Zoomorphic Figures or Ancient Flyers?
In the Gold Museum (Museo del Oro) in Bogotá, among more than 34,000 gold pieces, is a collection of objects that attract unusual attention. These are the Quimbaya artifacts, a handful of gold figurines, each measuring between 5 and 7.5 centimeters. They were created by the Quimbaya civilization, a pre-Columbian culture that inhabited the Cauca River valley in modern-day Colombia. The culture's classic period, when these objects are believed to have been made, is dated from around 500 BCE to 600 CE.
The official archaeological interpretation calls these figures zoomorphic, meaning they represent animals. Mainstream consensus holds that they are likely votive objects depicting common local animals such as birds, lizards, insects, and flying fish. Many pre-Columbian cultures created composite animal figures, combining features from different creatures for symbolic purposes. The so-called "wings" are are the fins of a fish or the legs of an insect, and the "tail" as a bird's tail or a fish's fin. These objects were often buried with the dead as funeral offerings. They are made from a gold and copper alloy called tumbaga, which has a lower melting point than either metal alone, making it easier to cast into detailed shapes using the lost-wax technique.
Out-of-Place Artifacts
The controversy began in the 20th century when these specific artifacts were singled out as "out-of-place artifacts," or ooparts. Proponents of ancient astronaut theories suggest the figurines are not animals, but scale models of ancient aircraft. They point to features that appear aerodynamic, such as delta-shaped wings, fuselages, and vertical and horizontal stabilizers, which are not typically found on birds or insects but are characteristic of modern jets.
This idea was popularized in books and television shows claiming evidence of extraterrestrial contact with ancient civilizations. To test the theory, German model aircraft enthusiasts Peter Belting and Conrad Lübbers constructed scaled-up, radio-controlled models of the artifacts in the 1990s. By adding propellers and engines, they demonstrated that the basic shape was capable of flight. Archaeologists counter that this resemblance is pareidolia, the human tendency to see familiar patterns in ambiguous stimuli. They note that the models required modern propulsion and modifications to their center of gravity to become airborne, and that many features of the original objects, like upward-curving wings, are not aerodynamically sound.