All language subtitles for Ancient.Aliens.Origins.S02E08.Messengers.Among.Us.1080p.HULU.WEB-DL.H264-RAWR_track4_[eng]

NARRATOR:
Commandments decreed

by otherworldly powers,

sacred visions that altered
the course of history...

and chosen messengers among us

guided by an unseen hand.

For nearly two decades,

Ancient Aliens
has traveled the globe,

exploring towering
megalithic structures,

mysterious artifacts,

and stories
of otherworldly beings

in a quest for evidence
that might reveal the truth

of our extraterrestrial origins.

When we look back
on human history,

we find this incredible
lineage of messengers,

but today
we call them contactees.

NARRATOR:
Now we take a look back

through
the Ancient Aliens archives

to the show's very origins

to examine the evidence
that we are not alone.

We have never been alone.

♪ ♪

When you study ancient cultures,
there are so many stories

of messengers
imparting information

from the gods to humanity.

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS:
Yeah, and what's even

more fascinating is that
many of these ancient cultures

tell identical old stories.

So you have to ask yourself,
"How was this possible,

"unless we are talking
about a physical encounter

with extraterrestrials?"

WILLIAM HENRY:
Yeah, and some of the most

incredible accounts

are in the Bible's
Old Testament.

We talked about
these biblical messengers

back in 2013

in an episode
of Ancient Aliens called

"Prophets and Prophecies."

NARRATOR:
Gebel Khashm et-Tarif, Egypt.

This mountain rising
out of the Sinai desert

is believed by some
to be the site of two

of history's most important
divine encounters:

the peak where
the biblical patriarch Moses

encountered the burning bush

and the place
where Moses later received

the Ten Commandments from God.

But what was the true nature
of Moses' divine encounter?

Was he a normal human
randomly chosen

to deliver the word of God?

Or did he possess
a special gift?

An inherent ability
to communicate

with otherworldly forces?

JONATHAN YOUNG:
Mystical literature
from all over the world

has accounts of visitations
from angels, gods,

some kind
of supernatural creatures

that interact and interfere,

that represent some powers
beyond our understanding.

PHILIP COPPENS:
We see this in the Bible
with Moses.

He is just one
of several examples of leaders

who are guided
by divine guidance,

who really are getting
the help of the gods

into getting to their goal.

NARRATOR:
In addition to stories
of the prophet Moses,

the Hebrew
and Christian testaments

also feature similar accounts
of numerous other prophets,

including Elijah,

Isaiah,

Noah,

Abraham,

Enoch

and Jesus.

RICHARD RADER:
Prophets are a major element

in almost all ancient societies.

These were people who functioned
sort of as liaisons

between, um,

the-the mortal world
and the immortal world,

between the gods and the humans.

WILLIAM FULCO:
They have a message, which is
a communication from God,

but what's very interesting
about that,

it's not just a message.

It's-- the presence of God
is felt to be

in the words
of the prophet himself.

So the one who hears a prophet

actually is encountering
the presence of--

presence of God,
and not just a message from God.

RADER:
So, if you have a prophet
who is an authority figure

in your community and he says,
"This god is upset about this.

"You need to do X, Y or Z
to placate, uh,

this god or goddess,"
um, you did it.

NARRATOR:
But was the source
of these prophetic messages

truly of a divine nature?

According to
ancient astronaut theorists,

there is perhaps
another possible explanation

as to who or what
may have been contacting

these prophets
of the ancient past.

COPPENS:
What we're beginning to realize

is that this is not religious,
but that these are people

who have had anomalous
experiences with entities

and that this is contact
with a nonhuman intelligence.

CHILDRESS:
Prophets and prophecies
are evidence

that these higher beings
are instructing us

to help create civilization
for us to move forward

and even to give us
some warning of the future.

"This is what's gonna happen,
you need to get ready."

NARRATOR:
Is it really possible
that extraterrestrial beings

made contact
with the ancient prophets?

Perhaps the answers can be found

by looking further
into the story of Moses,

as written more than
3,000 years ago

and chronicled in the Hebrew
Testament's Book of Exodus.

Moses's first encounter with God

occurs in the, uh,
in the third chapter

of the Book of Exodus.

Moses encounters a burning bush,

and God speaks to him
out of this burning bush.

And Moses is given a mission.

And the mission is to liberate
the Hebrews indentured in Egypt.

TSOUKALOS:
The idea of the burning bush
is very interesting to me

because things
like burning bushes

really don't exist, especially

if they, all of a sudden,
give instructions.

So we have to ask ourselves,
what did our ancestors describe?

And so the burning bush idea

could have been
a technological creation

which Moses described
as a burning bush.

NARRATOR:
Might the burning bush,
as described by Moses,

really have been
an extraterrestrial device?

A machine?

Or perhaps
even a type of spacecraft?

If so, then with whom
or with what

was Moses really communicating?

Perhaps more clues
can be found in the story

of another, equally mysterious
close encounter.

Tell el-Dab'a, Egypt.

Some scholars and researchers
believe that it was here,

in the northeastern region
of the Nile Delta,

where the Israelites
began their exodus

and where Moses had
his second divine encounter,

this time with
an incredible object in the sky.

They were met partway, uh,
toward their destination

by what I would call
a biblical UFO.

In Exodus chapter 13,
verses 21 and 22, it says,

"The Lord went before them
by day in a pillar of cloud

"and by night
in a pillar of fire.

The pillar did not depart
from before the people,"

meaning that
it was always there.

FULCO:
Well, what the Bible tells us

is that it is the presence
of God manifesting himself

in a dramatic way,
accompanying the Israelites.

TSOUKALOS:
The question
has always been asked,

"Well, what was
that cloud of fire? What is it?"

Is it God, or as the ancient
alien theory suggests,

it could have been
some type of a craft,

a beacon
that they had to follow.

PATRICK COOKE:
The Hebrew people,
they were following the object,

and it makes it very clear
that whenever the object

was on the ground,
the people stopped and camped.

When it was taken up, they broke
camp and they moved forward.

The object was leading them.

DOWNING:
And the description of a pillar
of cloud and of fire,

a pillar is cylindrical in shape
and perhaps quite hard or solid.

This is very similar to UFOs
that are reported now.

The flying saucer types
are more famous,

but the cylindrical-shaped UFOs
are very common,

and they can be very large.

Up to a half mile
in length, perhaps.

Some students of UFOs
think these are mother ships,

and the fact
that it's a cloud by day,

uh, suggests, as in modern UFOs,

that there's some type
of halo effect around the UFO.

NICK REDFERN:
If we look at it
in that context,

perhaps the ancients
would have described

a gleaming UFO in the day

as a, as a cloud,
a bright cloud.

And they would have described
a brightly lit UFO at night

as a fiery pillar.

NARRATOR:
Was this strange
pillar of fire and cloud

really a physical
manifestation of God?

Or was it an advanced
technological device

of an otherworldly origin?

As far as ancient astronaut
theorists are concerned,

further clues may lie
in the story

of Moses' final divine encounter

on the summit of Mount Sinai.

COOKE:
Moses receives a message

from God that he is going
to land on Mount Sinai.

