UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN

In the 1930s, a small glass cylinder of ancient provenance was discovered in Baghdad. Simple and of otherwise inconsequential design, the strange little object did convey a message: that in ancient times, and at least as early as 2,700 BC, artificial glass was being produced for various purposes.

Similar discoveries in the way of these mysterious ancient glassmakers turned up 12 miles from Haifa, Israel, within a large cave, when a bulldozer on site struck a large 6 by 10 foot glass slab, first believed by archaeologists on site to have been a large piece of vitreous stone. Upon closer examination, the slab was indeed found to be glass, as confirmed in 1964 by a group of American glass experts who visited the site.

While the early production of such materials is fascinating unto itself, at least in terms of the engineering skill it displays, there are more unusual allusions to glasswork that appear in history, which might suggest more technical use of glass in the creation of mirrors, lenses, and even sighting devices.

Among the most famous examples is the “famous” mirror attributed to Ptolemy Euergetes, under whose reign the item was purportedly placed in the Pharos lighthouse off the coast of Alexandria. In his aptly-titled 1860 book, Stories of Inventors and Discoveries in Science and the Useful Arts: A Book for Old and Young, the antiquarian John Timbs (who also used the name Horace Welby) wrote of this strange “mirror,” described as being capable of sighting objects at great distance:

This mirror is stated by ancient authors to have represented accurately every thing which was transacted throughout all Egypt, both on water and on land. Some writers affirm that upon its surface an enemy’s fleet could be seen at the distance of 600,000 paces; others say, more than 100 leagues! Albulfeda, in his description of Egypt, states this mirror to have been of “Chinese Iron” which Buffon considers to mean polished steel; but a writer in the Philosophical Magazine, 1805, supposes the metal to have been tutenag, a Chinese metallic compound, capable of receiving the highest polish. The existence of Ptolemy’s mirror has, however, been generally treated aa a fiction; but Father Abbat, in his Amusemems Philosophiques, first published at Marseilles in 1763, considers that it may have been at the time the only mirror of its kind, and, being a great wonder, its effects may have been greatly exaggerated; making allowance for which, nothing remains “but that at some distance, provided nothing was interposed between the objects and the mirror, those objects were seen more distinctly than with the naked eye; and that with the mirror many objects were seen which, because of their distance, were imperceptible without it.”

“It is certain that, under some circumstances, objects may be seen at a much greater distance than is generally supposed,” Timbs concluded. “Thus it is stated that the Isle of Man is clearly visible from the summit of Ben Lomond, in Scotland, or 120 miles distant. Brydone states, that from the summit of Etna mountains 200 miles off may be distinguished; and, during his visit to Tenerife in 1856, Mn Piazzi Smyth saw objects at a much greater distance.”

The implication here, of course, is that perspective may have had more to do with claims of sight over great distances with the use of this “mirror,” rather than the unique qualities imbued by its formation in “Chinese Iron.” The description of the device, and its attribution to metal obtained from the Orient, does bear a passing similarity to the “Chinese Magic Mirror,” a device with the perceived capability of becoming transparent, and/or projecting designs when bright sunlight was cast upon it (more on these devices can be read about on page 16 of the PDF found here).

Strange though the description may seem, many scholars have noted its apparent similarity, at least in terms of its function, to modern telescopes. For some time, the creation of the telescope was credited to the 17th century astronomer Galileo. However, a patent for such a device was later found to have been filed in 1608 by the Flemish maker of eyeglasses, Hans Lippershey, at least one year before Galileo improved upon the design and built his own.

Centuries before this, it is known that the ancient Norse seafarers possessed lenses made of polished crystalline rock, which would have been of enough quality for use in a telescope; whether or not they actually created such devices remains unclear. However, claims of similar devices in antiquity have turned up elsewhere over the years, which include the Chinese Emperor Chan, who around 2283 BC was alleged have paired two magnifying lenses together, allowing him “to magnify planets.” Pliny the Elder also wrote of Roman Emperor Nero employing some variety of magnifying device, which he used to observe the Colosseum games from a distance.

In 2016, The Royal Astronomical Society reported on the discovery of a series of megalithic tombs in Portugal, whose long, narrow entrances might have functioned as early sorts of telescopes, although sans any lenses. “These structures could therefore have been the first astronomical tools to support the watching of the skies, millennia before telescopes were invented,” the RAS reported.

