Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hic Sunt Leones
UFOs in the ancient times
Good evening, and welcome to Hic Sunt Leones
a program to explore the boundaries of knowledge
Tonight we will talk about UFOs and art
We don't know if there are alien ships flying in our skies
but we know that many odd objects that appear in old paintings
and that ufologists suggest that may be of extraterrestrial origin
are actually something else
And this is what we are going to show you tonight.
Many UFO researchers affirm that the angels are beings from other planets
and that they would have witnessed every key moment of Jesus' life from their space ships
from birth to death
Flying saucers would have appeared already since when the Archangel Gabriel announced to the *** Mary that she would have gave birth to the Son of God
In the Annunciation by Carlo Crivelli, exhibited in the National Gallery of London
you can see a ray of light that hits the Madonna, coming from a disc shaped object in the sky
Actually such ray of light represents the Holy Spirit
in fact a traditional white dove
can be seen above the head of Mary
Magnifying the detail of the painting containing the supposed object in the sky
we can see that it's actually a cloud surrounded by two choirs of angels
UFOs and religion are often connected
Here we are in Bethlehem, where about 2000 years ago Jesus Christ was born
in many old paintings representing the Nativity, but also the death on the Cross of Jesus Christ
we can see strange objects in the background, flying or staying in the sky
This is the place where Jesus Christ was born
and this event was celebrated in many paintings and pieces of artwork
In the Nativity by Bernardino di Betto, better known as Pinturicchio
exhibited in the Chapel Baglioni of the Church of St. Maria Maggiore, in Spello
two objects can be seen in the sky in the background
According to UFO researchers they would be alien ships witnessing to the birth of Jesus Christ
Actually the object between the hills in the background is the Sun, rising over the birth of Jesus, “Light of the World”.
And the smaller object, to the left side of the cypress, is the Christmas Star, that guides the pilgrims to Bethlehem to pay homage to the Saviour
In the Madonna with Child and young St. John by Sebastiano Mainardi (or may be by Jacopo del Sellaio)
exhibited in the Hall of Hercules of Palazzo Vecchio, in Florence
in the background there's a person that watches a strange object in the sky behind the *** Mary
Furthermore, on the left glares of fire can be seen
But what seems to be a flying saucer, it's actually an angel surrounded by a bright cloud, that announces the birth of Jesus to the shepherds
And the flaming object on the left, once again is the Christmas Star
...
...
This cloud is described in the Protogospel of James
that even if it's not part of the four canonical Gospels, is still a book of the Christian tradition
From the Protogospel of James, Chapter 19:2
And they stood near the cave and a luminous cloud was hovering over the cave.
And the midwife said, "My soul glorifies this day, for today my eyes have seen a miracle: salvation has come to Israel."
And immediately, the cloud withdrew from the cave and a great light appeared in the cave so that their eyes could not bear it.
And a little while later the same light withdrew until an infant appeared. And he came and took the breast of his mother, Mary.
Not all flying objects that can be seen in ancient paintings would be of extraterrestrial origin
In the Madonna with Child by Carlo Crivelli (the same author of the Annunciation)
exhibited in the Pinacoteca civica of Ancona
there are objects that look like missiles being launched from the hills in the background
Actually, they're not missiles, but campaniles (tower bells), stylized because of the small size of the town, which is just three centimeters wide
In other larger paintings made by Crivelli there are similar landscapes with more detailed campaniles
The Madonna with Child and St. Benoit, made in 1460
by an unknown artist
and exhibited in the Church of Saint Hippolyte of Vivoin, in France
contains another object that seems to be out if its time
In the hands of the Child Jesus there's what looks like a small toy helicopter
Someone even guessed that it could be a toy based on Leonardo Da Vinci's drawing
but Leonardo was only eight years old, when this painting was made
This is actually a small toy windmill, called "moulinet"
a name that was already in use since at least 1390
Another important moment of Jesus' life, the Baptism, would have been witnessed by extraterrestrial entities
in the Baptism of Christ by Aert De Gelder
exhibited in the Fitzwilliam Museum of Cambridge
there's a disc in the sky that shoots four light beams toward Jesus
But the disc is not an alien spaceship
it's the Holy Spirit depicted as a dove inside a disc
as it can be seen in other artworks
Another painting that caught the attention of the UFO researchers is this one, in which Jesus seems to be about to fly to the space into a missile
This is nothing else but Transfiguration of Jesus
and what looks like a missile, is actually the shine that surrounded him
as described by the Gospels, according to the classical depiction in byzantine style
The extraterrestrials couldn't of course miss the most dramatical moment of Jesus' life: the Crucifiction
In the painting La Tebiade by Paolo Uccello, also known as Scenes of hermitic life
exhibited in the Gallery of the Academy of Florence
a strange red saucer can be seen flying in the sky
But what looks like a disc is actually a red Cardinal's hat, laying next to the Crucifix
It's the hat of St. Jerome, lived in the fourth century, and nominated Cardinal by Pope Damasus I
The attributes of St. Jerome are the Crucifix
a lion to whom he removed a thorn from the paw, the Bible (because he was the first one to translate it into Latin), the skull (symbolizing the christian penitence)
and the Cardinal's hat, which is often depicted laying next to the Crucifix in many other paintings
Actually, the wrong interpretation of elements that appear in ancient paintings, so that people can counfuse religious symbols with flying saucers
originates from the ignorance of iconography, the traditional way to depict characters and events
In the ancient times, stories from the Bible and the life of the Saints were more widely known
and who watched a painting could easily call a character or an event
from the elements in the scene, and from the way they were depicted
Nowadays most people is unable to understand such elements and try to interpret them using their fantasy
To make an example closer to our age
we could think of the shining glove that Michael Jackson used to wear in the '80s
Who lived during these years only needs to see a picture of that glove to think about the singer
but may be in a few centuries it could be no longer be so