Original subtitles

Narrator: UFO SIGHTINGS ARE RELATIVELY MODERN PHENOMENON,

BUT THERE ARE THOSE WHO HAVE RAISED THE QUESTION

OF ANCIENT ALIEN INTERACTION.

NOW RECENT DISCOVERIES SUGGEST CONTACT WITH UFOs

LIKELY OCCURRED EARLIER IN HISTORY THAN EVER IMAGINED.

Rosenfeld: GIVEN THAT THESE ARE ARTIFACTS FROM ANCIENT TIMES

TELLS ME THAT THESE ARE DEPICTIONS OF CONTACT

WITH AN ANCIENT VISITOR.

Narrator: NEW EVIDENCE OF ANCIENT MONUMENTS

BUILT FOR THE GODS THAT DESCENDED FROM THE SKY.

Lukes: ARE THE ANCIENT MAYANS TRYING TO POINT TO

THEIR OWN ORIGINS THAT COULD, PERHAPS, BE EXTRATERRESTRIAL?

Pope: IF ANY OF THIS IS TRUE, THIS CAN ONLY SUGGEST

THAT THESE REALLY ARE TALKING ABOUT EXTRATERRESTRIAL VISITORS.

Narrator: WHY HAVE GOVERNMENTS ALL AROUND THE WORLD

BEEN KEEPING SECRET THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF ANCIENT CONTACT

WITH ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS?

Dolan: IT'S NOT SIMPLY THAT WE'RE DEALING WITH

AN INHERENTLY MYSTERIOUS PHENOMENON.

WE ARE ALSO DEALING WITH GOVERNMENT AND MILITARY

OBFUSCATION AND SECRECY.

Narrator: DID UFOs LAND ON EARTH SEVERAL MILLENNIA AGO

AND SEED MODERN CIVILIZATION?

Bara: WHAT I SAY IS AN EXPRESSION OF THE SAME CONCEPTS

ALL ACROSS DIFFERENT CULTURES ALL SAYING THE SAME THING,

WHICH IS THAT WE CAME FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE.

Rosenfeld: IT GOES TO SHOW YOU THAT THESE VISITORS

HAVE BEEN HERE FOR A VERY, VERY LONG TIME.

♪♪

Narrator: NEW INFORMATION IS TRANSFORMING

WHAT PEOPLE BELIEVE ABOUT EXTRATERRESTRIAL SPACECRAFT.

ARE UFOs REALLY VISITING OUR WORLD?

IS THE GOVERNMENT HIDING THE TRUTH?

AND, IF SO, COULD NEW ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

REVEAL THE ASTONISHING TRUTH OF ANCIENT UFO EARTH LANDINGS?

♪♪

-- Captions by VITAC -- www.vitac.com

CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

MARCH 25, 2013.

MEXICO CITY.

HERE, IN THE MOST POPULATED METROPOLITAN AREA

IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE, GOVERNMENT MINISTERS

DECLARE PUBLICLY THAT THEY HOLD ARCHAEOLOGICAL ARTIFACTS

PROVING THE REALITY OF EARLY CONTACT

BETWEEN THE ANCIENT MAYA AND UFOs.

SEEN HERE FOR THE FIRST TIME ON NATIONAL TELEVISION,

THE ARTIFACTS HAVE BEEN KEPT A CLOSELY GUARDED STATE SECRET

FOR OVER 80 YEARS.

BUT WHY?

WHEN ONE LOOKS AT THE CLASSIC MESOAMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS --

THE MAYANS, THE INCAS -- IT'S INTERESTING TO NOTE

THE RECURRENCE OF THE IDEA OF VISITORS FROM THE STARS,

SKY GODS COMING DOWN, INTERACTING WITH THE PEOPLE.

THIS IS A THREAD THAT RUNS THROUGH

THE NARRATIVE OF THESE PEOPLES, OF THESE CIVILIZATIONS.

IS THIS JUST STORY AND MYTH?

OR IS IT A RETELLING OF SOMETHING

THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED?

THESE ARTIFACTS ARE VERY DRAMATIC,

AND THEY SHOW IN SOME CASES WHAT LOOKS LIKE

CLEAR GRAY ALIEN EXTRATERRESTRIAL

AND FLYING SAUCERS.

SO I THINK WE NEED TO BE VERY CAREFUL, FIND THE TRUE ORIGIN,

AND FACT CHECK THE HECK OUT OF IT.

Narrator: ACCORDING TO ARTIFACTS RESEARCHER KLAUS DONA,

THE LONG, LOST OBJECTS WERE FOUND IN A CAVE

JUST NORTH OF MEXICO CITY.

BUT SOME IN THE MEXICAN INSTITUTE OF ANTHROPOLOGY

AND HISTORY BELIEVE THE ARTIFACTS WERE

ORIGINALLY FROM THE ANCIENT MAYA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF CALAKMUL.

THIS ONCE MIGHTY CITY, DATING TO 600 A.D.,

WAS POSSIBLY THE LARGEST MAYA CITY

WITH THE TALLEST KNOWN PYRAMID IN THE YUCATAN PENINSULA.

French: SO THE EARLIEST EVIDENCE OF MAYA WE START SEEING

AROUND 1500 B.C.

WE'RE SEEING DENSER POPULATIONS OF PEOPLE THAT ARE STARTING

TO BUILD MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE,

AND THAT MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE HAS CERTAIN SIGNATURES

THAT WE START SEEING IN OTHER PLACES

THROUGHOUT THE MAYA REGION.

THE GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT FOR THE MAYA, IN MY OPINION,

WOULD REALLY BE THEIR WRITING SYSTEM.

NO ONE ELSE IN THE NEW WORLD HAD THAT KIND OF WRITING SYSTEM.

THAT AND THEIR COMPLEX CALENDAR SYSTEM WOULD BE

THEIR GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS.

Narrator: REGARDED BY SCHOLARS AS ONE OF THE MOST SOPHISTICATED

CIVILIZATIONS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD,

THE MAYA ALSO MASTERED AGRICULTURE, ENGINEERING,

AND ASTRONOMY.

THEIR CALENDARS ACCURATELY TRACK CELESTIAL EVENTS OVER DECADES.

BUT DID THE MAYA CREATE THIS REMARKABLY ADVANCED CIVILIZATION

THROUGH THEIR OWN INGENUITY, OR IS IT POSSIBLE,

AS SOME UFO RESEARCHERS BELIEVER, THE MAYA ACQUIRED

SUCH KNOWLEDGE FROM EXTRATERRESTRIAL BEINGS

THAT ARRIVED IN WHAT WE KNOW CALL UFOs?

Pope: SOME PEOPLE LOOK AT CIVILIZATIONS LIKE THE MAYANS

AND POINT TO HOW ADVANCED THEY WERE IN AREAS SUCH AS

MATHEMATICS AND ARCHITECTURE.

AND THEY SAY, DID THESE PEOPLE HAVE SOME HELP?

WAS THEIR CIVILIZATION SOMEHOW JUMP STARTED?

THIS IS AN INTRIGUING POSSIBILITY.

AND AGAIN, IT ALL TIES IN PERHAPS TO THE IDEAS OF GODS

COMING FROM THE SKIES, INTERACTING WITH THESE PEOPLE,

SHARING THEIR SACRED KNOWLEDGE.

IN FACT, MANY UFO RESEARCHERS BELIEVE THE ARTIFACTS DISCOVERED

IN MEXICO MORE THAN 80 YEARS AGO SUPPORT THE THEORY THAT THE MAYA

NOT ONLY EXPERIENCED OTHERWORLDLY VISITATION,

BUT PAY HOMAGE TO THEIR VISITORS THROUGH THEIR ARTWORK.

