All language subtitles for Ancient Aliens - 1x05 - The Return.HDTV.NoTV.en

Space ships over Los Angeles...
body snatchers controlling our minds...

E.T.'s making contact.

These and other alien-based scenarios
have been the plotlines of countless

science-fiction movies
and television shows.

But what if extraterrestrial
beings came to Earth tomorrow?

Would they signal the birth
of a new age of peace and

prosperity, or trigger
a war of the worlds?

The day that it's announced
we're not alone is the day that

this planet changes forever.

The very structures of
government and the very

structures of religion will crumble.

Everybody wants to meet an alien.

But we have to start small.

We have to learn how to
walk before we can run.

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, what might happen...
when they return?

Throughout human history,
man has gazed up at the

stars in awe and with wonder.

Our ancient ancestors charted
their movements, identified

constellations, and marked time by
creating celestial-based calendars.

The stars also became the source
of countless myths and legends.

Many of these describe visitors
coming down to Earth from

somewhere out there.

Others speak of entire civilizations
existing out in the cosmos.

The ancient Sanskrit writings of India
tell us, for example, there are

400,000 human-like species
scattered throughout the cosmos

in different planets, different solar
systems, even different dimensions.

But where are these alien beings?

Did they come to Earth in the
past, as the Ancient Astronaut

theory suggests, and then leave?

If so, will they ever come back?

Today, scientists around the
world have stopped waiting

around and are taking steps to find
intelligent extraterrestrial life.

Will technology finally be
able to prove what our ancient

ancestors believed
thousands of years ago?

In 1960, astronomer and
physicist Frank Drake set up an

unusual telescope in the
hills of West Virginia.

The strange device was made
from surplus World War II radar

equipment, but rather than
containing a traditional

optical lens, it housed a
directional radio antenna.

A few simple calculations showed that
radio telescopes have the power to

transmit and receive across
literally interstellar distances.

We're talking many light-years.

So Frank Drake turned a radio
telescope on a couple of nearby

stars and tuned in to see if he could
pick up a message from the aliens.

So this was a sort of
crazy thing to do.

Drake failed to pick up
any sounds that day, but

the science of radio
astronomy was born.

If we couldn't see aliens in
space, maybe we could hear them.

The things we've focused on in the past
for searching for extraterrestrial

life is really passively trying
to discover signals on the basis

that if they were technologically
advanced, they would have some form of

electricity like we do, and all
electricity generates radiation.

And it sends out the signals,
and hopefully we detect it.

In 1961, Frank Drake and a group
of astronomers, physicists and

biologists formed a privately
funded organization called SETI:

The Search for Extra-Terrestrial
Intelligence.

Their goal was to focus massive radio
telescopes towards space and listen.

Drake estimated the probability
that intelligent life existed

out in the universe in a formula that
became known as the Drake Equation.

The Drake equation is like a
bridge between scientists and

non-scientists, because it
explains what you would want to

know to give a number about how
common alien life could be.

There are multiple factors
within the Drake equation.

Like the fraction of stars that
could have planets; and the

fraction of those planets that
could be habitable; and the

fraction of those that might
have liquid water; and how many

could have evolved intelligent life?

And then one important factor
is the lifetime of those

civilizations, and
that is a big unknown.

We only know of one--
that's ourselves.

And how long are we gonna be

around?

That's to be determined.

Using his equation, Drake estimated
that over one hundred million advanced

civilizations could exist in
just the Milky Way galaxy.

SETI presupposes that if you've got
an alien civilization capable of

traveling that's developed electronics,
they have a fingerprint.

That fingerprint is a
repetitive signal.

A repetitive signal will tell
them that it's not just noise,

junk frequencies out there, but a
real attempt at communicating,

maybe not with us,
but with each other.

On August 15, 1977, astronomer Dr.
Jerry Ehman

was working on a SETI project at
Ohio State University when he

recorded an intermittent signal
coming from the direction of the

constellation Sagittarius.

The signal lasted 72
seconds before being lost.

Ehman believed that it was
of extraterrestrial origin.

But despite repeated searches
and increasingly larger

telescopes, the signal has
never again been detected.

But what if SETI intercepts a
transmission from another world?

What would happen next?

According to SETI's
Post-Detection Protocols, once

an extraterrestrial radio signal
is confirmed, news of the event

should be kept secret until the
authorities have been notified.

The government will then decide whether
or not to try and make contact.

I think all bets are off.

Because here's this message.

It could contain enormously
important information that

would transform our society
and maybe destabilize it.

What is it gonna mean for the
future of our civilization?

These are momentous questions.

Today, SETI continues to scan the
vicinities of nearby stars for

artificially produced signals
using several of the world's

largest telescopes.

In the next several years, when
it becomes fully operational,

SETI's new Allen Telescope
Array will allow for the

reconnaissance of up
to a million stars.

SETI has to search a huge, huge area.

They'll tell you that now they
have searched the equivalent of,

like, a glass of water compared
to the entire ocean on Earth.

They have a long way to go.

While SETI listens passively
to signals from outer

space, NASA has attempted to
contact alien life directly,

through messages sent
aboard its space probes.

It's a long shot, but
there's no reason, in my

mind, not to expect that
life evolved elsewhere.

What's harder to predict, or
try and understand, is how

likely is it that it happened
close enough that there'd be

someone we could actually
communicate with.

In 1972, NASA agreed to attach small
plaques onto the outside of its twin

Pioneer space probes, the first
human-built objects destined to

leave our solar system.

NASA contacted Cornell
University professor, Dr.

Carl Sagan, to craft the message.

Carl Sagan was one of the
most active astronomers in

the search for life
outside our planet.

He was a very prominent
scientist, he was an excellent

astronomer, and he really did a
lot to help us understand how

we might contact other life or detect
life elsewhere in the universe.

Sagan, along with SETI founder Frank
Drake, designed a gold-anodized

aluminum plaque, measuring
roughly six by nine inches, that

contained a collection of symbolic
images representing humans and Earth.

The man and the woman were nude, and
the gentleman was holding one arm up

like this in what was intended to be
a sign of, uh, a sign of greeting.

A schematic design of the solar system
was also shown, with the planned

trajectory of the Pioneer
spacecraft marked on it, and a

diagram of 14 pulsar stars
around the sun made a chart that

might help someone work out
where the craft originated.

We tried to give them an idea of
where we're located-- and that's an

interesting problem, is to
figure out how you would tell

someone where you're located in
space, 'cause you don't know

where they're gonna find it.

And it was all in a very stylistic
design, but in an attempt to hopefully

communicate at least
some of these ideas.

Five years later, in 1977, Dr.
Sagan got a second chance at designing an

interstellar message when NASA
agreed to attach another one to

the Voyager space probes.

This time, Sagan created
a record album made of

gold-plated copper, along with
a series of basic instructions

in how to make it work.

Sagan estimated that the
metallic disc could survive in

space for at least a billion years.

One of the challenges with
technology is trying to

figure out one that can do what
you want-- so here you want to

encode audio, and even some video
images, but do it in a way

that almost any other technologically
advanced society could figure out.

