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Many will argue that the Bible, if it is to be taken in any way seriously, is all about interpretation. With that in mind, many who subscribe to the ancient astronaut theory in particular believe the Bible to be awash with UFO encounters and laced with interaction between human beings and extraterrestrials. Indeed, for them, it forms a lot of the basis for their theory.
While there is, of course, no proof to be offered to back up these claims, the interpretations and how they are pieced together are fascinating in their own right and certainly worth exploring, if only to ask the question: What if our ancestors really were describing encounters with intelligent beings not of this world?
10. Jacob’s Ladder
The story of Jacob’s Ladder[1] has many interpretations. It involves Jacob, who while on his way to Harran, decided to stop and sleep for the evening because the Sun had gone down.
While he slept, he had an intense dream of “angels of God” who were “ascending and descending” upon a “stairway resting on the Earth, with its top reaching into Heaven.” As Jacob watched the angels, a voice rang out, and Jacob could see that “the Lord” stood above him in the heavens.
The Lord instructed Jacob to spread out “to the west, to the east, to the north and to the south.” Upon waking, Jacob appears to question if the dream was real when he thinks, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”
Interpretations with an ancient alien slant to them suggest that the angels and the Lord were in fact extraterrestrials who had subdued Jacob so that they could instruct him on his next move and spread the name of “God.” For example, hypothetically speaking, and accepting for a moment that Jacob’s experience was a true story, would hypnotic regression have unlocked what really happened as he slept?
9. ‘Let Us Make Mankind . . . ‘
The lines in Genesis 1[2] describing the “making” of mankind have drawn attention from ancient astronaut enthusiasts looking to show that human beings were not the result of an almighty God but rather of genetic manipulation performed by advanced beings not of this planet—in short, aliens.
The words “us” and “our” in the line, “Let us make man in our image” have been seized upon in some corners as the “smoking gun” of the text. To them, this is not only a reference to the creators of human beings being plural—suggesting a group of creators—but in all likeliness, an indication that they looked a lot, if not exactly, like us. It’s far from solid proof by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s an intriguing thought nonetheless and one that has been explored in both fiction and nonfiction over the years, perhaps most recently in the movie Prometheus, the prequel to the blockbuster Alien movies.
8. The Exodus
The entire account of the Exodus,[3] including the Burning Bush story, has many verses which could be seen to be describing extraterrestrial intervention in human affairs.
The pillar of smoke by day and bright fire by night that guided the Israelites through the endless desert is sometimes perceived to have been an alien guide of sorts, as is the “machine” used to produce the manna with which they sustained themselves. And we have written before here on Listverse about theories that the Ark of the Covenant was not only very real but possibly of extraterrestrial design.
Upon the Israelites’ arrival at Mount Sinai, Moses is told to come to the top of the mountain to meet the Lord, again an encounter that many in the ancient astronaut community claim to have been interaction and influence between human beings and an alien race. From this encounter, be it with God or a race of beings from elsewhere in the universe, came the stone tablets upon which were written the Ten Commandments.
7. Ascension Of Elijah
Elijah[4] being taken by the Lord “up to Heaven,” in a “chariot of fire” no less, is seen by some as an example of not only a nuts-and-bolts spacecraft but of an alien abduction, to boot. The main reasoning given for such an interpretation is simply that the term “chariot of fire” was used, as it was the only description available to those who (supposedly) witnessed this apparently most fascinating of encounters.
Given how many modern UFO sightings report strange lights or glowing craft, if we imagine for one moment that this event was a close-up sighting of some large, unknown flying, glowing object—close enough to “take Elijah to Heaven on a whirlwind”—then perhaps it might be seen by those who witnessed it as a strange chariot that was indeed alight in flames. Perhaps the fire reference was in response to seeing some kind of propulsion being utilized upon its ascent into “Heaven?”
6. The Angels At Sodom And Gomorrah
The entire incident of Sodom and Gomorrah[5] in Genesis 19 could be argued to be an example of an account of advanced nuclear technology being used to level two “sinful” cities. Verse 26 speaks of Lot’s wife looking back and of how “she became a pillar of salt.” Then, verse 28 describes how Abraham views the ruined city: “He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.” That’s bizarrely similar to how a description of a nuclear explosion might look.
If we isolate some of the verses speaking of the angels who visit Lot, it is easy to see how they can be interpreted as extraterrestrials, who carry with them some kind of technological weapon no less.
