Extraordinary claims. Ordinary investigations.

“In a find that has stunned archaeologists and anthropologists, a vast wall of about 1500 paintings chronicles the history of Aboriginal contact with outsiders, from Macassan prows and European sailing ships to 19th-century steamships and a World War II battleship.

Alongside exquisite rock art more than 15,000 years old are paintings that capture some of the 19th and 20th centuries’ most important technological innovations - a biplane, bicycle, car and rifle - as well as portraits of church ministers, sea captains and traders.”

Sydney Morning Herald: The rock art that redraws our history

And as any UFO enthusiast will think, these are also interesting because they indicate how aboriginal cultures would depict alien technological artifacts. The detail and precision with which they depicted those (sea) ships and even a biplane is amazing.

Quite different from undetailed circular things that some interpret as flying saucers, but could actually be an indefinite number of things, including completely imaginary visions. Amid these representations, Dogu figurines and the Fergana painting could be exceptions…

Except that they aren’t. More on Dogu figures here, and soon a post about the Fergana… hoax.

Not to sound like a boring debunker, though: it’s not only possible that some ancient rock art depicted contact with aliens. I think it’s actually more probable than the chances either you or me will contact aliens in our lifetime.

These depictions could have been made after a contact at any point over thousands and thousands of years, versus the short decades that are our own lifetimes. It’s not foolish to look for evidence of ancient contact, or at least, it’s logically less foolish than to look for a casual close encounter this (or the next) night.

Unfortunately, and I can’t emphasize how much this is a sad – and puzzling – fact, there’s no evidence of ancient contact.

Bonus link: The Last Cargo Cult