Bible Text &  Space Technology - E

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

. . . However, all these discrepancies obviously do not affect the fundamental statements concerning the wheel.  [p.66] 

    Verse 22: Here we find a description of the main body of the spacecraft. The geometrical shape and the position of the helicopters relative to the main body can hardly be better characterized: "Over the heads of the living creatures . . . likeness of a firmament . . . spread out above their heads." How superbly the depiction of the general impression is conveyed and, specifically, how well the form of the main body is reflected in the passage "spread out above," is best illustrated by a comparison of these texts with Figs. 1, 2, and 4.

    Although color descriptions are somewhat divergent in the various translations since mention is made of "crystal" (References 1, 2, 3, 7.), "rock crystal" (Reference 5), and also of "terrible ice" (Reference 6), all descriptions convey the optical picture of a very smooth, very bright, shining surface characteristic of certain alloys.

    Verse 23: The text is incomplete. The first part of the sentence offers an additional description of the position of the helicopters with reference to the main body. The placement of the rotors "under" the arch so aptly described as "firmament" conveys a very clear picture. The term "firmament" is even more understandable if we realize that Ezekiel did not see the spaceship in its technical projection (as in Fig. 4) but rather, from where he stood, with a perspective view (as in Fig. 1). If, in addition, we compare his size with that of the mighty arch of the central body, it becomes quite understandable how the spaceship could suggest to him the image of "firmament." The second part of the sentence is doubtless a fragment of which only the final portion has been preserved. It repeats the earlier description of the rotor blades in resting position.

    Verse 24 and also Verse 25 do not really belong here, because they describe the still running rotors and attending phenomena, while Verse 23 already gave a description of the position at rest. This information is part of the description of the hover flight and the subsequent landing, and should therefore be inserted between Verses 14 and 15.

    From a technical point of view the reference to "the sound of many waters" is a good comparison with the somewhat hissing sound of the rotating rotor blades. The "thunder of the Almighty" and the "sound of a host" become understandable if we realize that, after all, the power required by the helicopters was 70,000 horsepower or more, which is an order of magnitude productive, at any rate, of some considerable noise. Ezekiel makes the very important observation that the really loud noise—the sound of a host—begins when the rotor blades begin to move; because at that moment power is increased rapidly from idling up to its full amount, which is of course accompanied by a commensurate increase in noise. The folding of the rotor blades is only noted with regard to the pair folding downward; Ezekiel's statement is nonetheless significant when he says: "when they stood still, they let down their wings." His observation is correct: this procedure occurs only when the spaceship is on the ground and the rotors have come to a standstill.

    Verse 25 is yet another example of the almost incredible power of observation with which the prophet was endowed. He notices a "sound from above the firmament." As seen from his position, the larger portion of the interior of the spaceship was indeed above the arched surface of the main body—what he hears, therefore, is the sound of the idling central power plant of the helicopters, which is located in that area. This amazing statement is expressed even better in Reference 6, but finds its clearest expression in Reference 1 and 2; there we read: "and when they stood and let down their wings, there was thunder in the firmament above them." This version suggests the incredible possibility that at this point Ezekiel had already recognized a relationship, or at least had sensed it by intuition. Whether this surmise is correct remains of course a question to which no answer can be given.  [p.68]