So he gathers the nation
of Israel around the mountain.

This huge, bright glowing cloud
lands on Mount Sinai.

FULCO:
And it's quite spectacular
because it's surrounded

by all sorts of
preternatural phenomenon,

of the sounds of trumpets
and-and clouds and fire.

DOWNING:
And the Jewish people are told

to stay at the bottom
of Mount Sinai.

But Moses is authorized-- and
you might even say protected--

by the pillar
of cloud and of fire

so that he can go up there, uh,
and everybody else can't.

NARRATOR:
According to the biblical texts,

Moses ascends the mountain
and enters the glowing cloud.

There, he communes
with the almighty God,

the Creator of the universe.

And after 40 days, he returns,

carrying the Ten Commandments.

But for ancient astronaut
theorists,

the story of what happened
on Mount Sinai

may, in fact,
offer compelling evidence

of a very different type
of encounter.

REDFERN:
Moses, going up with God,
being gone for 40 days,

it sounds very much like
the contactee experience today,

where contactees
are given rules and regulations

and ideas to follow,

you know, in terms
of elevating the human race.

DOWNING:
The commandments
that are given go against

our very animal nature,
because to some extent

what the bible says is that God

would will to give
divine power to humans

if we could handle it.

But the problem is that we don't
have the ethics to handle it.

Thou shalt not kill.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not steal.

The Ten Commandments are a start
toward handling divine power.

And the prophets were picked
to be the spokespersons

for powers that were
trying to rule the world

through rules and regulations,
commandments

that would bring about
moral obedience,

which is superior to following
our animal instincts.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible that Moses's
encounter on Mount Sinai

was not with the almighty God

but with some sort of
extraterrestrial messenger?

One that deliberately sought

to guide and govern
human behavior?

Ancient astronaut theorists
say that such a profound

and controversial notion
is possible

and claim additional
evidence can be found

in the story of yet another
Old Testament prophet,

one whose teachings
were almost entirely erased

from the holy record.

The story of Moses
is an extraordinary example

of E.T. contact in the Bible.

But we've also got to talk
about the apocryphal texts,

stories that were either left
out or removed from the Bible.

Right, for example,
the Book of Enoch,

which served as a major
source of inspiration

for Erich von Däniken's
Chariots of the Gods?

Because in it,
it is described how Enoch

is taken into the skies
in physical form

inside a fiery chariot.

Yeah, right, and he delivers
knowledge from heaven to Earth.

And in ancient astronaut theory,

this knowledge
is coming from some kind

of extraterrestrial source.

NARRATOR:
The Tigray highlands, Ethiopia.

Here, 7,000 feet above sea level

and clinging
to the side of a mountain,

stands the Abba Garima
Monastery.

This church is home to one
of Christianity's most ancient

and spectacular treasures,
the Garima Gospels.

Consisting of two beautifully
illustrated volumes,

it has been dated
to the sixth century AD,

making it one of the oldest and
most complete Bibles on Earth.

YOUNG:
There is the very earliest
Christian churches in Ethiopia.

So there is this strong
connection to the ancient roots

of Western civilization,
Western religion in Ethiopia.

NARRATOR:
Ethiopia's biblical connections

date back nearly 3,000 years.

In the tenth century BC,

King Solomon, the builder
of the First Temple in Jerusalem

and the keeper
of the Ark of the Covenant,

was visited
by Queen Makeda of Ethiopia,

also known
as the Queen of Sheba.

YOUNG:
The Queen of Sheba,
it is said, had a relationship

with Solomon and had a son.

When he came of age,
he wanted to meet his father,

and his mother
blessed this journey

up to Israel to meet Solomon,
and he stayed for some time.

And then some, uh, leaders
of the Jewish nation

went back with him to Ethiopia.

Because of this connection
between the Queen of Sheba

and Solomon, there's a large
Jewish population in Ethiopia.

There are many returnees
to the Holy Land, to Israel,

from Ethiopia and other
nearby areas in Africa.

Ethiopia is
an unusually holy place.

NARRATOR:
Curiously, the Bible used
by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church

differs from that of other
Christian denominations.

Its version of the Old Testament

includes a controversial text
known as the Book of Enoch.

The Book of Enoch,
a very, very interesting,

very ancient document
which, uh, is only found

in the language of Ge'ez,

which is a sort of
Ethiopian early language,

and has over a hundred chapters
in the full form.

So, within the Ethiopian Church,

Enoch is considered
an, uh, canonical text.

In other Christian traditions,
it is not.

NARRATOR:
The author of the book,
according to the text,

is the Jewish patriarch Enoch,

the great-grandfather of Noah.

Enoch is a biblical figure

mentioned in the Book
of Genesis chapter five.

What's interesting about Enoch
is, a tradition arose

that he never died.

And this is because
in Genesis 5:24,

the text says
that Enoch "walked with God"

and then was no more
because "God took him."

NARRATOR:
But where the Hebrew Bible
only mentions Enoch briefly,

the Book of Enoch,
which consists

of more than 100 chapters,
greatly expands on his story.

In it is a curious passage
that details

Enoch's ascent to heaven.

ERICH VON DÄNIKEN:
According to the book of Enoch,

he says he was 12 years old.

The whole community
of his village wanted to sleep.

But then they hear
the noise in the sky.

Two angels came down
from the sky.

One of the two beings
said to Enoch,

"Don't be afraid, human."

Then they went up
to the so-called heaven.

HENRY:
And in the Book of Enoch,
we learn

Enoch himself is taken into
the heavens in a fiery chariot.

VON DÄNIKEN:
Enoch goes up
to the so-called sky,

and there Enoch sees
something over the Earth

which he cannot describe.

He has no word
like "spaceship" or something.

He says it looked
like houses of crystal.

TSOUKALOS:
It is described that he sees
planet Earth underneath him.

He actually describes
his arrival.

How he has to walk
through these different rooms,

where he sees jewels
and he sees shiny surfaces

and blinking lights.

It is an eyewitness account.

It's "I, Enoch, did this.

I, Enoch, saw that."

The Book of Enoch is one
of the first abduction accounts

written down
by a fellow human being.

NARRATOR:
Does the Book of Enoch

really describe
an actual abduction event?

One that took place
thousands of years ago?

And if so, might this
incredible close encounter

be documenting communication
with otherworldly beings?

CARGILL:
Enoch-- he was said to be
at the right hand of God.

In fact, Enoch was said to be
God's scribe in later tradition.

So God would decree things,
and Enoch was the one

who recorded
everything that went on.

So Enoch was the keeper
of all knowledge of heaven.

HENRY:
This is one the reasons
why the Book of Enoch

is so controversial.

He's taken up
into the heavenly realms,

to the throne of God,
where he is given

powerful universal knowledge
by angelic beings,

or extraterrestrial beings.

NARRATOR:
As far as ancient astronaut
theorists are concerned,

the Book of Enoch is one
of the most compelling texts

ever written documenting
extraterrestrial visitation...

...but it is far from unique.

They say that similar encounters
were documented

by many other ancient cultures,
lending support to the notion

that Enoch's experiences
were genuine.

