The Spaceships of Ezekiel

The Spaceships of Ezekiel
	Softcover edition
Author	Josef F. Blumrich
Language	English
Genre	Non-fiction
Publisher	Bantam
Publication date	June 21, 1974
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	179 pp.
ISBN	0-553-08378-3 (first edition, paperback)

The Spaceships of Ezekiel (1974) is a book by German engineer Josef F. Blumrich (March 17, 1913 – February 10, 2002) about a spaceship that was supposedly observed by the prophet Ezekiel as described in Book of Ezekiel in the Tanakh. Blumrich wrote it while chief of NASA's systems layout branch of the program development office at the Marshall Space Flight Center.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8] It was originally published in German by Econ Verlag GmbH under the title Da tat sich der Himmel auf (March 1973).^[9] Because it refers to theories and speculations about ancient astronauts, it is considered to be a work of pseudoscience as well as being an example of euhemerism.

History

After ufologists such as Erich von Däniken had pointed to the possibility of interpreting Ezekiel's Merkabah vision as a report of an extraterrestrial spacecraft, Blumrich decided to disprove the hypothesis. However, a thorough examination convinced him that Ezekiel had, in fact, seen a spaceship. He then made detailed drawings of the alien craft. He decided the technology of the builders must have been somewhat higher than mankind's at the present, and added he had seldom felt as delighted, satisfied, and fascinated by being proven wrong.^[10]

Content

In The Spaceships of Ezekiel Blumrich asserts that the account of Ezekiel in the Bible was not a description of a meeting with God in a prophetic vision, but one of several encounters with ancient astronauts in a shuttlecraft from another planet.

Blumrich analyzes six^[11] different translations of the Bible in conjunction with his experience in engineering and presents one possible version of Ezekiel's visions of how God—described as riding in an elaborate vehicle capable to see, attended by angels—supposedly showed him the future and gave him various messages to deliver. In the appendices to the book he presents technical specifications of the hypothesized spacecraft.

Blumrich also published an article on his belief, "The spaceships of the prophet Ezekiel", in the UNESCO journal Impact of Science on Society.^[12]^[13]

The Mission

Blumich claims the Bible describes Ezekiel's encounters with beings in a spacecraft. He argues that their mission was to enlighten the prophet in a peaceful manner and that they were sent by God. He says every passage in the story had information about how calm the beings were. Blumrich claims that the commander of the craft took Ezekiel for a journey in it, that they landed at a different site from where they took off, and that they returned to where they departed. Blumrich suggests it was like a helicopter ride.^{[citation needed]}

Location

In the book and the Bible, Ezekiel gives a description of his takeoff and landing sites. In the Bible, Ezekiel 43:3 states "And the vision I saw was like the vision which I had seen when he came to destroy the city. And the visions I saw were like the vision which I had seen by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face." Blumrich mistranslated "visions" in the latter part of verse 3 to "vehicular structure." We know based on biblical accounts that the story took place in the Middle East. The river Chebar comes up eight times throughout the book.^[14] We can historically track this river to be in Babylonia. Another verse mentions Tel Abib which may translate as Tel Aviv.

Spaceship Airframe

Much of this book focuses on the supposed spacecraft that Ezekiel saw. Blumrich uses his background in aeronautical engineering to interpret the descriptions and envision what Ezekiel could have seen. Blumrich goes into a lot of detail on why the ship is shaped and designed the way it is. He cites physics, engine problems, and mathematics. He addresses topics from air conditioning units to power units to engines to rocket propulsion.

His descriptions may make sense to the average reader who doesn't have an aerospace engineering background. The craft as described in the book lacks many features that would be needed in order for it function.

Omni wheel

Blumrich proposed a wheel that is capable of rotating not only in the forward-backward direction, but also sideways, and patented it. The wheel is now known as Omni wheel, and it is used in special applications.

