In 1948 at the Temple of the inscriptions in Palenque, the Tomb of Mayan King Pakal was discovered by Mexican archaeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier. The lid of King Pakal's burial chamber below has some interesting depictions.
Ancient Alien theorists propose that it clearly depicts King Pakal in some sort of spaceship during takeoff, as his hands appear to be manipulating some sort of machinery, his foot is located on a pedal while he is breathing through some sort of breathing apparatus. The decorations on the "Monster of the Sun" resemble the intricate technology controls and mechanisms that we see on modern day spacecrafts.
There is even the implied flames and smoke from the thrusters at the bottom of the craft with a plume of Rocket fire at the bottom end indicating that he is being propelled in flight.
The theory about Pakal’s spaceship was first proposed by Erich von Däniken in his book Chariots of the Gods.
The concept of Space-faring beings in the past traveling to Earth and engaging in a Colonisation project which resulted in the creation of mankind through genetic engineering, and ultimately the establishment of Civilization and Culture appears far-fetched to a species such as ours that is not yet Inter-Planetary.
Our vanity as Human beings today prevents us from accepting the possibility that our very existence and perhaps that of our entire Civilization is due to the past activities of a Space-faring Alien Race, partly because we arrogantly assume that the limitations on Human Civilization apply to every other Civilization.
However, our outlook may change once we become an Inter-Planetary species ourselves by Colonising Mars.
A change in our collective attitude to the Ancient Astronaut Theory under these circumstances would not be surprising...It would be our vanity at work once again, which this time would be more open to the Ancient Astronaut Theory for no other reason other than that it would now seem plausible because it would lie within the realm of Human possibility by virtue of our own successful endeavour on Mars.
An Inter-Planetary species that starts a successful Civilization on another Planet can more readily accept the idea that it was visited by another Inter-Planetary species at some stage in its own past.
The impact of such a transformation on our Scientific understanding of the Universe is fairly obvious, but the ripple effects will be felt across a wide spectrum of concerns, including how we re-define not only ourselves as an Inter-Planetary species, but also our History, going beyond what we can imagine today.
Maybe after we land on Mars, matters such as the interpretation of King Pakal's tombstone will become less contested, and seem rather 'obvious' only because what is depicted will now be within the range of Human possibility.
There is still a lot of work to be done, and it is unlikely that a Mars landing will occur before 2040, nevertheless we are living in interesting times as witnesses to a journey that will irrevocably alter our understanding of our Human potential as well and what can be accomplished in Space.
Shockwaves will certainly be felt, and there is no telling how far they will reach and how much things will change, but we can be sure that once we land on Mars, we will be an altered species, viewing the Universe through a different lens and seeing things we did not see or chose not to see before.
Links & Credits
https://www.theancientaliens.com/alien-art-tomb-lid-of-pakal
