Ancient Egyptian Airplane Was Just Found in Pyramid

Bright Side

Ancient secrets and sky-high mysteries collide in this collection about flight. One story uncovers a wooden artifact hidden in a pyramid that might be the world’s first airplane. Another follows a pilot who unintentionally flew around the globe with no navigation at all. These discoveries blur the line between ancient technology, human curiosity, and pure luck.  Animation is created by Bright Side.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV  Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Our Social Media:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightplanet/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00It's 1898, and you're taking part in excavations in Saqqara.

00:05This place, not far away from Cairo, is full of ancient tombs and pyramids.

00:11You're in your Indiana Jones mood and hope to find something really phenomenal to become

00:15famous.

00:16Gold, manuscripts, treasure maps, mummies of famous pharaohs, wait, a wooden bird.

00:24You're really disappointed, as it looks like a regular toy.

00:28An old one, but still.

00:30Little do you know that years later, someone would propose that your bird was actually an

00:35ancient monoplane.

00:39So the artifact, nicknamed the Saqqara bird, is made of a sycamore tree.

00:44The birdie has a wingspan of just 7 inches and weighs around 40 grams.

00:49A perfect original souvenir from Egypt, I would say.

00:53It's over 2,000 years old and looks pretty plain, without any carvings of feathers or

00:58other intricate ornaments.

01:01It has a beak and eyes, though, which makes our find look like a hawk, the emblem of the

01:06deity Horus.

01:08The birdie's tail is rather unusual as it's square, looks weirdly upright, and it seems

01:14like the sunken part of it was the place for a now missing piece.

01:20Humans love solving a good mystery, so there have been several attempts to explain the use

01:24of the birdie.

01:25First, quite simply, is that it was a ceremonial object.

01:30The second idea is that it was a toy for a child from some well-off family.

01:35It could have been some sort of boomerang, which was a popular concept in ancient Egypt.

01:41Then there was a theory that the bird had been used as a weather vane.

01:45But this one has been debunked as the figure doesn't have any holes or markings, except for

01:50the one made at the museum in Cairo to fix the exhibit on a stick.

01:55So there was no way to hang it in the past.

01:59Almost a century after the bird was found, Egyptologist Dr. Khalil Masiha proposed a new

02:04theory that it could have been a model of a monoplane.

02:09He believed the bird was missing a horizontal tailplane.

02:12Otherwise, it had its wings set at a right angle, similar to that of modern planes.

02:18It could have worked to generate the aerodynamic lift necessary for flights.

02:23Dr. Masiha also claimed that it was common at that time to place miniature models of technological

02:30inventions in tombs.

02:32So, did the ancient Egyptians really invent the plane in 200 BCE?

02:38That would make the Wright brothers, who are considered the inventors of aviation, really,

02:43really upset.

02:46They made one of their first flights only in 1903.

02:52There's just one way to know for sure, and that is to test the model.

02:57But you know, the ancient museum in Cairo would unlikely let one of their cherished exhibits

03:01fly around like a toy.

03:04That's why glider designer Martin Gregory built a similar model, this time of balsa wood, and

03:10concluded that even with the missing tailplane, the plane wasn't much of a flyer.

03:15Case solved?

03:17Not really.

03:18This didn't sound convincing enough to the History Channel, so they invited an aerodynamics

03:23expert to build another replica of the bird.

03:27He tested it in weather conditions similar to those in Egypt and was impressed with the

03:33little plane's abilities.

03:36So if they did invent the prototype of a plane back in the times of pharaohs, it would be

03:40a good example of an upart.

03:43That's an out-of-place artifact, an object that's way ahead of its time in terms of technology

03:49or history.

03:51And the Saqqara bird isn't the only example of such a revolutionary concept.

03:57In 1901, a group of divers retrieved the Antikythera mechanism from an underwater shipwreck near

04:02the Greek island of Antikythera.

04:05It's been dubbed the world's first analog computer, and it's currently dated around

04:10100 BCE.

