To the north of Damascus lies the terrace of Baalbek—a platform built of stone blocks, some of which have sides over 65 ft long and weigh nearly 2,000 tons. Until now archaeologists have not been able to give a convincing explanation why, how and by whom the terrace of Baalbek was built. However, the Russian Professor Agrest considers it possible that the terrace is the remains of a gigantic airfield.
If we meekly accept the neat package of knowledge that the Egyptologists serve to us, ancient Egypt appears suddenly and without transition with a fantastic ready-made civilisation. Great cities and enormous temples, colossal statues with tremendous expressive power, splendid streets flanked by magnificent sculptures, perfect drainage systems, luxurious tombs carved out of the rock, pyramids of overwhelming size—these and many other wonderful things shot out of the ground, so to speak. Genuine miracles in a country that is suddenly capable of such achievements without recognisable prehistory!
Fertile agricultural land only exists in the Nile delta and on small strips to the left and right of the river. Yet experts now estimate the number of inhabitants at the time of the building of the Great Pyramid at 50 million. (A figure, incidentally, that flagrantly contradicts the 20 million considered to be the total population of the world in 3000 B.C.!)
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One of the maps found in the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, in the library of Admiral Piri Reis early in the eighteenth century It shows the Americas and West Africa Antartica, mapped at the bottom, conforms very closely to the land mass under the ice, as revealed by echo-sounding gear In recorded history it has never been free of ice.
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Cartographers projected the Pin Reis map on to a grid using the reference points shown on the map It then appeared virtually identical with this United States Air Force map of the world on an equidistant projection based on Cairo.
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The earth taken from Apollo 8 shows close similarity to the Piri Reis map The curious elongated shape of the Americas is particularly striking.
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On the Plain of Nazca in Peru appear these strange markings
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A view of the plain showing that the markings (Inca roads, say the archaeologists) lead nowhere.
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The markings in greater detail.
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Another of the strange markings on the Plain of Nazca. This is very reminiscent of the aircraft parking bays on a modern airport.
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This huge 820-ft. figure above the Bay of Pisco points to the Plain of Nazca. Could this be an aerial direction indicator rather than a symbol of religious significance?
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This is the ancient Mayan Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque in Mexico.
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Inside on the wall of one of the small chambers is this relief engraving. There is not enough space to take a full front view photograph, but there is enough detail to check the artist's drawing reproduced on the next page.
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This drawing was made in the Temple. Could primitive imagination have produced anything so remarkably similar to a modern astronaut in his rocket? Those strange markings at the foot of the drawing can only be an indication of the flames and gases coming from the propulsion unit.
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American astronauts today take up the same position, their hands on controls, their eyes checking instruments.
