies crediting the gods for giving their culture the gift of agriculture. At least the ancient Egyptians took credit for the pyramids.

*Navigating the oceans way outside of the sight of land using the positions of the Sun, Moon and stars would become important but not until way into the Current Era (CE), probably starting with the peopling of the Pacific Region with corners of Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand. European maritime exploration and discovery followed. But in the Before the Current Era (BCE) celestial navigation was of minor importance in those sailing-on-the-waters-but-in-sight-of-land (wherever possible) days.



An Ancient Astronaut Glossary: Part Two

Continued from yesterday’s blog…

Nazca Lines (Peru): Low technology geo-glyphs constructed by humans designed to be seen by the Sky Gods.

Neith: This is the satellite of Venus, not the Egyptian goddess. What satellite of Venus? That lone satellite that numerous astronomers observed, and then observed no more was named Neith. What transpired, why Neith disappeared, nobody knows.

Nordics (Global Mythology): Ancient astronauts; an extraterrestrial race – Satan, Yahweh, Jesus, Zeus, Odin, Thor, Viracocha, Quetzalcoatl, etc. are prime examples.

Odin (Norse Mythology): Chief ancient astronaut overseeing the general geographic area of Scandinavia often depicted as a bearded Caucasian.

Olmecs (Mesoamerica): The Olmecs were the first advanced civilization to inhabit the eastern coastal area of Mexico. They appeared on the scene mysteriously; they disappeared from the scene just as mysteriously, leaving behind numerous massive multi-ton stone heads with a decided African appearance, implying cultural contact between Africa and Central America way, way before any such contact would have been possible.

Olympians (Greek Mythology): A grouping of senior ancient astronauts, who, led by Zeus oversaw/supervised the general Mediterranean region.

Otherworlds (Celtic Mythology): Literally, other worlds; extra-solar planets around stars in interstellar space.

Out of Time (Global Mythology): Those that enter a mystical realm for a few days or weeks only to emerge years even decades or centuries later. Methuselah et al. might be cases in point; the Celtic Otherworlds among the possible realms. 

Palenque (Mesoamerica): Palenque is a well known Mayan archaeological site, made even more famous due to a lid on a sarcophagus of a Mayan ruler than apparently shows the ruler as an astronaut ascending on a rocket, pictorially in very much the same way as the lone American Mercury astronauts or initial Russian cosmonauts. Unfortunately, IMHO, while appealing, it doesn’t ring true, for reasons other than the alternatives advocated by professional archaeologists. I very much doubt advanced extraterrestrials would be utilizing primitive rocket technology; the ‘astronaut’ in question is barefooted, which seems rather unlikely.

Piri Reis Map: The Turkish Admiral and cartographer Piri Reis compiled from over a dozen earlier maps in 1513 a map that not only showed to a high degree of accuracy the Atlantic Ocean and islands but also the west coasts of Europe and Africa, the east coasts of the Americas, and an ice-free Antarctica coastline. Antarctica hadn’t yet even been discovered in 1513 and if it had been it wouldn’t have been ice-free. The implication is that some maps predating 1513 had to have been compiled from aerial surveys done way before Antarctica was ice-covered and certainly way before humans had explored and mapped in exquisite detail the eastern seaboard of the Americas.  

Pyramids (Egypt; Mesoamerica): Low technology stone constructions built by humans for humans, albeit at considerable time, energy and expense.

Quetzalcoatl (Mesoamerican Mythology): A pre-Aztec (Toltec) and Aztec deity, a creator god who brought and taught many skills to the native Central Americans. Quetzalcoatl, also known as the ‘Feathered Serpent’ (among other titles) was also the inventor of the calendar and associated with the planet Venus. Like numerous other ‘gods’, Quetzalcoatl sailed away one day promising to return. Quetzalcoatl is often compared and contrasted with the Inca deity Viracocha and some suggest they were one and the same.

Satan (Biblical; Christian Mythology): Senior ancient astronaut who mutinied against Yahweh, and lost.

Seraphim (Biblical; Christian Mythology): Six-winged entities (Isaiah 6:2): an extraterrestrial race; ancient astronauts.

Shape-Shifters & Shifting (Global Mythology): Extraterrestrial race; ancient astronauts. Common examples are the Werewolf and the Vampire, but there are literally hundreds of examples from around the world.

Sirius: The star Sirius has been implicated by various human cultures as the parent stellar system from which at least one race of extraterrestrials who have visited Earth call home. Sirius can also have some other extraordinary significance with potential extraterrestrial implications in various human mythologies.

Sky Gods (Global Mythology): Ancient astronauts. Thor (Norse) and Zeus (Greek) are well-known examples, ditto Yahweh (Biblical), Nut and Horus (Egypt), plus Virococha (Inca). There are also ‘Queens of Heaven’ or Sky Goddesses, like Isis (Egypt). In fact, you name the culture and they will have a Sky God or Gods and/or Sky Goddess or Sky Goddesses in their mythologies.

Star of Bethlehem (Christian Mythology): An alien spaceship. No natural astronomical object can appear to hover over one spot since the Earth rotates. (See Matthew 2:9).

Stonehenge (England): A low technology stone construction built by humans for humans, albeit at considerable time, energy and expense, exact purpose(s) unproven.

Tassili n’Ajjer: The south-eastern Sahara Desert region of Algeria is quite famous for hundreds of works of ancient rock art, depicting of all sorts of numerous humans and animals and some weird stuff too like the massive ‘Great God Mars’, so named by its discoverer because of its otherworldliness. That’s just one of numerous examples of primitive rock frescoes, paintings and carvings from around the world that show otherworldly creatures. That prehistoric humans could draw things like humans and animals accurately is not in question. But when it comes to the strange stuff, is it imagination or reality?    

