All language subtitles for Ancient.Aliens.Origins.S01E03.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: Otherworldly visitors
who made contact

with early civilizations.

Teachers who came
from light-years away.

And powerful entities

revered as sky gods
and star beings.

For nearly two decades,

Ancient Aliens
has traveled the globe,

exploring towering
megalithic structures,

mysterious artifacts

and stories
of otherworldly beings

in a quest for evidence
that might reveal the truth

of our extraterrestrial origins.

According to
the ancient astronaut theory,

these visitors from the sky
have been interacting

with our ancestors
for thousands of years.

NARRATOR:
Now we take a look back through
the Ancient Aliens archives

to the show's very origins

to examine the evidence
that we are not alone.

We have never been alone.

♪ ♪

It's truly incredible
to look back

at well over a decade's worth
of Ancient Aliens episodes

and see everything
that the show has covered.

Megalithic sites,

mysterious artifacts,

strange artwork

and, of course,
the stories of our ancestors.

Yeah, and those stories
are critically important

because, in culture
after culture,

our ancestors tell us
that visitors from the sky

descended to impart knowledge.

I mean, they essentially helped
jump-start civilization.

Yeah, along with
all those amazing stories

are also those depictions
in ancient rock art

and ancient rock carvings

which clearly show what
we would consider aliens today.

TSOUKALOS:
Right, and so
we'll be looking at

a lot of this ancient evidence.

We'll begin with the second
episode of Ancient Aliens

called "The Visitors."

It begins
with the Roswell incident.

But as we all know,

star beings were here
long before that.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Roswell, New Mexico.

This sleepy town
in America's Southwest

was once best known
for its large military air base.

But that changed in 1947...

...when a local rancher reported
that a spaceship

crashed on his property.

Several weeks later,

the U.S. Army issued
a press release confirming

the existence of an alien craft.

The next day,
the military changed its story

and announced that what they
had found was a weather balloon.

These conflicting reports sent
shock waves around the world,

and the name Roswell became
a pop culture code word

that forever links
extraterrestrial visitation

with enduring mystery.

POPE:
Speculation
about why the Roswell crash

would be covered up
is difficult to pin down.

Some people talk about this
in terms of, uh, information

that would be shattering
to our worldview.

STEVEN GREER:
Almost everyone's heard about
the so-called Roswell event,

and one of the real implications
of disclosure is that some

of our most cherished myths

about the origins
of the human race

and our history and archaeology
would fall apart.

JENNIFER HELDMANN:
Each step that we take makes us
a little bit less special.

We used to think that we were
the center of the universe,

as humans, and then we realized,

"Oh, all right,
well, that's not true."

And "But we're
the center of the galaxy."

And like, "Well, all right,
so we're, like,

two-thirds of the way out
in a spiral arm."

And then, "Well, at least
our sun, you know, this..."

"No. Uh, the Sun
is actually in the middle,

"and the Earth goes around it.
So Earth isn't even the center

of that system and..."

So the more that we learn,
we sort of, you know...

It's a very humbling science.

NARRATOR:
When man first landed
on the Moon,

our perspective
on the universe changed forever.

NEIL ARMSTRONG:
Houston, uh,

the Eagle has landed.

BUZZ ALDRIN:
We aliens...

...who happened to...

go down the ladder
on July 20, 1969,

we aliens...

...were certainly part
of a magnificent race.

I just don't think
people have a grasp

for what energy it takes
to go from one star to another.

NARRATOR:
This historic event
raised the question,

if humans can
successfully navigate in space

and explore other worlds,

why couldn't beings
from other parts of the universe

have done the same?

And might
they have already come to Earth

hundreds or perhaps thousands
of years ago?

ERICH VON DÄNIKEN:
I think human past

is more fantastic
than we all believe.

I have come to the idea

that maybe extraterrestrials
were on this planet.

NARRATOR:
Cahuachi, Peru.

2,000 years ago,

this ancient settlement
served as the religious

and cultural capital
of the Nazca people.

But sometime around 500 AD,

the Nazca
mysteriously disappeared,

leaving Cahuachi
to fall into disarray.

1,400 years later, in 1910,

anthropologist Ales Hrdlicka
came to Cahuachi

to study
the ancient Nazca civilization.

During a dig, he unearthed
some of the most surprising

and shocking artifacts
he had ever seen.

♪ ♪

They were skulls

with enormous,
elongated craniums.

Where did they come from?

How did they get there?

And were they human?

DAVID CHILDRESS:
In Peru, we find
these weird, elongated skulls.

And they're bizarre-looking.

I mean, and-and these people
look like aliens.

ROBERT SCHOCH:
One may say, "Okay, aliens."

But another aspect
that we have to consider

is that skull
and cranial deformation

forming elongated heads
is a practice

that's known throughout much
of the ancient world.

NARRATOR:
In 1870, the process
of skull deformation

was well chronicled by
a German botanist and explorer

named Georg Schweinfurth.

While exploring
the African Congo,

he came in contact with a tribe
called the Mangbetu.

They routinely performed
a ritual of cranial binding

that allowed them to physically
alter the shape of human skulls.

CHILDRESS:
They took infants' skulls

and compressed them
and bound them.

And they forced the cranium out
and elongate it.

And in many cases
they doubled the size.

SCHOCH:
And a big question is,

why was this being done?

It may have been a way to
distinguish the elite, perhaps,

from the everyday people.

May have been a social
stratification-type of issue.

Something that also appeals
to me is that may have been

a way to express physically

and maybe try
to achieve physically

greater levels of consciousness

or higher levels
of mental ability.

TSOUKALOS:
In my opinion,

they did this in order
to mimic the gods.

And those gods
were physical beings.

Because if they were
just a figment

of our ancestors' imagination,

I don't think that's
a compelling enough reason

to expose your children

to such a ritual
to achieve that type of look.

And in my opinion,

these people were misinterpreted
flesh-and-blood space travelers.

NARRATOR:
Whatever the explanation
may be for these rituals,

they are not just found in Peru
and the African Congo.

Skull deformation is
a global phenomenon.

CHILDRESS:
What's really strange

is that this is found
all over the world.

And this is something
that archaeologists

cannot easily explain.

Because for people
on remote islands,

for people
in South America or Malta

or in Africa
to suddenly independently do

this cranial deformation
like this seems incredible.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible that individual
societies around the world

were influenced
by similar events?

And were they imitating
real beings

who visited from other planets?

Some of the most compelling
images of an elongated cranium

can be traced to ancient Egypt

and the depictions of one of
its most controversial pharaohs.