Pope: IT'S BEEN SUGGESTED THAT MANY OF THESE IMAGES

COME FROM THE SHAMANIC JOURNEY, THAT THEY COME FROM

THINGS GLIMPSED IN THE SHAMANIC CHANTS

WHICH ARE MAYBE BASED ON SOME MIXTURE OF DREAM, IMAGINATION,

AND REALITY ALL MIXED TOGETHER.

SO, IS ANY OF THIS ALIEN?

WE DON'T KNOW, BUT IT'S AN INTRIGUING MYSTERY

AND WORTH FURTHER STUDY.

Narrator: BUT WHAT IF THE ARTIFACTS REVEAL

SOMETHING MORE THAN A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY?

WHAT IF, AS UFO EXPERTS BELIEVE,

THEY REVEAL ACTUAL CONTACT WITH UFOs?

NOW, LOOKING AT THESE THINGS, THEY DO LOOK, FOR ALL THE WORLD,

LIKE A CLASSICAL IMAGE OF A FLYING SAUCER.

THEY ARE DISC-SHAPED.

THEY SEEM TO HAVE A RAISED DOME IN THE CENTER,

AND THERE ARE STRANGE PATTERNS ON THEM.

ARE THEY REAL OR NOT, AND IF THEY'RE REAL,

ARE THEY REALLY SHOWING EXTRATERRESTRIAL SPACECRAFT?

ONE OF THEM LOOKS CLEARLY LIKE A FLYING SAUCER

OR SOME KIND OF FLYING CRAFT.

IT'S DISC-SHAPED.

IT'S GOT A CLASSIC UFO SHAPE TO IT.

IT'S DEFINITELY DEPICTING SOMETHING FLYING.

EVEN A LANDING GEAR OR A RAMP COMING DOWN OFF OF IT.

TO ME, THIS IS VERY STRONG EVIDENCE

THAT WE'VE BEEN VISITED IN THE PAST BY ANCIENT VISITORS.

Narrator: BUT, ACCORDING TO UFO RESEARCHERS,

ONE KEY QUESTION REMAINS.

ARE THESE MAYA ARTIFACTS AUTHENTIC?

THE FACT THAT THE GOVERNMENT RELEASED THESE ARTIFACTS

THAT CLEARLY DEPICT UFOs, SOME KIND OF ADVANCED

ALIEN TECHNOLOGY, THAT'S KIND OF A BIG DEAL

BECAUSE YOU DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE WORLD GOVERNMENTS

THAT ARE WILLING TO RELEASE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE.

BUT, ARE THEY REAL?

WE DON'T KNOW.

Narrator: ALTHOUGH THE CONCEPT OF FLYING SAUCERS

OR FLYING DISCS AND THEIR IMAGES ONLY BEGAN

IN THE MID-20th CENTURY, OFFICIALS AT THE MEXICAN

INSTITUTE OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND HISTORY HAVE DETERMINED

THE ARTIFACTS PREDATE FLYING SAUCER IMAGERY BY CENTURIES.

Bara: THE DISCS, THEY WERE FOUND 80 YEARS AGO.

80 YEARS AGO, THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS A FLYING SAUCER.

SO, WHATEVER THESE OBJECTS ARE, THEY CLEARLY EXISTED

80 YEARS AGO, BEFORE THERE WAS ANY SORT OF

FLYING SAUCER CULTURE OR TV INTERVIEWS

OR ANY OF THESE KINDS OF PROGRAMS.

SO THE IDEA THAT THEY'RE NOT AUTHENTIC

KIND OF BLOWS UP RIGHT THERE.

BECAUSE TO ME, CLEARLY, IF THEY WERE FOUND,

AND THIS IS WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE, IT'S NOW UP TO US

TO MAKE A MODERN INTERPRETATION

OF WHAT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT.

Narrator: ACCORDING TO UFO RESEARCHERS,

EVIDENCE OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL VISITORS

FOUND 60 MILES FARTHER SOUTH IN THE ANCIENT CITY OF TIKAL

IS MORE DIFFICULT TO DISPUTE.

SURROUNDED BY DENSE RAINFORESTS, TIKAL IS BELIEVED TO BE

THE OLDEST URBAN CENTER OF THE MAYA CIVILIZATION.

French: TIKAL'S LOCATED IN NORTHERN GUATEMALA,

VERY LARGE SITE, COVERED ABOUT SEVEN OR EIGHT SQUARE MILES.

ABOUT 50,000 PEOPLE.

EARLIEST BEGINNINGS AROUND 400 B.C.

Narrator: EVIDENCE OF ASTONISHING MAYA ARCHITECTURAL

AND ASTRONOMICAL ACHIEVEMENTS CAN BE FOUND IN WHAT WAS

ONCE TIKAL'S GRAND PLAZA.

SEVEN PYRAMIDS STAND IN PERFECT ALIGNMENT,

AND IN THE SAME GEOMETRIC PATTERN

AS THE PLEIADES STAR CLUSTER

WHICH IS VISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE.

Rosenfeld: FOR THE MAYANS TO LAY OUT THEIR PYRAMIDS

IN THE FORMATION OF THE PLEIADES CONSTELLATION

TOOK GREAT CARE AND EFFORT, AND WHY WOULD THEY DO SUCH A THING?

IT HAS TO HAVE BEEN OF GREAT IMPORTANCE TO THEM.

Bara: THE MAYANS ACTUALLY SAY THAT THEY DID THIS

BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE THEY COME FROM.

THAT THEY HAVE ACTUALLY COME FROM THE PLEIADES,

AND THEY ACKNOWLEDGED IT BY THE CONSTRUCTION

OF THESE VERY UNIQUE PYRAMIDS ON THIS SITE

COMPLETELY ALIGNED WITH THE PLEIADES.

Narrator: MAINSTREAM SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THAT SUCH ACHIEVEMENTS

IN COMPLEX CONSTRUCTION WERE MADE POSSIBLE

BECAUSE OF A UNIQUE AND SOPHISTICATED

NUMBERS SYSTEMS DEVELOPED BY THE MAYA.

BUT UFO RESEARCHERS CONTEND THAT EVEN THIS WAS THE RESULT

OF CONTACT WITH SUPERNATURAL ENTITIES.

THE MAYAN SAY THEIR GODS COME FROM THE PLEIADES,

AS DO MANY OTHER NATIVE CULTURES.

THE QUESTION BECOMES, NOT ONLY WHERE ARE THEY GETTING

THE INFORMATION, BUT WHERE ARE THEY GETTING

THE MATHEMATICAL INTELLECTUAL ACUITY.

TO ME, IT LENDS ITSELF TO EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCES,

EITHER DEEPLY, DEEPLY CONNECTED WITH THIS CIVILIZATION,

OR AT LEAST BEING VISITED BY THEM

TO GIVE THEM THIS INFORMATION.

BUT PERHAPS THE MOST COMPELLING EVIDENCE OF CONTACT WITH UFOs

AT TIKAL, SAY UFO EXPERTS, IS THIS ASTONISHING STONE CARVING

KNOWN AS THE TIKAL ASTRONAUT.

ONE STONE FIGURE FOUND AT TIKAL IS PARTICULARLY INTRIGUING.

NOW, SOME PEOPLE MIGHT SAY THAT IT JUST SHOWS A REPRESENTATION

OF SOMEONE IN A CEREMONIAL HEADDRESS OF SOME SORT.

BUT OTHERS LOOK AT IT AND SAY,

WAIT A MINUTE, THAT'S AN ASTRONAUT'S HELMET.

