The Saqqara Bird
The account
A small Egyptian wooden object is said to be a model glider, proof of ancient aviation.
What investigators found
Egyptologists consider it the figure of a bird, perhaps a toy or weather vane; with no horizontal tail, it does not fly well.
The story
In 1898, excavations in the necropolis of Saqqara, near Cairo, uncovered a small wooden figure shaped like a bird, with straight wings and an elongated body, dated to about 200 BC. For decades it sat in the museum as just one more object among many.
In the 1970s, its resemblance to an airplane drew attention, and the idea emerged that the Egyptians understood gliding flight. The piece became a star of documentaries about lost technology. Experts point out that it has painted eyes and a beak, like a bird, and that it lacks the horizontal tail stabilizer needed for flight. Tests with replicas showed that it only glides properly if that stabilizer is added. The most accepted explanation is that it was a toy or a decorative piece.