Could it be that he, too,

was mimicking the look
of extraterrestrials?

Or is there an even more
outrageous explanation?

Could he have been one of them?

NARRATOR:
Egypt.

Long before the ancient
Egyptians built the pyramids

or even settled
along the Nile River,

they spoke of an era
called Tep Zepi,

or the beginning of time.

According to legends,

Tep Zepi was when sky gods
descended from the stars

to Earth on flying boats

and then turned mud and water
into a new kingdom.

ROBERT BAUVAL:
The word "god," according
to the ancient Egyptian,

is "netyro."

It means "a being
that came from the cosmos."

They're very adamant
about the fact

that their gods had descended
from the stars.

They tell us
that the god Osiris,

who ruled with his consort
and sister, the goddess Isis,

they were star gods, and in fact
they identify them very clearly.

Osiris was identified
the constellation of Orion.

And Isis was identified
as the god to the star Sirius,

brightest star in the sky.

There's an interesting point
about this--

is that within the constellation
of Orion

is the so-called
nursery of stars.

The stars in our galaxy

literally were born
in that zone.

And it's very peculiar that
the ancient Egyptians insist

that the birth of star gods
are in this constellation.

They truly believed-- they-they
were very adamant about this--

that their origins
is in the sky.

SCHOCH:
Something that we see around the
world with ancient civilizations

is that they had incredible
knowledge of the stars,

of the planets,
of the heavenly motions.

The average person
in the ancient world

had way more knowledge
of what's going on in the skies

than a lot
of well-educated people today.

NARRATOR:
As ancient Egypt grew
into a great civilization,

its citizens believed their
pharaohs were sons of Osiris

and, thus, living gods.

Artwork and wall carvings
depicted them as perfect humans.

And while the people worshipped
many different gods,

the pharaoh stood
above them all.

This basic Egyptian
religious belief

remained in force
for nearly a thousand years

until one pharaoh
changed everything.

Who was this heretic?

His name was Akhenaton.

And in every
surviving depiction,

he is shown
with an elongated skull.

Who was he?

According to Egyptian mythology,

he, too, was descended
from the gods

who arrived on Earth
at the time of Tep Zepi.

But why do so many still believe
he actually came from the stars?

In 1352 BC,

Akhenaton ascended to the throne

as the tenth pharaoh
of the 18th Dynasty.

Almost immediately,

he instituted a series
of radical religious changes,

including a ban on references
to multiple gods.

BAUVAL:
It's a rather strange thing

that he would want to do that
in-in one sweep.

But he ordered all the-the
iconography of previous gods

to be removed.

He only allowed one emblem,

which was a sun emblem.

Literally a sun disk
with curious arms

or rays pouring down.

Why did he do this?

Because, according to
his writings

and his poems that were written
about him later on,

he was visited

by one of those beings
that descended from the sky,

who told Akhenaton,

"This is the way.

I am your god."

NARRATOR:
This sun god was known as Aten.

Akhenaton claimed to be
a direct descendent of Aten.

BAUVAL:
Akhenaton,
like any other pharaoh,

uh, regarded himself
to be divine.

He was a god.

Not only himself believed
himself to be a god

but the whole nation
saw him as a god.

Now, uh, the definition of "god"

is that he was a descendant
from these celestial beings.

NARRATOR:
During his fourth year
as pharaoh,

Akhenaton ordered
the construction

of a new capital city.

He called it Amarna

and dedicated it to the Sun.

Akhenaton would spend
the next ten years here,

during which time he instituted
changes in both art and culture,

including how he himself
would be publicly depicted.

ROBERT CARGILL:
In Egyptian iconography,
Egyptian pharaohs are depicted

as these
triangular-shaped beings--

these broad strong shoulders
and these very skinny waists.

Now, we look at leaders today
and we know that most leaders

don't have broad shoulders
and skinny waists.

Um, but it was important
to depict the Egyptian kings

as having broad shoulders
and skinny waists.

Very, you know--
The-the epitome

of what a king
ought to look like.

That's exactly the opposite
with Akhenaton.

He shows himself
perhaps as he really is.

Uh...

a rather strange look.

He has a very mystical look.

♪ ♪

SCHOCH:
If we take Akhenaton's statues,
for instance, literally,

he was a very strange-looking
character.

Sort of combined,
some people would say,

feminine aspects
with masculine aspects.

May have had an elongated skull.

CARGILL:
The change in royal iconography
of Akhenaton

showed him
as he probably really was--

with a-- with a misshapen head,

with a potbelly,

with a sunken chest,

as opposed to
the idealized iconography

of traditional Egyptian,
um, artists

that showed
this big, strong pharaoh.

NARRATOR:
Akhenaton's wife,
Queen Nefertiti,

and their children
were also depicted

as having elongated skulls.

So why were Akhenaton's
and Nefertiti's heads deformed?

Did they suffer
from a genetic abnormality?

Or did they deliberately alter
their shape?

Some believe there could be
yet another explanation

behind their strange,
otherworldly appearance.

They look like they're different
than other human beings.

Is it possible
that Akhenaton might have been

an extraterrestrial hybrid?

I mean, he's got
a very narrow, pointy face,

high cheekbones

and a very elongated cranium.

CHILDRESS:
The idea that they were either
looking like extraterrestrials

or perhaps had
extraterrestrial DNA in them

is a credible idea.

NARRATOR:
Akhenaton ruled for 17 years.

After his reign,
Amarna was abandoned

and temples to the Sun
were destroyed.

Images of Akhenaton
were deliberately defaced.

Ancient Egypt swiftly returned
to its old ways,

worshipping many gods.

Was this a rejection

of Akhenaton's radical
religious belief system

or a cover-up
of his alien identity?

There's been a lot
of theories about why.

Um...

If-- I mean, the most extreme

is that he somehow had some sort
of extraterrestrial connection.

If one accepts that conclusion,

then it would explain why he
was literally put off the reign

and, some say, put to death.

NARRATOR:
Today, much of Akhenaton's life

still remains a mystery.

Did he really change Egypt's
entire belief system because,

as some suggest,
he was a celestial being?

If that's true,
might there be evidence

of similar entities
coming to Earth?

Perhaps more clues can be found
thousands of miles away,

on the other side
of the African continent.

(singing)

♪ ♪

When we talk
about ancient Egypt,

evidence for
extraterrestrial visitation is

everywhere you look.

But what I find so fascinating
is that every ancient culture

essentially documented
a physical interaction

with so-called "star deities."

Yeah, and especially if you look
at, like, the Dogon of Africa.

They still exist today.

And they mention
visitors from outer space,

but they also give the specific
star from which they came from.

