Ancient astronaut theories

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Paintings from Val Camonica, Italy, c.10,000 BC, purportedly showing extraterrestrial visitors.
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Paintings from Val Camonica, Italy, c.10,000 BC, purportedly showing extraterrestrial visitors.

Ancient astronaut theories are theories and speculations which center around the proposal that the Earth has at some point in the distant past been visited by intelligent extraterrestrial beings, and that furthermore such contact is linked either to the origins of or their developmental influence on human cultures and technologies. These theories have been popularized (particularly in the latter half of the 20th century) by authors such as Erich von Däniken and Zecharia Sitchin, among others.

Typically proponents of these theories put forward as evidence their interpretations of various archaeological artifacts which they deem to have been anachronous or 'beyond the technical capabilities' of the historical cultures they are associated with (see "OOPArt"). Another common theme relies upon the interpretation of depictions in certain ancient artworks as being representations of actual extraterrestrial visitors as realised by the contacted cultures.

Gaps in the historical and archaeological records and the corresponding absence of definitive explanations in certain contexts from the archaeological sciences are sometimes exploited by these theorists, as being suggestive that these alternative ideas have a valid basis. Critics of these theories maintain however that such gaps in contemporary knowledge of the past are in no way any kind of demonstration that such alternative accounts are a necessary, or even plausible, conclusion to draw from the (lack of) available data. Furthermore, a number of ancient astronaut claims are made in direct opposition to the scientific interpretation of evidence in situations where there are explicit and accepted alternatives.[1]

Ancient astronaut theories may be considered a subset of paleocontact theory, a hypothesis that intelligent extraterrestrials have visited Earth. Carl Sagan, I.S. Shklovskii, and Hermann Oberth are three notable scientists who have seriously considered this possibility. Paleocontact is generally regarded as being on firmer scientific ground than the "ancient astronaut" theories of the popular presses, owing perhaps to the scientific training of its proponents, and their generally more guarded advancement of the hypothesis.

Even so, the general scientific community remains highly sceptical and the dominant view is that the evidence for "ancient astronaut" and paleocontact theories is undemonstrated, and that the promotion of these ideas amounts to little more than an exercise in psuedoscientific speculation.

[edit] Details

Ancient astronaut adherents often claim that humans are either descendants or creations of beings who landed on Earth millennia ago. An associated theory is that much of human knowledge, religion and culture came from extraterrestrial visitors in ancient times. Ancient astronauts acted as a “mother culture”. These ideas are generally discounted by the scientific community.

The idea of paleocontact appears in numerous science fiction stories and films, most notably 2001: A Space Odyssey.

[edit] Adherents

Disputed science:
Paleocontact theory

Disciplines:

Archaeology
Core tenets:

Intelligent extraterrestrials visited the Earth in ancient times and profoundly affected the development of human civilization.
Year proposed: 1919

Original proponents:

Charles Fort, Erich von Däniken

Current proponents:

Robert K. G. Temple, Zecharia Sitchin, Richard C. Hoagland, Burak Eldem

Ancient astronaut theories have been advanced by authors such as:-

[edit] Erich von Däniken

Erich von Däniken was a leading proponent of this theory in the late 1960s and early 1970s, gaining a large audience through the 1968 publication of his best-selling book Chariots of the Gods and its sequels. Von Däniken's evidence supporting his vision of paleocontact are as follows:

  • Certain artifacts and monumental constructions, their purpose or origin unknown, appear to have required a more sophisticated technological ability in their construction than what was presumed by historians for those ancient cultures. These objects and structures are deemed to be beyond the technological capabilities of the associated societies attributed with their manufacture (at least in the eyes of the author and his adherents). Von Däniken maintains that these artifacts were constructed either directly by extraterrestrial visitors or by humans who learned the necessary knowledge from said visitors. These artifacts and monuments include Stonehenge, the moai of Easter Island, the Antikythera mechanism and the Ancient Baghdad Electric Batteries. (See OOPArt)
  • In ancient art and iconography throughout the world, certain similar themes can be interpreted to illustrate air and space vehicles, non-human but intelligent creatures, ancient astronauts and artifacts of an anachronistically advanced technology. Von Däniken also identifies certain details that appear similar across the art of geographically-diverse historical cultures, which he argues imply a common origin.
  • The origins of many religions could be interpreted as reactions to encounters by primitive humans with some alien race. According to this view, humans consider the technology of the aliens to be supernatural and the aliens themselves to be gods. Von Däniken indicates that the oral and written traditions of most religions contain references to alien visitors by descriptions of stars and vehicular objects travelling through air and space. The author maintains that these should be seen as literal descriptions from eyewitnesses that have changed during the passage of time to become more obscure, rather than symbolic or mythical fiction. One such is Ezekiel's revelation in the Old Testament, which Däniken interprets as a detailed description of a landing spacecraft.

Since the publication of von Däniken's books, no substantial evidence has been found to verify his claims, while much claimed evidence has been disproven.[3]Most historians regard his claims — as well of those of other ancient astronaut believers — as pseudoscience or pseudoarchaeology.

