In
1962, another Chinese scientist finally decodes the message on the disks - a
message, if true, shatters everything we know about humankind's place in the
universe.
Dr. Tsum Um Nui felt the smooth face of the disk with the palm of his hand. "What
could this disk possibly be?" he wondered. He knew of its recent history; how it was
discovered in 1938 by a Chinese archaeologist in a cave high in the Himalayans, along with
715 similar disks; how buried nearby were skeletons of a strange tribe of people averaging
only a little over four feet high; how it was found that each disk was inscribed with a
tiny groove that spiraled around its face, and that the groove turned out to be an unknown
hieroglyphic. He also knew how the disks, as remarkable as they were, had been simply
labeled along with other finds of the expedition and stored away at Beijing University for
20 years. During that time, others had attempted to decipher the strange inscriptions, but
without success. Perhaps now, in 1962, he could.
The professor painstakingly transcribed
the characters from the disk to paper. The writing was so small he had to use a magnifying
glass to see it clearly. But the stones were old - perhaps 12,000 years old, it was
estimated - and much of the hieroglyphics were difficult to make out or had been worn
away by time and the elements. As he worked, many questions nagged the professor. How did
these primitive people fashion these precise stones? How did they manage the almost
microscopic writing? Who were they and what was the purpose of these hundreds of stones?
Once the characters were transcribed, Dr. Tsum Um Nui began the arduous task of trying to
decode its message. Eventually, he began to make progress. A word emerged. Then another. A
phrase became understandable, then an entire sentence. He had broken the code. He
discerned that the messages on the stones were written by a people who called themselves
the Dropa. But what they were saying to him 12,000 years later made no sense. What the
Dropa had written must have been one of their cultural myths, or was part of some
prehistoric religious ceremony.
Or was it? When he had completed the translation as much
as he could, the professor sat back in his chair in disbelief. The story the Dropa related
was nothing short of astounding. How would his colleagues react? How might the world react
if this story was true? The professor wrote up a paper on his findings and presented it to
the university for publication. Their reaction was swift and emphatic: the paper would
not
be published. The Academy of Prehistory expressly forbade him to publish or even speak of
his findings. The world, the academy decided, should not know about the Dropa and their
fateful journey to Earth.
Dr. Tsum Um Nui's findings were eventually published, however. Just two years
later, he published the paper entitled, "The Grooved Script Concerning Spaceships
Which, as Recorded on the Discs, Landed on Earth 12,000 Years Ago." By some accounts,
the academy relented and gave permission to the professor to publish the paper, and by
other accounts he published it despite the official ban. In either case, his translation
and his theory were met with ridicule by the archaeology establishment. The translation
was just too shattering to be taken at face value or as an historical account. It just
could not be true. It would change everything we know about our history and humankind's
place in the universe.
What the Stones Reveal
The Dropa disks tell the story of a space probe from a distant planet that crash-landed
in the Baian-Kara-Ula mountains of the Himalayas. The occupants of the spacecraft
- the
Dropa - found refuge in the caves of the mountains. Despite their peaceful intentions,
the Dropa were misunderstood by members of the Ham tribe who were occupying neighboring
caves and who hunted down the aliens and even killed some of them. A translation of one of
the passages says: "The Dropa came down from the clouds in their aircraft. Our men,
women, and children hid in the caves ten times before sunrise. When at last they
understood the sign language of the Dropa, they realized that the newcomers had peaceful
intentions...."
The stones go on to say how the Dropa were unable to repair their disabled spacecraft
and could not return to their home planet, and so were stranded on Earth. If that's true,
have their descendents survived?
Today, the isolated area is inhabited by two tribes of people who, in fact, call
themselves the Dropa and the Han. Anthropologists have been unable to categorize either
tribe into any other known race; they are neither Chinese nor Tibetan. Both tribes are of
pygmy stature, adults measuring between 3-foot-6 and 4-foot-7 with an average height of
4-foot-2, and body weights of 38 to 52 pounds. They are yellow-skinned with thin bodies
and disproportionately large heads, corresponding to the skeletal remains found in the
caves in 1938. They have sparse hair on their bodies and have large eyes that are not
Asian in aspect, but have pale blue irises.
Supposedly, there also is an ancient Chinese tale that might bear-out the Dropa's
claims. The tale relates the story of a small, slender, yellow-skinned people who
descended to the Earth from the clouds, and who were shunned by everyone because of their
ugliness.
Strange Properties
In 1968, the Dropa stones came to the attention of W. Saitsew, a Russian scientist who
re-published the findings of Tsum Um Nui and conducted tests on the disks that revealed
some very peculiar properties. Physically, the granite stones contained high
concentrations of cobalt and other metals - a very hard stone indeed that would have made
it difficult for the primitive people to carve the lettering, especially with such minute
characters. When testing a disk with an oscillograph, a surprising oscillation rhythm was
recorded as if, the scientists said, they had once been electrically charged or had
functioned as electrical conductors.
Whatever their true nature, origin, or meaning, the Dropa stones present an intriguing
puzzle for archaeologists and anthropologists. Were the Dropa truly visitors from some
distant planet, or is their story merely a creation myth imagined by a primitive culture?
If the latter is true, it adds one more such "myth" to the large number of
stories from ancient cultures that claim their descendents came to Earth from the heavens.
And if the former is true, the Dropa stones could represent the first recorded visit of an
alien civilization to our planet. For now, the Dropa stones remain unexplained.
What Do You Think
of the Dropa Stones?
Do you have your own theories about the Dropa stones or, better yet, do you have any
further information or details about them? If so, please let me know so I can share it
with our readers.
You have a standing invitation to
tell me your experiences with the paranormal and unexplained.
Dr. Tsum Um Nui's findings were eventually published, however. Just two years
later, he published the paper entitled, "The Grooved Script Concerning Spaceships
Which, as Recorded on the Discs, Landed on Earth 12,000 Years Ago." By some accounts,
the academy relented and gave permission to the professor to publish the paper, and by
other accounts he published it despite the official ban. In either case, his translation
and his theory were met with ridicule by the archaeology establishment. The translation
was just too shattering to be taken at face value or as an historical account. It just
could not be true. It would change everything we know about our history and humankind's
place in the universe.