-Yes.
-And, of course,
the most amazing part of that

is they identified a star

that cannot be seen
with the naked eye.

-Right.
-And the Dogon had known
about this star

for hundreds of years.

Mali, in Northwest Africa.

Deep in a remote valley
live the Dogon people,

who are the descendants
of a nomadic tribe

that settled here
around 1000 AD.

Just like Akhenaton's followers,

the Dogon had been
forced to leave Egypt

because
of religious persecution.

SCHOCH:
The Dogon's claim a very long
and ancient tradition

and in my opinion, maintain

some of the ancient
Egyptian traditions and myths

that have been carried on
right into the present age.

Parts of ancient Egypt
may not have died.

They were carried on,
to this day, among the Dogon.

NARRATOR:
But what exactly are
their beliefs?

Dogon mythology holds

that the sky god Amma created
the first living creature

known as Nommo.

The legend also says
that shortly after his creation,

Nommo multiplied
into several parts,

one of which rebelled
against Amma.

Amma responded by destroying him

and scattering his ashes
throughout the world.

(translated):
According to the Dogon myths,

a god gave them this knowledge.

He descended from the sky

in an ark surfing on fire

and landed in a storm.

TSOUKALOS:
Still today,
Dogon celebrates a festival

in the honor of Nommo,

and that visitation that
occurred in the remote past.

How do we know this?

For this festival, they have

wooden masks that date back

to a very long time ago,

when this festival began.

(translated): Their knowledge
is centuries old,

and their priests
have been sharing it

with chosen individuals only.

In the 1920s,

French anthropologist Griaule

and ethnologist Dieterlen
visited the tribe

and were invited
to share their secrets.

NARRATOR:
But one secret stood out:

the Dogon claimed
that their god Amma came

from a specific star
in the Sirius constellation,

the same place where
the ancient Egyptians believed

their god Osiris was born.

This star,
which modern astronomers

refer to as Sirius B,
the Dogon called Po Tolo.

But what baffles experts is

that the star is
so far from Earth,

it's impossible to see
with the naked eye.

BAUVAL:
I was very intrigued
by this, by the way.

I mean, the-the Dogons
should not have known

about the existence
of this star.

Sirius is the second nearest
star from our solar system.

It's eight light-years away.

In fact, it's not even visible
with standard telescopes.

It was first seen--
literally, seen--

and photographed in the 1970s.

TSOUKALOS:
Modern science has corroborated

that Sirius B does indeed exist.

Problem is,
the Dogon knew about this

before modern science
corroborated it.

I mean, that's spooky.

NARRATOR:
Measurements taken with
the Hubble Telescope in 2003

have confirmed that Sirius B is
what's known as a white dwarf

or a partially burnt-out star
with extremely dense mass.

Although it is
smaller in size than Earth,

it's estimated to weigh
eight times as much as our Sun.

But how did the Dogon acquire

this ancient knowledge
of astronomy that seems to be

centuries more advanced
than that of modern science?

The mystery is,

how did this story get
passed on down generations

if the story came from a time
before astronomers knew

there was
a companion star to Sirius,

which can't be seen
with the human eye?

(translated):
This is the Dogon symbol
for Sirius.

When you move it around,
you can see an orbit

around the center
marked by Sirius A.

Sirius B circles around it,
so it is a circular system.

This sign is practically
an astronomical model

that the Dogon
could not have invented

because
only Sirius A is visible.

Sirius B and C are invisible.

However, their description
of the orbit is correct.

One assumption is
that this god, Nommo,

who brought them this
knowledge, could have been

an extraterrestrial
intelligence.

BAUVAL:
Either they inherited
that knowledge,

and the question is from where?

From a previous civilization

or from some sort of
extraterrestrial civilization.

Or it's a coincidence.

In my view,
it is not a coincidence.

NARRATOR:
If the Dogon people
really possessed

this advanced
astronomical knowledge,

were their legends based
on real events?

The ancient Egyptians
and Dogon were far from alone

in their belief in gods
or mystical beings

that came from the sky.

Is there an explanation

for similar myths
shared by ancient cultures

all around the world?

And what does that reveal
as to who these visitors may be?

Perhaps the answer can be found,

not in Northern Africa, but here

in the rocks and canyons
of the American Southwest.

♪ ♪

(wind whistling)

NARRATOR: 30 miles south
of Gallup, New Mexico,

lies the Pueblo of Zuni.

♪ ♪

Sheltered
from the desolate high plains,

this adobe city is home
to the Zuni Indians,

one of the oldest Indigenous
tribes in North America.

They have inhabited this land
for almost 2,000 years

and have protected
their secrets even longer.

The Zuni are
a very interesting culture

in that they're one
of the few cultures

that really have not
opened up, uh,

to the rest of the world

about their star
knowledge traditions.

Most of this type
of information is-is

very closely held, uh,
by the-the natives.

And, um, I-I really find it, uh,

very intriguing that this is
the time period in history

where now we're starting
to learn more and more

about their star knowledge.

NARRATOR:
Much of the Zuni
people's history is

etched in the rocks
in the New Mexico desert.

Tribal Elder Clifford Mahooty

and archaeologist Dan Simplicio

have studied the Zuni's
secret history firsthand.

They've collected stories
passed down through generations

that are rooted in the belief
that the tribe's creators

and protectors are supernatural
beings from the sky.

SIMPLICIO: This one is
kind of interesting here.

I would imagine it was
created in last century,

but from this design
you can see the star figure.

Celestial images
oftentimes are depicted

in a lot
of our cultural petroglyphs.

And this is one of them
where it depicts the star.

It could be the supernova
of the Crab Nebula.

MAHOOTY:
Our Zuni mythology

in the prayer system,
in the ritualistic protocols,

talk about these people
that came over here,

and told us
how to actually live our lives,

as beings, sky people.

If you listen to a lot
of religious chants and songs

and prayers,
that's all they talk about.

They're talking about space,

they're talking about
out there in the universe

where they came from.

So they depict it
on a rock wall here.

But the actual meaning of it
is somewhere more profound

and more complex than that.

These drawings are thought

to have been created
around 1200 BC,

yet they appear to depict
modern space travelers

and their vehicles.

If you move back a little bit,
you can see another figure here.

It has a dome.

It has eyes.

-Uh, something coming down...
-And a nose.

Like a nose, through the nose,
but it kind of flares out.

I think it has something
to do with the ancient ones,

when they saw something.

They took as much description
of it to put in on there.

Of course, it's not gonna be
exactly what they saw,

but that's as best
as they could do

for something that they saw.

