Babylon
Possibly the very earliest existing record to mention aviation, even preceding many Indian
texts, is an ancient set of Babylonian laws named the ‘Halkatha.’ The Halkartha contains but a
single passage which unmistakably reads: "To operate a flying machine is a great privilege.
Knowledge of flying is most ancient, a gift of the gods of old for saving lives."
Another similar Babylonian text called the "Epic of Etana," which is thought to be derived
from an earlier Sumerian tale, contains references to the magical flight of Etana on the back of a
huge eagle. Throughout the story as Etana is continually taken ever higher, there are numerous
and remarkably accurate descriptions of the view that unfolds below. The thing is that the tale
reads like a genuine account of someone who very familiar with flying. It is difficult to conceive
of how the author could have imagined the details that are mentioned throughout the narrative.
There are detailed descriptions of a ‘patchwork of color’, mentions of atmospheric haze and
accurate description of geographical features that it would be very hard for someone to describe
unless they had actually experienced flight. So who could have made and recorded these types of
accurate observations in an ancient text that was written somewhere prior to 2400 BC?"
In his book ‘Secrets of the Lost Races’, Rene Noorbergen made the following remark about the
tale: "Whatever the vehicle of ascent may have been, the 'Epic of Etana' certainly supplies us with
a very accurate description of the Earth's surface from various altitudes - descriptions which
were not verified in our own era until the high altitude aerial flights of the 1950s, and the first
space shots of the 1960s”.
In the same book Noorbergen also mentions a 5000 year old Chaldean manuscript called ‘the
Sifr'ala’ which is believed to actually contain a detailed account of how to build an aircraft. The
passage was found by a somewhat surprise archeologist while deciphering the text who was
amazed to find passages on the subject of flight and mentions of things such as: "vibrating
spheres, graphite rods and copper coils,” and contain comments on “wind resistance, gliding
and stability”. Unfortunately many key lines of the text are missing, making any attempt at
learning the complete method for reconstructing the craft now virtually impossible.
Aint it just always the way?
China
China is perhaps the most mysterious of the ancient developed civilizations anywhere on earth.
Though, this mystery is mainly because the occasional Chinese ruler had decided that history
should start with them, and subsequently set about erasing any records preceding their reign.
Fortunately some ancient texts still managed to survive these ravages though nothing from
extreme antiquity and among them are numerous references to experimental aircraft. Some of
these texts have been dated as being written sometime prior to 2000 BC.
One such text mentions that the Emperor Cheng Tang ordered the construction of a flying
machine in 1766 B.C. The report tells us that the craft was then subsequently destroyed for fear of
anyone else discovering the secret of flight. The same text states that much later, in the 3rd
century B.C. a Chinese poet called Chu Yun made a detailed aerial survey of the Gobi desert. In
these passages Chu Yun even lavishes enormous praise to the fine construction of his craft and
speaks of the great durability it displayed during several wild desert wind and sand storms that he
encountered during his flight.
India
More than most countries, India is a place that has a particularly rich and detailed tradition of
ancient flying machines throughout their history and mythologies. There are numerous stanzas in
the ‘Ramayana.’’ Many mentions of such machines are also made in the epic wars that are
described in the ‘Mahabharata.’ and some extraordinarily lengthy passages referring them in
another ancient book called the ‘Vymaanika-Shaastra.