All language subtitles for Ancient Aliens S07E11 Alien Resurrections

NARRATOR: Stories of
immortality...

BARRY DOWNING: When he rose,
it would be a body that would

never die again.
NARRATOR: The dead rising

from their graves...
TOK THOMPSON: You can say,

that to a certain extent zombies
are real.

NARRATOR: And first person
accounts of the afterlife...

WILLIAM HENRY: The ancient
Egyptians had a very deep soul

technology.
NARRATOR: Throughout history,

there are tales of miraculous
resurrections.

But are there people who have
really returned from the dead?

And if so, might they have had
help from extraterrestrial

beings?
DAVID CHILDRESS: If you want

to think of the technology
that extraterrestrials might

have, they could have the
ability to resurrect the dead,

if need be.
NARRATOR: Millions of people

around the world believe we have
been visited in the past by

extraterrestrial beings.
What if it were true?

Did ancient aliens really help
to shape our history?

And if so, might they hold the
secret to resurrection?

NARRATOR: Phoenix, Arizona.
1991.

Singer songwriter Pam Reynolds
is being rushed into surgery to

repair a bulging arterial wall
in her brain stem that is about

to burst and kill her instantly.
The surgical team of 20 decides

there is only one course of
action: in order to save her

life, they must first end it.
KIRSTEN FISHER: Pam Reynolds

had a massive, um, aneurysm
ready to to essentially rupture

at any moment.
And so, physicians needed to

reduce the pressure in those
vessels so that they could work

on them.
So they took her blood out of

her body and cooled it slowly,
so re circulating.

What that does is it sort of
tricks the body's cells into

slowing down their metabolism
and not realizing that they're

lacking oxygen... which, of
course, buys physicians and

emergency workers some time to
go in and repair the the

person's body while they're in
this sort of hyper cooled state

where they're essentially not,
um, alive.

NARRATOR: For nearly an
hour, Pam Reynolds lies on

the operating table with
her heart stopped, no blood

pumping through her body, and no
brainwave activity at all.

According to the traditional
medical definition...

she is dead.
Five hours later, when doctors

successfully finish their
groundbreaking surgery, they

slowly pump warm blood back into
Reynolds' body.

Her heart starts to beat again
and her brainstem begins

responding to stimuli.
But when she regains

consciousness, Reynolds tells a
shocking story about a journey

she says she made into the
afterlife.

She remembers mingling with
deceased relatives and angelic

beings in a celestial
netherworld... a transcendent

experience that ended only when
doctors revived her.

FISHER: Pam Reynolds' case,
and other cases of

resuscitation sort of call into
question what it means to be

alive.
We're sort of introducing new

technologies that blur, I think,
a little more the distinction of

what does it mean to be dead.
If you want to use the term

resurrection, I think it could
be applied, in that case.

NARRATOR: Does the
resurrection of Pam Reynolds

reveal evidence that human
consciousness can exist beyond

death?
If so, could this mean that

within each of us, there really
is such a thing as an immortal

soul?
And might it even be

identifiable by science?
Two prestigious scientists have

developed a theory that
describes exactly how

consciousness could continue to
exist after the brain has ceased

to function.
Oxford University's Roger

Penrose and Stuart Hameroff,
from the University of Arizona,

believe that quantum particles
in the brain and nervous system

could comprise what we call
consciousness.

BOB FRISBEE: The theory is
that there may actually be a

real physical structure in your
brain.

They're called microtubules, and
they're small enough that all

the weird quantum mechanical
effects can occur.

These quantum mechanical effects
may be what gives rise to

consciousness.
But even after you die, that

information isn't lost.
It still continues as a quantum

mechanical state, and that may
be what is giving rise to

consciousness.
NARRATOR: If Penrose and

Hameroff are correct and our
consciousness can exist after

our physical body dies, does
this explain why near death

experiences like Pam Reynolds'
are reported by millions of

people around the world?
HEATHER BERLIN: They have,

usually, a feeling of
peacefulness, positive emotions.

They feel like they're leaving
their body.

They sometimes see sort of a
tunnel with a light at the end.

They sometimes feel one with the
universe.

They sometimes see relatives who
had passed away.

So it's a common universal
experience that happens to

people who are either near or
close to death, or even

technically dead.
NARRATOR: Some physicians

believe near death experiences
could be triggered by hypoxia...

a lack of oxygen in the brain
that can cause visions.