CHILDRESS:
With all petroglyphs
and-and things like that,

I mean, they're
up to interpretation.

Sometimes they're
just doodlings of people.

But other times they may well be

actual descriptions
and-and depictions

of some kind
of god from outer space,

some ancient astronaut.

And when you go around,
say like the Zuni Pueblo,

that's what they'll tell you
those petroglyphs are.

Even the Zunis themselves
call them the space men.

SIMPLICIO:
This one seems to have
two legs coming out like that,

it has a broad
diamond-shaped body.

Um, there probably was
a better head

that chipped off here.

It's very different
looking than humans are.

MAHOOTY:
Now usually they're called UFOs.

But in the Zuni way,

we've always been taught
that they're the keepers

of the upper world,
which means space.

You know, they're sky people.

Beings that are
of the extraterrestrial origin.

And this is still
within our mythology

and our religious practices
today.

NARRATOR:
Like most Indian tribes,

the Zunis call
these sky people "kachinas."

According to the Zunis'
creation story,

the kachina gods
came down from the heavens

to lead the Zunis to Earth
through a special portal.

MAHOOTY:
The "sipapu," that's the
entrance to the fourth world.

Or the underworld.

And that's the representation

of where the kachinas
come and go.

And so according
to the mythologies,

the Zunis were brought forth
into the world of light,

which is where we are at today,

by what I would interpret
as extraterrestrial beings

from the universe.

(chanting in Zuni)

NARRATOR: Every year,
the Zunis participate

in a ceremony
known as the Shalako Festival.

Dressed in traditional costumes

to represent the kachinas,
the Indians celebrate

the arrival of the gods
on Earth.

This is a,
a figurine of kachina gods.

And these guys are some
gods from the sky who came down.

Uh, they wear weird helmets.

TSOUKALOS:
This one has a helmet as a head

and if you look
at the whole body of it,

it's as if it wears
some type of a-- of a suit.

This one here also

has the helmet and the visor.

CHILDRESS: For the Pueblo
Indians, like the Zunis,

these are their,
their sky gods that every year,

they have special ceremonies.

People put on
these special costumes

and masks to reenact
the coming of the gods.

They really look
like ancient astronauts.

BILL BIRNES: If you look
at the poetry and the legends

and the stories
from American Indian tribes

in the Southwest,

they have
the legend of the star people.

The star people came to Earth

and seeded planet Earth.

And they came on flying ships.

If you speak to the elders,
they will tell you

that a lot of us
believe in the existence

of extraterrestrials.

THOMAS O. MILLS: The Zunis
don't have a written language.

The storyteller comes

and he tells the young children
how it all happened.

All of their songs that they do
in their ceremonies

tell the story
over and over and...

that's how they passed down

traditions, customs, beliefs.

They tell it in the Indian way.

They use things they understand

to explain things
that they don't understand.

SIMPLICIO: I remember
my grandparents talking

about a craft that flew

and had actually
crash-landed on one

of the mesas east of here.

There's no interpretation
of what an aircraft is,

so the closest thing
that they could, uh,

interpret as anything
capable of flight

is a bird
or our masked kachina dancers.

MAHOOTY: We are very,
very superstitious people.

It's always been
in the history of Zuni

that they have always been here.

Even right here where
we're sitting right now.

But you just don't see them.

They're in
a different frequency.

And those are very, very sacred.

And those are very, very secret.

They're out there somewhere.

NARRATOR: For those who believe
that ancient astronauts

came to Earth
thousands of years ago,

prehistoric artwork provides
more clues in what they claim

is a growing body of evidence.

From wall carvings and
statues in ancient Egypt...

to tribal traditions and
exotic masks in West Africa,

to petroglyphs
in the American Southwest.

All thousands of years old.

They seem
to recount similar stories

of visitors from the skies.

Could the legends
of alien beings

visiting Earth
thousands of years ago

have inspired
more traditional beliefs?

♪ ♪

Ancient petroglyphs
are some of the best evidence

that we have for
the ancient astronaut theory.

I always found it intriguing
to see that some

of these carvings very clearly
depict extraterrestrials.

Well, for me, equally compelling
are ancient objects

that have been found, revealing
a knowledge of aerodynamics,

like the Saqqara Bird of Egypt,
or Giorgio's pin.

Yeah, I wear this gold flyer pin
all the time.

In fact, I should be known as
"the guy with the pin."

Come on, Giorgio, you can't be
the guy with the pin.

You're the guy with the hair.

All right. No, listen.

The reason why I wear
this pin is because

it's a replica of 17 artifacts

that were found
in pre-Columbian tomb sites.

And what's so interesting is

that they have
aerodynamic features.

In fact, they fly.

We've covered this
in season one of Ancient Aliens.

NARRATOR:
When backing up their claims

of extraterrestrial visitation,

ancient alien theorists
draw upon two kinds of examples:

There's the evidence
you can read--

such as that found
in ancient texts--

and then there's the evidence
you can actually see.

Among the earliest types
of physical specimens?

Numerous cave and rock drawings

and stone sculptures
found all over the globe.

You know, pictures are worth
a thousand words, absolutely.

When you see pictures depicted,
for example,

on a cave in Italy,
that show two astronauts

with helmets on, I mean,
what the heck could it be?

What could it be?

NARRATOR: Each of these
ancient illustrations

or statues
depict figures dressed

in strange attire for the times,

and sporting unusual headgear.

But could they really be
representations

of alien astronauts?

Visitors from other worlds
who touched down upon the Earth

thousands of years ago?

All over the world,
we have statues and sculptures

and paintings and depictions

of these
extraterrestrial beings.

Even in the United States
at Sego Canyon, Utah,

we have petroglyphs

of very weird looking creatures

that have antennae
on their heads, helmets.

And halfway around the world,
in Kimberley, Australia,

for example, we have
the exact same depictions

of these helmeted beings
with a halo around their heads.

And the question I have is,
what did our ancestors see

that compelled them

to put this on their cave walls?

On yet another continent,

in Guatemala City,
we have a sculpture

that looks eerily reminiscent
of a modern-day astronaut.

I mean, that thing
is wearing a helmet.

There is some type
of a mouthpiece.

And on his chest
are some type of, uh,

controls
or a breathing apparatus.

How is this possible
1,500 years ago?

And in Colombia,
there were thousands

of tomb artifacts that look
like modern-day airplanes.

It has fixed wings.

It has a fuselage.

And it has an upright tailfin,

which is not intrinsic
to nature.

But it is intrinsic
to modern-day aerodynamics.

Did our ancestors see something
similar flying in the air?