We can find ancient texts
that speak of people

ascending to heaven
and then coming back down.

For example, in ancient Greece,
you have the story of Ganymede,

that was taken up
by Zeus's eagle.

Also, in ancient China

and in ancient Sumeria

and also in ancient Egypt

are there stories of people
having been visited

or having gone
up to the sky to visit

with the so-called gods,
lowercase "G."

NARRATOR:
While these other accounts
tell a similar story,

none contain
the incredible detail

found within the Book of Enoch.

And some researchers believe

that it was because
of this controversial content

that the text was omitted
from most versions of the Bible.

Not only d-do these texts
infer quite strongly,

uh, the possibility
of extraterrestrial life,

but they also show
a very different side of God.

This type of information,
these type of texts,

this could not be put
into the Bible.

TZADOK:
The sages of the time considered

the teachings
of the Book of Enoch,

if you will, too hot to handle.

And therefore,
it fell along by the wayside,

concealed and hidden.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible the teachings
of Enoch reveal

that not all angelic encounters
were of a divine nature?

Is this the secret
that has been kept alive

in the Ethiopian version
of the Bible?

For ancient astronaut theorists,

the Book of Enoch
lies at the heart

of an extraterrestrial agenda

that has been shaping human
history for thousands of years,

and they suggest that nowhere
is this more evident

than in the book's descriptions
of beings called the Watchers.

NARRATOR:
London, England.

1604.

To end a dispute
in the Anglican Church,

King James I orders the creation
of a standardized English Bible.

Today, more than four centuries
after its creation,

the King James Version

remains the most famous Bible
in history

and one of the most published
books of all time.

Interestingly,
while it contains 66 books,

the Catholic Bible has 73,

and the Ethiopian Orthodox
version is comprised of 81.

But why were so many texts,

including the Book of Enoch,
edited out?

There has always been
accepted literature,

which becomes
the foundation of orthodoxy.

And then there's
other literature

that the accepted orthodoxy
rejects.

Books that don't make it into
the collection of the Bible,

both the Hebrew Bible
and the New Testament,

are the Apocrypha.

JULYE BIDMEAD:
The word "apocrypha"
means "hidden things,"

and that's probably from

the ancients hiding these texts
away from the general public

because they could be dangerous.

NARRATOR:
Dangerous?

Is it possible that
the Book of Enoch was omitted

because it exposed
truths about human history

that were considered too risky
for the public to know?

Ancient astronaut theorists
suggest insight can be found

by examining a passage
in the Old Testament.

We know from the Book of Daniel
in chapter four

that there is a group
of angelic entities

whose job, whose role it is
as ordained by God

to direct the affairs
of humanity.

These angelic forces
look over our world

and control the direction
of civilization.

NARRATOR:
While this passage is brief,

these beings serve
as the primary focus

of the Book of Enoch,

where they are described
as divine overseers

known as the Watchers.

VON DÄNIKEN:
Enoch calls them,
in the English version,

guardians of the sky
or watchers of the sky.

In the German version,
they are called angels.

No. It was simply another time.

Now we have a new time.

Now we must translate it
with new words.

Change the word of "angel,"

trash it out,
and write "extraterrestrial."

TZADOK:
These angels were
not spiritual beings.

They were physical beings.

That is something very clear

about the identity
of biblical angels.

They're not of this world,

and therefore they
are not terrestrial.

And therefore
they are extraterrestrial.

NARRATOR:
According to the Book of Enoch,

a total of 200 Watchers
descended to Earth.

Enoch gives us some
of the names,

but we know
they were ruled by Samyaza

and Aza-- Azazel.

Azazel was later known
as Lucifer.

HUGH NEWMAN:
The Watchers had
a very bright appearance,

and one of their names
was "the Shining Ones."

And even Enoch,

when he wrote about them,

he even said
he could barely look at them

because they were so bright.

NARRATOR:
As far as ancient astronaut
theorists are concerned,

the idea that the Watchers
were alien visitors

is most strongly corroborated

by the stories
of the prophet Elijah.

TZADOK:
Aside from Enoch,

there was one other
we know from the Bible

who did ascend to heaven
in chariots of fire,

whatever that is meaning.

And this of course is
the famous prophet Elijah.

Elijah was a powerful,
powerful prophet

who had abilities apparently far
beyond those of other prophets.

HENRY:
Elijah possessed

a power cloak or a garment

that gave him the-the ability
to heal the sick

and even to raise the dead.

And then one day he used
that power cloak or garment

to ascend upon a fiery chariot.

A chariot of the gods.

And when Elijah ascended,

there were 50 prophets
that witnessed his ascension.

TZADOK:
The Bible calls it
"chariot of fire."

But what is this chariot? Was it

some type of a technological
transportation device,

which in ancient times
would not have been understood

as anything else
but a chariot of fire?

NARRATOR:
Curiously, while the idea
of the soul ascending to heaven

is a key component
of Judeo-Christian traditions,

there are a number
of instances in the Bible

where it is said
that a person ascends bodily.

In addition to Enoch and Elijah,

this is also the case with
both Jesus and his mother Mary.

But why?

If heaven is a spiritual realm,

why is it written that certain
individuals ascended bodily?

Neither Enoch nor Elijah ever
claimed that they were prophets.

It was
the biblical writers later

who claimed
that they're prophets.

The reason of why Enoch
ended up being called a prophet

is because of the experiences
he had.

He was taken up into space
by extraterrestrials.

And we have a similar story
with Elijah.

Enoch, Elijah--

it-it's all part

of the big concept
of misunderstood technology.

NARRATOR:
If the Watchers were
in fact extraterrestrials,

as ancient astronaut theorists
suggest,

did they have
an agenda for humankind?

And if so, were certain
individuals chosen to serve

as their messengers?

Perhaps further clues can be
found in the divine guidance

given to an ancient
Babylonian leader.

One of the oldest accounts

of an otherworldly messenger

is that of the Babylonian king
Hammurabi.

I mean, we're talking
about a story

that's over 3,700 years old.

HENRY:
Right.

And Hammurabi devised

the world's
very first legal system,

which he claimed
was dictated to him by a god.

- Mm-hmm.
- And then, in Egypt,

the pharaoh Akhenaton receives

messages that leads to him

dramatically altering
Egyptian religion.

CHILDRESS:
Yeah.

And in Akhenaton's case,

that messenger is a god

depicted as a disc in the sky.

NARRATOR:
The Louvre. Paris, France.

This historic museum houses

perhaps the most significant
legal text in the ancient world.

This stele features
the Babylonian god Shamash

talking to King Hammurabi,

and below them,
carved in cuneiform text,

are the laws they gave
to their people.

It is called
the Code of Hammurabi.

McVEIGH:
Hammurabi, without a doubt,

was one of the great geniuses
of the ancient world.

And of course he's famous

not just for being the ruler
of ancient Babylonia

but for coming up with what
is called the Code of Hammurabi,

which was the first written
legal record.

YOUNG:
It's a primitive document
compared to what we have now,

but he had
a whole system of order

and how taxes were collected
and various civil principles

and the rather famous punishment

an eye for an eye,

which has been modified
over the years,

but that he had a system.

