EXPLAINEDCRAFT · SCULPTURE & ARTEFACTS
The Palenque 'Astronaut'
683 CE · Palenque, Chiapas · Mexico
WHAT IT IS
The carved lid over King Pakal's tomb shows a reclining man amid columns and coils. Von Däniken saw a pilot at the controls of a rocket.
THE ALIEN READING
Von Däniken (1968) read the World Tree as a fuselage, the serpent bar as controls and the roots as exhaust flames, with Pakal strapped in. Ancient Aliens ranked it second of its top ten artefacts.
WHAT THE RECORD SAYS
Maya scholars read Pakal falling into the underworld at death, on the axis of the World Tree with the celestial bird above, to be reborn as the maize god. The 'breathing tube' is a nose ornament (Skeptoid #721).
WHERE IT STANDS
Explained. Historians and archaeologists account for what it shows. The alien reading is a modern one.
STATUS IS OUR CURRENT ASSESSMENT, NOT A VERDICT · REVIEWED 3 OCT 2026
THE RECORD
- DATE
- 683 CE
- PLACE
- Palenque, Chiapas · Mexico
- MADE BY
- Classic Maya · Temple of the Inscriptions
- MEDIUM
- Sculpture
- TECHNICAL
- Carved stone sarcophagus lid · tomb of K'inich Janaab' Pakal, Temple of the Inscriptions
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FOLIO 18 · DISPUTED
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