Ancient Skies - Vol 09 No 3 - 1982-83

Magazine Overview

Title: ANCIENT SKIES
Issue: Volume 9, Number 3
Date: July-August, 1982
Publisher: ANCIENT ASTRONAUT SOCIETY
Country: USA

This issue of Ancient Skies delves into two primary topics: the ongoing debate surrounding the decipherment of the Quenca script and the potential discovery of a tenth planet in our solar system.

Decipherment of the Quenca Script - Revisited

The lead article, authored by Prof. Dr. Dileep Kumar Kanjilal, revisits the identification of the script found on a gold-stele from the Crespi Museum in Quenca, Ecuador. Kanjilal's original interpretation, published in Ancient Skies 2:6 (Jan.-Feb. 1976), identified the script as an archaic Sanskrit prayer belonging to the 7th Century BC.

However, this interpretation is contrasted with the views of Dr. Barry Fell, who, in his 1980 publication 'Saga America', identifies the stele as a zodiac. Fell suggests the stele is derived from Cyprus, possibly copied in Central America from a Cypriot original before 300 BC, and written in the Paphian script, with a language close to Minoan-Hittite.

Kanjilal presents a critique of Fell's interpretation, noting that Fell's referee admitted a lack of acquaintance with Sanskrit and that Fell's reproduction of signs differs from Kanjilal's. Kanjilal points out that Fell incorrectly identified 54 signs while Kanjilal counted 56, and that Fell presented the script upside down. Kanjilal also questions Fell's methodology, suggesting it was "highly conjectural" and based on "susceptible differences" and an "oversight" in counting.

Kanjilal's team had presented their findings to epigraphists at the Indian Museum in Calcutta on July 3, 1976, who accepted the identification as a prayer in archaic Sanskrit. Kanjilal argues that archaeologists are often biased towards Middle-Eastern origins and overlook possibilities of independent ancient American scripts and languages.

He further elaborates on the complexities of Hittite and Minoan scripts and their potential connections to Brahmi, noting that Brahmi shares isomorphic affinities with approximately 13 Hittite, Minoan, and Linear B varieties, and Cypriot scripts. Kanjilal asserts that all 56 signs of the Quenca stele can be found in regular and irregular Brahmi varieties from Asoka's inscriptions.

Kanjilal also critiques Fell's reading of the stele from right to left, which he states violates normal epigraphic principles. He questions how "barbarians" without a sense of writing could impress small letters and signs on gold plates, suggesting that artifacts found in the Crespi Museum were likely products of Phoenician factories intended for trade.

Fell's interpretation of 54 signs includes 12 signs representing zodiac signs and 43 representing various objects like ox, ram, divine friends, cat, crab, virgin daughter of Zove, claws, venomous-tailed beast, goat, libation bowl, and whale. Kanjilal finds this interpretation strained and lacking a consistent pattern.

In contrast, Kanjilal's interpretation of the Quenca script, as presented by Dr. Fell, is shown with a table of signs and their phonetic values, which he claims are consistent with Brahmi. He also includes a table of "QUENCA SCRIPT AS PRESENTED BY DR. FELL" which shows signs and their supposed phonetic values, and a table of "QUENCA SCRIPT AS PRESENTED BY DR. KANJILAL" showing Brahmi signs and their corresponding numbers.

Kanjilal concludes by citing historical evidence of contact between ancient India and America, including maritime intercourse and the practice of inscribing important information on gold plates, referencing Buddhist Jataka stories and the Girnar Rock Inscription of Asoka. He expresses confidence that the decipherment published in Ancient Skies will stand the test of time.

Tenth Planet Soon to Be Rediscovered?

This section reports on a NASA press release from June 17, 1982, announcing that two Pioneer spacecraft (Pioneer 10 and 11) may soon detect a tenth planet in our solar system, located beyond Neptune and Pluto, or a dark star companion to the Sun.

NASA suggests that persistent irregularities in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune strongly indicate the presence of a "mystery object" far beyond the known planets. Pioneer 10 is currently between Uranus and Neptune, and Pioneer 11 is between Saturn and Uranus.

The discovery of Pluto's satellite, Charon, in 1978, reduced the calculated mass of the Pluto-Charon system, making it insufficient to explain the orbital anomalies of Neptune and Uranus, which were previously attributed to Pluto's gravitational pull.

NASA speculates that a large dark-star type object, possibly the size of the Sun and about 50 billion miles beyond the outermost planet, or a black hole ten times the Sun's mass and twice as far out, could account for these shifts. Alternatively, a planet-sized object about five billion miles beyond Pluto and Neptune could also explain the discrepancies, though these would be "local effects."

Measurements of the spacecraft's escape trajectories over several months could help determine if the object is a relatively close planet or a more distant dark star/black hole. Further observations would estimate its size, distance, and direction.

Dr. John Anderson, a Pioneer celestial mechanics experimenter, suggests that a dark stellar companion might be the most likely explanation. He notes that a tenth planet would need to be at least five billion miles beyond Neptune, or even larger if it were farther out, to cause the observed effects. If such a large planet existed farther out, it should be easily visible, unless its surface is very dark or it is far out of the plane containing the other planets.

Zecharia Sitchin, author of 'The Twelfth Planet' and 'The Stairway to Heaven', responded to NASA's announcement. He stated that his book, published over five years prior, concluded that ancient Sumerians described a twelve-member solar system, including a tenth planet, which they depicted pictorially and traced its vast elliptical orbit. Sitchin identifies this planet as Nibiru and Marduk, and suggests its size is somewhat larger than Uranus or Neptune.

Sitchin notes that ancient astronomical texts indicate Nibiru's orbit is clockwise and its orbital plane is inclined to the common planetary plane. He also references texts describing Marduk's appearance from the southeastern skies and states that Sumerians claimed this knowledge was imparted to them by astronauts from Marduk.

Sitchin concludes that if a tenth planet exists, its presence was known in ancient times, supporting his theories based on ancient texts.

Conferences and New Books

The issue also announces the Eighth World Conference of the Ancient Astronaut Society, scheduled for November 12-13, 1982, in Vienna, Austria. A list of speakers is provided, including Prof. Dr. Vladimir Avinski, Erich Von Daniken, Zecharia Sitchin, and Prof. Dr. Dileep Kumar Kanjilal.

A Final Call for Member Expedition is made for November 1982, which will include a trip to Vienna, Jordan, Petra, Jerusalem, Cairo, Kenya, and Malta, departing from Chicago on November 7, 1982.

• Two new books are highlighted:
• Titans in Antiquity by W. Raymond Drake, published in Italian.
• Rätsel der Menschheit (Mysteries of Mankind) by Johannes Fiebag, published in German.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The magazine consistently promotes the study of ancient astronaut theories, exploring connections between ancient civilizations, extraterrestrial contact, and unexplained phenomena. The editorial stance appears to favor interpretations that challenge conventional archaeological and historical narratives, often drawing on ancient texts, artifacts, and linguistic analysis to support the idea of ancient alien influence. The publication actively engages with researchers and authors in this field, organizing conferences and expeditions to further explore these topics.