^* As to NASA engineer Joseph Blumrich, and per my request, I see that a fellow who posts at "Above Top Secret" --who I only so far know as "jeep3r"-- has rendered very nice pictorials (posted in 2013) of Blumrich's blueprints/specs --based on his interpretations of Ezekiel's precious account (for which, see below).
A long time ago I was impressed
with the seemingly straight up job of reporting in the Biblical story of
Ezekiel's extended apparition. The guy took courage, kept his head up,
and did his personal best to tell us what he saw --almost in mechanical
detail. I suspect that his account has been fairly well preserved down
onto us since, it being so off-the-wall and apolitical, that the secular
and religious autocrats who've messed with the books of the Bible simply
didn't know what to make of it.
I'm far from alone in finding Ezekiel to be an interesting and an astonishing departure from the other books of the Bible. Famously, Erich von Daniken (Chariots of the Gods) cites Ezekiel. NASA engineer Josef F. Blumrich turned his informed speculations about what Ezekiel was describing into a book: The Spaceships of the Prophet Ezekiel, making it his retirement ad/avocation. (Question has been raised about Blumrich's bona fides at http://www.spaceshipsofezekiel.com/index.html, in that his name was said not to appear in the document: "An Illustrated Chronology of the NASA Marshall Center and MSFC Programs 1960-1973".)
Of special note is an essay ("The Wheels of Ezekiel / An analytical essay") by R. Cedric Leonard at: http://www.atlantisquest.com/. He admits to a fair background in Greek, Latin and Hebrew, plus he has personally consulted authorities, Hebrew scholars, researched/cites a raft of Biblical translations and commentaries --which amply demonstrate that Ezekiel was talking about some kind of a mechanical conveyance (ie: a "chariot" --even though he didn't use that word).
The old drawings below are traditional. Like Ezekiel's descriptions, they're done without benefit of a modern context --just a "majesty of God" sort of illumination. But if we look at Ezekiel's description with a fresh and open "mind's eye", I think a modern person --especially someone at all acquainted with aeronautical technologies --sees a lot of hardware in motion.
The 2003 revision of this web page was prompted by my delight in reading Dr. Irwin Ginsburgh's short book: "First Man./Then Adam!" (1975), in which his analysis also anticipated my drawing (top of page). --per his:
"One passage (Ezekiel 1) can be interpreted as a large space ship with four helicopter rotors suspended below it to provide maneuverability in the Earth's atmosphere."
* I suspect that there are and have been no extraterrestrial visitors, ancient or modern --unless we count ourselves, and the absurdly complex/evolved flora and fauna of the Earth. Was it all seeded from deep space and deep time elsewhere? If intelligent, biological life exists "out there", surely they'd send out probes (and seeds?), not space ships piloted for years by living beings.
* Intelligent non-biological life --that's a different consideration --anything from AI robots to thinking astronomical objects.
* Here's Joe Scott (of "Answers With Joe") weighing in with his glib, mirthful, rational skepticism:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv-sbtCAz9Y
Re-read these ancient scriptural passages and see what you think.
4: And I began to see, and, look! there was a tempestuous {or whirlwind} wind coming from the north, a great cloud mass and quivering fire, and it had a brightness all around, and out of the midst of it there was something like the look of electrum, out of the midst of the fire.
{Alternate translation: "Then I looked, and saw a raging wind from the north driving a great cloud, and whirling fire flashing around it, with the gleam of polished brass [or electrum] in the center of the fire." --from the Holy Bible in Modern English by F. Fenton, and more accurately describing the specular effects of highly polished metal --or maybe what a modern person would take to be flashing strobe lights --according to Leonard, and see his writ for more such interpretation.}
5: And out of the midst of it there was the likeness of four living creatures, and this was how they looked: they had the likeness of earthling man.
6: And [each] one had four faces, and [each] one of them four wings.
7: And their feet were straight feet, and the sole of their feet was like the sole of the foot of a calf; and they were gleaming as with the glow of burnished copper.
