Complements and Insights - B

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 6

    The second expression is "Then the spirit lifted me up" or "the spirit took hold of me" or similar formulas with minor variations. In each case this expression indicates an actual lifting. Immediately thereafter Ezekiel either flies or makes a short "leap." While no doubt is possible with regard to the action itself, the uncertainty remains unabated regarding the word "spirit." Two departures from the standard version are significant in this connection. One relates to the obvious discrepancy between Chapter 43 on the one hand and Chapter 44 on the other:  [p.102] 

    Since in the last two verses "he" refers to the accompanying man it becomes easy to identify the "spirit" with that "man" in Chapter 43, Verse 5, and also in Chapter 11, Verse 1. Such a solution is entirely consistent with the actual possibilities and expectations as already discussed earlier. In Reference 6, page 301, an analogous view is put forward when "he" is interpreted as referring to the accompanying angel: "The subject of the verb is the angel who acted as a guide."

    The second deviation, however, creates some difficulties with this interpretation. It occurs only in Reference 1 and 2 which use the word "wind" every time instead of the word "spirit." If we accept the thus suggested possibility that the expression is ambiguous in the original text, then the word "wind" can be read two ways. On the one hand it can mean in a direct sense the movement of air caused by the operation of the small nozzles. On the other hand, it allows yet another fundamentally new possibility, the elucidation of which requires a reference to Chapter 8, where Ezekiel reports:

    Let us consider the sequence of this scene as it is depicted. The mechanical arm moves its hand toward Ezekiel, holds it over his head, and Ezekiel has a feeling as though the hand grips him by the hair. Then a spirit (a wind) lifts him up.

    First it must be noted that Ezekiel clearly distinguishes between two actions: the touching of his hair and his upward movement. He allows no doubt of the fact that he was lifted by a "spirit" and not by his hair!

    The possibility of substituting "wind" for "spirit" opens up remarkable prospects.

    A charge of static electricity results in the hair standing up. We also know that a strong field of static electricity produces a movement of air, actually a wind! Surely, Ezekiel is not lifted up by the wind itself. But the wind could be the product of an electrical field and as such an indication of a means of lifting and moving of which we know very little today.

    Now, whether the "hand" really touched Ezekiel's hair or whether the bristling of hair he felt was a result of a static charge, is a detail of secondary importance. Anyhow, we have again encountered an occurrence deserving a closer study by specialists.

    We conclude, therefore, that this second expression definitely means a lifting process, and that merely the lifting device employed for that purpose might be different from what was postulated so far.

    The third leitmotif always means Ezekiel's flight in the spacecraft. It reads as follows:

    To explain the identification of a flight with "visions of God," we have only to consider a little more closely the experience of flying. For most people of our time flying, and particularly the first flight, is a wonderful experience; and this is so despite the fact that flying as a possibility is of course known to them. There is no doubt that after he recovered from the shock of the first encounter Ezekiel must have been fascinated with the view of the earth seen from above. To round off the argument, let us not forget that God at that time—(and often still today)—was supposed to dwell in the heavens, that is, "above." Therefore Ezekiel saw the earth during his flight as God must be seeing it: he saw it "in the visions of God"! Whether he coined and transmitted this expression himself or whether it was perhaps chosen by a subsequent writer of his book to convey the quintessence of a description he could not understand is beside the point.

    A clear departure from this mode of expression is found in Ezekiel's first flight:

    We still recall the shock into which he lapsed under the overwhelming impact of the first encounter. Truly, he did fly, but "the heat" of his spirit very understandably spoiled any enjoyment of this flight. He does not look down to the earth and therefore, during this flight and this flight alone, he does not experience "visions of God."  [p.105]