Fifield found rolled up

leading from

Fifield Monster

Mutant Fifield with legs wrapped over his shoulders (Cinefex #130, p49)

When Fifield in his transformed state returns to the Prometheus, he is found with his legs hideously bent over over his shoulders. My initial thought was that this was a play with the idea of what the organic box Alien scene that Dan O'Bannon mentioned had been filmed and cut out, but Walter Simonson had seen it in a rough cut and so included it in Alien: The Illustrated story. Ridley's original storyboard simply states that he is crouching and had the idea of the character possibly being in a pit and dressed in other body parts. With his lower body in a put, they draped dummy legs over his shoulders.

Ridley's Storyboard

In Ridley's earlier film project Tristan and Iseult, a post-apocalyptic retelling of tradational celtic legend, in one of his storyboards he included something that became labeled as a Froudian, loosely inspired by something he had seen in the art of Brian Froud, an illustrator much renowned for his illustrations of faeries and goblins, but this strange almost thing has its legs oddly drawn with the shoulder behind the knee,  arm coming out from below the upper bent leg with the arm and then the elbow outside of the lower leg. 

"Froudian" (detail from image below)

A nitsilic priest and a "Froudian" creature amidst the floating rocks in Tristan And Iseult

It is a little bit different from what is happening to Fifield, his whole body appears to be bent backwards below ground level in a way that isn't human, and the upper legs are bent backwards as well. So what Walter Simonson saw in the alien folded up into an organic box seat appears to have the same sort of impact to tell us that there's something not quite humanoid about the body of this vaguely humanoid (See organic box like thing)

"organic box-like thing " from Alien the Illustrated Story

Ultramorph

leading from

Prometheus creature designs

a) In his Alien Engineers script, Jon Spaihts included the monster creature The Ultramorph, it erupts from the space jockey/ engineer in the derelict as a chestburster and withing a short time grows to man height before leaving the confines of the crashed derelict ship known as the Juggernaut, and then hunts the character Shaw down amongs the wreckage of the Magellan, (soon to be renamed at the Prometheus). The creature impales her thigh with its tale as if it were a spear, and as this thing is about to kill her she rams a diamond bladed saw into it's face and kills it. It bleeds green acid blood. Despite this thing bleeding such a corrosive substance, she brings the head with her as a hunting trophy to hang over the door at the Vickers module. In this version of the script, he didn't actually describe it with any particular detail.

b) It appears that Carlos Huante initially worked on some designs for the creature known as the Ultramorph,  the fully grown biomechanical version of the alien that was supposed to have chestbursted itself from an Engineer, and in the earlier script, this Engineer would have been the space jockey from the original Alien movie but one that was a tall humanoid within a suit that gave the Space Jockey it's strange look. Perhaps this creature would have grown to about fifteen feet in height assuming that the humanoid in the pictures below is of regular human height.
 

c) Designing these Ultramorphs meant going back Giger's painting Necronom IV and designing and Alien creature with a head even more similar to the one shown in Necronom IV than Giger's Alien would finally have. Carlos went as far as to include the bulbous black eyes in one version however in other versions he would include a greater swelling in the front of the dome around the face as if it had a bulbous forehead. Carlos kept on with designing variations of this it for a while before he had thoughts with Ridley about taking the creature concept in a different direction.

d) Carlos wrote in his notes about how The Ultramorph - unlike the "Alien" from the first Alien which were covered / or had a exoskeleton, the Ultramorph should still be covered with skin as genetically it is still "New"... and its host are the engineers. It would be an evil variant of the  Engineers that would be in a sense Angels.  Also it was decided that the Ultramorphs should still have a regal Quality about them as that quality has been inspired by their host. So, to carry the "No Bones" motif.

