Ancient artwork would suggest that humankind has been aware of UFOs for thousands of years. More recently, both pilots and passengers of more conventional aircraft have claimed to have seen strange objects in the skies around them. Sometimes mysterious lights hover elusively in the distance. Other reports would have us believe that aliens have indeed landed on Earth.
Discover why aerial phenomena have fascinated so many for so long.
UFOs in Ancient Art
An unusual source of UFO evidence can be found in artwork that stretches back over thousands of years. It often seems to contain "anomalous" figures and extraterrestrial craft. Even with such a large amount of evidence available it is hard to understand what the artists were trying to depict.
A cave painting from Val Camonica, Italy, dated 10,000 B.C., appears to depict two beings in protective suits holding strange implements. Another cave painting from Tassili, Africa, shows humanoids wearing round helmets with a disk flying in the sky. This example dates from 6,000 B.C. Furthermore, there are UFOs depicted in pre-Renaissance paintings.
A 15th-century tapestry from Burgundy, France, entitled "The Magnificat," depicts the life of Mary, mother of Jesus. However, in the background, there is a flying hat-shaped object and there is no explanation of its appearance. One of the most startling anomalies appears on a Yugoslavian fresco entitled "The Crucifixion," which was painted in 1350. Two objects can be seen on the painting, resembling flaming stars with a person inside. They look like spacecraft with a pilot!
What seems evident in all of the weird and wonderful examples of these kinds of paintings is that the artists witnessed, or at least were aware of, sightings of aerial phenomena.
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