Jason Colavito has a lengthy, but worthwhile (as usual) post on Rice University Prof. Jeffrey’s Kripal’s claim for UFOs in medieval art. Kripal shows his unfamiliarity with the work of art historian Diego Cuoghi on this matter. PaleoBabble readers should be familiar with Cuoghi’s site by now — it’s the major repository for showing what these objects in medieval and Renaissance paintings really are (via similar examples).

Kripal points gullible followers to the Madonna Col Bambino E San Giovannino (“Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John”):

Cuoghi’s site of course discusses this painting. He draws on plenty of analogies to demonstrate that, contra Kripal, it’s not a UFO.

Dr. Kripal should just stick to what he does best — promoting Gnosticism.