But other researchers disagree.
They point out that those who

have these experiences see
events occurring around them

that are later confirmed to have
happened.

And that their perceptions are
not dulled in a way that would

be consistent with a dying
brain.

Perhaps even more significant, a
recent study found that the near

death experience was remarkably
similar across the ancient

world.
JONATHAN YOUNG: Professor

Gregory Shushan at Oxford
University has found that

in some of the great early
cultures... ancient Egypt, uh,

Mesopotamia, uh, Vedic India,
pre Buddhist China,

pre Columbian Mesoamerica... that
there are similar reports of

near death experience, that
certain details keep cropping

up, that the person in this
experience encounters beings of

light, even though the belief
systems about death were

very different in these
cultures.

This suggests that there might
be something about the mystical

experience at death that is
stronger than the cultural

stories that hold it.
NARRATOR: But why are

accounts of near death
experiences so similar across

so many different cultures?
Ancient astronaut theorists

suggest that the answer may lie
with the fact that these beings

of light encountered in many
near death experiences are

remarkably similar to the
descriptions of

extraterrestrials in alien
abduction reports.

Could these two types of
ethereal entities actually be

the same?
WILLIAM HENRY: The common

ground is the tunnel
of bright white light, and

beings wearing shiny garments or
bright white garments of light

that either stand before that
gateway or are actually in it.

And you have to wonder: is it
possible that, in reality, the

afterlife is just another
dimension or another plane of

existence that is inhabited,
that's navigable and is

accessible not only by those in
the afterlife realm but also by

living extraterrestrial beings.
REV. BARRY DOWNING: I think

that both near death experiences
and abduction experiences are

coordinated by the same higher
reality.

NARRATOR: Is it possible that
extraterrestrials hold the

secret behind resurrection?
Ancient astronaut theorists say

yes, and claim further evidence
can be found by exploring

resurrection stories from
antiquity.

The Kingdom of Israel.
The 9th century BC.

In the Hebrew Bible, Elijah is
portrayed as a great prophet and

a powerful warrior who
slaughters the followers of the

god Baal.
Yet he is perhaps best known not

for putting people to death, but
for bringing them back to life.

ROBERT CARGILL: In the
Biblical book of 1 Kings,

Chapter 17, we actually have the
story of the prophet Elijah who

takes a widow's son who had died
and lays on him three times and

then prays to God.
And the son comes back to life.

RABBI ARIEL BAR TZADOK: Was
this a miracle from the hand

of God?
Was there some kind of a

medical involvement here?
There was some clear physical

intervention on behalf of
Elijah.

That's all this text tells us.
HENRY: But we know that

Elijah was a great mystic
and esotericist.

He possessed a power cloak
called his "pala garment," which

means "power garment."
He ultimately ascended into the

heavens in a whirlwind, like a
spacecraft, while wearing this.

So you have to ask, is there
some kind of otherworldly or

even extraterrestrial technology
that Elijah had access to?

NARRATOR: Ancient astronaut
theorists point out that similar

resurrections occur in religions
around the world.

From the Hindu god Krishna to
the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl.

They believe these gods may, in
fact, have been extraterrestrial

beings sent to Earth on a
mission.

HENRY: When you read the
stories of the celestials or

extraterrestrials that came in
the ancient past, they were

always delivering these
forbidden teachings about

crossing that boundary into a
beautiful and glorious realm.

And one of their purposes in
coming here is to teach us how

to cross over that boundary.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that

some ancient accounts of gods
rising from the dead are not

actually divine events, but
rather examples of

extraterrestrial technology?
And if so, are there stories in

which ancient cultures regularly
performed resurrections?

Ancient astronaut theorists
believe astounding answers can

be found buried in the Sahara
Desert.

NARRATOR: Low Earth Orbit.
September 2007.

An experiment aboard a Russian
Foton M 3 spaceship is trying to

determine how resurrection works
in the natural world.

It contains dozens of
microscopic animals called

tardigrades.
FISHER: The tardigrades are a

class of organisms that we refer
to as extremophiles, meaning

they can, um, withstand extreme
stresses that would kill most

organisms.
NARRATOR: On Earth,

tardigrades are almost
impossible to kill.

