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NARRATOR:
Sacred tattoos.

These are primeval symbols
that speak to something in us

that's very deep-seated
and very universal.

NARRATOR:
Severe body modifications.

BILL BIRNES:
The tribespeople

sharpen the edges of their teeth

to look like serpents.

NARRATOR:
Extreme adornments.

JONATHAN YOUNG: Girls in the Kayan
culture stretched out their necks

with brass rings to emulate
their sacred ancestor.

NARRATOR: Could these metamorphic
alterations of the flesh

represent more
than mere self-expression

or even acts
of religious tribute?

Might they contain a message

critical to the future
of mankind?

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: The reason
why they did this to their bodies

is in order to gain
the strength of the gods

that they tried to imitate.

WILLIAM HENRY:
We now have technology

that is equal to what we see

the gods using
in these ancient stories.

Maybe now we're gonna be able
to turn ourselves into a species

just like the gods.

NARRATOR:
There is a doorway

in the universe.

Beyond it is
the promise of truth.

It demands
we question everything

we have ever been taught.

The evidence is all around us.

The future is
right before our eyes.

We are not alone.

We have never been alone.

Tattooed and pierced
Italian fashion model

Cristian Mignemi makes a bold
and permanent decision

to transform the sclera,
or whites of his eyes,

into black.

He claims he wants to appear
more otherworldly.

Cristian Mignemi

is a very forward-thinking
person in fashion,

by choosing to go to the extreme

of coloring his eyes
completely black,

looking almost alien-like.

This is a trend happening
across the board.

Body modifications,

tattooing, piercing,

all types of adornments
to change

the physical appearance
of our bodies.

It's almost as if humanity,
in a fashion sense,

is gearing themselves
to look more alien.

MITCH HOROWITZ:
People feel liberated

by the idea that they can appear

extrahuman in some way.

They can look
like something extraterrestrial

or they can look
like something primeval.

There's something
self-dramatizing

and empowering about it.

(buzzing)

NARRATOR:
Today, tattoos and piercings

account for a nearly
$1 billion industry.

Trending modification practices

like ear elongation
and branding the skin

are all on the rise.

But what could motivate someone
to alter their body

in such a way?

The way we adorn our bodies

is essentially telling a story
and sending messages.

The fact that
more and more people

are expressing themselves
through body art,

it tells a bigger story
on a cultural level.

Now that we're so connected
through the Internet,

it's easy to find inspiration
from others

and what other people are doing
in body art practices.

Symbols communicate things

that we're not quite able
to put into words.

It goes beyond just wanting
to make a statement

about one's individuality.

It demonstrates
what you believe in.

NARRATOR:
While tattoos, piercings

and body modification

are modern forms
of personal expression,

they also hearken back
to humanity's ancient past

and mirror the practices

of many so-called
primitive tribes that exist

around the world today.

A lot of what we do
finds inspiration

in ancient roots
from all over the world.

These are things
that we've seen on, say,

like, National Geographic

and books and on TV
over the years.

And they've inspired newer forms

of body modification
and body art expression.

NARRATOR:
Rites of passage,

like skin stretching,

have been seen
throughout history

in different parts of the world.

The revered Buddha,

the Dayak of Borneo,

the ancient Rapa Nui
of Easter Island

and the modern Fulani tribe
of West Africa

all have colorful histories
of ritual ear stretching.

The contemporary Mursi women
of Ethiopia,

tribes of the Amazon

and the earlier Botocudo people
of coastal Brazil

all share a history
of skin stretching

for decorative lip plates.

But are these practices being
adopted by mainstream society

simply as a fashion trend,

a bold form of self-expression?

Or could it be motivated
by a profound link

to our ancient past?

TSOUKALOS:
When people have tattoos,

it's something meaningful.

And so my question is not,
today,

why do we tattoo ourselves?

I ask the question,

when did we first tattoo
ourselves, and then why?

(wind blowing)

NARRATOR:
September 9, 1991.

11,000 feet high
in the Otztal Alps.

Two German climbers
near the Austrian-Italian border

happen upon a frozen corpse.

Scientists call him
the Tyrolean Iceman, or Otzi,

and place his time of death

between 3400 and 3100 BC.

What we find so amazing
about Otzi,

he's very well preserved.

So well preserved

that scientists and
anthropologists can even tell

that he had
a lot of medical conditions.

And that leads us
to Otzi's tattoos.

