2. Ancient Theories of the Cosmos
In their book Lure and Lore of Outer Space, Ernst and Johanna Lehner (1964) have compiled an illustrated review of the cosmos as it was understood and visualized by earlier cultures. The Lehners make it evident that the inventors of cosmic diagrams were convinced that their images of outer space were real and completely factual. Pseudo-explanations of the nature of the cosmos were at the very core of their religious and political ideologies; belief in them was mandatory and could be disputed only at the risk of imprisonment or death.
The Chinese evolved a celestial globe completely different from the Western concept in which our earth was surrounded by the Four Supernatural Creatures presiding over The Four Quadrants of Heaven:
- the Azure Dragon over the East;
- the Vermilion Bird or Phoenix over the South;
- the White Tiger over the West;
- and the Black Warrior, or Tortoise over the North.
These four quadrants are enclosed by the Pa Kua or Eight Diagrams, representing
- heaven,
- water,
- lightning,
- thunder,
- wind,
- clouds,
- mountains
- and earth.
They are encircled by the 12 zodiacal animals which, in turn, are surrounded by the 28 Kung, or constellations of the Chinese Heaven:
- the Earth Dragon,
- the Sky Dragon,
- the Badger,
- the Hare,
- the Fox,
- the Tiger,
- the Leopard,
- the Griffon,
- the Ox,
- the Bat,
- the Rat,
- the Swallow,
- the Bear,
- the Porcupine,
- the Wolf,
- the Dog,
- the Pheasant,
- the Cock,
- the Raven,
- the Monkey,
- the Ape,
- the Tapir,
- the Sheep,
- the Muntjak,
- the Horse,
- the Deer,
- the Snake,
- the Worm.
(Lehner, 1964).
These were some of the UFOs seen by the ancient Chinese. The Egyptians following the universal rule of interpreting UFOs in terms of the technology of the time — depicted interstellar vehicles as “barges of the Sun” carried on the “star-studded back of Nut, the Heavenly Vault.” Later, cosmic UFOs ‘seen‘ by the Greeks and the Romans (and inherited by us) resulted in a fascinating heavenly attic chockfull of people, gods and goddesses, flora and fauna, mythological beasts, assorted seafood, furniture, equipment, and miscellaneous bric-a-brac.
Here, from an American astronomical chart published in the 1830s, is a partial list of constellations that were visually extrapolated from a few randomly scattered points of light:
- Peacock,
- Herschel’s Telescope,
- Cameleopard,
- Bird of Paradise,
- Hadley’s Quadrant,
- Sun Dial,
- King Charles’ Oak,
- Phoenix,
- Andromeda,
- Perseus,
- Centaur,
- Water Snake,
- Dog,
- Lobster,
- Painter’s Easel,
- Cross,
- Bear,
- Cow.
Most appropriately for this report, there were also three interstellar vehicles:
- Argo Navis (The Sailing Ship),
- The Chariot,
- Noah’s Ark.
There are also other constellations in which Gods or Goddesses or beasts act as heavenly carriers: Iris, the Goddess of the Rainbow, for example, carried sinners to perdition.
The worship of the sun was endemic in antiquity. In nearly every religion the sun was the supreme deity and in some societies was even given the ultimate tribute of human sacrifice. To the Greeks he was Helios; to the Egyptians Horus. For a time, in the guise of the Persian God Mithras, he very nearly became the predominant deity of the Western world before Christianity finally prevailed. The Incas and most other American Indians regarded the sun as their principal deity and worshipped the dominant astronomical phenomenon that was blindingly visible to everyone but never properly understood. The sun was a veritable UFO sighting of the first magnitude.
But the concept of the UFO sun as a deity was not merely metaphorical. Its identity as a god was declared to be irrevocably Truth and Dogma and was backed up by courts of law, police, and armies. In theocratic states, avowed disbelief in the theological explanation of the relationship of the sun to our earth was tantamount to treason and punished as such.
On 1 July 1968, the Catholic Church announced: “that it might revise its censure of Galileo Galilei for his heretical statement that, contrary to the official Catholic dogma, the sun did not revolve around the earth, but vice versa.” (New York Times, 1968).
The article in the Times appears cheek-to-cheek with another news. the story about some UFOs that turned out to be parts of Russian satellites that ignited as they re-entered the earth’s atmosphere (see Section VI, Chapter 2). The juxtaposition of these two “news items” is not accidental: they are part of a persistent pattern of response to UFOs that have always been plainly visible to mankind – and misinterpreted.