e) However instead of the Ultramorphs being clean and skin covered, after some discussion with Ridley and what needs to happen sequentially with the story of how we end up with this "Alien" in the first film. Carlos thoughts about what if the engineer technology is all that ribbing and boney architecture that's all over the ship  and the "Alien" itself. So... the "Aliens" that come out or are born out of the humans should be clean and the skin covered because they are not saturated with he Genetic material of the source (Engineers) yet. So, they are more human looking, the "Ultramorphs" should be the first we see of the boney Exoskeleton on a creature.

f) Almost as if he were talking about casting the alien suit in latex rubber, he imagined that the engineer technology would form as water (Milky Liquid) that pours unnaturally upward and over them (The Engineers) to form boney plating or ribs, and architectural surfaces. As if they they control it at a molecular level. How though the biomechanics becomes infused with the alien ultramorph itself remains unclear.

Quote sources

1. Carlos Huante (talking about the development of the Deacon by way of the Ultramorph): The genesis of that character came after a  conversation I had with Ridley about a design progression of the  creatures to the Xenomorph of the first film. I went home and thought  about it but kept on with the Gigeresque Ultramorphs. Then as I worked I thought “wouldn’t it be cool if these Aliens who are born  of humans and haven’t been mixed genetically with the Engineers yet would look  more human and less biomechanical“, of course this was for a  different version of the script but that’s where the Deacon (or Bishop, as he was originally named) came from. He later became an Ultramorph and as the script changed slightly after I left the show, it became that thing at the end.   (Carlos was talking about the development of the Deacon by way of the Ultramorph in an interview with ThisBethesdaSea for www.avpgalaxy.net)
2.  Carlos Huante: The Ultramorph - unlike the "Alien" from the first Alien which were covered / or had a exoskeleton, the Ultramorph should still be covered with skin as genetically it is still "New"... and its host are the engineers. it would be an evil variant of the (ANGELS) Engineers. Ultramorphs should still have a regal Quality about them as that quality has been inspired by their host. So, to carry the "No Bones" motif. (Carlos Huante's Prometheus notes)
3. Carlos Huante: Okay, so instead of the Ultramorphs being clean and skin covered, after some discussion with Ridley and what needs to happen sequentially with the story of how we end up with this "Alien" in the first film. I'm thinking that what if the engineer technology is all that ribbing and boney architecture that's  all over the ship  and the "Alien" itself. So... the "Aliens" that come out or are born out of the humans should be clean and the skin covered because they are not saturated with the Genetic material of the source (Engineers) yet. So, they are more human looking, the "Ultramorphs" should be the first we see of the boney Exoskeleton on a creature. The engineer tech should form as water (Milky Liquid) that pours unnaturally upward and over them (The Engineers) to form boney plating or ribs, and architectural surfaces. Like they control it at a molecular level.(Carlos Huante's Prometheus notes)
4. INT. JUGGERNAUT - PILOT CHAMBER On the floor, DAVID’s eyes open. With his jaw he hitches his severed head around. Gets his eyes on the Sleeper. In the pilot chair, the Sleeper convulses. An ALIEN erupts from his chest. Big as a wolf even at its birth. Dark gray, armored, lethal. More hideous than any chestburster we've seen. An ULTRAMORPH. It wails hideously. The Sleeper dies. The Alien slithers free (Alien_ Engineers, Jon Spaihts, p110)
5. LATER Watts is awakened by a beeping alarm. She looks at her wrist. Her suit flashes an oxygen warning: 20 MINUTES REMAINING. She looks up. The Juggernaut's doors are wide open in front of her. The ULTRAMORPH ALIEN emerges from the Juggernaut. As large as a man already. It sees her. With a sob of terror she pulls herself to her feet and runs.(Alien_ Engineers, Jon Spaihts, p112-113)
