All language subtitles for Ancient_Aliens_S03E09_Aliens_And_Deadly_Weapons

Narrator: Rockets capable of
destroying entire cities...

fire that burns underwater...

and fighter jets that
fly without pilots...

Throughout history, advances
in technology have lead to the

development of
powerful weapons...

Each more deadly than the last.

Giorgio Tsoukalos: We go from
attaching sharp stones to the

ends of sticks, and then all of a
sudden, we have actual swords.

Deepak Shimkada: In the
Mahabharata, 46 different

types of weapon are described.

Bill Birnes: They're using
air-to-ground missiles, powerful

particle beam weapons.

It's astounding to read about
events from centuries ago using

weapons that are in use today.

Narrator: But were
these lethal weapons

the product of human innovation?

Or were they
developed with help

from another, more
otherworldly, source?

David Childress:
Extraterrestrials may well

have given man these weapons.

They want us to be able to advance,

and ultimately to be like them.

Narrator: Millions of
people around the world

believe we have been
visited in the past

by extraterrestrial beings.

What if it were true?

Did ancient aliens really
help to shape our history?

And might they have been

responsible for the development
of mankind's deadliest weapons?

Sync and corrections by Bellows
www.addic7ed.com

Narrator: Earth.
4.5 billion years ago.

Molten-hot magma spews
from beneath the ground.

Lightning cracks down
in bursts from the sky.

And rivers of lava
flow across the land.

Ever since the dawn of time, our
planet has been changing...

evolving... and ripped apart by
the awesome forces of nature.

And it's the harnessing of that
nature that has offered mankind

its most formidable challenge
and greatest accomplishment.

David Southwell: Mankind
achieving the ability

to manipulate fire,
is probably the most

historical event
that ever happened.

When we achieved the ability to

master fire, everything
changed for mankind.

Narrator: But how
did our ancestors

learn to recreate and
harness this most volatile--

and ultimately essential--
of the earth's elements?

Was it simply a part of our
intellectual evolution?

Or is it possible that the
knowledge came from another,

more otherworldly, origin?

Philip Coppens: When we look at
fire, we imagine this idea that

somehow our ancestors are
rubbing some sticks together,

but each culture always says that
fire is a gift from the gods.

Southwell: In native American
traditions, quite often

it's fire was stolen
from the world above.

In Maori legends, again, we see
the theft of fire from the gods.

In the Greek legends,
it's Prometheus

stealing fire from the gods.

Narrator: How is it that such
similar myths exist about fire

being given to man by the gods?

According to ancient astronaut
theorists, this eerie similarity

may actually be
evidence that gods,

or, perhaps, extraterrestrial
beings, really do exist.

And, if so, it might also reveal
how mankind eventually used fire

to create deadlier and more
sophisticated weapons.

Southwell: If we are talking
about ancient aliens

having an impact, where would
we expect to see that impact?

I would expect to see
it in metal working.

And do we actually see hard and
fast evidence of mankind making

sudden huge leaps
in metal working?

Yes, we do.

Tsoukalos: We go from
attaching sharp stones to the

ends of sticks, and then all of
a sudden, we have actual swords.

According to archaeologists,
the first human

work with metal weaponry
began in the bronze age,

beginning around 3,300 BC
in the near east.

Phil Imbrogno: Most of the swords were
at one time either copper or iron

if you think about the ages
we start first with bronze,

nickel, softer things
that easier to work with

the reason we don't have
iron, is the first example

is because is a much harder material
you have to get much hotter fire

to be able to work with it, and it's
just a tougher material to work with.

They were fighting, bashing
each other with these swords

they were very tough swords, which
means it wasn't always very sharp

Rafael Kosche: And these
people were fighting

when they're hacking each
other's head and arms off,

they were ripping each other's head
and arms off blood pieces of metal.

Narrator: Approximately 1,000 years
after the development of iron

came another, even
greater, breakthrough:

The invention of steel.

Imbrogno: No one really knows

when people first started making steel.

Some say it only dates 1000 B.C.

To make a steel sword in ancient
times was not an easy task.

