Astronaut spotted on church carving 'dating back to 16th century'

Social media users have discovered a carving of an astronaut on a Spanish church from the 12th century.

The Cathedral of Salamanca is two churches joined together. One dates back to the 12th century and the other is from the 16th century.

Over the years, tourists have turned their attention to one unique carving, posing the question of how someone already knew about modern-day astronauts.

Some believed it to be evidence that time travel existed, with one writing: "Astronaut at Salamanca Cathedral: This statue is affirmed as absolute proof of time travel."

Another now-deleted Facebook post read: "Experts have been unable to explain this statue, which was found in a church that was built in the 1600s, the statue appears to be showing a man wearing a modern astronaut suit, including air tubes and a helmet."

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While conspiracy theories were rife, it soon came to light that the astronaut was incorporated into the Ramos Gate during work on the cathedral in 1992 ahead of an exhibition for the religious foundation "Edades de Hombre" in 1993, according to Reuters Fact Check. The carving was carried out by Miguel Romero.

It comes after people believe they spotted an iPhone in a 350-year-old painting.

In one of Pieter de Hooch's paintings, a woman is sitting with a dog on her lap while a man is standing and holding what very much resembles an iPhone.

The painting even left Apple’s CEO Tim Cook to question everything he thought he knew. At a 2016 press conference, he joked: "There was an iPhone in one of the paintings. It's tough to see but I swear it's there."

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