And the advantage of a record
player is, it's both mechanical

and electrical.

The grooves are obvious.

And so, they actually put on the cover
instructions on how to play it.

The recording included a wide variety
of sounds-- a baby's cry... wind...

Surf and rain, animal noises,
as well as classical and

cultural music from around the world.

One interesting song selection
was Chuck Berry's rock 'n roll

hit, "Johnny B. Goode."

Music is a good choice 'cause almost
anything vibrates and makes sound.

So I would have bet that almost
any culture would develop music.

I believe it's Bach who gets
the most time on the record.

I don't know why they picked
that, to be honest, but he is

one of the more mathematical
composers, and that might have

been one of the reasons, because
math is a more universal language.

Sagan also included a wide
array of photographs of

well-known man-made structures and
greetings in 55 different languages.

I think the most important one
is the Sumerian language.

Now, why would they include
Sumerian on that record?

Well, according to the ancient
alien theory, ancient Sumeria is

the first place where we made contact
with an extraterrestrial entity.

At this point, we obviously haven't
learned anything yet about

extraterrestrial life, because
we haven't been contacted back.

But I think for our own
purposes, any time you try and

go and figure out how you want
to communicate something, it

pushes your boundaries and
understanding of communication itself.

We all want to find aliens.

Whether it's the planetary
scientists looking for signs of

life on another distant planet.

Whether it's the ancient alien
proponents who want to find

signs of life of aliens
who visited in the past.

And whether it's people today
who want to have experiences

with UFOs and aliens that
have visited them recently.

All of us are trying
to do the same thing.

While the search for extraterrestrial
beings continues, a new space-based

telescope is hunting for
planets that may contain life.

Are there other earths out there?

And if so, how will we find them?

Ignition.

Lift off.

Lift off... On March 6, 2009, NASA
launched a Delta II rocket into space.

On board was a new telescope
named in honor of German

astronomer, Johannes Kepler.

The space-based telescope was
designed specifically to

discover the existence of
Earth-like planets located

outside our own solar system.

The Kepler search is focused on
a specific section of the Milky

Way known as Orion's Spur.

Kepler's job is to answer the question,
how common are other Earths?

To do this, Kepler's looking at
one part of the sky for three-

and-a-half years.

Imagine, like, keeping your eyes
open and staring at just one

part of the sky.

And what they're doing is
they're looking at stars.

And then, as a planet goes
around that star, when the

planet gets in front of the
star, the starlight dims, just

a little bit, from our vantage
point, 'cause it is being

blocked by the planet.

And so, you look for that
dimming of those stars.

And then that's how you're
able to detect these planets.

So far, the Kepler telescope has
confirmed the existence of five planets

outside our own solar system.

NASA officials expect to find
several hundred more exoplanets

like these before their
mission is completed.

Once a planet has been located,
scientists must then determine

if it might contain water.

We know from Earth that all life
on Earth requires liquid water.

So that is the approach that
we've been taking for looking

for life elsewhere in the
universe-- follow the water.

And so, that is the step one.

On Earth, wherever we find
liquid water, we find life.

And it's true.

Life on Earth can exist under an
extraordinary range of conditions.

There are extreme organisms that
live in the scalding effluent

coming out of the Earth's
crust deep beneath the ocean.

There are other remarkable
organisms living in the waste

pools of nuclear reactors of extreme
radiation environments and so on.

But the one thing that seems to
be absolutely necessary for life

as we know it is liquid water.

To determine if a planet contains water
and possibly life, scientists use

special telescopes to
analyze its atmosphere.

We look at the light
coming from the planet.

And we split that light
up, like a rainbow.

Now if you look at a rainbow in
the sky, and you look really,

really carefully, you
will see some dark lines.

You'll see some colors
missing from the rainbow.

And those colors are missing
because of absorption by gases

in Earth's atmosphere.

So effectively, we're getting a
rainbow from another planet, and

we're looking for dark lines
that tell us what kinds of gases

are in the atmosphere.

To better understand how life affects
its atmosphere, NASA scientists

study microbial mats at California's
Moss Landing Wildlife Area.

Microbial mats are important to
NASA for a whole bunch of reasons.

The organisms that are in
microbial mats have been on

Earth just about longer than
any other kind of organism.

They make a number of things
which we call biomarkers which

are important in our search
for life on other planets.

So, there are textural
biomarkers, so when you pull up

a piece of microbial mat and
look at the surface-- what does

that look like?

One of the things that we're
doing with these microbial mats

is, we're measuring the
fluxes of methane.

Methane is a gas that's
produced by certain kinds of

organisms that use the organic
matter that's in these mats.

And when that methane goes
into our atmosphere, it can be

detected by other missions, such
as terrestrial planet finder, is

one of NASA's concept missions
for looking for gases that arere

produced by life on exoplanets.

We can look for the signature
of oxygen or water on

a planet, and at least that
would give us an idea of

life-forms like ourselves-- ones
that are carbon-based, and use

oxygen and carbon dioxide cycles.

Our atmosphere is not stable
without living organisms.

It would have evaporated away by now.

And so, if you're looking out in
space, and you detect around a

star a signature of the chemicals
that we know exist for

life, that's very strong
evidence that life is there.

That doesn't help you know if
it's intelligent life, but it

does give you an evidence for life.

With a universe literally
full of possibilities,

planet hunters focus their search on
an area they call a Goldilocks Zone.

The Goldilocks Zone for
planets is the place where

a planet is not too hot, not
too cold, but just the right

temperature for life.

Right now, we know of no planets
like Earth in a Goldilocks Zone.

One planet comes close.

It's called Gliese 581D.

But we're not entirely sure if
that planet is really in the

Goldilocks Zone or not.

In recent years, it's been
recognized that there's

more than one Goldilocks Zone.

For example, there could be
life inside icy planetesimals,

these like small planets
or large moons.

The moon of Jupiter, Europa,
is a very good example.

Europa is liquid beneath an ice cap.

It's liquid underneath because
of tidal heating and friction

going on inside the planet.

So it could be that there is
life, microbial probably only,

deep down under the ice on Europa.

It's a very challenging question-- if
there is life elsewhere in our solar

system.

You have so many components
that have to come together.

We have to have an
understanding on the science.

We have to ask the right questions.

I wish I had a tricorder that I
could just go and, like, point,

and it would say: life,
or no life, right?

But we don't have that.

So, we have to be smart, and we
have to be clever, and, we have

to develop instruments that can
actually address the questions

we're trying to answer.

It's inevitable.

There are so many planets out
there, it's inevitable that

we'll find one in the
Goldilocks Zone any day.

But while the Kepler
telescope has only just

begun scanning the horizon, NASA
is already planning the next

step in its search for
extraterrestrial life: the 2014

launch of the James
Webb Space Telescope.

People always ask me, "Do you expect
to find an Earth in your lifetime?"

And I say, "Yes, absolutely."

When I was a student, there was almost
nobody prepared to argue that way.

The feeling back in the '60s and
'70s was that even if there

were other Earth-like planets,
life is such an improbable freak

event that it would never
ever happen anywhere else.