They can survive
temperatures far above

boiling and far below freezing
by shedding almost all water

in their cells.
HEATHER BERLIN: The

tardigrade is a really
interesting creature, and it's

actually evolved to have this
amazing ability to go into these

deep states of what you might
call hibernation.

They're able to survive in
really harsh conditions.

But there's still metabolism
going on, just very, very slowed

down.
NARRATOR: On this mission,

scientists want to see if they
can survive long blasts of solar

radiation, so they're placed
outside the capsule for 12 days.

They become inert, but are they
actually dead?

FISHER: They were brought
back to Earth, rehydrated.

We think they also have really
good, very efficient, DNA repair

mechanisms, because they
essentially come back to life,

often rather rapidly.
Scientists do refer to that

as as a resurrection.
NARRATOR: There's a curious

parallel to the tardigrade in
the ancient world... a dead

creature that was preserved by
removing all liquids while it

awaited resurrection.
Egyptian mummies.

In preparation for the
afterlife, the ancients removed

all blood, water and organs
from a body they planned to

mummify.
JOHN VAN AUKEN: In order to

preserve a body, you cannot
leave organs in the body that

are going to rot the body.
And the Egyptians learned that

very quickly.
And they knew which organs had

to be removed, and that the
blood had to be drained from the

body to preserve the body for
potential resurrection.

NARRATOR: If the body was
properly prepared, the Egyptians

believed its soul would start
its long and arduous journey

into the afterlife.
CARGILL: There were a lot

of rules.
There was a lot of very specific

navigation, uh, that needed to
take place in order to get your

soul from death into this this
afterlife.

Sometimes these rules were so
difficult that they would be

written down.
And oftentimes, we find then

written on the insides of the
tops of coffins.

HENRY: At Saqqara is where we
find the pyramid texts, some of

the oldest religious texts in
the world.

They're devoted to the concept
of how to not only preserve the

human body, but to prepare the
soul for journeying into the

stars.
The ancient Egyptians made it

clear that they were in contact
with extraterrestrial

civilizations.
In particular, one god, Ptah,

came from Sirius.
Now, Ptah is also the god the

ancient Egyptians said who
crafted or fashioned the human

body.
He is also the god of

technology.
So, when you put all this

together, it sure sounds like
Ptah taught the ancient

Egyptians how to resurrect the
body and travel the cosmos.

NARRATOR: Is it possible, as
ancient astronaut theorists

suggest, that the Egyptians'
complex beliefs about

resurrection came from the
extraterrestrial beings that

they believed had visited their
civilization in the past?

JASON MARTELL: It's very
possible that when we look at

the Egyptians performing their
very intricate mummification

process, this is something that
they might've witnessed.

Maybe they didn't fully
understand the process of what

made it possible, but they would
do their best to mimic it, and

that's exactly what we see with
mummification.

NARRATOR: But if the
Egyptians believed the soul

traveled through the cosmos, why
did they make such an effort to

preserve the corpse?
According to their texts, the

ancient Egyptians believed the
soul was made up of five parts.

The two most important were the
Ba...

and Ka.
The Ba journeyed into the

afterlife while the Ka remained
in the body.

CARGILL: The proper
preparation of a corpse during

burial was essential to success
in the afterlife.

That is, the Ka needed a
properly prepared body in which

to dwell.
And if that body, if that

vessel, isn't properly
maintained, that person could

die a second death in the
afterlife.

NARRATOR: Most scholars say
the Egyptians believed

resurrection involved the soul
being born again in the

afterlife, rather than being
physically resurrected on Earth.

HENRY: The ultimate
objective was for the Ba to

unite with its twin, our Ka,
as they called it, and form

a third entity that they called
the Akh... the shining one,

the shining being, that was then
capable of traveling the stars

as a celestial being.
So, this is suggesting that the

ancient Egyptians had a very
deep soul technology or a way of

transforming the soul, certainly
prying it out of the body,

uniting it with its twin self
and creating a light being form.

NARRATOR: But could it be
that the Egyptians believed that

the part of the soul that
remained within the body could

be resurrected as well?
Might this be why they went to

such great lengths to preserve
the body?

Because they believed there
would be a time when they would

be bodily resurrected here
on Earth?