[edit] Zecharia Sitchin

Zecharia Sitchin's continuing body of work The Earth Chronicles, beginning with the first installment The 12th Planet, revolves around Sitchin's interpretation of ancient Sumerian and Middle Eastern texts, mysterious megalithic sites and anomalous artifacts from around the world. He theorizes the gods of old Mesopotamia were actually astronauts from the planet Nibiru, which the Sumerians believed to be a remote "12th" planet (counting the Sun, Moon, and Pluto as planets) associated with the god Marduk. According to Sitchin, Nibiru continues to orbit our sun on a 3,600-year elongated orbit. Modern astronomy has failed to find any evidence whatsoever of this hypothetical "planet".

According to Sitchin, the Sumerians relate how 50 "Anunnaki" or inhabitants of Nibiru came to Earth approximately 400,000 years ago with the intent of mining raw materials for transport back to their own world. With their small numbers they soon tired of the task and set out to genetically engineer laborers to work the mines. After much trial and error they eventually created homo sapiens sapiens: the "Adapa" (model man) or Adam of later mythology.

[edit] Modern proponents

[edit] Raelian religious movement

Raelianism is a religious movement created by Claude Vorilhon (or Rael). Rael, who claims to have encountered extraterrestrials on a number of occasions, explains the creation of humans as having been done by an alien race, named Elohim, from another planet using their DNA. The raelian movement also argues against evolution and support cloning.

[edit] Evidence

Many authors use ancient mythologies to support their viewpoints, basing their theories on the basic tenet that nearly all ancient creation myths of a god or gods having descended from the "heavens" to earth to create man. These myths detail extraordinary adventures of these gods as being actually modern technologies, seen from the perspective of a simple-minded earthman.

For example, flying machines often show up in ancient texts. One classical example is the Vimanas, flying machines that can be found in the literature of India in which stories range from fantastic aerial battles employing various weaponry including bombs, to the mundane relating simple technical information, flight procedure, and flights of fancy.[4]

In the Biblical Old Testament, God is described as having various attributes that could be interpreted as being advanced rockets or other flying craft. He is described as having an upper "body" of metal[5] (which can also be interpreted as a kind of crown), appearing on a column of smoke and/or fire[6] and making the sound of a trumpet[7]. These descriptions portray the God of the ancient Hebrews as not only having the characteristics of a flying machine, but also quite clearly describe God as a physical presence[8], not an abstraction. This God follows the Hebrews around and rains lightning[9] and stones[10] down upon their enemies from his position in the sky. However, poetically, descriptions of the Hebrew God have also featured having protecting wings and outstretched arms in the Psalms, features contrary to the theories of any mechanical manifestation of God, but tellingly refers to the different perceptions of their God given the different eras the stories were written. Additionally, the characteristics of the Ark of the Covenant[11] and the Urim and Thummim[12] are identified as suggesting high technology, perhaps from alien origins.

Other examples include the very detailed descriptions in the Biblical Book of Ezekiel, the apocryphal Book of Enoch, and countless ancient stories from China to Peru.

Physical evidence includes the discovery of ancient "model airplanes" in Egypt and South America, which some believe bear a resemblance to modern planes and gliders,[13] although conventionally these are interpreted as models of birds. Probably the most famous piece of circumstantial evidence are the Nazca lines of Peru; countless enormous ground drawings which can only be seen from high in the air.[14] More support of this theory draws upon what are thought to be flying saucers in medieval and renaissance art. Objects in the paintings that cannot be explained with relevance to the art piece are often assumed to be flying saucers. This helps support the ancient astronaut theory by showing that the creators of man kind return to check up on their creation throughout time. Other artistic support for the ancient astronaut theory is Paleolithic cave paintings. Vondijina in Australia and Val Camonica in Italy (seen above) bear a resemblance to present day astronauts. Supporters of the ancient astronaut theory claim that similarities such as dome shaped heads, or beings wearing space helmets, prove that early man was visited by an extraterrestrial race.[15]

[edit] Earlier ideas

Earlier sources — while generally not referencing ancient astronauts per se — suggest the creation of some monuments was beyond human means, such as Saxo Grammaticus' suggestion that giants had created Denmark's massive dolmens, or in tales that Merlin had assembled Stonehenge via magic.

Evidence for ancient astronauts often consists of allegations that ancient monuments, such as the pyramids of Egypt, or Machu Picchu in Peru, or other ancient megalithic ruins, such as Baalbek in Lebanon,[16] could not have been built without technical abilities beyond those of people at that time. Such allegations are not unique in history. Similar reasoning lay behind the wonder of the Cyclopean masonry walling at Mycenaean cities in the eyes of Greeks of the following "Dark Age," who believed that the giant Cyclopes had built the walls. Typical candidates for the lost civilizations that taught or provided these skills are the lost continents of Atlantis, Lemuria and Mu.

Another frequent theme that can be encountered in many mythologies is a person who comes from far away as a god, or as the archetype of a "civilizing hero" who brings knowledge to mankind. Prometheus is the best-known Western example. In Native American lore there are numerous examples, including Quetzalcoatl of the Aztecs and Viracocha of the Incas.

