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（导读：摘自《远古外星人》第一季。上百万人相信，外星物种曾在古代造访过地球，飞机可能就是它们的遗留物之一。）
Early in the 20th century， tomb-robbers searching along the Magdalena River in Colombia， South America came across a tomb site. Among the objects in the tomb they found were hundreds of small， two to three inch long， gold figurines. Many of them looked like insects and fish. However， out of the hundreds that were found， there were about a dozen that looked like modern-day fighter jets.
In 1997， German experts built a model of one of these gold figurines. It was fully equipped with landing wheels and a working engine. Once completed， the figurine took off down a runway...and flew.
In 1891， French scientists in Egypt found a small wooden model of what appeared to be a bird in an ancient tomb. The model was later sent to the Cairo Museum where authorities placed it with several other bird figurines. The model sat largely unnoticed until 1969， when Dr. Kahlil Messiha was examining the bird collection and noticed that there was something very different about the bird. It was interesting because on one hand it looked like a bird with eyes and a typical bird body； on the other hand， the wings were clearly not bird wings， but wings like those on flying machines or aircraft.
In 2006， Dr. Simon Sanderson built a model of the bird which is five times larger to test if it was an aircraft. Tests showed the bird was a highly developed glider of the same design we use today. During the tests， it was discovered that the only thing stopping the bird from achieving flight was the lack of a rear stabilizing rudder， or elevator， needed to keep balance.
These tests showed that， surprisingly enough， ancient people were working out modern designs. How did they learn to do this？ Perhaps it was because of visitors from another world.
Vocabulary
figurine n.小塑像
fighter jet n.战斗机
wing n.翅膀
glider n.滑翔机
rear stabilizing rudder n.后方稳定舵
（Dear， have you ever seen or heard about any aliens visiting the Earth？ If so， tell us something about it.）
Jessie改编
Early in the 20th century， tomb-robbers searching along the Magdalena River in Colombia， South America came across a tomb site. Among the objects in the tomb they found were hundreds of small， two to three inch long， gold figurines. Many of them looked like insects and fish. However， out of the hundreds that were found， there were about a dozen that looked like modern-day fighter jets.
In 1997， German experts built a model of one of these gold figurines. It was fully equipped with landing wheels and a working engine. Once completed， the figurine took off down a runway...and flew.
In 1891， French scientists in Egypt found a small wooden model of what appeared to be a bird in an ancient tomb. The model was later sent to the Cairo Museum where authorities placed it with several other bird figurines. The model sat largely unnoticed until 1969， when Dr. Kahlil Messiha was examining the bird collection and noticed that there was something very different about the bird. It was interesting because on one hand it looked like a bird with eyes and a typical bird body； on the other hand， the wings were clearly not bird wings， but wings like those on flying machines or aircraft.
In 2006， Dr. Simon Sanderson built a model of the bird which is five times larger to test if it was an aircraft. Tests showed the bird was a highly developed glider of the same design we use today. During the tests， it was discovered that the only thing stopping the bird from achieving flight was the lack of a rear stabilizing rudder， or elevator， needed to keep balance.
These tests showed that， surprisingly enough， ancient people were working out modern designs. How did they learn to do this？ Perhaps it was because of visitors from another world.
Vocabulary
figurine n.小塑像
fighter jet n.战斗机
wing n.翅膀
glider n.滑翔机
rear stabilizing rudder n.后方稳定舵
（Dear， have you ever seen or heard about any aliens visiting the Earth？ If so， tell us something about it.）
Jessie改编