After Lot brings the angels to his home, the entire crowd surrounds his property, demanding that they be brought out to them. Lot pleads with them to leave the angels be—even offering one his daughters to them instead! As the crowds begin to force their way into the property, verses 10 and 11 speak of how the angels blind the unruly mob:
But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
Might the “angels” have used some kind of advanced device to blind their potential attackers?
5. ‘The Sons Of God’
Perhaps one of the more convincing references to interaction between humans and extraterrestrials in the Bible is to be found in the opening four verses of Genesis 6:
When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.[6]
The verses then go on to speak of how the daughters of man bore “giant Nephilim” children to the “sons of God!”
While some people firmly interpret the “sons of God” to be a reference to aliens, others contend the term is simply a reference to the descendants of Adam and Eve’s offspring, Seth. Regardless of the correct interpretation, it is one of the writings most repeatedly cited by ancient astronaut theorists in their efforts to prove alien involvement in human affairs in the distant past.
4. Zechariah—The Flying Scroll
In the opening verses of Zechariah 5,[7] a description of a flying object “the length thereof is twenty cubits and the breadth thereof ten cubits” has been subject to claims of a UFO sighting. It is described as a “flying scroll” (some versions describe it as a “flying roll”), and it appears to be something that both appeared quickly—“I looked again and there before me was a flying scroll”—and was quite a sight to behold.
Although a description of a scroll is hard to equate to a UFO sighting at first, when reports of cigar-shaped UFOs are examined (of which there many on record, with more being reported each year), it could be perceived that a rolled-up scroll would be of a similar appearance. Regardless of what it actually was, the measurements quoted in the text are certainly of something large in the sky.
3. The Parting Of The Red Sea
Before Moses could lead the Exodus that we looked at earlier in the list, he, of course, had to break free from his Egyptian enslavers, and part of that story is the parting of the Red Sea,[8] which allowed the Israelites to cross to safety before the waters came crashing down on the Egyptian soldiers in pursuit.
Many ancient astronaut theorists have no doubt that the Exodus itself was guided by alien intelligence, so it is perhaps no surprise that they interpret a similar involvement in the parting of the Red Sea in order to allow Moses and the Israelites safe passage. Given that verse 16 speaks of Moses stretching out his hand, which “caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind,” it is easy to see why some perceive this to be the use of alien or advanced technology.
Incidentally, various media platforms have recently ran stories offering various suggestions about how this might have been achieved, mainly based on the idea of a freak weather incident. Also, Ron Wyatt made claims as far back as the 1970s that his study of the area turned up what he believed to be the remains of chariots as well as fossilized human remains.
2. Ezekiel’s Wheel
Certain verses in the Book of Ezekiel have lines that could be interpreted as UFO experiences. Perhaps the most well-known of these is the account of Ezekiel’s wheel,[9] which appears to describe a metallic object arriving from the sky. The first verse, for example, states that “the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.”
Verse 16 speaks of a description of a gleaming object that appeared to be “a wheel within a wheel.” Many reports of UFOs in contemporary times speak of the craft being made of circles spinning—sometimes in opposite directions to each other—leading many researchers to suggest this is some kind of propulsion system.
The descriptions and subsequent interpretations of just what Ezekiel saw, in terms of UFOs in the Bible, is perhaps one of the most contested and seized-upon of such accounts. In 1974, a high-ranking NASA employee, Josef Blumrich, fascinated by claims made by Erich von Daniken in his book Chariots of the Gods, would author his own book titled The Spaceships of Ezekiel. He even produced detailed blueprints and drawings of the “crafts” based on descriptions by Ezekiel and was convinced that he was correct in his claims. Much like von Daniken, he faced much widespread criticism and outright rejection of his theories.
1. The Birth, Life, And Death Of Christ
Perhaps the most famous Bible story of them all, the birth of Jesus Christ[10] is said by some to be jam-packed with references to spaceships and alien visitors. Whatever the true origins of the story, where its roots lie, and what the actual interpretation might have been, if you are someone who is looking to discover “alien activity” in the Bible, then this is an account that will possibly have you chomping at the bit.
Mary discovering she is miraculously pregnant, for example, is often looked upon by some in the UFO field as an ancient description of an alien abduction, with the implanting of a fetus in Mary’s womb and instructions given to her under the guise of “God.”
The star that guides the Three Wise Men is another part of the story that is pointed to as describing extraterrestrial intervention. Even the strange visitors themselves have been the subject of theories as to their true identity in the ancient astronaut community.
In truth, the entire life of Jesus, if one chooses to see it in such a way, could be said to have been awash with “alien abilities,” from the many miracles He performed to the strange disappearance from His tomb after His death and His reappearance after that.
Marcus Lowth
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