Why: Stargazing (con't.)|Why: Stargazing (con't.)~~Using this observatory, several different aspects of both the day and night sky could be accurately measured and recorded. The positions and basic movements of the stars were the most simple to establish because they so rarely changed. In the day time, shadows could have been used quite effectively to gain a greater understanding of the sun's movements; the same general method could have been used to pace the pattern of the moon's movement at night. As for the planets, their courses, though erratic, could have been determined easily once the background of the "fixed" stars had been established.|Pyramids|61|||1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,45,46,9,47||V|AW0061.PIC
Why: Stargazing (con't.)|Why: Stargazing (con't.)~~Proctor's conclusions were not largely accepted by the Egyptological community because, they claimed, no evidence exists that the ancient Egyptians were capable of such observations. Nevertheless, his theory certainly does answer several questions in a very plausible way. More recently, his theories have gained support among some astronomers as well as Egyptologists.|Pyramids|62|||1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,45,46,9,47||V|AW0062.PIC
Why: Stargazing (con't.)|Why: Stargazing (con't.)~~One conceivable corollary to the use of the Great pyramid as an astronomical tool is the theory that it was also used as a landing site for extra-terrestrial beings. This theory is not based on any physical evidence, but is supported by various mythological and allegorical information. The essential concept is that the top of the Pyramid served as a perfect landing sight because it was slightly flattened, and because the Pyramid was far away from the general populace, who probably would have reacted with fear and superstition. Thus, alien vehicles could land and communicate with the high priests, who would deliver messages and decrees "from the gods."|Pyramids|63|||1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,45,46,9,47||H|AW0063.PIC
Why: Stargazing (con't.)|Why: Stargazing (con't.)~~A common modern symbol that depicts the concept of a superior being residing on top of a pyramid is often overlooked, though it confronts the average US resident several times a day on the $1 bill. The Great Seal depicts an all-seeing eye on the top of a truncated pyramid. One common interpretation of the Great Seal is that the bricks of the pyramid represent the mass of humanity working together harmoniously, while being watched over and supervised by a divine being as the cap stone. In this interpretation, the all-seeing eye is a symbol of the hawk god Horus, it has a full view of the world (and hence, greater control), and floats above the pyramid as a space craft might have done.|Pyramids|64|||1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,45,46,9,47||H|AW0064.PIC
Why: Stargazing (con't.)|Why: Stargazing (con't.)~~A related idea comes from the assertion of ancient peoples that the pyramids of both Egypt and South America were "stairways to heaven." This statement could refer to the fact that the pyramids literally reach to the heavens, because they were used for astronomical observations, or because the Kings were buried in them with the hopes of reaching heaven. ~~More allegorical support for the extraterrestrial theory comes from Egyptian mythology. There is an obvious similarity between "flying saucers" and the sun god Ra, who is described as a great disk that travels across the sky every day in a boat with some of the other primary deities. In addition, the well known royal hawk god Horus was described as becoming a solar disk when he took to the sky in flight. The great battle between Horus and the evil god Set is said to have lasted for eighty years, and have taken place primarily in the skies. Could this myth of an aerial battle between deities been a means of relating a war of ages past utilizing technologies and vehicles that the historians were incapable of describing? ~~It is interesting to note that other ancient cultures, such as that of India, relate similar battles, sometimes even attempting to describe their incredibly destructive weaponry. In fact, one preserved manuscript from Ancient India actually describes step by step how to construct an advanced flying craft called a vimana, that apparently used the earth's electromagnetic field for propulsion. ~~Another line of speculation supposes that the process of mummification was a crude attempt to imitate space visitors as they re-clothed themselves in their inter-planetary flight suits. In fact, some of Egypt's earlier gods--such as the creator god Ptah, Osiris the god of the nether world, and Khons the traveler god who represented the moon--were often described as being wrapped as mummies. It is further speculated that the pyramids themselves were imitations of spaceships, and that they would somehow transport their mummified passengers to other worlds.|Pyramids|65|||1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,45,46,9,47||H|AW0065.PIC
