Case file · High strangeness
Saqqara 'glider'
A small sycamore-wood bird found in 1898 in a tomb at Saqqara was promoted from the 1970s as a model of an ancient glider.
1898 CE · 29.87, 31.22 · status: explained
The account
In 1971–72 the physician Khalil Messiha argued that its straight wings and upright tail showed aerodynamic knowledge. Later documentaries built gliders based on it.
The sceptical view
Egyptologists see a bird toy or a weathervane. Its tail lacks a horizontal stabiliser, and a test model flew only once one was added.