All language subtitles for Ancient Aliens S04E01 The Mayan Conspiracy

NARRATOR: Ancient monuments

alignés avec précision à des événements célestes.

L'histoire gravée dans la pierre
honorant les dirigeants d'un autre monde.

And a calendar accurately
predicting shifts in the Earth's

axis every 26,000 years.

Did the Maya of Central America
really create one of the most

advanced civilizations
of ancient times?

Or did their intelligence
originate from somewhere else,

perhaps out of this world?

MARK VAN STONE: They
didn't have metal.

They didn't have electricity.

But what they did have is
advanced mythology, advanced

language and advanced
religious culture.

JON C. LOHSE: They understood
astronomy to an incredible degree,

more so than any
societies at the time.

PHILIP COPPENS: The Mayans
were absolutely convinced that

timing was crucial because the
gods were going to come back.

DAVID CHILDRESS: Lord Pakal's
sarcophagus was his spaceship.

He's the original rocket man.

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 if so, did they plot the
success and demise of the

ancient Maya civilization?

Sync and corrections by bellows
www.addic7ed.com

NARRATOR: Southern Mexico.

Surrounded by dense forests in
the foothills of the Tumbala

Mountains lie the ruins of the
ancient Mayan city of Palenque.

Established as early as 1800 BC,
Palenque was one of the key

population centers of the
ancient Maya civilization that

dominated present-day Central
America for nearly 2,000 years.

Without metal tools, the wheel
or pack animals, the Maya built

cities like Palenque across a
vast region with incredible

architectural precision.

EDWIN BARNHART: There
are a number of texts around the

Maya world that mention four cities
in association with four directions.

Palenque is recognized in these
texts as the Western capital of

the Maya world.

The southern one was Copan, the
eastern one was Tikal, and the

northernmost one was Calakmul.

Jungles have really thin topsoil,
and for them to be able

to support a huge population,
which is 20 or 30 times what the

population is in that
area today, is amazing.

NARRATOR: Regarded by
scholars as one of the most

sophisticated and complex
civilizations in the ancient

world, Maya triumphs included
numerous scientific achievements

in agriculture, engineering and astronomy.

VAN STONE: They didn't have a
lot of things that we think of

as the hallmarks of advancement,
but what they did have is

advanced mythology, advanced language
and advanced religious culture.

CHILDRESS: The site of
Palenque is still a vast

unexcavated site.

They think that only ten percent
of this city has so far been

excavated by archaeologists.

The aqueduct system here at
Palenque was very sophisticated,

and the Mayans were actually
able to have water pressure by

siphoning water channels
off of the main river.

All the Mayan cities had ball
courts in them where they'd play

this celestial game where the
players would knock a rubber

ball through a stone or wooden hoop.

It's thought that this is a
representation of alignments of the sun.

COPPENS: When you start
looking at all the various

cultures, whether it is the
ancient Babylonians, the ancient

Egyptians or the Mayans, we now
know that the people who were

by far the most advanced
was the Mayans.

NARRATOR: According to
mainstream historians, by the

ninth century, the great Maya
cities were abandoned, and the

Maya people had vanished.

But why?

Many blame the disappearance of
the Maya on war, overpopulation

and drought.

(thunderclap)

But might the Maya have left
behind clues to suggest that

their origin and destiny had been
plotted by otherworldly forces?

1952.

Archaeologist Alberto Lhuillier
discovers the Pyramid Tomb of

King Pakal who ruled over the
ancient Mayan city of Palenque

from 615 to 683.

During his nearly 70-year reign,
Pakal transformed Palenque,

creating some of the most
significant inscriptions and

monuments of the ancient
Maya civilization.

GERARDO ALDANA: The city
of Palenque was sacked by

the ruler of Calakmul.

So this was really tragic
for the city itself.

And it sets the stage for Hanab
Pakal himself, who becomes king

at a very early age, and then
takes this city that's been

destroyed, and now brings it up
to what becomes one of the most

important cities of the
late classic period.

CHILDRESS: This is the famous
Temple of the Inscriptions

behind me, perhaps the most famous
pyramid in all of the Mayan world.

