Vimanas!

[Rajesh Jayaraman]

According to ancient Indian texts, the people had flying machines which
were called vimanas. The ancient Indian epic describes a vimana as a
double- deck, circular aircraft with portholes and a dome, much as we
would imagine a flying saucer. It flew with the "speed of the wind" and
gave forth a melodious sound. There were at least four different types of
vimanas; some saucer shaped, others like long cylinders (cigar shaped
airships)."

D. Hatcher Childress, "Ancient Indian Aircraft Technology" In The
Anti-Gravity Handbook

"In the Vedic literature of India, there are many descriptions of flying
machines that are generally called vimanas. These fall into two
categories: (1) manmade craft that resemble airplanes and fly with the aid
of birdlike wings, and (2) unstreamlined structures that fly in a
mysterious manner and are generally not made by human beings. The machines
in category (1) are described mainly in medieval, secular Sanskrit works
dealing with architecture, automata, military siege engines, and other
mechanical contrivances. Those in category (2) are described in ancient
works such as the Rg Veda, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the Puranas,
and they have many features reminiscent of UFOs." "There are ancient
Indian accounts of manmade wooden vehicles that flew with wings in the
manner of modern airplanes. Although these wooden vehicles were also
called vimanas, most vimanas were not at all like airplanes. The more
typical vimanas had flight characteristics resembling those reported for
UFOs, and the being associated with them were said to possess powers
similar to those presently ascribed to UFO entities. An interesting
example of a vimana is the flying machine which Salva, an ancient Indian
king, acquired from Maya Danava, an inhabitant of a planetary system
called Taltala."