The Wandjina of the Kimberley
The account
White-faced, mouthless figures with halos are said to be helmeted visitors from space.
What investigators found
For the Aboriginal peoples of the region, the Wandjina are sacred ancestral beings associated with rain and clouds.
The story
In the rock shelters of the Kimberley region, in northwestern Australia, the Worrorra, Ngarinyin and Wunambal peoples have painted the Wandjina for thousands of years: figures with white faces, large eyes, no mouth and a kind of halo around the head. For these communities, they are creator beings associated with rain, clouds and fertility, and the paintings are renewed by traditional custodians.
The ancient astronaut theory often presents the Wandjina as helmeted aliens. That reading is rejected by the traditional owners of the art, who consider it disrespectful to their living culture. Researchers explain the halo as a depiction of clouds and lightning. This is sacred art, protected and still practiced, not a record of visits from space.