6. EXT. MAGELLAN CRASH SITE - DUSK Watts flees through the storm, across the burning debris field. A wilderness of lightning, fire, and twisted metal. A thunderstorm with dust instead of rain. She looks back through the darkness. In a strobe-light flicker of lightning, she sees a gray demon approaching through the wreckage. She scrambles through a section of ductwork...under a hull fragment...running and clambering... The Alien hunts her, cat-and-mouse, among the fragments of the Magellan: corridors that go nowhere, shattered compartments. Jetsam. Her eyes sweep frantically through the stormy night: searching for a weapon. A hiding place. An answer. She stumbles into the remains of the Magellan's laboratory. A hypersleep freezer lies on the barren ground. Watts climbs inside. Pulls the lid shut. The Alien passes by, inches away. She watches it through the plexiglass, holding her breath. The Alien roots in the wreckage. Finds the rotting Engineer's head among the shards of its vat. It begins to feed on the head - GROWING as she watches. Her suit’s oxygen alarm goes off again. 15 MINUTES REMAINING. The beeping draws the Alien away from its dead meat. Watts is paralyzed. The Alien noses closer. Sniffs at the plexiglass case. With sudden, horrific violence, it lashes out. Sends the freezer flying. Watts tumbles out. Lurches to her feet and runs. The Alien follows. Ravening. She leads it a twisting chase through fragments of burning metal. Watts trips and falls hard. Picking herself up, she sees she’s tripped over a HULL SAW - the same diamond-bladed tool DAVID used to dismantle the terraforming engine. She seizes the saw - straining to manage its weight. Hides in the hollow of a massive girder. The Alien passes by. Scenting the air. She freezes. Her arms trembling with the weight of the saw. Waiting for it to pass. Almost it leaves. But a tiny rattle of metal from the quivering saw brings it back. Out of options, Watts powers up the saw. The blade whines up to speed. They lunge at one another in the same moment. The diamond blade shears off one of the Alien’s claws. The monster screams and recoils. Its lashing tail sends Watts sprawling. She loses the saw. The Alien comes after her, slinking low to the ground, injured arm tucked to its chest. All vengeful fury. Watts scrambles for the saw. The Alien leaps for her. She rolls aside - and like a scorpion the Alien impales her thigh with its spear-tipped tail. Nails her to the ground. Watts screams in agony. Reaches for the saw, still buzzing on the ground. Its grip tantalizing inches from her fingertips. The Alien stoops over her, slavering face inches from her faceplate. Its hideous jaws open. With all her strength, Watts pulls against the spike in her leg. Drags the point of the spear through the dirt. Excruciating pain. She snarls through her teeth. The Alien strikes - just as Watts GRABS the saw. She meets the Alien’s head with the buzzing blade. IMPALES THE ALIEN’S SKULL. A gout of green acid onto Watts’s helmet. The Alien falls aside, thrashing its death-throes, the saw still growling. Watts sees ACID COMING THROUGH HER HELMET - fast. With frantic haste she unlatches her helmet. Wrenches it off as it crumples and melts. She stands bare-headed in the toxic air. Desperate, she looks around with tearing eyes. In the distance she sees an intact module of the Magellan. She runs for it. Slaps the door switch. Incredibly, it opens. (Alien_ Engineers, Jon Spaihts, p113-114)
7. EXT.VICKERS MODULE-DAY
   Watts arrives at the Vickers module. The ultramorph Alien’s head has been fixed like a grisly trophy above the door. (Alien_ Engineers, Jon Spaihts, p116)

aliens in suits that look like aliens

 Leads from: 

The Seed of the Space Jockey as a suit 

"Engineer" sized
space jockey suit
See more photos

a.) Once we have seen the film, we understand that Ridley Scott has been telling us that the Space Jockey we had seen in the original Alien film was a suit. There might still be a way to turn the idea around because of the dissimilarities between the space jockey in Alien and the space Jockey suits in Prometheus.

b) However Ridley asked the question and out of that came the answer that it must have been a suit and for Ridley this happened around 1995, or near enough twenty six years after Alien going by Ridley's memory.

c) What ideas were these floating around in Hollywood at the time?  My own explorations about the matter brought me to think about the alien space suits seen in the movie Fire In The Sky back in 1993, but this movie was preceded by the film Communion which featured the idea

engineer sets the controls from his seat

of aliens that were suits containing a different sort of an alien within and then a few years after Fire In The Sky came Independence Day which developed the idea even further of an alien in a space suit that might have been mistaken for an alien life form itself.