Now the prevailing view is, yes,
the universe is teeming with life.

Everybody wants to meet an alien.

But we have to start small,
we have to learn how to walk

before we can run.

The fascinating thing for
me is that we're only

four-and-a-half billion years
old in a universe that's close

to 14 billion years old.

What would happen with some of
these Earth-like planets that

had a five- or ten-billion-year
head start on us?

Gosh, you can only imagine.

But what if humans are
not the only intelligent

creatures searching for
life in the universe?

What if there are beings on
other planets conducting a

search of their own?

And what if, in their search,
they find us before we find them?

Some believe they already have.

On October 30, 1938, radio
listeners across the

United States sat stunned as
a series of news bulletins

described Martians invading Earth.

Martian cylinders are falling
all over the country.

This is the end now.

While the broadcast sounded
real, it was a fictional

production, directed and
narrated by Orson Welles.

Incredibly, many of those listening
believed it to be true, and panicked.

Newspaper reports described
families fleeing their homes

for the mountains, while others
armed themselves with weapons

and prepared to fight
off the alien invaders.

It was just presented, maybe, with a
brief introduction saying it was not

really happening.

But from then on, it was played
as if it was really

happening.

Well, most people who heard that
thought that it was really happening.

People became upset.

Some of those literally
headed for the hills.

They drove places to try to, uh, pick
up other people, family and friends.

They reported to the army for duty.

The response to this fictional alien
attack resulted in many people

preparing for the worst.

But if the public's reaction to
a radio dramatization resulted

in a nationwide wave of terror, what
would happen if they really came?

Los Angeles, California.

In the early months of 1942,
the city was on edge.

The recent surprise attack on
Pearl Harbor had propelled

America into World War II...
and the threat of a Japanese

invasion, by sea or by air, kept
the military on full alert.

Pearl Harbor was a very
recent memory for people.

People were in high alert.

There was a great deal of suspicion.

Japanese-Americans were being
put in internment camps.

There were German U-boats
in the Atlantic, Japanese

submarines in the Pacific, and
people were very fearful.

In a well-organized defense
operation, air-raid

wardens and the coast guard
were monitoring the Pacific

shoreline as never before.

The war had started.

I was a 13-year-old kid, and
this one night, which was

February 1942, the sirens started
wailing in the middle of the night.

Blackout.

And we'd had several
blackouts before this.

On February 25, between the hours of
3:12 and 4:15 a.m., the 37th Coast

Artillery Brigade in Los
Angeles fired off a barrage of

antiaircraft shells at an
unidentified flying object.

Watchers on the rooftop of the
Columbia Broadcasting Building in the

heart of Hollywood could plainly
see the flashes of guns

and searchlights sweeping the skies
in a wide arc along the coastal area.

I think what woke me up initially
was the sound of antiaircraft guns.

I jumped out of bed, and
my parents were up.

My father was an air-raid warden.

He figured, this has to be
the real thing. (chuckles)

My mother was telling my brother and
I, "Get under the bed, get under the

bed! Stay there!"

And, of course, we got
out and we peeked.

There was all this firing.

It was almost like a Fourth of July.

I started hearing a lot
of loud explosions.

My brother and I looked out the
bedroom window, saw searchlights

twisting and turning in the sky.

But what was the strange UFO that
the searchlights were focused on?

Where had it come from?

Japan?

Or somewhere from out of this world?

Could this incredible
photograph, published the

next morning in the Los Angeles

Times, provide the proof?

Could Ancient Astronaut theorists
have been right all along?

It was practically overhead--
and I mean overhead.

Retired anthropology professor C.

Scott Littleton, was nine years
old and growing up in Hermosa

Beach when he spotted the strange
object hovering right over his house.

We saw what my mother always
called a "silver bug."

I'd characterize it today
as a lozenge, a long oval.

It was something I'll
never, ever forget.

It was caught in searchlight
beams, and antiaircraft shells

were exploding all around it.

It gradually went like this, and
then began to lose altitude

a little bit as it moved over what
had to have been Redondo Beach.

We lost track of it, but
the banging continued.

And very quickly afterward, I
saw-- we all saw-- a flight of

planes following the track of
the object going overhead,

anywhere from three to
five interceptors, clearly

piston-driven U.S. planes.

No one has ever admitted that
those planes were in the sky.

Our first thought immediately was
a Japanese observation plane.

Later, the Japanese records
definitively prove there were

no Japanese planes over Southern
California that night, or indeed ever.

After ruling out the
possibility that a Japanese

plane had invaded American
airspace, Secretary of the

Navy Frank Knox attributed the
incident to "war nerves."

But Secretary of War Henry
Stimson quickly refuted this

explanation, defensively
declaring that an actual

aircraft had been the
target of the assault.

To this day, no one seems to
know just what-- or who-- was

hovering over Los Angeles that night.

Some claimed that the Los
Angeles air raid was nothing

more than an elaborate training
exercise, a show put on by the

military to keep citizens on the
ready in case of a real attack.

Others alleged that the
unidentified flying object was,

in fact, a barrage balloon that
had broken loose from its tether.

But even that explanation
doesn't seem credible to those

who witnessed the actual event.

One place where there were barrage
balloons that were anchored

above the aircraft plants in El
Segundo, Douglas North American.

It would have to have slipped
its tether, floated north up

to the Santa Monica Mountains,
and then back down this way.

Barrage balloons don't
maneuver like that.

Regardless of the controversy,
one fact is an estimated 14,000

shells were fired at the
strange object, and shrapnel

rained from the sky for over an hour.

But what were the guns aimed at?

Would the army really have put
civilian lives in danger for a drill?

Major panic.

Six people got killed, uh, due
to car accidents and hit by

falling shrapnel in all.

A friend of mine said he witnessed
a piece of shrapnel go through his

neighbor's garage roof.

So, oh, yeah, there were some
damage from falling shrapnel.

The next morning, there was something
in our backyard my mother told me to

go roll up-- it was, like,
a tarp or something.

And when I bent down...
or kneeled down in the grass, I cut

my knee, and I have
my piece of shrapnel.

I've kept it all these years.

There's my shrapnel,
and it's very sharp.

By a process of elimination, the
most efficient-- and I say this as a

scholar-- the most efficient
explanation is that it was what

we would call today a UFO--
something not of this world,

something that belonged
to another technology.

If that's true, then this event
was one of the largest mass UFO

sightings in history.

Over a million people saw it.

But whether it was a UFO
or not, the memories

remain vivid for those who saw
something in the sky that

night.

So vivid, in fact, that many of
them gather each year at Fort

MacArthur, in San Pedro, California,
to reenact this mysterious event.

The city went crazy.

They thought it was we were being
attacked by Japanese planes.

Some theories said weather balloon.

Others said, you know, "Oh, I
saw a plane, I know I saw a

plane," and others say,
"Nope, no such plane."

Back then it was a scary thing.

I think to this day they don't
know what they were firing at.

If it was a weather balloon
or a flying saucer.

But for those who believe
they saw an alien craft

that night, one important
question remains:

What happened to it?