Criticism

Ronald Story in his book Guardians of the Universe? (1980)^[15] stated "Blumrich doctors up his Biblical quotes just a smidgen to make them conform a little better to his spaceship interpretation", and "The Spaceships of Ezekiel, in all honesty, can only be described as an extreme form of rationalisation, with a good supply of technical jargon, charts, and diagrams, carefully designed to impress the general reader. The book does contain a good collection of impressive drawings which prove nothing more than that whoever prepared them is a good draughtsman." Jerome Clark wrote that Blumrich "offered a creative but misplaced effort to translate the metaphorical biblical account into a properly engineered spacecraft."^[16]

Notes

^ Blumrich, Josef F. The Spaceships of Ezekiel, Bantam Books (February 1974) p. 181, biographical sketch by publisher listing him as available as a speaker through the Bantam Lecture Bureau.
^ Blumrich, Josef F., "The spaceships of the prophet Ezekiel", Impact of Science on Society (UNESCO) Vol. XXIV No. 4 (October–December 1974): p. 335
^ "NASA Engineer Believes Aliens Visited Earth 2,600 Years Ago", Los Angeles Times, Oct 26, 1973, p. B11; accessed through ProQuest Historical Newspapers Los Angeles Times (1881 - 1986)
^ United Press International. "Prophet Ezekiel saw spaceship—engineer", Birmingham Post Herald, Birmingham, Alabama USA, May 22, 1973, [1]
^ Ingle, Bob, Associated Press writer. "Space Engineer Finds Extraterrestrial Craft Depicted in Bible", Amarillo Globe-Times; Amarillo, Texas; October 19, 1973, p. 12
^ "Ancient space ship", The Billings Gazette, October 22, 1973, p. 5
^ "Looked Like Men Except ...", Dallas Morning News; Dallas, Texas; October 21, 1973, p. 32
^ Maupin, Joan LaLiberte. Book Reviews: "Did Ezekiel see a wheel—or a spaceship?"; Idaho State Journal; Pocatello, Idaho; September 27, 1974, Section C, p. 3
^ Blumrich, Josef F. The Spaceships of Ezekiel, Bantam Books (February 1974) colophon
^ Roy Stemman: Das Weltall und seine Besucher (German; orig. English: Visitors From Outer Space, Aldus Books, London 1976). Translated by Eva Brückner-Pfaffenberger. Ullstein publishers, Frankfurt / Berlin / Vienna 1979, p. 75. "Erich von Däniken gehört zu den Verfassern, die eine außerirdische Erklärung für Hesekiels Vision angenommen haben. Als Josef F. Blumrich [...] die Vermutung las, machte er sich daran, sie zu widerlegen. Nach gründlicher Untersuchung kam Blumrich zu dem Schluss, dass Hesekiel ein Raumschiff gesehen habe. Mehr noch, er hat auf der Basis der Beschreibung des Propheten genaue Zeichnungen seiner Konstruktion angefertigt, die, wie er sagt, unserer gegenwärtigen Technologie etwas voraus ist. [...] 'Selten war eine volle Niederlage so lohnend, so faszinierend und so erfreulich!', erklärte er." English: "Erich von Däniken is one of the authors who presume Ezekiel's vision having to be explained on an extraterrestrial basis. When Blumrich [...] read about the hypothesis, he went to disprove it. After having thoroughly investigated the thing, though, not only did he conclude that Ezekiel had, in fact, seen a spacecraft, but he even went to fabricate detailed drawings of the purported construction, which is, as he judges, a modest little bit beyond the present technology of us, ourselves. [...] 'I have seldom been defeated so unequivocally and though, at the same time, been so decisively fascinated, enriched, and delighted!', he declared."
^
Bibles listed at Spaceships page 175 as references:
- Die Bibel oder die ganze Heilige Schrift des Alten und Neuen Testamentes nach der Uebersetzung von D. Martin Luther. Stuttgart, no date (supposedly early nineteenth century). Privilegierte Wuerttembergische Bibelanstalt
- Biblia. Das ist: die ganze Heilige Schrift. Translated into German by Dr. Martin Luther. Leipzig, 1842. Mayer und Weigand
- The Bible, Revised Standard Version. New York, (c) for New Testament 1946, (c) for Old Testament 1952. American Bible Society
- Die Heilige Schrift des Alten und Neuen Testamentes. Translated from the original texts and edited by Vinzenz Hamp, Meinard Stenzel, Josef Kürzinger. Aschaffenburg, 1957. Imprimatur 1957. Paul Pattloch
- Ezekiel. Hebrew text and English translation with an introduction and commentary by Rabbi Dr. Fisch, M.A. London, 6th printing 1970. The Soncino Press
- The New American Bible. Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources by members of the Catholic Biblical Association of America. New York, no date. Imprimatur 1970. P. J. Kenedy & Sons
^ Impact of Science on Society, Volume XXIV, Number 4 (1974).
^ entry 011, an annotated bibliography of unesco publications and documents dealing with space communication 1953-1977 UNESCO, Paris (October 1977)[2]
^ "The Spaceships of Ezekiel: The Mission - Part B".
^ Ronald Story, Guardians of the Universe?, pages 39-40 (Book Club Associates Edition by arrangement with New English Library, 1980). ISBN 0-450-04446-7 (ISBN 0312352166 St. Martin's Press)
^ Jerome Clark, The UFO Book:Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial, 1998, Visible Ink, ISBN 1-57859-029-9, p. 57