You would have to get
high-quality iron.

And most of the time they could

not get that iron
mined from the earth.

And meteorites were obtained,

which were pure iron, which
made the best steel swords.

And these were
considered magic swords.

And they were usually a guarded
secret, and villages would have

one or two steel swords.

And there's tales about warlords
who had one purpose in mind:

To find all the steel
swords that were made

and take them for their army.

There's no doubt that the
cultures that were able to

obtain steel usually became
masters of the world.

Narrator: But where the
forging of iron requires a

relatively unsophisticated
knowledge of metallurgy,

the creation of steel is a more
complex scientific process.

So who, or what, was responsible

for this incredible evolutionary innovation?

Imbrogno: In the book of
Enoch, we see some type of

interaction between celestial
beings and human beings.

What did they give us?

They gave us steel.

And the legend goes-- not only
from the Bible and from Enoch,

but it goes to sumerian times--
where the gods had steel.

Jonathan Young: The making of
sword is a magical process

back in the time before
modern metallurgy

the ability to take natural material
and make a sword out of it

it was considered the
work of a wizard

Peter Fiebag : They mustn't
look the village blacksmith's in the eyes

because people are frightened
of being killed by his gaze.

The blacksmith isn't allowed
to live in the village

because of his magical powers.

Narrator: The notion of metal
working being a dark and magical

process was so prevalent in the
ancient world that in Greek

mythology, even Zeus looked upon
his son Hephaestus, the god of

metallurgy, with suspicion.

Richard Rader: Hephaestus is responsible
for making armature for the gods.

But the real miracle that he
does is for this shield for Achilles.

And it's got the
whole universe on it.

What's amazing about
this thing is that

it's not just a static
shield, it's alive,

this is not something
that a human being makes.

This is terrifying, this is scary,
and this thing will kill you,

just in its own kind
of metaphysical beauty.

And so he has this weird ability
to kind of endow metal with a

kind of life of its own.

So Zeus is, in fact, very
suspicious of this guy and just

tries to get rid of him.

So Zeus picks him up and slings
him, and he just falls and falls

and falls and falls and falls
until he crash-lands on the

island of Lemnos.

There is a little city on
the island of Lemnos called

Hephaestia, so there's a place that is
named specifically after Hephaestus.

Narrator: 3,000 years ago,
Hephaestia was one of the most

important cities in Greece.

And according to the ancient
stories, Hephaestus actually

lived here among
the people of Lemnos.

The greeks worshiped this
divine blacksmith and built

monuments to him.

But could this mythological being
have actually been present

in ancient Greece?

And if so, might he
have been not a God...

but an ancient alien visitor?

Rader: In Greek mythology, you
conceive of gods as kind of

like human beings.

And we have lots of literature
which deals with a whole range

of interactions that human
beings can have with gods.

Tsoukalos: It is very clearly
stated that the knowledge for

making swords was given
directly by the gods.

And those gods weren't figments

of our ancestors' imagination,
but they were physical beings.

Narrator: Is it really
possible that our ancestors'

ability to forge metals and
make weapons was aided by

extraterrestrial beings?

And might stories of swords
imbued with magical powers be

something more than
mere works of fiction?

Ancient astronaut theorists
believe the answer can be found

half a world away--
in Japan.

Japan,
700 A.D.

Here, according to legend, the
swordsmith, Amakuni, and his

son, Amakura, sealed themselves
away in their blacksmith shop in

an effort to forge
the perfect weapon.

For seven days and seven nights,

they prayed to the Shinto
gods to guide them.

31 days later, they emerged from
their isolation with a curved,

single-edged sword resembling
no blade ever made before.

Kosche: At that time,
the swords that they used

were these double edged,
Chinese designed

clunky, heavy,
unwieldy swords.

And Amakuni started reestablishing
and learning everything

that he knew about metallurgy
and after about a month,

finally emerged from his forge,
and had this single edge blade

with a curvature to it.

Every swordsmith in the
area ridiculed him.

Everybody laughed at him.

They thought
he was ridiculous,

that he didn't know
what he was doing.

"That's not the way you do it."

