All language subtitles for Ancient.Aliens.S04E01.1080p.HULU.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

>> NARRATOR: Ancient monuments

precisely aligned to celestial

events.

History written in stone

honoring otherworldly rulers.

And a calendar accurately

predicting shifts in the Earth's

axis every 26,000 years.

Did the Maya of Central America

really create one of the most

advanced civilizations of

ancient time?

Or did their intelligence

originate from somewhere else,

perhaps out of this world?

>> MARK VAN STONE: They

didn't have metal.

They didn't have electricity.

But what they did have is

advanced mythology, advanced

language and advanced religious

culture.

>> JON C. LOHSE: They

understood astronomy to an

incredible degree, more so than

any societies at the time.

>> PHILIP COPPENS: The Mayans

were absolutely convinced that

timing was crucial, because the

gods were going to come back.

>> DAVID CHILDRESS: Lord Pakal's

sarcophagus was his spaceship.

He's the original rocket man.

>> NARRATOR: Millions of people

around the world believe we

have been visited in the past by

extraterrestrial beings.

What if it were true?

Did ancient aliens really help

to shape our history?

And if so, did they plot the

success and demise of the

ancient Maya civilization?

>> NARRATOR: Southern Mexico.

Surrounded by dense forests in

the foothills of the Tumbala

Mountains lie the ruins of the

ancient Mayan city of Palenque.

Established as early as 1800 BC,

Palenque was one of the key

population centers of the

ancient Maya civilization that

dominated present‐day Central

America for nearly 2,000 years.

Without metal tools, the wheel

or pack animals, the Maya built

cities like Palenque across a

vast region with incredible

architectural precision.

>> EDWIN BARNHART: There

are a number of texts around the

Maya world that mention four

cities in association with four

directions.

Palenque is recognized in these

texts as the Western capital of

the Maya world.

The southern one was Copan, the

eastern one was Tikal, and the

northernmost one was Calakmul.

>> VAN STONE: What I find the

most impressive about them is

that they were able to build a

civilization out of the jungle.

Jungles have really thin

topsoil, and for them to be able

to support a huge population,

which is 20 or 30 times what the

population is in that area

today, is amazing.

>> NARRATOR: Regarded by

scholars as one of the most

sophisticated and complex

civilizations in the ancient

world, Maya triumphs included

numerous scientific achievements

in agriculture, engineering and

astronomy.

>> VAN STONE: They didn't have a

lot of things that we think of

as the hallmarks of advancement,

but what they did have is

advanced mythology, advanced

language and advanced religious

culture.

>> CHILDRESS: The site of

Palenque is still a vast

unexcavated site.

They think that only ten percent

of this city has so far been

excavated by archaeologists.

The aqueduct system here at

Palenque was very sophisticated,

and the Mayans were actually

able to have water pressure by

siphoning water channels off of

the main river.

All the Mayan cities had ball

courts in them where they'd play

this celestial game where the

players would knock a rubber

ball through a stone or wooden

hoop.

It's thought that this is a

representation of alignments of

the sun.

>> COPPENS: When you start

looking at all the various

cultures, whether it is the

ancient Babylonians, the ancient

Egyptians or the Mayans, we now

know that the people who were

by far the most advanced was

the Mayans.

>> NARRATOR: According to

mainstream historians, by the

ninth century, the great Maya

cities were abandoned, and the

Maya people had vanished.

But why?

Many blame the disappearance of

the Maya on war, overpopulation

and drought.

(thunderclap)

But might the Maya have left

behind clues to suggest that

their origin and destiny had

been plotted by otherworldly

forces?

1952.

Archaeologist Alberto Lhuillier

discovers the Pyramid Tomb of

King Pakal who ruled over the

ancient Mayan city of Palenque

from 615 to 683.

During his nearly 70‐year reign,

Pakal transformed Palenque,

creating some of the most

significant inscriptions and

monuments of the ancient Maya

civilization.

>> GERARDO ALDANA: The

city of Palenque was sacked by

the ruler of Calakmul.

So this was really tragic for

the city itself.

And it sets the stage for Hanab

Pakal himself, who becomes king

at a very early age, and then

takes this city that's been

destroyed, and now brings it up

to what becomes one of the most

important cities of the late

classic period.

