Ancient Mysteries · Ancient Alien Theory
Palenque
Home of the most debated carving in the theory.
📍 Chiapas, Mexico
Ancient Mysteries · Ancient Alien Theory
Home of the most debated carving in the theory.
📍 Chiapas, Mexico
A jungle city whose most famous stone launched a thousand debates — the “Palenque Astronaut.”
A Maya city that flourished between about 600 and 800 AD in the rainforest of Chiapas, Palenque is celebrated for its refined architecture and the Temple of the Inscriptions — the tomb of the great ruler K'inich Janaab' Pakal.
Pakal's crypt was discovered in 1952, deep inside the temple, sealed beneath one of the longest Maya glyphic texts known. The city shows a mastery of art, astronomy and hydraulics — including a pressurized stone aqueduct — and only a fraction of it has been cleared from the surrounding jungle.
Pakal's carved sarcophagus lid — which mainstream scholars read as the king descending into the underworld — is interpreted by ancient-astronaut theorists as a figure seated at the controls of a machine. It is one of the most-debated images in the entire theory.
What makes it unique on this list: One carving makes Palenque unique on this list: Pakal's sarcophagus lid, the single most-reproduced image in the whole ancient-astronaut argument.
What would need to be answered to put the mystery to rest:
Reached via Villahermosa. Journeys pair the ruins with the turquoise cascades of Agua Azul and the wider Maya world of the Yucatan.
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