Angels or Aliens - Ancient Contacts with the Sky People

Tim Swartz

The leading theory on the origins of UFOs is called the "extraterrestrial

hypothesis" (ETH) – this theory says that spacecraft piloted by beings from other worlds
are visiting planet Earth. This concept entered the public consciousness after World War
II when UFOs first attracted worldwide media attention.
The idea that there could be life on other planets is nothing new. Popular science
fiction from the 1920s and 30s were full of swashbuckling tales of intelligent alien life
forms whizzing around the galaxies and interacting with humans, usually as a hostile
invading force. However, no one really took these stories seriously, that is until people
started actually seeing strange objects buzzing around in the sky. Then, the thought that
there really could be extraterrestrial beings visiting us seemed not so far-fetched after all.
However, the belief of strange beings coming down from the stars to intermingle
with humanity can be traced back to the earliest days of mankind. The current notion of
UFOs and their extraterrestrial pilots is simply a modern version of the myths and
legends contained within almost every ancient culture and civilization.

PAINTINGS ON ROCKY WALLS

Carved on cave walls and rocky cliffs are the silent testimony of ancient man’s
views of the world around him. These petroglyphs often display crude representations of
the daily activities of the people and animals that inhabited this archaic time. Other
drawings are not so easily interpreted. Cave paintings from Tanzania, estimated to be up
to 29,000 years old, depict several disc shaped objects that appear to be hovering over the
landscape. Another painting shows four humanoid entities surrounding a woman while
another entity looks down from the sky inside some sort of box.
Inside the French cave of Pech Merle near Le Cabrerets are paintings from around
17000 - 15000BCE that show landscapes full of wildlife with a number of saucer shaped
objects. One painting actually shows the figure of a man looking up at one of the
overhead saucers.
In northern Australia there are a number of cave paintings, possibly more than
5,000 years old, that show strange beings with large heads and eyes, wearing spacesuit-
like garments. The Aborigines call these creatures Wandjina, and according to legend,
Wandjina came down from the stars in the Milky Way during the Dreamtime and created
the Earth and all its inhabitants.
Archeologists dismiss these paintings as abstract depictions of birds, clouds or
stars. The strange beings are interpreted as detailing ritualistic activities where shaman
would dress up as spirits to insure a good hunt or weather. It is impossible to know what
these drawings were actually meant to represent. But, as man learned to write down his
thoughts, it became clear that there existed a rich tradition of myths and legends that told
of gods and star people who came down to Earth to bring civilization to an infant
humanity.

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 Angels or Aliens - Ancient Contacts with the Sky People
Tim Swartz

GODS FROM OTHER WORLDS

Even the briefest of examinations of ancient civilizations will find stories of

strange beings that came down from the heavens to interact with mankind. These visitors
were considered to be the bearers of mankind’s wisdom, religion, knowledge and
technology. Evidence for this theory comes from a variety of sources including ancient
scriptures, unexplained archaeological artifacts and a seemingly advanced knowledge of
engineering by some ancient cultures.
The Philistine deity, Dagon, who was one of the four sons of Anu, the lord of
heaven, was said to have a human face and hands, but a portion of his body resembled a
fish. Dagon flew down from the sky in a ball of fire and taught mankind the ways of the
plow and agriculture.
Clay tablets inscribed around 2600BCE by the ancient Sumerians detail a 400,000
year history that included visits by creatures called Annunaki who flew in vehicles called
Shems, or Mu. These celestial craft were described as being tall rocket-like "rocks" which
emitted fire. The visitors stayed in human-built temples and were waited on hand and
foot. The detailed descriptions of everything from who shakes hands with the gods first,
to what food is served, and how the gods are carried back to their Shems imply that the
Sumerians were not speaking of spiritual visitors, but actual physical beings from the sky.
The Sumerians never called the Anunnaki, gods. They were called dingir,
meaning "righteous ones of the bright pointed objects." The Annunaki are sometimes
depicted as humanoid. At other times they are bird-headed with wings. Often they are
Reptilian in appearance especially when depicted as warriors.
As well, a history of Mesopotamia written in the third century BC by Berossus, a
Babylonian priest, states that ancient man lived in a lawless manner like the beasts of the
field. In those days there appeared a creature whose name was Oannes, or Ea meaning the
"fish of heaven." Oannes body was like a fish, and “under the fish's head he had another
head, and connected to the fish's tail, he had feet similar to those of a man.”
Oannes taught mankind writing and math, and he is credited by the Sumerians for
giving civilization to man. Oannes was said to stay in the sea every evening, but when he
departed for the last time, he flew up into the sky and returned to the heavens.
Ancient Egyptian legends tell of "Tep Zepi" or the First Time. This is described
as an age when "sky gods" came down to Earth and raised the land from mud and water.
They supposedly traveled through the air in flying "boats" and brought laws and wisdom
to man through a royal line of pharaohs.
A passage from The Egyptian Book of the Dead tells of contacts with glowing
beings that fly the heavens in their disks: "Behold, oh ye shining ones, ye men and
gods....I speak with the followers of the gods. I speak with the disk. I speak with the
shining ones."
In Tibet there is a book called the Kantyua, which means "the translated word of
Buddha." It tells of flying "pearls in the sky" and of transparent spheres carrying gods to
visit man. Kantyua speaks of the belief of being reborn time and time again and not just
to Earth, but to other planets in the universe. The Royal Pedigrees of Tibetan Kings dates
back to the seventh century and states that the first seven Tibetan kings came from the
stars and that they eventually returned to the stars.