Ancient astronaut theorists say
yes, and suggest further

evidence that this was knowledge
taught to our ancestors by

otherworldly visitors can be
found by examining stories from

the African rain forest...
stories of real life zombies.

NARRATOR: The Kingdom of
Kongo.

1482.
Portuguese explorer Diogo Cao is

the first European to sail up
the Congo River into the heart

of this ancient African nation.
Despite the dense rain forest on

both sides of the river, Cao
spends months exploring this

unknown land and meeting its
inhabitants.

After he reports his discoveries
back home, the king of

Portugal dispatches waves of
missionaries to the region.

The goal is to convert tribesman
from their ancient religion of

Vodun to Catholicism.
TOK THOMPSON: You have to

remember, this isn't too long
after the Crusades.

So, uh, Europe had already sort
of went from right from the

Crusades into colonialism, and
one of the big projects was not

just to get land and money and
slaves, although that was it,

but also to gain souls, converts
for the Catholic Church.

NARRATOR: Over the next
century, European missionaries

have great success turning the
Kingdom of Kongo into a Catholic

land.
Their belief that a sky god

created the Earth and its
inhabitants is changed to the

Catholic origin story.
But the locals hold on to some

of their beliefs, including the
concept, which is also held by

the ancient Egyptians, that
people have more than one soul.

THOMPSON: We have what's
called the big soul and the

little soul.
And one of them is responsible

for what we normally think of as
our personality, what makes you,

you, what makes me, me.
But the other one is more of a

basic sort of soul that animates
us, that gets the flesh moving.

HENRY: They speak of us as
each having a lesser angel

and a greater angel.
At the time of death, the lesser

angel stays with the body.
It doesn't know what to do.

But the greater angel leaves the
body.

NARRATOR: As missionaries
convert much of the population

to Christianity, traditional
bokors... or witch doctors... are

forced to perform some Vodun
ceremonies in secret.

European missionaries hear
astounding stories that these

witch doctors use ancient
rituals and traditional

knowledge to raise the dead,
creating automatons that are

later dubbed "zombies."
THOMPSON: The idea of the

zombies is that they actually
have only one of these two

souls.
They've passed on, they've died

and they've been resurrected.
But only with the soul that

animates us.
So they're lacking in that

personality and in that personal
feelings and things.

DAVID CHILDRESS: With
zombie ism, it is then only

the physical body is is
resurrected in a sense and the

personalities, that part of the
soul, has completely

disappeared.
NARRATOR: Could these stories

have been true?
And if so, might this be proof

that both the Egyptians and the
tribes of the Congo were correct

in their belief that our
consciousness is divided into

separate parts?
But how could witch doctors, who

lived hundreds of years ago,
with no access to modern

technology have been able to
breathe life into the dead,

reviving just the part of the
soul responsible for animating

the flesh?
Ancient astronaut theorists

point out that African myths
suggest voodoo magic originated

with the sky gods and their
emissaries to Earth, known

as Orishas or Loas.
GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: The topic

of the Orishas is very
interesting to me, because they

are looked upon as these divine
messengers, messengers of

knowledge.
And the stories are very clear

that the Orishas arrived from
the sky.

And what I find interesting is
that in many of the old carvings

that we can find... in wood, for
example... they're depicted in...

sitting in these weird craft,
that look like a craft, and that

they all seem to feature these
elongated skulls.

NARRATOR: Is it possible that
these African sky gods were

actually extraterrestrials that
not only taught the natives the

secrets of the soul, but also
showed them how to resurrect the

dead?
And could this be the origin of

our modern day stories of
zombies?

HENRY: Perhaps, through the
centuries, these original

teachings of these celestial
beings were lost.

Sorcerers and magicians in
Africa and elsewhere began

mimicking or trying to copy what
the originals had done and had

a limited degree of success.
They were able to create

zombies.
But the source is clear.

These teachings originally came
from celestial beings.

ERICH VON DANIKEN: Maybe some
of the extraterrestrials had an

accident, so the
extraterrestrials helped him

like a doctor would do today and
the natives watched it.

They couldn't understand what
was going on in medicine and

they copied it.
NARRATOR: Were African witch

doctors mimicking the technology
of their sky gods when they

tried to bring the dead back to
life?

And if so, are there stories in
which both parts of the soul

have been successfully
resurrected?

