Ancient Flying Machines

Ancient Flying Machines are claimed to have been in existence in a number of ancient civilisations. Although many will have read of the claim that ancient India had flying machines known as vimanas, promoters of the ancient astronaut idea have relied heavily on the vimana reports in the likes of the Mahabharata spiced up with the additional suggestion of their involvement in atomic warfare. However, Joanna Gillan revealed that “Rather than being entirely fictitious, the passage is composed of a merging together of various unrelated passages scattered throughout the 200,000-verse epic, some of which are also questionable English translations of a questionable French translation of the original Sanskrit. When viewed in their original context, they are a little less convincing.”^(a)

As I said, the claim of early flying machines is not unique to India. A paper by the late R. Cedric Leonard, makes a case for ancient aircraft in Mesopotamia^(c) , citing the Babylonian books, such as the little-known Halkatha, and the Sifr’ala, allegedly translated by Yonah N. Ibn A’haron. Although Leonard was satisfied regarding the existence of Mr A’haron, Jack Churchward is less sure^(b) . The flying machines described in the Book of Ezekiel were encountered in what was known as Chaldea.

In Egypt a small wooden object shaped like a small glider or bird was discovered at Saqqara in 1898. With the development of flight in the early 20th century, some of the more imaginative suggested that the Saqqara Bird may have been a model of an early flying machine. Despite various attempts to substantiate this claim it remains a matter of speculation^(d) .

A number of other ancient cultures have also left atifacts and writings that are interpreted by some as evidence of flying machines in ancient times. One site has referenced China, Polynesia and a number of South American countries as offering  hints of prehistoric flight and noted^(e) that “To many the enormous bulk of this evidence is conclusive enough. Indeed the inescapable conclusion is that thousands of years ago a form of aviation did once exist. A form of transport that enabled people to travel to and from about the world much like we do today! But if so, where are the remains of these machines? We hear no mention of them being found at archaeological sites, and presumably if they had existed we should have found some trace of them?”

As I see it, many of the artefacts offered as evidence are open to subjective interpretation and therefore offering the possibility of unreliable conclusions and where documents are involved, lf they are genuine, they are usually in some exotic ancient language, leaving us totally dependent on the credibility of the interpreter.

Naturally, Atlantis has not escaped the claim of having mastered flight. This idea came from Edgar Cayce who advised us “that the Atlanteans discovered electricity and also had ships and aircraft powered by a mysterious form of energy crystal. He tells us that these flying machines were made of elephant skins! (Reading 364-6)^(f)  and that they could also travel through water! With all this technology at their disposal, it is incredible that they could have lost a war with anyone, particularly the relatively primitive Athenians.”

^(a) Was the Mohenjo Daro ‘Massacre’ Real? | Ancient Origins (ancient-origins.net)

^(b) Rediscovery of The Naacal Tablets – Accusations Addressed (bibliotecapleyades.net)

^(c) https://atlantisquestscience.wordpress.com/myth/ancient-aeronautica/chaldean-aircraft/

^(d) Model Airplane? (catchpenny.org)

^(e) Prehistoric Flight (aeroman.org)

^(f) https://phantho.de/files/html/reading__364-6.htm