NARRATOR:
In 2015,

more than two decades
after the initial discovery,

scientists were able
to make a more detailed scan

of the Iceman's epidermis.

The results were extraordinary.

ANDREW COLLINS:
Under examination,

it was found
that Otzi the Iceman

had, in fact, 61 different
tattoos over his body,

and almost all of these
took the form of parallel lines,

either two together,
three together.

In one case, seven together.

BARRETTA:
These tattoos, it's amazing.

They are actually located
on acupuncture points

throughout the body.

Most of them are on the joints,
the lower back,

the thoracic area, the chest.

And what that tells us is he had
some knowledge of healing.

NARRATOR: Acupuncture is a
traditional form of Chinese medicine

involving the pricking
of the skin with needles

along the body's
neurohormonal meridians

to alleviate pain and treat
various medical conditions.

Traditional historians place the
origin of acupuncture in China

at approximately 100 BC.

Acupuncture did not exist
as a formal system

of therapeutic treatment
in China, uh,

at the time
that Otzi received his tattoos

on the other side of the globe.

HENRY: So, where did Otzi
get these tattoos

that were made
with the knowledge

of acupuncture points
on the body?

DAVID CHILDRESS: We think
acupuncture's from China,

but here's something even older
and from the Alps.

CAROLINE CORY: The fact
that we find these tattoos

at specific meridian points
tells us

that this civilization knew

of the meridians in the body,

understood how energy runs
in the body,

which is quite an advanced
process for that time.

So, where did this knowledge
come from?

Is it possible that it came

from some kind of higher source,

downloaded
into the healers of the time?

Is it possible that acupuncture

is really coming
from extraterrestrials?

NARRATOR:
Could the Tyrolean Iceman

point to the possibility
that tattooing originated

as a result of contact
with extraterrestrial visitors?

While it may sound far-fetched,

ancient astronaut theorists
suggest

that some of
the most popular tattoos

found in both the ancient
and modern world

contain symbolism
connected to the cosmos.

HOROWITZ:
Some of the earliest yearnings

of our ancient ancestors

was to recognize
and connect themselves

to the cosmos, to the movement
of celestial objects,

to the cycles of the seasons.

In modern tattoo art,

we're not only seeing
a proliferation

of celestial images,

whether the Sun, the stars,

the phases of the Moon,
astrological symbols,

but we're also starting to see
E.T. images.

These are primeval symbols
that speak to something in us

that's very deep-seated
and very universal.

Tattooing or body modification
can be a way

of remembering one's ancestors,

remembering one's connection
with the cosmos.

NARRATOR: A yearning to
connect with the cosmos

is perhaps as old
as civilization itself.

And ancient astronaut theorists
suggest

that tattoos represent
far more than merely

a symbolic representation
of this.

They believe that the desire
to alter the flesh

through tattooing
and other means

may be embedded deep
in the subconscious mind

and that perhaps the origin
of this human need

can be found encoded
in the well-preserved skin

of Egypt's mummies.

NARRATOR:
Deir el-Medina, Egypt.

2014.

Using modern imaging equipment,

Dr. Anne Austin scans
the body of a female mummy

dating back as far as 1300 BC.

What she finds is unexpected

and contradicts
long-held beliefs

regarding female roles
in ancient Egyptian society.

One particular torso
was a human female

who had the image of Hathor
tattooed onto her body.

In ancient Egypt,

having the tattoo of Hathor
on your body

would clearly be an indication

of your status
as a priestess of Hathor

and as a person who's not just
a representative of Hathor

but maybe in direct contact
with the goddess, as well.

BARRETTA:
Prior to finding these mummies,

it was believed
that women in Egypt

were only tattooed if they were
prostitutes or dancers.

We see that, no,

these were most likely,
you know, priestesses.

The tattoos relate to a deity,

to a sky god, Hathor.

The symbol for Hathor
would sometimes be

the head of a cow, horns,
a disc in the center.

The Egyptian tattoos
are very symbolic

of their close association
with the cosmos.

They were very in tune
with their gods.

They felt,
through these symbols,

they were communicating
with the gods.

NARRATOR:
The Egyptian goddess Hathor

is an earlier incarnation
of Isis,

considered the primeval goddess

from whom all others
were derived.

In the Temple of Hathor
in Dendera,

the goddess is depicted sailing
in a ship of eternity

along the night waters...