Thor (Norse Mythology): One of numerous Sky Gods with associated high-tech.

Titans (Greek Mythology): Ancient astronauts who fought a ‘war in heaven’ with the Olympians for domination, and lost.

Transport of Massive Stone Megaliths (Global Mythology): Easter Island (statues walk by themselves); massive stones caried on the backs of dragons; cyclopedian walls; Stonehenge; etc.

Tunguska, Siberia (1908): In June of 1908, something exploded midair over Tunguska, Siberia, and causing damage to regions of forest directly underneath the blast. To this very day, no definitive explanation has been proved beyond reasonable doubt. One explanation suggests that this explosion was an artificial aerial vehicle (obviously extraterrestrial) that went ka-boom, perhaps a nuclear explosion if the vessel was nuclear powered.

Unidentified Flying Objects: The modern version of extraterrestrial spaceships/atmospheric vehicles/space shuttles, although in fairness, the vast majority of UFOs are anything but.

Valhalla (Norse Mythology): A suburb or a subpart of Asgard.

Viracocha (Incan Mythology): Chief ancient astronaut and Sky God overseeing the general north-western region of South American, often depicted as a bearded Caucasian. Viracocha is often compared and contrasted with the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl and some suggest they were one and the same.

 

Wars in ‘Heaven’ (Global Mythology): Conflicts between various groups of ancient astronauts or extraterrestrials. Examples include Yahweh vs. Satan (Biblical Mythology; Christian Mythology); Sekhmet (Egypt); Giants vs. the Olympians (Greek Mythology); the Titans vs. the Olympians (Greek Mythology); Aesir vs. the Vanir (Norse Mythology); even in peaceful Polynesian Mythology we have a battle royal between Tu (god of war) and his brothers Tane, Rongo, Haumia-tiketike, and Tawhirimatea; and in the Near East (Mestpotamia) Enlil (leader of the senior gods) had to face a revolt from the junior gods who were being overworked and underpaid. Aztecs.

Wars in ‘Heaven’, Future (Global Mythology): There’s Ragnarok (Norse Mythology) and of course Armageddon (Christian Mythology). Many, not most of these apocalyptic end-of-the-world events are actually just the end of one cycle and the transition to the beginning of a new cycle.

Wheel of Ezekiel (Biblical Mythology): Alien spaceship (see Ezekiel 3; Ezekiel 10).

Yahweh (Biblical; Christian Mythology): Chief ancient astronaut and Sky God overseeing the general Middle East region featuring Israel, Palestine, the Levant, etc. depicted as a bearded Caucasian. 

Winged Deities (Global Mythology): Apart from the Biblical references to the Cherubim and the Seraphim, there are numerous other deities that come with wings like Nike. Collectively, winged deities are an extraterrestrial race; ancient astronauts.

Zeus (Greek Mythology): Chief ancient astronaut overseeing the general Mediterranean region and chief sky god of the Olympians depicted as a bearded Caucasian.

Author’s note: It’s Biblical Mythology if it is related in the Old Testament; Christian Mythology if it’s exclusive to the New Testament; and both if it’s in both.

An Ancient Astronaut Glossary: Part One

Aerial Technologies: Reports of aerial machines, flight technologies, are not unknown in the archaeological and/or historical record, albeit not that far back, rather in the era of recorded ancient history, say the last 10,000 years or so. From the ‘Star’ of Bethlehem, Elijah’s ‘flaming chariot’, to the Wheel of Ezekiel, to the ‘Sun’ and ‘Moon’ that Joshua stood still (Biblical Mythology); to Vimanas which are Hindu mythological flying machines (mythical self-moving aerial cars, a flying chariot of the gods) as related in various Sanskrit epics; to ‘airplane’ models discovered in both ancient Egypt (dated to about 200 BCE) and little gold model ‘airplanes’ from Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican and South American regions, dating from roughly 500 to 800 CE. Scaled-up replicas of these American and Egyptian ‘aircraft’ have found them to be aerodynamically flight worthy. There are also no shortages of art works from antiquity that at face value appear to show what today would be called Flying Saucers, or Daylight Discs, or just plain Unidentified Flying Objects. Finally, aerial ‘chariots’ and extremely large ‘birds’ that ferry the ‘gods’ around are more the norm than not in many mythologies. 

Agricultural-Based Settlements & Civilization: Roughly 10,000 years ago there was a relatively sudden transition from a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle to agricultural-based settlements in most of the world. Humans relate or credit this change in their mythologies as a gift (of agriculture and animal husbandry) from the gods.

Alien Abductions (Modern; Global Mythology): Abductions of humans by ancient astronauts. Examples include Romulus, Ganymede, Enoch, and Elijah.

Ancient Astronauts: Extraterrestrial beings with highly advanced technologies.

Angels (Biblical; Christian Mythology): Ancient astronaut crewmembers, especially go-betweens twixt the ‘gods’ and the humans. Angels come with differing ranks, but contrary to popular images, they have no wings.

Animal-Animal Hybrids (Global Mythology): Two or more terrestrial animal species combined in a hybrid form by advanced genetic or bioengineering technology. Well known examples include the Sirrush (Near Eastern Mythology); Pegasus and the Chimera (Greek Mythology) and the Kelpie (Celtic Mythology).

Animal-Human Hybrids (Global Mythology): One or more terrestrial animal species combined in a hybrid form with part of a human being (usually face/neck or torso) by advanced genetic or bioengineering technology. Obvious examples would be the Sphinx (Egyptian Mythology; Greek Mythology), the Centaur, Satyr or Minotaur (Greek Mythology); Merfolk i.e. – Mermaids (Global Mythology).