8: And there were the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides, and the four of them had their faces and their wings.
9: Their wings were joining one to the other. They would not turn when they went; they would go each one straight forward.
10:
And as for the likeness of their faces, the four of them had a man's face
with a lion's face to the right, and the four of them had a bull's face
on the left; the four of them also had an eagle's face.
11: That is the way their faces were. And their wings were spreading out upward. Each one had two joining to each other, and two were covering their bodies.
12: And they would go each one
straight forward. To wherever the spirit would
incline to go, they would go.
They would not turn as they went.
13: And as for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire. Something like the appearance of torches was moving back and forth between the living creatures, and the fire was bright, and out of the fire there was lightning going forth.
{Alternate translation: "As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and there was an appearance of lamps continuously circling among the living creatures." (KJV-II translation with italic from the original Greek and Hebrew, thanks to Leonard.)
14: And on the part of the living creatures there was a going forth and a returning as with the appearance of the lightning.
15: As I kept seeing the living creatures, why, look! there was one wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, by the four faces of each.
16: As for the appearance of the wheels and their structure, it was like the glow of chrys'o·lite; and the four of them had one likeness. And their appearance and their structure were just as when a wheel proved to be in the midst of a wheel.
17: When they went they would go on their four respective sides. They would not turn another way when they went.
18: And as for their rims, they had such height that they caused fearfulness; and their rims were full of eyes all around the four of them.
19: And when the living creatures went, the wheels would go beside them, and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels would be lifted up.
20: Wherever the spirit inclined to go, they would go, the spirit [inclining] to go there; and the wheels themselves would be lifted up close alongside them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
21: When they went, these would go; and when they stood still, these would stand still; and when they were lifted up from the earth, the wheels would be lifted up close alongside them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
22: And over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse like the sparkle of awesome ice, stretched out over their heads up above.
23: And under the expanse their wings were straight, one to the other. Each one had two wings covering on this side and each one had two covering on that side their bodies.
24: And I got to hear the sound
of their wings, a sound like that of vast
waters, like the sound of the
Almighty One, when they went, the sound of a tumult, like the sound of
an encampment. When they stood still, they would let their wings down.
25: And there came to be a voice
above the expanse that was over their head.
(When they stood still, they
would let their wings down.)
26: And above the expanse that was over their head there was something in appearance like sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne. And upon the likeness of the throne there was a likeness of someone in appearance like an earthling man upon it, up above.
27: And I got to see something like the glow of electrum, like the appearance of fire all around inside thereof, from the appearance of his hips and upward; and from the appearance of his hips and downward I saw something like the appearance of fire, and he had a brightness all around.
28: There was something like the appearance of the bow that occurs in a cloud mass on the day of a pouring rain. That is how the appearance was of the brightness round about. It was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah. When I got to see [it], then I fell upon my face, and I began to hear the voice of one speaking.
2:1 And he proceeded to say to
me: "Son of man, stand up upon your feet that I may speak with you."
07/10/2023 updates:
* UFOs, or rather, alleged disclosures about the U.S. government's secretly kept UFO artifacts --has been in the news lately. My best guess: Trump & company has burned a lot of our operatives/sources, so this is about our government trying to distract intelligence agents of other nations --from their usual activities. This might be an intel community project that goes back to 1947 --and maybe 1933.
* Again: I doubt that alive-o space aliens would travel for years to get here, and then just screw and hot-dog around in their space ships. They'd get right down to business (whatever that might be), maybe park some monitoring, then be on their way.
* As to just what's being seen (me too: I saw one 40 years ago): how about variations on "ball lightning"? There's an atmospheric voltage gradient of roughly 100 volts per meter of altitude. Also: the Earth generates high voltage potentials going into and coming out of earthquakes, including documented sightings of associated "lights".
* These phenomena need to be honestly studied, with every sighting and suggested explanation run to ground!
---Craig