Ooparts

[Breogan]

OOPArts?

What are Ooparts? That stands for Out of Place Artifacts. Things that show up where they shouldn't, a piece of gold chain found in a coal seam, what appears to be a sparkplug embedded in rock that is thousands of years old and what appears to be a bullet hole in the skull of a mastodon.
These things are ooparts.

Antikythera

It seems that a clockwork mechanism recovered in 60 metres of water from the wreck that went down in 82 BC is the only evidence of such a device in the world. The "computer" was described by Dr. Derek de Solla Price, an American with a grant to study the device as " a box with dials on the outside and a very complex assembly of gear wheels mounted within, probably resembling a well made 18th century clock."

Doors hinged to the box served to protect the dials, and on them, as well as on all other available surfaces, there were long Greek inscriptions describing the construction and operation of the instrument.

There are at least twenty gear wheels, all made of a low tin bronze, including a very sophisticated assembly of gears that probably functioned as a differential gear system. The input was through an axle, probably rotated by hand, that turned two trains of gears and, eventually, pointers on the dials. Thus, when the main axle was turned, all the pointers turned simultaneously at various speeds. The mechanism must have worked, because it was mended twice and assumptions have been made that it was in use at the time of the wreck.

Nothing like this remarkable instrument is preserved elsewhere. Its authenticity is unquestioned but, because there is nothing comparable its true application is still unknown. The closest known similar mechanism is a thirteenth century Islamic calendar computer.

The device is on display in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. There is a one line explanation saying something like "computer from Anti-Kythera". A huge understatement if you ask me.

References
BASCOM Willard, Deep Water, Ancient Ships
THROCKMORTON Peter, general editor, History From The Sea

Crystal Skull

Another great oopart is THE crystal skull discovered in Mayan ruins called "Lubaantun", City of Fallen Stones, in British Honduras, Now called Belize. The skull was discovered in 1924 by Anna Le Guillon Mitchell-Hedges daughter of F.A. Mitchell-Hedges who was in charge of the digs at Lubaantun. The story goes that his daughter, Anna, was exploring inside some ruins thought to have been a temple, when she found the exquisitely carved crystal skull which was then missing the jawbone. The missing jawbone was found three months later, about 25 feet away from where the top part of the skull was found.

Evidently the story of the skull's discovery is a fabrication. There are supposedly documents in The British Museum that prove it was bidding against Mitchell-Hedges for the artifact at a Sothebys auction in London in 1943.

Be that as it may, we are still left with the problem of the skull itself.

The Mitchell-Hedges skull is made of clear quartz crystal, and both cranium and mandible are believed to have come from the same solid block. It weighs 11.7 pounds and is about five inches high, five inches wide, and seven inches
long. Except for slight anomalies in the temples and cheekbones, it is a virtually anatomically correct replica of a human skull.
Because of its small size and other characteristics, it is thought more closely to resemble a female skull -- and this has led
some to refer to the Mitchell-Hedges skull as a "she."

The Mitchell-Hedges family loaned the skull to Hewlett-Packard Laboratories for extensive study in 1970. Art restorer Frank Dorland oversaw the testing at the Santa Clara, California, computer equipment manufacturer, a leading facility for crystal research. The HP examinations yielded some startling results.

Researchers found that the skull had been carved against the natural axis of the crystal. Modern crystal sculptors
always take into account the axis, or orientation of the crystal's molecular symmetry, because if they carve "against
the grain," the piece is bound to shatter -- even with the use of lasers and other high-tech cutting methods.

To add to the enigma, HP could find no microscopic scratches on the crystal which would indicate it had been carved with metal instruments. Dorland's best hypothesis for the skull's construction is that it was roughly hewn out with diamonds, and then the detail work was meticulously done with a gentle solution of silicon sand and water. The exhausting job -- assuming it could possibly be done in this way -- would have required man-hours adding up to 300 years to complete.

Under these circumstances, experts believe that successfully crafting a shape as complex as the Mitchell-Hedges skull is
impossible; as one HP researcher is said to have remarked, "The damned thing simply shouldn't be."

The skull remains in the possession of Anna Mitchell-Hedges. She resides in Canada and displays the skull on frequent tours. Anna has maintained for all these years that she discovered the skull, even though there is reason to doubt that she was present at the Lubaatun expedition at all.

Crystal skulls are considered to be one of the world mysteries. In the late 1800's a number of artifacts in the shape and size (close to or larger) of a human-type skull, made from various types of quartz crystals began to appear near Mayan ruins in Mexico.

