A Spaceship Made of Stone

In Honshu, Japan, stands one of the country’s oldest and holiest Shinto shrines–the Ishi-no-Hoden megalith. Carved from a single rock and weighing roughly 500 tons, it appears to hover over a pool of water, and according to Japanese legend, it was built to depict a sky ship made of stone that the ancient people witnessed descending from the heavens. Ishi-no-Hoden is just one of numerous megalithic structures found throughout Japan commemorating a time when the gods–or, perhaps, extraterrestrial beings–descended to Earth. Centuries old texts describe in vivid diagrams strange craft that have appeared in the sky and on the shores. And satellite images of Mars have revealed keyhole-shaped structures identical to some of Japan’s oldest tombs. Could Japan’s origins lie beyond Earth, and might a surge of recent UFO sightings provide clues that the island nation provides the key to reconnecting mankind with its extraterrestrial past?