Well, the next time the emperor
went off into battle...

When he came back, Amakuni

stood on his front porch, and he
started counting the blades:

Two, ten, 15, 20, 100, 200
blades-- none of them were broken.

And the emperor
praised him and said,

"you are the greatest
swordsmith ever."

Ever since then, they have
followed that design.

Narrator: But what was the

secret behind Amakuni's
radical new design?

And what-- or who-- inspired him
to deviate from the one that had

been used for more
than 1,000 years?

Was he simply ahead of his time?

Or could he really have received
otherworldly guidance during the

seven days and nights he and his
son prayed to the Shinto gods?

Kosche: The history of the
Japanese sword is a long and

varied history all the way back
to mythological beliefs that

Omikami, the sun goddess, gave
her grandson a sword when she

sent him down to
rule over the earth.

Narrator: According to the
beliefs of the samurai,

higher beings called Kami
began human life.

But in order for humans to
experience the divine nature of

the Kami, they must undergo
purification rituals, which were

always performed when
making a new blade.

Kosche: Before you even begin,
you bathe yourself, and

you put on clean clothes.

All your assistants give
prayers, and they solicit

the help from the gods.

And, in fact, there are sword
smiths that will actually

chant as they're hammering
on the blade...

Because every hammer, as it
compacts the metal, is also

including their chant into it.

Narrator: Could the sword
maker, Amakuni, and his son,

Amakura, have actually come
in contact with the Kami?

And might these Buddhist gods
have come not from a spiritual

realm, but from an
extraterrestrial one, as ancient

astronaut theorists believe?

Might alien beings have chosen
Amakuni, the greatest sword

maker of his time, to hold the
knowledge of this new technology?

Coppens: When you give certain
very powerful objects to

people, you need to have
extremely intelligent people

to use them.

And so what we find everywhere

is that even if the gods had given
the most extraordinary machine

including fire or any
other kind of technology

you would have to have
someone able to operate it

a highly trained human being.

Another example
of Amakuni's work--

the Kogarasu Maru blade, the
most legendary sword in Japanese

history-- resides in the
Japanese imperial collection.

But modern scholars and
scientists have had difficulty

in figuring out the secret
to its amazing strength.

Dennin: The famous stories
are always, of course, the

Japanese steel used for
the samurai blade.

It's been very hard to reproduce
because some of these processes

can be incredibly sensitive to

the exact detail
of the temperature.

Some of its features are just
its flexibility and the way

they fold it over and over,
and its incredible strength

and its resistance toxidation,
which is what you

really need to keep
something sharp.

Narrator: Could the fact that
modern sword makers have

been unable to achieve the same
quality as Amakuni's blades be

further evidence that he was
trained by a more advanced

race of beings?

And might these ancient swords
have held some technology we

have yet to discover?

Kosche: In Shingon buddhism, the
sword has a life of its own.

It's not that the samurai
selects the blade.

Is the samurai, more appropriately,
good enough for the blade?

Does the blade choose him?

Narrator: Is the philosophy
of Shingon buddhism--

that the blade chooses its owner--
simply an example of early

humans' tendency to project
spiritual consciousness onto

inanimate objects?

Or might ancient swordsmiths
like Amakuni really have

possessed some
otherworldly knowledge?

A knowledge that swords, like
other deadly weapons, come not

from man, but from a divine or
extraterrestrial origin?

According to legend one such
sword may have existed in

15th-century France--
the sword of Joan of Arc.

Kathleen McGowan: When Joan of
Arc was arrested and brought

to what we now know of as
her condemnation trial,

her inquisitors
were determined to

get information
about her sword.

Her inquisitors were obsessed
about finding out about her sword

and that is because
Joan of Arc sword

was reputed to have legendary
power, divine power.

Joan claimed that her voices,

her angelic voices,
led her to this sword.

Coppens: She said to have
found it, as it was, hidden

behind an altar dedicated to
Saint Catherine de Fierbois.

It is said that the sword itself
was forged by the archangel

Saint Michael... and that whoever
possessed it was invincible.