1. (37:35) Simon Mayo: Now as we have people spalling back in their minds to this character that you're talking about, this is the, there's a mysterious being this giant creature, I know it became known as the space jockey, but erm, could you, could you just

   

   engineer as his helmet is being put on

   describe him so that people can picture him.
   (37.53) Ridley Scott: "He was perceived, the giant was perceived as skeletal and erm, I kept staring at the skeleton which was kind of a wonderful drawing by H R Giger, and erm, then I thought, twenty, thirty, twenty, actually twenty six years on (1995?), I thought what if this is not a skeleton, but, because we only see it as a skeleton, because of our own, the way we see things in our own indoctrination, and er now I thought, what happens if its another form of protection or a suit? If its a suit then what's inside the suit"( Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo's Film reviews, BBCRadio 5 live, 01 June 2012.)

   

   engineer with head encased in helmet

                                     
2. Often Scott will have a trigger image in mind when he begins prepping a film. With Prometheus  it was the Space Jockey. "The big guy sitting in the seat, " he recalls.
   'Somebody said it's a skeleton and I said it doesn't have to be, it could be a degraded suit. It's only you saying that because you think you're looking at bone structure and a rib cage. Why isn't that a suit? It's been lying there disintegrating for two or three thousands of years in deep cold, that could be a suit. The suit works great as a kind of organic, very sophisticated spacesuit." (Prometheus: the art of the film, p20))                                               

b) Communion (1989)

The subject of extra-terrestrial abduction called Communion which was about the experiences of the writer Whitley Strieber and it displayed the idea that the ETs that he was seeing were somehow unspecifically just outside skins for something else within. In the movie the Grey's face opens up to reveal something reptilian inside.

1. Philippe Mora: There's a fourth alien figure that we reveal in the film. It's a figure that Whitley saw once - a version of the Communion figure that actually showed the face was a kind of mask and there was something underneath, ("Report on Communion" by Ed Conroy, p186)

Scene from "Communion" exploring
 the idea of the alien creature's heads as masks

Image of a Grey's face with a reptile
face within, from Communion

c) Fire In The Sky (1993)

videotape cover for  
Fire In The Sky, (1993)

In 1993 the movie Fire In the Sky was released, the script written by Tracy Tormé who tried to depict as near as possible the events surrounding the Travis Walton alien abduction UFO case and this movie brought up the same idea about what we perceive to be extra terrestrials, that they're suits with something inside them. The space suits in Fire In The Sky might well be considered a nod to Communion and also a development of the idea.

This idea came about because the film was based on the ET abduction experiences of Travis Walton and what he wrote about as his extra terrestrial abduction experience had already been seen on the screen before so they decided to replace it with something else and Tracy Tormé came up with a visceral interpretation of Walton's abduction that in a clever way became an idea about a perception regarding these alien beings, that what we saw as typical greys were space suits and maybe there was something else inside them and here there were some strange almost humanoid aliens.  Perhaps is was a very interesting idea.

Head of an extra-terrestrials space suit that resembles a stereotypical 'Grey' from 
Fire In The Sky. Click here to see more shots

1.   Tracy Tormé: I've heard many abductees say if they could just find the zipper on these little grey guys and pull it down, they could see what's really underneath because there is a sense amongst a lot of them there is something very artificial about them... (Coast To Coast Am, April 9th, 2008)
2. See: Just like "Fire in the Sky" for more photos from the film

d)  Independence Day (1996)

Independence Day poster

In 1996 which is the year that Ridley did claim to have the idea, the movie Independence Day was released which had the idea of extra terrestrials that were slightly Alien inspired which turned out to be organic suits (designed and created by Patrick Tatopoulos who later went onto design the pyramid and its interior and the Predator-Alien chestburster in Alien Vs Predator) with smaller extra-terrestrials slightly resembling the idea of a Grey hidden inside. 