>> CHILDRESS: This is the famous

Temple of the Inscriptions

behind me, perhaps the most

famous pyramid in all of the

Mayan world.

It was in 1948 that the French‐

Mexican archeologist, Alberto

Lhuillier began his excavations

at the top of the Temple of

Inscriptions.

What he found there was the

famous staircase leading down

into the depths of the pyramid.

But the staircase was completely

filled in with rubble of small

stones and dirt.

It took him four years to slowly

excavate, step by step, down the

pyramid, until he finally came

to the tomb of Lord Pakal and

the giant sarcophagus and lid

that the pyramid were built

around.

>> NARRATOR: Arguably the most

remarkable Mayan artifact ever

found‐‐ the stone Sarcophagus

Lid of King Pakal‐‐ has produced

considerable controversy.

Mainstream scholars believe the

depiction is of King Pakal on a

journey to the underworld.

But ancient astronaut theorists

believe the king is portrayed

seated at the controls of a

spacecraft, and have dubbed him

"the Palenque astronaut."

>> CHILDRESS: He appears to be

going into space.

He's the original rocket man...

there manipulating his

spacecraft, going into space.

>> GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: We have

maintained for a very long time

that the depiction here is of

King Pakal sitting in some type

of a spacecraft, because he is

at an angle‐‐ like modern‐day

astronauts upon liftoff.

He's manipulating some controls

right here.

He has some type of breathing

apparatus or some type of a

telescope in front of his face.

His feet are on some type of a

pedal, and down here, you have

something that looks like an

exhaust with flames.

>> NARRATOR: In 2011 the strange

carving on King Pakal's

sarcophagus lid was translated

into a 3‐D replica by model

maker Paul Francis.

>> PAUL FRANCIS: When I saw

this, I instantly said, "There's

a guy in a space capsule."

You know, it doesn't need to be

spelled out for me, I don't have

to find anything.

It was already there.

It was carved many, many years

ago.

>> TSOUKALOS: I think this is

absolutely extraordinary because

this is definitely one of the

most compelling pieces in the

ancient astronaut theory, and to

finally see Pakal as a 3‐D

sculpture, to me, is a dream

come true.

For the longest time we have

said that what is on this Pakal

lid is not something symbolic.

It was something that the artist

saw or was told about, and then

he or she tried to recreate this

on a slab.

I love the craftsmanship.

I love how you, you know, at the

bottom of the Palenque slab, you

see something like the flames...

>> FRANCIS: It looks like, it

looks like fire, and...

>> TSOUKALOS: Exactly.

>> FRANCIS: ...I had to do a

little interpretive.

I put engine bells on instead of

the flame.

>> TSOUKALOS: Of course.

>> FRANCIS: But that's the

thruster stage.

>> TSOUKALOS: I also love the

detail that you have underneath

his right foot where his foot is

resting on a pedestal, and that

is exactly what we can see on

the Palenque slab.

And how his hands are

manipulating some controls, and

also this kind of breathing

apparatus that's going on in

front of his nose.

>> FRANCIS: The breathing

apparatus is actually a very

neat piece.

It's called the giver of life.

The soul transfers through this,

and a giver of life to me would

be air.

I mean, we breathe air.

This is a guy who needs this

mask to survive.

>> TSOUKALOS: Because where is

he?

>> FRANCIS: Outer space.

>> NARRATOR: Could the carving

on the sarcophagus lid of King

Pakal really provide

confirmation of the complicity

between Maya rulers and

extraterrestrial forces, as

ancient astronaut theorists

believe?

Perhaps further evidence can be

found etched in stone throughout

Mesoamerica.

>> NARRATOR: The Palace of

Palenque.

Discovered in the late 18th

century by Spanish explorers,

this royal compound is the

largest and most complex of

those found in the ancient city.

Researchers believe a four‐story

tower in the middle of the

palace was built so Mayan kings

and priests could observe the

celestial movement of the sun

and stars.

>> CHILDRESS: This is the main

palace here at Palenque, and one

of the unusual features is its

observatory, a huge tower to

watch the stars.

Also throughout the palace are

these unusual T‐shaped windows

and they've baffled

archaeologists for centuries.

It's thought that perhaps they

represent the wind god, but it's

also possible that these

T‐shaped windows are pointing to

the sky.

What was it that the rulers of

Palenque were looking for?

