This episode asks whether ancient accounts of flying chariots, magical carpets, and fire-breathing dragons might actually describe extraterrestrial vehicles witnessed by people who lacked the vocabulary to explain advanced technology. Ancient astronaut theorists examine several cases, including Ezekiel's vision of a fiery chariot with "wheels within wheels" in the Hebrew Bible, Ethiopian texts claiming King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba traveled on flying carpets, and Chinese myths of the god Huang Di emerging from a fire-breathing dragon. The Saqqara Bird—a wooden object discovered in an Egyptian tomb from the third century B.C.—serves as physical evidence: aerodynamics expert Simon Sanderson's 2006 tests revealed it possesses the wing design of a modern glider and could produce four times its weight in lift, though it lacks a rear stabilizing rudder that theorists suggest may have broken off over time.
Mainstream Egyptologists identify the Saqqara Bird as a ceremonial object or children's toy representing a common bird, noting that ancient cultures frequently crafted animal figurines without intending them as functional machines. The inscription "I want to fly" found nearby reflects universal human aspiration rather than technical documentation, and the absence of any archaeological evidence for launch mechanisms, fuel sources, or flight infrastructure makes ancient aviation unlikely. Still, the episode compels curiosity by highlighting how ancient mythologies across disconnected cultures share remarkably similar imagery of celestial vehicles, raising questions about whether these stories share a common inspiration—whether technological, astronomical, or simply rooted in shared human imagination.
Ancient China (Huang Di dragon legends)
China · Chinese
Ancient astronaut theorists argue that Chinese mythological accounts of the god Huang Di arriving on and departing inside a fire-breathing dragon are descriptions of a rocket ship or spacecraft, with the dragon's fire and smoke paralleling modern rocket exhaust. Mainstream historians interpret Huang Di as a legendary cultural hero and mythologized founding emperor credited with uniting China and introducing key innovations.
Davis, California (Moller Neuera disc vehicle tests)
United States · Modern
The episode presents inventor Dr. Paul Moller's disc-shaped Neuera vehicle tested in Davis, California, as evidence that a circular flying craft design provides structural and aerodynamic advantages, implicitly supporting the plausibility of ancient disc-shaped alien spacecraft. No counter-framing is provided; the segment is used to validate the disc shape as an efficient engineering solution.
English Channel (Felix Baumgartner wingsuit crossing)
United Kingdom / France · Modern
The episode uses Baumgartner's 2003 wingsuit crossing of the English Channel as a modern parallel to illustrate how ancient peoples might have interpreted human-made flight technology as divine or alien, arguing that witnessing such a feat centuries ago would inspire awe indistinguishable from a god sighting. No counter-framing is offered; the event is used purely as an analogy.
Ethiopia (Kebra Nagast / Queen of Sheba flying carpet accounts)
Ethiopia · Aksumite
Ancient astronaut theorists argue that the Kebra Nagast's account of King Solomon giving the Queen of Sheba a flying carpet, and Solomon traveling on one himself, describes a real flying machine rather than a literal carpet, fitting the pattern of ancient misidentified aircraft. The Kebra Nagast is treated by mainstream scholars as a medieval Ethiopian religious text asserting the Solomonic lineage of Ethiopian emperors, written before the second century A.D.
Guatemala (flying turtle artifact)
Guatemala · Maya
Ancient astronaut theorists argue that a Guatemalan artifact depicting a man inside a turtle shell is aerodynamically fashioned and represents an ancient flying machine, with the turtle being the closest familiar shape ancient observers could use to describe an alien craft. Local archaeologists reportedly described the artifact as representing giant flying turtles from legend, offering no technical analysis countering the aerodynamic interpretation.
Indus River (Alexander the Great flying disc encounter)
Pakistan · Ancient Macedonian
Ancient astronaut theorists claim that in 329 B.C., as Alexander the Great's army prepared to cross the Indus and invade India, flying discs appeared and dive-bombed the war elephants, causing a stampede that ended the campaign, presenting this as historical evidence of alien spacecraft intervening in human warfare. No mainstream historical counter-framing is offered in the episode.
Throne of Solomon (Takht-e Soleyman region)
Iran · Ancient Israelite / Islamic
Ancient astronaut theorists cite traditions that King Solomon flew to specific mountains known as the 'Mountains of Solomon,' including this site, using an airship or Vimana, and that these peaks served as airports or landing areas for ancient flying craft. No mainstream archaeological rebuttal is presented for this specific claim in the episode.
Tibet (Nicolas Roerich's Solomon flight traditions)
China (Tibet) · Hindu / Buddhist / Jain
Ancient astronaut theorists cite explorer Nicolas Roerich's 1920s accounts of Tibetan traditions claiming King Solomon flew to Tibet in an aircraft, presenting this as corroborating evidence of a worldwide ancient air-travel network. No mainstream counter-argument is provided in the episode for this specific claim.
Veracruz (La Danza de los Voladores site)
Mexico · Mesoamerican
Ancient astronaut theorists claim the Voladores ritual is a living reenactment of an ancient close encounter with alien visitors, specifically mimicking extraterrestrials descending from aircraft in spiraling circles onto Peruvian mountaintops around 500 A.D. The Totonac people who practice the ceremony state it was invented approximately 500 years ago as a plea to the gods to end a severe drought.