A description of an ancient sky featuring “chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor” by Titus Flavius Josephus in the wake of the First Jewish-Roman War has recently raised questions among analysts from the Ancient Origins portal on whether the first-century historian had recorded an early appearance of UFOs.
“…a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared; I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable…were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armour were seen running about among the clouds…”, Titus Flavius Josephus wrote in “The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem”, a book which dates to 75 AD.
The historian, who was later called a “prophet” of the Roman Emperor Vespasian, allegedly described events preceding the ethnic conflict-driven Jewish War, which lasted between 66 AD and 73 AD. The struggle was also marked by religious intolerance and the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem by the Roman army, and some suggested that Josephus’s description, which emerged later, could have served as a justification for the deed.
However, according to former NASA scientist Dr. Richard Stothers, as quoted by Ancient Origins, the unusualness of the event has hinted to the fact that it could have been something much more than simply a peculiar cloud formation, something ancient Romans and Jews were used to, and could even possibly be connected to a UFO-related mystery.
“Moreover, at that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner temple…they said that, in the first place, they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise…”, Titus Flavius Josephus wrote in the same passage.
Josephus’s account, which was apparently collaborated by some other historians citing “various eye-witnesses” across Judea, analysts note, could have indeed provide a first recording of alien objects in the sky or simply be used as religious interpretation of upcoming events.