The rumor is that it finally
crashed in the water

and was recovered by navy divers.

So maybe it was wounded, and it
crashed, and this might explain

why the military was so quick to
react to Roswell five years later.

Because they may already have
had at least some inkling of

what they would find there.

Was Earth really visited
by an alien spacecraft

on the morning of February 25, 1942?

And could the global threats
posed by World War II have

provided a trigger?

Perhaps the idea is not as
farfetched as some would think.

Is it possible that alien
spacecraft could have been

mistaken for enemy fighter planes
in Adolf Hitler's Germany?

In his 1993 book, The
Gods of Eden, author

William Bramley theorized that
extraterrestrials played a part

in nearly every catastrophe in
human history, and have even

used war as a means to control the
growth of the human population.

But while many are skeptic about
Bramley's claims, there is

one thing on which they agree--
that the number of reported UFO

sightings always increases
during wartime.

In times of war, when
vast civilizations are in

conflict, and in c c conflict
so terrible that it seems as

though the civilizations will
wipe themselves out, suddenly

out of nowhere, UFOs appear.

While skeptics and military
historians attribute

these alleged sightings to war
nerves or stress, those who

believe in UFOs find the number
of instances hard to dismiss.

When World War II broke out in
September of 1939, there were

numerous reports of unidentified
flying objects spotted over

Hitler's Germany.

Although the term UFO had not
yet been coined, the Allies

believed the bogeys, as they
were then known, were new

fighter planes being
developed by the Nazis.

But the first combat bomber
jets, the German Messerschmitt

ME-262, weren't deployed by the
German Air Force until 1943.

It certainly doesn't escape
notice just how advanced

the Nazi propulsion systems and their
aeronautics technology really was.

They had the first operational
jet fighter to see combat.

They were building and
test-flying aircraft that look

incredibly similar to UFOs
that are reported even today.

They had greatly advanced
rocket technology.

There have long been rumors
about Nazi projects to build

aircraft using UFO technology.

At the end of the 19th
century, there was Aleister

Crowley, H.G. Wells, Bram Stoker,
who wrote Dracula, avd

Jules Verne, who wrote From

Earth to the Moon.

They were in a society called

The Golden Dawn.

In that society, they actually

believed in the existence, not

only of UFOs, but

extraterrestrials.

That culture influenced Hitler

in the late 1920s, early into

the 1930s.

In looking for the origins of

the Aryan Race, they went all

the way to India and the Vedic

texts, which talk about UFOs.

So Hitler, in his own way, was a

UFO believer, and sought to

develop his own version of a

UFO, based on the Vedic texts.

To have a dramatic wunderwaffen,

a wonder weapon, that would end

the war.

Although the Nazis

never developed this so-called

wonder weapon, reports of

strange flying machines in

German airspace continued

throughout the war.

But just what was it that the

Allied pilots were reporting?

In the 1940s, as

waves of American bombers were

literally obliterating German

cities-- Dresden, Hamburg,

Berlin-- in these raids,

American fighter pilots saw

these balls of light coming at

their planes.

They didn't know what they were.

They thought they were German

secret weapons at first.

So they called them Foo

Fighters.

The word feu in French is fire,

and these were balls
of fire coming out.

So, instead of Feu Fighters,
they were Foo Fighters.

They were seen in large
numbers over Germany and

over Western Europe, where they
were described variously as

structured craft, or
simply, balls of light.

It was so important at the
time that the military began

to notice it, and they began
to investigate these things.

There were hundreds of cases.

None seemed to be very
harmful to planes.

But they were all over the place.!

Curiously, when the Foo Fighters appeared,
Allied aircraft would sometimes

experience mechanical failure.

And perhaps most mystifying
of all was that some pilots

reported flying right through the
UFOs, as if they had no mass.

It was never discovered what the
Foo Fighters were or where they

came from, but the theory that
they were some sort of German

secret weapon was widely accepted
among Allied pilots at the time.

But could the Third Reich have
possessed technology more

advanced than even our
most modern aircraft?

Some believe what the Nazis
had developed was an advanced

mechanism that scientists are
still working on today--

mercury-powered
anti-gravity technology.

This involves mercury being in a
closed system, like a glass bulb.

Once that mercury becomes
spinning in a gyroscopic manner

within a closed system,
that creates a lift.

It's electrified lift, it's
also a very bright light.

And in fact, many UFOs are
described as exactly that.

Towards the end of World War II,
the Germans started producing

massive amounts of mercury.

And in fact, a number of the
U-boats that were later sunk--

one was sunk near Singapore,
another in Norway-- only a few

years ago, they actually found it,
and its entire cargo was mercury.

What the few historians have
actually written about Foo

Fighters, which is still
apparently a secret today, is

they were a kind of
mercury plasma ball.

And the purpose of the Foo
Fighters was to make a

highly pulsed magnetic charge
and field around the bombers,

which would then cut out the
engines and interfere with the

electrical systems in the planes.

Could Foo Fighters really have been
based on extraterrestrial technology?

If so, where did the Germans get it?

UFO theorists point to the
discovery of a flying saucer

that allegedly crashed in the
Black Forest, near Freiburg,

Germany, in 1936.

Some believe, German scientists
repaired the craft to test its

energy and ppulsion systems, and
through reverse engineering,

were able to replicate some of these
so-called alien technologies.

Did the Nazis take this craft, and
was there some sort of a pact that

happened there?

Did the Nazis-- did
they retrieve bodies?

It's hard to pin down
how much they had.

Was there contact?

There's always been that
theory-- that they had a

captured craft, and that they
were reverse engineering it.

It's very possible.

They were truly way more advanced
than any culture at thtime.

Thank God for the American
know-how, because we were

combating them with our own kind of
knowledge and technology, as well.

After World War II, there was an
exercise mounted by the Americans called

Operation Paperclip.

The Allies had been confronted
with all this amazing technology

from Germany.

The jet engines, airplanes, the
rocket engine airplanes, all

these amazing devices.

To give you an example of
some of the material that was

collected by Operation
Paperclip, right at the end of

the war, Von Braun and his team
had begun designing multistage

rockets capable of reaching
the United States.

They also had plans for a space
station, the classic circular

sci-fi space station, and on
this, they had a huge sunlight

collector, a mirror that was
designed to focus sunlight down

on the Earth as a kind of death ray.

There were all these wild ideas
coming out of that team that

turned it into a very valuable
coup for the United States.

Ultimately, it was Von Braun who
built the Saturn Five rocket

that took people to the moon.

The story of the World
War II Foo Fighters, muc

like that of the Battle of Los
Angeles, has been largely

forgotten or dismissed by
traditional historians.

But an event that happened just
two years after the war had even

the skeptics wondering.

What if aliens really did exist?

And could one of their craft
have crashed to Earth?

Mainstream archeologists
have long rejected

the notion that extraterrestrial
beings had a hand in creating

the pyramids of Egypt.

Theologians and religious
scholars refute the idea that

stories of the Bible or the
Mahabharata could be describing

alien encounters.

