231 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
231 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: THE 12th PLANET FILE: UFO2373
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by Zecharia Sitchin
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Reviewed by Vince Johnson
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In his book "The 12th Planet," Zecharia Sitchin presents evidence not
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only of contact by extraterrestrial beings thousands of years ago, but
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that these beings genetically engineered Homo Sapiens to serve them.
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Sitchin began his inquiry when he came across the term Nefilim during
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Talmudic study as a boy. His teacher explained that the word meant
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"giants" when describing the "sons of the deities" who married the
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daughters of Man, although the literal Hebrew translation of Nefilim was
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"those who were cast down." Sitchin never accepted the "giants"
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explanation, and his curiosity about the Nefilim was the impetus for "The
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12th Planet."
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The book begins with a short anthropological history of Man, starting
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with Australopithecus some two million years ago. Six hundred thousand
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years later came the Neanderthal, who, according to Sitchin, used the
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same tools as his more primitive ancestors (although the latest findings
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indicate Neanderthals were more sophisticated than Sitchin describes).
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Then, a mere 35,000 years ago, Homo Sapiens appears. The author
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quotes a Dr. T. Dobzhansk, "Modern Man has many fossil collateral
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relatives, but no progenitors; the derivation of Homo Sapiens then
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becomes a puzzle."
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As far as current archaeological knowledge can reveal, the first true
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civilization arose in Mesopotamian Sumer, located in present-day Iraq,
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at least 6,000 years ago. Sumerian culture exploded onto the scene
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virtually overnight, the cradle of human civilization.
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A description of Sumer is a list of "firsts" for the human race. Among
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these "firsts" are: the first schools, the first historian, the first method
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of writing, the first library, the first doctors and pharmacopoeia, the first
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agriculture (and first "farmers' almanac"), the first musical notation, the
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first bicameral legislature, and the first taxes. The Sumerian legal code
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(also a first) included protection for divorced women and price controls
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on foodstuffs and wagon rentals. Their religion influenced all that
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followed, with elements of the Sumerian creation epic filtered through
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the ages into the Old Testament (the garden of Eden, the evil serpent,
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the great flood, etc.).
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But Sitchin's analysis of Sumerian astronomy and cosmology is of most
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interest. It is Sitchin's belief that astronomical knowledge actually
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declined from the Sumerian period, with much of the Sumerian
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astronomical knowledge only rediscovered during the Copernican
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revolution.
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To support this thesis, the author describes the astronomical
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knowledge of the ancient Greeks, who came more than 3,000 years after
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the Sumerians. It is historical fact that the Greeks not only understood
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that the Earth was a sphere, but had calculated its size to amazing
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accuracy. The Greek, Hipparchus, knew of the heliocentric (sun-centered)
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astronomical system. Hipparchus was also aware of the phenomenon
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known as precession of the equinoxes, a cyclical wobble of Earth's axis
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that takes 2,160 years to complete. To understand this phenomenon,
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one would assume that Hipparchus had to draw upon astronomical data
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at least that old. Two hundred years before Hipparchus, Eudoxes of
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Cnidus designed a celestial sphere representing the constellations and
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attributed their zodiacal designations to "men of yore."
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Sitchin writes, "Were the early Greek astronomers living in Asia Minor
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better informed than their successors because they could draw on
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Mesopotamian sources?" Sumerian astronomy and the required
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mathematics used to describe and predict celestial events were
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remarkably advanced. They utilized a unit of measure called dub, which
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has been translated to mean both the 360 degree circumference of the
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Earth, and the "arch of the heavens." Not only were the Sumerians
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aware of the spherical nature of the world, they used the concepts of
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the equator, poles, and lines of longitude and latitude. Also, the
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apparent retrograde motions of the planets (due to differences in orbital
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radii) were understood 6,000 years before renaissance-era astronomers
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would solved the puzzle. An accurate Sumerian calendar dating back to
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4400bc acknowledged the precessional shift from 2,160 years before.
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The Sumerians used a 12-based numbering system which still influences
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numbering today; numbers 1 -12 have individual names, while
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subsequent numbers are contractions. The number 12 was very
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significant to the Sumerians, representing the number of their principle
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gods which were synonymous with the planets known to them (they
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included the Moon and the Sun in their count). Does this mean that the
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Sumerians were aware of all of the planets known to us today, or was it
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just coincidence?
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Sitchin describes numerous cylinder seals showing what he interprets
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to be schematic diagrams of the solar system. These diagrams often
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show a planet larger than Earth between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
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These diagrams, along with Sumerian, Babylonian, and Akkadian
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creation epics lead Sitchin to believe that a collision of planets occurred
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early in the history of the solar system. Certain aspects of these ancient
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texts can support Sitchin's theory, for instance: the "gods" (planets)
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have "destinies" (orbits) and "cast out their nets" (gravitational
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attraction).
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According to Sitchin, the 12th planet, Marduk, while making its
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approach to the sun (in a highly elliptical orbit) interacted with the other
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planets of the solar system, flinging Pluto into its current peculiar orbit.
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Marduk, or one of its satellites, then collided with a planet called Tiamat,
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which occupied an orbit between Mars and Jupiter. The Sumerians
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described it like this:
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Tiamat and Marduk, the wisest of gods,
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Advanced against one another;
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They pressed on to single combat,
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They approached for battle..