McGowan: And that was certainly
true when Joan wielded

this sword, carried it with her
into the battle of Orleans.

Which was the decisive battle,
which allowed them to put King

Charles VII on
the throne of France.

Narrator: Could Joan of Arc
really have been given her

invincible sword by
extraterrestrials who had an

interest in the future of France?

Ancient astronaut theorists

believe such a thing is not
only possible, but likely.

And they point to the legendary
story of King Arthur as evidence

of their claim.

Childress: King Arthur
had two swords.

The sword in the stone, that
showed that he was to be king

is one sword.

Tsoukalos: When I hear a story
about this magnificent sword

that's encasted in the stone with only
the handle sticking out

and only King Arthur has the
capability to pull it out

well, then I start thinking
of some type of biometric

security system. Where
today we now have guns,

that can only be
fired if the handle

recognizes your fingerprint.

Is it possible that the sword
in the stone was calibrated

specifically to King
Arthur's biometrics?

I think yes.

I know it sounds crazy, but
we're merely saying that what

today is being discovered is a
rediscovery of what already took

place thousands of years ago.

Narrator: According to the
stories of King Arthur, the

sword that he is said to have
pulled from the stone was never

used in battle.

His weapon was the
legendary Excalibur.

Childress: The Excalibur sword
came to him from the lady

in the lake, where a hand came up
and handed him a magical sword.

And according to the ancient
chronicles, this sword shone

with the light of 30 suns
and blinded his enemies.

Peter Fiebag: Sword of
King Arthur was said

to have radiated lightning
and energy when he fought

against monsters.

So, we have swords as magical
objects that here also

is the suspicion that a misunderstood
technology could exist.

Narrator: Although historians
still debate whether the stories

of King Arthur have a basis in
fact, in 1998, archeologists

found a sixth-century piece of
slate inscribed with his name

at his reputed birthplace--
Tintagel, England.

But if King Arthur really
existed, might the legends of

his incredible swords
also be true?

And, if so, might that suggest
that extraterrestrial visitors

did in fact provide humans with
weapons not of this world?

Perhaps the answer can be found
in ancient Rome and by examining

a legendary battle,

one involving a much-witnessed
phenomenon in the sky.

Narrator: Rome.
October 27, 312 A.D.

At the Milvian bridge
north side of the city, deposed

emperor Constantine prepares to
reclaim his throne from Maxentius.

In the sky, he witnesses what he
will later describe as a cross

hovering above him.

He interprets this vision as a
sign from the Christian god.

The next day Constantine and
his army bear the image of the

Chi Rho on their
shields and flags,

one of the earliest cruciform
symbols used by Christians.

When they emerge victorious,

christianity becomes the official
religion of the Roman empire,

and the world is
changed forever.

But was the cross-shaped object
Constantine claimed to have seen

in the sky really
a sign from God?

Or might it have been some
other extraordinary force?

Bramley: It looked like they
are in a shape of a cross

but a shape of a cross could have
been air plane type objects,

because the fuselage and
the wings would look like

a cross to somebody
who's looking up.

Of course they had no concept
of these things back then.

Chris Pittman: There were other
signs important that were seen

around the same time,
they were described as

a crucifix in the sky. If these
were to appear in the sky

today, we would describe
them quite differently.

Tsoukalos: Is it possible that
Constantine instead of actually

having seen a cross
floating in the sky,

actually saw a type of
an extraterrestrial craft?

Is it possible that Constantine
won because the extraterrestrials

were siding with Constantine
and thus altering

mankind's history forever?

But according to ancient
astronaut's theorists

even stronger evidence exists
that emperor Constantine

had a genuine alien encounter.

Shortly after the battle
of Mulvian bridge,

he was said to have acquired
a powerful new weapon

known as Greek fire, it was the
most devastating weapon of the time

and it was said to have been
given to Constantine by angels.

Improgno: It was said to burn to
so violently and so hot,

it was said that even in
the rainiest of rainstorms

fire would not go out, and
when projected out to sea

when it sunk into
the water which still

burnt on the bottom
of the ocean.