And governments throughout
history have officially denied

reports that the Earth has been
visited by flying saucers.

But on July 8, 1947, a UFO
sighting was reported that even

the United States government
had trouble denying.

Why?

Because this time, the report
was issued by the U.S. Army.

I'm walking on the Foster Ranch between
Corona and Roswell, New Mexico.

Not far from what is called the
debris field right over that hill.

And that debris field refers to
headlines back in July of 1947

about a disc-- one of those
mysterious UFOs-- actually

crashing right out here.

One night in early July,
1947, a major thunderstorm

rolled across New Mexico.

The next morning, rancher Mac Brazel
went out to check on the damage.

Mac Brazel went out to
make sure everything

was where it was supposed to be.

And he came across this really
extensive area of debris, stuff

he had never seen before.

He brought it to the
local sheriff's office.

In 1947, Roswell was home
to Roswell Army Air Field.

The sheriff called the base,
the base sent Major Jesse

Marcel, and at that point, it
basically became a military site

as they gathered up every bit
of debris they could find.

In their initial report,
army officials made a

vague claim of having started
the recovery of the debris

"sometime last week."

But why didn't the army report
their findings right away?

And why were they so ambiguous
about the timeline?

One of the biggest things
we have is the newspaper

of July 8, 1947, where Colonel
Blanchard issued an order to

Lieutenant Walter Haught, who
was a public information

officer, saying basically, we
have in our possession a flying

saucer, it's being taken to Fort
Worth, to higher headquarters.

Roswell was a real turning
point for UFOlogy.

I think that was because the
military, for the first time,

admitted that they had a crashed disc.

And because it was admitted at the time,
of course, it caused a sensation.

But then, July 9, General
Ramey issued a press

release saying, no, it
was a weather balloon.

And that started the
best-documented UFO cover-up ever.

Army officials referred to the debris
as being part of a flying disc.

Internal memos even referenced the
crash site as having victims.

So why, less than 24 hours later,
did they suddenly decide

that what they had retrieved was
nothing more than a weather balloon?

Although Blanchard and Ramey
stuck by the revised story,

Lieutenant Haught stood by the
contents of his initial report

his entire life.

And those who believe him think
modern technology may have

recently provided the irrefutable
evidence they have been looking for.

When Major Marcel took the
debris to Fort Worth,

and General Ramey spread it out
to give this press conference

that it was a weather balloon,
there was a picture taken, and

in his hand is a piece of paper.

It's a very little piece of paper.

I mean, and this has been blown up.

And it is a memo.

There is a leading researcher
in the field who is pulling the

words out of this.

And they include things
like "team at Fort Worth,"

"forwarded victims of the
wreck," "pod or pan."

And so, every year that the
technology improves, General

Ramey may be the one to solve it.

Bob Wood, a researcher in UFOs, had
received leaked documents in 1996, and

shared them with me and a few others.

This document called the
Interplanetary Phenomena Unit,

with a war department stamp
dated July 22nd, 1947.

"The most disturbing aspect of
this investigation was that"

there were other bodies found
not far from landing zone one,

the Mac Brazel site between
Corona and Roswell that looked

"as if they had been dissected
as you would a frog."

It does not define, were
those bodies human?

Were those bodies non-human?

But suddenly, for me, this
electric jolt that came into

holding that document and
reading at the end of the '90s

what would explain finally
that our government knew that

extraterrestrial biological
entities from somewhere else in

the cosmos was interacting with
our planet for a very long time.

Five years after Roswell, the United
States Air Force coined the term

Unidentified Flying Object or UFO.

In the decades since, thousands
of UFOs have been reported

photographed and videotaped
all over the world.

Oh, my God.

Perhaps one of the biggest,
most revolutionary

pieces of technology to change
our view of UFOs and flying

saucers is the videocam.

Whoa, I'm getting a series
of lights right there.

I got it, I got it, I got it.

You only have to look at
what happened in Phoenix,

Arizona, in March of 1997, when
these huge flying boomerangs

went right across Phoenix, right
through the whole valley,

heading south to the Mexico border.

These were all caught on cameras.

Network news caught these;

Local news caught these.

You saw these on CNN; you
saw these on Larry King.

Oh, there it is, over to the left.

And yes, people called them
flares-- of course they did.

But, the fact is, when you see something
with your own eyes... Look, dude.

Pat, you got it?

I see it.

...even if it's on a video camera,
suddenly your perspective changes.

And that middle one is moving quick.

It's only the beginning, you guys.

So now, according to recent
polls-- Gallup polls and

Roper polls-- well over 50%

of Americans believe that
flying saucers exist, and close

to 50% believe that, the
government knows that

flying saucers exist, and that the
government is hiding that fact.

But why so many UFO
sightings after Roswell?

Is it a coincidence?

Or is the world's growing
belief in aliens providing

cover for those who might
previously have been too afraid

of ridicule to come forward?

Perhaps there is another reason.

Perhaps there are more
sightings because there is a

genuine increase in alien
visitations-- ever since the

dawn of the Space Age.

There had been plenty of stories of
UFOs and aliens, prior to that-- a

lot of sightings.

They weren't as widely reported,
somewhat also because

World War II had been
going on, prior to that.

But because now we had a crash
and there was more room in the

newspaper, so to speak, I think that
really helped the subject take off.

If, as some suggest aliens
from other worlds truly

are among us and have done
their best to keep themselves

hidden for thousands of years-- will
they ever reveal their presence?

More importantly, what
happens if they do?

And what if it is already happening?

In March 2010, a mysterious pulsating
light floated over Cleveland, Ohio,

for 11 consecutive nights.

We're having a sighting
right now over the lake.

I'm going to say 270 degrees south.

There are two objects.

One is coming up from the left.

These are extremely
close to each other.

There's absolutely no
way these are planes.

Right now what's happening is
the initial object that came

out-- it's sitting there, it's hovering,
it's getting extremely bright.

It's illuminating different colors.

And the second object appeared from,
I'm going to say the top left of it.

And now it looks like
it's moving around it.

Wow!

They just completely
just switched spots.

Oh, my God, this is beautiful!

It knows we're watching!

It knows we're watching!

The Cleveland sighting is one of
thousands reported each year.

And while many are proved to be
false alarms, others are not so

easily discredited.

Right below it.

A big bright white
flash just occurred.

In 1991, Britain's Ministry
of Defense assigned

author and journalist, Nick
Pope, to track the hundreds of

sightings reported over England,
Scotland and Wales every year.

The Ministry of Defence has been looking
at the UFO issue since the 1950s.

And the whole reason for
looking at these UFO sightings

is not necessarily because the
department corporately believes

in extraterrestrial visitation.

It's more to do with keeping a
watchful eye on any unusual

activity in British airspace.

Clearly if there's something
there that's a little bit out

of the ordinary, we
want to know about it.

My beliefs when I was given
this job were, I think, what on

earth have I let myself in for here?

I had no particular knowledge or
interest in the UFO phenomenon.

Certainly no belief
in anything unusual.

