7 Mysterious Hi-Tech Objects Found In Ancient Artworks

Many paintings contain hidden meanings - a secret signature, or in the case of one of Bill Clinton’s official paintings, a shadow which looks very much like Monica Lewinsky’s dress.

But do some paintings contain hints of something more mysterious?

Conspiracy theory fans often seize on ancient artworks, coins or books, and hail strange objects as ‘proof’ of time travel, or of alien visitors to our world.

But are they really - or is it just a case of modern-day conspiracy theories adopting the religious imagery of previous centuries?

Nigel Watson, author of the UFO Investigations Manual says: ‘Flying saucers, UFOs and other weird objects in the sky have been depicted throughout the history of humanity. ’

'What appear to be UFOs and aliens appear in the cave paintings of ancient man, the reigious paintings of the Renaissance period and in the works of chroniclers and storytellers.’

The Ancient Greek statue ‘using a laptop’

Does an ancient Greek statue thought to date from 100BC really show a woman using a laptop?

For a brief moment earlier this year, the internet believed it.

The statue, ‘Grave Naiskos of an Enthroned Woman with an Attendant’ in The J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, became the focus of a huge amount of gossip after a video posted by YouTuber StillSpeakingOut highlighed the strange ‘device’.

StillSpeakingOut said it, ‘‘depicts an astonishing object which bears a striking resemblance with a modern laptop or some hand-held device.’

Jeffrey Spier, the senior curator of antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum, said that it’s more likely to be a jewellery box, or a hinged mirror.

The painting in the monastery

A strange disc pouring smoke and hovering over buildings appears in a Romanian monastery wall painting thought to date from the 16th century.

The image is painted on the wall on a 14th century church in Sighisoara - thought to the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler, the historical figure on whom the Dracula legend is based.

UFO fans believe that the strange disc shows that aliens have been visiting our world for centuries - although local experts claim it’s probably meant to represent Elijah’s ascension to heaven, according to Romania Insider.

The painting with God and Jesus and the satellite

The painting ‘Glorification of the Eucharist’ by Bonaventura Salimbeni seems to show God and Jesus fiddling with what looks like a Sputnik satellite.

Naturally, it’s beloved by UFO fans - but the real explanation is a little more prosaic.

The strange ‘ball’ is a representation of the Celestial Sphere - ie the universe, and the wands are meant to depict God’s control over it, experts have said.

The French coin showing a flying saucer

A French ‘jeton’ from the 17th century seems to show a weird flying disc - and it has been seized on by UFO fans as evidence of alien visitors.

‘Jetons’ were coin-like tokens used to help people do sums using an abacus-like tool - and which was also used in gambling games.

This one is French and was minted between 1650 and 1680, according to UFO Sightings Daily.

Commenters on hoax debunking site Snopes suggest it’s a shield - and others suggest it’s a representation of Ezekiel’s wheel in the Bible.

Jesus, Mary and the aliens

Several religious paintings show distinctly odd things in the sky alongside Jesus and Mary - and UFO fans seize on these as evidence of extraterrestrial involvement.

Nigel Watson, author of the UFO Investigations Manual, says, 'In the 15th Century, The Madonna with Saint Giovannio, the artist Domenico Ghirlandaio depicts a disc-like craft with rays shooting out of it over the left shoulder of Mary. A man with a dog behind Mary are shown looking at this aerial object.’

'The Baptism of Christ painted by Aert De Gelder in 1710 is a stunning vision of a circular craft beaming rays of light that illuminate Jesus and John the Baptist. It can be viewed at the Fitzwiliam Museum Cambridge.’

'An explanation for these Biblical paintings is that they are symbolic representations of angels and that the beams of light from them represent the Holy Spirit. These beams of light can also represent the miraculous impregnation of Mary that led to the birth of Jesus.

The book with the flying saucer

UFO fans are convinced that a book published in 1716 offers proof that aliens have been visiting our planet for centuries - in the form of a picture of a flying saucer.

The book - Funccii liber de coloribus coeli by Johann Caspar Funcke, was found by an antique bookseller who sent an image to UFO website The Black Vault.

He claims that other books by the same author also show mysterious disc-shaped craft.

UFO fans are convinced that a book published in 1716 offers proof that aliens have been visiting our planet for centuries - in the form of a picture of a flying saucer.

The book - Funccii liber de coloribus coeli by Johann Caspar Funcke, was found by an antique bookseller who sent an image to UFO website The Black Vault.

He claims that other books by the same author also show mysterious disc-shaped craft.