Artificial Selection: The deliberate manipulation of genetic material via selective breeding and/or genetic engineering at the cellular level or below to produce new or enhanced traits that are considered desirable by those doing the manipulating. Artificial selection is useful in explaining numerous by anomalous human characteristics.

Asgard (Norse Mythology): Possibly an extra-solar planet; more likely the name of Odin’s spaceship.

Assur (Near Eastern Mythology): Chief ancient astronaut overseeing the general Middle East region featuring Assyria.

Baalbek: The Great Temple of Jupiter at Baalbek, Lebanon, is widely known for having incorporated in the structure some of the largest quarried stone blocks ever used by any builder anywhere at anytime. How these massive stones weighing up to 1000 tons each were transported and raised into place at a height of over eight metres remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of ancient mankind and archaeology. 

Boogieman (Global Mythology): Mythologies throughout the world often have warnings, especially for children, about not wandering too far from home, and not wandering out at night, for unspeakable ‘boogiemen’ are out there to kidnap and maybe devour them, but ultimately never to see home again. Perhaps this is a thinly disguised reference to alien abductions.

Cherubim (Biblical; Christian Mythology): Two to four-winged entities: an extraterrestrial race; ancient astronauts noted for example in the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel. Some also guard the east entrance of the Garden of Eden to ensure humans don’t trespass or re-enter.

Cosmology (Global Mythology): Mythological themes that suggest that our ancient ancestors had astronomical knowledge way in advance of their time. The ‘Cosmic Egg’ that hatched or broke open mimicking the Big Bang. Mythologies of cyclic existences – birth, death, rebirth, etc. mirroring a Big Bang, Big Crunch, Big Bang, etc. cycles. The Chinese mythology regarding cosmology reads an awful lot like the expanding universe.

Crop Circles (Global; esp. England): Manufactured glyphs using agricultural crops as the ‘canvas’ that are the work of obvious intelligence, though controversy abounds whether the intelligence is 100% terrestrial or not.

Cyclopean Walls: Walls that are massive in thickness and in height, usually defensive walls, with individual stones often weighing many tons, thought to be by even the ancients constructed by the Cyclopes or other giants. Only such beings could have erected such fortifications. This is now a general collective phrase for massive defence structures raised in ancient eras.

Cyclopes (Greek Mythology): Ancient astronauts with high technology.

Dragons (Global Mythology): Alien spaceships, mistaken by our ancestors for a flying, roaring, fire-breathing animal. Primarily used as a sort of atmospheric/space shuttle as a go-between twixt the chief and senior ancient astronauts and senior humans (like emperors, etc.).

Easter Island: Easter Island is one of the most isolated Pacific Islands going, yet it was apparently colonized by two different cultures, the Short Ears and the Long Ears, the former probably arriving from Polynesia to the west, and the latter from South America to the east. It’s of course world famous for those massive stone sculptures, some as tall as a four story house and weighing 40 tons or more. There size is often deceiving as they are often just seen from the neck up – the rest of the body bulk still buried beneath the ground. These statues are arresting in that they are clearly human, yet not quite human in appearance. As to how they got from quarry A to resting site B, well the natives say the statues walked by themselves from A to B. That’s clearly impossible, but if you think of how the Saturn V Rocket or the Space Shuttle was transported from hanger to launch pad, well to ancient peoples, they might say the space vehicles ‘walked’ by themselves. Lastly, Easter Island is also famous for those representations of hybrid birdmen.

Elijah (Biblical Mythology): Elijah was abducted by a “chariot of fire, and horses of fire” and carried up to Heaven by a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11). Just like modern UFO abductees, Elijah is to be returned, someday (Malachi 4:5). For Elijah to live so long, since he hasn’t yet made reappearance, one might have to suggest an interstellar space voyage and invoke Einstein’s twin paradox.

Enlil (Near Eastern Mythology): Chief ancient astronaut overseeing the general Middle East region featuring the Mesopotamian area.

Enoch (Biblical Mythology): Enoch was also abducted, by no less than God Himself (Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5). Apparently Enoch was to be given eternal life (he’d already lived to be 365 years old at the time of his abduction) without having to die first. Sounds like high-tech to me!

Fairy Folk: [See Little People].

Fermi Paradox: If extraterrestrial intelligences are out there, with advanced space-faring interstellar technologies, then the odds are approaching 100% that they should have discovered Planet Earth. “Where is everybody” asked Fermi? They should be here. They are not here – that’s the paradox. But the paradox dissolves if you can put forth a solid case for ancient astronauts and/or modern UFOs as evidence of extraterrestrial intelligences with advanced interstellar space-faring technologies.

Giant Birds (Global Mythology): Extraterrestrial vehicles, spaceships, technologically advanced airships – prime examples include Lightning Bird (Southern Africa); Thunderbird (North America); Dragons (universal); Gaurda (Hindu) vehicle for the personal transport of…

Giants (Global Mythology): An extraterrestrial race; ancient astronauts. A typical example is the Cyclopes.

Giants (Greek Mythology): Then there was the war between the Giants and the Olympians – another in a long list of examples of the ‘gods’ fighting the ‘gods’ over Earth-turf. Needless to say, Zeus and company won that fight too, albeit with a little help from others, like Hercules.

God: [See Yahweh].

Gods (Global Mythology): Ancient astronauts.

Heaven (Biblical; Christian Mythology): Possibly an extra-solar planet; more likely the name of Yahweh’s spaceship.

Homo sapiens: Modern humans, an ultimate genetically engineered species from primate stock by ancient astronauts.

Human-Animal Hybrids: [See Animal-Human Hybrids].