04:12The bronze mechanism could tell the position of the sun, moon, planets, and stars, as well

04:18as the lunar phase, the dates of upcoming solar eclipses, and even the speed at which

04:24the moon moves through the sky.

04:27No one's sure who used it and how or where it was made.

04:31But it's obvious that it's extremely precise and way too advanced for its time.

04:38The first flushing toilets in the world were invented in the middle of the 20th century.

04:43Just kidding.

04:45The ancient Minoans on the Mediterranean island of Crete and the Indus Valley civilization both

04:50came up with this brilliant invention at the same time, around 4,000 years ago.

04:56The plumbing and sanitation were so well done that no one managed to design anything better

05:01until 2,000 years later.

05:04One ancient Minoan lavatory was discovered at the Palace of Knossos.

05:10It looks like it had a wooden seat set over a tunnel that directed water from a rooftop

05:15reservoir to an underground sewer.

05:18Other varieties got water from jugs.

05:21Only the super rich people could afford all this glory.

05:25So if you wanted to shop for real estate back then, the flushing toilet would be a telltale

05:30sign you are in the rich neighborhood.

05:35Automated doors became a cool, seemingly new invention back in 1931.

05:41But the technology behind them is actually much older.

05:45Think the first century CE old.

05:50Mathematician and engineer Heron of Alexandria came up with a hydraulic system to open and

05:55close temple doors.

05:58To bring it into action, you need to light a fire to produce heat.

06:02There was a brass pot under the fire, half filled with water.

06:07The inventor connected the brass pot to containers that acted as weights.

06:12When the fire was burning, the water moved into the containers.

06:16They went down and pulled the ropes.

06:19It was nothing like a supermarket door that opens in front of you before you even have time

06:23to think.

06:25Heron's door took hours to open and there was no way to stop the process.

06:31That's why they only opened the doors once a day before people entered the temple to add

06:35some mysticism at the temple during ceremonies.

06:39Spooky!

06:41Looks like the first ever battery was invented in Baghdad around 2000 years ago.

06:48A German archaeologist found this oval-shaped clay jar in 1938.

06:54Scientists are still not sure what purpose it served and who exactly invented it.

07:00There is a theory that it was used for electroplating objects with precious metals.

07:05When they filled it with a weak acid like vinegar, the battery produced around 1 volt of electricity.

07:11Another theory says it was a vessel for sacred scrolls.

07:15Would you like to buy contact lenses designed by Leonardo da Vinci himself?

07:21In 1508, he invented a glass lens with a funnel on one side.

07:26You were supposed to wear it with water inside to improve your vision.

07:30Sounds a bit uncomfortable, doesn't it?

07:34So around a century later, French scientist René Descartes decided to improve the idea and

07:40make the cornea contact the future lenses.

07:44Yes, because they contact your eyes, get it?

07:47The glass tube with liquid did help improve vision, but blinking was sadly impossible.

07:53Two and a half centuries later, new technologies in the glass industry let scientists design contacts

07:59that would fit in the eye and even let the wearer blink.

08:02Thanks guys!

08:03Still, those lenses were made of heavy-blown glass and didn't let the eye breathe.

08:10About 50 years later, contacts became plastic.

08:13Lightweight, unbreakable, and scratch-resistant, but still covering the entire eye.

08:19And then, in 1948, an English optical technician accidentally sanded down a plastic lens and

08:25figured out they'd still be in place even if they covered only the cornea.

08:29Imagine you're living in 19th century London and need to send a message to New York.

08:35It would have taken about 10 days to get there by ship.

08:39So when delivery time went from days to hours in 1858, it was a true sensation.

08:45The first message was sent by Queen Victoria herself.

08:49It was all made possible thanks to the transatlantic telegraph cable running under the ocean.

08:55Sadly, the new cool invention only lasted a few weeks.

08:59It took years to bring it back to life.

09:02A plane with no identification marks is approaching the coast of Indonesia.

09:07It's not the most peaceful of times, and the flight operator is alarmed.

09:11Two fighter jets take to the sky, about to take down the unidentified plane.