External links

About Josef F. Blumrich, NASA Engineer and Author [3]
Callahan, Tim (28 July 2005), "Spaceships of Ezekiel, The", ESkeptic, ISSN 1556-5696

Blumrich, Josef F. (October–December 1974), "spaceships of the prophet Ezekiel, The" (PDF), Impact of Science on Society, XXIV (4), UNESCO: 329–336

Vayhinger, Marsha (November 1974). "NASA Scientist Believes in Ancient Astronauts". The Journal. Lorain, Ohio USA. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
Original of "Figure 3. An example of the traditional version" (Spaceships p. 16) with original's German poem and English translation

[1] Blumrich, Josef F. The Spaceships of Ezekiel, Bantam Books (February 1974) p. 181, biographical sketch by publisher listing him as available as a speaker through the Bantam Lecture Bureau.

[2] Blumrich, Josef F., "The spaceships of the prophet Ezekiel", Impact of Science on Society (UNESCO) Vol. XXIV No. 4 (October–December 1974): p. 335

[3] "NASA Engineer Believes Aliens Visited Earth 2,600 Years Ago", Los Angeles Times, Oct 26, 1973, p. B11; accessed through ProQuest Historical Newspapers Los Angeles Times (1881 - 1986)

[4] United Press International. "Prophet Ezekiel saw spaceship—engineer", Birmingham Post Herald, Birmingham, Alabama USA, May 22, 1973, [1]

[5] Ingle, Bob, Associated Press writer. "Space Engineer Finds Extraterrestrial Craft Depicted in Bible", Amarillo Globe-Times; Amarillo, Texas; October 19, 1973, p. 12

[6] "Ancient space ship", The Billings Gazette, October 22, 1973, p. 5

[7] "Looked Like Men Except ...", Dallas Morning News; Dallas, Texas; October 21, 1973, p. 32

[8] Maupin, Joan LaLiberte. Book Reviews: "Did Ezekiel see a wheel—or a spaceship?"; Idaho State Journal; Pocatello, Idaho; September 27, 1974, Section C, p. 3

[9] Blumrich, Josef F. The Spaceships of Ezekiel, Bantam Books (February 1974) colophon

