UFO and Alien Encounters in the Bible Reconstructed by AI

The book was originally published in German under the title Erinnerungen an die Zukunft (“Memories of the Future”).

In a congressional hearing on UFOs held on May 17, 2022, the Pentagon officially dismissed the idea that aliens were responsible for what they called “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.” Yes, this really happened. See here. However, they are not scholars of the Bible.

Ezekiel’s description of the wheels:

^{יחזקאל א:טז} מַרְאֵה הָאוֹפַנִּים... וּמַעֲשֵׂיהֶם כַּאֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה הָאוֹפַן בְּתוֹךְ הָאוֹפָן. ^א:יז עַל אַרְבַּעַת רִבְעֵיהֶן בְּלֶכְתָּם יֵלֵכוּ לֹא יִסַּבּוּ בְּלֶכְתָּן. ^א:כא ...כִּי רוּחַ הַחַיָּה בָּאוֹפַנִּים.

^{Ezek 1:16} As for the appearance of the wheels… their construction being something like a wheel within a wheel. ^1:17 When they moved, they moved in any of the four directions without veering as they moved. ^1:21 … for a living spirit was in the wheels.

See Carl Ehrlich, “Ezekiel’s Vision of God and the Chariot,” TheTorah (2019). For an alternative, scientific understanding of the Vision of the Chariot, see Daniel Davies “The Secret of the Ma’aseh Merkava According to Maimonides” TheTorah (2015).

The creature depicted here is an accurate composite reconstruction of the four beasts that drew YHWH’s chariot in Ezekiel’s vision:

יחזקאל א:י וּדְמוּת פְּנֵיהֶם פְּנֵי אָדָם וּפְנֵי אַרְיֵה אֶל הַיָּמִין לְאַרְבַּעְתָּם וּפְנֵי שׁוֹר מֵהַשְּׂמֹאול לְאַרְבַּעְתָּן וּפְנֵי נֶשֶׁר לְאַרְבַּעְתָּן.

^{Ezek 1:10} Each of them had a human face [at the front]; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right; each of the four had the face of an ox on the left; and each of the four had the face of an eagle [at the back]. (NJPS)

AI reconstructed the image without the fiery horses, presumably because the verse was referring to horsepower:

^{מלכים ב ב:יא} וַיְהִי הֵמָּה הֹלְכִים הָלוֹךְ וְדַבֵּר וְהִנֵּה רֶכֶב־אֵשׁ וְסוּסֵי אֵשׁ וַיַּפְרִדוּ בֵּין שְׁנֵיהֶם וַיַּעַל אֵלִיָּהוּ בַּסְעָרָה הַשָּׁמָיִם.

^{2 Kgs 2:11} As they kept on walking and talking, a fiery chariot with fiery horses suddenly appeared and separated one from the other; and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.

Biblical Hebrew did not have a word for “alien,” and thus the text describes the figures as men:

^{בראשית יח:ב} וַיִּשָּׂא עֵינָיו וַיַּרְא וְהִנֵּה שְׁלֹשָׁה אֲנָשִׁים נִצָּבִים עָלָיו וַיַּרְא וַיָּרׇץ לִקְרָאתָם מִפֶּתַח הָאֹהֶל... ^יח:י וַיֹּאמֶר שׁוֹב אָשׁוּב אֵלֶיךָ כָּעֵת חַיָּה וְהִנֵּה־בֵן לְשָׂרָה אִשְׁתֶּךָ...

^{Gen 18:2} Looking up, he saw three figures standing near him. Perceiving this, he ran from the entrance of the tent… ^18:10 Then one said, “I will return to you next year, and your wife Sarah shall have a son!”

For more on God's visit, see Ben-Zion Katz, "God’s Appearance to Abraham: Vision or Visit?" TheTorah.com (2013)

They had French bread sandwiches with tongue and mustard. See Rashi, Gen 18:7:

בן בקר רך וטוב. ג' פָּרִים הָיוּ, כְדֵי לְהַאֲכִילָן ג' לְשׁוֹנוֹת בְּחַרְדָּל (בבא מציעא פ"ז)

However, to their credit, they used teargas to disperse a mob that was trying to assault two women (see Gen 19).

Thus, professional wrestling, far from a sham, has cosmic origins, and is among the first human sports, introduced as least as early as Jacob:

^{בראשית לב:כה} וַיִּוָּתֵר יַעֲקֹב לְבַדּוֹ וַיֵּאָבֵק אִישׁ עִמּוֹ עַד עֲלוֹת הַשָּׁחַר. ^לב:כו ...וַיִּגַּע בְּכַף־יְרֵכוֹ וַתֵּקַע כַּף־יֶרֶךְ יַעֲקֹב בְּהֵאָבְקוֹ עִמּוֹ.

^{Gen 32:25} Jacob was left alone. And a figure wrestled with him until the break of dawn. ^32:26 …he wrenched Jacob’s hip at its socket, so that the socket of his hip was strained as he wrestled with him.

The verse in MT:

^{במדבר יג:לג} וְשָׁם רָאִינוּ אֶת־הַנְּפִילִים בְּנֵי עֲנָק מִן־הַנְּפִלִים וַנְּהִי בְעֵינֵינוּ כַּחֲגָבִים וְכֵן הָיִינוּ בְּעֵינֵיהֶם.

^{Num 13:33} We saw the Nephilim there—the Anakites are part of the Nephilim—and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them.”

The verse describing the encounter states:

^{במדבר כב:כג} וַתֵּרֶא הָאָתוֹן אֶת־מַלְאַךְ יְ־הֹוָה נִצָּב בַּדֶּרֶךְ וְחַרְבּוֹ שְׁלוּפָה בְּיָדוֹ וַתֵּט הָאָתוֹן מִן־הַדֶּרֶךְ וַתֵּלֶךְ בַּשָּׂדֶה וַיַּךְ בִּלְעָם אֶת־הָאָתוֹן לְהַטֹּתָהּ הַדָּרֶךְ

^{Num 22:23} When the ass caught sight of the messenger of י־הוה standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. The ass swerved from the road and went into the fields; and Balaam beat the ass to turn her back onto the road.

I further postulate: The Hebrew word אָתוֹן, “donkey,” is cognate with אֵיתָן, “mighty one.” Donkeys are powerful beings uniquely capable of absorbing alien energies. Their powers pose a threat to alien dominion, which why YHWH, leader of the aliens, commands donkeys be redeemed (i.e., their powers diffused), or else “you must break its neck” (Exod 13:13).