09:15It's all about to end in a disaster, when the fighters notice one strange detail.

09:20December 1st, 1941.

09:23Captain of a Boeing 314, Robert Ford, and his team are preparing for one of the longest flights

09:29on one of the biggest planes in the world.

09:32The Boeing 314 Clipper, California, is a high-capacity seaplane.

09:37It has no landing gear, so it can only land on water.

09:40Its length is 100 feet, and its wingspan is 150 feet.

09:44This is more than a six-story building, and on board this plane, there is a restaurant,

09:49resting areas, and even a room with a bed.

09:52Despite its size, the Clipper, California, can stay in the air for more than 18 hours.

09:57Captain Ford doesn't suspect what is awaiting him ahead.

10:00He gets on the plane.

10:02Their flight is bound from San Francisco to Auckland, New Zealand.

10:06The first stop is Los Angeles.

10:08There's no problem with this.

10:09The next stop is Pearl Harbor.

10:12The flight is going fine.

10:13December 7th, 1941.

10:16It's been three days since the plane left Pearl Harbor.

10:18The last final step of the journey remains.

10:21Flight to New Zealand.

10:23At this moment, Captain Ford receives an order to return the plane to the nearest Allied base.

10:28The way back is closed, so the plane continues to fly to Auckland.

10:32The Clipper lands safely at the Auckland airport and receives an order that seems impossible.

10:37Robert Ford and his team must paint over all the registration and identification marks on the plane.

10:42And deliver it to LaGuardia, New York.

10:46Then, fly across the world.

10:48This is an uncharted route with a length of 23,000 miles.

10:52In the entire history of aviation at this time, no one has flown such a distance.

10:57The team doesn't have maps or modern navigation devices.

11:01They don't know the lands they will fly over.

11:03They don't know who they may meet on their way and at which airports they will land.

11:07They must maintain and repair the plane themselves, extract fuel, and plot the route.

11:12At the same time, they have almost no money.

11:16Immediately after receiving the order, the team goes to the Auckland library.

11:20They study all the atlases and maps to create a detailed flight plan.

11:24First, they need to get to Australia, then fly to Africa along the coast of Asia.

11:29And then, they should go to the US.

11:31The crew paint all over the signs on the plane and prepare for takeoff.

11:36Fortunately, before the start, one banker finds about their situation and gives them $500.

11:42The plane takes off.

11:44The team didn't notice they forgot to paint over the American flag.

11:47In a few days, it will save their lives.

11:50Before Australia, they fly to New Caledonia to evacuate a group of people from there and deliver them to Australia.

11:57The operation is successful.

11:59In Australia, the team needs to refuel the plane.

12:02They don't find special transport for Clipper services at that airport.

12:05So the crew themselves transport 800 cans of gasoline.

12:09And here's an important detail.

12:11The Boeing 314 doesn't use conventional fuel.

12:14It needs to be filled with special high-octane aviation gasoline.

12:18Early in the morning, the Clipper takes off and heads to Indonesia.

12:22The flight is going fine.

12:24They are approaching the airport.

12:25Meanwhile, the captain of the base where the Clipper is supposed to land notices an unidentified plane.

12:32He doesn't know who's flying it and from where.

12:34No one warned him about it.

12:36It may be an enemy plane.

12:38Two fighter jets take to the sky.

12:40They are approaching the Clipper and don't see any identification marks on its body.

12:45The pilots are about to attack.

12:46But at that moment, they notice an American flag.

12:50If Robert Ford hadn't forgotten to paint it over, then everything would have ended badly for him and his crew.

12:55The fighters allow landing.

12:57The Clipper lands on the water.

12:59A boat floats towards it to meet the plane's crew, but stops.

13:02It turns out the plane landed on a place filled with sea mines, so the boat doesn't dare to sail there.

13:08The Clipper approaches the port and miraculously avoids contact with bodies.

13:12Robert Ford and the crew of the plane are well met.

13:15They are going too quickly to rest and hit the road.

13:18But then, a big problem surfaces.

13:21The plane is running out of fuel.