Rosenfeld: THIS MAYAN FIGURINE WEARING WHAT LOOKS TO ME

LIKE AN ASTRONAUT'S HELMET WITH BREATHING APPARATUS

AND KIND OF A PRESSURE SUIT,

LOOKS TO ME LIKE AN ANCIENT VISITOR.

Lukes: WE HAVE TO POSE THE QUESTION,

ARE THESE CIVILIZATIONS LEAVING A MESSAGE HERE?

ARE THE ANCIENT MAYANS TRYING TO POINT TO THEIR GODS?

ARE THEY TRYING TO POINT TO THEIR OWN ORIGINS THAT COULD,

PERHAPS, BE EXTRATERRESTRIAL?

Narrator: COULD THIS ANCIENT ARTIFACT REPRESENT

A SO-CALLED SKY GOD THAT TRAVELED FROM

THE PLEIADES STAR CLUSTER, AS UFO RESEARCHERS BELIEVE?

AND IF SO, WHY HAS THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT KEPT THEIR KNOWLEDGE

OF THESE ARTIFACTS SECRET FOR SO LONG?

INVESTIGATORS BELIEVE FURTHER EVIDENCE LONG-HIDDEN

IN THE MEXICAN JUNGLE, COULD FINALLY PROVIDE PROOF

OF WHAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS KNOWN ALL ALONG

ABOUT ALIEN CONTACT IN THE DISTANT PAST.

Narrator: ACCORDING TO RESEARCHERS,

NEW ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE COULD REVEAL CLUES

TO THE QUESTION OF EARLY MAN'S INTERACTION WITH UFOs.

AFTER WITHHOLDING ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR 80 YEARS,

THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT HAS FINALLY COME FORWARD

WITH WHAT MANY BELIEVE IS PROOF

OF UFO CONTACT WITH THE ANCIENT MAYA.

WHAT WE'VE LEARNED, AND INDEED, CONTINUE TO LEARN AS WE STUDY

IS THAT THEY WERE PRETTY ADVANCED.

MATHEMATICS, ASTRONOMY, WRITTEN LANGUAGE.

HOW THEY ACQUIRED THAT KNOWLEDGE IS FASCINATING,

BUT IT'S AN UNANSWERED QUESTION.

Narrator: FOR UFO RESEARCHERS, THE ANSWER LIES IN A FRESH LOOK

AT EVIDENCE LONG HIDDEN IN THE MIST-SHROUDED JUNGLES

OF SOUTHERN MEXICO AT THE MAYA RUINS OF PALENQUE.

HERE AT ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES

OF THE AMERICAS LIES THE TEMPLE OF INSCRIPTIONS.

INSIDE, IN 1952, ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNCOVERED THE BURIAL TOMB

OF PAKAL THE GREAT -- A MAYAN KING WHO RULED

IN THE 6th CENTURY A.D.

HIS MOTHER HANDED OVER THE THRONE TO HIM AT THE AGE OF 12,

AND HE RULED FOR THE NEXT 68 YEARS.

AND THAT IS THE TIME THAT PALENQUE DEFINITELY

HAS ITS RENAISSANCE.

MORE BUILDINGS, MORE CONSTRUCTION GOES ON

DURING THAT TIME PERIOD.

WE ALSO KNOW THAT KING PAKAL LIVED TO BE 80 YEARS OLD

BECAUSE WE'VE DONE AGE ANALYSIS ON HIS SKELETAL REMAINS.

Narrator: IN ADDITION TO THE KING'S REMAINS,

ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVERED PERHAPS THE MOST STUDIED

AND CONTROVERSIAL ANCIENT MAYA ARTIFACT --

KING PAKAL'S SARCOPHAGUS LID.

ONE OF THE IMPRESSIVE ELEMENTS OF PAKAL HAS SOMETHING TO DO

WITH HIS SARCOPHAGUS WITH THIS ENORMOUS LID

WHICH MEASURES ABOUT 4 METERS BY 3 METERS.

SOLID PIECE OF LIMESTONE, AND IT HAS AN IMAGE

OF PAKAL HIMSELF BEING SWALLOWED UP BY AN EARTH MONSTER

AS HE'S ENTERING XIBALBA.

IT'S WHAT THEY REFER TO AS THE UNDERWORLD.

Narrator: BUT UFO RESEARCHERS BELIEVE KING PAKAL'S

SARCOPHAGUS LID REPRESENTS SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY,

SOMETHING THEY CALL THE MAYA ASTRONAUT.

I'M A MECHANICAL ENGINEER.

I WORKED IN THE AEROSPACE INDUSTRY FOR YEARS.

I SEE MECHANICAL DEVICES.

SOME SORT OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY BEING CONTROLLED AND PILOTED

BY I WOULD ASSUME KING PAKAL.

HE'S TURNING DIALS.

HE'S OPERATING GUIDANCE SYSTEMS.

THERE ARE FOOT PEDALS BEING USED

OUT OF THE BACK OF THIS SORT OF ROCKET SHIP SHAPE.

THERE ARE FLAMES COMING OUT.

Pope: THE SARCOPHAGUS OF KING PAKAL,

IT SHOWS A FIGURE WHO LOOKS,

FOR ALL THE WORLD, AS IF HE'S ACTUALLY IN WHAT CAN ONLY BE

DESCRIBED AS A SPACE CAPSULE.

NOW, IS THIS IMAGE ON THE PALENQUE LID,

AS SOME BELIEVE, THE MAYANS HOMAGE

TO THEIR CREATOR GODS WHO CAME FROM THE STARS?

PERHAPS KING PAKAL BELIEVED THAT AFTER DEATH,

HE WOULD JOURNEY BACK TO THE STARS HIMSELF,

AND HIS SARCOPHAGUS WOULD BE THE VEHICLE IN WHICH HE TRAVELED.

Bara: THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF SPECULATION

THAT EITHER KING PAKAL WAS DEEPLY INVOLVED

WITH EXTRATERRESTRIALS OR, IN FACT,

HE WAS AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL HIMSELF.

AND THE IDEA IS THAT THIS LID WAS ACTUALLY DEPICTING HIM

RETURNING HOME AFTER HIS DEATH,

RETURNING BACK TO THE STARS FROM WHENCE HE CAME.

THIS IS VERY UNIQUE, AND IT HAS RAISED A LOT OF QUESTIONS.

IS, IN FACT, THIS KING IN SOME SORT OF OXYGEN CHAMBER

OR PERHAPS SOME SORT OF SPACE POD?

WE DON'T KNOW, BUT IT IS AN INTRIGUING IMAGE.

Rosenfeld: WE KNOW THAT THE MAYANS HAVE TALKED

ABOUT SKY GODS, AND THAT TECHNOLOGY THAT THEY USED

TO COME DOWN TO EARTH AND SHARE THEIR TEACHINGS.

IT GOES TO SHOW YOU THAT THESE VISITORS HAVE BEEN HERE

FOR A VERY, VERY LONG TIME.

Narrator: IS KING PAKAL'S SARCOPHAGUS LID

THE ULTIMATE PROOF OF UFO LANDINGS

IN THE ANCIENT PAST AS RESEARCHERS BELIEVE?

AND WHY WOULD THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT BE HIDING THIS?

ACCORDING TO UFO INVESTIGATORS, SIMILAR ARTIFACTS

RESEMBLING ASTRONAUTS HAVE BEEN FOUND IN OTHER CULTURES

ALL AROUND THE WORLD.

IN ECUADOR, SOUTH AMERICA, IN A REGION ONCE DOMINATED

BY THE ANCIENT INCA PEOPLE, UFO RESEARCHERS HAVE TAKEN

RENEWED INTEREST IN CLAY FIGURES HANDCRAFTED AROUND 1500 B.C.