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After he had slain Tiamat, the leader,
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Her band was broken, her host broken up,
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The gods, her helpers who marched at her side,
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Trembling with fear,
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Turned their backs about so as to save
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and preserve their lives.
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Sitchin interprets "the host, the helper gods" to be the moons of Tiamat
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which "turned their backs" or changed orbital motions. He suggests
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that the "shattered band" became the comets and the asteroid belt. But
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of most importance, the bulk of Tiamat's debris fell into a new orbit and
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would become Earth.
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The Hebrew texts mirror the Sumerian in several respects. In Genesis,
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the Lord hovers over Tehom (the Hebrew version of Tiamat), and the
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lightning of the Lord (Marduk in Babylonian) lit the darkness as it hit
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and split Tiamat, creating the Earth and the "hammered bracelet" Raika
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(the asteroid belt). In the Akkadian version, Marduk creates the
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"hammered bracelet" by stretching out Tiamat's "lower part" into a great
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circle.
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Such is the Sumerian story of creation. Since these events presumably
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occurred before the dawn of Man, how do the Sumerians come by this
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account? Sitchin believes it was the Nefilim who told the story to the
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Sumerians.
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According to Sitchin's theory, the Nefilim were engaged in mining
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operations on the Earth. To support this, he presents evidence of
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mining activity in Africa (through carbon-14 dating) 100,000 years ago.
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To further support this notion, Sitchin presents a Sumerian carving
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showing the god of mining, Ea, emerging from a mine pit. Lightning-type
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rays are emitted by the god, servants are seen holding up shields
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between themselves and Ea. Texts refer to "blue stones that cause ill,"
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which Sitchin interprets as radioactive cobalt. The texts refer to the
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underworld as Kur.Nu.Gi.A, "the land where gods who work in deep
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tunnels pile up the ores." Ultimately, the Nefilim miners mutinied against
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their masters, declaring:
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Excessive toil has killed us,
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Our work is heavy, the distress much..
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While the Birth Goddess is present,
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Let her create a Primitive Worker,
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Let him bear the yoke..
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Let him carry the toil of the gods!
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Marduk responds:
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I will produce a lowly primitive;
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Man shall be his name,
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I shall create a Primitive Worker;
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He will be charged in the service of the gods
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that they might have their ease.
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It is Sitchin's theory that a mutiny of the Nefilim led to the creation of
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Mankind. The Nefilim genetically altered a hominid with some of their
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own DNA, producing a useful hybrid -- Man. To support this, he quotes
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a Babylonian text:
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Let one god be bled..
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From his flesh and blood,
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Let Ninti mix the clay..
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The new-borne's' fate thou shalt pronounce;
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Ninti would fix upon it the image of the gods;
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And what it will be is Man.
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The god chosen to provide the blood was named TE.E.MA, which
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translates to "that which houses that which binds the memory," which
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could be interpreted as an allegorical, pre-technological description of
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"genes." Furthermore, the Akkadian term for clay is tit in Hebrew, which
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is synonymous with bos (mud) and shares a linguistic root with bisa
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(marsh) and, interestingly, besa (egg).
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To further support the notion that Mankind was created to serve the
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Nefilim, Sitchin submits that the Hebrew term used to describe Man's
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relationship to the gods was not "worship," but avod (work). Ancient
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Man did not worship the Nefilim, he worked for them.
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Sitchin's theory could explain the rapid rise and technical prowess of
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Sumerian civilization. But what became of the Nefilim? The author
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suggests that they either became aware of, or were the cause of, the
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coming flood. The Nefilim blasted off, leaving the Earth to Man, or at
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least the few that would survive the coming catastrophe. All evidence
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of the Nefilim's existence was buried under tons of mud.
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While The 12th Planet does present some interesting data, there are
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some weaknesses in Sitchin's theory. For instance, he believes the
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Nefilim came from Marduk, the 12th planet. One would have to wonder
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how life could have evolved on a planet with an orbit that took it far
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beyond the orbit of Pluto.
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Sitchin also describes Nefilim space technology with a decidedly
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Apollo-era slant (the book was written in 1976). He produces evidence
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for the idea that the Nefilim used LEM (Lunar Excursion Module) style
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landers, and that they also "splashed-down" in the Indian Ocean. He
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even goes so far as to suggest that the reason the Nefilim chose
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Mesopotamia for their colony was the availability of fossil fuels. If the
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Nefilim came from Marduk, a planet presumably locked in a permanent
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deep-freeze, they would probably have had much more efficient means
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of energy generation than burning oil.
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Sitchin also makes many unqualified declarations regarding the goings-
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on in ancient Sumer. To be objective when dealing with subject matter
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as speculative as this, he should have incorporated terms like "could,
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might" and "possibly" rather than making unqualified statements of
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fact.
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That being said, Sitchin does present a mystery; how could the
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Sumerians have so rapidly achieved such a high level of civilization with
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no predecessors to draw on? That they received instruction from alien
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beings which they regarded as gods is no more implausible than any
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other explanation.
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This article originally appeared in the October, 1991, edition of HUFON
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REPORT.
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End of File
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