Absolutely.

Another compelling artifact
that was found

was at the Istanbul Museum

where you have
this headless spaceman

sitting inside some type
of a space vehicle.

You can see his hands
and you can see tubing

that go to some sort of devices.

He's wearing a suit.

His legs are crammed in there.

I mean,
even to the untrained eye,

this looks very aerodynamic.

And it looks something that,
you know,

came from outer space.

NOORY: These people
witnessed something.

They were told something.

And they tried to depict it
the best way they could

with the kind of technology
they had at the time.

And that was simple tools
and simple artwork.

Many of these
ancient civilizations

were widely separated
in space and time.

They weren't in communication
with each other,

but still, they have
the same kinds of accounts.

I think it's because they all
experienced these things.

And they all have the idea

that we're part
of a cosmic hierarchy of beings.

So, I think we can't
explain things away so easily.

NARRATOR:
But for Erich von Däniken

and other proponents of
his ancient astronaut theories,

perhaps the most
significant illustration

can be found in Mexico.

The Mayan archaeological site
of Palenque

had been abandoned for centuries
before it was stumbled upon

by Spanish explorers.

CHILDRESS:
So we get to the top of this,

and suddenly, here are
the great pyramids of Palenque.

NARRATOR:
Here, deep within a secret tomb,

under one
of the age-old temples,

lies the seven-ton sarcophagus

of Palenque's 7th-century ruler,

Pakal the Great.

CHILDRESS: Lord Pakal apparently
died here at Palenque.

He was apparently
this mysterious Mayan leader.

He was a giant.

Seven or eight feet tall
actually.

And then they built
this pyramid around his tomb.

The Mayans literally
worshipped him

as-as some kind of a god.

NARRATOR:
King Pakal's sarcophagus is
adorned with a carving

that has become a famous
example of classic Mayan art.

Most believe
the illustration shows

Pakal descending
into the Mayan underworld.

But ancient astronaut theorists
interpret the carving

a vastly different way.

VON DÄNIKEN:
On this slab,

an incredible chiseling.

You see a man

and he is sitting
in a sort of capsule.

He has some sort
of mask on his nose,

and you see his upper hand,
he's manipulating some controls.

From the lower hand,
he's turning something on.

The heel of his left foot is
on a kind of pedal.

And outside of the capsule,
you see a leaking flame.

This is incredible.

This is absolutely proof
for extraterrestrials.

NASA CONTROL TOWER:
Three, two, one, zero.

Liftoff!

MARTELL:
If we look at the similarities

of what our astronauts
look like when they are

in a rocket ship
or in the space shuttle

and have gear attached to them,

there are similarities
being shown.

So one just has to ask
the question of, you know,

is this just an artifact
symbolically showing something?

Or are they trying to depict

with their own limited
understanding of the time

what was taking place?

CHILDRESS:
Was Lord Pakal just some
Mayan king that everyone liked?

Was he some important visitor
from some far-off land?

Or was he even possibly

some extraterrestrial
from another planet?

NARRATOR:
Although most scientists
and archaeologists discredit

Von Däniken's interpretation
of the Palenque carvings,

visitors to the site are

often treated to stories

and offered souvenirs
that support his claim.

This is
Erich Von Däniken's theory,

the chariots of the gods, no?

You see Pakal is supposed
to be driving the rocket,

holding the controls,

the pedals, the engine,

and the fire of the rocket.

This will be the cabin, no?

And this is the oxygen.

Mainstream archaeologists claim
that it's really a depiction

of Lord Pakal and his journey
to the underworld.

He's going under the ground,
rather than out into space.

Both are interesting theories,

and, uh, either could be
right in my mind.

NARRATOR:
In recent years,

Pakal's tomb has been
closed to tourists

and casual visitors.

Although the sarcophagus
is off-limits,

ancient astronaut theorists can

still find a wealth of evidence

in the carvings
along the walls of Palenque.

CHILDRESS:
This is very similar to what's

on the lid of Lord Pakal,
of his tomb.

Uh, the way he's got
his left hand right here

in a-- like an odd position
and his wrist.

Also, some kind

of rocket exhaust or something
is coming out of him.

NARRATOR:
But Lord Pakal may not
have been the only alien

who once walked
the Palenque ruins.

♪ ♪

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.

♪ ♪

It's sort
of like the combination

of the Book of Genesis

and the Book of Chronicles
in the Bible.

It's the story of battles
between the gods

and then it connects
the creation of the world

with the present day
through the kings of K'iche'.

It's really the only complete
Maya creation myth that we have.

PHILIP 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 the 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.

When we talk
about the Mayan gods,

we know that their 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 DÄNIKEN:
Now the Maya were
living in the jungle.

The Mayan 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 teached 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,
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 Quetzalcóatl,

the feathered serpent,
who was this wisdom bringer

sometimes said to have come down
from the-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 a 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,

uh, 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 are able to give this
to the rest of their culture.

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
and 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 halfway around the world

within the extraordinary
accounts of the Greek gods.

♪ ♪

One of the things I love
when watching

some of the earliest episodes
of Ancient Aliens

is that they feature
our good friend and colleague

and one of my closest friends,
Philip Coppens,

who unfortunately
passed away in 2012.

But he was an invaluable
contributor to the series

because not only
was he a prolific author,

but he was also
an impeccable researcher

and the broad knowledge
that he had of the topic.

I mean, we were really lucky
to have him

with us on Ancient Aliens.

Absolutely, Giorgio, I mean,
it's really great

-to see him
in these early episodes.
-Right.

POPE: It really is, yes.
Now, you know,

as someone whose area
of expertise

is the modern UFO phenomenon,
it's been fascinating for me

to be involved
with Ancient Aliens

and to hear these stories
from hundreds

or even thousands of years ago,

describing encounters
that sound very similar

to today's UFO sightings.

TSOUKALOS:
You're right, Nick.
In fact, as you know,

my dad is Greek,
so I grew up reading

and hearing a lot about
ancient Greek mythology.

And in those accounts,
you have countless examples

of the Greeks interacting
with the so-called gods.

And those gods
not only imparted wisdom,

but also shared
their incredible technology.

When I hear you say
technology of the gods,

what I think I also
really hear you saying

is technology
from extraterrestrials.

Right.

NARRATOR:
Greece, the Island of Crete.

On the Lassithi Plateau,

over half a mile
above sea level,

lies the Dikteon Cave.

This sprawling
complex of caverns

stretches nearly
one and a half square miles.

And archaeological finds
have shown a human presence

dating as far back
as 6,000 years ago.

