It is time
again for the RockArtBlog coveted annual C. R. A. P. (Certifiable Rock Art
Prevarication) award, and do I have a really deserving recipient this year? Not
to a particular person, but for an area of fringie writing using twisted and
convoluted beliefs to turn petroglyphs of stone temples into flying machines. I
am talking about the hokum surrounding modern “theorists” about Vimanas, the
flying machines from the annals of ancient writings in India, and modern
websites pushing these beliefs.
One characteristic of many
of these websites is that they are anonymous, it is difficult to find an actual
person’s name to associate with it. The writing is credited to “the editorial
team,” although some sites originating in India have the author’s name on them.
Another characteristic is
exaggerated fringie hype about things like interstellar visitors, antigravity,
and technologically advanced civilizations back during the Paleolithic or
Neolithic ages. I want to reiterate that I am not attacking writings from India
about vimanas any more than I would attack the bible because Ezekial saw the
wheel. I am giving the C.R.A.P. award to the people who tell us that
petroglyphs of stupas and Indian temples are actually the flying machines. You
are entitled to believe whatever you want, but, as I have said before,
RockArtBlog has a responsibility to call out outright lies when found.
I am going to pass on a
number of the most egregious claims and statements to illustrate how ridiculous
this can get, but I am not going to identify any particular internet site. If
you want to find this garbage for yourself you can go online and do so, but I
will not give them the publicity.
“According to Ancient Indian history
– one of the most extensive on the planet – their ancient sacred texts called
the ‘Vedas’ speak of incredible flying ships that visited our planet over 6000
years ago. Throughout history, many common myths and legends mention incredible
flying machines and how ancient people traveled great distances through the
air: the flying carpets of ancient Arabia, Ezekiel’s wheel, Solomons’
ability to travel from one place to another and the magical chariots or ‘vimana’
mentioned in ancient Indian and Chinese texts.”
According
to another writer “The propulsion of
vimanas is perhaps the most mysterious aspect, with some texts hinting at
mercury vortex engines and other forms of advanced technology. For instance,
references to a mercury-driven energy source can be found in the Sanskrit texts,
which some interpret as evidence of sophisticated engineering concepts. The
descriptions suggest a combination of mechanical and potentially non-mechanical
propulsion methods that go beyond the simple combustion processes familiar to
modern aircraft engineering.” This so-called mercury vortex engine is related
to a plasma or ion drive sometimes used on modern satellites and spacecraft.
“The Vaimānika Śāstra, an early 20th-century
Sanskrit text on aerospace technology, makes a claim that the vimānas mentioned
in ancient Sanskrit epics were advanced aerodynamic flying vehicles, similar to
a rocket capable of interplanetary flight as backed up by the ancient alien
theory. Revealed in 1952 by G. R. Josye, the texts contain 3000 shlokas in 8
chapters which Shastry claimed were psychically delivered to him by the ancient
Hindu sage Bharadvaja. The propulsion of the Vimanas According to Kanjilal (1985)
is by a “Mercury Vortex Engines”, a concept similar to electric propulsion.
However, many people argue that a far greater, more accessible and ‘free’ power
source was available to the ancient Vimana craft. It is noteworthy to mention
that a couple of years ago, Chinese researchers discovered ancient Sanskrit
documents in Lhasa, Tibet, dating back thousands of years. The ancient texts
were sent to the University of Chandigarh for translation. The results were
shocking. According to Dr. Ruth Reyna the translated texts, allegedly are
‘blueprints’ for the construction of interstellar spaceships.”
“According to the translated documents, the propulsion system designed for the spaceships was based on antigravitational technology, and based on a system analogous to that of ‘laghima,’ the unknown power of the ego that exists in man’s physiological makeup, ‘a centrifugal force strong enough to counteract all gravitational pull.Interestingly, according to Hindu Yogis, the mysterious ‘laghima’ force is what enables people to levitate. Dr. Reyna explained that ‘on board, these machines which were called ‘Astras,’ the builders of the crafts could have sent a detachment of men to any planet. The manuscripts, however, do not mention how interplanetary communication was achieved, but they do mention a trip from the Earth to the Moon, though it is unclear whether the trip was just planned or actually carried out.’”
Wikipedia’s analysis gives
some insight to the subject. “The Vaimānika
Śāstra was first committed to writing between 1918 and 1923, and
nobody is claiming that it came from some mysterious antique manuscript. The
fact is, there are no manuscripts of this text before 1918, and nobody is claiming that there are. So
on one level, this is not a hoax. You just have to buy into the assumption that
'channeling' works. ... there is no exposition of the theory of aviation (let
alone antigravity). In plain terms, the VS. never directly explains how Vimanas
get up in the air. The text is top-heavy with long lists of often bizarre
ingredients used to construct various subsystems. ... There is nothing here
which Jules Verne couldn't have dreamed up, no mention of exotic elements
or advanced construction techniques. The 1923 technical illustration based on
the text ... are absurdly un-aerodynamic. They look like brutalist wedding
cakes, with minarets, huge ornithopter wings and dinky propellers”
So, what we
actually have, is real petroglyphs of temples or stupas of India and
southeastern Asia being purposely misidentified as phony ancient steampunk
antigravity flying machines, and for this reason RockArtBlog awards the 2025
C.R.A.P. (Certifiable Rock Art Prevarication) award to the unnamed purveyors of
this garbage.
NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them.
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