>> NARRATOR: The tower at the

Palace of Palenque is just one

of many celestial observatories

built throughout the ancient

Maya territories.

>> LOHSE: Their practical system

of astronomy was an

observational one, and so the

design and construction of a lot

of buildings was intended to, to

create these sight lines, to

create these vantages for

observation to see and mark

important astronomical events.

>> COPPENS: We see that temples

were aligned to specific moments

in time, and the equinoxes and

the solstices are the most

important moments in time, so

wherever we look, we see how

this knowledge of astronomy is

incorporated into these

monuments.

>> DAVID CHEETHAM: Plazas were

great places where people stood

and paid reverence to particular

times of the year.

These were places that were

aligned from time immemorial‐‐

hundreds and hundreds of years‐‐

to make these specific

observations.

>> NARRATOR: But what‐‐ or

perhaps who‐‐ were the Maya

looking for in the sky?

According to ancient astronaut

theorists, the answer can be

found carved in stone.

>> TSOUKALOS: In Quiriguá,

Guatemala, there is a national

park featuring zoomorphs.

Zoomorphs are these giant

boulders that were carved into

different shapes.

Some of them depict crocodiles,

some of them depict turtles, but

at the same time, the carvings

are very reminiscent of

something technological in

nature.

In fact, there is one boulder

that we can see where this guy

is essentially sitting inside

some type of cockpit.

Is it possible that this is

nothing else but an artist's

rendering of something that they

didn't understand because their

technological frame of reference

was less advanced than our

technological frame of reference

we have today?

>> NARRATOR: In the present‐day

Mexican state of Tabasco, near

the Gulf of Mexico, lie the

ruins of a ceremonial center

called La Venta.

Here in 1862, oil riggers

discovered four very large stone

heads in the Olmec area of the

ancient Maya territories.

Since then, archaeologists have

unearthed 13 more similar

sculptures that were carved as

early as 850 BC.

Known as the colossal heads,

scholars believe they depict the

Olmecs‐‐ an ancient civilization

that many consider to be the

ancestors of the Maya.

>> LOHSE: One of the most

striking aspects of Olmec art

and archaeology are these

colossal head sculptures, and

one of the hypotheses that's

been put out to explain these is

that they were portraits of

important rulers, kings,

shamans, important people in

their society.

>> NARRATOR: But ancient

astronaut theorists contend the

mysterious stone statues are

proof of extraterrestrial

intervention in the distant

past.

>> PETER FIEBAG (translated):

Huge stone heads were found in

the Olmec area, which were

beautifully made but then

ritually buried.

One asks, what is that?

Are these heads of rulers or

priests, or were they maybe

aliens that they wanted to

portray because they had unusual

facial features?

>> CHILDRESS: These guys are

often wearing strange helmets,

and they look to be foreigners.

They appear to be from Africa

and the Middle East and other

areas like that.

So what are they doing here in

Central America?

You have this curious mix of

different racial groups.

Are they coming with the sky

gods?

Perhaps they, too, are the alien

ETs.

>> TSOUKALOS: There is one

statue that we can find that

clearly shows an Olmec wearing

some type of a flight suit.

To me, this depicts nothing else

but someone from Africa having

visited Central America in a

type of a flight suit and with

some type of craft.

You've got the legs here like in

a modern‐day astronaut suit, and

there's also some type of a life

support pack that's on his

chest.

There are six wings and the head

is clearly enclosed by a

skullcap similar to modern‐day

astronauts.

So what we have here, in my

opinion, is nothing else but

depictions of physical

extraterrestrial encounters

hundreds‐‐ and yes, even

thousands‐‐ of years ago.

>> CHILDRESS: There is

considerable evidence linking

the Mayans and the Olmecs to

extraterrestrial beings.

You have it in La Venta‐‐ many

of the Olmecs wearing curious

masks.

Also at Tikal, they're wearing

what look like space masks with

respirators.

You've got also flying beings

who are hovering above certain

objects and things like that in

the Mayan world.

These are the birdmen, the

people who can fly.

>> NARRATOR: But do the stone

sculptures really provide proof

that the Maya had early contact

with star travelers, as ancient

astronaut theorists contend?

And might further evidence

reveal a shocking truth, that

some ancient Maya rulers were

themselves of otherworldly

origin?

>> NARRATOR: Central America.