But the more I looked back
through the archive of old

files, and the more I began to
investigate the ones that were

being reported to me on a daily
basis, I began to change my

mind, and realized that some of
these UFO sightings couldn't be

explained in conventional terms.

It's definitely moving.

Many of the most intriguing cases
Pope researched involved eyewitness

reports from pilots, police
and military officers-- while

others featured classified radar,
video or photographic evidence.

One case that was a
particular turning point for

me was the so-called Cosford Incident.

Now, Cosford is a military
base in the United Kingdom.

And on the particular night in
question, which was 30th of

March, 1993, there was a wave
of sightings over a period of

about six hours.

And there were many police
and military witnesses.

And two air force bases,
Cosford and Shawbury, were

directly overflown by a vast
triangular shaped craft.

Now, the meteorological officer
at one of these bases described

this to me as the size of a
jumbo jet hovering, or moving

very, very slowly, and then
accelerating away to the

horizon at incredible speed.

He said many times faster
than a military jet.

And this was a man with eight years
experience in the air force.

This sighting was thoroughly
investigated not only by private UFO

investigators, but also by the
British government, who were

unable to explain all of the sightings
reported during this incident.

Another intriguing British UFO
sighting took place in December 1980.

U.S. Air Force personnel
stationed in Suffolk, England,

reported seeing a brilliantly
illuminated spaceship that

landed in Rendlesham Forest
on two consecutive nights.

What made this case
particularly unusual is that

this was not vague lights in the sky.

This was a landed metallic
craft that some of the

witnesses claimed they got so
close to, they could actually

touch the side of it.

One witness saw strange symbols
on the hull, which he likened to

Egyptian hieroglyphs.

He made a sketch of this in his
police notebook and took some

photos, though he was subsequently
told they didn't come out.

The Ministry of Defence looked
at this, and the Defence

intelligence staff assessed
radiation readings that had

been taken at the landing site
as being "significantly higher

than background."

And that's a direct quote from
the government's own assessment.

The British government generated a
massive file of information about this

sighting report.

But at this date, it's very
unlikely that the actual truth

about the sighting will ever be known.

But in spite of the compelling
eyewitness testimony, the Ministry of

Defence soon declared the case closed.

22 years later, when the government
declassified files on the Rendlesham

incident, the evidence
was inconclusive.

But what stood out was the
credibility of the main

witnesses, who were trained
military personnel.

Obviously, as a UFO hunter,
I've met a lot of people

who've encountered UFOs.

Just flying on a plane for
example: You're on a plane, and

suddenly the pilot comes out
of the cockpit, and this has

happened on five separate occasions.

And he'll say to me, "I saw a
UFO over Phoenix, I saw a UFO

over Texas, half my crew saw a UFO.

And you'll say to the pilot,
"Well, well, do you report it?"

And they say when the flight
controller says at the airport,

"Do you want to report a UFO
sighting," and then bursts out

laughing, what you say is, "No."

There are UFO sightings
every single day.

Real people with real
sightings of real UFOs.

It is very prevalent as more
and more people talk about it.

Something is going on.

In terms of the government response to
all this, certainly in Britain, the

Ministry of Defence policy for
many years has been to try and

downplay this subject.

Not really in any great
sinister attempt to cover up

the truth about UFOs, whatever
that might be, but more out of

embarrassment.

There are things in our
airspace, we don't know what

they are, and that's not a good
place for the government and

the military to be.

On December 1, 2009, the British Ministry
o Defence quietly terminated its

UFO project, citing that there
had been no credible evidence

that UFOs posed "a potential
threat to the United Kingdom."

There are a number of aspects
of this decision that

were particularly controversial.

Firstly, UFO sightings are at a
ten-year high in the United Kingdom.

So, it seemed the most
inopportune moment to pull the

plug on 50 years of research and
investigation into the UFO mystery.

The other point that made this
particularly controversial was

the way in which the
decision was announced.

There was no proactive
statement issued on this.

It simply said: The department
will not respond to any

inquiries on this subject and will
no longer investigate sightings.

One hurdle confronting those in favor
of fully disclosing classified

information related to UFOs is
the fact that most mainstream

scientists believe that the
study of alien phenomena is

little more than just fringe science.

It is this fear of dismissal
or ridicule that keeps many

scientists hidden in the shadows.

Our best scientists, who communicate
with one another, around the world,

have rules of protocol, which
include-- they cannot appear to

be religious...
(laughs), they cannot believe in flying

saucers, and they certainly
shouldn't hang around with

anybody who believes
in flying saucers.

But it's all done, you
might say, behind closed

doors, because nobody really
wants to draw attention to it.

You know that they understand,
you know, that there is a

penalty associated with this
kind of research, and so

consequently, it's done,
it's done "invisibly."

To be blockaded and stopped by
worries about peer reviews and

so forth, to me, is wrong.

We can speculate whether there
is life outside this planet.

We can speculate whether there
has been a contact with, with

other civilizations.

Why not?

But as more scientists openly embrace
the probability that there is

intelligent life existing
elsewhere in the universe,

Will the belief that alien beings are
visiting us also become more accepted?

What might be the reaction today
if extraterrestrials were to

actually arrive on Earth, and
make themselves known to us?

Countless science fiction books
and films tend to portray

aliens coming either to
warn us or destroy us.

Since the 1960s, people have been
thinking about: Well, what do we do?

Do we have a Day the Earth

Stood Still scenario, if aliens

come?

Do they warn us that our
planet is facing disaster?

Do they attack us, the way the
Martians did in War of the

Worlds?

Well, the answer is more

complicated than it seems.

It's not just somebody landing,

and saying, "Take me to your

leader."

The general

consensus today is that if

extraterrestrials were to show

up tomorrow, they'd be hostile,

and they would want to enslave

us and, and battle us and, and

destroy us and all this crazy

stuff.

In my opinion, that won't be

the case because any

civilization that's mastered to

travel interstellar space would

be benevolent to a lesser

advanced society

technologically speaking.

A simple statistic

shows that if we make contact

with extraterrestrial

civilization, we are the new

kids on the block.

We're the ones who are at the

back of the queue when it comes

to intelligence.

So, they'll be teaching us

stuff.

We won't have a great deal to

teach them.

There are a

wide range of benefits that can

be derived from accepting that

we have neighbors in the galaxy

that are visiting us.

There are reports of medical

treatments that have been

performed for the benefit of

several people who have had

contact.

There are advanced energy

technologies.

Reports are that some of these

have been reverse-engineered

already and are used in

military craft.

There are communications

technology.

So, really, any area of life

that we have could be

beneficially impacted by

acknowledging that there are

these other people out there

that they have information,

knowledge that they can share

with us that would benefit us.

It's going to

depend how the discovery

comes about.

If, in fact, it's a

distant radio broadcast,

we might expect one thing.

If in fact, there's, uh,

some type of visitations that

fits in with beliefs about UFOs,

that might be something else.

But on the whole, I think

people are much more prepared

for, uh, shall we say "contact"?

Many who believe

contact with extraterrestrials

is inevitable suggest

governments need to prepare

themselves.

It's a field of study known as

"exopolitics."