Two types of crystal skulls exist, old or very old (ancient) crystal skulls that are being uncovered in unusual ways, with the story of each skull a fascinating journey in its own right, and the contemporary skulls being carved today. Most of the old crystal skulls have been uncovered near ancient ruins in Mexico or Central America, and now in other parts of the world (South America, Russia, Europe, etc.) There is no definite method to accurately date a quartz artifact, so controversy exists about which skulls are the ancient or original ones.
From a parapsychological perspective, when people (or sensitives) have worked with these purported ancient skulls they have found an incredible energy connected to these artifacts or they witness some type of strange psychic phenomena.
The list of crystal skulls below are human size or larger skulls which are publicly known and have been found by sensitives or researchers to be quite old:
The famous Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull--human size and shaped, clear quartz skull. ll.7 lb, two pieces with a separate jaw, discovered in Belize in 1924 in the ruins of a Mayan City by F.A. Mitchell-Hedges. The skull is an almost absolute copy of our own human skull except it is circular in the temples and has a handle-like form in the cheekbones.
"MAX"- the Texas Crystal Skull - one piece, single clear quartz. 18 lb., held by Parks of Houston, Texas, who received the skull from a Tibetan trained healer, who had received it from the local people in Guatemala. MAX tours the U.S. now and has participated in a number of Native American ceremonies.
The "British" Crystal Skull - a single piece clear quartz skull, held in the British Museum of Man, in London since 1898, purportedly found or bought by a soldier of fortune in Mexico in the late 1880's. The skull is more cloudy than the Mitchell-Hedges and its facial features appear not to be finished.
The "Paris" Crystal Skull - a single piece of clear quartz, held in the Trocadero Museum in Paris, also allegedly from a soldier of fortune in Mexico in the late 1880's. Has a hole cut from top to bottom, purported to hold a Christian cross. Has the most primitive of facial features and design within this list.
The "Amethyst" Crystal Skull - a single piece of amethyst crystal discovered in a Mayan cache of artifacts in Mexico by a Mayan Brotherhood in the early 1900's. Purportedly sold recently to a bank in Japan. Distinct features are the circular indentations in the temple and a white squiggly line that goes the circumference of the skull.
The "Mayan" Crystal Skull - a single piece of clear quartz, found in Guatemala in 1912, similar in shape and design to the Amethyst Crystal Skull. Current whereabouts unknown.
The "Rose Quartz" Crystal Skull - seen by F.R. "Nick" Nocerino in the late 1940's, near the border of Guatemala and Honduras. He describes it as an exact copy of the Mitchell-Hedges Skull, slightly larger with a detachable jaw.
"ET" - a smoky quartz single piece skull, discovered on the property of a Mayan family in Guatemala in the early 1900's which has a slightly pointed head and the teeth have an overbite. Joke Van Dieten, caretaker. Picture shown above in this article.
A Crystal Skull has been reported in Peru, clear quartz with blue in the eyes and blue seen on top of the head...currently held by a primitive tribe in the northern part of Peru.
The Smithsonian Institute recently received a 30 lb. clear quartz crystal skull allegedly from an anonymous source. Size of skull very large and it is hollow on the inside. It could fit over a person's head.
I have been involved with crystal skulls since 1981 when I saw the amethyst crystal skull mentioned above. I know deep within me that I have worked with the Crystal Skulls in former times and that somehow I have volunteered to assist in the process of bringing them together.
When Joke (pronounced "Yo-ka" - she is Dutch) came to pickup "ET" in Los Angeles in 1991 I happened to be there doing a crystal skull lecture and was invited to view the skull with her. When Joke first saw this smokey quartz skull she knew the name was "ET". This skull does not completely resemble our own human skull as it is the only skull with an overbite and its head is slightly pointed.
"ET" produces the same type of reaction and experience I have seen with other crystal skulls, resulting in people feeling a tingling sensation, some form of healing energy, clarity of thought and an expansion of awareness of one's inner gifts, visions, having profound dreams, etc. Joke has a vision of obtaining 12 different skulls.
Crystal skulls represent to me a visible sign of an incredible transformation that is happening in our world. The Crystal Skulls are the return of the ancients knowledge and wisdom.
Based upon a parapsychological analysis of these Crystal Skulls, the following theories have been proposed:
It is believed that the Crystal Skulls are a form of computer which are able to record energy and vibration that occur in their presence. The skull can and will, at times, (unknown and unscheduled) pictorially replay events or images of the people who have come into contact with them (i.e., they contain the history of our world).
Just as our modern computers can receive or send information to other computers all over the world (like the Internet), so too can the Crystal Skulls send information amongst themselves. It is thought, as the ancient legends describe, that the Crystal Skulls can and have been used for healing. They have played a key role in many ancient cultures who saw the skull as the Godhead.
A very strong link with extraterrestrials has been found and it is felt that beings not from our world either brought these skulls to Earth for some purpose or presented to us the techniques to fashion them. It is suggested that the holographic images of UFO's and aliens that are displayed in various ancient crystal skulls and have been observed by different researchers and sensitives adds supports to such a theory.
If the Crystal Skulls were not brought by extraterrestrials then we must conclude there have certainly been civilizations much more technologically or spiritually advanced than our own today. Spiritual channels have suggested that the skulls were created in Atlantis or Lemuria, or that the skulls could have been originally human-bone skulls that were changed to crystal through the power of the mind.
It is also suggested that the skulls are connected to people who live in the Inner Earth. Supposedly, according to this latter theory, 13 master Crystal Skulls hold the genetic coding of 12 Inner Earth tribes and the 13th or central skull represents the family of these tribes.
Whether the Crystal Skulls are gifts of the gods or a communication device with them, or were made by more advanced civilizations than our own...there is a mystery here to uncover. Since holographic images of UFO's and ET's have been recorded appearing within various crystal skulls from the research done, perhaps the truth about UFO's, where they come from and why they are visiting us will also be revealed.
In the meantime the investigation continues.

