In 1961, a manuscript was found in the vicinity of the Romanian city of Sibiu, the authorship of which was attributed to Konrad Haas, an Austrian military engineer in Hungary and Transylvania who lived in the 16th century.
The tome became sensational, as it depicted and described various aircraft, as well as a ballistic missile capable of reaching space, the design of which is quite complex and close to modern ones. There were also articles about the liquid fuel of this rocket, about special nozzles in the form of a bell and so on.
The rocket in the project is three-stage.
Haas is believed to have been a master of the arsenal of the imperial Austrian army under the leadership of Ferdinand I. In 1551, the Prince of Transylvania Stephen Bathory invited Haas to Hermanstadt, Siebenbürgen (now Sibiu, Transylvania, Romania), where he worked and taught.
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This work, as established by scientists, was written in 1556, and it contains descriptions of military equipment of those years. Thus, on the 450 pages of the manuscript, both 16th century artillery and space rockets are adjacent, which in principle is impossible.
Several times this work was checked for authenticity and each time the scientists shrugged their shoulders - it is real.
Where the knowledge of modern rocket technology comes from in the 16th century is unknown. As well as the name of the author of the text, it is rather a confident assumption than accurate information. Whether the author managed to bring his ideas to life is also unclear. Or was it not unusual in that antediluvian time?