Credible Theories
Topic · 37 rabbit holes · 85 passages

Visitors From Elsewhere: Sky Beings, Ancient Sightings and UFO Files

Beings who came down from the sky in the old texts, and the modern UFO and UAP records governments have released. Each page separates what the record says from what people claim.

Old texts describe beings who came down from the sky, and Roman historians logged ships and shields in the air. Each page here quotes the record first, then gives the scholars' or officials' explanation.

Records 6

US Department of Defense (AARO)AARO Historical Record Report, Volume IThe Pentagon's UAP office reviewed US government UFO history back to 1945 and found no evidence of alien technology, or of a program hiding it.US Air ForceProject Blue BookThe Air Force logged 12,618 UFO reports between 1947 and 1969. When it closed the files, 701 were still labeled "unidentified."US Air Force / University of ColoradoThe Condon ReportAn Air Force-funded study at the University of Colorado concluded in 1968 that 21 years of UFO study had added nothing to scientific knowledge.FBI VaultThe Guy Hottel Memo (FBI Vault UFO File)A one-page 1950 FBI memo about three "flying saucers" in New Mexico became the most viewed document in the FBI's online Vault.FBI Vault / US National ArchivesThe Majestic 12 DocumentsA supposed top secret briefing for President-elect Eisenhower about a recovered alien craft. The FBI and the National Archives explain why they doubt it.CIAThe Robertson PanelIn 1953 a CIA-sponsored panel of scientists reviewed UFO reports and proposed a public campaign to debunk them, possibly with help from Disney.

Events 9

Greece and RomeArmies in the clouds over Jerusalem (66 CE)Before the war with Rome, Josephus says chariots and armed troops were seen running through the clouds around Judean cities.Greece and RomeLivy's ships in the skyIn the winter of 218 BCE, with Hannibal in Italy, Rome logged phantom ships gleaming in the sky and figures in shining clothes.Greece and RomePliny's burning shieldPliny the Elder records a burning, sparking shield that crossed the sky at sunset from west to east in 100 BCE.UK Ministry of Defence / US Air ForceRendlesham Forest and the Halt MemoA US Air Force deputy base commander in Suffolk sent Britain's Ministry of Defence a memo headed "Unexplained Lights." It is now in the UK National Archives.Imperial Iranian Air Force / US Air Force / NSAThe 1976 Tehran UFO IncidentTwo Iranian F-4 jets chased a bright light over Tehran in 1976. A US military account says one lost its instruments and the other its weapons panel.US House of Representatives, Committee on OversightThe 2023 House UAP HearingIn July 2023 three witnesses testified to Congress about UAP. One described a secret crash-retrieval program he said he had learned about secondhand.Greece and RomeThe silver jar at Lucullus' battleAs Roman and Pontic armies prepared to fight in Phrygia, a flaming silver object shaped like a wine jar fell between them.US Navy / Department of DefenseThe USS Nimitz "Tic Tac" and the Navy UAP VideosA 2004 Navy encounter off California produced the "Tic Tac" video, one of three clips the Pentagon officially released in April 2020.JapanUtsuro-bune (the hollow ship)In 1803, Japanese fishermen reportedly found a round vessel with windows and a woman inside who clutched a box no one could touch.

Beings 10

Sumer and BabylonAnunnakiThe great gods of Sumer and Babylon, whose name means something like 'offspring of An', the sky god. They also became judges of the dead.Sumer and BabylonApkallu (the seven sages)Seven semi-divine sages sent by Enki before the Flood to give humans civilization, carved as fish-men and eagle-headed spirits.Enoch literature; LeviticusAzazelA name from the Day of Atonement ritual that became the Watcher who taught humanity weapons, metalwork and makeup.QuranHarut and MarutTwo angels in Babylon who taught forbidden knowledge, but only after warning every student: "We are only a temptation."Sumer and BabylonIgigiThe junior gods of Babylonian myth who dug the rivers, went on strike, and forced the creation of humankind.Sumer and BabylonOannesA fish-bodied teacher who rose from the sea, taught the Babylonians writing and law by day, and went back into the water at night.Hebrew Bible; Jewish mysticismOphanim (the wheels)Ezekiel's 'wheel in the middle of a wheel,' rims full of eyes, that later became a class of angels.Enoch literatureSemjaza (Shemihazah)The leader of the two hundred Watchers, who made his followers swear an oath so none could back out of the descent.Enoch literatureThe Watchers (Grigori)Heavenly beings who never sleep, sent to watch humanity, who in the Enoch books came down, took wives, and taught forbidden arts.IrelandTuatha Dé DanannThe god-like people of Irish legend who arrived in dark clouds, carrying four treasures, and later withdrew into the hills.