London Artifact

(C)opyright Creation Evidence Museum

The London Artifact was found near London, Texas in Kimball County. The site is part of a large geographical zone called the Edwards Plateau. It primarily consists of Cretaceous rock. In June of 1934, Max Hahn discovered a rock, sitting loose on a rock ledge beside a waterfall outside London, Texas. Noticing that this weathered rock had wood protruding from it, he and family members cracked it open with a hammer and chisel, exposing the hammerhead to the light of day for the first time since the stone formed around it. To verify that the hammer was made of metal, they cut into one of the beveled sides with a file. In the resulting nick, bright, shiny iron was exposed. The bright metal in the nick is still there, with no detectable corrosion.

The metal hammerhead is approximately six inches (15.24cm) long with a nominal diameter of one inch. This seems somewhat small for a gross pounding instrument, suggesting that this tool was meant for fine work or soft metal.

The density of the iron in a central, cross-sectional plane is shown in Photo K16. It shows the interior metal to be very pure, with no bubbles. Modern industry cannot consistently produce iron castings with this quality, as evidenced by test results that show bubbles and density variations that have caused pump and valve bodies to break. The handle eye is oval shaped, and roughly 1"x1/2".

Photo K16 shows that the density is about 10% greater near the surface. In this representation, colors are used to indicate the density of a particular region. The white areas are most dense, and the dark areas are least dense. Photo to the left is photo K16

As previously stated, a file cut was made in one of the side edges in 1934, and has remained corrosion-free in the sixty-plus years since the artifact was discovered. The area is shown in photo G3. Photo to the right is photo G3.

The wooden handle appears to have been broken off, then worn smooth where it protruded from the rock concretion. Photo G6 shows the handle from the top with the hammerhead removed. The dark area in the wood is where it has partially turned to coal. The end of the handle visible through the top of the hammerhead eye appears sawn off, as shown in photo E2.

Photo G6

Photo E2

Remaining Questions:
Further analysis is planned to answer questions that include the following:
Is the chlorine content in the iron alloy found throughout the hammerhead or only at the surface? Is the concentration of iron oxides higher in the rock immediately next to the hammerhead? Are there carbon-bearing residues in the cavity? There are reports that the file mark may contain FeO. This iron oxide does not readily form under present environmental conditions. We also know that evidence points to a decaying geomagnetic field, with a half-life of approximately 1400 years. If the hammer is truly ancient, could the stronger magnetic field have had the effect of helping the formation of FeO? If the artifact is truly from the Cretaceous time frame, where does this leave evolutionary theory, since man was not supposed to have evolved for another 100-million years or so? If the artifact is relatively recent, that means that the Cretaceous Hensell Sand formation from which it came is relatively young. Some may argue that the original rock and fossil were eroded and reworked, but reworked fossils show evidence of wear. The fossils in the concretion retain fine detail, indicating that they were not reworked, but part of the original formation. Again, where does that leave evolutionary theory with its traditional dates for the Cretaceous formations?

http://home.uni-one.nl/nlun1857/ooparts/ooparts.htm


There are plenty of information on inet...
More pages:
http://www.rae.org/ch05tud.html
http://www.s8int.com/

[Breogan]

Sitting in the National Museum of Iraq is a earthenware jar about the size of a man's fist. Its existence could require history books throughout the world to be rewritten.