It was in 1948 that the French...
Mexican archeologist, Alberto

Lhuillier began his excavations at the
top of the Temple of Inscriptions.

What he found there was the
famous staircase leading down

into the depths of the pyramid.

But the staircase was completely
filled in with rubble of small

stones and dirt.

It took him four years to slowly
excavate, step by step, down the

pyramid, until he finally came
to the tomb of Lord Pakal and

the giant sarcophagus and lid that
the pyramid were built around.

NARRATOR: Arguably the most
remarkable Mayan artifact ever

found... the stone Sarcophagus Lid
of King Pakal... has produced

considerable controversy.

Mainstream scholars believe the
depiction is of King Pakal on a

journey to the underworld.

But ancient astronaut theorists
believe the king is portrayed

seated at the controls of a
spacecraft, and have dubbed him

"the Palenque astronaut."

CHILDRESS: He appears
to be going into space.

He's the original rocket man...
there manipulating his

spacecraft, going into space.

GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: We have
maintained for a very long time

that the depiction here is of
King Pakal sitting in some type

of a spacecraft, because he is at an angle...
like modern-day

astronauts upon liftoff.

He's manipulating some
controls right here.

He has some type of breathing
apparatus or some type of a

telescope in front of his face.

His feet are on some type of a
pedal, and down here, you have

something that looks like
an exhaust with flames.

NARRATOR: In 2011 the strange
carving on King Pakal's

sarcophagus lid was translated
into a 3-D replica by model

maker Paul Francis.

PAUL FRANCIS: When I saw
this, I instantly said, "There's

a guy in a space capsule."

You know, it doesn't need to be
spelled out for me, I don't have

to find anything.

It was already there.

It was carved many, many years ago.

TSOUKALOS: I think this is
absolutely extraordinary because

this is definitely one of the
most compelling pieces in the

ancient astronaut theory, and
to finally see Pakal as a 3-D

sculpture, to me, is
a dream come true.

For the longest time we have
said that what is on this Pakal

lid is not something symbolic.

It was something that the artist
saw or was told about, and then

he or she tried to
recreate this on a slab.

I love the craftsmanship.

I love how you, you know, at the
bottom of the Palenque slab, you

see something like the flames...
FRANCIS: It looks like, it

looks like fire, and...

TSOUKALOS: Exactly.

FRANCIS: I had to do a
little interpretive.

- I put engine bells on instead
of the flame. - Of course.

FRANCIS: But that's
the thruster stage.

TSOUKALOS: I also love the
detail that you have underneath

his right foot where his foot is
resting on a pedestal, and that

is exactly what we can see
on the Palenque slab.

And how his hands are
manipulating some controls, and

also this kind of breathing
apparatus that's going on in

front of his nose.

FRANCIS: The breathing apparatus
is actually a very neat piece.

It's called the giver of life.

The soul transfers through this, and
a giver of life to me would be air.

I mean, we breathe air.

This is a guy who needs
this mask to survive.

TSOUKALOS: Because where is he?

FRANCIS: Outer space.

NARRATOR: Could the carving on
the sarcophagus lid of King

Pakal really provide
confirmation of the complicity

between Maya rulers and
extraterrestrial forces, as

ancient astronaut theorists believe?

Perhaps further evidence can be
found etched in stone throughout

Mesoamerica.

NARRATOR: The Palace of Palenque.

Discovered in the late 18th
century by Spanish explorers,

this royal compound is the
largest and most complex of

those found in the ancient city.

Researchers believe a four-story
tower in the middle of the

palace was built so Mayan kings
and priests could observe the

celestial movement of
the sun and stars.

CHILDRESS: This is the main
palace here at Palenque, and one

of the unusual features is its
observatory, a huge tower to

watch the stars.

Also throughout the palace are
these unusual T-shaped windows

and they've baffled
archaeologists for centuries.

It's thought that perhaps
they represent the wind god,

but it's also possible that these

T-shaped windows are
pointing to the sky.

What was it that the rulers
of Palenque were looking for?

NARRATOR: The tower at the
Palace of Palenque is just one

of many celestial observatories
built throughout the ancient

Maya territories.