Here, in western Honduras, lie

the impressive ruins of the

ancient Maya city of Copan.

And though Copan's temples,

pyramids and monuments rank

among the most important of any

Mayan sites, researchers looking

to explain the incredible

achievements of the Maya have

been drawn to a 72‐step

structure known as the

Hieroglyphic Stairway.

>> PAYSON SHEETS: The

Hieroglyphic Stairway at Copan

was constructed in the early

700s AD with the intent of

writing out the history of Copan

at that time.

And so it was designed as a

public monument to the glory and

success of all the kings, from

Yax K'uk Mo', all the way to the

13th one who commissioned it to

be built.

>> NARRATOR: Carved into 1,200

stones in the massive monument,

the ancient Maya symbols, known

as glyphs, make up what

historians believe is one of the

oldest and most sophisticated

systems of writing.

But for centuries, the glyphs

found throughout Mesoamerica

were undecipherable.

Then, in 1880, German librarian

and anthropologist Ernst

Forstemann cracked the code.

>> VAN STONE: Ernst Forstemann

was a librarian at Dresden.

And in his desk he kept one of

the four Maya books, the Dresden

Codex.

He was a brilliant mathematician

and extremely logical and had

enormous insights.

And at a time when we couldn't

read a single Maya hieroglyph,

he was able to figure out the

Maya calligraphy.

>> ALDANA: Maya hieroglyphic

writing is very robust, and

that's because it uses really

two components.

There are logographs.

Logographs are really pictures

that represent entire words.

So "Balaam," for example, which

is "jaguar," could be written

with just the head of a jaguar.

On the other hand, we have these

things that we call phonetic

complements.

And these are glyphs‐‐ they're

images that represent sounds.

>> NARRATOR: According to

interpretations of the

Hieroglyphic Stairway, the

glyphs chronicle not only the

history but also the origin of

the ancient Maya rulers.

>> ALDANA: The hieroglyphs are

really attached to what was

important to royalty at the

time, and that was lineage and

the genealogies of the kings.

They went out of their way to

demonstrate how they were

connected to their ancestors and

the gods of their ancestors, to

establish their right to rule.

>> SHEETS: This is a picture I

took of the, of a close‐up of a

sculpture of Uaxac Lahun Ubac

C'awil, the 13th ruler of Copan.

And he's depicted here on the

front, in all of his finery.

And then the sculptor put a

hieroglyphic passage on the

side.

We don't think commoners could

read, but all the elites could

and the king could.

So, he or another elite

individual could come here and

impress people by saying this

demonstrates the semi‐divinity

of our king and his power to

intercede between us and the

heavens.

>> NARRATOR: But just what was

the real source of power and

authority behind the Maya

priests and kings?

Do the hieroglyphs reveal an

otherworldly truth to their

origin, as the Maya themselves

maintain?

Ancient astronaut theorists

believe the answer is yes.

>> TSOUKALOS: What we have to

think about today is, where did

the origin of the priesthood

come from?

And the origin is nothing else

but that they‐‐ the initial

cabal of priests‐‐ they were all

in contact with

extraterrestrials, and that's

why they were revered.

Our ancestors thought they were

gods because they didn't

understand the nuts‐and‐bolts

aspects behind those visits.

But when it all comes down to

it, it was all a huge

misunderstanding and a way to

keep the common people in place.

>> ERICH VON DANIKEN: In the

beginning, the first ruler were

gods‐‐ real descendants from the

sky, extraterrestrials.

But later, the priests and the

rulers took the names of their

ancestors' god.

So they made a secret and a

kind of conspiracy around them,

because the normal people should

give them offerings, should give

them gold, metal, all kinds of

gifts, etc., as they did

some centuries before for the

real gods.

So it was a kind of conspiracy

among the priests and among the

kings.

>> COPPENS: Mayan hieroglyphs

specifically say that the Mayans

were absolutely convinced about

the existence of otherworldly

beings, and that they actually

believed that these beings

manifested themselves regularly

at preordained moments of time.

>> NARRATOR: Perhaps further

evidence of the Mayan belief in

the existence of

extraterrestrial beings may be

found in their daily rituals of

human sacrifice.

Scholars believe that blood

offerings were seen as an act of

devotion to the Maya rulers, who

were assumed to be descendants

of the gods.