IN ECUADOR, YOU FIND THESE SCULPTURES

OF WHAT CLEARLY APPEAR TO BE BEINGS IN SPACE SUITS.

THEY HAVE HELMETS.

THEY HAVE FULLY PRESSURIZED SUITS.

THEY HAVE BOOTS ON.

SO CLEARLY WHAT THE INCA ARE REPRODUCING,

THE SAME THINGS THAT THE MAYANS HAD ALREADY SEEN

AND ALREADY REPRODUCED IN THEIR VARIOUS ARTWORKS AND SCULPTURES.

IF YOU COMPARE IT SIDE BY SIDE, YOU CAN DEFINITELY SEE

THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN MODERN-DAY ASTRONAUTS.

THE HELMET SIZE, THE WHOLE LAYOUT OF THE SUITS, THE BELTS.

IT LOOKS LIKE A PRESSURE SUIT.

EVEN IT LOOKS LIKE IT HAS SOME KIND OF APPARATUS ON THE BACK,

LIKE OUR PRESENT-DAY ASTRONAUTS WOULD HAVE.

GIVEN THAT THESE ARE ARTIFACTS FROM ANCIENT TIMES,

WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU?

IT TELLS ME THAT THESE ARE DEPICTIONS

OF CONTACT WITH AN ANCIENT VISITOR.

Bara: IN ECUADOR, IT'S VERY HOT, IT'S VERY HUMID,

YOU DON'T WEAR A LOT OF CLOTHES.

THE IDEA THAT THEY WOULD WEAR SOME SORT OF CEREMONIAL CLOTHES

THAT LOOK EXACTLY LIKE A HEAVY, PRESSURIZED SPACE SUIT

WITH A SPACE HELMET IS PRETTY LUDICROUS.

YOU WOULDN'T DO THAT FOR ANY REASON OTHER THAN

TO COMMEMORATE, PERHAPS, SOMETHING YOU'D SEEN

SOMEBODY ELSE WEAR LIKE, PERHAPS, ONE OF YOUR GODS.

Narrator: MORE STRANGE ARTIFACTS HAVE BEEN UNEARTHED

HALFWAY AROUND THE GLOBE.

IN JAPAN, THE ANCIENT JOMON PEOPLE,

A CIVILIZATION DATING AS FAR BACK AS 1200 B.C.

CREATED 12-INCH CLAY FIGURES KNOWN AS THE DOGU.

Pope: THE DOGU FIGURINES FROM JAPAN ARE INTERESTING.

SOME PEOPLE SAY THAT THEY ARE REPRESENTATIONS

OF EXTRATERRESTRIALS.

THERE'S NO GETTING AWAY FROM THE FACT THAT IT'S CLEARLY NOT

A LITERAL REPRESENTATION OF A HUMAN BEING.

BUT DOES THAT MEAN THAT THESE PEOPLE

WERE CARVING VISITORS FROM THE STARS?

WE SIMPLY DON'T KNOW.

Bara: NOW, IT SEEMS TO ME WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT

IS SOME SORT OF HUMANOID BEING IN A PRESSURIZED SUIT,

LIKE A SPACE SUIT.

THEY HAVE HELMETS, THEY HAVE THE WIDE,

PUFFY SLEEVES LIKE WE'RE USED TO SEEING ON THE APOLLO ASTRONAUTS.

THEY EVEN HAVE THE VERY LARGE, SORT OF

ALIEN GRAY TYPE OF EYES ON THEM.

I MEAN, CLEARLY, YOU'RE LOOKING AT SOME SORT OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL

WHO'S NOT ABLE TO SURVIVE IN THE ATMOSPHERE

OF THE PLANET EARTH WITHOUT

THE ASSISTANCE OF THIS PRESSURIZED SUIT.

Narrator: FOR MODERN MAN, DEPICTIONS OF MEN AND WOMEN

IN SPACE SUITS AND ALIEN BEINGS WITH BULGING EYES

ARE IMAGES UNDERSTOOD AS NORMAL IN OUR EVERYDAY CULTURE.

BUT PRIOR TO THE 1950s, RESEARCHERS ASK,

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT ANCIENT MAN WAS ABLE TO DEPICT

OR EVEN IMAGINE BEINGS THAT APPEAR TO BE OUTFITTED

LIKE MODERN ASTRONAUTS?

LIKE THE EVIDENCE UNCOVERED AT MAYA RUINS.

COULD THESE STONE CARVINGS REPRESENT

OUR ANCESTORS' SPIRITUAL BELIEFS,

OR CONTACT WITH OTHERWORLDLY VISITORS?

THEY SEEM TO BE TIED UP WITH WORSHIP,

BUT WORSHIP OF WHAT?

ANCIENT GODS?

BUT WHAT IF THOSE GODS WERE VISITING EXTRATERRESTRIALS?

Lukes: COULD THIS BE EVIDENCE OF ANCIENT ASTRONAUTS?

WE DON'T KNOW, BUT WHEN YOU HAVE ALL OF THESE REFERENCES

ACROSS CONTINENTS, THROUGH DIFFERENT CULTURES,

AND THEY'RE REMARKABLY SIMILAR, ONE HAS TO ASK THAT QUESTION.

Rosenfeld: SOMETHING THAT'S BEEN PASSED DOWN

THROUGH HISTORY, THROUGHOUT THE WORLD,

DIFFERENT CULTURES THAT DON'T HAVE ANY CONTACT

WITH EACH OTHER SHARED THE SAME IDEA.

I THINK THAT WE'VE BEEN VISITED ON THIS PLANET

FOR A VERY, VERY LONG TIME.

AND THE ANCIENT PEOPLES HAVE DOCUMENTED THIS VISITATION.

Narrator: BUT IF EARLY MAN WAS AWARE OF SPACE TRAVELERS,

AS UFO RESEARCHERS BELIEVE,

IS THERE A TRUTH YET TO BE REVEALED

ABOUT THE EXACT NATURE OF MAN'S RELATIONSHIP

WITH EXTRATERRESTRIAL BEINGS?

Narrator: SEARCHING FOR PROOF OF ANCIENT EARTH LANDINGS

BY EXTRATERRESTRIAL BEINGS,

UFO RESEARCHERS TRACING THE ORIGIN OF THE ANCIENT MAYA

ARE TAKING A RENEWED LOOK AT EVIDENCE FOUND

IN WHAT MANY CONSIDER TO BE THE OLDEST CIVILIZATION

OF THE AMERICANS -- THE OLMEC.

LOCATED 170 MILES WEST OF PALENQUE

NEAR THE GULF OF MEXICO,

THE OLMEC PEOPLE THRIVED IN AN AREA KNOWN AS LA VENTA.

French: THE OLMEC COME ABOUT AROUND 1,400 B.C.

THEY EXIST IN A PRETTY SMALL AREA OF THE GULF COAST,

IN WHAT'S SOUTHERN VERACRUZ TODAY.

OFTEN, THE OLMEC ARE REFERRED TO

AS THE MOTHER CULTURE OF MESOAMERICA.

BUT REALLY, I THINK WHAT THAT'S REFERRING TO IS

THEY'RE THE EARLIEST STATE LEVEL SOCIETY

TO FORM IN MESOAMERICA.

THEY'RE THE FIRST ONES TO START

BUILDING MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE,

TO START HAVING A HIERARCHICAL GOVERNMENT

AND THAT TYPE OF THING.

OLMEC RELIGION WAS JUST WOVEN

INTO ALL ASPECTS OF THEIR CULTURE.