Ancient astronaut theorists
believe further evidence can be

found by exploring ancient Hindu
beliefs in which the conscious

self can be reborn in a new
body.

NARRATOR: Delhi, India.
1930.

Four year old Shanti Devi tells
her family that in a previous

life she was a woman named Lugdi
Bai and that she had lived in

the nearby village of Mathura.
At first, they dismiss the story

as a childhood fantasy.
But she knows so much about this

other world that she eventually
convinces them she's telling the

truth, and they journey to Lugdi
Bai's former village.

CHILDRESS: She actually went
to meet her previous husband in

her other life.
He also, after talking to her,

believed that she was the
reincarnation of his previous

wife, who had died in
childbirth.

And then, eventually, Mahatma
Ghandi got involved in this

whole story.
Uh, he had an investigation made

and Ghandi himself said that he
was satisfied that she was the

reincarnation of this other
woman.

NARRATOR: Could Lugdi Bai
have died and been reincarnated

as Shanti Devi?
The Hindu faithful believe

reincarnation... a spiritual
resurrection in which a soul is

reborn in a new body... happens
to almost everyone after death.

DEEPAK SHIMKHADA: When the
soul goes up and then it has to

be born into something else, in
another life life form.

So then it it comes back to
Earth in another living form.

So that is the idea of
reincarnation.

HENRY: In Hindu and other
traditions, the body is viewed

simply as a vessel for the soul,
that's capable of reincarnating

into successive bodies, or
successive lifetimes.

NARRATOR: If the concept that
the part of our consciousness

that forms our personality, that
makes us who we are, continues

to exist after the body has
died, then might many of us have

lived past lives?
And only a handful of people

like Shanti Devi are able to
remember them?

Some believe that not only is
reincarnation real, but that in

certain cases there has even
been physical evidence to

support this.
DAVID WILCOCK: When we

examine the reincarnation
research, a consistent theme

emerges regarding the existence
of birthmarks on someone's body.

What we've found is multiple
cases of people who have bizarre

birthmarks who then accurately
remember having been someone

else in another lifetime.
In some of these cases, we can

confirm that their past life
person died in a particular way,

and they come back with a
birthmark corresponding to that

exact area.
If they die by gunshot, we know

where the gunshot wound took
place.

The person reincarnates, and
they have a birthmark right

where the gunshot actually
entered.

NARRATOR: Is it possible that
a birthmark could be the

consciousness creating a
physical manifestation of a

traumatic event that happened in
a previous life?

Proponents of reincarnation say
further evidence that our

consciousness can be resurrected
in another body can be found in

the fact that reincarnation
isn't just part of Eastern

religions like Hinduism and
Buddhism.

It appears in most ancient
religions worldwide.

CARGILL: Early Greek religion
had a process, a belief, in

reincarnation.
Plato writes about it in his

writings, that the soul would
enter into the body, and then,

when you died, the soul would be
reprocessed and then would enter

back into a body.
MICHAEL CARTER: In the Bible,

Jesus says, "Who do you say that
I am?"

"Some people say you're John the
Baptist.

Some people say you're Elijah.
Some people say you're

Jeremiah."
Well, those people are all dead.

So what they're saying is, "You've
come back as this person."

That's what reincarnation is about.

NARRATOR: In each of these

religions, the gods are the ones
that educated people about

reincarnation.
Is it possible that the ancients

misunderstood who had bestowed
this knowledge on their

societies and that they were
actually extraterrestrial beings

sharing their wisdom about the
afterlife?

HENRY: Ultimately, when you
trace back the the origins of

the stories of reincarnation,
you're led to extraterrestrial

sources.
This was a teaching that was

brought here, and represents the
ultimate spiritual attainment on

Earth.
WILCOCK: We have over 30

ancient cultures around the
world independently contacted by

human looking messengers who
give them a unified body of

spiritual knowledge, which
usually describes reincarnation,

the transmigration of the soul
from one physical incarnation to

the next, as a reality.
NARRATOR: Could it be that

celestial beings have mastered
the science of reincarnation to

the point where they treat death
as just another form of life?

And if so, are these aliens
helping nurture our

understanding of this
otherworldly realm?

CHILDRESS: If resurrections
are really a resurrection of the

spirit rather than the body,
then it's possible that we would

have a technology to follow that
spirit from one body to the

next.
And you have to wonder if this

doesn't come from
extraterrestrials.

