The 'Palenque astronaut' is a dead Maya king.

683 · 1968 · apart: 1285 years

In 1968 Erich von Däniken likened Pakal on his sarcophagus lid to a rocket pilot; the carving actually shows his descent into the underworld.

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The event

• Pakal the Great becomes ruler of Palenque615 · Lakamha (Palenque). Twelve-year-old Pakal took the throne of the Maya kingdom centred on Palenque and ruled for 68 years. The city flourished as one of the jewels of the Maya world, and his tomb in the Temple of the Inscriptions is a landmark find of American archaeology.

7th century · 20th century

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