THEY KNEW THE EARTH WAS ROUND.

THERE WAS A PRIESTLY CASTE WHO MEDIATED BETWEEN THEIR GODS,

WHO THEY SAY CAME FROM THE SKY,

AND THE MAYANS BORROWED HEAVILY FROM THAT COSMOLOGY.

Narrator: BUT WHILE THE OLMEC DOMINATED CENTRAL AMERICA

FOR OVER 1,000 YEARS,

BY 300 B.C., THE OLMEC PEOPLE

SEEMED TO MYSTERIOUSLY VANISH FROM HISTORY.

WHY?

UFO RESEARCHERS BELIEVE ARTWORK DISCOVERED HERE

MAY PROVIDE CLUES TO THEIR FATE, BEGINNING WITH THESE ARTIFACTS

OF WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE OLMEC BIRD MONSTER.

French: WE SEE WITH ANCIENT ART, WITH ANCIENT ARTIFACTS,

IF IT MIMICS ANYTHING, IT ACTUALLY MIMICS

THE QUETZAL BIRD,

WHICH HAS AN EXTREMELY LONG SERIES OF FEATHERS.

AND WHEN IT FLIES THROUGH THE AIR,

IT HAS THESE VERY LONG TAIL FEATHERS

THAT FLAP IN THE WIND.

Narrator: BUT UFO RESEARCHERS DISAGREE.

Bara: THE OLMEC BIRD MONSTERS

LOOK EXACTLY LIKE MODERN-DAY DELTA WING JET AIRCRAFT.

YOU CAN EVEN SEE ON SOME OF THEM AIR INTAKES.

THEY HAVE TAILS. THEY HAVE ELEVATORS.

THEY HAVE DELTA WING-SHAPED AIR FOILS.

CLEARLY, THEY WERE TRYING TO DEPICT THINGS

THAT THEY SAW IN THE SKY, THESE AIR MONSTERS

THAT WERE ACTUALLY PROBABLY AIRCRAFT

THAT THEY SIMPLY DIDN'T UNDERSTAND.

THEY SIMPLY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THEY WERE LOOKING AT.

Pope: IF YOU LOOK AT THE OLMEC BIRD MONSTER,

IT REALLY DOES LOOK LIKE

A MODERN JET AIRCRAFT OR A SPACE SHUTTLE.

IT'S GOT ALL THE FEATURES --

THE FUSELAGE, THE WINGS, THE TAIL.

I MEAN, IT REALLY COULD BE ALMOST EXACT REPRESENTATION

OF SOMETHING MORE MODERN.

Rosenfeld: THESE THINGS LOOK LIKE FLYING CRAFT,

ALMOST LIKE AIRCRAFT.

THEY DON'T FIT THE PERFECT FLYING SAUCER TYPE UFO,

BUT IT'S DEFINITELY A FLYING MACHINE.

BACK THEN, THEY WERE THINKING, THIS IS SOME KIND OF BIRD,

AND IT'S SO MONSTROUS, IT'S A BIRD MONSTER.

Narrator: UFO RESEARCHERS BELIEVE FURTHER CLUES

TO THE FATE OF THE OLMEC

CAN BE FOUND IN OTHER ARTIFACTS AT LA VENTA.

SOME DEPICTING WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE OLMEC DRAGON.

IS A FIERY DRAGON SOME SORT OF MYTHICAL SKY CREATURE?

THE ONLY WAY IN WHICH SOMEBODY IN AN ANCIENT CULTURE

COULD FRAME A DESCRIPTION

OF WHAT WE WOULD NOW CALL A SPACESHIP.

SOME PEOPLE HAVE SPECULATED THAT WHEN YOU LOOK AT,

FOR EXAMPLE, LEGENDS OF DRAGONS FLYING IN THE SKY

AND BREATHING FIRE, THAT THIS IS, IN FACT,

HOW SUCH ANCIENT PEOPLES

DESCRIBED AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL SPACECRAFT

MAYBE WITH FIERY EXHAUST COMING OUT OF THE REAR.

Narrator: IS IT POSSIBLE THE OLMEC DRAGON

AND THE BIRD MONSTER COULD BE PRIMITIVE MAN'S INTERPRETATION

OF FIRE-EMITTING SPACECRAFT?

PERHAPS THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL DEPICTION AMONG

THE OLMEC ARTWORK IS FOUND ON A SCULPTURE

KNOWN BY ARCHAEOLOGISTS AS "MONUMENT 19."

IT IS THE EARLIEST KNOWN REPRESENTATION OF

THE FEATHERED SERPENT --

A GODLIKE FIGURE KNOWN TO BOTH THE OLMEC AND THE MAYA.

MONUMENT 19 IS JUST A DEPICTION OF A WARRIOR WEARING A HELMET,

AND HE'S WITH THE FEATHERED SERPENT,

WHICH IS A DEITY ALL ACROSS MESOAMERICA.

AND THE FACT THAT HE HAS THAT LITTLE KIT,

MAYBE WHAT THAT'S SYMBOLIZING IS THIS PERSON

IS HEADING OFF INTO THE AFTERLIFE.

Narrator: FOR INVESTIGATORS, HOWEVER, MONUMENT 19

IS REGARDED AS EVIDENCE SUGGESTING THAT THERE REALLY WAS

CONTACT WITH UFOs IN THE ANCIENT PAST.

MONUMENT 19 AT LA VENTA SHOWS WHAT MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE

IS A REPRESENTATION OF A HUMAN FIGURE

IN A SPACESHIP OF SOME SORT.

AGAIN, THERE'S WHAT SEEMS TO BE MACHINERY.

I MEAN, IT REALLY DOES LOOK LIKE SOMETHING

THAT'S BEEN CONSTRUCTED.

Bara: I THINK THAT THE FEATHERED SERPENT IS AN ANALOGY

FOR SOME SORT OF FLYING CRAFT THAT THEY SAW.

BUT THERE IS ACTUALLY A MAN INSIDE OF IT.

HE'S WEARING A HELMET, A PRESSURE SUIT OF SOME KIND,

AND HE'S ALSO CARRYING A BAG

THAT LOOKS A LITTLE BIT LIKE A PURSE,

BUT IT ALSO BEARS A REALLY STRIKING RESEMBLANCE

TO AN ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS PACK LIKE THE ASTRONAUTS CARRY

BEFORE THEY WOULD GET ON THE SPACE SHUTTLE

OR BEFORE THAT THEY WOULD GET ON THE APOLLO MISSION.

IT LOOKS LIKE THE FIGURE IS ACTUALLY MOVING LEVERS,

HAS SOME KIND OF APPARATUS ON ITS HEAD,

MAYBE SOME BREATHING GEAR.

DEFINITELY NOT SOMETHING THAT YOU WOULD SEE

SOMEONE DOING 5,000 YEARS AGO.

ANYTHING THAT FLEW TO THE OLMEC WOULD HAVE BEEN FEATHERED.

SO IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SOME SORT OF BIRD.

SO AGAIN, IT APPEARS THAT THEY ARE DEPICTING

EXACTLY WHAT THEY SAW,

WHICH IS A PILOT OF A FEATHERED SERPENT,

AN AIRCRAFT, A HIGH-ALTITUDE AIRCRAFT,

SPACECRAFT OF SOME TYPE THAT PROBABLY WORE ONE OF THESE

PRESSURIZED SUITS WITH A HELMET

AND AN ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL PACK.

Narrator: ACCORDING TO UFO RESEARCHERS,

THE IDEA THAT ANCIENT PEOPLE COULD IMAGINE A TRAVEL SCENARIO

THAT WOULD REQUIRE A HELMET AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

IS SIGNIFICANT EVIDENCE IN AND OF ITSELF.