>> VAN STONE: We know that the

Maya practiced blood sacrifice,

because they were still doing it

when the Spanish came.

We have images on wall

paintings, on vases and in

sculptures that show people

letting their own blood and

sacrificing other people.

>> CHILDRESS: The Mayans had a

complex pantheon, which involved

gods from the sky, and the

rulers were supposed to be

descendants of these gods.

And they believed that these

gods demanded sacrifices of

them, and that their blood, the

blood of their kings, was the

ideal sacrifice for the gods.

Later, the Mayans began to take

captives, particularly other

royal captives, and execute

them, using their blood as the

gift to the gods.

>> ADRIAN GILBERT: The ancient

Maya were particularly worried

that jaguar gods had come to

Earth from somewhere else and

had instructed them, and in

return they had to make

sacrifices to the jaguar gods.

In particular, heart sacrifices.

>> COPPENS: We see hundreds, if

not thousands, of people being

dragged up the pyramids and

really sacrificed.

Definitely there is this

absolute belief that the Mayans

needed the intervention of the

gods, and they believed that

somehow sacrificing human beings

was gonna bring back the gods.

>> GEORGE NOORY: It's very

possible that this civilization,

as cultured as they seem to have

been, were also pretty

barbaric.

And this could have

been their way of trying to

offer the gods something.

>> TSOUKALOS: Blood sacrifice

was nothing else but an act of

desperation to bring about the

return of the extraterrestrials,

because one thing is crystal

clear: In every single ancient

culture, there is a promise of a

return in the future of those

gods.

Blood sacrifice was something

that we humans did ourselves

because we didn't understand

that what we dealt with was

nothing else but flesh and blood

space travelers instead of real

or actual gods.

>> NARRATOR: But why did the

Maya believe they were

connected to the gods by blood?

Might there have been evidence

within their DNA that could link

the lineage of Maya kings to

otherworldly beings, as ancient

astronaut theorists believe?

And if so, is it possible that

otherworldly visitors may have

stayed behind and assumed the

role of Maya kings?

Perhaps the answer can be found,

not by examining the ancient

remains of the Maya, but by

studying their creation myths.

>> NARRATOR: Chicago, Illinois.

Housed here, in the Newberry

Library, is the Mayan manuscript

known as the Popol Vuh.

Literally translated as "the

book of the people," it is a

collection of Maya oral

histories passed on through the

ages.

Written in the mid‐16th century,

this incredible book encompasses

a range of subjects including

those involving Mayan creation

myths.

>> INGA CALVIN: The Popol Vuh

talks about the creation of the

universe.

It talks about the fact that in

the beginning all was darkness.

There was a primordial sea.

And then these creators, male

and female, spoke the word,

and with the word, the Earth was

created and animals were

created.

>> VAN STONE: It's sort of like

the combination of the book of

Genesis and the book of

Chronicles in the Bible.

It's a story of battles between

the gods, and then it connects

the creation of the world with

the present day through the

kings of the K'iche.

It's really the only complete

Maya creation myth that we have.

>> COPPENS: What they were

saying was that a framework was

created‐‐ that certain deities

manifested themselves physically

and made decisions as to what

was going to happen.

In the case of the Mayans, this

was a choice as to where the

Mayans were going to live, as

well as the selection of certain

sacred sites.

>> NARRATOR: Throughout the

ancient world, there have been

numerous similar myths of

otherworldly beings coming to

Earth and interacting with some

of the earliest humans.

Most mainstream historians

believe these stories represent

only religious and spiritual

beliefs.

But is it possible, as ancient

astronaut theorists believe,

that the Popol Vuh, as well as

other ancient creation tales,

represents actual evidence of

contact with extraterrestrials

in the distant past?

According to the translations of

hieroglyphs found at numerous

ancient Mayan cities, Kukulkan,

or the great feathered serpent,

was the god who brought

knowledge to the Maya.

>> LOGAN HAWKES: When we talk

about the Mayan gods, we know

that the most important god to

them was the plumed serpent, or

Kukulkan.

We see his image all across the

Mayan world.

We see it on great carved images

on stone.

Kukulkan is often depicted as a

plumed serpent, some would say

a dragon or a snake with wings.

That leads some to believe that

Kukulkan may have descended from

the sky.

>> VON DANIKEN: Now, the Maya

were living in the jungle.

