Mumbai: A speaker at the Indian Science Congress in Mumbai on Sunday claimed that planes were invented in the Vedic Age by a sage. He went on to further explain how people traveled from one planet to another during the ancient time.
Captain Anand Bodas went on to speak for over 30 minutes on the ancient Indian Aviation Technology.
Bodas said, “There is official history and unofficial history. Official history only noted that the Wright Brothers flew the first plane in 1903”.
His claims raised eyebrows and drew irk from the scientists at the NASA research centre, who through an online petition, signed by over 200 scientists, demanded that his scheduled lectures be cancelled. In the petition, they said that Bodas' lectures were a mixture of mythology with science which misleads people.
Bodas denies knowledge of any such petition.
"I haven't heard of any online petition. I'll cross the bridge when I get there. Once I receive it, I'll give it thought", Bodas said.
He cited an ancient Indian treatise, the 'Vaimanika Prakaranam' as the source of the text and said that most of its principles have been forgotten with the passage of time.
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar who was also present at the symposium said, "Ancient Indian scientific theories were based on minute observations and logic.
That wisdom must be recognised."
The symposium on 'Ancient Sciences through Sanskrit' was a first in 102 years of the Indian Science Congress. Eight speakers were invited to deliver speeches on topics ranging from ancient Indian botany and neurosciences of yoga.
Ancient Indian aviation technology and ancient Indian surgery were also topics for discussion.