NARRATOR:
The Code of Hammurabi
begins with a prologue

in which the king boasts
of his great deeds.

But he also writes
that the code itself

was dictated to him
by the Babylonian god Shamash.

YOUNG:
The great King Hammurabi
went into a trance,

and God began dictating
this incredible document

and channeling it through
the great King Hammurabi,

who was speaking it
in a voice very unlike his own,

language unlike his own.

It's all coming from God.

And then, when Hammurabi
wakes up from his trance,

the scribes read it back to him

and he has no memory
of dictating it.

It all came from God.

And it is brilliant.

An important part is

that Hammurabi
did not claim authorship.

He knew this was not
of his making,

of his intelligence.

DAVID WILCOCK:
The system of law that comes
through the Code of Hammurabi

is so intrinsic

to the basic
moral understandings

of how to run a society
that much of it

is still preserved in some form
in our modern-day legal system.

This suggests
that the Code of Hammurabi comes

from a very advanced point
of origin.

NARRATOR:
The story behind the Code
of Hammurabi is not unique.

In the ancient world,
moments of genius,

including
basic religious beliefs

and scientific principles,

from Greece and Rome
to India and China,

were often said to have
been inspired by divine voices.

Think about it-- Moses, Abraham,

Noah, the prophets, Jesus--

a lot of the laws,
the rules, the customs,

the traditions that we have
are based upon individuals

claiming to have been told
something by a deity.

And it's not just
the Judeo-Christian tradition.

I would argue that,
in every culture,

you've got a lot of laws
that are essentially traced back

to people claiming
to have been told something

by a being
who's not of this world.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible that the course
of human civilization

has been determined

not by history's
most profound thinkers

but by some external force
that was guiding them?

The ancients were convinced
they knew the answer.

In fact, the Latin word "genius"

is where the term "genie,"

or "supernatural creature,"
comes from.

In the ancient world,
the idea of genius

had much more autonomy
than our modern view.

The genie,
which had a life of its own,

a kind of spiritual daemon,
entered you.

You had a relationship
with the genie,

and it was really the source
of the brilliance.

You were a channel.
You were a host.

You were involved,
but it was not as personal

and the ownership
wasn't as great.

SABINA MAGLIOCCO:
The Greeks believed that they
were inspired by the Muses.

So what caused a musician
to come up with a new tune?

What caused a writer
to come up with a new story?

It was the spirit of a Muse
that went inside the person

and caused that person
to become creative.

And we see that
in the word "inspire"--

"in spirit."

When we are inspired,

we are filled with spirit

and we create those things.

NARRATOR:
In Alexandria,

Egyptians founded
what would become

the greatest library
in the ancient world

by erecting a temple
to the Muses

and asking them to fill
their library with wisdom.

TSOUKALOS:
When we say
that "I'm looking for my muse,"

you are looking for the key

with which to unlock
this kingdom of creativity

that resides within each
and every living being.

Is it possible by reaching this
altered state of consciousness

to come in contact
with beings or with entities

that are
of those different realms?

I think that this is possible.

NARRATOR:
Could it be that the forces
of inspiration

that the ancients
attributed to the gods

really did emanate
from an otherworldly source,

as ancient astronaut theorists
suggest?

In the ancient world,
it was really believed

that people were influenced
from outside

to have special thoughts,

to have special inspiration

and-and, uh, genius-type ideas,

and it was coming
from outside of you.

So you have to wonder
if these-these ideas

aren't possibly some kind
of thoughts

that are being projected
into your mind,

possibly by extraterrestrials.

HENRY:
Perhaps behind all of this

is a belief that people
were directly influenced

by extraterrestrial beings

who gave them
immense inspiration

or profound knowledge

that then they were able
to share with others.

NARRATOR:
Could it be that mankind

has received ongoing inspiration
from otherworldly forces?

And if so,
were these messages intended

to covertly shape our world?

Perhaps further evidence
can be found by examining

the curious connection
between a heretic pharaoh

and a mysterious disc
in the sky.

NARRATOR:
Luxor, Egypt.

Along the east bank
of the Nile River

lie the ruins
of the Karnak Temple Complex,

dating to the 32nd century BC.

Here, in ancient Egyptian
society,

the pharaohs were
considered perfect humans

to be worshipped above all
others as supreme living gods.

This religious hierarchy was in
place for over a thousand years,

until one pharaoh came into
power and changed everything.

His name was Akhenaton.

According to legend,

Akhenaton descended
from the stars.

And when he came to power,

the worship
of multiple gods ended.

The pharaoh replaced the old
deities with a single sun god

that some believe
had interacted with

and gave birth to Akhenaton.

This god was called Aten.

What we have with Akhenaton
is a very brief period of time

when Egypt radically departs
from its standard behavior.

We see Akhenaton
is becoming obsessed,

saying that he can contact
the gods.

Also, he is remodeling
the way he looks--

not physically
but on his monuments.

TSOUKALOS:
Akhenaton looked very odd.

And the other statues that
were created during that time

all featured elongated heads,

bizarre bodies,
and chicken legs.

The whole reign of Akhenaton
leads us to think

that he had contact
with extraterrestrials.

NARRATOR:
Akhenaton's wife Queen Nefertiti

and their children
were also depicted

with similar elongated heads.

But might there be a specific
reason why the pharaoh

and his descendants
were illustrated in this way?

COPPENS:
Clearly, Akhenaton
and various other people

were confronted with deities
who had these elongated skulls.

And so they reshaped
their heads,

because this somehow would bring
them closer to the gods

and maybe even in contacting
or being amongst the gods.

NARRATOR:
Could the sun god Aten

have been an alien being
that visited Earth,

as some ancient astronaut
theorists contend?

Or is it possible
that Akhenaton himself

had an extraterrestrial origin?

Might Akhenaton have received
messages from Aten?

Messages that would have had
a profound effect

on Egyptian society
during the pharaoh's reign?

TSOUKALOS:
They visited him.

He had actual physical contact
with them.

And so that was the reason why

he instituted this one-god rule.

And another theory is also
that Akhenaton himself

was in fact half human,

half extraterrestrial.

NARRATOR:
Akhenaton ruled for 17 years.

But upon his death,

the magnificent city
he built to the sun god

was partially destroyed...

...and his mysterious depictions
were defaced or obliterated.

Aten, the god who some believe

may have delivered messages
to the pharaoh,

was also virtually erased
from the records.

Is it possible, as ancient
astronaut theorists contend,

that the pharaoh's relationship
with extraterrestrial beings

was covered up
for nearly 1,000 years?

JASON MARTELL:
All the other pharaohs left
wall descriptions and--

describing their glory
and brilliance.

But for some reason,
around Akhenaton,

it was all scribbled out,

as if to hide them,
like an ancient cover-up.

NARRATOR:
Might the defacement
of Akhenaton's legacy

have been an attempt
to conceal his contact

with an extraterrestrial
presence?

Or could it be that his erasure
was orchestrated

by the priesthood,

acting on the will
of Egypt's ancient gods

seeking to reclaim
their authority?