The Maya knew that the snake

could not fly, but this snake,

this serpent, could fly.

The oldest Maya histories tell

that Kukulkan was the teacher of

young Maya.

He had chosen eight boys in the

age between seven and 12, and

he'd teach these eight boys in

mathematics, in astronomy, in

all kind of science.

And later, Kukulkan disappeared

with the promise that he will

return in the faraway future.

These boys had become the first

priests and the first teachers

again for the Maya.

>> HUGH NEWMAN: Some of the

legends state that he appeared

along the Gulf Coast on a raft

of serpents, and he spread his

high knowledge through that part

of the country.

Even today in some of the Mayan

cultures, he's revered as this

great god that brought all these

teachings and civilization to

their part of the world.

And yet, no one knows who he was

or where he came from.

>> NARRATOR: Strangely,

depictions of a winged serpent

god can be found all around the

ancient world.

In India, the epic text of the

Mahabharata details the ancient

account of sky beings known as

Nagas.

Dating as far back as 2500 BC,

the half‐human and half‐serpent

entities look nearly identical

to the Mayan Kukulkan.

And ancient Chinese mythology

from the fifth millennium BC

describe flying dragons that

are eerily similar to the

serpent god depicted in

Mesoamerica.

>> ANDREW COLLINS: To the

peoples that preceded the Inca

in Peru, similar ideas were put

upon characters like

Quetzalcoatl, the feathered

serpent, who was this wisdom

bringer, sometimes said to have

come down from the sky world.

And once again, bringing the

rudiments of civilization to the

peoples of Central America.

>> HAWKES: There is a common

thread among many ancient

cultures of the Americas when it

comes to plumed serpent god.

The Cherokee, for example,

believe that time‐‐ their

calendar‐‐ is based upon a

rattlesnake that they can see in

the night sky, perhaps a

constellation.

So, the idea of a serpent or a

snake or a dragon is common

among many ancient cultures, and

not just the Maya or the

Mesoamericans.

>> COPPENS: The snake is the

giver of wisdom in so many

cultures, and it gives the tools

of civilization‐‐ working with

metals, working with other

instruments, certain knowledge,

certain aspects of life...

and that it really gives this

knowledge to certain people,

and that he places these people

in a position whereby, from

their social position, they're

able to give this to the rest of

their culture.

>> TSOUKALOS: All these cultures

were far apart from each other,

sometimes by thousands and

thousands of miles.

So, how is it possible that all

these societies came up with not

similar, but identical stories?

Was it really flying snakes or

gods that were snakes?

Of course not.

It was misunderstood technology.

Some types of vehicles were

witnessed that descended from

the sky out of which people

came‐‐ astronauts‐‐ that

instructed people of different

cultures in different societies

in certain scientific

disciplines.

This is not coincidence.

This is evidence for ancient

alien encounters in the remote

past.

There is no other way.

>> NARRATOR: Can the ancient

creation myths and legends of

flying serpent gods really be

interpreted as factual accounts

of extraterrestrial visitors, as

ancient astronaut theorists

contend?

And if so, might such celestial

travelers have given the Maya

both the tools and the knowledge

to help advance their

civilization?

Perhaps further evidence can be

found by looking at the Mayans'

very profound connection to the

stars.

>> NARRATOR: In the Mexican

state of the Yucatan lie the

ruins of the ancient Mayan city

of Chichen Itza.

Here, in the tenth century, the

Maya built what has become known

as the El Caracol observatory.

>> BARNHART: It has four doors

on the bottom that can be used

as observation points, and it

had a number of windows up on

top, but most of those have

fallen.

We only have two and a half of

those left.

But looking at those, we can see

that they're definitely looking

at the sun, probably at the

moon.

There are hints that they

could have been using them for

stars and planets.

>> VAN STONE: They were tracking

in particular Venus, the phases

of the moon, eclipses.

We know that because we have

books that record these things.

>> NARRATOR: Most researchers

agree that from 250 to 900 AD,

the Mayans were the most

advanced astronomers of their

time.

But why were they observing the

cosmos so intently?

And what might they have been

looking for?

>> CALVIN: The Maya were very

sophisticated in terms of what

they watched in the heavens and

in the calendars that they kept

track of.

The ability to understand that

Venus as morning star and Venus

as evening star are the same

star was very rarely done in the

history of humankind.