[10] Roy Stemman: Das Weltall und seine Besucher (German; orig. English: Visitors From Outer Space, Aldus Books, London 1976). Translated by Eva Brückner-Pfaffenberger. Ullstein publishers, Frankfurt / Berlin / Vienna 1979, p. 75. "Erich von Däniken gehört zu den Verfassern, die eine außerirdische Erklärung für Hesekiels Vision angenommen haben. Als Josef F. Blumrich [...] die Vermutung las, machte er sich daran, sie zu widerlegen. Nach gründlicher Untersuchung kam Blumrich zu dem Schluss, dass Hesekiel ein Raumschiff gesehen habe. Mehr noch, er hat auf der Basis der Beschreibung des Propheten genaue Zeichnungen seiner Konstruktion angefertigt, die, wie er sagt, unserer gegenwärtigen Technologie etwas voraus ist. [...] 'Selten war eine volle Niederlage so lohnend, so faszinierend und so erfreulich!', erklärte er." English: "Erich von Däniken is one of the authors who presume Ezekiel's vision having to be explained on an extraterrestrial basis. When Blumrich [...] read about the hypothesis, he went to disprove it. After having thoroughly investigated the thing, though, not only did he conclude that Ezekiel had, in fact, seen a spacecraft, but he even went to fabricate detailed drawings of the purported construction, which is, as he judges, a modest little bit beyond the present technology of us, ourselves. [...] 'I have seldom been defeated so unequivocally and though, at the same time, been so decisively fascinated, enriched, and delighted!', he declared."

[11] Bibles listed at Spaceships page 175 as references:
Die Bibel oder die ganze Heilige Schrift des Alten und Neuen Testamentes nach der Uebersetzung von D. Martin Luther. Stuttgart, no date (supposedly early nineteenth century). Privilegierte Wuerttembergische Bibelanstalt

Biblia. Das ist: die ganze Heilige Schrift. Translated into German by Dr. Martin Luther. Leipzig, 1842. Mayer und Weigand

The Bible, Revised Standard Version. New York, (c) for New Testament 1946, (c) for Old Testament 1952. American Bible Society

Die Heilige Schrift des Alten und Neuen Testamentes. Translated from the original texts and edited by Vinzenz Hamp, Meinard Stenzel, Josef Kürzinger. Aschaffenburg, 1957. Imprimatur 1957. Paul Pattloch

Ezekiel. Hebrew text and English translation with an introduction and commentary by Rabbi Dr. Fisch, M.A. London, 6th printing 1970. The Soncino Press

The New American Bible. Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources by members of the Catholic Biblical Association of America. New York, no date. Imprimatur 1970. P. J. Kenedy & Sons

[12] Die Bibel oder die ganze Heilige Schrift des Alten und Neuen Testamentes nach der Uebersetzung von D. Martin Luther. Stuttgart, no date (supposedly early nineteenth century). Privilegierte Wuerttembergische Bibelanstalt

[13] Biblia. Das ist: die ganze Heilige Schrift. Translated into German by Dr. Martin Luther. Leipzig, 1842. Mayer und Weigand

[14] The Bible, Revised Standard Version. New York, (c) for New Testament 1946, (c) for Old Testament 1952. American Bible Society

[15] Die Heilige Schrift des Alten und Neuen Testamentes. Translated from the original texts and edited by Vinzenz Hamp, Meinard Stenzel, Josef Kürzinger. Aschaffenburg, 1957. Imprimatur 1957. Paul Pattloch

[16] Ezekiel. Hebrew text and English translation with an introduction and commentary by Rabbi Dr. Fisch, M.A. London, 6th printing 1970. The Soncino Press

[17] The New American Bible. Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources by members of the Catholic Biblical Association of America. New York, no date. Imprimatur 1970. P. J. Kenedy & Sons

[12] Impact of Science on Society, Volume XXIV, Number 4 (1974).

[13] try 011, an annotated bibliography of unesco publications and documents dealing with space communication 1953-1977 UNESCO, Paris (October 1977)[2]

[14] "The Spaceships of Ezekiel: The Mission - Part B".

[15] Ronald Story, Guardians of the Universe?, pages 39-40 (Book Club Associates Edition by arrangement with New English Library, 1980). ISBN 0-450-04446-7 (ISBN 0312352166 St. Martin's Press)

[16] Jerome Clark, The UFO Book:Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial, 1998, Visible Ink, ISBN 1-57859-029-9, p. 57

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