Perhaps further evidence
of this unseen influence

can be uncovered by examining
a profound religious revelation

that altered
the course of history.

You know, we have been talking
about ancient stories

from well over 2,000 years ago,

but there are
more recent accounts

- of otherworldly messengers.
- Yeah.

And some of these were
major world-changing events.

Like the account of
the Roman emperor Constantine.

He sees what he interprets
as a sign from the heavens, and

as a result he converts the
Roman Empire to Christianity.

Right. And we have stories
like that

also here in the United States.

The Mormon Church was founded

after a visit by a so-called
otherworldly messenger.

We talked a lot
about these modern encounters

in an episode called
"Alien Encounters."

NARRATOR:
Rome.

October 27, 312 AD.

Just north of the city,

the emperor Constantine

leads his troops
toward the Milvian Bridge

and a decisive battle with
Maxentius to reclaim his throne.

At stake is control
over the western part

of the vast Roman Empire.

According to an account
from the historian Eusebius,

on the eve of the battle,

Constantine looks up
into the sky...

...and sees what he believes
is a divine vision.

Constantine and his followers

saw in the sky
what their chroniclers say

was a huge white fiery cross.

Now, his followers didn't know
what to make of this.

But Constantine decided

that this was
the Christian cross.

KATHLEEN McGOWAN:
Constantine feels

after viewing this extraordinary
sign from the heavens,

this lighted cross in the sky,

that he will go forth
the next day

and he will conquer
the Roman Empire.

And this is
exactly what he does.

♪ ♪

This vision becomes one
of the crucial turning points

in human history.

NARRATOR:
After winning the brutal Battle
of Milvian Bridge,

Constantine
consolidates his power

and begins a campaign
of religious tolerance

across the empire,

and he himself
converts to Christianity.

But what exactly
did Constantine see in the sky

that ended up changing the
course of Western civilization?

Was it a divine vision
or something else?

TSOUKALOS:
Don't we all

see crosses up in the sky
when we look at planes?

Because you have lights
on the sides and at the front.

And if you have a little bit
of light shining on it,

sometimes they look
like crosses.

So we have to ask ourselves,
is it possible

that this was absolutely
no Christian symbol at all

but that it was adapted
over time

after something that
was witnessed up in the sky.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible
that extraterrestrials

were responsible
for Constantine's vision?

Ancient astronaut theorists say
one compelling piece of evidence

that aliens have tried
to manipulate mankind

through religious visions
still exists today.

Mexico City.

December 1531.

According to an account
called the Nican Mopohua,

published in the Aztec language
of Nahuatl...

...a peasant named Juan Diego

was walking in the countryside
when he heard a beautiful voice

singing on the other side
of a hill.

Diego climbed the hill
and saw an angelic vision...

...a woman in white garments
that shone like the sun.

And she said to him,

"Juan Diego,
I am the Virgin Mary,

"and I'm asking you to build
a sanctuary for me here

on this hill."

Well, Juan Diego fell
to his knees in awe

and he said, "Great lady,
I will do as you desire."

NARRATOR:
But according to the story,

Juan Diego couldn't convince
the local bishop

that he had actually seen
the Virgin Mary.

So he went back to the hill,

where he again saw the vision.

MAGLIOCCO:
He says, "Lady,
please give me a sign,

"because nobody believes me
when I tell them

that I have seen you."

And she says, "Juan Diego,
take off your cloak."

And he does.
He takes off his cloak,

and she fills his cloak
with roses.

PASTOR BRETT PETERSON:
He took the roses to the bishop,
and the bishop

fell down on his knees,

because it wasn't the roses

as to why he believed
the story from Diego,

but inside the tilma was
a painting of the Virgin Mother.

And the bishop believed and they
built the church on that hill.

NARRATOR:
This cloak still exists today.

And despite its frail fabric,

it has reportedly remained
in pristine condition

despite the cruel ravages
of time.

Right now
you can go to the church

and see the tilma hanging there.

And it has not degraded

over the 400-plus years
that they've had it.

It's been through a fire.

It's been through an explosion

where purportedly an iron cross
was twisted from the explosion,

but the tilma right next
to the cross was still fine.

NARRATOR:
Could the sacred image
on the cloak

really be evidence of
a visitation by the Virgin Mary?

Or might it have a different
otherworldly explanation?

In addition to the tilma
inexplicably enduring

for hundreds of years,

those who have studied it

have found
other unexplainable qualities.

Most bizarre of all
are the eyes of the image.

Approximately seven
to eight millimeters wide,

what we see inside those eyes

is a highly enigmatic mystery,

because it appears that there
are characters in the eyes,

the faces of the people
who were there at the time

that the tilma was unveiled by
Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531.

NARRATOR:
But if Our Lady of Guadalupe

really does have
otherworldly origins,

did it come from a heavenly
realm or somewhere else?

Not only do ancient astronaut
theorists believe

Juan Diego's vision was
an extraterrestrial encounter,

but even some members
of the church claim

that it was something other
than a religious experience.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is
definitely a heavenly visitor.

In my opinion, though,
what her story said

disagrees
with what the Bible says.

- (bell tolling)
- In fact, she said
she would protect

the people that worship
at the church.

What that does
is really deify Mary,

when the Bible is very clear

that only God can protect
those that serve him.

And so any otherworldly being
that demands worship or respect,

it cannot be
a-an angel from God.

Juan Diego may have witnessed
not just an apparition

but an actual
live extraterrestrial,

appearing through some sort
of advanced technology,

whose mission was
to impart spiritual faith

and a thirst for the divine.

(bell tolls)

NARRATOR:
Could it be that some
of history's most significant

religious visions
have actually been produced

by alien beings carrying out
a secret mission?

Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes

and believe further proof
of this extraterrestrial hand

can be found in the messages
given to a Latter-day prophet.

NARRATOR:
Manchester, New York.

September 21, 1823.

(crickets chirping)

As he settles into bed,
a 17-year-old farmhand

named Joseph Smith
begins to say his prayers.

Suddenly, without warning,

an overpowering light
envelops his room

and a robed figure appears.

According to Smith's account,

"not only was his robe
exceedingly white,

but his whole person was
glorious beyond description."

Speaking from
the center of the light,

the angel, whose name is Moroni,
sends Smith on a quest

for several sacred texts
hidden near a local tree.

GREGORY BEIRICH:
Upon, uh, locating the tree,

Joseph dug
and indeed found the texts,

but they recorded a language
which he could not read.

A second visitation from Moroni

told Joseph Smith
where he could find

what we might call
a device of some kind

that would allow him
to read the texts.

TSOUKALOS:
Joseph Smith was given

this translating stone,
the Urim and the Thummim,

with which he was able to
not only write down this text...

...but also to-to be able
to translate it.

BEIRICH:
He then translated
the texts into English,

which become the Book of Mormon.

And it depicts,
among other things,

that after Jesus
ascended into heaven,

he came to the Americas

and ministered
to the Native peoples here...

...to convert them
to his way of life

and that, at some point,

the texts that become
the Book of Mormon

are deposited here so that
Joseph Smith could find them.

