Bible Text &  Space Technology - L

Keywords: UFO, unidentified flying objects, Bible, flying saucers, prophecy, Paleo-SETI, ancient astronauts, Erich von Däniken, Josef F. Blumrich, Zecharia Sitchin, Ezekiel, biblical prophecy, spacecraft, spaceship, NASA, Roswell, aircraft, propellant, extraterrestrial hypothesis, Jacques Vallee, interdimensional hypothesis, Project Blue Book, Condon Report, ancient history, Jesus, Judaism, Christianity, Middle East, end times, engines, rockets, helicopters, space travel, aliens, abductions, alien abductions, crop circles, extraterrestrials, astronomy, economics, biology, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Space Shuttle, Apollo, stars, planets, solar system, scriptures, design, fuel tank, aerodynamics, fuels, hydrogen, oxygen, wheels

Chapter 5

The fourth encounter
(continued)

    Verse 3: These few lines contain remarkable details. First of all Ezekiel confirms that this spaceship looked exactly like the one of the third encounter (". . . came to destroy the city"). At that time, on the other hand, he had also acknowledged the identity with the spaceships of earlier encounters. The introductory passage of this verse shows therefore that over a span of twenty years Ezekiel always saw the same type of spacecraft!  [p.95] 

    The retention of a configuration over such a long period of time, however, is possible only when its design has matured. Such a situation requires a commensurate level in many fields and is therefore possible only after an appropriately long development period. At no earlier stage is a static condition possible. We ourselves, for example, are still too much at the beginning of a technical era to be other than dynamic. The structures and methods we develop are therefore in constant flux; it is only in the area of the simplest devices and tools that we have achieved a status where changes are slow or nonexistent. In the area of "machines", continuous development of engineering and technology determines equally continuous changes in our products. The few exceptions are found in small aircraft and the Volkswagen. What has happened in these two cases is applicable also to the spaceships seen by Ezekiel: For a specific purpose and within the framework of a given technology an optimal, a "definitive" form has been found. From this point on, true progress can only occur through something like a mutation.

    From our somewhat limited point of view the spacecraft described by Ezekiel appears to belong to the class of such fully matured products: So long as no means other than helicopters were available for the terrestrial flight and pertinent requirements, substantial changes in the spaceship were impossible. A mutation which might have led to new forms and functions did not take place during the period of observation.

    There is a second way of looking at it—which would completely overthrow all the arguments set forth above, however—namely, the assumption that spaceship and crew belonged to a different dimension of time. However, in view of the presence of humanlike beings and of the surprisingly small difference between the technology that had made that spaceship possible and our own technology, this thought does not appear to me to have enough merit to deserve serious consideration.

    One also notices that in Verse 3 Ezekiel makes comparisons with the spacecraft of the first and third encounters and never mentions the second. On the other hand, he does explicitly compare the spaceship of the third encounter with the one he had seen during the second. (Compare Chapter 8, Verse 4, with Chapter 3, Verse 22 and 23.) An explanation for the omission of the second encounter may be found in the fact that, at that time, the spaceship was obviously of secondary significance while in the two other cases it was clearly at the very center of interest and action.

    Finally, attention is drawn also to a difference in the texts. As was the case in the second Verse, so here too the translation given in Reference 5 is markedly different from all the others. As a typical example of the content of these other translations, Reference 3 is quoted here. It reads:

    We see that both versions confirm the identity of the vehicles. But Reference 5 has an interesting insert which mentions "the vehicular structure" and which can probably be traced back to different original texts. This expression is of much interest to us insofar as the spaceship was evidently so described because of its wheels, which provides a further confirmation of its identity.

    Verse 4: The vehicle which flew in, on its helicopters, from the east, proceeds to land beside the temple and in so doing arrives "over the gate" that faces the east. This word "over" has been rendered, in all English translations consulted, by the word "by", which can also have the meaning of "over." References 1 and 2 alone translate it as "through." Consistently with the action, "over" or "by" (provided the latter is interpreted as having the same meaning) are doubtless the right words: Although this point as such may not be of real significance, a clarification of the contents of the original texts would be quite interesting.

    Verse 5: Ezekiel is taken to the inner court. He does not say—as he did elsewhere—"he led me" or "he made me go," but specifically "brought me." At the outset of this encounter we saw that the "man" is most probably clad in a suit similar to that of the commander. He may therefore also have been equipped with that small propulsive device that makes individual flying possible (Fig. 12). In such a case he is, of course, able to lift Ezekiel into the air and to carry him over a moderate distance. The text clearly describes this procedure: ". . . lifted me up, and brought me . . ." It should be repeated at this point that devices and procedures of this kind are in no way unrealistic from a technical point of view. If anything, it is probably rather astonishing that such devices have not been developed much further in our time. Their evident advantages in overcoming short or moderate distances (for example, on large construction sites) and the attraction they may have for sportsmen will probably enhance interest in such devices in the not too distant future.

    Verse 6: We again witness Ezekiel's ability to make precise distinctions. As in most cases, he bestows upon the majestic spectacle of the flying spaceship an appropriately impressive characterization—"the glory of the Lord" (Verse 5). However, it does not escape his especially critical observation that the voice coming from there is perfectly real and, as it were, terrestrial. Instead of saying, as one would expect, "the voice of the Lord," he very soberly says ". . . I heard one speaking to me from the temple."

    This Verse gives a very clear picture of the situation: Ezekiel and the man who has just brought him over the wall are standing in the court; and the commander, who has also just landed, speaks to him. The speech is coming "from the temple," that is, over some distance, and this leads to the conclusion that a loudspeaker was used, which was already used to summon the ground crew during the third encounter (Chapter 9, Verse 1).

    This scene fully eliminates any suspicion that may have been harbored to the effect that the commander and the man were the same person. Moreover it strongly conveys the impression that the "man" did look like a human being.

    Verse 7: The text indicates with some degree of certainty that it is the commander who speaks to Ezekiel. Yet the latter omits any particularly respectful terms and refers to the speaker simply as "he."

    Verses 1 and 4: For the first and only time "he brought" Ezekiel from one place to another. "He" is not in this case the "spirit" usually referred to. "He" is this time the man who leads him. Thus, literally at the very last moment, Verse 4 hands us the key to the clarification of the so often used words "he brought."

    This clarification begins with the determination of the itinerary, which establishes that Ezekiel was brought from the east gate to the temple via the north gate—which means a detour. If we first assume that Ezekiel and his leader walked this route, we must consult the plan of the temple. It is probably not possible to draw a plan entirely consistent with all the available information. Nonetheless, the basic pattern and arrangements of the courts can be reconstructed with sufficient certainty from the texts (Chapters 42 to 44).

    The plan thus obtained shows us that the route as described was not possible at all. There is no connection between the eastern and the northern courts. To be able to walk as described, from the outer east gate through the north gate to the temple, the two would have had to leave the temple grounds through the outer east gate, walk along its outer perimeter first in the northern and then in the western direction, and finally pass through the outer north gate, the outer court, the inner north gate, and the inner court, to arrive at the temple. A weighty circumstance rules out this long march as a possibility: The outer east gate is locked! (Verse 1.)

    If, on the other hand, Ezekiel and the man who accompanied him were to go directly to the temple, they would have had to pass through the east gate of the inner court. Thus, only one answer is left: The described itinerary is possible only by air.

    Upon arrival before the temple, Ezekiel finds the commander and the spaceship still present and Ezekiel falls prostrate.

    Thus ends the fourth and last encounter insofar as the description of the spacecraft, its commander, and the ground crew is concerned.  [p.100]