Exopolitics poses

the question: "What should our

response be to that situation

at a societal level?"

Not necessarily at a

governmental level, but

actually individuals-- how can

we reach o with the hand

of friendship?

Exopolitics has

really been a grassroots

movement of people concerned

about this issue and want

disclosure on the UFO subject,

and also want to help organize

people locally to get the

information out to their

governments and make this big

change happen.

But if we reach out

in friendship, what guarantee do

we have that it will be

returned in kind?

Many scientists, including

famed theoretical physicist

Stephen Hawking, believe alien

beings could pose a threat and

suggest we do everything

possible to prevent contact.

If extraterrestrials,

or aliens, were aggressive, were

warlike, and they came here, is

it a case where resistance

is futile?

How do you wipe out life on

planet Earth?

That's easy-- a plague.

Simple-- no UFOs, no zorching

beams from the sky, no

explosions, no Empire State

Building collapsing,

none of that.

We can do that.

Why can't aliens do that?

To think that

we would be able to come up

with some type of a defense

mechanism or have defenses

against interstellar traveling

society is ludicrous.

Whethercame

as friend or foe, if

extraterrestrials did land

somewhere in the United States,

it's possible the aliens would

be greeted by government or

military personnel wearing

Hazmat suits and testing for

harmful pathogens and radiation.

Many conspiracy theorists

suspect the government's next

step would be to cover up

the visitation.

They cite as evidence a reputed

sighting that took place over

Washington, D.C. in 1952.

In full view of the

entire world, a squadron,

a formation of UFOs buzzed

Washington and fought our own

F-93 jet fighters.

General Samford willingly and

deliberately-- maybe on

instructions from Harry Truman,

who was president-- lied to the

American people.

We have received

and analyzed between one and

two thousand reports.

Of this great mass of reports,

we have been able, adequately,

to explain the great bulk

of them.

His own Captain

Ruppelt, in his own book on

flying saucers, says

Samford was lying.

We have the letter from the air

force to Dean Condon, saying

"Deep-six UFOs."

So, have UFOs come to planet

Earth in full view, have

manifested themselves, have

shown themselves?

Yes.

Did we see it?

Yes.

Was there a protocol for

handling it?

Yes.

That protocol was called "deny."

But if an alien

visitation proved undeniable,

who might be chosen to then

speak to those inside the

spacecraft?

Who could best represent all

the nations and interests

of Earth?

If aliens do land

on Earth, I think we should

send our best world leaders who

are the most open-minded

and reasonable, but who also

have the ability to defend

themselves against those aliens.

In my opinion,

that's one of the reasons we

have a United Nations.

Yes, it prevents wars and

delivers food, but on the other

hand, just imagine the Security

Council itself convening to

deal with aliens-- an image

on a big screen at the

United Nations.

The answer is I think it all

happened back in the 1940s,

and that was one of the reasons

that Roosevelt and Eleanor

Roosevelt pushed so hard for

the formation of a United

Nations to replace the League

of Nations.

Somebody had to confront

the aliens.

The notion that

our leaders-- elected or

otherwise-- should speak on our

behalf, I don't necessarily

think that makes sense.

There are a lot of people who

might have better ideas than

the people who are in

government.

I'd like to see a profoundly

democratic-- with a small d--

unauthoritarian interaction

with aliens.

Currently, there

are no known official protocols

in place for an alien

visitation.

But there are those

who think that contact with

extraterrestrials is imminent,

and that our world leaders must

plan for the event now.

We are not alone

in the universe.

We have friends and relatives

out there in the galaxies.

And we need to take on this

task, one way or the other, of

just getting the job done, and

getting to the point where we're

considering the practical

details of interacting with

these friends and neighbors

out there.

Who is responsle

for that relationship?

Well, the State Department

isn't.

The United Nations isn't.

And I think this is a very big

problem.

So where there needs to

be a diplomatic effort to make

contact with these interstellar

civilizations in such a way

that it puts wiser people in

charge of that.

Even if you don't

corporately believe in

extraterrestrials, if you think

the possibility of alien

visitation is vanishingly

small, the consequences if it

does happen are immense, and

therefore, it's prudent to have

something in place to deal

with it.

Personally, I think

it would be very, very exciting.

I mean, it would be just like

the first time, you know, the

explorers came from Europe to

the Americas and discovered a

whole new culture, and they had

to interact.

Hopefully, it won't work out as

some of the bad things that

occurred then, it would be a

more positive experience, and

maybe we've learned from that

and we can go forward.

What would happen

after any potential

extraterrestrial contact is

open to much speculation.

But most people concede one

thing: The world as we know it

would change dramatically.

The result would

be that the fundamentalist

orthodox belief systems of

every organized religion on

Earth would collapse.

Meaning that it would really

bring into question the origins

of the human race, uh, the

genesis stories and a whole lot

of other issues.

The very structures

of government and the very

structures of religion

will crumble.

But in 2008, a

stunning announcement was made

from a very surprising source.

Proof to some that miracles,

like aliens, do indeed exist.

The Vatican, Rome.

This walled enclave has been
the center of power for the

Catholic Church since
the fifth century.

It's not only the Pope's residence,
but a place of homage for one billion

Catholics, and represents
nearly 2,000 years of Christian

teaching and tradition.

But in 2008, the Vatican made
an announcement that some say

might threaten its own existence.

The Chief Astronomer of the
Vatican Observatory, Father

Gabriel Funes, acknowledged the
possibility alien life exists

on other planets.

They basically said that
belief in planetary

life outside of Earth does not
negate one's belief in God.

Now, 500 years ago, if the
Vatican would have said that,

they would've burned
everybody on the stake.

The present Pope, Benedict, of course,
has a very scientific bent, and he

respects intellectual life in, in a
way that is, is quite extraordinary.

He seemed quite open to
entertain the idea: What if

there is life on other planets?

It's certainly an interesting
question for a Christian to

approach it scientifically, and
challenges your belief of how

much of this you attribute to God.

Many wondered about the
church's motives and timing.

Why, after centuries of belief
in man as God's supreme

creation and the only
intelligent life in the

universe, did the Vatican make
an announcement that could tn

Christianity on its head?

Did they know something
the rest of us did not?

This is something that is completely
new in the history of the

church that the
extraterrestrial question is

not only addressed, but at
the same time, it's okay.

I mean, that is a major
change in opinion.

A major change in the status quo.

And I ask: Why?

Would it have huge ramifications?

Of course.

Does it change anything?

Of course.

But at the same time, would that
change religion or belief in God?

Not really.

Some people say, well, the Catholic
Church must know something.

Maybe they're trying to get
ahead of the game here.

On the other hand, it may just
be that they're being very

clever and simply trying to
cover all the bases in case

there is some great announcement
or discovery about alien life.

Because make no mistake about
it, if it is announced that

alien life has been discovered,
people are going to look to

their religious leaders for
some sort of guidance about

this, whether it's Christians,
Jews, Muslims, Hindus.

If extraterrestrial life was found,
then the church would react

presumably as it does with any
data-- see what there is.

