THE DOGU ENIGMA: PRIMITIVE ARTIFACT OR SIX-THOUSAND-YEAR-OLD SPACE SUIT?
by Vaughn Greene
When I read of Kenneth Arnold’s sighting the world’s first modern UFOs on June 24, 1947, I was immediately interested. A few weeks after I wrote Arnold, two friendly F.B.I. agents came for a visit. Here was I, a 17-year-old punk, being interviewed by investigators who were not very sympathetic. This only whetted my appetite, and over the years I contacted some of the early flying saucer buffs, including Prof. Adamski, George Hunt Williamson, Kurt Von Zeissig, Yukio Matsumura, Zecharia Sitchin, Meade Layne and others.
When the Korean War came along, I went into the army. While stationed in Japan, I began studying early Shinto legends and ancient mythology. To my surprise, these early tomes were loaded with references to aerial battles, underwater castles, exotic weapons, TV, and flying dragons that flew 6,000 leagues a day. What really impressed me were some prehistoric statues called dogu.
From my previous experience with the diving and aircraft industries, I felt sure these things were depicting a diving suit, or a space suit, or a combination of both. Dogus were made by a Neolithic people called the Jomon, who were the first persons on earth to make clay pottery. Dating back as far as 12,000 to 14,000 years per R-14 dating, the earliest dogu were very crude. The last ones over 2,500 years ago showed a sharp, machine-tooled look. I’ve found over 30 points of similarity to modern space suits on dogus, including lenses, rivets, rubber cuffs, chest controls, safety straps, communication lights, etc. Can this be mere coincidence?
Archaeologists are baffled by the dogu statues. They resemble no other objects on earth. The science of archaeology in Japan was started over 100 years ago by an American Professor Morse. Since that time, the experts have called them sex objects, funeral depictions, etc. The best explanation I think is the word dogu which in Japanese means a tool.
Dogu statues are totally unique. There are no other figures exactly like them in the ancient world. In years of research since then, however, we have found indications that these same astronauts were seen all over the world. The 7,000-year-old drawings at Val Cominica, Italy, the prehistoric Tassali, Sahara, and ancient Australian Aborigine sketches all show helmeted, suited-up figures. There are statues, such as the Tula giants in Mexico, the Tiahuanaco space gods in Bolivia, the Cro-Magnon Venus cult of Europe, which show similar features. Figurines of the 8,000-year-old Mohenjo Daro culture in India are almost identical. The most remarkable similarity though, relates to the Kappa.
In Japan, the Kappa are popular mythological figures, still seen in cartoons today. These mischievous creatures swam underwater, had webbed feet (swim fins?), and flew around in shell cars. The Kappa often came ashore and taught the natives various advanced arts. What is remarkable about this is that there are at least three similar stories found around the earth.
The ancient Merovingian kings of France were visited by a half-human Fisher King. This is partly the basis for legends of Parsifal, the Spear of Destiny, and mysterious tools used by the Knights Templar. A second legend relates to the Oannes, half-human creatures seen in olden Babylonia. These beings came out of the sea every day to teach the world’s first agriculture, mathematics, law, and astronomy. Every evening they would dive back into the water. Drawings show them wearing wrist watches and holding what looks like a rocket motor. A third group visited the Dogon tribe of Mali, Africa. Notice the resemblance of Dogon and Dogu. The oldest hot spring in Japan is called Dogon. I have found, in checking, about a dozen words of Dogon and Japanese which are virtually identical.
These visitors lived in an artificial pool they brought with them. Like the Kappa and the Fisher King, they had a bald spot on top of their head which, some would say, is still observed with the Catholic monks’ tonsure. They told the Dogon their ships came from a planet circling a dwarf star near the star Sirius. Our astronomers did not locate this star until 1952.
These beings were called the nommo. Note that the names of these water-living creatures Nommo, Oannes, and Kappa all have a double consonant. It is interesting that Japanese mythology is full of stories about underwater creatures (Umi Bozo) and others who engage in aerial warfare (the Ashura). There are stories of underwater castles seen on a clear day at the Inland Sea. Underwater lights have been seen in Yasushro Bay for over 1,000 years. In ancient times three suns appeared in the sky. A saucer-shaped craft landed and a blonde woman was seen inside. Japan’s greatest saint Nichirin Diashonin was saved from beheading when a meteor streaked over the frightened executioners.
The Russians are well aware of dogus, and Professor Kasantsev, also feels they are depictions of space suits. Kasantsev, incidentally theorized that the 1911 Tunguska explosion was actually a nuclear-powered spaceship that crashed on the Siberian tundra.
The Japanese reaction to all this is a bit puzzling. Hundreds of dogus are dug up every year, yet virtually nothing is mentioned about it. Yukio Matsumura, the early UFO researcher and founder of the Cosmic Brotherhood Association, has been under virtual house arrest. There are several Internet web sites called dogu and Jomon, but I have found them to be almost useless. In July 1997 a Japanese artist displayed in San Francisco a statue which was obviously made to ridicule dogus. Why? Does the government know something they don’t want the public to know? Is there some hidden knowledge about early Shinto legends which says the first emperor was the product of a sky god mating with a human? And why has the Japanese government recently given 40 million dollars to start a UFO conference center? Is this part of a campaign of misinformation?
The largest tomb in the world, over a half mile long, sits in Japan, some would argue, like a huge space beacon. This keyhole-shaped structure has never been opened, it is claimed. Is there any relationship here with the recently discovered underwater pyramids recently discovered off Japan? (editor’s note: for more on the mysterious underwater structures near Japan, see the article by Frank Joseph elsewhere in this issue.)
As the old Latin saying goes, Quo vadis who goes there?