NARRATOR:
Seven years later,
Smith publishes these texts

as part of the Book of Mormon,

establishing
the Church of Jesus Christ

of Latter-day Saints,

a denomination with more
than 15 million followers today.

Many religions worldwide

have been founded
with the help of angels.

Whether they're
representatives of Christian,

Muslim or Buddhist gods,

these apparitions
are thought to be a way

the gods intervene on Earth
with humans.

MAGLIOCCO:
Angels, when they appear

in religious legends
and in myths,

generally are messengers

between the heavenly realm
and the human realm.

PETERSON:
Throughout the Bible,
we have stories

of angels and demons
appearing to mankind.

In fact, Paul says

that, "You be careful
how you entertain strangers,

because some of you
entertain angels unaware."

The Bible is very clear
that angels

can take on human form

and appear
in the likeness of man.

NARRATOR:
But ancient astronaut
theorists suggest

that sometimes these
heavenly visions and apparitions

may not actually be angels
sent by an omniscient god.

And curiously,
the so-called angel

that led Joseph Smith
to the sacred texts

that would become
the Book of Mormon

did not profess
to have heavenly origins,

but claimed to be from
another part of the universe.

WILCOCK:
Now, Moroni did not say
that he was an angel.

He said that, at one time,
he had lived on Earth

but that now he came
from the Pleiades star cluster.

And he said there were
many others like him.

When we look at the background
of the Book of Mormon,

we see some
very interesting parallels

to what could be
an extraterrestrial tale.

This angel Moroni
that appears to Joseph Smith...

...seems to be
more than just chance.

It's very possible
that Joseph Smith

was interacting with
a type of extraterrestrial.

WILCOCK:
These extraterrestrials
may be giving these messages

to world leaders and to prophets
and seers and mystics

to let us know
that we are the product

of an extraterrestrial
interbreeding

and an ongoing contact

with these other people
who were not born on Earth.

And we have lost touch
with that history

only because we refuse
to believe the truth

that is recorded
in our historical books

and see what's right in front
of our faces even now

with the encounters that are
happening in the modern world.

NARRATOR:
But if an extraterrestrial being

really did inspire Joseph Smith
to found the Mormon Church, why?

Joseph Smith's encounter
ultimately led the Mormons

to migrate west to establish
a new holy land in Utah,

which has led some to speculate
that aliens, once again,

were guiding
the course of humanity.

Moroni let Joseph Smith know
that he would be the prophet

and he would lead his people
to the new Jerusalem.

WILCOCK:
Mormonism is another example,
potentially,

of an extraterrestrial influence

steering the course
of our humanity

and helping steer the outcome

of historical events
here on Earth.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible
that Joseph Smith,

the founder
of the Mormon religion,

was guided
by an extraterrestrial being?

And if so,
was this alien encounter

another attempt to guide us
into a more enlightened age?

Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes

but also suggest that humanity
may be caught in the middle

of conflicting alien agendas.

Most of the stories
of otherworldly messengers

speak of beings that are here
to deliver knowledge

to help humanity.

But then you also have
the stories

of the less benevolent beings

that are often referred to
as the trickster gods.

CHILDRESS:
Yeah, right, like

the Muslim stories of the jinn.

They are these strange,

shape-shifting beings that
whisper instructions to people,

often with a negative outcome.

Right, and what's
fascinating there

is that the ancient texts say
that these jinn were neither

of the earthly realm
nor the heavenly realm.

So, according
to the ancient astronaut theory,

that means they were
of the extraterrestrial realm.

NARRATOR:
Muscat, Oman.

Here, on the shores
of the Arabian Sea,

lies one of the world's ten
largest caves, Majlis al Jinn,

or "Meeting Place of the Jinn."

According to Islamic texts,

the jinn are beings
from a higher realm,

but they are not angels.

They have free will
and they disobey Allah,

just as the Watchers
are said to have disobeyed God

in the Book of Enoch.

And many Muslims believe
this 14-acre cavern

is still inhabited
by these otherworldly beings.

In Islam, there is a class
of beings known as jinn.

The jinn are angelic and yet

they are not
of the ethereal realm.

They are of the earthly realm.

They're neither good nor evil,
they're shape-shifters.

They can help you,
they can also trick you.

HENRY:
They are supposed
to have had magic abilities,

supernatural powers.

And humans
greatly feared the jinn.

They're just exiled beings

who crossed over
a forbidden boundary

and now find themselves
trapped in the Earth plane.

NARRATOR:
In the Islamic texts,

the jinn appear only when
they want to be seen,

often influencing humans

by whispering instructions
to them while invisible.

In order to understand
the nature of these entities,

we must understand that,
in many ways,

they are the intermediary race.

Like human beings,
they eat and drink.

Like human beings,
they sexually procreate.

But like the angels,
they can shape-shift,

fly and know the future.

NARRATOR:
Stories of encounters
with the jinn

can be found
throughout the Muslim world.

But could they be true?

Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes

and claim that further evidence
can be found

with the stories
of similar strange beings

found all over the world.

In Africa, there are
stories of the orisha,

demigods who came down
from the sky

that are said
to speak every language

and secretly influence
events on Earth.

In Japan, the tengu
are birdlike creatures

that are said to hide out
in the mountains

and change form
to manipulate humans.

But if otherworldly beings
were active on Earth

hundreds of years ago,

could they still be among us
even to this day?

Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes

and for proof
they suggest we look no further

than recent accounts
of alien abductions.

January 25, 1967.

South Ashburnham, Massachusetts.

30-year-old Betty Andreasson
is in her kitchen after dinner

while her mother, father
and seven children

are in the living room.

Suddenly, the power goes out...

...and when it comes
back on a moment later,

a beam of red light
shoots through the window.

BETTY ANDREASSON LUCA:
We saw a flashing
reddish orange light

coming through
the pantry window.

Five beings entered my home
right through the wooden door.

They had large black eyes,

tiny nose, thin slit mouth,
tiny holes for ears,

a large, bulbous head.

And I was quite shocked,

wondering who-who or what
is this, you know?

At that point,
I was taken up into the craft.

Betty ends up going with them

to some place
that she thinks is their world.

And she said it was
more vivid than life itself.

Betty Andreasson's reports
are very detailed and thorough.

There's lots and lots of
specific drawings that she makes

of technology on these ships.

This is before the era

that anybody was
talking about this stuff,

so it was a totally
unique experience for her.

NARRATOR:
A devout Christian,
Andreasson describes

her abduction
as a religious experience.

The only thing I could think of,
that they must be angels

for them to be able to pass
through the door like that

and to take me through
that door the same way.

But for ancient astronaut
theorists, this encounter

is most significant
because of how

these strange beings
identified themselves.

They said that they were
the Watchers.

June 1, 1990.

UFO investigator Raymond Fowler
publishes The Watchers,

an unprecedented inside look
at the Betty Andreasson case.

After years of hypnosis,
psych exams and interviews,

Fowler concludes
that the strange beings

Andreasson encountered

that called themselves
the Watchers

were the same entities

that are commonly identified
today as Grey aliens.

