vimanas

 

T                                            he Pushpaka vimana flying in the sky.

In epic literature like the Ramayana and Mahabharata, vimanas appear as celestial vehicles used by gods and divine beings, such as the Pushpaka Vimana—a magnificent flying chariot owned by Ravana and later returned to Kubera by Rama. 

These flying machines are described in various forms: saucer-shaped, cylindrical, or palatial, capable of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal flight at great speeds.  Some texts claim they could travel through space, under water, or even to other planets. The Vaimānika Śāstra, a 20th-century Sanskrit text rediscovered in the 19th century, claims to be based on ancient knowledge and details construction, propulsion (including solar and mercury-based systems), and flight manuals for vimanas. 

While some interpret vimanas as symbolic representations of spiritual power or divine intervention, others view them as evidence of lost ancient technology or even extraterrestrial contact.  However, mainstream scholars generally regard them as mythological or metaphorical rather than literal aircraft.  The concept continues to inspire modern fascination in pop culture, science fiction, and alternative history.

wiki/Vamanika_Shastra   an early 20th-century Sanskrit text on aeronautics, obtained allegedly by mental channeling, about the construction of vimānas, the "chariots of the Gods". A study by aeronautical and mechanical engineering at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 1974 concluded that the aircraft described in the text were "poor concoctions" and that the author showed a complete lack of understanding of aeronautics.