See images of and read more about the development of the "Independence Day" biomechanical suit

alien biomechanical suit

The standing Engineer Spacesuits

Leads from: The "Space Jockey as a suit" question

"Engineer" sized space jockey suit

(Source: Prometheus :The Art of the Film)

"Engineer" sized space jockey suit

(Source: Prometheus :The Art of the Film)

"Engineer" sized space jockey suit

 (source: Prometheus :The Art of the Film / http://www.kerry-brown.com/)

Suit images that appeared in Entertainment Weekly as a detail in a photo

"Engineer" sized space jockey sui

Noomi Rapace sitting on a step ladder in front of the Space Jockey suits 
(Source: Prometheus The Art Of The Movie book)

stuntman Florian Robin posing
by suits in the corridor. 
(source Flostunts website)

just like "Fire in the Sky"

leading from

Question of The Space Jockey as a suit

Empty Space Jockey like suits of the engineers found standing either side of a tunnel leading towards the space jockey chamber in the Juggernaut.

Below, Images from the movie Fire In The Sky (1993), directed by Robert Lieberman which is based on the Travis Walton alien abduction case, here the character Travis Walton wakes up in a space craft and curiously encounters space suits of extra terrestrials floating around inside a zero gravity environment, presumably the inside of a space craft. It suggests that all the witness reports of what are known to be "Greys" may not be all that they seem, maybe they are suits and something else is inside them.

 

 

 

Ancient Mayan Space Jockey 'Star Map' Tablet

leading from:

 Prometheus - The Return of the Space Jockey
and
Pakal Votan tomb lid

Tablet of Mayan Rocket Man in Prometheus 
NOTE WELL, this is not the real Pakal Votan tomb lid!

a) The Invitation via The Tomb of Pakal Votan

One of the tablets that displays the star pattern shown in Prometheus is based on the Sarcophagus Lid of the Tomb of Pakal Votan which is thought by many ancient astronaut theorists to depict an astronaut in a rocket ship cockpit. 

As a viewer initially taking an interest in the trailer as it is found on line, this tablet is suddenly recognisable, one can see the details and what they have changed to make it fit into their story. One could say that it is unfair to take too much notice of it because it's only seen briefly at the side of the shot in the trailer, but for a fan of the Alien series who knows something about the Ancient Astronauts concept being introduced to the trailer with the ability to halt it wherever he wants, there are further questions to ask about it. In the film itself as it is seen on the big cinema screen it might be something really hardly noticeable and whatever is to be found in the mockup of a tablet isn't to be taken too seriously.

Tablet of Mayan Rocket Man in Prometheus 
NOTE WELL, this is not the real Pakal Votan tomb lid!

The replica shows a slightly altered replica of the sarcophagus lid , the man in the image now has a breathing pipe instead of the part of the image that is less easily imaginable as breathing apparatus and the Mayan depiction of the sky has been taken away and replaced with a very non-Mayan sky depicting the group of stars that in some of the images from archeological digs from around the world which show pictograms roughly match up with the star map seen and drawn by Betty Hill and indeed this starmap configuration becomes an issue at the beginning of Prometheus. However to point out the star pattern on this image would require some guess work.

1. Propstore.com description:
   Ancient Mayan Space Jockey 'Star Map' Tablet
   Stock # 27008

   

   Upper section of Tablet of Mayan Rocket Man in Prometheus showing stars, 
   NOTE WELL, this is not the real Pakal Votan tomb lid!
   
