5 Responses

1. No one ever believed in “flat earth” theory. The size and shape of the Earth were calculated in ancient times (meaning that going from Spain to China sailing west would result in running out of food and water in the middle). The dispute that led Columbus to fame was that Columbus believed the world was smaller than it is and he would have starved to death but for the fact he discovered the Americas. The attributing “flat earth” to medieval science was anti-Catholic propaganda.

   “Aliens” are a function of science fiction. Rabbanim probably should not trying to posken on works of fiction.

2. As always all questions answered with clear Daas Torah

3. Do Jews believe in aliens? Some do; some don’t.
   Until the time of Plato, everyone believed the earth was flat. That includes the Indians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians etc. Aristotle was the first to prove that it is not flat: from the shadow cast by the earth on the moon during an eclipse. Still used today. Tosefos tells of a ‘legend’ that Alexander the Great was taken for a ride on the back of an eagle, and saw that the earth was spherical. Alexander was of course a disciple of Aristotle. Greeks were, at the time, considered upstarts, and the older civilisations did not immediately accept the Greek view. Talmud and Midroshim include both viewpoints. The Church always adopted Aristotle’s view. In prehistoric, ancient, times, it is quite possible that it was generally accepted that the world is spherical, but since we don’t have written proof of this – only the monuments they left behind, like the pyramids – we can only derive their beliefs from mathematical calculations, which the archeologists will dispute with every fibre of the bodies.

4. In the time of Bayis Sheini, about the time of the Hasmonoi, Eratosthenes of Cyrene not only demonstrated that the earth was round, but also calculated the correct diameter.

5. https://aish.com/ufos-and-jews-living-on-a-different-planet/

   For another point of view.