A PAINTING which dates back to the 17th century could be the very first depiction of a UFO.

The 400-year work housed in the Monastery Church in the Medieval Citadel in Sighisoara, Transylvania has left tourists scratching their heads.

2 Tourists have been baffled by a 400-year-old painting which appears to show a disk that looks suspiciously like a UFO

The wall painting of a house surrounded by a thunderous sky features a mysterious disk object.

The flying saucer-like object is seen spinning down, with what could be a long exhaust fume.

The caption at the bottom of the painting reads: “Israel, put your hope in the Lord.”

Fans of the supernatural are claiming that this mysterious painting could show an alien space ship.

But the manager of the history museum in Sighisoara thinks that the suspicious object is not a UFO.

He says that it depicts old testament prophet Elijah going to heaven.

Nicolae Tescula said: "The church is Evangelical and the image has a secondary role or is less representative.

"Indeed, there is a painting in the sacristy of the church with a religious scene that represents a cloud – perhaps Elijah’s assumption to Heaven – which looks like a dome, but can lead to a more modern representation that might make us think of a UFO.

"Many say it’s a UFO, it looks like a UFO, it is an artist’s vision.

"They are like Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings, you can interpret them."

He believes that the painting was created by someone who lived in Sighisoara at the time.

2 The wall painting can be found in the Monastery Church in the Medieval Citadel in Sighisoara, Transylvania

Nigel Watson, author of the Haynes UFO Investigations Manual said: “Flying saucers, UFOs and other weird objects in the sky have been depicted throughout the history of humanity.

“What appear to be UFOs and aliens appear in the cave paintings of ancient man, the reigious paintings of the Renaissance period and in the works of chroniclers and storytellers.”

A monastery has been standing at the site since the 13th century.

In its 700 year history, the church has been razed to the ground twice.

Sighisoara is thought to have been the birthplace of the legendary Vlad the Impaler, the basis for the character of Count Dracula.

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