   

   A large carved tablet used in Ridley Scott’s 2012 sci-fi adventure Prometheus. This tablet can be seen in the key briefing scene which is held by Dr Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Dr Holloway (Logan-Marshall Green) where they explain the origin of the star map. The star map image is shown to be similar to those on several other tablets that were also discovered, leading them to mount the expedition to find the planet LV-223. This tablet is shown in the sequence to be Mayan in origin dating from 620 CE and excavated from ‘site B central
   TEOTICHUAĆAN.
   

   

   Middle section of tablet of Mayan Rocket Man in Prometheus 
   NOTE WELL, this is not the real Pakal Votan tomb lid!
   

   The lower section of the tablet features a large reclined person with an iconic ‘space jockey’ head, very similar to that seen of the engineer in the later stages of the film. The entire tablet is bordered with symbol etchings and patterning. The characteristic ‘star map’ which is analysed during the film, can be seen on the top section of the tablet. This large prop is made from a biscuit foam cast which has had a hard resin skin applied on the outside. The mould has been carved, painted and detailed in a grey wash stone effect, then chipped to give an aged appearance. It has been moulded to mount on top of a green screen pole although this is no longer attached. The green screen pole would have been edited out to give the tablet a suspended appearance when used in the production. This iconic tablet is in fantastic production used condition and measures 75cm x 42cm x 11cm (29.5” x 16.5” x 4.5").
   
   

drawing of Sarcophagus Lid of Pakal Votan

Crosses of Palenque

Leading from Mythology behind tomb lid of Pakal Votan

cross designs from the Tablets from the Temple of the Foliated cross,
the Cross and also the Sun, in Palenque

The Sanctuary tablet from Temple of the Cross.

Plaster cast of inscribed wall panel, the Sanctuary tablet from Temple of the Cross, 
Palenque, first slab is a plastercast, the second is of an original slab in the National 

Museum In The City of Mexico, the third is a original slabe in the Natrional 

Museum, , Washington, USA. (source:wikimedia )

drawing of the wall panel above from Temple of the Cross

1. "The central icon at the portal of each of the three temples in the Group of the Cross specified the nature of the cosmic power and community responsibility 
   
   that defined kingship for that temple. At the portal of the Temple of the Cross, 
   we see a variant of the World Tree. This cross-shaped Tree, with the Serpent 
   Bar of kingship entwined in its branches and the Celestial Bird standing on 
   its crown, was the central axis of the cosmos [the Milky Way galaxy]. Along
   
   
     this axis rose and descended the souls of the dead and the gods called from the 
   Otherworld by the vision rite to talk to human beings. It was the path the Cosmic
    Monster took as the sun and Venus moved through its body on their daily journeys.
   
   
   The king himself was the worldly manifestation of this axis, and this emphasized 
   his role as the source of magical power. He was not only the primary practitioner 
   of the rituals that contacted the Otherworld: he was the pathway itself. In this
     portal the dead Pacal gives his son a scepter in the form of the monster that rests 
   at the base of the World Tree--the same sun-marked monster that bore Pacal 
   to Xibalba. Chan-Bahlum wields a disembodied head as an instrument of power, 
   as had the Early Classic kings of Tikal and other kings before him."
   
   
   Linda Schele and David Freidel, A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the 
   ANcient  Maya, p. 242-3" (source:mayaruins.com)

The Central Tablet from the Temple of the Foliated Cross

Tablet from the temple of the Foliated cross (source: http://learningobjects.wesleyan.edu/)

drawing of the Central Tablet from the Temple of the Foliated Cross.
(source:learningobjects.wesleyan.edu/)