Hunter-Gatherers (Anthropology): The nomadic lifestyle led by all modern humans and human hominid ancestors since we came down out of the trees (roughly 6 to 8 million years ago) until roughly 10,000 years ago. 

Jesus (Christian Mythology): On balance, I’d say Jesus was a mortal human, filled with mental delusions of grandeur, a human who saw himself as some sort of chosen one. However, I’m not prepared to rule out that he might have been a senior ancient astronaut, it just depends whether you thing the Jesus part of Christian mythology is part of the mythological mountain or the factual part of the hidden molehill.

Little People (Global Mythology):  Fairies, Elves, Leprechauns, etc are just another extraterrestrial race; more ancient astronauts. In modern times, we call them the Greys.

Marduk (Near Eastern Mythology): Chief ancient astronaut overseeing the general Middle East region featuring Babylonia.

Methuselah (Biblical Mythology): Biblical character who took a trip on an interstellar spaceship and was subjected to Einstein’s time dilation/twin paradox explaining his advanced age of 969 years (Genesis 5:27). He was one of numerous Old Testament characters to make such a voyage.

Author’s note: It’s Biblical Mythology if it is related in the Old Testament; Christian Mythology if it’s exclusive to the New Testament; and both if it’s in both.

To be continued.

Humanity: The Cosmic Connection

There are various enigmas that cry out for resolution, like the Fermi Paradox regarding ET, “Where is everybody?” Then there are enigmas surrounding human origins, evolution and characteristics, extinctions, migrations and colonizations, and the rise to civilization. Finally, much that’s in our global mythologies is anomalous. In modern times we have UFOs and alien abductions. It’s time to wrap all this up in one neat little package, tied up with a nice little ribbon and bow. 

Let’s start off briefly with the Fermi Paradox. In essence, it suggests that if you accept that there has to be one or more extraterrestrial highly advanced technological civilizations out there in the galaxy, in interstellar space, with interstellar space travelling capabilities, then the odds are as close to 100% as anyone would care to bet, that Planet Earth has been discovered and visited. The time it takes to explore the galaxy, every nook and cranny, even without resorting to Star Trek type faster-than-light velocities, is but a tiny fraction of the age of the galaxy. The Fermi Paradox is only a paradox if one tries to argue that ET has never visited our humble planetary abode. So, let’s solve the Fermi Paradox and accept that once upon a time, ET paid Planet Earth a visit – at least one.

About eight or so million years ago, Planet Earth witnessed the arrival of a rather loose federation of extraterrestrials (ET) with a quasi social/religious/missionary goal of assisting in the development and spread of intelligent civilizations across the galaxy and the cosmos while simultaneously creating intelligent, civilized beings who will worship them as their superiors, even perhaps as gods. Since there were no such intelligent, civilized beings on Planet Earth eight million years ago, ET had to work what Mother Nature provided them.

Now eight million years ago is very recent relative to the age of Planet Earth, and extremely recent relative to the age of our galaxy and the cosmos at large. Therefore, this may not have been an ET first visit, but the one which finally yielded up a promising candidate from which they could manipulate to achieve their goal.

That most suitable candidate species to work with, or on, would have been the chimpanzee or a close ancestor to the chimp, found in Africa. And so ET set up shop and laboratory in Africa to start the long process of assisting Mother Nature in the development (creation or origin)and spread (migration) of another (soon to be engineered) intelligent civilization.

Over the next eight or so million years – no great rush; lots of time on their hands; these are an extremely long-lived ET – ET bioengineered, genetically engineered, or otherwise artificially bred and selected our initial primate stock into over twenty initial primate-to-ultimate-hominid species, each species slightly more advanced in IQ, dexterity, bipedal gait, speech, abstract reasoning ability (something other than just food, sex, danger), etc. than the one before.

For starters, individual groupings of each species in their own time and turn would be released by ET into the Africa’s wild environment to see how they coped, just like we humans will artificially breed up populations of endangered species and release them into the wild and hope for the best. Of those hominid species released into the wild, most didn’t – cope that is. Back to the drawing board and more genetics and breeding and artificial selection and on to the next advancement.

A few hominid species that did adapt reasonable to the outside backyard of Africa proper would then be transported to non-African locations and a wider variety of terrestrial environments. There were more failures, but some initial successes with out-of-Africa environments. Homo erectus just about fit the bill – just about, but it too ultimately went the way of the Dodo.

Finally, about 200,000 years ago, the latest in this twenty-plus long line of primate-to-hominid creations were created on the slab in the ET lab in Africa – Homo sapiens. They proved successful in adapting to the natural African environment. Further experiments with transporting and transplanting groups of them to various environments around the globe (except Antarctica) for the most part yielded positives in the Middle East, the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia, etc. If ET transplanted groups of Homo sapiens to Oceania that was a failure as there are no archaeological sites that verify hominids in Oceania until only relatively recent historical (not prehistorically) times.

Once Homo sapiens became established globally, two things happened. Firstly, individual units of ET headed by a Supreme ET were assigned to oversee the various geographical regions that Homo sapiens had adapted to. For example, ET Yahweh and crew were assigned to the eastern coastline and seaboard region of the Mediterranean. Secondly, these units then assisted these nomadic bands of Homo sapiens in each region in the transition from being wandering hunter-gatherers living by their wits into becoming civilized agricultural-based settlements or rural communities that put down roots - assuming the region in question was suitable to settlements, and not all were, like Australia.   

At this point one might expect “and they all lived happy ever after”. Not so; it was not to be.