Historians believe the first
inhabitants of the area

actually lived inside the cave,

and according to legend,
its many chambers

were once home
to an otherworldly being:

Zeus, the Greek god of thunder.

(thunder crashing)

In Greek mythology,

Zeus is the son of Cronus,

the king of
the first generation of gods

known as the Titans.

Zeus's father Cronus
is not particularly excited

about giving birth to a child
because he's heard a prophecy

that one of his children
is going to overthrow him.

So, just as soon
as his children are born,

he just swallows them all down.

Now, his mother Rhea,
who's Cronus's wife,

is distraught about this.

So what she does
is substitute a rock

that she's wrapped up
in swaddling clothes,

gives it to Cronus,
which he swallows down.

And what she does is
hide Zeus away in a cave.

So, he grows up there.

NARRATOR: In theogony,
the 8th-century BC poet Hesiod

describes the cave
Zeus was hidden in

as lying
in these very mountains,

and specifically,
near the city of Lyktos,

the location
of the Dikteon Cave.

But the similarities
between this cave

and the cave of Zeus
described in Greek mythology

go much further.

COPPENS:
The ancients say

that when they
are talking about mythology,

it is about unrecorded events
of their past.

According to the Greek myths,
the child Zeus was nourished

on a mixture of honey and milk
at the udder of the goat.

Now around 1900 AD,

a chamber in the Dikteon Cave
was identified by locals

as the birthplace of Zeus.

And when archaeologists
went in there,

they discovered an altar
with the remains

of numerous religious offerings,

amongst them,
honey and goat milk.

These remains date back 4,000
years, to the exact period

in which the ancient
Greek stories took place.

The question is,
is this once again a coincidence

that modern excavations
found remains in this cave

that match up with what's
written in Greek mythology?

NARRATOR:
Also found in the Dikteon Cave

were numerous artifacts
dating back

to what would have been
the time of Zeus's childhood,

according to the Greek stories.

Among them was a fragmentary
inscription bearing a hymn,

a hymn dedicated
specifically to Zeus.

Could the Dikteon Cave really be
the cave described in theogony?

And if actual locations

from Greek mythology
really do exist,

could legendary characters
and events

also be based
on historical fact?

We think of mythology
as something

which has been invented.

(thunder crashing)

But really, when we look
at the ancient Greeks,

they believe
that the war of the Titans

physically happened,
that this was a war

which was fought in heaven,
by the deities.

(screaming)

NARRATOR:
In Greek mythology,
the War of the Titans

is a celestial battle waged
by Zeus and his siblings--

known as the Olympians--

against their father Cronus
and the Titans.

The Olympians, who are
the victors in this battle,

were the gods worshipped
by the ancient Greeks.

But according to
ancient astronaut theorists,

these humanlike beings

may have been something
other than divine,

and this mythical war
may have been

an actual historical event.

To support this claim,
they point to the existence

of similar myths and stories

told by different cultures
throughout the world.

When it comes
to warring parties of gods,

Greece is not
a stand-alone issue.

We have the same thing
in Ragnarok.

In Norwegian mythology,
we have this idea

that the gods fought
amongst themselves as well.

We also have stories
from Sumerian,

Babylonian, Hittite accounts

where it says that the wars
were fought between gods.

We see the same story of Titans

being overthrown
by a new set of gods

in the Sumerian epics
of the Anunnaki coming here

as the original culture
in ancient Iraq.

So, these similarities tell
of a warring race of beings

that squabbled
amongst themselves

about the rights
of various areas on the Earth.

NARRATOR:
What can explain
the similarities

of these ancient war stories

that emerged
from all over the world?

Could they all be describing
the same historical events?

And if there is
an historical basis

for the legends and stories,

what does that suggest
about the incredible powers

and weaponry supposedly
possessed by the gods?

It's very possible
that the clash of the Titans

known from the Greek times

is actually speaking
of a much earlier epoch

of extraterrestrials
having a type of battle.

HENRY:
The ancient Greek gods
had helmets

that made them invisible.

They had breastplates
that made them impervious

to their enemies' weapons.

They had tridents
that shot thunderbolts.

(thunder crashes)

They had winged sandals

that gave them
the power of flight.

These are all profound examples
of an ancient alien technology

that the Greek gods possessed.

NARRATOR:
If mythical gods and monsters
really did exist, were they,

as ancient astronaut theorists
believe,

extraterrestrial beings?

♪ ♪

Now, you know,
in addition to the stories

of the Greeks
that we've covered,

you find stories
of humans living alongside

technologically advanced
extraterrestrials

all around the world.

You see it, for example,
in ancient Hindu texts.

I mean, most definitely, there's
roughly still a billion Hindus

in the world today
that study and read

these ancient Sanskrit texts.

And to them,
they're not just stories,

-it's their actual history.
-Right.

NARRATOR: India.

Covering over 1.2 million
square miles,

it is the world's
seventh largest country,

and with 1.3 billion people,

it is the second most populated.

(bells ringing)

Roughly 80% of the Indian
population practices Hinduism,

the world's oldest
surviving religion

that dates back
to at least 2000 BC.

And for the Hindu faithful,

their gods are not mythological,

but are real beings,
that have at times

been present here on Earth.

YOUNG:
These many gods and goddesses
have different stories

and different energies
and different principles

that they represent.

For many of the Hindu faithful,
the gods are absolutely real.

They exist physically,

although they may not
always be visible.

In general, compared
to Western belief systems,

the tangible reality of the gods
is much stronger in India.

I've grown up as a Hindu,
in a strict Hindu family,

so I know
all the Vedas and epics.

You know, I've read
them hundreds of times.

Hindus believe that the gods
came down from the sky.

DEEPAK SHIMKHADA:
Hindus believe that

these stories
are not simply myth.

They are historical records,

because they are
actually called Itihasa.

Itihasa meaning history.

NARRATOR:
Thousands of depictions
of the Hindu gods

can be found throughout India,

carved into temples,

painted on ancient rock walls,

and in the form of giant statues

that dominate the landscape.

And even greater
is the sheer number

of these sky gods
that make up the Hindu pantheon.

SHIMKHADA:
There are

333 million gods in Hinduism.

They are
divided into two realms:

A higher realm

and then the lower realm.

And the devas are
not immortal beings.

You obviously have
a lot of power,

more power than
ordinary human beings.

NARRATOR: While in
the Judeo-Christian tradition,

God is depicted as
an all-powerful being,

in the Vedic texts,

Hindu gods often rely on
the use of technology.

This has led
ancient astronaut theorists

to pose the question:

Is it possible
that these religious texts

describe not only
encounters with the divine,

but also with
extraterrestrial beings?