Fiebag: In one battle,
Byzantium was attacked

by 1,800 Persian ships

only 15 escaped.

All the others were destroyed
by the so-called Greek fire.

And prince Igor who attacked
Byzantium in the year 941 A.D.

attacked with a fleet of 1,000 ships.

Only ten ships made it home.

Narrator: But perhaps
even more astounding

than the incredible
power of Greek fire

is the fact that scientists have
not been able to reproduce it

even after 1,600 years.

Coppens: Scientists have
been trying to identify

what Greek fire is, for
decades, if not centuries.

No one has come up
with a satisfying answer.

The most logical answer is that it
might be somehow petroleum

because it is known that petroleum
continues to burn when

in contact with water.

George Noory: It think it has
to do with phosphorous

and magnesium, because when
they are mixed in with water

they tend to explode.

The formula for Greek fire
was not even known

to most of those who
used the weapon,

as the delivery system required
multiple people to operate it.

Tsoukalos: What's interesting
about Greek fire is that it only

worked when all the different

components worked
together as one piece.

Each component was operated
by a different person,

so if somebody was captured,

they couldn't give away the quote,
unquote secret of Greek fire.

Narrator: But what was
this mysterious weapon?

And, more importantly,
where did lt come from?

Tsoukalos: One story goes
that Greek fire was given to

Constantine by an angel.

Now angels are supposed to be
these friendly creatures that

instill peace and love-- and all
of a sudden, we have this one

quote, unquote angel that gives
one of the most sophisticated

weapons in mankind's history
to Constantine?

Replace the word angel with
extraterrestrial and we have

a very different story.

Narrator: Could Greek fire
really have been a type of

advanced alien technology given
to Constantine to ensure the

success of the Roman empire?

If so, wouldn't there be
evidence of extraterrestrial

influence during other
earthly conflicts?

Fiebag: Hannibal, who
crossed the Alps

and attacked Rome, was said to
have had a chemical explosive.

We don't know where the knowledge
came from in these cases,

but there could definitely
be a connection to

other weapons of the gods.

The explosive weapon
Hannibal allegedly used

against ancient Rome, in the
3rd century B.C., predated

gunpowder by
over a thousand years.

And some believe even gunpowder
itself may have been a discovery

inspired by otherworldly beings
back in the 9th century.

Ironically, this deadly
invention was discovered by

Chinese alchemists attempting to
create an elixir of immortality.

Laichen Sun: Alchemy
has a long history in China

and this alchemy *** has been
seeking the elixir of immortality.

It's a medicine, for example,
to live forever.

So they were experimenting for
many centuries and mixed all

kinds of things and it was not
until around 850 common era, and

we have records to show the
disastrous impact of this mixing.

Narrator: Though the Chinese
emperors never achieved this

elixir for immortality, they
ended up with something almost

as valuable-- a weapon more

powerful than anything
that had come before.

Sun: The Chinese
gunpowder technology

led to this important
political and geographical

changes in China, in Vietnam,
in southeast Asia.

It led to the, even the rise and
the fall of the dynasties.

Narrator: But where did such
an incendiary ability come from?

Imbrogno: Was the formula given
to us by extraterrestrials?

Or did someone discovered
it by accident?

No one really knows.

Gunpowder was
made of charcoal,

which they burnt trees and
ground down the charcoal.

Sulfur they would
get from volcanoes,

and sodium or potassium
nitrate is not readily available.

So how would they know to get
those nitrates and mix them

all together in the
right proportions?

Narrator: Could the
formula for gunpowder

really have extraterrestrial origins?

And if deadly technologies like
gunpowder and Greek fire really

were handed down to humans
by an alien race-- why?

Might they have been
trying to shape our future?

And, if so, what other even more

powerful weapons might they
have had in their arsenal?

An unmanned areal vehicle
hurtles across the sky.

It travels at supersonic speeds,

spitting fire,
launching deadly missiles...

programmed to
seek and destroy.

The effect is devastating-- high-tech
warfare at its most lethal.

But what could be a page stolen

from a U.S. military black
project, is actually a

description written down
over 2,500 years ago

in the sacred Hindu text known
as the Mahabharata.