I don't think there would be any
conflict in the way that we

look on our humanity.

What we would find is that
God creates intelligent life

in a variety of ways.

And I think what we would learn
from that is, we can't restrtrtt

God to any one mode of
making intelligent life.

The idea that intelligent life
exists elsewhere in the universe has

been debated by religious
leaders, historians and

scientists, but not everyone
agrees how its proof would

affect human spirituality or the
many religious institutions.

What would happen to our
interpretation of the Book of Genesis?

Well, the Book of Genesis looks
at the universe from the point

of view of Earth.

We look at the sun, we look at
the moon, we look at the stars.

So, to realize that the Earth
is just one small, pale-blue

dot in this immense universe,
I think it would only expand

our interpretation of Genesis.

I don't think it would change
it in any fundamental way.

It's an interesting question
for Christianity in

general, since Christianity would
teach that salvation comes

through Jesus who was
apparently an earthling.

Um, what do you do if
there are people on Mars?

Are they saved?

According to our
viewpoint, I don't know.

Christians have always
had this problem that if

there are aliens out there,
are they not to be saved?

It's not a problem for Jews.

It's certainly not a problem
for Buddhists or Hindus.

But Christians are
in a particular fix.

For a very simple reason that
Christianity alone among the

world's religions has an incarnation.

What they mean by that is that
God became incarnate in the

form of Jesus Christ in
order to be the savior.

When you talk to Christians
they sort of say, oh, well,

there isn't a problem really
because, you know, we have

accommodated Galileo, we've
accommodated Darwin.

Why can't we accommodate E.T.?

Well, I think there
is a big difference.

I think science and religion have
more in common than perhaps the

popular perception suggests.

The one hand, we have science,
which deals with reason and fact.

On the other hand, we have
religion, which deals with faith.

Science is an evolving
proposition, and what we know

today will almost certainly
be reformed and maybe even

replaced at some point in the future.

So, to think that science
somehow provides the truth in

contrast to religion,
I think is a mistake.

While scientists and
religious leaders may still

ponder the notion of aliens
visiting Earth, ancient

astronaut theorists claim that
the evidence exists in plain

sight around the world.

But if this theory was
accepted, would we have to

change our beliefs about our
knowledge, our history and the

very beginnings of human civilization?

For thousands of years, humans have
recorded events that seem to suggest

other-worldly beings came down
from the skies to visit Earth.

These ancient visitations
represent the foundations of

those who believe Earth was
visited in the past by advanced

beings from other planets.

These sightings are also said
to explain many mysteries

surrounding our past.

The most important was religion.

The Gods have descended
to our ancestors' time.

Now it enters into the holy books.

Into mythology.

Now, later, people try, the
reason the people try to

understand this, they
make out religions of it.

But the core is, extraterrestrials
have come here.

That was the beginning of
all the big religions.

There are two main components why we
are who we are today as a species.

One, someone tampered with our
genetic make up and two, technology.

Because all of a sudden, we
were doing and building things

that we would still have
difficulties recreating today.

And the ancient texts are
very clear that many of our

achievements in the past happened
due to a direct intervention of

extraterrestrials that
arrived from the skies.

Ancient astronaut theorists also cite
as evidence the amazing similarities

between isolated cultures
all over the planet.

Why did different civilizations
build immense megalithic

structures to honor
other-worldly beings?

Why do so many ancient texts seem
to reference men flying in the sky?

And why do the ancient
Egyptians, Hopi Indians and

the Dogon tribe of North Africa
all believe their ancestors

came from what we know as
the constellation Sirius?

TSOUKALOS If the
extraterrestrials wanted to

leave behind a message of where
they came from, then it would

serve them very well to build
those structures with a

reference to their location of origin.

So, if we have connections to
the Sirius star system, well,

it would lend us to believe
that here we have a reference

of where they might come from.

The question of extraterrestrial life
is as old as civilization itself.

Ancient astronaut theorists, as
well as many noted scientists,

point to the immense size of
the universe and concede that

other beings must exist
somewhere else besides Earth.

But the question remains: Did
aliens visit us in the past?

And is it happening again?

The way we look at
history is very fragile.

Any discovery, which is made
somewhere, can change the way

we look upon history.

I think if we were to identify
that an alien presence has been

here on Earth in the past, I think there
are two very important questions.

Did E.T. just come by and
visit, and then disappear?

Or did E.T. come, stay and
contribute to civilization?

I think the second one is far
more important, because it

shows us far more.

It actually rewrites mankind's
identity rather than just

whether or not, you know, some
extraterrestrial being came

here on a holiday and then left without
really leaving something behind.

In all of the ancient texts, there
is one thing that is very clear, and

that is that these gods
one day will return.

But short of an alien spacecraft landing
on the White House lawn, ancient

astronaut theorists know there
will always be skeptics.

People are always looking for an
ultimate proof of the existence of

extraterrestrial intelligent beings.

But I think a more useful and
honest question is: how much

and what kind of evidence would
be enough for you to believe

that they are out there?

That they have been visiting us?

I believe through the experiences
that shamans have been documenting

and reporting for tens of
thousands of years, that we are

in contact with enentities and
beings that are not of this Earth.

But precisely what those
entities and beings are,

remains to be established.

There is evidence that indicates
that it's possible that humans were

visited by extraterrestrials
in the distant past.

And if we are too quick to
discard that possibility, then

we might be shutting ourselves
out from something that might

be really fascinating and might
take us to a next level that we

can't even imagine.

It's very possible that those
extraterrestrials who've

allegedly been coming here for thousands
of years, I mean, they are us.

They look like us.

And, in fact, that's part again
of the Bible in that the God,

or the Gods created us in their image.

I mean, we are to be like them.

We are to look like them.

We are to have the
technology they have.

We're to go into space
just like they did.

I think there is life,
simple life, bacterial

life, microbial life on other planets.

I think we're going to find that.

And who knows?

Maybe one day we'll find some
other planet that's capable of

sustaining life that has
evolved people over a long

period of time that are also
looking up at the stars,

wondering: Is there anybody else out there?
Are we the only ones?

We are a species of explorers.

So, ultimately, we will come

across some other
type of intelligence.

And when that happens, if that society,
technologically speaking, is

primitive, we'll become ancient
astronauts with that culture.

Human history has become
too much a matter of

dogma taught by professionals in ivory
towers as though it's all fact.

Actually, much of human
history is up for grabs.

The further back you go, the
more that the history that's

taught in the schools and
universities begins to look

like some kind of fairy story.

We have logic, we have
intuition, we have our senses.

And to limit ourselves to the
scientific route is a mistake.

We can send people on the moon,
we can plan journeys to Mars,

we can make cell phones, but
we haven't explained the

fundamental questions that
we should be dealing with.

Where do we come from?

What are we supposed to do here?

And where are we going?

We really have not come with
the answers, and we know no

better than the ancients that
we're trying to explain.

Exploring the ancient astronaut theory
is the ultimate quest to find out

where did we come from?

How did it all begin?

And most importantly, who are we?

And the ancient astronaut
theory has the capability of

answering all those questions.