13:23And at that naval base, there is only ordinary automobile gas.

13:26Nobody knows if the plane engine is going to go with it.

13:29It may burn out or stop working altogether.

13:32But there's no choice.

13:33They fill the tanks with ordinary fuel.

13:36Captain decides to take off using the remnants of aviation fuel.

13:39And during the flight, they switch to tanks with ordinary gasoline.

13:43When this happens, the plane's engine begins to clap and rattle.

13:46But after a while, it calms down.

13:49The flight continues.

13:51For 19 hours, they fly on dangerous fuel.

13:54Their next stop is Ceylon.

13:56The sky is covered with clouds.

13:58The pilot doesn't see the coast and the airport, so he decides to lower the plane below the clouds.

14:03They fly at an altitude of 300 feet above the surface of the sea and notice a huge whale ahead.

14:09The plane flies closer, and it turns out it's not a whale.

14:12It's an enemy ship.

14:14The clipper begins to gain altitude to hide back into the clouds.

14:18Finally, they are again surrounded by a white veil.

14:21The booms and blasts are heard behind and below the plane.

14:25The clippers fly in with zero visibility for 60 minutes.

14:28Finally, the clouds are clearing, and they see the port of Ceylon.

14:31The team makes a short stopover and proceeds with its journey.

14:35As soon as the plane takes off, one of the engines explodes.

14:39Fortunately, they didn't have time to fly far from the port, so they successfully landed the plane on the water and repaired the engine.

14:46The clipper continues its mission.

14:48Now, Robert Ford's team flies mainly over land.

14:51This is very risky, since the aircraft doesn't have landing gear and it can't safely land on solid ground.

14:57Finally, they get to the Congo.

14:59The team has a great time here, gains strength, rests, and most importantly, gets high-octane aviation gasoline.

15:07Things are going great, but there's another ordeal ahead.

15:10Now, the aviators will have to make the longest flight in their journey.

15:14Their next stop is a port town in Brazil.

15:17In the distance to it is 3,500 miles across the ocean.

15:20The maximum flight distance of the Boeing is 3,700 miles.

15:25Any deviation from the course or a strong headwind can easily prevent the aircraft from reaching the port.

15:31Worried, the crew refill the tank and load additional fuel onto the plane.

15:35They leave the Congo, taking off along the narrow river.

15:38At this moment, the pilot notices the river ends a few miles away with a waterfall.

15:43The plane must urgently gain altitude, but it can't.

15:46The large amount of additional fuel bears the clipper down.

15:49The waterfall is getting closer.

15:51In the last seconds, the plane manages to rise to the desired height.

15:55But even after the waterfall, Boeing still doesn't get high enough.

15:59It hovers right above the rocky coastal cliffs.

16:02A slight inclination can lead to a crash.

16:04Fortunately, they manage to pass unharmed.

16:07The plane rises to the perfect height.

16:09During the flight from the Congo to Brazil, the crew broke a new record.

16:13It's 23 hours and 35 minutes in the air.

16:16The tired crew make a long-awaited landing in the city of Natal.

16:20However, the rest doesn't last long.

16:23Two hours later, they take to the air and head to the next stop.

16:26An air base in Panama.

16:28January 6th, 1942, 5.54 a.m.

16:32The already legendary Boeing 314 is approaching LaGuardia, New York.

16:37The team can't wait to finish their journey.

16:39They contact the dispatch, and he tells them they can't land the plane only after 7 a.m.,

16:45since the air terminal starts working at this time.

16:48For an hour, Robert Ford and his crew are circling in the air.

16:51It was probably the longest hour of their lives.

16:54Finally, the mission is complete.

16:57The Boeing 314 becomes the first passenger plane to make an almost-around-the-world trip.

17:02This long flight lasted more than a month.

17:05This plane spent 209 hours, or 8 days, in the air.

17:09During this time, it covered more than 30,000 miles.

17:12It made 18 landings.

17:18That's it for today.

17:19So hey, if you pacified your curiosity,

17:21then give the video a like and share it with your friends.

17:24Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the bright side.

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