DID THE ANCIENTS REALLY BELIEVE THEY WERE GOING SOME PLACE

ENTIRELY DIFFERENT AND HAZARDOUS FOR THEIR HEALTH?

MORE TO THE POINT,

FROM WHO OR WHAT WERE ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

GETTING THE INSPIRATION FOR SUCH ARTWORK

OVER 3,000 YEARS AGO?

FOR UFO EXPERTS,

THE ONLY POSSIBLE ANSWER LIES IN ANCIENT CONTACT

WITH EXTRATERRESTRIAL BEINGS IN THE DISTANT PAST.

Bara: IT'S JUST A NATURAL, LOGICAL CONCLUSION

BASED ON THE VISUAL EVIDENCE.

I TEND TO THINK THAT THINGS ARE EXACTLY WHAT THEY APPEAR TO BE.

Narrator: THE ARTIFACTS DISCOVERED AMONG THE RUINS

OF THE MAYA, THE OLMEC, CRAFTED BY EARLY JAPANESE,

AND ANCIENT INCAS ALL GOING BACK THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

IS THIS EVIDENCE OF CONTACT WITH UFOs?

WHAT IF WE LOOK AT MAN'S EARLIEST KNOWN CIVILIZATION --

THE SUMERIANS?

ARE THERE CONNECTIONS TO ALIEN LIFE THERE, AS WELL?

AND WHAT STUNNING REVELATIONS MIGHT THOSE CONNECTIONS REVEAL

ABOUT THE VERY ORIGINS OF MANKIND?

Narrator: AFTER LOOKING BACK OVER THOUSANDS OF YEARS

TO FIND EVIDENCE OF MAN'S INTERACTION

WITH ANCIENT EXTRATERRESTRIALS,

UFO RESEARCHERS ARE NOW GOING ALL THE WAY BACK

TO THE WORLD'S EARLIEST KNOWN CIVILIZATION --

THE SUMERIANS.

DATING TO 6,000 B.C.

LOCATED IN THE SOUTHERNMOST PART OF MESOPOTAMIA,

AN AREA OFTEN CALLED THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION.

French: MESOPOTAMIA'S REALLY THE AREA

BETWEEN THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES RIVER VALLEYS.

THAT AREA STRETCHES FROM PORTIONS OF SYRIA

ALL THROUGH IRAQ AND A LITTLE BIT INTO KUWAIT.

VERY RICH, FERTILE AREA WHERE SOME OF THE EARLIEST AGRICULTURE

IN THE WORLD CAME ABOUT.

THE SUMERIANS REALLY WERE THE FIRST HUMAN CIVILIZATION.

THIS REALLY MARKED THE TRANSITION

FROM HUNTER/GATHERER SOCIETIES TO SOCIETIES

WITH MUCH MORE SOPHISTICATION

WHO WROTE DOWN IN WRITTEN LANGUAGE,

WHO CONSTRUCTED CITIES.

Narrator: THE SUMERIANS ARE ALSO WELL-KNOWN

FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF PYRAMID-LIKE STRUCTURES

KNOWN AS ZIGGURATS.

ZIGGURATS ARE JUST LARGE, MONUMENTAL CONSTRUCTIONS

THAT THE ELITE WOULD USE FOR A MULTITUDE OF PURPOSES --

FOR LIVING QUARTERS, TO CONDUCT CEREMONIES,

AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.

THEY'RE BUILT OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME

LIKE MOST TEMPLES ARE.

Narrator: ALTHOUGH RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS BELIEVE THE ZIGGURATS

WERE USED MOSTLY FOR SPIRITUAL PURPOSES,

IS IT POSSIBLE THESE MASSIVE TEMPLES SERVED

A VERY DIFFERENT PURPOSE?

WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE ZIGGURATS,

THEY HAVE A HUGE, SOLID BASE AND A FLAT TOP.

AND THEN YOU'VE GOT THIS THING RISING UP.

I MEAN, IT'S VAST.

IT'S EASY TO LOOK AT THEM AND SAY,

WELL, THIS IS REMINISCENT OF A LANDING PAD.

YOU CAN IMAGINE SOMETHING COMING DOWN AND LANDING

ON THE TOP OF THIS THING.

I MEAN, IT'S VISIBLE FROM THE SKY.

SOMEBODY FLYING IN COULD SEE IT FROM A LONG WAY OFF,

COULD NAVIGATE BY IT, AND THEN LAND ON TOP OF IT.

Narrator: IF ZIGGURATS WERE, IN FACT,

USED AS NAVIGATIONAL SITES, OR EVEN LANDING PADS

FOR INCOMING ALIEN CRAFT, AS MOST UFO RESEARCHERS BELIEVE,

IS IT INCONCEIVABLE THAT PRIMITIVE MAN

WOULD MISTAKE OTHERWORLDLY BEINGS FOR STAR GODS?

FOR ME, IT'S HARD NOT TO COME TO THE CONCLUSION

THAT THERE WAS SOME TECHNOLOGY THAT WAS WITNESSED,

MAYBE EVEN EXPERIENCED.

AND I THINK FOR EARLY HUMAN BEINGS,

THEIR TECHNOLOGY WAS MAGIC TO US.

THIS IS WHY THESE BEINGS WERE WORSHIPED AS GODS.

Bara: IF YOU'RE AN ANCIENT, PRIMITIVE HUMAN CULTURE,

AND YOU SEE THESE EXTRATERRESTRIALS COME IN

ON FIERY SLEDS OR FIERY SHIELDS, ROCKETS,

LANDING NEAR YOUR VILLAGE

AND COMING OUT OF THEIR SPACECRAFT

AND DISPLAYING ALL THIS INCREDIBLE TECHNOLOGY,

THERE'S NO WAY YOU'RE GONNA LOOK AT THEM AS ANYTHING BUT GODS

WHO CAN MANIPULATE THE PHYSICAL UNIVERSE IN WAYS

THAT YOU HADN'T EVEN THOUGHT OF BEFORE THAT.

Narrator: BUT WHAT CAN EXPLAIN WHY SUCH SIMILAR

PYRAMID STRUCTURES ARE FOUND IN ANCIENT SITES

THROUGHOUT THE WORLD?

Dolan: PYRAMIDS IN EGYPT, PYRAMIDS IN MEXICO,

PYRAMIDS IN BOSNIA.

THERE ARE ALLEGED PYRAMIDS IN CHINA.

WE NEED TO LOOK INTO THESE MORE.

IF THERE IS A SERIES OF PYRAMID CREATIONS AROUND THE WORLD,

WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHY THAT IS SO,

AND IF THERE IS SOME KIND OF CULTURE

THAT IS RELATED TO ALL OF THEM.

MAYBE IT'S A COINCIDENCE,

BUT PYRAMID STRUCTURE DOES SEEM TO BE A RECURRENT ONE

MORE THAN WE HAVE REALIZED IN ANCIENT HUMAN HISTORY.

Bara: THE SIMPLE FACT IS THAT PYRAMIDS

ARE EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE TO DESIGN, CONSTRUCT,

AND EFFECTIVELY CREATE.

AND YET, ALL AROUND THE WORLD,

WE SEE THESE BEAUTIFULLY PRECISE,

INCREDIBLY CALCULATED PYRAMIDAL STRUCTURES.

AND THEY MAY NOT LOOK EXACTLY LIKE,

BUT THEY ALL HAVE THE SAME FUNCTION.

THEY ALL HAVE MATHEMATICAL ALIGNMENTS --

ALIGNMENTS WITH THE STARS, THE SUN, THE MOON.

