Article on Blumrich - The Journal

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

NASA Scientist Believes in Ancient Astronauts

Webmaster's Note: This article contains several errors, such as misspelling von Däniken. In the interest of historical accuracy I copied it without making any corrections. In his book Blumrich says, "I wrote this book after reading Chariots of the Gods by Erich von Däniken," but he told a number of interviewers that he began researching after reading von Däniken's Gods from Outer Space.

The article says Blumrich said the crew was "from another galaxy." It is highly unlikely Blumrich said that.  In his writings and interviews Blumrich never even speculated on where the crew was from, although he did tell at least one newspaper interviewer that the visitors must have come from outside the solar system. The closest satellite galaxy to the Milky Way is about 160,000 light years away. The closest normal galaxy, Andromeda, is two million light years away. Keep in mind that this reporter didn't even get von Däniken's name right.

The article says, "Blumrich read Ezekiel's description of what he saw, "living creatures with faces and four wings—feet were straight and the sole like a calf's foot, hands of a man under their wings—joined together." None of the Bibles Blumrich checked uses the specific wording Vayhinger "quotes"; in fact, if the first Bible he checked had used the correct "like a calf's foot" wording, Blumrich would have written the book he originally intended to write, since the correct wording doesn't support his theory.

I have had communications with Josef's son Christoph, who helped him research the non-technical parts of the book. The first Bible Blumrich checked was a relatively recent German translation that mistranslated the phrase as "Ihre Füße waren gradlinig und ihre Fußsohlen abgerundet." Being Catholics, when they checked further they looked at a (then) brand-new Catholic English translation (NAB) whose authors—unknown to them— had copied the German mistranslation! — "their legs went straight down; the soles of their feet were round."

The point of this note is that Vayhinger probably was not paraphrasing the wording Blumrich used in his talk but instead looked up Ezekiel 1:7 on her own after Blumrich's speech, since in his writings he always relied on the "round feet" wording.

Source: Originally published in The Journal, Lorain, Ohio USA, Friday, November 1974. The exact day is illegible. Bolding and capitalization in the original. Two very poor quality photos have been omitted, one of Blumrich's head while he was speaking and one of the area where he spoke. November 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29, 1974 were Fridays. There is no indication that the author of the article spoke personally with Blumrich.

   "And I looked and behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud and a fire unfolding itself, and a brightness was about it and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire." Ezekiel 1:4.

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BY MARSHA VAYHINGER
Staff Writer

   THE ABOVE passage from the Old Testament is Ezekiel recalling his first encounter 2,600 years ago with what a National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientist calls an "interplanetary vehicle."

   Josef F. Blumrich, an Austrian born space design engineer at NASA's Marshall Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., spoke before a 650 plus crowd last night at Lorain County Community College.  

   He told his captive audience that after careful investigation and research he believes that Ezekiel did see a space vehicle piloted by a crew of astronauts from another galaxy.  

   Blumrich first began his research three years ago this month after reading Erik VanDaniken's controversial book, "Gods from Outer Space."

   "His (VanDaniken's) ideas were unacceptable to me," explained Blumrich in his soft-spoken Austrian accent.  "I started my investigation to taint VanDaniken—I wanted to contradict him."

   VanDANIKEN went into Ezekiel's visions in his book.  Blumrich said he laid down "Gods from Outer Space" and picked up the Bible.  

   "I told my wife that within a few minutes of reading, I could tell her why VanDaniken was wrong," said Blumrich, who admitted he wanted to disprove VanDaniken only from his standpoint of being a design engineer.

   After Blumrich read Ezekiel's description of what he saw, "living creatures with faces and four wings—feet were straight and the sole like a calf's foot, hands of a man under their wings—joined together."

   Blumrich said from the description, in his opinion, it could have been similar to a hypothetical lunar landing station he designed 10 years ago.

   Those ancient Biblical passages had "immediate technical meaning" to Blumrich.  

   BLUMRICH PUT a rough sketch together and by the time he was finished "all of a sudden I had a configuration resembling a helicopter."

   Further research and sketching gave Blumrich a mother ship and four vehicles to orbit between Earth and the station.

   "With my professional knowledge, I defeated my emotional feeling," admitted Blumrich.  "I was converted myself from one who was opposed to this type of thing to one who had feasible knowledge," he said.
 

   Blumrich continued his investigation, done strictly on his own time and having nothing to do with his NASA work, making weight and dimensional assumptions and checking on geometric and engineering performance of Ezekiel's "fiery chariot."

   After finishing his scientific calculations, Blumrich said he had a new problem—establishing an engineering interpretation for the text of Ezekiel's book."

   "I felt that if we did have knowledge of space technology, then we have to apply it—even if the results are different from what tradition has told us," he explained.  

   Blumrich explained Ezekiel has four encounters with the space vehicle, spanning 20 years.  

   HISTORICAL research matched to Ezekiel's words gives "good valuation for his (Ezekiel's) report," according to Blumrich.

   Further descriptions of the men piloting the vehicle sound like human beings as we know them—not science fiction.  Blumrich said Ezekiel gives great detail of those things that were different to him and it isn't much detail on the "men" on the ships.  

   "At the first encounter, Ezekiel is close to a shock condition," explains the scientist. "But in his condition, he separated emotional turmoil from cold, clear intellectual observation."

   Blumrich said in his studies he used six Bible translations ranging from a German Protestant to the most modern translations to the Jewish, trying to get everything he could.

   The NASA scientist, who this year received the NASA "Outstanding Performance Rating," said he did find some historical and geographical discrepancies in Ezekiel's account of his spaceship rides and landings. 

   Blumrich said he does draw some conclusions from Ezekiel's graphic account. — The earth visitors trip was clearly thought out and not a chance encounter or just an undertaking to see Ezekiel and there were human beings very similar to man piloting the ship.

   RIGHT NOW though, there's a scientific impasse.

   Blumrich said he definitely believes in those visitors from outside our solar system but right now, we have no means of going beyond the light barrier and out of the solar system.  

(Photo of a large lecture-hall setup omitted) More than 650 crowded in the Lorain Community College Center Mall to hear Josef Blumrich. (Journal Photos by Michael Pugh)

   "Too many scientists believe that because of this there could not have been any earth visit," explained Blumrich.  "But I do believe it and I feel we need more cooperative investigative work and maybe come up with some concrete answers."