Guatemala: UFO experts amazed by Mayan panels just unearthed

Here is what the Reuter's article has to say:

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Archeologists have uncovered carved stucco panels depicting cosmic monsters, gods and serpents in Guatemala's northern jungle that are the oldest known depictions of a famous Mayan creation myth.

The newly discovered panels, both 26 feet long and stacked on top of each other, were created around 300 BC and show scenes from the core Mayan mythology, the Popol Vuh.

On one panel, the twins are depicted surrounded by cosmic monsters and above them is a bird deity with outstretched wings. On the other, there is a Mayan corn god framed by an undulating serpent, said Hansen who worked as a consultant for Mel Gibson's 2006 movie about the Maya, "Apocalypto."

Might help to know something about the creation myth depicted in the stucco.....

Popol Vuh
Many versions of the Twin Myth must have circulated among the Mayas, but the only one that survives in a written form is the Classical Quiché version in the Popol Vuh. According to this version, the Hero Twins were Xbalanque (Modern K'iche': Xb‘alanke) and Hunahpu (Modern K'iche': Junajpu) who were ballplayers like their father and uncle, Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu.

Summoned to Xibalba, by the Lords of the Underworld, the father and uncle were defeated by one of the Lords' tests and sacrificed and Hun Hunahpu's skull was suspended in a trophy tree. When Xquic, daughter of one of the lords of Xibalba, approached this tree, the skull spat into her hand and thereby made her pregnant with the Hero Twins. The Twins grew up to avenge their father, and after many trials, finally defeated the lords of the Underworld in the ballgame. The Popol Vuh features other episodes involving the Twins as well (see below), including the liquidation of a pretentious avian deity, Vucub-Caquix, and of his two demonical sons. The Twins also removed their half-brothers from the scene, the Howler Monkey Gods who were the patrons of artists and scribes. The Twins' final transformation into sun and moon establishes a metaphor for unassailable rule over earth and sky.

Source: en.wikipedia.org... (Sure, it's wiki, but it's a concise summation)...

Here's more:

The panels, which flank the series of pools of a unique water control system that included the capture of rainwater from surrounding massive architecture, depict two “swimming” individuals that are framed by cosmic monsters of importance in ancient Maya art. “We tentatively believe that the ‘swimmers’ represent the Hero Twins of the Popol Vuh,” said Hansen, referring to the Quiche Maya text of the Maya creation story, which was found in the highland town of Chichicastenango in A.D. 1700 and transcribed by a Dominican monk named Francisco Ximenez by about 1704.

“One of the swimmers has a decapitated head on his flanks, which is likely the decapitated head of his father, who was known in Maya mythology as Hun Hunahpu.” The other swimmer has a headdress with jaguar features, which would possibly associate him with his twin brother, known as ‘Xbalanque’ (Young Jaguar Sun), according to Hansen.“This suggests that the antiquity of the Popol Vuh as an authentic creation story extends far into the Preclassic eras,” said Hector Escobedo, vice minister of Culture in the Guatemalan Ministry of Culture. Additional upper panels of the water frieze show what appears to be an undulating serpent, which frames Deity images of an old man with wings.

Source: www2.isu.edu...

Difficult to determine. If you study the piece, the UFO sort of fits in. I was trying to figure out what else it could be? Not sure, and since this was made thousands of years ago, there were not a lot mechanical things around, at least so we are told in traditional history books.

An interesting story to follow

I hate to say this guys, but I don't see it as any 'specific' proof that they were trying to portray 'alien beings'.

If you will turn your head 90* to the left like I did, instead of rotating the picture, (duh!) it looks more like the guy is kneeling on one knee and possibly drinking something from the 'clay pot' on the shelf. The elaborate headdress doesn't look as much like a space suit as it does ...just some ceremonial headdress. They still wear them today in certain festivals.

Sometimes we interpret things because of what we are looking for. If religionists had found it they would have said it was 'devil worshipping', if the gay community had found it, they would have said it was a gay marriage, etc., etc.

How can we "possibly" know what the carvers were trying to convey? They didn't do this overnight. It obviously took them a while to carve this out. MAybe they were just smokin too much hashish or peyote at night and came up with some wild stuff to put on stone cause they were bored. I see some pretty good artistic work on the sides of railroad cars when I am sitting at the tracks, but I don't think the bored kids that painted them were trying to really convey some intergalactic message.

I could be wrong though...I usually am.....

JMHO

Well not very good wall picture. I dont see aliens and ufo's. If I want to see ufo shape maybe there is something. Strange symbols could mean anything.

Anyway, ancient old pictures are interesting..

[edit on 13-3-2009 by hande]

Considering that they worshiped dragon deities, I really don't see any ufo connection.Could just be something to do with their dragon god.

Striking? I wouldn't call it striking. If I had just been browsing an archaeological website, and came across that photo, it would have never popped into my mind that this was representative of aliens or a ufo at all.

People assume automatically that anything out of the ordinary must mean there is something significant there. Reptilian head? ALIENS! Stuff on their back? ALIENS!