According to most texts the "voltic pile," or electric battery, was invented in 1800 by the Count Alassandro Volta. Volta had observed that when two dissimilar metal probes were placed against frog tissue, a weak electric current was generated. Volta discovered he could reproduce this current outside of living tissue by placing the metals in certain chemical solutions. For this, and his other work with electricity, we commemorate his name in the measurement of electric potential called the volt.

The little jar in Baghdad suggests that Volta didn't invent the battery, but reinvented it. The jar was first described by German archaeologist Wilhelm Konig in 1938. It is unclear if Konig dug the object up himself or located it within the holdings of the museum, but it is known that it was found, with several others, at a place called Khujut Rabu, just outside Baghdad.

The jars are believed to be about 2,000 years old and consist of an earthenware shell, with a stopper composed of asphalt. Sticking through the top of the stopper is an iron rod. Inside the jar the rod is surrounded by a cylinder of copper. Konig thought these things looked like electric batteries and published a paper on the subject in 1940.

World War II prevented immediate follow-up on the jars, but after hostilities ceased, an American, Willard F. M. Gray of the General Electric High Voltage Laboratory in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, built some reproductions. When filled with an electrolyte like grape juice, the devices produced about two volts.

Not all scientists accept the "electric battery" description for the jars. If they were batteries, though, who made them and what were they used for?

Khujut Rabu was a settlement of a people called the Parthians. While the Parthians were excellent fighters, they had not been noted for their technological achievements and some reseachers have suggested they obtained the batteries from someone else. A few people have even suggested that this someone else was a space traveler that visited Earth during ancient times.

As romantic a notion as this is, there is nothing about the Baghdad batteries that is high-tech. All the materials used are common in origin and the manufacture was well within the ability of many of the peoples of that era. What is surprising about the jars is that somebody figured out how to put the right materials together in the right way to make a device that has a function which was not obvious. It is likely that the batteries (if that is what they are) the result of an isolated and accidental development.

What might they have been used for? German researcher Dr. Arne Eggebrecht used copies of the batteries to electroplate items. The electroplating process uses a small electric current to put a thin layer of one metal (such as gold) on to the surface of another (such as silver). Eggebrecht suggests that many ancient items in museums that are thought to be gold may actually be gold-plated silver.

So are these devices batteries? It certainly is a strong possibility. Even if they are, Count Volta need not be worried. We are unlikely to change the term used for electrical potential at this late date. His place in history is assured.

http://www.unmuseum.org/bbattery.htm










http://www.bennerwc.com/ancientman/10_battery.html

[Breogan]

Ancient Aeroplanes
Did the Incas Build Aircraft?

These golden sculptures are pre-Columbian. It is difficult to determine their exact age as gold is hard to date. However it is strongly believed that they date from around 500 - 800 CE. They have been found in central and also coastal regions of South America. When first found they were thought to be zoomorphic (representing animals). Well, looking at those images I can't come up with one animal looking like these artifacts below. Is it a bird, is it a plane...well it certainly looks like it from where I stand.

And why not? It is easy to dismiss these finds as the creation of complete morons who only serve their gods without knowing what they are actually doing. It has wings, it has a stabilising tail, it has some kind of landing gear, what else do you need? Lets face it even if this model of an aircraft came with a signed letter stating that these are flying machines, orthodox science would still doubt it. Well, some have said that the object in the top picture isn't very aerodynamic as there is a very large semi disk in the way where we would imagine the cockpit to be. True but then again some people have come up with another ingenious explanation.

See how the "nose" of this device is retractable? For landing you have it forward, for flying you put it underneath. I like this idea a lot. Also considering the ornaments on both wings, it was mentioned that in Amerindian culture spirals were representing "ascend" and "descent". Unless it was just a very naive but artistically gifted ancient Indian that thought to himself : "Hmm, those triangles on my stylised bird look a little boring...oh I know, I'll put some spirals on there just for fun." As I keep saying, "Give our ancestors some credit."