Not of the Nile
but of the Milky Way.

TSOUKALOS: Dendera is
one of the most important

ancient Egyptian sites.

It clearly depicts travel
through the sky

with the so-called sun barges.

And our ancestors knew
that ships do not fly

across the sky
or across the Sun.

So why would they
describe barges

that came down from the sky?

What is depicted in Dendera
are the extraterrestrials

as they're traveling
across the sky.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible

that the mummy found
at Deir el-Medina was tattooed

with symbols representing
extraterrestrial visitors

to Earth?

TSOUKALOS:
My idea is

that the ancient Egyptians
worshipped those symbols

because not only
did they have to illustrate

that they were
of the ruling class

but also that they had
a direct connection,

or so they thought,

to Hathor.

The reason why they put that
on their bodies

is in order to gain

the strength of the gods
that they tried to imitate.

And these gods were

flesh-and-blood
extraterrestrials.

NARRATOR:
Do the tattoos

found on the mummies
at Deir el-Medina

reveal attempts to connect
with the power of a god

or an extraterrestrial being?

And did the ancient Egyptians
permanently mark their flesh

in order to honor divine beings

or leave a lasting commemoration

of contact
with otherworldly visitors?

HOROWITZ:
Humanity has always used

symbols and sigils
and cryptography

to convey messages.

BARRETTA:
The Egyptians realized

there was a lot of power
in symbols,

and they knew
how to use these symbols

when they would tattoo.

We have to wonder,
was it to communicate

with the gods
through their tattoos?

To emulate the gods?

To embody the gods?

NARRATOR: The cow and
disc representing Hathor

was not the only tattoo
discovered on the mummies

at Deir el-Medina.

One of the bodies also bore
another powerful symbol.

BARRETTA:
She had the Eye of Horus.

And they say the Eye of Horus
is composed of six parts

which relate to our six senses.

Not the five we think we have.
We have six.

Sight, hearing, smell,

taste, touch and thought.

But what is thought?
Is that extrasensory thought?

Is that the way
we communicate nonverbally?

So, the Eye of Horus

also has a very magical type
of element to it.

HOROWITZ: The all-seeing
eye or the Eye of Horus

as it was depicted
in ancient Egypt

was one of the holiest
of symbols.

It served
to remind the individual

that human life is incomplete

without some sort
of higher vision

or without the awareness
of providence of a higher world.

That was a central idea, uh,
to the ancient Egyptians.

CHILDRESS:
The Eye of Horus

is the eye of God
that sees everything.

We're talking
about an Egyptian god

who's quite possibly
an extraterrestrial.

NARRATOR:
Many of the symbols found

on ancient mummies,
like the Eye of Horus,

have been used as tattoo designs
for centuries

and are still popular
with tattoo enthusiasts today.

But why do they endure?

Is it possible
that a simple but iconic image

of an eye devised
more than 3,000 years ago

still speaks to humans today

because we intuitively
understand the power behind it?

HOROWITZ:
People adorn themselves

with bodily art,
tattoos or body modification

without knowing
why that pentagram

or why that obelisk
or why that pyramid

speaks so deeply to them.

If you ask them,

they might not be able
to give you a very clear answer,

but their experience
of that symbol is answer enough.

It inspires awe.

It tells us that we come
from something larger.

NARRATOR: Could the
tattoos of our ancestors

contain a record
of humanity's past

and messages meant for us
to decode today?

Perhaps the answer can be found
by examining not just tattoos

but far more extreme
body modifications.

NARRATOR:
Tanna Island.

Every year on February 15,

residents of the Pacific
island chain of Vanuatu

gather together here
for a military-style parade

with "U.S.A." painted

and sometimes even tattooed
on their chests.

It is a tradition that began
more than 60 years ago

and is inspired by events

that took place
during World War II,

when American forces descended
upon the remote island chain

with modern machinery
and supplies.

During the Second World War,

when the Americans
reached the Pacific,

um, and took over many
of the islands,

supplies would be dropped
from aircraft

or brought in on landing strips.

And this brought many new things

to these local populations,

everything from canned foods

to manufactured clothing

to other items
they'd never seen before.

NARRATOR: The native people,
who had never encountered

this type
of modern civilization,

were awed by these visitors
from the sky,

who brang with them food
and gifts.

All the aboriginals
were fascinated.

They'd light up a cigarette.

Hold out a voice recorder,
record their voice.