Why: Stargazing (con't.)|Why: Stargazing (con't.)~~Finally, there is the theory to which the nature of the pyramids themselves tend to lead one--that they were built with the guidance of someone with an extremely advanced level of technological understanding. From what historians and archaeologists are able to piece together, within a relatively short period of time an entire region sparsely populated by uneducated nomadic hunter-gathers somehow became an extremely well-organized nation capable of building one of the largest monuments in history. Furthermore, this structure was built with an incredible level of precision, and incorporated several measurements and formulas that have only been rediscovered in comparatively recent times. The additional fact that the Great Pyramid was constructed of stones weighing several tons each has prompted some of the more imaginative pyramid theorists to believe that devices such as laser beams and anti-gravity machines were used in the process of their construction . |Pyramids|66|||1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,45,46,9,47||V|AW0066.PIC
Why: Stargazing (con't.)|Why: Stargazing (con't.)~~In view of this various allegorical evidence it does seem reasonable to suppose that aliens may have used the pyramid top as a visiting place. The chief technical problem with this theory is that there was no evident access route to the top of the Great Pyramid in ancient times: its sides were covered with smoothly polished limestone, and several layers of rock separated the apex from the nearest known internal passage way. Nonetheless, it is possible that an as-yet-undiscovered passage way will be uncovered, or that some other means of ascent existed in the Pyramid.|Pyramids|67|||1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,45,46,9,47||V|AW0067.PIC
Why: Scientific Precision (con't.)|Why: Scientific Precision (con't.)~~It was not until the beginning of the nineteenth century that the concept of measurement disclosed within the pyramids began to take flight. The first advocate, and to some extent the originator, of these theories was the poet and essayist John Taylor. Never having been to Egypt himself, Taylor based his theories on the accumulated measurements of many explorers of his recent past.|Pyramids|68|||1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,45,46,9,47||H|AW0068.PIC
Why: Scientific Precision (con't.)|Why: Scientific Precision (con't.)~~ The first thing that struck him was the peculiar angle of the Pyramid's slope. The regular angle of pyramids' sides are 60¡, thus forming an equilateral triangle. The sides of the Great Pyramid, however, slope at an angle of 51¼ 51'. Realizing that this Pyramid must therefore have unique geometric proportions, Taylor conducted more calculations, which led him to discover that when he divided the perimeter of the Pyramid by twice its height he reached a quotient of 3.144.|Pyramids|69|||1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,45,46,9,47||V|AW0069.PIC
Why: Scientific Precision (con't.)|Why: Scientific Precision (con't.)~~Taylor, realizing how incredibly close this was to the mathematical value of ¬π (pi=3.14159...), experimented to find a whole number that would match the base to the perimeter by the proportion ¬π. Eventually he arrived at the ratio of 366:116.5, or 366 units per single side to 233 units of height.~~By this point Taylor was extremely impressed by these nearly precise measurements--both for the value of ¬π (which allegedly had not been discovered until over two thousand years later by the Greek mathematician Pythagoras), and by the number of 366 units for each side--so close to the number of days in a year. When he attempted to find a unit of measurement proper for the Great Pyramid, he found that inches worked almost perfectly--the perimeter equaled nearly 36600 inches. And when each side was divided into 366 units he found that the units would each equal slightly more than twenty five British inches.|Pyramids|70|||1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,45,46,9,47||V|AW0070.PIC
Why: Scientific Precision (con't.)|Why: Scientific Precision (con't.)~~Since Taylor's time, there were individuals who saw the logic in his mathematical approach and continued his research. Over the years more theories were developed, much more accurate measurements where taken, and of course many more books and papers were written. Although some were proven incorrect by certain measurements, Taylor's theories more often were proven to be even more precise given the addition of a new piece of information, and in some cases vindicated by the same researchers who had sought to disprove them.|Pyramids|71|||1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,45,46,9,47||V|AW0071.PIC
Why: Scientific Precision (con't.)|Why: Scientific Precision (con't.)~~In a current analysis of pyramidological geometry, it is established that the value of ¬π, as well as the number of days in a solar year, are definitely incorporated in several measurements of the Great Pyramid's structure. In fact, according to the most recent and accurate measurements, the number of cubits along the base has been shown to be 365.2422; even more accurate than originally suspected. From research by later Pyramidologists, it has even been established that when the four diagonals of the Great Pyramid's foundation are added together their sum is 25,826.68 pyramid inches--equal to the number of years in a Great Year (the time it takes for the earth to pass through all twelve of the constellations). By other modern accurate measurements it has even been proven that the "pyramid inch" is one ten millionth of the length of the earth's polar axis.|Pyramids|72|||1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,45,46,9,47||V|AW0072.PIC