This surreal model of a bird has been dated to 200 BC and wad discovered in 1898 in a tomb at Saqqara, Eqypt. Not knowing much about aeroplanes in those days it was put away in a box in an Egyptian Museum and rediscovered by a Dr. Khalil Messiha. This model has undergone far more tests as the above as you can make several models like it without using the original. So what did these tests come up with? They revealed that it seems to have the proportions of a push glider which can take heavy loads at very low speed but there was a catch; it seemed the device was still in development as it was not quite perfect yet. However to even design a model to be near perfect takes a lot of aerodynamic knowledge. Something that was lacking quite profoundly at the beginning of our own aerodynamic history. To me the Egyptian model has far more finesse than even the Wright brothers whimsical first flying machine.

Yes of course those models could be birds or fish or flying rats. It seems that if it doesn't fit into our modern view of history it gets molded until it fits, hence the bird analogies.
More from Egypt, exactly in a 3000 year old temple at Abydos a few hundred miles from Cairo these hieroglyphs were found only recently:

Location - click to enlarge
Detail - click to enlarge

There is far more to the idea of ancient flying machines. Most are accounts from ancient scriptures such as the bible or other holy books. The most impressive and detailed description of all must be the ancient Indian flying machines or "vimanas". Text about these machines can be found in many Indian scripts of which a list will be given at the end. However the Samara Sudradhara text goes into great detail (written about 400BC). No less than 230 verses are written about the vimanas including construction, take off, cruising for more than 1,000 miles and even what to do in case of a collision with a bird!
Basically there were two distinct kinds of vimana. The first manmade with wings and very much like our modern aeroplanes, the second one a non-aerodynamic shaped, disc-like or cylinder-shaped craft not made by humans. Within these two categories seem to be many differing variations. These aircrafts were capable of quite astonishing maneuvers nowadays mostly associated with UFOs.
Texts vary as to fuel they used, some claim that the vimanas used a mercury powered vortex engine, others talk about a yellow liquid. In the Vaimanika Sastra (Aeronautical Science) text which takes its sources also from ancient scripts (400BC), there is talk about 3 kinds of different flying machine, 31 parts of these vehicles and 16 materials are described that have been used in their construction. An ancient named Bharadvajy the Wise who used ancient scientific texts as his source wrote about 70 authorities and 10 experts in aeronautical travel. However the vimanas allegedly "traveled with the speed of wind" and "gave forth a melodious sound".
There is understandably far more to these vimanas as I can possibly put down here (like the plan to fly to the moon and Shivkar Bapuji Talpode's unmanned flying craft build after the vimanas in 1864, which traveled 1800 feet before crashing to earth). It is worth to delve a little deeper on this subject. The more of these text is known, the less it seems just another surge of inspirational fantasy by our ancestors. There is just too much technical detail and too many teachings only relevant to the pilots rather than the common man. In order to reveal a lot of detail there has to be an audience that knows what is talked about. The vimanas were either real or the whole book was a really boring early science fiction book.

Click an image to enlarge

These drawings, dating from 1923 are based on descriptions on the vimanas from the following ancient sources:

Vaimanika Shashtra
Samarangana Stradhara
Yuktikalpatani of Bohja
Rigveda, Yajurveda
Atharvaveda
Ramayana
Mahabharata
Puranas
Bhagaravata
Avadhana
Kathasaritsagara
Raghuramsa
darma Abhijnanasakuntalam of Kalidasa
Abimaraka of Bhasa
Jatalas

(c) Nicole Coleby, 2004


http://www.2atoms.com/weird/ancient/plane.htm

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The Iron Pillar of New Delhi.
Hundreds of Years Old, yet has Refused to Rust.

In New Delhi, India stands an iron pillar dating from the Gupta dynasty AD 320-540 (1,600yrs old), which has not rusted or corroded in all this time despite the harsh climate. It is about 7 meters high and weighs 6 tonnes. For years the secret for its stability could not be found using even the most modern analysis techniques, which gave rise to the pillar being mentioned by Erich von Daeniken and other writers who believe that there was more to ancient cultures than orthodox teachings tell us.

Recent news from a team in New Delhi lets us know that the secret has been "cracked". The found that the iron was protected by a layer of "misamite" which had been formed catalytically around the pillar due to a higher amount of phosphorous in the iron (about 1% compared to today's usual 0.5%). The ancient Indians did this by using charcoal at one point of iron extraction whereas today mainly limestone is used. Does this mean everything is now "hunky-dory" and we can relax and think of the ancients a "just" brilliant metallurgist? It may help to remind us that they figured this out a long time ago (and it worked), whereas we never developed this technique and have to make do with rusty iron... Nici
http://www.2atoms.com/weird/ancient/pillar.htm