Artist: Carlo Crivelli (c. 1435 1495 - Italian Renaissance Painter)
Currently displayed at, National Gallery, London.

Now, nearly everyone who has a basic knowledge of UFO's and UFO related phenomenon has some knowledge of the purported UFO's which are visible in works of art from throughout the ages.

This was originally to be dedicated to that exact subject; however upon researching the subject thoroughly it quickly became apparent that these UFO's are not all that they initially appear to be.

This is especially true with the majority of paintings which depict religious events or have religious connotations. There are still some artworks where the apparent UFO connection is impossible to deny, but the majority of the ones that I had previously believed were UFO's can (and hopefully will) be explained!!

The Annunciation (pictured) is one of the artworks that was a major disappointment, at least as far as I was concerned. As you can see from the picture, it would appear to depict a UFO shooting some sort of beam of light onto the crown which adorns the head of the Virgin Mary.

Now there are a couple of things that are worth noting with this painting, not least of all that it appears to show a classic UFO shape.

The other point is that the majority of images on the internet are crops of the same image. The reason this is important is that it's not possible to clearly discern what the UFO is intended to portray. In fact if you zoom in on most of the current copies of the same image, it certainly does appear to be a UFO.

It's important to understand that the Annunciation refers to the Immaculate Conception, i.e. the virgin birth when the Holy Spirit, “Touched,” the Virgin Mary.

LUKE: Chapter 1, verses 26-38:

26 In her sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent forth from God to a city of Gal´i·lee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin promised in marriage to a man named Joseph of David's house; and the name of the virgin was Mary. 28 And when he went in before her he said: “Good day, highly favored one, God is with you.”

29 But she was deeply disturbed at the saying and began to reason out what sort of greeting this might be. 30 So the angel said to her: “Have no fear, Mary, for you have found favor with God; 31 and, look! you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you are to call his name Jesus.

32 This one will be great and will be called Son of the Most High; and God will give him the throne of David his father, 33 and he will rule as king over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end of his kingdom.”

34 But Mary said to the angel: “How is this to be, since I am having no intercourse with a man?” 35 In answer the angel said to her: “Holy spirit will come upon you, and power of the Most High will overshadow you. For that reason also what is born will be called holy, God's Son.