The aboriginals
thought this was all magic.

YOUNG:
They had never seen great ships

and the goods, the-the weapons.

Arthur C. Clarke's third law is:

"Any sufficiently advanced
technology

is indistinguishable
from magic."

NARRATOR: After the war
in the Pacific concluded,

the U.S. soldiers left
the islands, and overnight,

the bounty of technology
and modern luxuries was gone.

In memory
of the American soldiers

and in the hope that it would
bring about their return,

the natives formed a cult
devoted to the people

who had visited them
from the sky.

The people would try
and recreate

the circumstances
that brought this cargo to them.

They started to create
replica items

associated with the Americans
and their presence,

even rifles.

MARTELL:
They would scrape away runways

and make straw models
of the planes that landed

to try and lure the soldiers

to once again land and bring
all their amazing technology.

Every religious experience
begins with the miraculous.

Some individual or group

will have an experience
where they feel

they have witnessed something
or undergone something

that is outside of the ordinary.

And they will create

monuments to that experience,

whether it is the statue
of a deity,

whether it is a pyramid,
whether it is a cathedral.

We see this across history

and all over the world
to this very day.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible that,

much like the so-called
cargo cults

in the South Pacific,

ancient people
also constructed monuments

and even entire religions

based on interactions
with visitors from the sky?

MARTELL: The term "cargo
cult" is very interesting

when applied
to the ancient astronaut theory,

because we can see
that even in modern times

how man has interacted
with things coming from the sky

or other technology
they didn't understand.

This has been playing out
for thousands of years

here on Earth.

NARRATOR:
If extraterrestrial visitation

inspired the ancient people

to build temples
in a certain fashion

and attempt to reproduce
misunderstood technology,

could it also
have motivated them

to tattoo and otherwise modify
their bodies

similar to how the people
of Vanuatu adorn their chests

with the letters "U.S.A.,"

continuing to imitate
the soldiers who visited

before most of the islanders
were even born?

Ancient astronaut
theorists suggest

additional evidence
that cargo cult practices

include body modifications

can be found by examining
numerous other cultures

throughout the world
that also undergo

extreme body alterations.

♪ ♪

In Brazil, the Kayapo worship
a god they call Bep Kororoti,

who they depict in ceremonies
with a straw suit

that is eerily reminiscent
of a modern-day spacesuit.

Their traditions include
intricate body painting,

face tattooing, lip stretching
and peculiar haircuts,

all to harness the power
of this otherworldly being.

And perhaps the most extreme
body modification of all

is practiced by
the Kayan people of Burma.

COLLINS:
There is a tradition

amongst the Kayan people

of the women wearing

these spiraling brass rings
in their neck.

And they wear these
throughout their life,

and it can take many, many hours

to actually put these coils
in place.

There is a tradition
that this female dragon

had begun the dynasty
of the Kayan people,

and that the reason they do this
is to resemble this dragon.

STEAVU:
In Kayan foundational mythology,

dragons play
a very prominent role,

that act as messengers
between the world

of the divine
and the world of humans.

They are very powerful,
magical creatures as well,

and they're associated
with ultimate knowledge.

Is it possible
that this creature

actually came from the sky world

and was seen to be the influence

behind the foundation
of these people,

a memory which
they never forgot?

NARRATOR: Could it be
that there are cultures

around the world today

keeping alive an ancient story

of alien visitation
by altering their flesh?

And is it possible
that the growing trend

of body modification
in the modern world

is due to a deep-seated memory

of our extraterrestrial origins?

Perhaps further clues
can be found by examining

one of the most
peculiar practices

of the ancient world:
Head binding.

NARRATOR:
Viacha, Bolivia.

November 2018.

Just 30 miles east

of the mysterious ancient site
of Puma Punku,

archaeologists uncover
500-year-old tombs

believed to have been built
by a pre-Incan civilization

called the Pacajes.

The remains of more than 100
people are discovered within,

and a number of the skulls

are found to have
a very bizarre abnormality.

They appear
dramatically elongated.

According to archaeologists,

these specimens display evidence

of a body modification practice
called head binding.

The head can be changed
in its shape.

Generally, it's elongated.

And this is done when a child
is perhaps six months old

through to the age of three.

And their heads are bound up,

and this pushes
the skull upwards

and creates
these bizarre shapes.

Just by gazing upon them,

you can't help think alien,

because that's what
they truly look like.

