Sumer is known to be one of the earliest civilizations that settled in Mesopotamia, the present day Southern Iraq. Sumerians aced not just the art of living but also several other sophisticated fields such as science and technology. They were the pioneers of urban societies that we live in today as well as mathematics, astronomy, poetry, pottery and hordes of other things that are existent even in today's civilized world.

However, this is not all the Sumerians could be thanked for. According to Kazem Finjan, the minister of transport in Iraq, he announced during the opening ceremony of a new airport at Al Nasiriyah in Southern Iraq that the first airport was built by Sumerians 7,000 years ago, reported The New Arab.

He also claimed that Sumerians didn't stop at the airport, but also developed space launch facility. The Sumerians were visited by the highly advanced aliens from the Planet Nibiru who undertook the space program. It is from here that the first spacecraft was launched for the exploration of outer solar system, claimed the Iraqi official. He further added that it is through these explorations that the planet Pluto was first discovered, much before Clyde Tombaugh found it in 1930.

To convince the shocked reporters of his bizarre claim, the Iraqi official asked them to read works of Samuel Noah Kramer, a renowned expert of Sumerian history, who studied the Sumerian astrology and astronomy extensively. He also referenced the works of Zecharia Sitchin, famous Russian author who propounded the ancient astronaut theory of human origin. He said that the reference of world's first airport could be found in Kramer's book titled "History Begins at Sumer."

Finjan's outrageous revelation left the Twitter filled with many snide comments. In fact, a Twitter user, Dawood Al-Basri even went so far as to tweet that, "Iraqi transport minister's hallucinations about spaceships in Nasiriyah prove that the [Haidar] Al-Abadi government is full of fools, hashish addicts and the most worthless of humanity."

Despite all the mocking reactions, Finjan found an ally in Scott C Waring, a popular UFO blogger, who agreed that Sumerians did have access to the sophisticated space technology, allowing them to carry out successful space mission in outer space. He further explains that evidence of their knowledge can be found in Sumerian art that depicted aliens and strange flying objects.