There are several controversial ancient texts that point to interaction between humans and beings that arrived on Earth from elsewhere. While there is no definitive evidence to support this theory, many credible figures have given credence to it. Among these, there are two ancient books that discuss aliens, UFOs, and life on other planets. This evidence clearly states that humans have believed in the existence of aliens for thousands of years.
Ancient novel about aliens, UFOs and robots written in the 2nd century
Lucian of Samosata , a Syrian satirist and rhetorician, is credited with introducing the world to science fiction nearly 2,000 years before Jules Verne and H. G. Wells. As one of the earliest novelists of Western Civilization, he imagined a future where humanity would encounter alien life, engage in interplanetary wars, and create artificial life.
Lucian covered topics such as aliens, spaceships, and robots in the Greek language long before the works of Verne and Wells. Many scholars consider him the father of science fiction, as his stories laid the foundation for the genre as we know it today, even though they were written two millennia ago.
In his novel “ A True Story ”, Lucian narrates the adventures of Lucian and his crew, all cosmonauts, flying ships, television projections, talking machines, artificial intelligence, encounters with aliens, space battles, UFOs, humanoids, as well as cities erected inside a living organism.
Lucian’s work, written centuries ago, foreshadowed many contemporary science fiction themes. Lucian and his traveling companions embark on their journey beyond the Pillars of Hercules, but their plans are interrupted by a powerful storm that blows them off course. Eventually, they reach an island with a remarkable river of wine teeming with fish and bears. Despite the wonders of the island, they do not linger long and continue on their way, only to be swept away by a powerful whirlpool that carries them to the moon.
They arrive in the midst of a conflict between the rulers of the moon and the sun, fighting for control of the “Morning Star”. The armies are composed of hybrid creatures, part mechanical and part biological, with strange shapes. The army of the Sun prevails, leading to a peace treaty. Lucian provides information about the disparities between life on Earth and other planets.
Upon their return to Earth, Lucian and his travelers are engulfed by a colossal whale that spans 200 miles. Inside, they discover a diverse population of fish.
After engaging in a war with enigmatic creatures, they finally triumph over the whale by starting a fire inside its body. Eventually, they manage to unlock its jaws and make a daring escape. As they continue their journey, they come across a colossal ocean chasm, but manage to navigate its edge, leading to the discovery of a distant continent that they decide to explore.
Lucian abruptly concludes his writing by indicating that his next adventures will be narrated in the next sequels, all unpublished. In addition, Lucian’s work encompasses tales of incredible shipwrecks and journeys to extraordinary lands, such as a dream island, and wonderfully traversing forests and interstellar landscapes.
As the first writer to distinguish between fact and fiction, Lucian made a significant contribution to literature, although not widely recognized in his time. Furthermore, “A True Story” is one of the earliest examples of the idea of traveling across the Atlantic Ocean and exploring unknown lands, predating Columbus’s journey by approximately 1,400 years.
Rare 17th-century book about alien life discovered
Due to the hard work of book appraiser Jim Spencer, a book about what life might be like on other planets was discovered, titled “ The Celestial World Discover’d: Or, Conjectures Concerning the Inhabitants, Plants and Productions of the Worlds in the Planets ” by Christiaan Huygens. Spencer found the book at a free antiques appraisal event in Gloucestershire, UK. Published in 1698, the book offers a unique insight into how people at the time perceived the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
Christiaan Huygens, a prominent Dutch scientist who excelled in the fields of astronomy, mathematics, physics, and invention, is known as one of the greatest scientists of all time. In addition to his pioneering work on the pendulum clock, the wave theory of light, and the discovery of the true shape of Saturn’s rings, Huygens has been revealed to have believed in the existence of extraterrestrial life, as evidenced by a recently discovered rare book.
The book, which includes five fold-out plates, presents Huygens’ argument that it is unlikely that God created other planets just to be observed from Earth, suggesting there must be a greater purpose. Spencer commented on the discovery in a statement:
“It’s fascinating to think about whoever turned these pages in 1698, what they must have felt reading these descriptions of life on Jupiter or Saturn before looking up at the night sky. The book attempts to describe what extraterrestrial beings might look like, how they spend their time, even what their music sounds like. It almost sounds comical, but it’s informed by scientific reasoning, and who knows what our own thoughts on these matters will look like to people looking back on it in 324 years.” ( Source )
These weird and wonderful musings include Huygens concluding that aliens must have hands and feet, writing in the book:
“The aliens must have hands and feet like humans because of their “convenience,” writing: “What could we invent or imagine that could be so exactly accommodated to all intended uses as Hands? Shall we give them an Elephant’s Trunk?”
And that “‘celestial beings’ must have feet ‘[unless] they have discovered the art of flying on some of these worlds.’” But he also suffered misfortune, war, affliction, and poverty “because that is what drives us to invention and progress. Aliens! Who sail in boats and listen to music! They are just like us.”
Huygens shared the belief that aliens, like humans, must endure hardships in order to drive innovation and advancement. “If men lived their whole lives in undisturbed, continual peace, without fear of poverty, without danger of war, I doubt not that they would live a little better than the brutes, without all knowledge or enjoyment of those advantages which make our lives pass with pleasure and profit.”
Although some of Huygens’ conclusions may seem absurd to modern readers, Spencer finds the book captivating because of the many unanswered questions about the cosmos that still exist today. He notes that the subject matter may seem futuristic or like science fiction, but the writer is talking about the past.
Despite the greater understanding of space and our own planet today, Huygens’ book still draws attention to the mystery of the universe. Spencer sees the book as a source of amusement and wonder, as it reminds us of how much we still don’t know about the cosmos. Ultimately, he sees it as a remarkable discovery that is truly out of this world.
