Worldhistory.org - K'inich Janaab' Pakal (23 March 603 CE - 31 March 683 CE) was the Maya king of Palenque in the modern-day State of wereChiapas, Mexico. Also known as Pacal (which means 'shield') and Pacal the Great, he is most famous for raising the city of Palenque (known as B'aakal) from relative obscurity to a great power, his building projects in the city (especially the Temple of the Inscriptions), and his elaborately carved sarcophagus lid which has been interpreted by some to depict an ancient astronaut riding on a rocket ship. Pacal assumed the throne of Palenque at the age of 12, in 615 CE, and ruled successfully until his death at the age of 80. He was married to the Lady Tzakbu Ajaw and had three sons who succeeded him in rule. The ruins of Palenque visible in the modern day are only a small fraction of the ancient city developed and expanded by Pacal during his reign; the rest of the vast metropolis remains unexcavated in the surrounding jungle. Palenque was a city of modest size when Pacal took the throne, and it was through his efforts that it became one of the great urban centers of Mesoamerica, rivaling even the might and splendor of Tikal.
The Lord Pakal sarcophagus is one of the most interesting archeological discoveries ever made. Also known as the Palenque Astronaut Lord Pakal ruled for 68 years until his death at 80, when the average life span for a Mayan citizen was 20-42 years old. He reminds me of Ramses II, another ruler of a large empire (Egypt) who ruled until his 80s when the average lifespan was half of that. Like Ramses II Pakal was also referred to as "The Great". What separated these rulers and made them live such long lives in a time where everything in the world seemed to be set on trying to kill you?
The Pakal sarcophagus was found completely intact. His mummified remains were also in untouched sealed in the massive sarcophagus for over 1,000 years. However it is the lid of the sarcophagus that I am most interested in. There is no doubt that Pakal seems to be operating some type of machine. He is twisting knobs with his hands, operating pedals with his feet, and is sitting in what I can only describe as a flying machine. It almost looks like the speeders from Star Wars that a young Anakin Skywalker used to race around in. That is in a galaxy far far away of course. However, when the sarcophagus lid was found it was clear the lid was supposed to be viewed vertically along with the position of Pakal's body.
When looking at it from this angle it really does seem like he is in a rocket ship. What makes this find so interesting is the Mayan's relationship with astronomy and mathematics. The Maya were greatly influenced by the cosmos in their daily life. They had and understanding of celestial bodies, eclipses, and used astrological cycles to aid in farming. Their Long Count Round Calendar was amazingly accurate and scared the hell out of people up until the year 2012. However some evidence shows that once leap years were added we may have gotten the date slightly wrong...With the worst yet to come.
They Mayans were obsessed with time and respected death. They believed some deaths were more noble than others. Violent deaths were revered just as the Vikings did. A violent death led to souls being able to immediately enter their version of heaven, just as the Viking did with Valhalla. The Mayan Gods were blood thirsty who revered human sacrifice. So the Mayans sacrificed people in droves. Usually young girls. They had to appeased their Gods to remain in their favor. Cutting people's hearts out seemed to be a good start. The Mayan religion was etched into their sacred book called the Popol Vuh. This sacred book spoke of Xibalba, which literally translates to "place of fright."
Xibalba was ruled by the Mayan death gods and the entrance was believed to be a cave in Guatemala. In some Mayan areas the Milky Way Galaxy is thought the be viewed as the road to Xibalba. To this day scientists still argue about whether Xibalba is the Mayan Underworld or a depiction of the Cosmos. Unfortunately there are so few written Mayan documents left. The Spanish conquistadors made sure of that. The Mayans held the Jaguar in high regard and believed The Jaguar God ruled the underworld. They even believed that the sun travelled there each night only to return the next day, but sacrifices must be made in order for it to return.
Palenque was on of the lesser known Mayan sites until this amazing discovery was made. The Pakal tomb when viewed vertically clearly depicts him in some type of machine.
He's sitting in what looks like a cockpit. There are knobs, pedals, dials. What's really crazy is he has what looks like a breathing apparatus. Something that is providing precious oxygen during his journey. It looks as if he's about to travel somewhere, or is currently traveling. Would he need this oxygen for space travel, going deep into caves, or going underground? His body looks as if it's bracing for motion. Similar to how our astronauts look today when bracing for take off.
There are exhaust flames coming out of the back of the craft. He sits in a type of chair and is crammed into there. This guy was a living a God to the Mayans who built gigantic Mezo Pyramids in his honor. He had more gold than Jordan Belfort, but his journey to the afterlife was in a sardine can? This depiction is definitely based on something the Mayan's witnessed. Having a couple parts of the image look like a modern day spacecraft is a coincidence. Having an entire structure made to look like it is evidence. Evidence that we were indeed visited by ancient astronauts.
I believe this is one of the top pieces of evidence that ancient civilizations made contact with extra-terrestrials. The odd thing about Pakal is his death coincided with the end of Mayan civilization. To this day scholars and archeologists can't come to an agreement on whether Pakal was depicted traveling to Xibalba or if he's blasting to the Milky Way. King Pakal was the living embodiment of a God on Earth. The fact he lived twice as long as any other Mayan supported this claim. After his death he was entombed in a Sarcophagus that made King Tut's tomb look like a McDonald's box. Whether you think he was blasting up or down in this depiction one thing remains clear. King Pakal is referred to as the Palenque Astronaut for a good reason. He may have paved the way for generations to come. Where upon his death he is returned to where he is from. For we are all just Stardust. If an artist created this for Pakal independently that speaks to another possibility. The possibility that humans can enter an enlightened state of consciousness to access forbidden information. We know Nikola Tesla spoke of this and the CIA even trained psychics in remote viewing. Was Pakal visited by extraterrestrials or did he and those he was surrounded by have the ability to access forbidden knowledge?
Sources: Woldhistory.org by Joshua J. Mark
published on 28 March 2014
Title: K'inich Janaab' Pakal
History Channel: Ancient Aliens programming
Chariots of The Gods, by Erich von Dänike