NARRATOR: Curiously,
this extreme form of body modification

was widespread throughout
the ancient world,

occurring on nearly
every continent

and practiced by many cultures
that are believed to have had

no contact with one another.

This is a process
that has been going on

at least for the last
10,000 years

and is found
in every part of the world,

from the Pacific islands
to Australia,

to the Near East,
to the Americas.

And the strangest
are those of Paracas in Peru.

Everywhere,
we find this same process.

It seems as if
it was mimicking people

who originally existed

that had long heads
in the first place.

CHILDRESS: In Vanuatu,
anthropologists asked

the people who were still doing
head binding up until the 1960s,

and they asked them why
they did that, and they said,

"This is what the gods look like
with these elongated heads."

And if that is the explanation
for head binding

around the world,
then who are these gods?

They're apparently
extraterrestrials

who have
a naturally elongated head

that's just part of their DNA,

and humans want to look
like them.

NARRATOR: If ancient people
did encounter extraterrestrials

and perhaps even
coexisted with them,

might there have been something
more profound at play

than mere deification
and imitation?

Some ancient astronaut
theorists believe

that it may, in fact,
be programmed into human DNA

to want to become more like
our alien ancestors.

And that ancient traditions

of body modification
and tattooing

represent practice runs,

preparing for the day
when we could alter ourselves

to actually become
like the aliens.

Vancouver, British Columbia.

August 13, 2019.

Ancient astronaut theorist
William Henry

visits self-described
transhumanist Russ Foxx...

- Yeah, he's in his room right there.
- Oh, thank you.

NARRATOR: To get a
firsthand look at technology

that proposes to transform
the human race.

- FOXX: Hi, William.
- Hi. How are you?

I'm William Henry.
Pleasure to meet you.

Good to meet you. Grab a seat.

- Thank you very much.
- This is Eric.

- Hi, Eric. How are you?
- Hi. Nice to meet you.

Pleasure to meet you as well.

NARRATOR:
In his 2015 book,

The Skingularity Is Near,

William Henry proposed

that humankind
is reaching a point

where the body will be
radically transformed.

Well, you came at a perfect
time... Eric is going to

have an NFC chip
installed today.

Fantastic.

I will begin by cleaning
your hand.

NARRATOR:
He is eager to investigate

how this is already
beginning to happen.

Russ prepares to implant Eric

with a biocompatible
glass tube...

FOXX: So we are ready
to install the chip.

NARRATOR:
Containing an NFC microchip.

FOXX: So the implant
itself was pre-sterilized

and loaded into a syringe,
so it will be

literally injected
under the skin.

You now have a chip.

NARRATOR: NFC stands for
"near-field communication,"

and it allows phones, tablets,
laptops and other devices

to easily share data with other
NFC-equipped devices.

So, Russ, what-what technologies
have you got implanted?

I personally have a number
of different chips

in both of my hands, as well
as a magnetic vision implant,

an RFID and an NFC
in either side

- with different purposes.
- Mm-hmm.

This NFC chip has all of
my business links and web URLs.

And this is
a built-in business card.

So I can actually
scan it with your phone

and give you my contact info.

Just like that,
and it brings up my contact info

- and saves it in your phone.
- Wow.

Look at that.
So I've got your phone number.

I've got your contact details.

So, all of these things,

you use it
to start your motorcycle,

get in your home...

I replaced my keys
with these chips,

so that way,
I don't have to deal

with losing
or having keys stolen.

So these chips interact
with a lot

of different devices in my life.

I could bring you to my house
and show you some of them.

- I'd love that.
- Let's go for a trip.

- Right on.
- Okay.

HENRY: Humanity has a long
history of interaction

with extraterrestrial beings
who came here with technology.

And humans have long tried

to imitate or be like the gods.

So I will wake up the bike
with my RFID chip.

- I introduce it to the sensor.
- HENRY: Okay.

FOXX:
And the bike is awake.

- Awesome. Okay.
- Just like that.

HENRY:
And now today,

we have transhuman technology

where we're augmenting
the physical body

in an effort to duplicate many
of the capacities

that we attribute
to the ancient gods.

♪ ♪

So, to access my home,

- I scan my chip...
- Ah.

- And the door's unlocked. We can enter.
- Very nice.

- After you.
- Thank you.

HENRY:
What I'm hoping to see here

by coming to Russ's home
is to see the future.