THEY'RE ALL MEANT TO SERVE A CERTAIN PURPOSE,

AND WHAT I SEE IS AN EXPRESSION OF THE SAME CONCEPTS,

THE SAME SCIENTIFIC IDEAS ALL ACROSS DIFFERENT CULTURES,

ALL SAYING THE SAME THING,

WHICH IS THAT WE CAME FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE.

Narrator: MAINSTREAM SCIENTISTS OFFER FEW CLUES

ABOUT HOW ANCIENT CULTURES ARRIVED UPON

THE MATHEMATICAL KNOWLEDGE AND ENGINEERING SKILL NECESSARY

TO BUILD THESE PRECISE STRUCTURES

AT SUCH AN EARLY STAGE OF HUMAN EVOLUTION.

EVEN MORE ASTONISHING, HOW COULD ANCIENT CULTURES

SEPARATED ACROSS TIME AND VAST DISTANCES

WITH NO MEANS OF COMMUNICATION BUILD PYRAMIDS SO SIMILAR

TO THOSE FIRST BUILT IN SUMER?

THE ODDS OF THESE SEPARATE CULTURES ARRIVING

AT THE SAME EVOLUTIONARY POINT INTELLECTUALLY

ARE REMARKABLY SLIM ACCORDING TO UFO RESEARCHERS,

WHICH LEADS THEM TO BELIEVE THAT THE KNOWLEDGE WAS SPREAD

BY WHAT WE CALL UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS.

NOT ONLY ARE WE SEEING PYRAMIDS IN SUMER,

BUT WE ARE SEEING THEM ALL OVER THE WORLD,

AND THEY ARE VERY SIMILAR STRUCTURES.

WAS THERE SOME EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE,

PERHAPS, GIVING INFORMATION OR GUIDING THESE CIVILIZATIONS

TO BUILD OBJECTS THAT ARE VERY SIMILAR?

Rosenfeld: FOR THIS KNOWLEDGE

TO BE SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE WORLD,

IT HAD TO HAVE SOME KIND OF HELP.

AND HELP WOULD BE STAR VISITORS WITH UFO TECHNOLOGY.

Pope: OBVIOUSLY, WE CAN ONLY SPECULATE

ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED A MILLENNIA AGO IN RELATION

TO ALIEN VISITATION.

BUT THE EVIDENCE IS INTRIGUING

AND OUGHT NOT TO BE DISMISSED OUT OF HAND.

IF UFOs REALLY ARE HERE, IT'S ABSOLUTELY LOGICAL TO THINK

THAT THEY'VE PROBABLY BEEN HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

SO IT MAKES SENSE THAT IF WE'RE SEEING IT TODAY,

AND IT REALLY IS A PHENOMENA CONNECTED TO ALIENS,

THEN I'M GUESSING THEY PROBABLY SAW IT

THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, AS WELL.

Narrator: DOES THE EVIDENCE SUGGEST

THAT THE SUMERIAN ZIGGURATS

AND OTHER PYRAMIDS ALL AROUND THE WORLD

WERE REALLY USED AS LANDING SITES FOR ANCIENT UFOs?

AND IF, AS SOME MAINSTREAM SCHOLARS ADMIT,

QUESTIONS STILL EXIST ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF LIFE ON EARTH,

IS IT POSSIBLE THAT OTHERWORLDLY BEINGS

HAD A HAND IN SEEDING MANKIND?

I DEFINITELY THINK THAT UFOs PLANTED THE SEED

FOR THE EXPANSION AND TRANSFORMATION

OF OUR LIFE AS HUMAN BEINGS.

I THINK THIS IS WHERE OUR RELIGIONS COME FROM.

Narrator: ACCORDING TO INVESTIGATORS,

THE TRANSLATIONS OF ANCIENT SUMERIAN TABLETS

MAY ACTUALLY REVEAL THE TRUE ORIGIN OF MAN.

Narrator: WHILE INVESTIGATING THE HISTORY

OF ANCIENT UFO CONTACT, INVESTIGATORS DISCOVER

THE STUNNING IDEA THAT EARLY UFOs

MAY NOT JUST BE ABOUT CONTACT,

BUT ABOUT THE BEGINNING OF THE HUMAN SPECIES.

AND THEY SAY THE EVIDENCE LIES ALONG THE EASTERN BANK

OF THE TIGRIS RIVER IN WHAT WAS ONCE KNOWN AS UPPER MESOPOTAMIA,

NOW MODERN-DAY IRAQ,

IN THE RUINS OF THE GREAT SUMERIAN CITY OF NINEVEH.

HERE IN 1849, BRITISH ARCHAEOLOGIST

AUSTEN LAYARD DISCOVERS ANCIENT CLAY TABLETS --

30,000 OF THEM DATING BACK AN ESTIMATED 6,000 YEARS.

WHAT THEY DEPICTED WAS REALLY THE ORIGIN

OF ONE OF MANKIND'S GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS,

WHICH IS THE WRITTEN WORD.

THEY CONTAINED WHAT'S NOW KNOWN

AS THE SUMERIAN CUNEIFORM TEXTS.

THE CUNEIFORM ITSELF WAS A VERY INTRICATE TEXT

THAT WAS ACTUALLY PRESSED

INTO THE WET CLAY TO CREATE AN IMPRESSION.

AND AT FIRST, IT WAS CONSIDERED JUST DECORATION BY THE SCHOLARS

UNTIL THEY FIGURED OUT THAT IT WAS ACTUALLY

A VERY, VERY INTRICATE WRITTEN LANGUAGE.

Narrator: EARLY ATTEMPTS TO TRANSLATE THE TEXTS

WERE LARGELY UNSUCCESSFUL, AND AFTER A CENTURY PASSES,

THE TABLETS WERE ALL BUT FORGOTTEN --

THEIR TRUE MEANING SHROUDED IN MYSTERY.

THEN IN THE 20th CENTURY, A NEW GENERATION OF SCHOLARS

ATTEMPTS TO TRANSLATE THE TABLETS.

ONE IN PARTICULAR WAS ZECHARIA SITCHIN.

PART OF WHAT HE WANTED TO DO WITH HIS RESEARCH IS TO BE ABLE

TO READ THESE FOR HIMSELF

AND NOT JUST TAKE VERBATIM THE WORD OF PEOPLE

WHO HAD TRANSLATED THEM WITH A DIFFERENT WORLD VIEW.

AND HE LOOKED AT THE DIFFERENT STORIES

OF THE ANCIENT PEOPLE TO SEE, WHAT WERE THEY SAYING?

AND DOES IT REALLY HOLD TOGETHER AS HISTORY?

AND DOES PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

CORRESPOND WITH THAT, TOO, AND CORROBORATE IT?

WHAT HE FOUND WAS, YES, IT DID.

Narrator: WHAT SITCHIN'S TRANSLATIONS REVEALED

SENT SHOCKWAVES THROUGH ACADEMIC CIRCLES AND THE UFO COMMUNITY.

ZECHARIA SITCHIN PRODUCED A CONTROVERSIAL TRANSLATION

OF SOME OF THE CLAY TABLETS.

AND HE SAID THAT THEY SPOKE ABOUT THE ANUNNAKI.

ACCORDING TO ZECHARIA SITCHIN'S TRANSLATION,

THESE CLAY TABLETS ARE TALKING ABOUT CRAFT

THAT FLY IN THE AIR.

THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT THE QUEST FOR IMMORTALITY.

THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT WAR IN HEAVEN,

WAR AMONGST THE GODS.

IF ANY OF THIS IS TRUE, THE CONCLUSION IS INESCAPABLE.

WE REALLY WERE VISITED.

