The Abydos Helicopter
The account
Hieroglyphs in an Egyptian temple supposedly show a modern helicopter, airplane and submarine.
What investigators found
The shapes came from rewritten hieroglyphs: Seti I's name was covered with that of Ramesses II, and the plaster later fell away.
The story
In the Temple of Seti I at Abydos, a ceiling beam bears signs that, in a photo that spread in the 1990s, look like drawings of a helicopter, an airplane and a submarine. The images became a symbol of the idea that the Egyptians knew modern technologies, perhaps taught to them by visitors from other worlds.
The Egyptologists' explanation is simple and well documented. The original hieroglyphs spelled out titles of Seti I. Later, during the reign of his son Ramesses II, they were filled in with plaster and carved over with new titles. Over time, the plaster fell away, and the two overlapping inscriptions created shapes that resemble machines. Retouched photos reinforced the illusion. Read one by one, the words are ordinary royal titles.