Statue taken by Nazis made from meteorite

A THOUSAND-year-old Buddhist statue taken from Tibet in 1938 by an SS team seeking the roots of Hitler's Aryan doctrine was carved from a meteorite, scientists have reported.

In a paper published in an academic journal, German and Austrian researchers recount an extraordinary tale where archaeology, the Third Reich and cosmic treasure are intertwined like an Indiana Jones movie.

Called the Iron Man because of the high content of iron in its rock, the 24cm-high statue was brought to Germany by an expedition led by Ernst Schaefer, a zoologist and ethnologist.

Backed by SS chief Heinrich Himmler and heading a team whose members are all believed to have been SS, Schaefer roamed Tibet in 1938-9 to search for the origins of Aryanism, the notion of racial superiority that underpinned Nazism.

Weighing 10.6kg, the statue features the Buddhist god Vaisravana seated, with the palm of his right hand outstretched and pointing downwards.

Chemical analysis shows that the rock from which it was carved came from a meteorite.

The rock survived a long trip through the Solar System and the destructive friction with the atmosphere when it collided with Earth.

It is a particularly rare kind of meteorite called an ataxite, which has iron and high contents of nickel, according to the study, published in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science.

"The statue was chiselled from an iron meteorite, from a fragment of the Chinga meteorite which crashed into the border areas between Mongolia and Siberia about 15,000 years ago," said investigator Elmar Buchner of Stuttgart University.

"While the first debris was officially discovered in 1913 by gold prospectors, we believe that this individual meteorite fragment was collected many centuries before."

The exact dating of the carving cannot be established accurately, but its style links it to the pre-Buddhist Bon culture of the 11th century.

Vaisravana was the Buddhist god-king of the North, also known as Jambhala in Tibet.

How Schaefer came across the statue is unclear, but the big appeal is likely to have been a large swastika, symbolising good fortune in Buddhism, carved on its chest.

Once the statue arrived in Munich, it became part of a private collection and only became available for study by Buchner following an auction in 2009.

Other meteorites have become incorporated into religious worship. The holy Black Stone in the Kaaba in Mecca is believed to be a stony meteorite.

"The Iron Man statue is the only known illustration of a human figure to be carved into a meteorite, which means we have nothing to compare it to when assessing value," said Buchner.

"Its origins alone may value it at $US20,000 ($19,000). However, if our estimation of its age is correct and it is nearly a thousand years old it could be invaluable."

REAL INDIANA JONES STUFF

Extraterrestrial Mummy Found in Egypt

The body of a perfectly preserved, carefully mummified alien was found buried in an ancient pyramid. A mysterious creature from between 150 and 160 centimeters was found by an archaeologist near Lahun when exploring a small pyramid near the Dynasty doceaba of Senusret II. However, this fact was not revealed immediately. "The mummy of what appears to be an alien, dates back more than 2000 years and it seems it would be a humanoid" said a source at the Egyptian Antiquities Department, who provided details and photographs of the find but did so under condition anonymity. "

These remains like an alien strangers have created much controversy in the world.

Some online sources said that this is a species-being for its fur and reptilian traits that characterize them, such as their eyes, too large and oval shaped. Inscriptions on the tomb of the mummy showed that the king was a counselor named Osirunet, meaning star or sent from heaven. " The mummified body was buried with great respect and care, accompanied by a number of strange objects far from the archaeological museum managers can not identify.

According to Egyptian sources, the alien mummy was discovered by Dr. Viktor Lubek, Czechoslovakian citizen and retired professor of the University of Pennsylvania. Archaeologist located the hidden compartment while conducting an investigation into a small pyramid south of the main pyramid, Senusret II, which contains the queen of the pharaoh. At the site also found some gold and clay mixtures covering the body, and traces of cloth linen like appearance, the skin covering the enigmatic being.

Objects containing the tomb include artifacts made of a synthetic type resist that nobody could identify. No one has found similar elements in other Egyptian tombs, so the discovery would greatly importanca for current archeology.

The anonymous messenger which has obtained the information, also said that the discovery has caused great consternation among Egyptian officials, who want to keep it hidden until a plausible explanation for the strange mummy. The government has consulted a number of respected archaeologists, but to date none can explain the finding in ordinary terms.

"The truth is, that every expert who has seen the mummy have concluded that it is not of earthly origin," said the source. "There is a sense that this is an alien who somehow ended up advising an Egyptian king." But everyone in the government is moving away from that conclusion that would support the new ideas that the ancient Egyptians had help from aliens in building their extraordinary civilization. "The Egyptians refuse to believe that their heritage came from outer space."

French Driving Dangers

The shootings of the British family in France is a horrific warning of driving in France . I have driven in France many times with out any problems . But I am aware of problems driving there and I am always on guard . One such danger which always is in my mind is gassing. YES GASSING ! More so in the South on the French motorways . It happened to a good friend of mine 2 years ago .

After driving non stop for 8 hours in their camper-van . They stopped in the parking area of a motor way services . To cook dinner a bottle of wine and sleep for a early start in the the morning the joys of a camper , you would think . After a day of hard driving a couple of glasses of wine they crashed out. It was mid August and a very warm night . My mate woke up with a terrible hang over . Which he thought was strange after only 2 glasses of wine . He tried to checked the time no watch no phone . All their clothing was all over the floor his girl friend was snoring her head off . Her bag was tipped upside down it contents scattered every where . He checked the clock on the dash board 11.30 am . They had been asleep for 13 hours, with a thumping head ache ,he woke his girl friend  up .

Every think had gone passports bank cards money bit of gold, phones,watches . All the booze the food cupboards had been cleaned out . The only thing not gone was the keys to the van he had a habit of throwing them behind the drivers seat . They had not found them a lucky habit .
The police told them it was a crime that was getting more common . With it being so hot they had left a small slatted window open . The thieves had fed a hose pipe though the gap taped the slit releasing gas into the van . After enough gas was released they forced the lock helping them shelves . What made it worse was his girl friend purse had been under her pillow . As you could imagine it freaked them out . What would of happened if the keys would have been in the steering column . Does not bare thinking about .
The police blamed it on North African gangs . With more and more people going on driving holidays in France plus the shooting of yesterday . I thought I would share this story .