The Spaceships of Ezekiel

The Spaceships of Ezekiel (1974) is a book by Josef F. Blumrich (March 17, 1913 – February 10, 2002) about a spaceship that was supposedly observed by the prophet Ezekiel, written while the author was 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]

The Spaceships of Ezekiel
Softcover edition
AuthorJosef F. Blumrich
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreNon-fiction
PublisherBantam
Publication date
June 21, 1974
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages179 pp.
ISBN0-553-08378-3 (first edition, paperback)

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 Ezekiel's account 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]

Omni wheel

Blumrich proposed a wheel that is capable of rotating not only in the forward-backward direction, but also sideways, based on his interpretation of the description in Ezekiel, 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)[14] 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."[15]

See also

Notes
  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,
  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. Impact of Science on Society, Volume XXIV, Number 4 (1974).
  13. entry 011, an annotated bibliography of unesco publications and documents dealing with space communication 1953-1977 UNESCO, Paris (October 1977)
  14. 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)
  15. Jerome Clark, The UFO Book:Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial, 1998, Visible Ink, ISBN 1-57859-029-9, p. 57
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