They were oftentimes seen as

two different entities.

The idea that they could predict

the cycles of the heavens

reflects their sophistication.

>> VAN STONE: The Maya were one

of the only ancient people that

invented a mathematical system

that we use, which is called

place value and zero.

And using place value and zero

allows you to make enormous

calculations, numbers that are

very, very large.

(beeping)

They could probably calculate

things thousands of years into

the past.

>> NARRATOR: Did the Maya

develop such mastery of

astronomy and mathematics on

their own?

Or is it possible, as ancient

astronaut theorists believe,

that the elite rulers of the

Maya had received help from

star travelers?

>> VON DANIKEN: The Maya, for

example, had the knowledge of

the planet Venus surrounding

our solar system in such a

precise way that within 6,000

years, the difference was a few

hours.

Now, the Maya itself did not

live for 6,000 years.

So they had no time‐‐ 6,000

years‐‐ to observe if their

calculation concerning the Venus

rotation is correct or not,

because they had their

information from their gods.

>> COPPENS: The Mayans could not

possibly have developed these

systems on their own because it

would take thousands, some of

them tens of thousands of years

of observation.

So it is clear that they were

given to them by aliens out

there who have made contact with

the Mayan people.

>> NARRATOR: Perhaps the most

intriguing astronomical

accomplishment of the Maya

concerns their understanding of

the slow change in the Earth's

rotational axis in space.

Called precession, it's a

process that takes more than

26,000 years to complete.

But how could the Maya have

tracked events over such an

extreme time span?

Is it possible that, like

modern scientists, the Maya had

been using knowledge of the

Earth's movement in space to

track time?

And if so, for what purpose?

>> LOHSE: The Maya developed

these timekeeping skills by

monitoring the movements and

predicting the movements of not

just the sun, but the moon,

Venus, in some cases Jupiter,

Mars, Saturn and some of the

constellations.

>> NARRATOR: Though most people

consider the Egyptians as the

ultimate pyramid builders, ten

times as many pyramids were

constructed in Mesoamerica than

in Egypt.

But why did the Maya build so

many of their monumental

structures in absolute precise

alignment with solar, lunar and

stellar events?

>> COLLINS: Well, it seems as if

they were paranoid that if they

did not do this, something bad

would happen.

(rumbling)

They were on the fifth epoch,

and each of these earlier epochs

they believed had ended in

catastrophe.

And it seemed as if they had to

synchronize their rituals, their

events, their games, their

activities with these specific

celestial events, because if

they didn't, something bad would

happen, and the epoch would end

prematurely.

>> COPPENS: The Mayans were

absolutely convinced that timing

was crucial, because the stars

were revealing when the gods

were going to come back, and

obviously, that meant the gods

were coming from the stars.

>> NARRATOR: But where, or from

whom, did the ancient Maya learn

to accurately track time by

tracing the celestial movements

of our solar system and the

universe beyond?

Could the ancient Maya have

actually conspired with

extraterrestrial visitors to

plan not only the future, but

even the very end of our world?

If so, perhaps a further

examination of the infamous

Mayan calendar and its so‐called

doomsday prophecy is required.

>> NEWMAN: There are several

legends in the Mayan world which

suggest that this end date of

the Mayan calendar in December,

2012 is actually an apocalypse

day.

The Popol Vuh discusses it as a

possible destruction of the

planet.

The Tortuguero Monument, which

is a site near Palenque‐‐ it's

the only inscription in stone

that mentions the 2012 end date

of the calendar.

And that talks about nine gods

descending to Earth.

But no one really knows exactly

what that means.

Some people suggest that may

cause a cataclysm.

Others suggest it may be a whole

dawn of a new age where we

actually move into a more

conscious way of life.

>> CHILDRESS: If the truth is

that the Mayans were in contact

with extraterrestrial beings,

and now their calendar is ending

on December 21, 2012, this might

be the return of the gods

themselves, of the

extraterrestrials coming back to

Earth to the Mayans, as they

promised.

>> NARRATOR: Given the

sophistication of the Mayan

calendar, is it really possible

that the Maya could have

accurately predicted the exact

date of some sort of

Earth‐changing event?

Might such an event usher in a

new era of human enlightenment?

Or might it mark the end of

mankind in the form of a

cataclysmic doomsday?

Perhaps only time will tell.

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