It's very interesting,
this word "Watchers,"

because when you talk
with so many people,

you begin to hear patterns.

And even if you're not
sitting across

from a man or a woman or a child

who says,
"I was taken by a Watcher,"

what you hear is,
the abductees knew

that they were dealing
with something

that knew everything about them.

Again, the Watcher idea, whether
you use that name or not.

NARRATOR:
According to Betty's account,

the extraterrestrials
who took her aboard their craft

subjected her
to medical examination.

And I was floated to a table.

And as he was examining me,

he-he said they were gonna have
to measure me physically.

And at that point, they started

to take this needle-like thing

and thrust it into my navel.

And I could feel it going
round and round inside me.

NARRATOR: As incredible
as Betty Andreasson's

abduction story sounds,
it is not unique.

Many alleged alien abductees
give very similar accounts.

In 1961,

Betty and Barney Hill
of Lancaster, New Hampshire

made one of the earliest
alien abduction reports

when they claimed that they had
been taken aboard a ship...

...placed naked
on examination tables,

and probed by what
they described as Grey aliens.

Linda Porter
of Covina, California

reported that in 1963,

she, too,
was taken aboard a ship...

...where she witnessed
strange-looking creatures

examining humans held in states
of suspended animation.

But if these accounts are true,

what is it that's being done
to these abductees?

Watchers have
two key areas of interest

as it concerns humanity.

One is genetics
and the other is technology,

and both are found
in the phenomena

of alien abductions.

So, one idea would be that
the purpose of the abductions

is to continue
to tweak the human body

to assist humanity in climbing

the evolutionary ladder,
so to speak.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible that the Watchers

that were described in the Bible
and the Book of Enoch

really are responsible

for the modern
alien abduction phenomenon?

Some ancient astronaut
theorists suggest

it is possible
that modern alien abductions

are not the work
of those same Watchers

that survived the great flood

but that instead
they are carried out

by another group
of extraterrestrials.

All of the people
that I've interviewed,

they would tell you
the same thing.

These Watchers, they're not
all of the same mind.

There seems to be conflict about

what the future of humanity
on this planet will be.

TZADOK:
Legends teach us
that Watchers fight

amongst themselves

and that they will each
manipulate segments of humanity

so as to express
their own agendas,

and therefore,
it is they who influence nations

to go to war and to fight

for their purposes,
not necessarily

for our own betterment.

CHILDRESS:
And you have to wonder

if many
of the modern-day abductions,

such as Betty Andreasson...

...are really extraterrestrials
who are the Watchers.

NARRATOR:
Betty Andreasson came to believe

that she had been chosen

to deliver a message
to the world

revealing that beings
called the Watchers

have been observing
and guiding humankind

since our very beginnings.

If Andreasson was selected
to carry such a message,

could there be others?

Perhaps further clues
can be found

by examining the accounts
and revelations

of another
extraterrestrial contactee.

A basic premise
of the ancient astronaut theory

is that extraterrestrials
had a hand

in the development of humans

thousands of years ago.

But I think it's also possible
that they monitored our progress

all this time and maybe

every once in a while
they would, you know,

nudge us in the right direction.

Right, and we have thousands

of modern-day reports

of what are thought to be
encounters with alien beings.

And very often,

the people report
that these beings

have messages that they want
to relay to humanity.

Right. And some people say
that the extraterrestrials

are trying to warn us
about atomic weapons

or to take better care
of the Earth.

We talked about this
in a 2023 episode called

"Close Encounters
of the Fifth Kind."

NARRATOR:
Desert Center, California.

November 20, 1952.

Photographer and amateur
astronomer George Adamski

is hiking with friends
along the rocky sands

of the Colorado Desert

when he sees a large
saucer-shaped craft in the sky.

According to Adamski,

a voice from the spaceship
speaks to him,

telling him to walk
off the main road.

Allegedly, uh, the four of them

saw a craft, uh, land

farther out in the desert.

George Adamski, by himself,

then walked over this hill
and to the craft,

where he claimed he met
with an extraterrestrial.

That extraterrestrial
invited, uh, Adamski,

ultimately, to go on
one of the craft at some point.

HENRY:
He claimed that they took him
in a spaceship

out into space
and toured other planets,

and along the way
he is educated or schooled

by a thousand-year-old being

he refers to as "the Master."

NICK POPE:
He believed that they were

enlightened, advanced beings

who were keeping an eye
on our development

and were concerned

about some of the turns that
the human journey had taken.

Pollution of the environment,
development of nuclear weapons.

And so Adamski then went on

to spread his message
around the world

because he felt that
this was a mission for him.

CHILDRESS:
Adamski wrote
a number of books about this,

and his photos
are still famous photos

that he took of cylindrical,
cigar-shaped ships

and of flying saucers.

He actually traveled
around the world

as a special ambassador.

He even met with
the queen of Holland

and other world leaders.

He was greeted often
as some kind of ambassador

from the extraterrestrials.

Most of these contactees
will say

they're lectured to
in some fashion

about technology
and their place in the universe.

It's a message
that they're given

to take to other people.

NARRATOR:
Do extraterrestrials
select certain people

to deliver information
to humanity?

Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes

and suggest there may even be
physical evidence to prove it.

Ulster County, New York.

December 26, 1985.

Best-selling author
Whitley Strieber

is celebrating Christmas
with his wife and young son

at their cabin.

In the middle of the night,

he is awoken
by a disturbing feeling.

I felt that there was
something around me.

In other words,
there was movement

that shouldn't have been there.

And I opened my eyes,

and I saw these big, black eyes
staring at me.

And I had no idea where I was.

It was a little round room.

And I began to scream.

This automatic voice
turned on, saying,

"What can we do to help you
stop screaming?"

There were these other figures,

dark blue little figures
darting around,

and they assaulted me, basically.

It was not easy. It was
a very terrifying experience.

NARRATOR:
To process the traumatic event,

Whitley wrote about
his close encounter,

which became the basis of his
best-selling memoir Communion.

He hoped the experience
was behind him.

But in May of 1989,

Whitley had another
strange nocturnal encounter.

STRIEBER:
I'm on my side,
on my right side,

and there's a hand pressing
down on my left temple,

pressing it into the pillow
in, like, waves, like this.

And I can't struggle,
I can't move a muscle,

I can't see anything.

I am completely immobilized.

After a few seconds, that ends.

And I think, "Was it a dream?"

Then, the next day or the day
after, my ear started hurting.

I reach up and I feel
this bump here on my ear.

And I thought, "Oh, my God,
th-- it's an implant."

WOMAN: Ooh, that--
look at that white thing.

STRIEBER: There was
an attempt to remove it.

It failed because the implant

went from here
right down into here on its own.

And the doctor pulled out.

Two days later,
it went from my ear lobe

back up to where it is
to this day.

NARRATOR:
Could extraterrestrials
have really implanted

some kind of device inside
Whitley Strieber's ear?

And if so, why?

According to Whitley,
whatever the implant is,

it has had
a profound effect on him.

STRIEBER:
In 2015,

I noticed a slit
opened up in my right eye,

and you could see words
racing through it.

But they were like someone was
typing very quickly and racing.

