Hey guys, I've recently been doing a replay through the original FF7, and in trying to make sense of the story in my head I've found that the idea that Shinra believed Jenova is an Ancient doesn't work for me. When Sephiroth does his research at Shinra Mansion, he tells Cloud something that strongly implies that humans are descendants of the Cetra: "But, those that disliked the journey [to the Promised Land] appeared. Those who stopped their migrations built shelters and elected to lead an easier life...Those are your ancestors." We later learn that the Cetra are sufficiently similar to humans that they can reproduce with them: Professor Gast was Aerith's father. What I'm getting at is, how did the Shinra examine an extraterrestrial being and conclude that it was an Ancient when Ancients are so similar to humans and Jenova clearly isn't? Even if you argue that they didn't know anything about Ancients back then, surely when Hojo captured Ifalna and Aerith he would have found they were not at all like Jenova. The only way it makes sense is if Hojo purposefully didn't tell Shinra management the true nature of Jenova. To what end, though? Why keep that a secret? That's what I want to know.