It is often said that man was created in God’s image, or in more general parlance, in the image of the gods. If that’s the case, it should come as no surprise that the gods have human traits. Translated, anything humans were (or are) skilled at doing, you can bet the family farm equally that the ‘gods’ were skilled ditto, the good, the bad and the ugly. ET was not above squabbling among themselves over ways and means, and there were power grabs and coups and mutinies afoot, like when Yahweh was nearly toppled by Satan. Collectively, our mythologies lump these ancient ‘star wars’ as Wars in ‘Heaven’.

Humans of course also didn’t live long and prosper either. Like father (the gods), like son (Homo sapiens).

There’s one other mythological anomaly that supports the idea that not only was ET highly advanced in interstellar space travel (well they got here didn’t they), but especially highly skilled in genetic and bioengineering. The genetics experiments of ET were not just confined to building a better hominid species, but creating all sorts of genetically engineered ‘monsters’. If there is one universal above nearly all other universals in the mythologies of primitive ‘man’ it’s the reality of hybrids, both animal-animal hybrids (i.e. – Pegasus in Greek Mythology) and animal-human hybrids (i.e. – the Birdmen of Easter Island). 

Whether misinterpreted by primitive humans, or deliberately misled, ET became the ‘gods’ and interactions between the two became the basis of our global mythologies, which is to a greater or lesser extent really a collection of religiously-themed mythologies since primitive ‘man’ thought ‘he’ was dealing with supernatural deities. Deities of course are there to be worshiped, probably encouraged by ET. Why might ET wish to be worshiped? ET might want to be ‘worshiped’ probably as “thanks” for bringing Homo sapiens into the world and bestowing the gifts of civilization on Homo sapiens.  Every parent expects a “thank you” from their child for special gifts bestowed. ET might have encouraged this misinterpretation as being ‘gods’; it would have been a lot less awkward that explaining astrobiology to them.

Having completed at long last their objective – one more race primed to join the Galactic Club, ET left, albeit leaving behind a token observational team – UFOs – which are still undertaking some genetic modifications with respect to Homo sapiens – alien abductions, apparently an attempt to engineer yet another hybrid – a human-alien.

Now make of this what you will, but the scenario does fit the facts as we know them about human origins, evolution, extinctions, migrations, and ultimately civilization. It also jives with our mythologies, and, IMHO, behind every mountain of mythology resides a molehill of fact.

E.T. and the Origins of Agriculture

We’re aware that once upon a time our ancient ancestors lived day-to-day as nomadic hunters and gatherers. Then, roughly 10,000 years ago, in various locations around the globe, we ceased our wanderings, put down roots as rural agricultural-based settlements, and became civilized. Anthropologists cannot tell us why. Mythology does tell us why – the gift of agriculture was from the gods. What to those cultures were gods, we can interpret as ‘ancient astronauts’. 

One of the bigger mysteries in modern anthropology is the transition from nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles to agricultural-based settlements. This is known as the “Agricultural Revolution”. There are as many ideas and theories for the independent and relatively sudden transition from hunter-gatherer to settlements dependent of farming, as there are anthropologists who have pondered the issue. There are proposals for external factors vs. internal (social, cultural, economic) factors; global conditions vs. local conditions; climate related vs. population related; or a combination of circumstances: maybe even just the “it’s time” factor. The issue is the transition all happening at roughly the same time – about 10,000 years ago, give or take, in Europe, Mesoamerica, the Andean cultures, Egypt, the Middle East, Asia, etc. especially in the Fertile Crescent, N.E. China and Central America. Only North America (with the exception of the eastern half of what would become the United States), Australia and the far northern regions, like Siberia, retained for the most part a nomadic lifestyle.

But the really anomalous thing is that ever since our ancestors came down out of the trees and started walking upright, for all those millions of years, until roughly 10,000 years ago, we were hunter-gatherers or nomads. Then all of a sudden, wham, we settle down and raise crops and become ‘civilized’ just about universally across the social, cultural and geographical board. No one really has solid evidence to explain why.

The only idea NOT given or advanced is in fact the very one which human culture’s themselves give – in their global mythologies. Agriculture (including the domestication of various species of wildlife – cattle, sheep, goats, horses, etc.) was a gift from their gods. Human mythologies presumably written down and/or orally passed from one human generation to the next human generation, gives no credit to humans for the transition. Humans rarely pass up an opportunity to pat themselves of the back, but this is an exception to that generality. 

Humans have certain basic needs: air, water, sleep, certain temperature range and food. We’re instant experts at breathing (air) and sleeping. We don’t need to seek out, grow or harvest these. We have some control over temperature, and water supplies are usually pretty constant – rivers, springs, lakes, ponds, etc. Food is the dicey item.

The hunter-gatherer method of finding food takes less effort than agricultural tilling-the-fields settlements, so why settlements and why the shift from hunter-gatherer to agriculture is relatively short time frames in diverse parts of the world. Well, what the gods want, the gods get. And if the gods give you a gift, by the gods you’d better make use of it!

These gods (a sampling) oversaw and gave the gift of agriculture to humans thus explaining our transition from hunter-gatherers to settlements and civilization.

* Ninurta was the god of agriculture in the ancient Near East who taught all about crop production.

* Kumarbi: The Hittites had Kumarbi, the father of the gods and a grain deity.

* Osiris (Ancient Egypt): Before being bumped off and dismembered by his brother Seth (Set), and reassembled and resurrected by his sister-wife Isis, and promoted to god of the underworld, he was the god of agriculture who taught men (and women) how to raise corn and vines. That’s why ancient Egyptians depicted him with green skin. 

* Ceres was the Roman goddess of grain and agricultural fertility (from which we get the term cereal).

* Demeter was the Greek goddess and counterpart to Ceres; she was the goddess of corn, crops and fruit groves as well as fertility of the fields who taught humans agriculture.