And it had something
to do with my writing,

because, at the same time,

my ability to do research

changed dramatically
and weirdly.

I found that if I just thought
about something I needed,

no matter how obscure,

one way or another,
it would come to me.

NARRATOR:
Since receiving
the alleged implant,

Strieber claims to have
had regular interaction

with otherworldly beings.

STRIEBER:
The visitors are
a part of my life now.

Very much so.

Uh, I don't think

I would be comfortable working

without knowing
that there was...

using the implant,
that there was a connection.

Now, what do they want from us?

That is a very big
unanswered question.

GEORGE KNAPP:
Humans have been interacting

with these beings,
wherever they're from,

for eons,
throughout human history.

I think that, uh,
this intelligence,

instead of revealing itself
on a global scale,

they've been engaging
with people one-on-one.

Maybe they put us on the path
where we are now.

Don't know.

They seem to have
an ongoing interest in us.

They take direct involvement

with certain bloodlines
and certain people.

And the dramatic transformations
that have taken place

after people have had
these claimed contacts

is very real.

NARRATOR:
Could modern-day
extraterrestrial contact cases,

like those of George Adamski
and Whitley Strieber,

be linked
to the same strange phenomena

reported by ancient
biblical prophets and leaders?

Are modern contactees

the latest in a long line
of chosen messengers?

Perhaps further clues
can be found by examining

the Vatican's
growing interest in UFOs.

When we talk about messages
from alien visitors,

a lot of people believe
that this information

is actually being hidden
by the Vatican.

TSOUKALOS:
Oh, absolutely.

In fact,
we know that the Vatican

contains a secret archive

in which they store
ancient texts

that are millennia old.

HENRY:
Yeah, and recently,

the Vatican has totally embraced
the possibility

of intelligent life
in the universe.

So maybe the Vatican
knows a lot more

about what messages
were conveyed to our ancestors

- than we do.
- Mm-hmm.

NARRATOR:
The Vatican.

Vatican City, Italy.

In the 17th century, Pope Paul V

ordered select documents
of the Catholic Church

moved from the Vatican Library

and closed to outsiders
until 1881.

Today,
the Vatican Secret Archives

are closely guarded,

and some researchers believe

they contain
revelations so explosive

that they threaten the doctrine
of the Catholic Church.

You have to wonder

if the secret library
at the Vatican,

which they acknowledge exists,

doesn't have records
or chronicles

about extraterrestrial contacts

that the Catholic Church
has recorded

and knows happened...

...but is keeping a secret.

NARRATOR:
According to researchers,

the Vatican Secret Archives
holds hidden evidence...

connected
to the Miracle of Fátima.

It was here in 1917

that three children claimed
to have received messages

from what some
Catholic theologians believe

was the Virgin Mary.

HOWE:
In Fátima, children saw
an apparition

they said was the Virgin Mary...

...and 70,000 people came
to this same sheep pasture.

And people said that they saw
a spinning silver disc.

The Catholic Church,
for a very long time,

would not acknowledge
what was happening

with the children or Fátima.

VON DÄNIKEN:
The extraterrestrials
give to the children

a telepathic message saying,

"You are not alone
on this planet."

"We are here. We have been here
some thousands of years ago.

"We observe you.

"Please prepare mankind

that we will return again."

All this story of Fátima
went to the Vatican.

NARRATOR:
But is it possible,

as ancient
astronaut theorists contend,

that the Catholic Church
censored the messages

that were received in Fátima?

TSOUKALOS:
The kids were given
three messages,

and the pope refused
to release the third message.

The third message
apparently talks

about extraterrestrial life.

Now, that is sensational,

because, to me, to deny

the revelation
of that particular message.

And that is exactly
what the pope did.

And I wonder why.

NARRATOR:
Some contend
that the Miracle of Fátima

is one of many events
that describe visitations

from extraterrestrial
messengers.

Researchers also point
to the voices described

by Joan of Arc,

visions received in Lourdes
by Bernadette Soubirous,

and countless stories
depicted in the Hebrew Bible

in which similar events
are described.

Perhaps the Vatican
knows far more

about life in the universe
than they have acknowledged.

But does a belief in alien life

question the omnipotence
of a supreme being?

TSOUKALOS:
Of course the Vatican knows

about extraterrestrial life.

But to suggest that "because
extraterrestrials exist,

that means there is no God"
is total nonsense.

NARRATOR:
Safford, Arizona,

130 miles northeast of Tucson.

The Mount Graham
International Observatory.

Here, the Roman Catholic Church

quietly operates
a massive telescope

that scans the heavens
day after day,

as does another telescope
in Rome.

What do they expect to find?

CHRISTOPHER CORBALLY:
We're doing all kinds
of research work

into various aspects
of the heavens.

So, from the very nearest
around planets nearby...

...our own solar system

out through to our galaxy,

galaxies beyond that,

and then
the universe as a whole.

NARRATOR:
Might the Catholic Church

be monitoring
our cosmic neighbors

and preparing for the day
when science and governments

acknowledge their existence?

The Vatican Observatory,
uh, on Mount Graham,

is very near
the San Francisco Peaks,

which is the sacred mountain
to the Hopi and Zuni Indians,

where the sky people
come and go from.

I find it very interesting
that the Vatican

should have an observatory

right at this very sacred
and crucial spot,

also well-known as a corridor
for UFO activity.

HOWE:
If you are a Vatican,
a government,

and you have secret knowledge

that there's other life
in the universe,

they're going to be forced
into public statements

consistent with the Catholic
view of the divine.

NARRATOR:
In 2008,

the Vatican stunned the world
when it announced

that the possibility
of extraterrestrial life

was not in conflict
with Church teachings.

Might they know
something we don't?

Do you think they came forward

with such a statement
out of thin air, willy-nilly?

No. There was
a deliberate calculation

behind releasing
such a statement.

All you have to do
is open your eyes,

and it becomes quite clear
we've been visited,

and the Vatican knows that.

The Vatican does not have
a specific stance

on extraterrestrial life.

If extraterrestrial life
was found,

then the Church would react

as it does with any data:

"What's about it to learn?"

A living experience would be

the experience
of extraterrestrials.

NARRATOR:
Might the growing accounts

of messages shared
with a select few here on Earth

have prompted the Vatican
to begin acknowledging

other life in the universe?

And if extraterrestrials are
delivering messages to humans,

could they be
signaling a reunion

with our ancient ancestors?

If so, perhaps
the otherworldly guidance

passed down through the ages

was never meant
for our salvation

but to ready us
for their return.

We find this incredible
lineage of messengers,

from Hammurabi to Akhenaton,
Moses to Enoch.

We think of them as prophets,
but they're messengers.

But today
we call them contactees.

Yeah, right, and you have
all of these messengers

of God from ancient times,

but their messages
are so similar

to the modern contactees.

It seems like the same message.

Well, yeah, and I mean,
the basic, uh, tenet

of the ancient astronaut theory

is that it was not
an encounter with God,

it was an encounter
with an extraterrestrial

in possession of a spaceship.

And the message
that they received is,

one day the extraterrestrials
will return.

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