NASA Reports on Credible UFO Sightings in Ancient Times

View of a lintel at the ancient Egyptian temple to Osiris at Abydos, Egypt. Carvings to the right of the mosquito are said to represent a helicopter, motorboat, spaceship, and airplane. (Shutterstock)

The description of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) has remained fairly consistent throughout history, stretching back into antiquity. While many could be attributed to natural phenomena, an in-depth study by NASA’s Richard Stothers found “There nonetheless remains a small residue of puzzling accounts, and regardless of what interpretation one places on them, these constitute a phenomenon that spans centuries of time and widely different cultures.”

Stothers (1939–2009) received a degree in mathematics at Princeton University, earned his Ph.D. at Harvard, and was a permanent member of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

Here’s a look at 5 UFO sightings Stothers deemed puzzling in a 2007 report.

1. Chariots in the Sky Witnessed by Many

Historian Josephus wrote around 65 A.D. about a fantastical sighting over Judea: “On the 21st of the month Artemisium, there appeared a miraculous phenomenon, passing belief. Indeed, what I am about to relate would, I imagine, have been deemed a fable, were it not for the narratives of eyewitnesses and the subsequent calamities which deserved to be so signalized. For, before sunset throughout all parts of the country, chariots were seen in the air and armed battalions hurtling through the clouds and encompassing the cities.”

Josephus likely witnessed this event himself, said Stothers, though he bolstered his credibility by appealing to eyewitness accounts. The description does not seem to correspond to any natural phenomena, Strothers wrote.

2. Thousands of Roman Soldiers Witness UFO?

Plutarch wrote of a sighting witnessed by thousands. In 74 B.C., the Roman army was moving to engage the forces of King Mithridates VI in the area of modern-day Turkey.

“With no apparent change of weather, but all on a sudden, the sky burst asunder, and a huge, flame-like body was seen to fall between the two armies,” he wrote. “In shape, it was most like a wine-jar (pithoi), and in color, like molten silver. Both sides were astonished at the sight, and separated. This marvel, as they say, occurred in Phrygia, at a place called Otryae.”

Stothers pointed out that freshly fallen meteorites are black, not “molten silver” color, which suggests it was not a meteorite. Plutarch also made no mention of the impact.

Stothers wrote: “The object must have measured much more than a meter across, since it was easily resolved at a distance greater than half the range of a bowshot. If it had remained on the ground, a meteorite of such size would doubtless have become a cult object in Phrygia, with its long tradition of meteorite worship, yet later historical records referring to Phrygian meteorites are silent about it.”

Nonetheless, there is a chance the UFO was a bolide, a bright meteor that often explodes.

3. Sightings During the Second Punic War in Rome

Hannibal crossing the Alps during the Second Punic War (218-202 BC). Engraved by J.Cousen, published 1862. (Shutterstock)

Many sightings were recorded during and following the Second Punic War (218–201 B.C.) in Livy’s prodigy lists. The lists were derived from the Annales Maximi, published by the Pontifex Maximus of Rome. This source is considered trustworthy and accurate, explained Stothers, because of the time-consuming and thorough procedure required by Roman authorities to investigate claims before they would be recorded.

In Rome, in the winter of 218 B.C., “A spectacle of ships (navium) gleamed in the sky.”

In 217 B.C., “at Arpi, round shields (parmas) were seen in the sky.”

In 173 B.C., “at Lanuvium a spectacle of a great fleet was said to have been seen in the sky.”

It is not likely that suggestive cloud formations would have been mistaken for UFOs, Strother said, since these formations had long been understood and were familiar features. These sightings are also not likely a mock sun, because mock suns are routinely described as “double suns” or “triple suns.”

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