Classical Paintings That Appear To Contain Depictions Of UFOs

In the Hitachi region of Japan in 1803, a strange object, which appears to have been a saucer-shaped vessel or ship, washed ashore and caught the attention of many. The event and accompanying illustrations were immortalized in three major texts: Toen Shōsetsu in 1825, Hyōryū Kishū in 1835, and Ume-No-Chiri in 1844. The illustration depicted here is from the 1835 publication of Hyōryū Kishū, which translates to "Archives of Castaways." In that book, they called the object "utsuro-bune," which means "hollow ship." According to some legends, a beautiful woman emerged from the ship when it washed ashore, wearing unusual clothes and carrying a mysterious box with strange lettering on it.

Cave paintings have been discovered in Charama, India, that seem to depict flying saucers and creepy, faceless, humanoid figures. The drawings and carvings bear a striking resemblance to the UFOs and aliens we see today in movies and television. Citizens of Charama and their governments have been so compelled by these findings that they've gone to NASA to request further investigation. Archeologists date the images to be 10,000 years old. Some believe the images depict citizens of India worshipping the figures emerging from UFOs in the drawings, leading to the conclusion that extraterrestrials may have ruled Earth at one point in history. See the paintings here.

This 17th-century painting was found in a medieval church in Transylvania. The painting was made for the Monastery Church in the Medieval Citadel in Sighisoara. It depicts a burning church surrounded by billowing smoke with a strange flying saucer above it. It even seems to have a trail of exhaust following it. Under the painting, the words scrawled in calligraphy read, “Israel, hoffe auf den Herrn,” which translates to "Israel, put your hope in the lord." See the painting here.

Domenico Ghirlandaio painted The Madonna With Saint Giovannino in the 15th century during the height of the Renaissance in Italy. If you look closely in the background, you can see a man who appears to be a shepherd with his dog pointing at an object in the sky. The dog seems to be barking at the strange object, and the Madonna is painted with her back to it as if she's protecting the baby Saint Giovannino from seeing it. Some say it's a record of a UFO sighting, others say it could be religious symbolism of an angel.

In the early 18th century, Flemish painter Aert De Gelder painted this image of John baptizing Jesus. The painting depicts what looks like a flying saucer in the sky beaming light down towards Jesus and John. Some believe this is a reference to the Bible verse (Matthew 3:16) describing the event: As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. Others say that because Aert De Gelder was a prominent artist of his time, he depicted a UFO to prove not only the existence of extraterrestrials but also that aliens were present during the baptism of Christ.

Masolino da Panicale painted this depiction of snowfall in August in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, in the 15th century. The painting is a depiction of the legend Pope Liberius and Giovanni discovering a patch of unmelted snow in Rome in August of 352, which would be miraculous since it's rare to have snow in Rome, even in the winter. According to the story, the patch of snow was a sign from Mother Mary to build a church there, and they did so. Above the patch of snow, there are what seems to be dozens of saucer-shaped flying objects. According to the story, these were supposed to be snow, although they look like potential UFOs. Even stranger, this story bears resemblance to an event that occurred on October 27, 1954, in Florence, Italy. Thousands of people reported sightings of UFOs in the sky followed by a light dusting of a white, cotton-like substance that disintegrated if held in one's hands. In fact, a football match was stopped and an entire stadium looked above at what appeared to be a "floating egg" above Stadio Artemi Franchi. Athlete Ardico Magnini reported seeing "silver glitter" rain down from the sky after the UFO appeared. Since then, no one has been able to explain the strange incident from October 1954, but it does bear a striking resemblance to the legend depicted in Panicale's Miracle of the Snow.

The Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral near Tbilisi, the current capital of Georgia. The Cathedral was first built in the 4th century BC by King Mirian III but was completed between the years 1010 and 1029. Frescos faded over time, with new ones added, but this one, in particular, is estimated to be painted in the 1600s by an unknown artist. If you look below each of Jesus's arms in the fresco, you'll see what looks like a jellyfish, one red on the left and one white on the right. They also look like they could be UFOs with beams of light shooting down. According to art historians, Eastern Orthodox religious art from this time featured a sun and a moon in every depiction of the crucified Christ, possibly explaining the presence of these two objects.

This fresco is located at the Visoki Dečani Monastery in Kosovo, Serbia, in the Eastern Orthodox visual style. On the upper corners of the left and right panels, there seem to be flying objects with rays of light streaming from them. Eastern Orthodox art has a strong visual language, and in all depictions of Christ on the crucifix, there is a sun and moon. Some argue that these two objects are the sun and moon, while others believe it's proof that the artist was trying to capture an alien visitation.

Italian artist Carlo Crivelli painted The Annunciation, With Saint Emidius in 1486, the height of the Italian Renaissance. In this depiction of the angel Gabriel telling the Virgin Mary she will be the mother of God, there seems to be a flying saucer emerging from the sky. There also appears to be a beam of light pointing directly at Mary's head. While this UFO looks very much like a flying saucer, art historians argue that it's a cloud of angels. It's said that you can even identify the little angels if you look close enough. To get a closer look, use this tool from the National Gallery of London to zoom in on that part of the painting.

Michael Pacher, a painter who played a role in introducing the Renaissance to Germany in the 15th century, depicted Saint Wolfgang in this painting. St. Wolfgang was hoping to build a church but was having issues finding generous benefactors to help him build it. In the painting, the Devil presents a deal: He'll help the bishop build the church as long as he promises to hand over the soul of the first being to step inside. According to the legend, St. Wolfgang overrides this commitment with a loophole. When a hunter emerged from the forest chasing a wolf, St. Wolfgang opened the door to let the wolf in. Though the wolf was not happy about the flames and gnashing of teeth it was about to experience, a human soul was spared. Churchgoers could now sit through services smugly knowing that the Devil himself built the church. The painting shows a winged creature with hooved feet and another face on its backside. Some hypothesize that the artist was depicting an alien veiled with a biblical story, since it looks more like an extra-terrestrial than a demon.