LOHSE: Their practical
system of astronomy was an

observational one, and so the
design and construction of a lot

of buildings was intended to,
to create these sight lines, to

create these vantages for
observation to see and mark

important astronomical events.

COPPENS: We see that temples
were aligned to specific moments

in time, and the equinoxes and
the solstices are the most

important moments in time, so
wherever we look, we see how

this knowledge of astronomy
is incorporated into these

monuments.

DAVID CHEETHAM: Plazas were
great places where people stood

and paid reverence to
particular times of the year.

These were places that were
aligned from time immemorial...

hundreds and hundreds of years...
to make these specific

observations.

NARRATOR: But what...
or perhaps who... were the Maya

looking for in the sky?

According to ancient astronaut
theorists, the answer can be

found carved in stone.

TSOUKALOS: In Quiriguá,
Guatemala, there is a national

park featuring zoo morphs.

Zoo morphs are these giant
boulders that were carved into

different shapes.

Some of them depict crocodiles,
some of them depict turtles.

But at the same time, the
carvings are very reminiscent of

something technological in nature.

In fact, there is one boulder
that we can see where this guy

is essentially sitting
inside some type of cockpit.

Is it possible that this is
nothing else but an artist's

rendering of something that they
didn't understand because their

technological frame of reference
was less advanced than our

technological frame of
reference we have today?

NARRATOR: In the present-day
Mexican state of Tabasco, near

the Gulf of Mexico, lie the
ruins of a ceremonial center

called La Venta.

Here in 1862, oil riggers
discovered four very large stone

heads in the Olmec area of Mesoamerica.

Since then, archaeologists
have unearthed 13 more similar

sculptures that were
carved as early as 850 BC.

Known as the colossal heads,
scholars believe they depict the

Olmecs... an ancient civilization
that many consider to be the

ancestors of the Maya.

LOHSE: One of the most
striking aspects of Olmec art

and archeology are these
colossal head sculptures, and

one of the hypotheses that's
been put out to explain these is

that they were portraits of
important rulers, kings,

shamans, important
people in their society.

NARRATOR: But ancient
astronaut theorists contend the

mysterious stone statues are
proof of extraterrestrial

intervention in the distant past.

PETER FIEBAG (translated):
Huge stone heads were found in

the Olmec area, which were
beautifully made but then

ritually buried.

One asks, what is that?

Are these heads of rulers or
priests, or were they maybe

aliens that they wanted to
portray because they had unusual

facial features?

CHILDRESS: These guys are
often wearing strange helmets,

and they look to be foreigners.

They appear to be from Africa
and the Middle East and other

areas like that.

So what are they doing
here in Central America?

You have this curious mix
of different racial groups.

Are they coming with the sky gods?

Perhaps they, too, are the alien ETs.

TSOUKALOS: There is one
statue that we can find that

clearly shows an Olmec wearing
some type of a flight suit.

To me, this depicts nothing else
but someone from Africa having

visited Central America in a
type of a flight suit and with

some type of craft.

You've got the legs here like in
a modern-day astronaut suit, and

there's also some type of a life

support pack that's on his chest.

There are six wings

and the head is clearly enclosed by a

skullcap similar to
modern-day astronauts.

So what we have here, in my
opinion, is nothing else but

depictions of physical
extraterrestrial encounters

hundreds... and yes, even thousands...
of years ago.

CHILDRESS: There is
considerable evidence linking

the Mayans and the Olmecs
to extraterrestrial beings.

You have it in La Venta, many of
the Olmecs wearing curious masks.

Also at Tikal, they're wearing
what look like space masks with

respirators.

You've got also flying beings
who are hovering above certain

objects and things like
that in the Mayan world.

These are the birdmen,
the people who can fly.

NARRATOR: But do the stone
sculptures really provide proof

that the Maya had early contact
with star travelers, as ancient

astronaut theorists contend?

And might further evidence
reveal a shocking truth, that

some ancient Maya rulers were
themselves of otherworldly origin?

NARRATOR: Central America.

Here, in western Honduras, lie
the impressive ruins of the

ancient Maya city of Copan.

