There's some interesting paintings inside the Vatican ... and it's worth taking a closer look at what's being depicted in the sky.

TMZ Studios has a new series, "Strange & Suspicious," now airing on a dozen FOX stations, where we explore unexplained and downright weird stories, and now we're combing over the artwork inside the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church.

In several paintings that are centuries old, there are some mysterious shapes in the heavens above ... sparking comparisons to flying saucers.

The potential references to extraterrestrial craft are hidden in plain sight ... some are subtle, and some are seemingly obvious ... like the objects appearing to shoot beams down from the sky.

Of course, there were no flying objects of any kind way back when painters were creating these works ... making this phenomenon even more interesting.

Some inside the Vatican are open to the possibility of alien life ... making these mysterious paintings worth another look.

We try to answer all these UFO questions and more on "Strange & Suspicious" ... plus bizarre phenomena and true crime.

Click here to see when and where the show airs.