Ezekiel is said (by UFO believers of the Van Daniken (remember him?) school) to have a description of a flying saucer. I did a search at a Bible search site:
http://bible.gospelcom.net/passage/?search=Ezekiel%201;&version=9;
But the describtion given in Ezekiel Chapter One (KJV)doesn't match the image on the coin:
14And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.
15Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.
16The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were A WHEEL IN THE MIDDLE OF A WHEEL. (My emphasis)
17When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went.
18As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.
19And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
20Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
21When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
22And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.
Artistic license always has to be considered in this matter. Painters and sculptors of those times were not adverse to creating images (like persons from @800 BC depicted wearing clothing, armor, and arms from the Renaissance period) to suit then current interpretations and tastes. Perhaps the engraver simply took the old phrase "wheel in a wheel" literally and omitted anything that "clouded the clarity of his artistic vision."
Preceding Joseph Blumrich, the NASA engineer who drew a pic of what he thought Ezekiel saw, this author parsed Ezekiel's paragraphs and comes up with a pretty neat interpretation, as well as a deep respect for Ezekiel, who had never seen a technological marvel like this, yet provides a first-rate descripton.
Sample:
9. "Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
He is not saying that the wings of one creature are joined to the wings of another creature. He is saying that each wing is joined to another wing, not directly to the creature.
The second and third parts of this verse present a mystery. We do not know what the "theys" refer to. There are three "theys" in this verse, one after another and we are given very few clues to which refer to creatures and which refer to wings. The first "they" most likely is tied to the first part of the verse and therefore refers to the wings. Given this, there are still three interpretations:
1. The wings turned not when the wings went; The wings went every one straight, forward.
2. The wings turned not when the creatures went; The wings went every one straight forward.
3. The wings turned not when the creatures went; The creatures went every one straight forward.
None of these three statements make much of a point, whether the creatures have helicopter wings, or bird-angel wings. Let us assume then that the first "they" refers to the' creatures:
1. The creatures turned not when the creatures went; The creatures went every one straight forward.
2. The creatures turned not when the wings went; The wings went every one straight forward.
3. The creatures turned not when the wings went;. The creatures went every one straight forward.
This last statement would pretty well describe the action of the blades of an inoperative helicopter being carried forward in a straight line. It would strike Ezekiel as odd that the wings might move and turn without turning the men under them. You might wonder why he would say “ . . . wings went . . ." instead of “ . . . wings turned . . . When a light breeze moves the blades of an inoperative helicopter the blades not only turn, but they change their pitch and plane in a most random manner.
Although Ezekiel has not completed his description of the creatures, we can try now to form a picture of what he saw. No matter how we bend and squeeze, we are not going to get a Michelangelo-type angel. Look at figure one. Go back over the points that Ezekiel has described. You will see that it fits quite well."
and
16. "The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of Beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
In order to increase the efficiency of military chariots it was necessary to build a wheel that was lighter, yet just as strong as the solid model. This was first done by cutting out "lightening holes" between the hub and rim. Pressing this invention to the ultimate produced a spoked wheel. . . . This was quite an invention and in addition to it's useful aspects, it produced some rather, unusual, even magical side-effects. As every child knows, if you turn your tricycle upside-down and spin the wheel, the spokes seem to vanish. All that can be seen is the rim and the parts of the hub near the center of rotation. No matter what shape the hub actually is, it too looks round like a wheel. It is very likely that such an effect was referred to as "a wheel within a wheel." [Think of the "wheel within a wheel" effect when watching those Indians vs stagecoach races. - Oatka]
In verse 16 Ezekiel says that, "wheels and their work was the colour of beryl.” a blue-green color. This sounds like the emphasis is the color at the edge of the wheel. This could be from a flame coming from jets on the tips of the rotors. [I thought this was an impossible configuration, but some months ago The History Channel showed some oddball USAF machines and one of them was a helicopter with jets on the tips of the blades. - Oatka]
AIl of the creatures must have started their rotors. (“ . . . they four had one likeness.") They looked like “ . . . a wheel in the middle of a wheel." Or the spinning spokes of a wheel. Notice also that he never mentions "wings" and "wheels" at the same time, for when one appears the other vanishes.[My emphasis - Oatka]
(snip)
20. Withersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go, and the wheels were lifted over against them: for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
This is a most sophisticated opinion. Although Ezekiel was describing only what he saw, he could not help but have some opinions about the creatures. In verse nineteen he makes it clear that he does not know whether man is lifting the machine, or the other way around, but here he makes it clear that whichever, there is no doubt that the creatures are controlling. They are not being carried off by the will of the wheel."
Fascinating stuff.