The Astronaut on Salamanca Cathedral
A cathedral begun in the 1500s has an astronaut carved beside its door, and the answer is simpler than time travel.
What was reported
The New Cathedral of Salamanca was built between 1513 and 1733. Among the stone carvings around its northern doorway is a small figure of an astronaut in a spacesuit, complete with breathing tubes, floating among the stone foliage.
Photos of it often spread online as supposed proof of time travel or ancient knowledge of spaceflight.
Explanations offered
It was added in 1992, when the doorway was restored. The stonemasons were invited to include a symbol of the 20th century, as craftsmen traditionally left their own marks, and chose an astronaut. A small dragon eating an ice cream was carved nearby at the same time.
- When
- Carved in 1992
- Where
- New Cathedral, Salamanca, Spain
- Witnesses
- Visitors who spot it
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.