Issue 85 - September 2008 - Page 12

Pages in this month's issue:

1. Sun Powered Key Ring Tracking Device Hoax
2. Photographs of Lions Chewing Car Tyres
3. Webmail Account Phishing Scam
4. Katie Fitch Prayer Request Email
5. Internet Explorer 7 Latest Version Malware Email
6. World's Largest Swimming Pool
7. Mysterious Carved Tree Hoax
8. Montauk 'Monster' Photograph
9. Video of Lebanese Girl Crying Crystal Tears
10. Miracle in Egypt - Buried Children Saved By Jesus
11. Two Cranes Tipping Off Pier Photographs
12. Astronaut Carving on Salamanca Cathedral Wall
13. Sunset Over Europe and Africa From Columbia Hoax
14. Whipped Ocean - Beach Foam at Yamba New South Wales
15. Burned Cigars Insurance Claim Hoax

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Summary:
Emailed PowerPoint presentation questions the mystery of a modern astronaut figure carved onto the wall of a centuries old cathedral in Salamanca, Spain (Full commentary below).



Status:
Astronaut is recent addition

Example:(Submitted, July 2008)


Commentary:
The above photographs and text are circulating via email in the form of an attached PowerPoint slide show. The photographs show a carving of an astronaut on the facade of a cathedral in Salamanca, Spain. The same photographs have also been posted to a number of online forums and blogs on which they have generated a considerable amount of debate. While some commentators have suggested that the astronaut has been added using image manipulation software, other observers have come up with more outlandish explanations, including time travel, alien visitations in ancient times and amazingly precise predictions of the future by the artists who decorated the original buildings.

More down-to-earth observers have drawn the most obvious conclusion, which is that the astronaut carving was added to the building in much more recent times. And, in fact, this more sensible explanation for the "mystery" is entirely correct.

The astronaut, along with other contemporary symbols was added in 1992 during restoration work on the "new" cathedral. The person responsible for the restoration, Jeronimo Garcia, reportedly chose an astronaut as a fitting symbol of the twentieth century. According to an article about the restoration (in Portuguese - Click here for Google translation to English), it is a tradition of cathedral builders and restorers to include a contemporary symbol on the building as a means of "signing" their work.

A Wikipedia article about the cathedral concurs:

Its main entrance consists of 3 arcs, each leading to the 3 naves (sections) of the church. All three are richly carved. Among the ornate carvings on the façade is the incongruous likeness of an astronaut floating in space; it was added by an artist during restoration work in 1992 as a symbol of the 20th century.

Thus, there is actually no mystery about the Cathedral "spaceman" whatsoever.

The message is also inaccurate in another detail. It claims that the astronaut carving is on a cathedral that was built in the year 1102. However, the carving actually graces the wall of the "new" cathedral. Construction of the New Cathedral of Salamanca began in 1513. The Old Cathedral, located nearby, is the building that dates back to about 1100 AD.

References:
O Astronauta da Catedral de Salamanca
O Astronauta da Catedral de Salamanca: Translation
New Cathedral, Salamanca
Salamanca - Old Cathedral

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Pages in this month's issue:

1. Sun Powered Key Ring Tracking Device Hoax
2. Photographs of Lions Chewing Car Tyres
3. Webmail Account Phishing Scam
4. Katie Fitch Prayer Request Email
5. Internet Explorer 7 Latest Version Malware Email
6. World's Largest Swimming Pool
7. Mysterious Carved Tree Hoax
8. Montauk 'Monster' Photograph
9. Video of Lebanese Girl Crying Crystal Tears
10. Miracle in Egypt - Buried Children Saved By Jesus
11. Two Cranes Tipping Off Pier Photographs
12. Astronaut Carving on Salamanca Cathedral Wall
13. Sunset Over Europe and Africa From Columbia Hoax
14. Whipped Ocean - Beach Foam at Yamba New South Wales
15. Burned Cigars Insurance Claim Hoax