Sci-fi has been around since just after the dawn of humankind—or, if you believe in ancient astronauts, sci-fi has been around since slightly before the dawn of man. We have to admit, it’s a lot harder to disbelieve the notion that something otherworldly once walked among us after looking at these ancient paintings of just that.
Here are a dozen spectacularly cool drawings that featured elements of sci-fi long before the concept of “little green men.”
Saint Wolfgang and the Devil, 1475 According to lore, Saint Wolfgang forced the Devil into helping him build a church. Also, somebody must have done something ridiculously bad to end up as the Devil’s rear end.
The Baptism of Christ, 1710 We totally missed the part about an alien ship guiding the three wise men to Jesus’ manger. How can it be the greatest story ever told if spaceships are intentionally omitted? That’s just like when Egyptian religious lore omitted the Stargate.
Peruvian Hill Carving, 6th Century The local inhabitants must have figured that not enough aliens were landing because humans were perceived as unfriendly. Extraterrestrial tourism has been steadily declining since its peak, which was apparently around the time when Jesus was born.
Egyptian Pictograph, 400 B.C. A caped alien is apparently offered some sort of live fowl. Whatever meaning the artist was attempting to convey, he or she failed. Unless they were trying to convey, “hey, be sure to feed the alien a chicken.”
The Annunciation with Saint Emidius, 1486 The Annunciation celebrates the announcement of Gabriel to Mary that she would conceive the son of God. This picture settles the mystery of pregnancy without conception: alien saucers shoot light beams which impregnated Earth women. The Bible is a fascinating read when you replace the word “God” with “alien overlord.”
Glorification of the Eucharist, 1600 God and Jesus are using some sort of Sputnik device to relay a transmission to Earth via some sort of glowing receiver. Unfortunately, everyone is too distracted by the presence of a lion to comprehend this leap in technology. At least that’s how we see it.
The Crucifixion, 1350 Notice what look like spaceships in the top corners. Our suspicion is that they are pictures of something far more realistic. Simply futuristic time travelers, stopping by to see one of the major events in world history.
Madonna with Saint Giovannino, 15th Century Here, Madonna is so busy with the two infants she doesn’t notice a flying saucer. Some guy and his dog notice, though. The resurrection of Christ, alien invasions, science… “Unsolved Mysteries” must have been a great show back then.
Illustration from “Ume No Chiri,” 1803 According to the accompanying explanation, this depicts a real-life artifact found by Japanese sailors. Its exterior was iron and glass, and the inside featured the strange letters pictured in the drawing. We assume that, ever since, the Japanese have been hard at work constructing a wormhole travel device.
Italian Cave Painting, 10,000 B.C. This drawing seems to depicts two spacesuit-clad beings. Or maybe they were supposed to be spacesuit-clad beings, but Italians thought they were a guide to developing the best auto racing helmets.
French Cave Painting, 13,000 B.C. Even our early ancestors were thinking about spaceships. Either that, or they were just really obsessed with Spanish gaucho pom pom hats.
Svetishoveli Cathedral Fresco, 17th century What are those tentacled arthropods flying around in the background? Not to mention the guy on the bottom left looks like he’s getting sprayed in the face with a hose.
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