NARRATOR: Could
extraterrestrials have the

ultimate answers to life, death
and resurrection?

And if so, will humanity ever
possess those secrets?

Ancient astronaut theorists
believe some people may already

have them... without even
knowing it.

NARRATOR: Northern Israel,
approximately 33 AD.

According to the gospels of the
New Testament of the Bible, in

the months before his death,
Jesus leads three of his

apostles away from the village
in which they're staying and

together, they journey to a
nearby mountain.

DOWNING: The story here is
that Jesus went up a high

mountain with Peter, James and
John... his three closest

followers.
While they were there, a glowing

object hovered over them.
And Moses and Elijah were

reported to appear to him.
While they were there, the body

of Jesus began to glow
tremendously.

And when they were finished with
this scene, they went down the

mountain and Jesus told the
disciples not to tell anybody

about this until after his
crucifixion and resurrection.

This says to me that maybe the
body of Jesus went through some

type of transformation which
changed his body so that when he

arose from the dead, it would be
a body that would never die

again.
NARRATOR: According to the

Bible, it was several months
after this incident that Roman

authorities arrested Jesus and
put him to death by crucifixion.

KATHLEEN McGOWAN COPPENS: We
know, following the crucifixion

on Friday night, he is laid into
a tomb.

On Sunday, when Mary Magdalene
and the other women come to

anoint his body, the tomb is
empty.

The stone has been rolled back
and his burial cloths are all

that remain.
NARRATOR: Although Jesus is

said to have ascended to a
heavenly realm, it is written

that he ascended "bodily."
This has led some ancient

astronaut theorists to form a
different interpretation of the

scriptures, based also on
events that occurred just after

the resurrection, that indicate
it may have had extraterrestrial

origins.
DOWNING: Matthew's gospel,

chapter 28 says that, "An angel
of God descended from heaven,

rolled back the stone and sat
upon it.

And his clothing glistened
white."

And so we have a being reported
to be there.

This means that powers from
another world were involved in

the resurrection of Jesus.
CARTER: People come to the

tomb.
They find the tomb empty.

They're describing, in in a
couple of the gospels, young men

with raiment that was shining.
Much like extraterrestrial, uh,

encounters today, where we see
beings of light.

And they say, "Well, why are you
seeking the living among the

dead?
Jesus is gone, just like he said

would happen."
NARRATOR: Many Christians

believe this seminal
resurrection in Western culture

signifies that humans can... and
many eventually will... be raised

from the dead.
But does it actually give

humanity clues about how to
pierce the veil between life and

death?
Some ancient astronaut theorists

say that further evidence that
resurrection is possible can be

found in the modern day church
service.

St. Patrick's Cathedral.
New York City.

TIMOTHY DOLAN: Give us
perseverance, and lead us to

salvation.
NARRATOR: Cardinal Timothy

Dolan says Mass at one of
America's most impressive

Catholic churches... and during
the Eucharist, he consecrates

bread and wine.
According to church doctrine, at

this moment, he is literally
turning them into the body and

blood of Jesus Christ.
Cardinal Dolan, or any other

priest who performs this ritual,
is actually performing a

resurrection.
CARGILL: The Catholic

doctrine of transubstantiation
argues that this is a miracle.

The Eucharist is a miracle.
When you partake of the bread

and the wine, that it
miraculously transforms into the

actual body and blood of Jesus.
YOUNG: We then ingest the

holy.
We ingest Christ, incorporate...

play on word... that is, make
part of our corpus, part of our

body, the divine, in this ritual
form.

It is a powerful activity.
NARRATOR: But how can bread

and wine be changed into flesh
and blood?

According to the Catholic
Church, it's a mystery that

humans cannot possibly unravel.
But some believe that instead of

a physical transformation, Jesus
is resurrected metaphysically

during the church service...
that Jesus was, and still is, an

advanced being that can move
from one dimension to another.

As evidence, they cite what
Jesus told his followers about

the power of gathering in groups
to invoke his name.

YOUNG: Christ said, "Where
two or more are gathered in my

name, there I am also."
Something happens and it happens

in ritual worship, collective
worship.