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 Angels or Aliens - Ancient Contacts with the Sky People
Tim Swartz

Five thousand years ago, when the Shamanic Turks started their journey from
Central Asia towards today’s Turkey, they brought with them a belief that intelligent
beings can be found on other worlds. The original Turks were called “GökTürk.” Gök
means sky, Türk means human or people - “Sky People.” Their earliest creation stories
started with the existence of flying gods called Kara-han who created the world and
allowed their brethren from the stars to populate it.
Coptic Gnostic texts that were written around the first and second centuries C.E.
contain passages that describe ancient encounters with alien-like beings called the
Archons. A passage from The First Apocalypse of James (NHC V, 3) states: "A
multitude of Archons may turn on you, thinking they can capture you. And in particular,
three of them will seize you, those who pose as toll collectors. Not only do they demand
toll, but they take away souls by theft. They are not entirely alien, for they are from the
Fallen Sophia, the female divinity who produced them when she brought the human race
down from the Source, the realm of the Pre-Existent One. So they are not entirely alien,
but they are our kin."
It is interesting to note that the actions of the Gnostic Archons bear a close
resemblance to modern reports of UFO abductions, and the mysterious Men-In-Black,
who supposedly travel in threes and pose as authority figures.
Scott Corrales, in his article Unvoiced Testimony - Visitors in the Dawn of Times,
relates the legends of Brazilian natives and their experiences of gods or travelers from the
sky. These visitors descended to earth when humans were little more than animals to
instruct them in agriculture, astronomy, medicine, and other disciplines. One being in
particular, Bep-Kororoti, a space warrior worshipped by the tribes of the upper reaches of
the Xing River, possessed a flying vehicle capable of destroying anything in its path.
Bep-Kororoti terrified the natives until he stepped out of his "raiment" and revealed
himself to be fair-skinned, handsome, and kind. He amused the natives with his "magic"
until he grew restless for his land in the sky and returned there.
In North America there is a Native American chronicle of contacts with unearthly
beings that reaches back into a mysterious past. Along the Mississippi river in Illinois are
the remnants of the mound-building Cahokian civilization. At its apex, around 1050CE,
the city of Cahokia had more than 15,000 residents.
Legend has it that around 720 C.E. the struggling Cahokian tribes, who were
made up of many other tribes including the Illiniwek Indians, were in danger of being
wiped out due to famine and disease. On the brink of collapse, they were visited by
numerous robed beings from the sky. These beings offered them the knowledge and
technology to save their civilization from extinction, as well as allow them to prosper and
become one of the most powerful cultures on the continent.
It is impossible to detail the numerous historical accounts of the ancient sky-
beings in one column. However, there are some excellent books for those wishing to
undertake further study.
Zecharia Sitchin, an expert in Sumerian cuneiform, has written six scholarly
books of the Earth Chronicles series detailing 20 years of study of ancient contacts with
other worldly beings. As well, Brinsley Le Poer Trench’s The Sky People, and Erich von
Däniken's Chariots of the Gods are just a few examples of the many books that have been
written on the subject.

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 Angels or Aliens - Ancient Contacts with the Sky People
Tim Swartz

Despite many diverse civilizations sharing a common understanding of non-

humans from the sky bringing knowledge and enlightenment to mankind, history tends to
assume that these ancient legends are simply myths. However, considering modern
stories of UFOs and the alleged contacts with the non-human pilots, there are startling
similarities between UFO encounters over the last 60 years, and ancient accounts that are
thousands of years old. The only difference is that early man had no real concept of the
realities of the universe and life on other planets. To them, strange beings coming down
from the sky in glowing chariots had to be gods, angels or demons. Thus, ancient
encounters were put within a religious or spiritual framework.
Today, in the view of a society brought up on images of moonwalks and robotic
rovers on Mars, UFOs and their bizarre inhabitants are seen as extraterrestrial visitors.
1,000 years from now, who knows what changes in science and culture will do to the
perception and understanding of this strange phenomenon.
Whether we think of that phenomenon as originating from aliens or gods,
attempting to better understand it is key to understanding our past, the true origins of man
and the ultimate mysteries of our existence.

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