* Triptolemus, under the direction and guidance of Demeter, brought people the gift of wheat and who spread the benefits of agriculture around the world.

* Chaac was the Mayan god of rain, hence a patron of agriculture like maize and vegetables and hence fertility.

* Xipe Totec was the Aztec god of maize and vegetation.

* Viracocha was a top Inca god who walked among humans, and, among other subjects, instructed students on agriculture. Further, Viracocha fathered two deities, Inti and Mama Quilla, who in turn had an offspring Manco Capac, the first Inca ruler, who also taught agriculture to his human subjects. The odd thing about Viracocha, the highest god in the Inca pantheon, was that he was depicted as pale, bearded with Caucasian features and with green eyes. This is quite akin to the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl (Kakalcan to the Mayan and otherwise known throughout Mesoamerica under various aliases). They both, Viracocha and Quetzalcoatl departed their respective regions to head over and across the sea with an “I’ll be back” promise. That the Aztecs mistook the Spaniard Cortes for the return of Quetzalcoatl# speaks volumes about what Quetzalcoatl looked like – white, bearded, with Caucasian features. Alas, the enigma here is that there never was any cultural contact between Mesoamerica and the Incas, so why the similarity between Viracocha and Quetzalcoatl? Some New Agers view these white bearded deities of the Americas, who mysteriously vanish, as Jesus in the flesh. That aside, the important point is that Viracocha was a travelling professor of agriculture.

* Shennong: In Chinese mythology there’s Shennong, the farmer god who invented the plough and taught people how to farm.

* Inari was in Shinto Japanese mythology a rice and fertility god.

* Bulul was a Philippines rice god who looked over seeds and the harvest.

* Nummo or Nommo (hybrid creatures) of the African Dogon culture of Mali were teachers (from the star Sirius according to some) who taught farming to mankind.

Of course what our ancient ancestors viewed as supernatural gods and goddesses, we think of them today more akin to flesh-and-blood extraterrestrials (‘ancient astronauts’) who came to Earth long ago with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal humans of that era. The ‘gods’ would have conducted their worldwide agricultural tutorials at roughly the same time, say about 10,000 years ago. Being practical, they ignored regions impractical for low-tech sustainable agriculture like vast deserts, the tundra, tropical rain forests, etc.

Now the obvious question is why would the ‘gods’ want to give us the gift of agriculture in the first place? That can probably be summed up by the Biblical phrase “be fruitful and multiply”. In a hunter-gatherer society, babies are a burden. They contribute no labour, consume resources, and divert time and energy required for their care away from the daily survival tasks at hand. Since you have to carry your newborn brat around, being a nomadic troop, it hinders your hunting-gathering, so it is best to keep your brats well spaced – every four or five years apart minimum, so one brat can start to contribute a bit to the greater good before your next one pops out into the world.

But once in a settlement scenario, with a reliable food supply, you can start dropping your little bundles of joy nearly every year. There will be the establishment of a sort of child care centre or facility where one person, unable for health or elderly reasons to work the fields can look after all the little darlings, leaving mum free to toil away in the rice paddies or whatever. Though infant mortality will take its toll in either a hunter-gatherer society or in a settlement community, the more frequently bundles are dropped, the faster the population will increase; more workers to produce new and widen fields already under cultivation; build buildings, etc. And of importance too, once you take up a settlement way of life, then you have a need to defend that territory since a lot of sweat and toil went into staking out the community’s land claim and making it productive. A rapid population increase makes defending your turf easier.

But what’s in it for the ‘gods’? Two things - first mythologies around the world are full of references that the ‘gods’ created humans to do the hard work, just like the CEO and Board of Directors of a mining company hires the great unwashed to actually do the hard work – go down into the mines with picks and shovels, etc. while the CEO and company watches from on high: more population – more workers. That’s probably the real reason Adam and Eve got booted out of Eden and directed to start the daily grind and toil of farming (Genesis 3:23). It was probably all a setup from the get-go.

Secondly, what do ‘gods’ want? Well, to be worshiped. Do you get a greater buzz out of a hundred people bowing and scraping down and building small monuments to you, or a thousand or a million doing the same and building great big monuments to your glory? No dictator ever wants to appear in public and not have anyone turn out to render a worshiping salute. 

Having achieved their objective, well it’s on to the next inhabited planet for another challenge in civilizing the great unwashed.

And so, thanks to the ‘gods’, or ‘ancient astronauts’, most of us no longer have to wander the lands in search of our daily bread!

# In all fairness, not all scholars believe there actually was a connection.

Who’s Who in the Ancient Alien’s Bible: Part Two

Since the idea of supernatural deities is nonsense IMHO, perhaps there’s another explanation behind the more likely as not reality molehill hidden inside the traditional religious mythological mountain. That explanation could revolve around an extraterrestrial flesh-and-blood alternative.

Continued from yesterday’s blog…

WHERE’S WHERE

Heaven: The name of God’s spaceship, or starship if you prefer.

Hell: The brig, located off-ship, probably on Earth, where one could be exiled to if need be.

Eastern Mediterranean (Israel; Land of Canaan; the Levant; Near East; Palestine): That part of terrestrial geography assigned to the officers and crew of the Spaceship Heaven as their area of responsibility. Contrast that with Zeus and company assigned the Middle Mediterranean; Odin and company responsible for the Norse lands; and the Great Spirit who looks after the North Amerindians; and so on.

Garden of Eden: Paradise was actually a terrestrial R&R spot for officers and crew of the Spaceship Heaven. God first had to expel human trespassers after they learned or overheard too much extraterrestrial knowledge forbidden to terrestrial ears. Later on however God gave Adam an interstellar ride in his Spaceship Heaven.

