Proof of Ancient Aliens?

The Byblos "rocket"

The conical object to the right of center above is referred to by Zecharia Sitchin and others as a rocket. This assumption is based entirely on the shape. There is no textual support for this -- that is, there is no primary source from Byblos that mentions a flying conical rocket ship.

The coin itself gives us the answer. The inscription tells us that this structure is the "temple of Byblos." The conical shape is simply the architecture of this temple.

But how do we know that people of that day thought this was a temple? Because primary sources tell us so.

This temple on the above coin is known to archaeologists and their work has been published (Hill, "Some Græco-Phoenician Shrines," Journal of Hellenic Studies xxxi.(1911, pl. iii., No.16). Hill notes: "The outer court was approached by steps, and its interior was screened to view from without. It had a façade of columns, and was enclosed by a plastered wall or cloister. It was open to the sky and a conical obelisk rising from the interior."

The cone in this case the cone was considered the sacred cone of Aphrodite (Astarte). See the bottom of p. 40 through 41 (in the PDF) in Evans, "Mycenaean Tree and Pillar Cult and Its Mediterranean Relations," Journal of Hellenic Studies 21 (1901): 99-204. Note that this file is large - 15 MB.