Coppens: When it comes to the
ancient India in the accounts,

they really eye-witness
testimony of the gods fighting.

Childress: When you read
the ancient Hindu epics,

they talk about horrific weapons,

missiles,

and atomic weapons.

Massive laser weapons, they are
melting and devastating entire cities

Tsoukalos: I refuse to think
that our ancestors,

came up with these
stories out of thin air.

When writing was first invented,
they wrote down their history

the first things that were ever
written down were actual events.

Narrator: How is it that some
of the earliest written accounts

of warfare describe sophisticated
weaponry that humans wouldn't

develop for thousands of years?

For the answer, ancient
astronaut theorists point to

numerous descriptions
of deadly weapons

found throughout
the Mahabharata--

many strikingly similar to those
used by the military today.

One example are the incendiary
weapons wielded by Vishnu,

which are specially equipped
to find their targets.

Deepak Shimkada: Vishnu has a flying
guided missile, the Narayanastra

and once it is launched it will
destroy everything that is moving.

So according to the description,
it is a motion-detecting weapon,

which is pretty much like
our modern weaponry.

There is also a weapon
that is heat-seeking.

Heat-seeking is a very effective
way of finding something

you would fire a missile
from behind on your craft,

Maj. Gen. Robert E. Dickman:
at an aircraft in front of you

specifically targeted
towards the heat engine.

And then you were able to move
off, from behind the airplane

and the heat seeker would still
be able to find the target.

Tsoukalos: I am aware that
there are forces of nature.

You've got thunder,
lightning, earthquakes.

But how would you go
from witnessing that

to a description
of heat-seeking missiles?

Narrator: In addition to guided
missiles, the Mahabharata

is filled with accounts of other

sophisticated weapons
wielded by the gods.

Shimkada: In the Mahabharata,

46 different types of
weapon are described,

and each one has
a specific function.

The Pashupatastra is a weapon

that actually multiplies into
seven different arrows.

So then it hits seven different
targets at the same time.

Salva is an anti-God; he can
make his vehicle disappear.

So we're talking about a flying
object that is stealth.

He also can put
people into sleep.

So we're perhaps
talking about nerve gas.

Childress: They talk about
weapons that are so high-tech,

that it could only be
from extraterrestrials.

Narrator: But of all
the weapons described

in the Mahabharata, perhaps the
most deadly was a device called

the Brahmastra.

A weapon that the texts
warned was never to be used.

Shimkada: Brahmastra is described
as the ultimate weapon.

Once it is launched, it will
simply burn everything,

so it will incinerate
the entire universe.

We are talking about
a nuclear blast 100-fold

magnitude of the bomb that we have
seen or experienced in our own times.

So it would never be used.

And yet, someone was going to
make use of that Brahmastra.

And so that's the dilemma that

the books talks about
in the Mahabharata.

India now has a rocket program,

and one of their rockets is
called Shakti.

Shakti means "goddess energy."

This is also another divine weapon.

Indians are now sort of going
back to their text or their

mythology and they're reliving
it by their modern technology.

Narrator: Is it possible that
alien beings visiting the

earth thousands of years ago
dealt with the same issues of

nuclear annihilation that
humans are dealing with today?

And might the deadly weapons
currently being deployed by the

world's military really be
recreations of weapons first

used on earth by extraterrestrials
in the ancient past?

Perhaps.

But then it should also be
possible to predict mankind's

military future by searching
through still more ancient texts.

The Tonle Sap Lake,
Cambodia.

This combined lake and river
system has a flow that changes

direction twice a year, and the
portion that forms the lake

expands and shrinks
dramatically with the seasons.

But this unusual body of water
is unique for another reason--

it is said to hold the mythical
sword of Preah Pisnokar.

Shimkada: The swordsman in Cambodia
has a wonderful legend,

a story within that
culture called Pisnokar.

It is a wizard,
a master craftsman

Narrator: In Cambodian
mythology, Preah Pisnokar is

the son of a human man and
a woman who came from the sky.