And though Copan's temples,
pyramids and monuments rank

among the most important of any
Mayan sites, researchers looking

to explain the incredible
achievements of the Maya have

been drawn to a 72-step
structure known as the

Hieroglyphic Stairway.

PAYSON SHEETS: The
Hieroglyphic Stairway at Copan

was constructed in the early 700s AD,

with the intent of writing out
the history of Copan at that time.

And so it was designed as a
public monument to the glory and

success of all the kings, from
Yax K'uk Mo', all the way to the

13th one who commissioned
it to be built.

NARRATOR: Carved into 1,200
stones in the massive monument,

the ancient Maya symbols,
known as glyphs, make up what

historians believe is one of the
oldest and most sophisticated

systems of writing.

But for centuries, the glyphs
found throughout Mesoamerica

were undecipherable.

Then, in 1880, German librarian
and anthropologist Ernst

Forstemann cracked the code.

VAN STONE: Ernst Forstemann
was a librarian at Dresden.

And in his desk he kept one of the
four Maya books, the Dresden Codex.

He was a brilliant mathematician
and extremely logical and had

enormous insights.

And at a time when we couldn't
read a single Maya hieroglyph,

he was able to figure out
the Maya calligraphy.

ALDANA: Maya hieroglyphic
writing is very robust, and

that's because it uses
really two components.

There are logo graphs.

Logo graphs are really pictures
that represent entire words.

So "Balaam," for example, which
is "jaguar," could be written

with just the head of a jaguar.

On the other hand, we have these
things that we call phonetic

complements.

And these are glyphs...
they're images that represent sounds.

NARRATOR: According to
interpretations of the

Hieroglyphic Stairway, the
glyphs chronicle not only the

history but also the origin
of the ancient Maya rulers.

ALDANA: The hieroglyphs are
really attached to what was

important to royalty at the
time, and that was lineage and

the genealogies of the kings.

They went out of their way
to demonstrate how they were

connected to their ancestors and
the gods of their ancestors, to

establish their right to rule.

SHEETS: This is a picture I
took of the, of a close-up of a

sculpture of Uaxac Lahun Ubac
C'awil, the 13th ruler of Copan.

And he's depicted here on the
front, in all of his finery.

And then the sculptor put a
hieroglyphic passage on the side.

We don't think commoners could
read, but all the elites could

and the king could.

So, he or another elite
individual could come here and

impress people by saying this
demonstrates the semi-divinity

of our king and his power to

intercede between us and the heavens.

NARRATOR: But just what was
the real source of power and

authority behind the
Maya priests and kings?

Do the hieroglyphs reveal an
otherworldly truth to their

origin, as the Maya
themselves maintain?

Ancient astronaut theorists
believe the answer is yes.

TSOUKALOS: What we have to think
about today is, where did

the origin of the
priesthood come from?

And the origin is nothing else
but that they... the initial

cabal of priests...
they were all in contact with

extraterrestrials, and that's
why they were revered.

Our ancestors thought they
were gods because they didn't

understand the nuts-and-bolts
aspects behind those visits.

But when it all comes down
to it, it was all a huge

misunderstanding and a way to
keep the common people in place.

ERICH VON DANIKEN: In the
beginning, the first ruler were

gods... real descendants from
the sky, extraterrestrials.

But later, the priests and the rulers
took the names of their ancestors' god.

So they made a secret and a
kind of conspiracy around them,

because the normal people should
give them offerings, should give

them gold, metal, all kinds of gifts, etc.
, as they did

some centuries before
for the real gods.

So it was a kind of conspiracy

among the priests and among the kings.

COPPENS: Mayan hieroglyphs
specifically say that the Mayans

were absolutely convinced about
the existence of otherworldly

beings, and that they actually
believed that these beings

manifested themselves regularly
at preordained moments of time.

NARRATOR: Perhaps further
evidence of the Mayan belief in

the existence of
extraterrestrial beings may be

found in their daily rituals
of human sacrifice.

Scholars believe that blood
offerings were seen as an act of

devotion to the Maya rulers, who were
assumed to be descendants of the gods.

VAN STONE: We know that the
Maya practiced blood sacrifice,

because they were still doing
it when the Spanish came.

