A unique find was discovered by local historians from Shchuchin (Belarus). A group of enthusiasts has been engaged in restoring the history of aviation in the first days of the Great Patriotic War for several years. While checking one of the versions, local historians came across an unusual stone.
It was processed and a carved cross was visible from above. When the stone was turned over, an image was found on the other side - several figures with raised hands. Historians, having analyzed the find, suggested that this is one of the first stone Christian icons found in Belarus.
The likely plot of the icon is the Mother of God Oranta. This is roughly 17-18 centuries. In one of the villages in the area, there is a legend that once upon a time there was a small temple on the banks of the Neman. Then it was either destroyed or burned down.
On the one hand, the organization of the hieratic (sacred) image seems to have been observed: the main figure in the center of the composition is depicted in an enlarged manner, it is flanked by two smaller minor figures, their heads are surrounded by a halo.
But the fact that all three figures repeat the same gesture is just atypical for Christian iconography. In addition, the image of the legs is embarrassing. Some Internet users saw in it a resemblance to a fish tail.
There was also a more fantastic assumption that the found stone is evidence of paleocontact. This is the name of a hypothetical visit to Earth in the past by intelligent beings of extraterrestrial origin and the contact of these beings with earthlings. After all, "halos" can also be space suits for space aliens.
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There is also a less fantastic version of the origin of the stone circulating on the Internet. It may well be the result of folk art, which does not obey the strict iconographic canon. For example, a homemade headstone.
On the forum of the TUT. BY portal, where the discovery of the Shchuchin ethnographers is discussed, the user shuts, who knows those places well, claims that it could be a stone from the grave of a forester who was shot with his family during the war. Now there is a monument and a fence on the grave, but initially there were stones, later carried to the side. So let's not rush to conclusions.