Narrator: BUT WHO WERE THESE BEINGS KNOWN AS THE ANUNNAKI?

THE ANUNNAKI IS SUMERIAN

FOR "THOSE WHO FROM HEAVEN TO EARTH CAME."

THEY ARE TALLER THAN US.

THEY WERE ABOUT 8 OR 10 FEET TALL,

AND SO TO US, THEY WERE GIANTS.

SO, WHERE IT TALKS ABOUT

THAT THE GODS CREATED MAN IN THEIR IMAGE,

WE LOOK LIKE THEM.

Narrator: IS IT POSSIBLE THE EXPLOSIVE TRUTH DISCOVERED

IN THE CUNEIFORM TABLETS REVEALS

THAT THE SUMERIANS WERE ACTUALLY VISITED BY

A RACE OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL BEINGS,

AND IF SO, WHY WERE THEY HERE?

ZECHARIA SITCHIN BELIEVED THAT THE SUMERIANS

WERE TALKING ABOUT EXTRATERRESTRIALS

WHO HAD VISITED THE ANCIENT SUMERIANS,

HAD PERHAPS SHARED KNOWLEDGE WITH THEM.

AND PERHAPS EVEN SEEDED HUMAN SOCIETY AS WE KNOW IT

BY BREEDING WITH HUMANS

AND ACTUALLY PRODUCING A HYBRID RACE.

Bara: ACCORDING TO SITCHIN, THE ANUNNAKI CAME DOWN HERE

TO DO SOME WORK, TO DO SOME MINING FOR GOLD,

TO FIND THINGS THAT THEY NEEDED FOR THEIR CIVILIZATION.

WHEN THE WORK BECAME TOO INTENSE FOR THEM,

WHEN THEY COULDN'T HANDLE ALL THE WORK,

THEY DECIDED TO FASHION A WORKER SPECIES,

AND THEY TOOK THE GENETICS OF THEMSELVES,

AND THEY TOOK THE GENETICS OF THE LOCAL INHABITANTS,

AND THEY MELDED THEM TOGETHER

AND APPARENTLY CREATED THE PHYSICAL BODIES

OF WHAT WE NOW CALL MODERN MAN.

THE SUMERIANS BELIEVED THAT THEY WERE MADE TO MINE GOLD.

THAT'S VERY, VERY INTERESTING BECAUSE IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT,

THEY BRED THAT INTO US.

WE STILL HAVE THAT FASCINATION TO THIS DAY WITH GOLD.

THE REAL QUESTION THAT WE WANT TO ASK ABOUT THE ANUNNAKI IS,

DO WE TAKE THESE STORIES TO BE LITERALLY TRUE?

ALL RIGHT?

OR DO WE TAKE THEM AS STORIES THAT THE SUMERIANS

JUST HAD ABOUT THEIR CULTURE?

IF WE'RE TO TAKE THEM AS LITERALLY TRUE,

WE HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS TO ASK.

Narrator: ONE QUESTION RELATES TO EXTRAORDINARY SIMILARITIES

FOUND IN THE ARTWORK OF THE SUMERIANS

AND THE OLMEC OF MESOAMERICA.

IN SUMERIAN DEPICTIONS, THE ANUNNAKI GODS

HOLD WHAT APPEARS TO BE A SMALL BAG WITH A HANDLE.

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT A STRANGELY SIMILAR BAG

IS BEING HELD BY THE OLMEC ASTRONAUT AT LA VENTA?

Lukes: SO, HERE YOU SEE THE ANUNNAKI.

THEY'RE CLEARLY HOLDING SOMETHING IN THEIR HAND.

WHAT IS THIS OBJECT?

WE'RE SEEING THIS WITH THE OLMEC CIVILIZATION.

IT IS AN OBJECT OR OBJECTS THAT ARE ALMOST IDENTICAL.

DOES IT MEAN THAT THERE IS A GREATER INTELLIGENCE AT WORK?

PERHAPS, AS SOME THEORIZE, AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE

THAT IS SHARING THIS INFORMATION WITH BOTH CIVILIZATIONS.

Narrator: COULD THERE REALLY BE A DIRECT CONNECTION

BETWEEN THE OLMEC AND SUMERIAN CIVILIZATIONS,

AS UFO RESEARCHERS THEORIZE?

Dolan: THEY HAD EXISTED IN A VERY DIFFERENT PERIOD OF TIME.

BUT NONETHELESS, IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THERE'S A TIE-IN?

MAYBE IT'S A COINCIDENCE.

Pope: IF ANY OF THIS IS TRUE, I MEAN, THIS CAN ONLY SUGGEST

THAT THESE REALLY ARE TALKING ABOUT

THE SAME EXTRATERRESTRIAL VISITORS.

Narrator: DOES THE EVIDENCE SUGGEST THAT THE OLMEC AND MAYA

WERE VISITED BY THE SAME SO-CALLED STAR GODS

KNOWN TO THE SUMERIANS AS THE ANUNNAKI?

AND IF SO, WHAT WOULD EXTRATERRESTRIALS HAVE TO GAIN

BY THESE VISITATIONS?

IF UFOs ARE AN ADVANCED ALIEN CIVILIZATION,

AND THEY ARE HERE IN THE 21st CENTURY,

IT'S ABSOLUTELY LOGICAL TO THINK

THAT THEY'VE PROBABLY BEEN HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

THEY COULD ESSENTIALLY BE WATCHING THE GROWTH OF HUMANITY.

WOULD THEY STICK AROUND AND RESEARCH US THAT LONG?

THAT'S A BIG QUESTION MARK.

MAYBE THEIR AGENDA IS TO SEE THE NATURAL EVOLUTION

OF A YOUNG SPECIES.

MAYBE THAT IS THEIR MISSION.

Narrator: IS IT POSSIBLE THAT GOVERNMENTS AROUND THE WORLD,

INCLUDING IN MEXICO, HAVE KNOWN THAT OUR CIVILIZATION

MAY HAVE BEEN SEEDED BY EXTRATERRESTRIAL LANDINGS

IN THE ANCIENT PAST?

IF SO, WHAT ELSE ARE THEY NOT TELLING US?

IT'S NOT SIMPLY THAT WE'RE DEALING WITH AN INHERENTLY

MYSTERIOUS PHENOMENON, WHICH WE ARE.

WE ARE ALSO DEALING WITH GOVERNMENT

AND MILITARY OBFUSCATION AND SECRECY,

AND THAT'S JUST A FACT.

WE LIVE IN AN ERA IN WHICH THERE IS

A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF SECRECY.

Narrator: STILL, ONE THING IS CLEAR.

THE SUMERIAN TABLETS DO OFFER CLUES TO THE FUTURE

IF THEY ARE TO BE BELIEVED.

Bara: THERE IS A PROPHECY THAT SOME DAY,

THE ANUNNAKI WILL COME BACK.

THEY WILL RETURN TO CLAIM THEIR PROPERTY,

CLAIM THEIR STAKE,

AND LIVE IN HARMONY WITH THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH.

WE SHALL SEE IF THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS.

Narrator: WHAT IS ABUNDANTLY CLEAR IS THAT THE FASCINATION

OF OTHERWORLDLY VISITORS AND THEIR LIKENESS

THROUGHOUT ANCIENT HISTORY

IS NOT SOMETHING THAT BEGAN MERELY IN THE 20th CENTURY.

THERE ARE UNDENIABLE GAPS

IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF ANCIENT CULTURES,

GAPS WHICH MAY ONLY BE EXPLAINED,

ACCORDING TO UFO RESEARCHERS,

IF WE LOOK TO THE SKIES FOR ANSWERS.