quote:
Originally posted by DvdGStwrt:
Interesting, no?
Yes, very interesting.
But I think it is interesting from a psychological standpoint and not an historical or astronomical one. Think Rorsharc Test. We see what we want to see and explain things according to our beliefs and what we know (or think we know). In older times when a more religious people experienced sleep paralysis and night terrors, they blamed Incubus and Succubus, since religion was big and important to them. Modern tales of space visitors that went along with the same sleep paralysis came about only when our species started taking our first steps into space. Space became new and important to us, so our interruption of things initially not understood by us was looked at through this new lens.
quote:
Originally posted by DvdGStwrt:
Actually I would be hard pressed to not come up with a religion (old ones) which do not decribe something that can be described as a UFO.
Just as astrological readings are so vague they can be made to fit or retrofit any person or event, so too can ancient mythical and poetic writings be interrupted as almost anything each generation wishes. They are filled with metaphors and other types of allegorical writings and descriptions of real and imagained things.
quote:
Originally posted by DvdGStwrt:
Just what are these pictures telliing us? I'm certain that there is a skeptic out there who has explained away every single one of these pictures - But there is reasonable doubt, isn't there?
It is not up to skeptics to explain away any picture. Reasonable doubt applies only in cases of criminal civil law. In the arena of science, the burden of proof is on whoever asserts the positive. They must, in this case, prove that a picture depicts an advanced alien culture capable of building round interstellar craft visiting Earth in millennia past; and that an artist painted the picture of one or more of these craft in the background of another event that the artist just happened to be painting. Thus far, I don't think anyone has proved that.
quote:
Originally posted by DvdGStwrt:
There are mysteries on Earth. No one has yet to really explain how those darn old Pyramids were built - speculation abounds on the subject.
The only reason there isn't an "official" explanation is that we don't have written records from the Egyptians on their construction methods. There are clear theories in archeology (based on sound science) as to how they were built-and these theories are probably correct and generally accepted by scientists. The Egyptians could (and did) make them. As for how,
I've got a pretty good idea of the tools they used.As a side note, I also find it absolutely fascinating that no one ever says the Greeks couldn't build their temples, the Parthenon, the Coliseum or any of the countless other stone monuments, statues and buildings they built. They used the same tools as the Egyptians would have used. They, too, built in stone. They, too, lacked all modern power equipment. Yet no one ever questions these monuments. I think this is an inherent and unintended bias that many people have that makes them think the "unsophisticated" dark-skinned Egyptians could never accomplish what the white-skinned Greeks did. (For the record I'm
not saying you said or think this--you clearly did not--but many people absolutely insist the Egyptians could never build the self-supporting pyramids, but these same people have no problem with accepting the fact that the Greeks built far more complex--and beautiful--architectural structures.)
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Originally posted by DvdGStwrt:
Our ancestors were really intent on the subject of the night Skies. I have lived in very rural areas, yes, the night sky is pretty, but I can not see an untense interest springing from the nightly view of stars
I have! You don't know what you are missing!
I curse nights when clouds are out preventing me from going out in my back yard, lying down and just staring at the stars. And I have TV and the Internet to distract me!
The ancients didn't have as much as we do to keep them occupied! Looking at the night sky was probably just as entertaining to them as "Must See TV" is to modern man!
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Originally posted by DvdGStwrt:
Not even to the point of having to know when to plant and harvest - That can be done most accurately by where the sun rises and sets.
What about when ancient people were traveling by night? They needed the stars to help them navigate. Knowledge of the stars was necessary back then. We have lost that necessity today. Their very lives would have depended on that knowledge of the stars.
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Originally posted by DvdGStwrt:
Something caught the human mind and caused it to gaze upward and to try to map out the heavens. Something caused the people of anceit egypt to build those pyramids with those vents that spy particular stars.[/QUOTE
Yes. Human imagination, a desire to learn about their world (including their sky) and religious faith. Why do people climb mountains? Because they're there. Why do they look at the stars? Because they are there.
[QUOTE]Originally posted by DvdGStwrt:
Something caused the anceint Incans and Mayans to build observatories.
The same thing that makes modern man build observatories. The incredible human desire to know and see more.
quote:
Originally posted by DvdGStwrt:
How about all those lines in that dessert over there? Odd, no?
No, not really. Humans have been drawing since they first became humans. At some point they would naturally want to draw pictures for their gods to see. You've got to appease those gods up in the sky. They are the ones who pour down rain to help the crops grow when they are happy, and they are the ones who throw down lighting when they are angry. Obviously the gods live up in the sky (perhaps that's what the moon and stars are?), and perhaps by drawing pictures that the gods can see, we humans can appease them. That scenario makes far more sense than animal shaped landing strips for UFOs that, according to every UFO "expert" doesn't need traditional landing strips. When faced with multiple theories, it is best to take the simplest one. See
Occam's Razor. quote:
Originally posted by DvdGStwrt:
What ever took place, it had to happen over and over again. Humans are notorious in living today only - we tend to forget a thing moving on.
Humans are also notorious for seeing things that aren't there just because they desperately want them to be there.
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Many of the comments on this issue make use, to some extent or the other, of the "Either-Or Argument," also known as the "Fallacy of Negation" or "False Dilemma." This is the propensity to dichotomize the position at hand in an attempt to discredit the more likely theory. It is claimed something happened
either one way
or another. The remainder of the discussion is then spent trying to discredit the non-exciting (i.e. non-paranormal) theory.
Another important fact to remember is that
Unexplained Does Not Mean Inexplicable. Yes, there are many mysteries in our world. But just because science has not discovered their secrets (yet) does not mean our current known laws of the Universe or the accepted world view are incorrect and our history and science books must be rewritten. It usually means science has not gathered enough information. We need to keep looking.
Some of the pictures were clear representations of comets. Others may have been lenticular clouds. Others may have been simple mistakes made by the artist. Others we may never know. There are many possibilities-and yes, one of those (very distant) possibilities is that alien craft were in the skies over ancient Earth. And as much as I'd like to believe it--I doubt it.
-- don't make sense. There's no reason for them to be aerodynamically shaped if they use an antigravity (or whatever) propulsion system. So why are they rounded? And if they're rounded in an attempt to be aerodynamic, why are they so clunky-looking. We Earthlings routinely create shapes that slip through the air much better than these UFOs would. Just look at our cars!
