At the inauguration of a new airport in southern Dhi Qar, Iraqi transportation minister Kadhem Finjan al-Hamami asserted that Sumerians, the members of an ancient Iraqi civilization, built “the first airports” and “Sumerian spaceships used to launch from here towards the other planets” 7,000 years ago.

“It’s a long story, maybe you don’t know about it. Maybe even people from Dhi Qar don’t know – the first airports that were built on planet Earth were built in the 5th Century BC in Dhi Qar,” al-Hamami said, in an Al Jazeera translation. “There were Sumerians who launched spaceships [from Dhi Qar] and headed to other worlds,” he added, arguing that all the world’s angels “were Sumerian” and suggesting that Sumerians had discovered a new planet during their time.

هل تصدقون أن هذا المهرطق هو وزير النقل العراقي الحالي

الملائكة سومريون !👆

وعندهم مركبات فضائية ..

والحمد لله على نعمة العقل pic.twitter.com/KBw3EGHNsx — عامر الكبيسي (@amer_alkubaisi) September 29, 2016

There is scant evidence of such a claim. Al Jazeera noted that his remarks “puzzled onlookers and even appeared to confuse his entourage.” The Saudi-based news outlet Al Arabiya notes that his claims “have been found to be inaccurate,” as al-Hamami cited an ancient history professor who did not mention anything about extraterrestrial activity in his works, only the fact that evidence indicates ancient Sumerians enjoyed a healthy interest in astronomy.

The claim that ancient civilizations possessed advanced space travel technology is a popular one among some global alien-friendly communities, however. Legendary Times magazine — the premier ancient astronaut theory publication in the United States, has published articles arguing that Sumerians discovered “the recorded home of our human ancestors,” a planet named “Nibiru” which no modern scientists have evidence of existing.

“Ancient Sumeria and Babylon (modern-day Iraq), historically-speaking, was the ‘first’ place we can trace extraterrestrial contacts in mankind’s remote past,” a 2006 Legendary Times article argued, suggesting that “experts in the field of ET research” believe the 2003 invasion of Iraq was an attempt to preserve evidence that ancient human beings had contact with extraterrestrials.