The Western mindset is
different from that of India,

where they accept the idea
of extraterrestrial beings.

The Hindu story
of the Mahabharata

is loaded with references to

what seems to be
extraterrestrial technology.

You've got flying vehicles,

you've got weapons
that are voice activated,

and you have destructions
of civilizations

by what seems
like nuclear detonation.

VON DÄNIKEN:
In the Mahabharata,

there, they write that one day,

gigantic cities
surrounded the Earth.

They did not have a word
for "spaceship" at that time.

They say, "cities."

And they make clear difference

that these cities
were in the firmament,

not in heaven.

And small vehicles came down

from these cities
on the firmament.

The old Indians called
these vehicles "vimanas."

And out of the vimanas,
the teachers came out.

No doubt, we were visited

by extraterrestrials.

NARRATOR:
Is the Hindu tradition a story

of extraterrestrial visitation?

Ancient astronaut
theorists say yes,

and suggest that
this was orchestrated

by an otherworldly being
known in Hinduism as Lord Shiva.

Shiva is a member

of the Hindu trinity
of major gods:

Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara.

Maheshwara is
another name for Shiva.

SHIMKHADA:
Shiva is also called Mahadeva.

Mahadeva means "great god."

So, he is god of gods.

He's the head of all gods,

and he's also
the most powerful god.

Shiva has a dual function.

One of his functions
is destruction.

The other one is creation.

Without destruction,
there is no creation.

NARRATOR:
Depictions of Shiva
embody this idea

of destruction and creation.

Shiva is most often shown

holding a drum called a damaru,

which he used
to create the universe.

Around his neck is
a cobra poised to strike.

In one hand,
Shiva holds a powerful

trident-like
weapon of destruction

called the trishula,

and in the center
of his forehead,

he has a third eye.

Shiva is the only god
that has, uh,

depicted with third eye.

If his third eye opens,
a very powerful light, uh,

fire emits from his third eye,

and anything that it sees,
it destroys totally.

Usually, when you
talk about the third eye,

it's about enlightenment.

And then there's
this other third eye,

this third eye that was
able to annihilate things.

I don't think
they're the same thing.

So, the question is,
what was it?

And what was Shiva?

Shiva appeared
at a very crucial time

when two gods,
Brahma is a creator,

and Vishnu, the preserver,

were debating who is greater.

All of a sudden,
this blinding light,

a shaft of light appeared

that has no end or beginning.

And then this voice
came out of this light,

said that, "I am the greatest.

I am the greatest god there is."

TSOUKALOS:
Shiva is almost always
surrounded by some type of

a circular structure
with flames.

Now, what did our
human ancestor artists

try to depict here?

Was he, perhaps, inside
some type of a fiery craft?

It is possible that Shiva

is the same extraterrestrial

that other cultures
call by different names.

Enki, Odin, Zeus, Viracocha,

Quetzalcoatl, Kukulkan.

NARRATOR:
The earliest Vedic texts

were first written
roughly 4,000 years ago,

but Hindus claim that
the stories originated

hundreds, and perhaps even
thousands, of years earlier,

existing as part of
an oral tradition

passed down from
one generation to the next.

Might the gods
found in these accounts

be the same beings
described by other cultures?

Perhaps further evidence
can be found by examining

the ancient cuneiform tablets

of the world's
first known civilization.

♪ ♪

We've been talking about
gods and extraterrestrials,

but some of the very
earliest accounts

of celestial visitors come from

the first civilization
on Earth, the Sumerians.

I mean, to me, it's mind-blowing
that 5,000 years ago,

they referenced these
Anunnaki coming down

-from the sky.
-Right, and "Anunnaki" means,

"those who
from the heavens came."

So, the Sumerians
actually told us

that somebody
descended from the sky

to impart knowledge.

And in our opinion,
those were physical beings.

And if you really think
about it, they had human flaws.

In fact, they fought
with each other

just like humans.

And they had a technology.

NARRATOR: Northern Iraq.

Along the east bank of
the Tigris river,

opposite the city of Mosul,

lie the ruins of
the ancient city of Nineveh,

a place originally inhabited
by the Sumerians of Mesopotamia.

Here, in 1842,

British archaeologist
Austen Henry Layard

unearthed the ruins of the
great library of Ashurbanipal,

a royal archive containing
thousands of clay tablets

with cuneiform inscriptions.

Dating to 3000 BC,

the messages carved into stone

are considered to be the world's
first written accounts.

Sumerian tablets are probably
one of the oldest form

of written record that we have.

They've been translated,
and they tell exciting stories

about how gods
intermingled with human beings,

and actually had a hand
in the creation of human beings.

Whether or not
it's just mythology

or if it's fact,
no one really knows.

NARRATOR:
According to interpretations
of the Sumerian tablets,

the gods
were called the Anunnaki.

What we're looking at here
is a Sumerian tablet

that actually shows
the tree of life

flanked by divine beings.

You can see here
the Anunnaki on each side.

We also see the winged disc,

a symbolic reference
that the Anunnaki

had the power of flight.

They actually had necklaces with

astronomical references,
a moon, a star,

various symbols,
which even could be symbolized

as a wristwatch.

Technology being used
6,000 years ago.

NARRATOR:
The written accounts
etched into stone

suggest the Anunnaki
were giant beings,

standing eight feet tall,

who came to Earth
in search of gold

for their home planet.

MARTELL:
When the Sumerian gods,

the Anunnaki, realized
the toll it was taking

to mine the gold themselves,

they decided to fashion
a worker being,

a slave
to mine the gold for them.

And they explain in
the Sumerian creation tales

that this was
an arduous process.

So, it's very possible
that our genetic evolution

was a process done
by the Anunnaki

to create us in their image
and after their likeness.

They created man,

according to the Sumerian texts.

They created Adam and Eve.

How interesting that
the Bible will echo the story

but talk about it
in terms of "God."

NICK REDFERN:
It's almost like these
highly advanced creatures

were acting as teachers.

And certainly,
Sumerian culture and mythology

is full of stories of, you know,

receiving visitations from
these mysterious higher entities

that, you know, bestowed wisdom,

and fantastic ideas
and concepts.

And, you know,
you have to wonder,

is this just down to myth
or was somebody coming down

and really trying to give us
a-a push, if you like?

NARRATOR:
Ancient chronicles of sky beings
creating human life

are common in early cultures
found all over the world.

But while mainstream scholars
often dismiss this evidence,

might such tangible
historical accounts

provide proof of alien
intervention in man's evolution,

as ancient astronaut
theorists believe?

