The ancient would-be stratonauts

Abstract

What man can conceive, man can achieve! How far back did man conceive of flying, let alone going into space? Ancient astronaut theorists will tell you that extraterrestrials came to the Earth wearing space suits. There are engravings which certainly resemble flying contraptions and people wearing weird suits and helmets. History is replete with stories of men attempting to fly. Since there was little in the way of documentation in those days, the stories became legends. It’s hard to separate the truth from fiction. But there is sufficient documentation to know that mankind was trying very hard to fly. The designs of Leonardo da Vinci are in museums, as is a copy of the Montgolfier balloon. The original French balloon “L’Intrepide” is currently in a Vienna museum and is the oldest preserved aircraft in Europe.