Now, I'm not putting aside the
power and value of private

spiritual practice, but there's
something else that happens when

this is done collectively.
HENRY: Is this a form of

resurrection as well, where
they, in fact, then, in a way,

embody the Christ energy during
the Mass?

So maybe this is the purpose of
the Mass... is to create this

environment where they can
transform their body into a

vehicle capable of manifesting
or holding the Christ energy.

NARRATOR: Is it possible that
worshippers around the world

actually resurrect an
otherworldly being every time

they gather to pray?
And if so, is this just a

resurrection of the spirit?
Or could we eventually reanimate

the body so it can be reunited
with the soul?

Ancient astronaut theorists
believe stunning advances in

modern medicine might soon make
this possible.

NARRATOR: Tubingen, Germany.
2013.

Scientists at the University of
Tubingen report a landmark

event.
They have sequenced and decoded

DNA that was extracted from five
Egyptian mummy heads.

Somehow, the way the ancient
Egyptians embalmed the bodies of

their dead allowed DNA to
survive for thousands of years.

FISHER: One of the things
that happens in mummification is

that they rapidly, uh, extract
the water, and it's thought that

water actually is one of the
major contributors to the

degradation of the DNA.
So that rapid extraction of

water is believed to protect the
mummy from DNA degradation.

NARRATOR: Researchers have
not yet found a complete set of

genetic blueprints to the
ancient Egyptian body.

But this material shows them
that if they do find enough DNA,

they can, in theory, bring these
people back to life... to

physically resurrect them.
ROBERT BAUVAL: If we have

the physical remains of a
corpse, it might be possible to

resurrect this corpse literally,
to regenerate the DNA.

Now, the process would be
extremely difficult, but the

technology is on its way, and
that will be amazing.

I mean, we would... they would
literally have achieved their

objective is to be resurrected
again.

NARRATOR: Is it possible that
scientists are finally starting

to unravel the secrets to
resurrection?

And if so, can humanity
eventually master this power so

we can bring bodies and souls
back into the physical world

whenever we choose?
Some ancient astronaut theorists

suggest that many religions
describe the moment when humans

reach this stage of evolution.
It's variously called the

Rapture, the Day of Judgment,
End of Days, or the Apocalypse.

BAR TZADOK: According to the
legends, all humanity is to

evolve into a higher form.
The proper word would be

transformation, wherein which we
will have achieved the purpose

for which we have come to Earth
in the first place.

But that, in and of itself, is
not the end of the road.

Then we evolve beyond that.
This is referred to as the Great

Resurrection.
TSOUKALOS: One thing is

crystal clear.
In all of the ancient texts,

those gods promised to return.
Not just in the Bible, but in

many of the ancient sacred
texts.

NARRATOR: Could the End of
Days that most religions foresee

actually be the time when
humanity discovers the secret to

resurrection, allowing everyone
to move between physical and

spiritual planes of existence?
And if so, will this realm be

the place where we finally meet
the extraterrestrials that

ancient astronaut theorists say
visited Earth thousands of years

ago?
HENRY: The idea of... of

resurrection or rebirth into a
new realm of existence, a new

kingdom of heaven, was central
to our interaction with the

celestials or extraterrestrial
beings.

You can almost make the argument
that that's why they came here...

was to teach us how to resurrect
ourselves, our bodies,

to transform our bodies into
a celestial form, a light body

form.
WILCOCK: We find a direct

through line connecting
extraterrestrials, angels and

the near death experience.
There is a compelling suggestion

that at the End of Days, the
veil between realities will be

parted and we will gain the
capability of moving directly

between the world of the living
and the world of the afterlife.

TSOUKALOS: And I don't think
that is anything that we should

look upon with dread, but with
joy, because it means we're not

alone and, you know,
they're there with us.

NARRATOR: Might we really
have souls that exist in a realm

that can be accessed by
otherworldly beings?

And if so, could stories
involving the second coming of

prophets, the reanimation of the
dead, and the close encounters

of those on the brink of death,
be evidence that

extraterrestrials hold the
secret to resurrection?

Perhaps as we come to better
understand our own mortality,

we, too will uncover the
mysteries of the afterlife and

in the process, discover the
truth about our alien origins.

Captioning sponsored by
A&E TELEVISION NETWORKS

Captioned by
Media Access Group at WGBH

access.wgbh.org