The Sumerians are not the only
culture that talks about this.

Also, in the Koran,
it says that language

was given to us
by Allah, or God.

The Maya Popol Vuh
says that language

was given to us by the gods.

The ancient Egyptian texts
are saying the exact same thing.

It doesn't matter what
ancient culture we look at,

they all say the same,

that language was a gift
from the gods.

We should finally
come to grips with the idea

that extraterrestrials
had something to do

with our development.

NARRATOR:
Prior to the use
of early systems of writing,

ancient people carved
symbolic communication

into stone called petroglyphs,

the oldest date to about
10,000 to 12,000 years ago.

According to ancient
astronaut theorists,

petroglyphs located
in the American Southwest

link the prehistoric ancestors

of the Zuni and Hopi tribes
with star beings.

(speaking foreign language)

(translated):
The first graphic expressions

by humans were petroglyphs.

That means symbols or figures
scratched into stone.

The Hopi Indians, for example,
scratched petroglyphs

into their rock faces
that show people

with radiating wreaths,
gods that descend from the sky.

The Hopi Indians say that
these beings are kachinas,

beings from space,
who came to earth in aircraft,

who were not gods,
but who brought them knowledge

from another planet.

We have the same phenomenon
in Europe in Val Camonica.

We have it in Asia.
We have it in Brazil.

When we look at the fact that,
all around the world,

we hear similar legends
of people from the stars

coming down and having
a profound impact on the people

of this country
or that particular culture,

all embroiled
in similar time frames,

you know, we're seeing
a pattern developing,

and it's difficult to dismiss
that that pattern is suggestive.

In our ancient past, creatures
came down, interacted with us,

and maybe manipulated us to
become the people we are today.

NOORY:
Why are so many
past civilizations

all saying similar things?

I think the simple answer is,

is that the same thing happened,
and they know the story.

And the story is that
extraterrestrials

came to this planet,

genetically made and manipulated

whatever creatures
were here at the time

and helped jump-start society.

The bottom line is

every civilization talks
about the existence of man

through the eyes of a god,

and if you think
of the eyes of the god as ETs,

it all makes sense.

Back then, this was the way
they communicated

events that were
significant to them.

And so,
when we have this imagery

of the so-called star people
on petroglyphs

and things like that,

they're clearly chronicling
something real--

to my mind at least--
that occurred in their history.

The big question is: what?

♪ ♪

After nearly 300 episodes
of the series Ancient Aliens

and all the evidence
that's been presented,

I feel like people
are finally becoming convinced

that extraterrestrials
have been visiting Earth

for thousands of years.

But then, the question
I'm often asked is, why?

Well, that's
the big question, isn't it?

Now, we can only speculate,

but it seems to me that

if extraterrestrials
meant us any harm,

they could've
wiped us out long ago.

Oh, absolutely.

And, you know, according
to the ancient astronaut theory,

these star gods
or visitors from the sky,

have been interacting
with our ancestors

for thousands of years,
and deliberately.

Which means,
they want us to succeed.

In fact,
we've covered this ages ago

in episode three of Ancient
Aliens, called "The Mission."

NARRATOR: According to
the ancient astronaut theory,

aliens may have come to Earth
for many reasons: to excavate,

to breed, to conquer,
or simply to explore.

MATTHEW DOWD:
Certainly, we want to go out

and find out about things
we don't know about.

We see the Moon,
we want to go up to the Moon

and find out
more things about it.

We see Mars, we want to go
there. We want to go to Jupiter,

we send out our probes.

So, if aliens
are something like us,

then perhaps, they have that
same kind of motivation.

They just want to go learn.

Just like we exhibit curiosity,
there are other species

out there
that have the same trait.

It would be
very egotistical to think

that we're the only explorers
in this galaxy.

I mean, that would be
a very sad statement

to suggest we're
the only ones with a brain

and want to go out there
and explore.

NARRATOR:
But while our own journeys
into space have been brief

and largely exploratory,

could other beings, traveling
millions of miles to Earth,

have stayed?

And, if so,
might they still be among us?

CHILDRESS: Many, uh, ancient
astronaut theorists think

this all happened in the past,

and the-the extraterrestrials

came here, did this,
and did that,

and then they took off
back to their own planet.

But there's a lot
of evidence to show

that, uh, extraterrestrials

who might've come here
in the past,

they've never left.

They have bases
somewhere on the planet

underneath the oceans,
inside mountains.

In South America there
is very strong beliefs

that many UFOs come out
of lakes and underwater.

And the-- Lake Titicaca

and other lakes in Peru
and Bolivia

and other areas of South America

have some kind of underground,

underwater alien base
associated with them.

HOWE:
Today, we are living still,

as if we are alone
in the universe,

while hundreds
and thousands of people

are seeing unusual craft
in the skies,

as they did 5,000 years ago.

And so, in a way, the idea

that the ancient aliens

would finally be
coming around full circle,

all the way
into the 21st century...

It's trying to push open a truth

that governments have suppressed

in the 20th century,
is really very ironic.

NARRATOR:
There are many diverse
and conflicting theories

concerning the idea
that alien astronauts

have been visiting the Earth
for centuries.

But perhaps the proof lies in
the most obvious place of all:

right within ourselves.

VON DÄNIKEN:
Somewhere in our genes,
it is coded

that extraterrestrials were here
thousands of years ago.

And it takes a certain time

before this message is open
to us, maybe in the brain.

NOORY:
I don't believe
extraterrestrials,

ETs, ancient astronauts
are the missing link.

I think what they
very well could be,

they may be
the beginning of the link.

The link that helped
genetically alter human beings.

The link that jump-started
our civilization,

the way we are today.

It's very possible they came
down here and saw some creature,

and they said, "You know what?
We're gonna jump-start this."

It may take another
ten million years

for this thing to become
smart and intelligent.

So, they created us.

And we're smart
and intelligent now, aren't we?

If they've been coming here
in the past

for thousands of years,
where are they now?

It makes me wonder
what types of interactions

-we're gonna be having
in the future.
-Right, and you know,

what's so fascinating
is the fact

that, in the great majority of
ancient accounts of these gods,

they all promised
that they would return.

I think there are
two ways to look at it, you--

either a literal return,

that they came,
they left, they're coming back.

Or the idea
that they never really left,

so the return then means
something else.

It probably means a sort
of open display. "Here we are."

Right, let's face it,
they could be so advanced that

they could be
sitting right here,

and they're invisible to us,

whether it's
a different vibration,

different dimension,
or something like that

and that is exactly why
some people might even argue

that they've never left.

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