Towel of Babel: To disperse in quick-smart fashion the local population to the four corners of the globe, or even within the region, would have required considerable transport infrastructure.

Sodom & Gomorrah: The twin cities were destroyed via fire and brimstone from above, leaving no trace whatever after-the-fact. The obviously high tech weaponry might have been incendiary bombs or even nuclear weapons, but it certainly wasn’t any sort of destructive weapons technology common to that era.

WHAT’S WHAT

Miracles: High technology in action. As the late Arthur C. Clarke tended to put it, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, at least to those not technologically savvy. Among the high tech examples are the medical ones – healing the seriously sick and handicapped; resurrecting the very recently deceased; enabling very elderly women – over the hill and off the pill – to become fertile and bear offspring.

Food: Speaking of high tech miracles, what does one make of manna from heaven; loaves and fishes that multiply; wine from water? This almost makes you think of the food replication device used in Star Trek.

Noah’s Flood: A whole textbook could be written about the impossibilities of the Biblical tale of the flood and Noah’s Ark. The amount of water required can’t be produced. The boat isn’t near large enough to house and feed every species that would need to be given shelter. The crew isn’t sufficient to look after their charges. But, with just a bit of high tech tweaking, what if the Ark wasn’t for an actual universal disaster but a potential one, a real possibility given those high tech star wars, or wars between the various factions of deities (think of the ten year battle between the Titans and the Olympians; or what must have raged between God and Satan or will rage as per the forecast of Revelation; or the battle between the Frost Giants and the Norse deities; or all those aerial wars depicted in those ancient Hindu texts). Now instead of having entire forest worth of plants and all those animals requiring food and waste disposal, on board, substitute a botanical seed bank and a zoological equivalent, a repository of frozen eggs and sperm or embryos or genetic materials, etc. No need for food; no waste products; not much maintenance (crew time) required, and easily room for everything in the space allowed for the Ark in the Book of Genesis. The issue of course is that all of this is high tech way beyond the capabilities of the great unwashed of that era, the locals or natives. 

Burning Bush: This is an example of extraterrestrial hologram technology in action, employed to awe the local primitives, in this case Moses.

The Ark of the Covenant: Apparently a high and rather dangerous technological device, purpose not really well explained, but obviously more than just a storage box for a couple of stone tablets.

Clouds; Pillars of Fire; Flying Rolls; Star of Bethlehem; Aerial Chariots; Whirlwinds; Ezekiel’s Wheel, etc.: A UFO by any other name is still a UFO, and in most of these depictions, the object, say a ‘cloud’, is an actual vehicle that carries a passenger, more likely as not a Spaceship Heaven shuttlecraft. 

Germ Warfare & Biological Weapons: There are numerous examples in Biblical texts where high tech biological weapons were used against populations (i.e. – the Egyptians, even God’s Chosen People) and individuals like Job.

Transfiguration: Jesus led three of his followers up a mountain, and behold his face had a rather disquieting and unnatural glow about it (much like Moses after his CE3K). In fact Jesus, and/or his clothing, shone with some sort of bioluminescence. To add to this anomaly, Jesus had with him both Moses (long since considered the late Moses who had once been abducted) and Elias (otherwise known as Elijah, the abducted). Further a ‘cloud’ that hovered over this gathering ‘spoke’ to them, one and all, with words that implied that this was God himself doing the speaking. Then the ‘cloud’ vanished like a bat out of hell. Wow! There is surely something strange afoot going on here. By the way, in common with a lot of other Biblical tales, this is repeated several times, in the Books of Matthew, Mark and Luke. In fact, I’d suggest that if you eliminated all of the duplications, the Bible would be 10% thinner!

The Ascension: Jesus departs Planet Earth to take up his new job as First Officer on the Spaceship Heaven, sitting at the right hand of her captain.

Hologram Technology: A very useful ways and means of inspiring awe in the great unwashed. Examples that spring to mind include the ‘burning bush’ and Jesus ‘walking on the water’ and appearing in the ‘flesh’ post execution.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

There have been no verified and documented sightings of the main Biblical players (God, Satan, Jesus, angels, etc.) in way over 2000 years. Where are they? I suspect they have gone away. I further suspect God and crew were recalled to home base to stand trial for crimes against humanity, though many, like Jesus, were exonerated, having played no part or role at Sodom & Gomorrah or in the use of biological weapons and waging germ warfare. Satan and his fallen angels were recalled too, probably picked up from exile, to give account for their original mutiny. Perhaps as we read this Captain Jesus of the Spaceship Heaven (or some other interstellar vessel) is boldly going and finding new Garden of Eden locales to R&R in throughout the cosmos.  

CONCLUSION

It is clear that not everything in the Bible can be easily interpreted in an extraterrestrial context, probably because much of the text’s content tends to be rather mundane soap opera of a humans-only nature. That aside, after you take into consideration all the versions, all the translations and associated issues with that, translation and copying errors (deliberate and accidental), embellishments, artistic license, human imagination needed to fill in the gaps, plus the multiple authorship of all the Biblical texts itself, not to forget that the texts weren’t written down till decades, even many generations after-the-fact (it’s like nobody recorded and wrote down today’s news until the year 2112 – many an error would be made), I conclude that the Bible can largely be interpreted not in a supernatural way but rather an extraterrestrial one.

Unfortunately, if I am right, then all your theological baggage of an eternal life everlasting goes right down the drain – maybe not a bad thing if you thought you were Hell-bound, or even if Heaven-bound as the concept of eternal life is actually hellish as you would rather quickly be bored out of your afterlife skull, and you still have infinity yet to come.