People 4

Hebrew Bible; Enoch literatureEnochThe man who 'walked with God: and he was not; for God took him,' and who became the hero of an entire library of visions.2 MaccabeesHeliodorusA Seleucid minister who tried to seize the Jerusalem Temple treasury and was beaten by a shining horseman and two young men.IndiaKakudmi and RevatiA king and his daughter visit the creator god for a short audience and return to find that ages have passed on earth.Modern ancient-astronaut writingZecharia SitchinThe author who turned the Anunnaki into gold-mining astronauts from Nibiru, and made Sumerian gods a global phenomenon.

Places 1

EgyptThe Imperishable StarsThe stars around the north pole that never set, where Egypt's first kings hoped to live forever.

Objects 6

Jewish mysticismMerkabah (throne-chariot)The fiery throne-chariot of Ezekiel's vision, so dangerous to study that the rabbis restricted who could even discuss it.Sumer and Babylon; modern speculationNibiruIn Babylon, a name of Marduk and a crossing point in the sky. In modern lore, a hidden planet always about to hit Earth.IndiaPushpaka VimanaThe flying palace-car of the Ramayana, built for the gods, stolen by Ravana, and flown home by Rama with his whole army aboard.IndiaSaubha, the flying cityA flying fortress-city in the Mahabharata that could go anywhere, vanish, and rain weapons, until Krishna split it with his discus.NorseSkidbladnirThe dwarf-built ship of the Norse gods: big enough for all of them, always sailing with a fair wind, and foldable into a pouch.ChinaThe Qigong (Jigong) flying cartA people from a far country build wind-driven flying carts; one lands in ancient China, is dismantled, and ten years later flies home.

Texts 1

India (20th century)Vaimanika ShastraA 'Science of Aeronautics' presented as ancient, but dictated in the 1910s and 20s. Engineers who tested its designs in 1974 found they could not fly.

Passages 85

All 154 passages

Features

FeatureSame time, far apartSky signs recorded in the same years on opposite sides of the world.FeatureWhere the alien books get it wrongFourteen ancient-astronaut claims checked against the tablets.

Questions people ask about Visitors From Elsewhere

What is the ancient astronaut theory?

It is the modern idea that beings in old texts were visitors from elsewhere. Writers read the Nephilim as hybrids of visitors and humans, and Zecharia Sitchin turned the Anunnaki into gold-mining astronauts from Nibiru. Specialists in cuneiform say Sitchin's translations are not supported by the texts, and each page here gives both sides.

Were the Anunnaki aliens?

Not in the texts. The Anunnaki are Mesopotamian gods named for over two thousand years, and Assyriologists read the name as 'offspring of An', the sky god. The reading 'those who from heaven to earth came' is Sitchin's, and no text translates it that way. The alien reading is a modern interpretation.

Did the ancient Romans record UFOs?

They recorded strange things in the sky. Livy logged 'ships gleaming in the sky' in 218 BCE, Pliny a burning shield crossing at sunset in 100 BCE, and Plutarch a silver object like a wine jar falling between two armies. Livy himself notes that frightened people believed such reports too easily.

Other topics

Ancient TextsDeclassified FilesMind and Psi ResearchGiants, Gods and BeingsLost WorldsStrange Skies and DisastersStrange Objects and ArtifactsMyths Checked

Updated