If nothing else, such historical accounts lend some credence to the idea that telescopic devices may have been in use in some parts of the ancient world. Perhaps they were widely regarded as novelties at the time, and hence, we don’t see anything akin to mass production related in the archaeological record today. And, when considered alongside items like the famous Antikythera mechanism, the notion that such “high technology” might have been implemented in some parts of the ancient world, at least on a small scale, really isn’t that farfetched.

Even Galileo is said to have believed that people in ancient times discovered and used telescopes. Whether or not they were on par with the instruments he helped craft and improve, at least he could have been right that similar technologies had been used well in advance of his era of astronomical discovery.

It was revealed recently that former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill believed in aliens. In an eleven page essay written in 1939, Churchill outlined his views on the prospects of extra-terrestrial life. Although a startling revelation, Britain’s Second World War hero is far from the only historical figure to publicly express a belief in UFOs and extra-terrestrials.

Churchill

“With hundreds of thousands of nebulae, each containing thousands of millions of suns, the odds are enormous there must be immense numbers which possess planets whose circumstances would not render life impossible.” wrote Churchill in the essay, entitled ‘Are We Alone In The Universe?’

“I am not so immensely impressed by the success we are making of our civilisation here that I am prepared to think we are the only spot in this immense universe which contains living, thinking creatures.”

This is far from the first time Churchill has been associated with extra-terrestrial life. Papers released by the National Archives in 2010 alleged that Churchill had ordered a reported encounter between an RAF plane and a UFO over southern England covered-up, for fear of the mass panic it could cause in the the tense wartime environment.

Although the evidence backing up this supposed cover-up is largely anecdotal, it’s nevertheless inspired some conspiracy theorists to speculate on just how much Churchill knew about extra-terrestrials.

During his second term as Prime Minister in 1952, Churchill ordered an official investigation into UFO sightings over England. That report concluded most UFO sightings were misidentifications in no need of further examination.

Douglas MacArthur

A hero of the Pacific theatre during the Second World War, General Douglas MacArthur later suffered the disgrace of being relieved of his command after criticising President Truman’s handling of the Korean War.

The controversial military leader also held highly controversial views on extra-terrestrial life. “…the next war will be an interplanetary war. The nations of the earth must someday make a common front against attack by people from other planets. The politics of the future will be cosmic, or interplanetary”, he said publicly in 1955, on one of several occasions he openly discussed the possibility of humans coming into contact with Aliens.

MacArthur’s high rank in the military meant he was likely privy to a host of classified information, with some speculating this would have extended to UFO sightings. There is little evidence to actually corroborate the belief, however.

Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter

Two US presidents were both incredibly open about their interests in UFOs.

While on the campaign trail, Jimmy Carter promised to make public all documents on UFOs. “I don’t laugh at people anymore when they say they’ve seen UFOs. I’ve seen one myself.”

Ronald Reagan meanwhile, claimed to have seen a UFO while governor of California. As his aircraft approached for a landing at Bakersfield California in 1974, the future president supposedly saw a mysterious glowing object in the sky and ordered the aircraft pilot to follow it.

“We followed it for several minutes. It was a bright white light.We followed it to Bakersfield, and all of a sudden to our utter amazement it went straight up into the heavens. When I got off the plane I told Nancy all about it.”

Christiaan Huygens, Isaac Newton and William Herschel

Belief in aliens isn’t merely a modern phenomenon. Christiaan Huygens, a leading Dutch scientist of the seventeenth century famous for explaining the nature of Saturn’s rings and discovering its moon Titan, wrote a long treatise on the prospect of extraterrestrial life.

‘Cosmotheoros (or The Celestial Worlds Discover’d: or, Conjectures Concerning the Inhabitants, Plants and Productions of the Worlds in the Planets’, published shortly after Huygens’ death, explained in detail a hypothetical alien race. “That which makes me of this Opinion, that those worlds are not without such a Creature endowed with Reason, is that otherwise our Earth would have too much the advantage of them, in being the only part of the Universe that could boast of such a Creature…”

Huygens’ work was criticised at the time as unscientific, while some modern critics have suggested he was in fact being ironic. Nevertheless, other renowned scientists from the period engaged with the idea of alien life.

Isaac Newton said in 1701: “For if all places to which we have access are filled with living creatures, why should all these immense spaces of the heavens above the clouds be incapable of inhabitants?”.

William Herschel, who discovered Uranus, made a similar argument, speculating that any celestial body could be inhabited – the sun and moon, even comets and asteroids.