Where is Russ going to go
with this?

What has he got access to
in his own home,

and-and how is that
gonna change him?

- So this is my dining room table.
- Okay.

Which doubles as
an RFID-operated safe.

- Ah.
- What I do is I scan

my RFID chip on top.

(lock clicks)

A slip hinge...
and there's my drawer.

Ah, very nice. Beautiful.

So these devices in here

- are implantable technology pieces I have.
- Mm-hmm.

- And I will show you what they are.
- Fantastic.

So, this first device,
this is called a North Sense.

This device is mounted
to the body with piercings.

This device will vibrate

whenever it faces
magnetic north,

essentially turning you
into a human compass.

And here we have
some magnet implants.

So, this is a small chip
that encases tritium gas,

and it will glow
right through your skin.

And because it is, uh,
radioactive material,

it's not, um, battery powered.

It will constantly glow,
and it has

- a 12-year half-life.
- Wow.

At what point do we become
more than human

in the transhuman process?

I think that we're-we're always

going to be building on
to our existing humanity,

but it's important to appreciate
our existing humanity.

We don't want to lose touch
with that.

HENRY: When I look at
Russ, I see someone

who's on the cutting edge
of our technology,

but he's just the beginning

of where we potentially
can go with this.

We're talking about transforming
humans into super beings.

NARRATOR:
With the emergence of technology

that can be implanted
within the flesh,

is humankind on the brink
of possessing abilities

similar to those described
by ancient people

in reference to their gods?

Has body modification

all been a preparation
for this evolution?

Perhaps further clues
can be found

by examining plans to merge
tattoos with technology.

NARRATOR:
Boulder, Colorado.

2018.

At the University of Colorado,

Dr. Carson Bruns
and a team of scientists

begins work on developing
a new technology

that promises to transform
what it means to get ink...

"smart tattoos."

BRUNS: We're trying to
engineer new tattoo inks

that will add new function
to your skin.

The first one that we invented
is a UV-sensitive tattoo ink.

It's basically invisible under
normal lighting conditions,

but when you go outside
in intense sunshine

and it gets exposed
to the UV lights...

That high-energy part
of sunshine

that causes skin cancer
and sunburn...

It turns blue
and acts like an indicator

that shows you that your skin
is dangerously exposed

to high levels
of dangerous radiation.

NARRATOR: Dr. Bruns has
also created tattoo inks

that change color as the body's
temperature changes,

essentially creating
a human on board thermometer

accessible at any time.

BRUNS:
We can use nanotechnology

to engineer tattoo particles

so that they have
special properties,

like a thermal battery

or a thermal storage type
of mechanism.

And so one thing that you can
imagine doing with a tattoo

would be covering
your entire body

with a sort of thermal
storage material

that would keep your body
at a comfortable temperature

when you went out
into the extreme heat

or the extreme cold.

NARRATOR: Smart tattoos
are even being engineered

to monitor and treat
health conditions.

BRUNS:
If we have a chronic condition

that needs drugs,
we can envision a tattoo ink

that slowly releases a drug
or a hormone

into your body
that helps regulate

either your blood chemistry
or your mood.

I also envision tattoos that can
really strengthen our skin,

make our skin stronger
to forces and-and damage.

The military may have a lot
of use for full-body tattoos

that can help protect soldiers,
for example,

from certain types
of skin damage.

HENRY: Carson Bruns is
doing fascinating work

on the human skin.

He believes that we can change
the nature of skin altogether,

using skin as a new platform
for technological development.

Humans have always tried
to imitate the gods,

and perhaps tattoos are
a reflection of this.

In ancient times,

they might have seen the gods
wearing something like tattoos,

and they started tattooing
their own bodies

in imitation
of what the gods were wearing.

But today, we now have
technology that is equal

to what we see the gods using
in these ancient stories.

Maybe now we're going to be able
to turn ourselves into

a species just like the gods.

NARRATOR: Is it possible
that ancient people

came into contact
with more advanced beings

that had smart tattoos

much like those
that are being developed today?

Could these
otherworldly visitors

have had technology hidden
within their skin,

appearing as artwork?

Conducting tattoos that we're
working on are black right now,

so it looks like an ordinary
black tattoo pigment.

But you could even merge
the technology

with the art
so that you could have

a tattoo that looks
like a normal artistic tattoo

but has this hidden function

as some kind of electronic
or detecting device.