The stories say that he is

brought to the sky world where
he is taught the technology

of the gods, and some have credited
him as being the architect

behind the world's largest
religious shrine, Angkor Wat,

which sits just north of the
Tonle Sap lake.

But in addition to magnificent
structures, Preah Pisnokar was

also said to have fashioned a

sword that made him
invincible in battle.

Shimkada: In the
Cambodian legend,

he's been credited crafting
a sword as thin as a feather.

Fiebag: Preah Pisnokar had a
sword that could cut stone.

And it's reported that he could
use this to cut a ceramic jug so

finely down the
middle that the water

only ran out when the
two halves fell apart.

Narrator: According to legend,
Preah Pisnokar threw his

mighty weapon into the Tonle Sap
lake when it grew too weak to

be of use to him anymore,

much like Excalibur
was given back

to the lady of the lake
in the story of King Arthur.

But how does a
sword grow weak?

According to ancient astronaut
theorists, the blade had lost

its power, and that blade was not
made of metal, but of light.

Tsoukalos: Does a sword
of fire really exist?

Well, it does if you think
of a type of light saber.

Whenever he took it out to cut

something with it, it was more
blinding than the sun.

It was a very thin and
very bright, emitting light.

From the description of it,

it could be a kind of
laser type of beam.

Dennin: Lasers-- what you
wanna just think about

is a whole bunch of waves
all moving together in step.

The light that comes
out of a light bulb

is a bunch of random people
in a mob running crazy

in all different directions, and
the laser is all the people

marching in orderly fashion.

Everything lines up and
basically makes the light that

much more powerful and effective.

Narrator: Could Preah
Pisnokar really have existed?

And if so, might the amazing
sword he wielded have involved

some type of laser technology?

Is it possible that light sabers,

a work of modern science fiction,
actually existed in the ancient past?

Dennin: So there's two ways to think of
a light saber that you're trying to make.

One is actually out of a laser
beam and that's very hard to

imagine because it's hard to

figure out how you
would get the endpoint,

because light just
keeps traveling.

And you would need a way
to bend it back on itself.

They make much more
sense as a plasma beam.

And a plasma beam is a bunch of
very, very energetically charged

particles, um, that would glow

so you'd get the effect
of the lightsaber.

And they're much easier to
have an endpoint, because they

respond to magnetic fields.

The plasma beam really is
energetically charged particles

with a lot of energy and pretty
much cut through anything.

Narrator: For ancient
astronaut theorists,

descriptions of laser-type technology

can be found in numerous texts
throughout the ancient world.

Fiebag : In China,
it's called a yin yang mirror,

which could kill opponents
with a beam of light.

We have the Maori, whose god

defeated rebels with a kind of
laser-lightning weapon.

Childress: Stories come to us
from ancient India of Rama's arrow,

which was some kind
of laser weapon.

We have the famous
story of Archimedes,

using some kind of magic mirror

to create a laser
that set ships on fire.

So it seems that ancient lasers
were being used, and that

technology probably came
from extraterrestrials.

Narrator: What if the futuristic
weapons we believe

we have cultivated in our
modern day arsenals

are really reinventions of
something that has come before?

Could we subconsciously be
recreating our ancient past?

Coppens: What we have is
people who are eye-witnesses

and to some extend victims of a show
which is happening above their heads

and they are trying to explain
to people something which was

truly on a scale which they
couldn't comprehend.

Tsoukalos: Here we are today
thinking that we are inventing

all these wonderful things,

which we are, but it's
been here before.

Childress: Extraterrestrials may
well have given man these weapons.

They want us to be able
to defend ourselves

to advance, and ultimately
to be like them.

Narrator: From flaming arrows
to heat-seeking missiles,

could the evolution of mankind's

deadly weaponry really be the
result of alien intervention?

Could extraterrestrial beings
have given us technology as a

way of accelerating
natural selection?

Or might they have imparted
their knowledge with a

specific-- and perhaps
insidious-- agenda in mind?

Some say the answer
is right in front of us--

or in yet another ancient text or
carving waiting to be discovered.

But one thing is certain,
it is best we keep looking

and be prepared
before they return.