Who’s Who in the Ancient Alien’s Bible: Part One

Since the idea of supernatural deities is nonsense IMHO, perhaps there’s another explanation behind the more likely as not reality molehill hidden inside the traditional religious mythological mountain. That explanation could revolve around an extraterrestrial flesh-and-blood alternative.

INTRODUCTION

Erich Von Daniken asked the question “was God as astronaut?” Traditional Christians, Muslims, and those of the Jewish faiths of course answer “No”, God was (and is) a supernatural deity. Those more inclined to be free thinkers pondering realities outside of the religious box, answer anywhere from “Maybe” to “Yes”. If the latter, how might Biblical characters, places and events be interpreted in an ‘ancient astronaut’ context. Who’s who, Where’s where and what’s what?

All interpretations are based on the text of the King James Version of all things Biblical.

WHO’S WHO

God: OIC and captain of the Spaceship Heaven. His real alien name is of course Yahweh, or in the vowelless version YHWH, but I’ll just shorten that to God, a name that all and sundry recognise.

Satan: God’s original First Officer and second in command of the Spaceship Heaven, later exiled to Hell, or at least to Earth, for mutiny. 

Fallen Angels: Fallen Angels are those officers and crew who were in cahoots with Satan in the unsuccessful mutiny against Captain God and who were court-martialed and stripped of their status and rank and exiled to Hell on Earth. 

The Seraphim: Because the Seraphim have six wings, they are probably a separate extraterrestrial race aligned with the alien race of beings to which God and company belong. [Well Star Trek exhibited a multi-species crew from the start.] One such alien was apparently someone called Metatron, an angel who acted as the ‘voice of God’, a scribe, and is the tallest and greatest of the lot. ‘He’s’ sort of the chief cook and bottle washer on the Spaceship Heaven.

The Cherubim (singular is cherub): The extraterrestrial Cherubim might be related to the Seraphim in that they are enormous four-winged beings. The definitive book in the Bible on cherubim is the Book of Ezekiel, mainly the first and tenth chapter.

Governor or Watcher Angels: These are your typically obedient angels who just sort of watch over humanity in general, a sort of extraterrestrial Peeping Tom some of who had an eye for the Daughters of Men.   

Archangels: Senior officers of Spaceship Heaven. Those messenger and battle ready angels. The best known of the lot were the archangels who are very high-ranking angels indeed, starting with Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, but followed by Uriel, Simiel, Orifiel and Zachariel.

Angels: Ordinary crewmembers of the Spaceship Heaven, forever running errands for the senior officers.

Sons of God: Apparently hand chosen senior crew members, perhaps literally biological offspring of Captain God. The Sons of God were apparently some or all of the Governor or Watcher Angels.

Daughters of Men: Human females.

Nephilim: The offspring of the Sons of God and the Daughters of Men. They were apparently the ‘giants’ referred to ‘in the Earth’, though exactly how giant was giant isn’t spelled out.

Jesus: Another offspring of the Sons of God and the Daughters of Men, albeit much farther on down the historical track, or perhaps the offspring between God himself and the Daughters of Men (well one anyway). Jesus would later rise (from the ‘dead’) to become First Officer on board Spaceship Heaven. That Jesus is an extraterrestrial is admitted by himself in John 8:23. Of note here is that Jesus probably used holographic technology to give an appearance of walking on water and/or appearing alive and in the ‘flesh’ post execution – which he survived, another sign of high technology in operation. 

Baal: God’s prime extraterrestrial rival for power and authority in the region, though there’s never any direct and open physical conflict twixt the two.

Moses: Just one of several abductees noted and logged in Biblical texts. He was abducted by a ‘cloud’ and carried on up the mountain for a close encounter with a supreme alien lawmaker. Upon his return his face had an unnatural glow about it which caused those waiting his return to be afraid of him.

Jacob: Witnessed (or dreamed about) angels ascending and descending to and from Spaceship Heaven.

Ezekiel: A human who had a close encounter of the third kind (those Cherubim) plus an associated abduction event.

Jonah: Spent three days and nights in isolation inside a technological craft.

Joshua: 1) Was in possession of high technology sonic weaponry at Jericho. 2) He later witnessed several UFOs that stood still in the sky providing illumination for his army.

Enoch and Elijah: These two human males are the only two whose ultimate fate (death) we don’t know anything about. Both humans apparently joined the Spaceship Heaven at the behest of her captain never to be seen again, albeit Elijah was spotted with Jesus by three of his disciples (see Transfiguration).

Old Age Pensioners: Methuselah, Noah, Adam as well as others, apparently lived to really, really ripe old ages, way, way, way beyond the standard three score and ten. The explanation: these were humans invited by the officers and crew of Spaceship Heaven to take a relativistic interstellar journey at velocities at a considerable fraction of the speed of light. They aged normally on board, but because of the time dilation effect, time passed more rapidly back on Earth, or more slowly on the spaceship (same difference), such that they returned home hundreds of terrestrial year’s later – Earth time - thus the false appearance that they were hundreds of years old at journey’s end but didn’t look a day over thirty because they really weren’t a day over thirty! It’s referred to as the Twin Paradox of Special Relativity, though it’s not really a paradox at all, just the logical conclusion of the equations of Special Relativity which have been verified by observation and experiment, at least on the micro scale.

Matthew, Mark, Luke & John: A quartet of roving reporters who independently investigated what was to them relatively recent history – just several generations had passed – each in his own way. The topic of their investigation was an alleged historical figure, a figure that seemed to have gained some degree of uniqueness, notoriety and prominence as a possible deity and the quartet wrote up their short biographies accordingly. 

To be continued…