1. Graham Hancock: "In a mural in the temple of the Foliated Cross at the Mayan site of Palenque in Mexico's Chiapas province,  we see the Milky Way represented by a maize tree rising from 'the place of creation near Orion'.
   The Milky Way is blanked by two figures - the spirit of the Lord Pacal,  the deceased former ruler of Palenque and his son and successor Chan-bahlum, who are shown in shamanic communion with one another. As the father scends to the heavens,  the son is transformed from 'the status of heir apparent into King'
   At the same time it is understood that the deeds and rituals performed by the son are essential if the father's hoped for rebirth amongst the stars is to be achieved.
   Indeed  the whole point of message of the mural - a message that has been described by David Friedel Linda Shele and Joyce Parker as 'central mystery of Maya religion' (Supernatural by Graham Hancock, p645-646. Quotes taken from (Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman's Path by David Freidel, Linda Schele & Joy Parker. New York: William Morrow, 1994,)
   
   
   The tablet of the sun at the Temple of the Sun

The tablet of the sun at the Temple of the Sun,.(source www.flickr.com/photos/jim-sf/)

Primopredaja vlasti, Palenque, Chiapas, Meksiko 

(source : http://www.alternativnahistorija.com)

Drawing of The tablet of the sun at the Temple of the Sun, Palenque,
by Linda Schele

Ancient Aliens season 1, episode 4

Leading from  

Prometheus: The Space Jockey Returns 
 and
Pakal Votan tomb lid

Ancient Aliens: Arguably the most remarkable Mayan artifact ever found , the stone sarcophagus lid of king Pacal has produced considerable contraversy.     

                                             

Ancient Aliens: Mainstream scholars believe the depiction is of King Pacal on a journey to the  underworld. But ancient astronaut theorists believe the king is portrayed seated at the controls of a spacecraft and have dubbed him the Palenque astronaut.  

David Childriss: He appears to be going into space. He's the original rocket man there manipulating his space craft , going into space.

Giorgio A Tsoukalos: We have maintained for a very long time that the depiction here is of King Pacal sitting inside some type of a space craft because he is at an angle like modern day astronauts upon lift-off. He's manipulating some controls right here. He has some type of breating apparatus or some type of a telescope in front of his face. His feet are on some type of a pedal. and down here you have something that looks like an exhaust with flames. 

Ancient Aliens: In 2011, the strange carving on King Pacal's sarcophagus lid was translated into a 3D replica by model maker Paul Francis

Model inspired by the Pakal Votan tomb lid image as seen on Ancient Aliens

Paul Francis: When  I saw this, I instantly said, there's a guy in a space capsule, you know, it doesn't need to be spelled out for me, I don't have to find anything, it was already there, it was carved many many years ago.

Giorgio A Tsoukalos: I think this is absolutely extraordinary because  this is definitely one of these most compelling pieces in the ancient astronaut theory, and to finally see Pacal as a 3D sculpture to me is a dream come true. 

Giorgio A Tsoukalos: For the longest time we have said what is on this Pacal lid is not symbolic, it was something the artist saw or was told about and then he or she tried to recreate this on a slab. I love the craftsmanship, I love how you, you know at the bottom of the Palenque slab, you see something like, the flames

 

Paul Francis: It looks something like fire and and

Giorgio A Tsoukalos: Exactly

Paul Francis: And I had to do a little interpretive, I put engine bells on instead of the flame

Giorgio A Tsoukalos: Of course

Paul Francis: But that's the thruster stage

Giorgio A Tsoukalos: I also love the detail that you have underneath his right foot where his foot is resting on a pedastool and that is exactly what we can see in the Palenque slab...

Giorgio A Tsoukalos:and how his hands are manipulating some controls, 

Giorgio A Tsoukalos:and also this kind of breathing apparatus that's going on in front of his nose

Paul Francis:  The breathing apparatus is actually a very neat piece, it's called the giver of life. The soul transfers through this. And the giver of life to me would be, air. I mean we breathe air. This is a guy who needs this mask to survive

Giorgio A Tsoukalos:Because, where is he?

Paul Francis: Outer space

Ancient Aliens: Could the carving on the sarcophagus lid really provide confirmation of the complicity between Maya rulers and extra-terrestrial forces as Ancient Astronaut theorists believe?

(Ancient Aliens season 1, episode 4)