We have images on wall
paintings, on vases and in

sculptures that show people
letting their own blood and

sacrificing other people.

CHILDRESS: The Mayans had a
complex pantheon, which involved

gods from the sky, and the
rulers were supposed to be

descendants of these gods.

And they believed that these
gods demanded sacrifices of

them, and that their blood, the
blood of their kings, was the

ideal sacrifice for the gods.

Later, the Mayans began to take
captives, particularly other

royal captives, and execute
them, using their blood as the

gift to the gods.

ADRIAN GILBERT: The ancient
Maya were particularly worried

that jaguar gods had come to
Earth from somewhere else and

had instructed them, and
in return they had to make

sacrifices to the jaguar gods.

In particular, heart sacrifices.

COPPENS: We see hundreds, if
not thousands, of people being

dragged up the pyramids
and really sacrificed.

Definitely there is this
absolute belief that the Mayans

needed the intervention of the
gods, and they believed that

somehow sacrificing human beings
was gonna bring back the gods.

GEORGE NOORY: It's very
possible that this civilization,

as cultured as they seem to have
been, were also pretty barbaric.

And this could have been
their way of trying to

offer the gods something.

TSOUKALOS: Blood sacrifice was
nothing else but an act of

desperation to bring about the
return of the extraterrestrials,

because one thing is crystal
clear: In every single ancient

culture, there is a promise of a
return in the future of those gods.

Blood sacrifice was something
that we humans did ourselves

because we didn't understand
that what we dealt with was

nothing else but flesh and blood
space travelers instead of real

or actual gods.

NARRATOR: But why did the
Maya believe they were

connected to the gods by blood?

Might there have been evidence
within their DNA that could link

the lineage of Maya kings to
otherworldly beings, as ancient

astronaut theorists believe?

And if so, is it possible that
otherworldly visitors may have

stayed behind and assumed
the role of Maya kings?

Perhaps the answer can be found,
not by examining the ancient

remains of the Maya, but by
studying their creation myths.

NARRATOR: Chicago, Illinois.

Housed here, in the Newberry
Library, is the Mayan manuscript

known as the Popol Vuh.

Literally translated as "the
book of the people," it is a

collection of Maya oral histories
passed on through the ages.

Written in the mid-16th century,
this incredible book encompasses

a range of subjects including those
involving Mayan creation myths.

INGA CALVIN: The Popol Vuh talks
about the creation of the universe.

It talks about the fact that in
the beginning all was darkness.

There was a primordial sea.

And then these creators, male
and female, spoke the word,

and with the word, the Earth was

created and animals were created.

VAN STONE: It's sort of like
the combination of the book of

Genesis and the book of
Chronicles in the Bible.

It's a story of battles between
the gods, and then it connects

the creation of the world with
the present day through the

kings of the K'iche.

It's really the only complete
Maya creation myth that we have.

COPPENS: What they were saying
was that a framework was

created... that certain deities
manifested themselves physically

and made decisions as to
what was going to happen.

In the case of the Mayans, this
was a choice as to where the

Mayans were going to live, as well as
the selection of certain sacred sites.

NARRATOR: Throughout the
ancient world, there have been

numerous similar myths of
otherworldly beings coming to

Earth and interacting with
some of the earliest humans.

Most mainstream historians
believe these stories represent

only religious and spiritual beliefs.

But is it possible, as ancient
astronaut theorists believe,

that the Popol Vuh, as well as
other ancient creation tales,

represents actual evidence of
contact with extraterrestrials

in the distant past?

According to the translations of
hieroglyphs found at numerous

ancient Mayan cities, Kukulkan,
or the great feathered serpent,

was the god who brought
knowledge to the Maya.

LOGAN HAWKES: When we talk
about the Mayan gods, we know

that the most important god to
them was the plumed serpent, or

Kukulkan.

We see his image all
across the Mayan world.

We see it on great
carved images on stone.

Kukulkan is often depicted as a
plumed serpent, some would say

a dragon or a snake with wings.

That leads some to believe that
Kukulkan may have descended

from the sky.

VON DANIKEN: Now, the Maya
were living in the jungle.

The Maya knew that the snake
could not fly, but this snake,

this serpent, could fly.

