Has anyone discussed so-called sightings of stars or planets appearing in front of the moon's dark limb? While this is not specifically related to the shape of the earth, it is an argument I see FE's regularly use about the moon being transparent.
There are two separate claims I see: first, that there are historical accounts of lunar occultations where the more distant object appeared in front of the moon, as seen in https://www.sacred-texts.com/earth/za/za63.htm, and in the cited work: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/20/8/329/1039466

And second, that the Islamic star and crescent seen on flags is originated in these historical sightings. I cannot find a source for this claim, but one social media poster phrases it like this: "This occurrence has been recognized by Islamic cultures, and is shown on many flags as well as coat of arms for Indo-European countries. "
The Zetetic Astronomy site of course dismisses all explanations of such sightings as insufficient, but my first question is, what would be a reasonable explanation for these historical sightings? I can pull out more specific ones if it would help the discussion, but figured I'd start with the one example above.
And the second question is, is there any merit to the claim that the moon and crescent icon derives from these sightings?
There are two separate claims I see: first, that there are historical accounts of lunar occultations where the more distant object appeared in front of the moon, as seen in https://www.sacred-texts.com/earth/za/za63.htm, and in the cited work: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/20/8/329/1039466
And second, that the Islamic star and crescent seen on flags is originated in these historical sightings. I cannot find a source for this claim, but one social media poster phrases it like this: "This occurrence has been recognized by Islamic cultures, and is shown on many flags as well as coat of arms for Indo-European countries. "
The Zetetic Astronomy site of course dismisses all explanations of such sightings as insufficient, but my first question is, what would be a reasonable explanation for these historical sightings? I can pull out more specific ones if it would help the discussion, but figured I'd start with the one example above.
And the second question is, is there any merit to the claim that the moon and crescent icon derives from these sightings?