In 1950 the French ethnographer Marcel Grill and Germain, Dieterlen published an article dedicated to the Dogon mythology - small African people living on the territory of the Republic of Mali.


With Dogon myths testified that the people in ancient times knew about the properties and the trajectory of the invisible armed look companion of Sirius, the four largest satellites of Jupiter, on spiral galaxies and many other astronomical realities which have become known to modern science is only relatively recently. With Dogon myths told about the arrival on the Earth in "rotating the ark beings, somehow related to the star system of Sirius. Read the information received from the dogonskih elders, Grill, Dieterlen confessed, "do not set ourselves the question of how people, whose necessary tools, managed to find out about the movement and certain characteristics invisible to the naked eye celestial bodies".

Buried in specialized publications, this information came to light only in 1975, after the publication of the book by Eric Gere, interpretirovany myths Dogon as evidence of paloviita aliens, and after the release in a year is very interesting, but largely controversial book by Robert temple "Secrets of Sirius" myths Dogon has turned into the most serious to date, the proof of the fact of contacts earthlings with the aliens.

From this fact cannot be brushed off as from fabricated pseudoscientific constructs of Denikena on which lie the reek of unprofessionalism. About dogankoy mythology on the pages of the scientific press the discussion developed, which lasts to this day. First of all it touched the source of information: work Griolya, Diterran. But the scientific reputation ethnographers flawless, and moreover, they did not try in any way to interpret the information received, and only had faithfully recorded it. In the study of African cultures Marcel Grill professed principle "to describe and only to describe", avoiding attempts at interpretation archaic worldview backward African tribes. And the roll is called knowledge of the Dogon with modern scientific knowledge too consistent and systematic, so that it can be attributed to the misunderstanding of separate words and expressions dogonskih elders.

It was even "safe" version that the Dogon had some telescope type of the round pool with uniformly rotating water, mirror from which rotation had concave form and thereby served as a similar mirror telescope-reflector - hypothesis, of course, fantastic. But even if one accepts it, how much it will explain in the space revelations Dogon?

And the modern astronomical science, Dogon know that around the "main" Sirius (Sirius) turns invisible to the naked eye companion is a white dwarf Sirius B, a small, consisting of dense matter of the star with a very large mass. Suppose the Dogon saw in his "telescope" weak asterisk next to Sirius And how they came to the conclusion that "this is the biggest star of all existing"? A lot of Sirius In the astronomers calculated in the XIX century on the impact that that has on the motion in space Sirius A. Then, when in the beginning of XX century were able to determine the extremely small dimensions of Sirius In, it was concluded that it consists of superdense, and consequently, and heavy substances. Will we be assumed that the same calculations in the heart of Africa did the Dogon?

The Dogon known and the rotation of the Sirius In around its axis, that the milky Way is a spiral stellar system. This knowledge could be born from a mere contemplation of the sky through a telescope, may arbitrarily powerful. This knowledge cross out not only speculations about the "zagonska telescope", but the assumption that the ancestors of the Dogon could inherit their astronomical knowledge from ancient Egyptian priests, as the Egyptian priests to seize such knowledge was clearly not under force.

So... the aliens? Like all agree: the primitive people have the knowledge about space, is many times superior to his own capacity for learning, and partly the level of knowledge of modern science...

However, it is not obvious. Critics of this hypothesis noted that the astronomical knowledge of the Dogon look clearly insufficient. For example, the aliens told them about the existence of Sirius Century, But they could not call it the smallest and most severe star, as we now know about the existence of many much smaller and heavier stars. Similarly, foreigners, calling the Dogon four satellites of Jupiter, somehow "forgot" to tell about the rest of the twelve, known today. And in General astronomy Dogon really like... the level of the earth astronomy half a century ago!

So was put forward the hypothesis about the missionary." Because zagonska culture was not isolated from the influence of modern Western civilization. In particular, in the 20 years of our century among the Dogon worked missionaries from the Catholic organization "White fathers". Some of them certainly could draw attention to the fact that the aboriginal mythology attaches great importance to Sirius (this fact is not mysterious - Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, along with the sun and the Moon has long served as an object of worship), and tried to explain the Dogon scientific views on this star. Why? Well, at least in order to establish good relations with them, or to positions of science "debunk" the pagan beliefs of Africans.

By the way, in the 1920s Sirius was in the center of attention of popular scientific publications. By that time was set monstrous density of Sirius In and science on the basis of this came to the conclusion about the existence of a special class of stars "of white dwarfs". "The smallest and heavy star" -such description of Sirius fair for astronomical knowledge 1920's.

Well, the mystery of the Dogon disclosed? If everything was so simple...

"Missionary", of course, could have something to tell the Dogon. But not all. The fact that the Dogon known... three Sirius! They know that around Sirius And drawn another invisible star Sirius C. According to the Dogon, it is more Sirius In four times easier it is drawn at a higher trajectory and surrounded by two of its own satellites.

The academic debate about the existence of Sirius With began in the 1920s, and modern science is still not come to a unanimous opinion on this issue. If it is found that Sirius With not exist, will sharply increase the chances of "hypothesis about the missionary", because it will become obvious that the knowledge of the Dogon bound to 20 th years of the XX century, not to the story of aliens.

However, it is still in the mythology of the Dogon much remains unclear. German astronomer Dieter Herman called the situation with dogonkine knowledge about space hopeless case. Well, every secret will ever be revealed...