The oldest Maya histories tell that
Kukulkan was the teacher of young Maya.

He had chosen eight boys in the
age between seven and 12, and

he'd teach these eight boys in
mathematics, in astronomy, in

all kind of science.

And later, Kukulkan disappeared
with the promise that he will

return in the faraway future.

These boys had become the first
priests and the first teachers

again for the Maya.

HUGH NEWMAN: Some of the
legends state that he appeared

along the Gulf Coast on a raft
of serpents, and he spread his

high knowledge through
that part of the country.

Even today in some of the Mayan
cultures, he's revered as this

great god that brought all these
teachings and civilization to

their part of the world.

And yet, no one knows who he
was or where he came from.

NARRATOR: Strangely,
depictions of a winged serpent

god can be found all
around the ancient world.

In India, the epic text of the
Mahabharata details the ancient

account of sky beings known as Nagas.

Dating as far back as 2500 BC,
the half-human and half-serpent

entities look nearly identical
to the Mayan Kukulkan.

And ancient Chinese mythology
from the fifth millennium BC

describe flying dragons that
are eerily similar to the

serpent god depicted in Mesoamerica.

ANDREW COLLINS: To the
peoples that preceded the Inca

in Peru, similar ideas were
put upon characters like

Quetzalcoatl, the feathered
serpent, who was this wisdom

bringer, sometimes said to have
come down from the sky world.

And once again, bringing the
rudiments of civilization to the

peoples of Central America.

HAWKES: There is a common
thread among many ancient

cultures of the Americas when
it comes to plumed serpent god.

The Cherokee, for example,
believe that time... their

calendar... is based upon a
rattlesnake that they can see in

the night sky, perhaps
a constellation.

So, the idea of a serpent or a
snake or a dragon is common

among many ancient cultures,
and not just the Maya or the

Mesoamericans.

COPPENS: The snake is the
giver of wisdom in so many

cultures, and it gives the tools
of civilization... working with

metals, working with other
instruments, certain knowledge,

certain aspects of life...
and that it really gives this

knowledge to certain people, and
that he places these people

in a position whereby, from
their social position, they're

able to give this to the
rest of their culture.

TSOUKALOS: All these cultures
were far apart from each other,

sometimes by thousands
and thousands of miles.

So, how is it possible that all
these societies came up with not

similar, but identical stories?

Was it really flying snakes
or gods that were snakes?

Of course not.

It was misunderstood technology.

Some types of vehicles were
witnessed that descended from

the sky out of which people came...
astronauts... that

instructed people of different
cultures in different societies

in certain scientific disciplines.

This is not coincidence.

This is evidence for ancient alien
encounters in the remote past.

There is no other way.

NARRATOR: Can the ancient
creation myths and legends of

flying serpent gods really be
interpreted as factual accounts

of extraterrestrial visitors, as
ancient astronaut theorists contend?

And if so, might such celestial
travelers have given the Maya

both the tools and the knowledge to
help advance their civilization?

Perhaps further evidence can be
found by looking at the Mayans'

very profound connection to the stars.

NARRATOR: In the Mexican
state of the Yucatan lie the

ruins of the ancient Mayan
city of Chichen Itza.

Here, in the tenth century, the
Maya built what has become known

as the El Caracol observatory.

BARNHART: It has four doors on
the bottom that can be used

as observation points, and had
a number of windows up on

top, but most of those have fallen.

We only have two and a
half of those left.

But looking at those, we can see
that they're definitely looking

at the sun, probably at the moon.

There are hints that they could
have been using them for

stars and planets.

VAN STONE: They were tracking
in particular Venus, the phases

of the moon, eclipses.

We know that because we have
books that record these things.

NARRATOR: Most researchers
agree that from 250 to 900 AD,

the Mayans were the most advanced
astronomers of their time.

But why were they observing
the cosmos so intently?

And what might they
have been looking for?

CALVIN: The Maya were very
sophisticated in terms of what

they watched in the heavens and in the
calendars that they kept track of.

The ability to understand that
Venus as morning star and Venus

as evening star are the same
star was very rarely done in the

history of humankind.

They were oftentimes seen
as two different entities.