NARRATOR: As far as ancient
astronaut theorists are concerned,

with such technology,

extraterrestrials could truly
have appeared

to be gods to ancient people.

And they believe
humanity is very close

to becoming
like these alien ancestors.

Silicon Valley.

2018.

Futurist Elon Musk introduces
a new technology venture

aimed at what is known
as "self-directed evolution."

He calls it "Neuralink."

By means of a special
hypodermic needle,

the company intends
to inject an ultra thin mesh,

called a "neuro lace,"
within the neocortex,

forming a body of electrodes

that are able
to monitor brain function.

A neural lace uses
microelectrodes

they place inside of the brain

that can actually read
and write onto neurons.

It's a bidirectional
informational exchange.

And it eventually will allow you

to receive information
from the Internet.

FOXX:
Through the use of Neuralinking,

we can connect brains

through the Internet
or through technology.

When this is the case, we can
send thoughts to one another.

BRUNS:
Another thing you could do,

if you were able
to read brain activity,

would be to control devices
remotely with your mind.

So, it would give us telekinesis
in principle, as well.

NARRATOR:
The technology

that Elon Musk is developing

could potentially also
be applied to the human body

in the form of tattoos.

Nanotechnology is allowing us
to make electronics small enough

so when tattooable electronics
come online,

you can do things
like a scalp tattoo.

If we're able
to read brain activity

from this sort of seamless and
permanent interface in our skin,

you could imagine
a new form of communication,

almost sort of
a technological telepathy.

NARRATOR:
Is humanity nearing a time

when we will no longer be
a cargo cult...

Unknowingly mimicking
a far more advanced civilization

that once visited Earth...
But will, in fact,

become just like
these extraterrestrial visitors?

Have we evolved
from imitation to replication?

Perhaps further clues
can be found

by examining new developments
in body modification

designed to facilitate
space travel.

ATOR:
In the 21st century,

tattoos and body modifications
are no longer fringe

and no longer merely decorative.

Technology implanted
within the flesh

can facilitate
superhuman abilities.

But of greatest interest
to ancient astronaut theorists

is the role that smart tattoos
could potentially play

in space travel.

BRUNS: The next generation
of space suits

are gonna be embedded
with a lot more technologies,

and it's possible
to make tattoos

that can interact
with the space suit.

You can imagine even
a space suit

that would be able
to read out information

that those tattoos are providing

and send them back
to mission control.

NARRATOR: Scientists are even
beginning to develop technology

that could make
space suits obsolete.

We can use nanotechnology
to engineer tattoo particles

so that they have
special properties

covering your entire body.

Super skin, E-skin, I-skin is

skin that is enhanced
or laced with technology.

Since 2002, the U.S. military
has been very interested

in creating a new skin
for the military.

This augmentation
will transform us from humans

into the next level
of evolution,

augmenting the body

to make us smarter,
to make us stronger.

BRUNS: We're gonna keep
improving the technologies,

and we're gonna keep
embedding them

more and more intimately
with our bodies

to improve our abilities
as humans

and ultimately
give us more power.

NARRATOR: But if the first humans
to apply tattoos to their flesh

and perform
other body modifications,

such as head binding,
were attempting

to imitate extraterrestrials,

are the technological
enhancements

we're making to our bodies today
part of our destiny?

And if so, where does it lead?

HENRY:
Through nanotechnology,

we can augment the skin
to make it more adaptable

to living in space.

To make us smarter,
to make us stronger,

to make us more resilient.

We're able to become
like the gods

through the implantation
of this technology.

BARRETTA: When you take it
right back to its roots,

tattooing is very transformative

and has a lot of roots
in what we would call magic.

And our ancient ancestors
were very much

in tune with the cosmos.

And what we're doing right now,
we're bringing this back

to the magical modality
that it is.

This adornment now...

Is this making us more
extraterrestrial-like?

SCOTT:
Any advanced alien species

that makes it across the galaxy

is going to have learned how
to self-direct their evolution.

We are augmenting our bodies

and moving forward
with our evolution.

NARRATOR: Is there a message
about humanity's future

encoded in our very flesh
and our attempts to alter it?

Could it be that tattoos,
piercings

and body modifications
are inspired

by extraterrestrial visitors
from the past?

Perhaps we are just now arriving
at a destiny

that has been foretold
through human hieroglyphs.

One in which
we will become the equals

of our alien ancestors.