They WERE allowed artistic license even back then. And even more to the point, they worshiped many gods, and much of their work revolved around that, including ceremony (and from that, costumes).

Not staggering, not an 'amazing' find, other than in an archaeological sense.

Maya imagery was already very bizarre. The way they depicted things, people, gods, corn, etc., can be confusing, especially after time has weathered away parts of the carvings. I would wait for archaeologists to record the inscriptions as a drawing before jumping to conclusions.

Good grief, that could be almost anything Sorry, but that is proof of nothing.........apart from the fact the Mayans had a very active imagination!

It is strictly a matter of interpretation. ATS members prefer the fantasy world rather than the probably mundane life of the Mayans. Nothing in the pictures look like anything other than what they were involved in locally.

I predict that further photos will show nothing connected with UFOs or aliens except, again to ATS members (not me, of course!).

Originally posted by franspeakfree
Interesting, I read about this new mayan discovery some days back and now I have just found this. I can't wait for them to release the photos.

Ufologists are now marvelling at the latest image of Mayan mythology carved in stone. Many have already noted that the image shown on Reuters clearly depicts a UFO surrounded by two non-human beings covered in some form of technological equipment. Interestingly the date range given for the carvings puts their creation not long after Ezekiel’s graphic descriptions of wheels within wheels. Reuters has published a photo of one of the Mayan panels and to say that the similarity to Ezekiel’s wheels and ‘living creatures’ is striking might be putting it mildly.

Link to Source

Very interesting carving there. A star for you.

Has anyone else notice that the thing in the middle, that presumably represents the UFO, has a giant ear on it? To see what I am refering to look at the central object and follow the top edge down to the bottom of the frame. There it is, a giant sylized ear. The object does look mechanical to me, except for the giant ear. Do you think that this could represent a microphone? Or is it the all hearing omnicient ear of a diety?

Very interesting.

reply to post by franspeakfree


Not sure what it is, the photos look like two people swimming, either that or they are blowing into the object in question, perhaps an instrument or pipe (by the way their lips seem puckered)...

Certainly doesn't look like proof of ancient aliens, perhaps if a nearby carving reads "Aliens were here" we'll know for sure

reply to post by Daisy-Lola


Eh, all i see are two representation of the Mayan gods. First may be a god or may be a human engaged in some sort of blood letting ceremony. Looks similar to other representations of the latter in my humble opinion. As for the second, I admit it's strange, but until i hear what archaeologists have to say on the matter and not some vague 'UFO expert', then I'm yet to be convinced.

Originally posted by DREAMING MAN
reply to post by franspeakfree

 

Outstanding find! Brilliant in fact!

Star & Flag. A very good find, & thanks by the way.

I have a potential idea/theory that I will pursue on this one.

Do you people even look at the articles on these before posting "OUTSTANDING FIND!"

I'm sorry, but in looking at the pictures, I'm not sure how you can make out ANYTHING inside of this psychedelic stone carving...


How anyone gets Ezekial out of this is beyond me

Iffy as far as I'm concerned.
If I had to say it looked like anything. Looks like they are looking at each other through a mirror.
Maybe a stargate if you wanna go that far.

I see a guy with a monkey and two other guys on a some sort of high floating around after smoking some weed. So many people wanting to see something inject what they want, much like fanatics with the quran and the bible.

The two pictures that is linked on the source the OP provided look very recently created and hardly carry any weight on them whatsoever, but that could be due to soil conditions. Something just doesn't ping well with me on this.

great thread interesting links and pix thx for posting.

didnt von Danicken made the alien connection with Maya;s in one of his books???

Ufologists are now marvelling at the latest image of Mayan mythology carved in stone. Many have already noted that the image shown on Reuters clearly depicts a UFO surrounded by two non-human beings covered in some form of technological equipment.

'Many have already noted' - who exactly? The source you provide has simply put their own interpretation on the original story. It's a poor piece of journalism at best.

Interestingly the date range given for the carvings puts their creation not long after Ezekiel’s graphic descriptions of wheels within wheels. Reuters has published a photo of one of the Mayan panels and to say that the similarity to Ezekiel’s wheels and ‘living creatures’ is striking might be putting it mildly.

It might be but it isn't. To say this image bears a striking resemblance to something only described in Ezekiel is actually a massive stretch - and that is putting it mildly!

I realise these aren't your words OP but I think you could be a bit more discerning in choosing your sources.


Edit: Just reread the OP and it's clear you posted before you'd seen the photos so sorry if I was a little harsh. The other articles on the site seem a bit wacko though IMHO

[edit on 13/3/2009 by MarrsAttax]

Originally posted by ziggyproductions05
well at the bottom right, the object there next to the "UFO" looks like it is the sign for Leo -
realmagick.com...

I think the object between the two beings is a depiction of the Milky Way as seen from earth. This may explain the Leo sign that you pointed out.

Image of the Milky Way

If you look at the angle of the object it matches pretty much exactly with the image of the Milky Way in the link above.