The idea that they could predict
the cycles of the heavens

reflects their sophistication.

VAN STONE: The Maya were one of
the only ancient people that

invented a mathematical system
that we use, which is called

place value and zero.

And using place value and zero
allows you to make enormous

calculations, numbers that
are very, very large.

(beeping)

They could probably calculate things
thousands of years into the past.

NARRATOR: Did the Maya
develop such mastery of

astronomy and mathematics
on their own?

Or is it possible, as ancient
astronaut theorists believe,

that the elite rulers of the
Maya had received help from

star travelers?

VON DANIKEN: The Maya, for
example, had the knowledge of

the planet Venus surrounding
our solar system in such a

precise way that within 6,000 years,
the difference was a few hours.

Now, the Mayas itself did
not live for 6,000 years.

So they had no time... 6,000 years...
to observe if their

calculation concerning the Venus
rotation is correct or not,

because they had their
information from their gods.

COPPENS: The Mayans could not
possibly have developed these

systems on their own because it
would take thousands, some of

them tens of thousands
of years of observation.

So it is clear that they were
given to them by aliens out

there who have made contact
with the Mayan people.

NARRATOR: Perhaps the most
intriguing astronomical

accomplishment of the Maya
concerns their understanding of

the slow change in the Earth's
rotational axis in space.

Called precession, it's a
process that takes more than

26,000 years to complete.

But how could the Maya have
tracked events over such an

extreme time span?

Is it possible that, like
modern scientists, the Maya had

been using knowledge of the Earth's
movement in space to track time?

And if so, for what purpose?

LOHSE: The Maya developed
these timekeeping skills by

monitoring the movements and
predicting the movements of not

just the sun, but the moon,
Venus, in some cases Jupiter,

Mars, Saturn and some
of the constellations.

NARRATOR: Though most people
consider the Egyptians as the

ultimate pyramid builders, ten
times as many pyramids were

constructed in Mesoamerica
than in Egypt.

But why did the Maya build
so many of their monumental

structures in absolute precise
alignment with solar, lunar and

stellar events?

COLLINS: Well, it seems as if
they were paranoid that if they

did not do this, something
bad would happen.

(rumbling)

They were on the fifth epoch, and
each of these earlier epochs

they believed had
ended in catastrophe.

And it seemed as if they had to
synchronize their rituals, their

events, their games, their
activities with these specific

celestial events, because if
they didn't, something bad would

happen, and the epoch
would end prematurely.

COPPENS: The Mayans were
absolutely convinced that timing

was crucial, because the stars
were revealing when the gods

were going to come back, and
obviously, that meant the gods

were coming from the stars.

NARRATOR: But where, or from
whom, did the ancient Maya learn

to accurately track time by
tracing the celestial movements

of our solar system and
the universe beyond?

Could the ancient Maya have
actually conspired with

extraterrestrial visitors to
plan not only the future, and

even the very end of our world?

Perhaps a further
examination of the infamous

Mayan calendar and its so-called
doomsday prophecy is required.

NEWMAN: There are several
legends in the Mayan world which

suggest that this end date of
the Mayan calendar in December,

2012 is actually an apocalypse day.

The Popol Vuh discusses it as a
possible destruction of the planet.

The Tortuguero Monument, which
is a site near Palenque...

it's the only inscription in stone
that mentions the 2012 end date

of the calendar.

And that talks about nine
gods descending to Earth.

But no one really knows
exactly what that means.

Some people suggest that
may cause a cataclysm.

Others suggest it may be a whole
dawn of a new age where we

actually move into a more
conscious way of life.

CHILDRESS: If the truth is that
the Mayans were in contact

with extraterrestrial beings, and
now their calendar is ending

on December 21, 2012, this might
be the return of the gods

themselves, of the
extraterrestrials coming back to

Earth to the Mayans, as they promised.

NARRATOR: Given the
sophistication of the Mayan

calendar, is it really possible
that the Maya could have

accurately predicted the
exact date of some sort of

Earth-changing event?

Might such an event usher in a
new era of human enlightenment?

Or might it mark the end of
mankind in the form of a

cataclysmic doomsday?

Perhaps only time will tell.