The cross-cultural similarities of deities coming from the heavens and the manners in which they speak to humans are explained by some as evidence of visitations by extraterrestrial beings. The myths of Gods and Goddesses are real accounts of these visitations. The extraterrestrials are seen as divine due to their technology which is superior to the point it can only be explained as the “powers” or magic of the God or Goddess by the creators of the deity myths.

In Theosophical writings of the 19th and early 20th centuries, many precursors to the ancient astronaut theories can be found. Theosophy influenced authors such as H. P. Lovecraft and Charles Fort, and even later authors such as Erich von Däniken.

[edit] Theories examined

In the 1940s, two French anthropologists claimed to have made a startling discovery while researching the Dogon tribe of West Africa. They reported that the Dogon people had knowledge of a small star which revolves around the other well-known star Sirius. This other small star which, impossible to be seen by the naked eye, was not known about by western astronomers until 1862. The anthropologists claimed this demonstrated that Dogon knowledge predated western knowledge of the star by hundreds of years. The anthropologists explained this by postulating extraterrestrial visitations to the Dogon tribe. Later researchers have suggested that because only the few tribe elders spoken to by the anthropologists knew of the star, the research by the two French anthropologists must have been manipulated.[17]

Alan F. Alford, author of “Gods of the New Millennium”, (1996) is an adherent of the ancient astronaut theory. Much of his work draws on Sitchin’s theories. However, he does admit to some faults in Sitchin’s theory after deeper analysis.[18] “I am now firmly of the opinion that these gods personified the falling sky; in other words, the descent of the gods was a poetic rendition of the cataclysm myth which stood at the heart of ancient Near Eastern religions.” (Alford)

[edit] Ancient astronauts in fiction

The ancient astronaut theory has been addressed frequently in science fiction and horror fiction. Early occurrences in the genres include:-

  • H. P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu (1926) and At the Mountains of Madness (1931).
  • Nigel Kneale's Quatermass and the Pit television serial (1958) used a version of the idea.
  • Arthur C. Clarke has written several stories utilizing the theme, most famously in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
  • Walter Ernsting (The Day the Gods Died).
  • Douglas Adams used a satirical version of the theory in his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.
  • The Doctor Who serial Pyramids of Mars featured the Egyptian gods being aliens, and a number of other Doctor Who serials had used similar ideas.
  • In Larry Niven's Known Space, humanity is descended from aliens called The Pak.
  • In Star Trek, The Progenitors seeded the galaxy with humanoid life.
  • The Star Trek episode Plato stepchildren uses this theme.
  • The Tintin adventure Flight 714 references ancient astronaut theories.
  • The TV show The X-Files has borrowed the theory.
  • The original Battlestar Galactica and the 2003 remake explored the idea that Earth was colonized by man millennia ago.
  • The movie Stargate and its spin-off television series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis feature aliens posing as gods to influence early earth cultures, and later on in the SG-1 series, aliens are found to have traveled to earth millions of years ago to influence human evolution.
    • The Stargate: Ultimate Edition: Director’s Cut DVD includes a featurette interview with Erich von Däniken entitled "Is there a Stargate?".
  • The Halo video game series makes numerous allusions to a Forerunner civilization responsible for the construction of the ancient but unbelievably advanced rings that are the namesake of the game.
  • The March 1961 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact contains a piece by Arthur W. Orton entitled "The Four-Faced Visitors of Ezekiel". Although described in the magazine's Table of Contents as a short story, it actually takes the form of a pseudo-factual essay presenting a verse-by-verse analysis of Ezekiel's vision and interpreting this in terms of an encounter with ancient astronauts. In this respect the essay mirrors J. F. Blumrich's book The Spaceships of Ezekiel (1974), although predating it by more than a decade.
  • The computer game Rise of Legends features the Cuotl, a Pre-Columbian mesoamerican civilisation manipulated by a group of aliens whose spaceship crashed.
  • The Tabletop Battle Game, Warhammer Fantasy also uses aspects of the Ancient Astronaut Theory. The race of Lizardmen being created by the so called Old Ones in an attempt to fight Chaos.
  • The manga Bio-Booster Armor Guyver features numerous ancient astronaut trappings in its explanation of the Creators and the origin of the Guyver.
  • An episode of the animated series Gargoyles involves an ancient alien living in a hidden spaceship under Easter Island. In the episode it is concluded that this alien came to Earth long ago and inspired the gigantic heads which Easter Island is famous for.
  • The Marvel comic The Eternals deals with aliens who had advanced the evolution of apes into man and as well as two sister races.
  • While not specifically using Earth as an example, the fictional Star Wars universe has made many references of aliens giving primitive races technology, or humans de-advancing into a more primitive society as time passes.
  • The film Ice Age features a brief scene of an alien spacecraft trapped in ice following the advent of the Ice Age
  • One of the Spriggan chapters depicts Tezcatlipoca as an ancient astronaut during a mission in Mexico.
  • The French TV series Il était une fois l'Espace (English: Once Upon a Time...Space) featured far-future humans taking on the role of superior aliens to a caveman culture. The spaceships of the human civilization also used decorative iconography derived from the Nazca lines as a wink to the theory - the ship of the main characters using a hummingbird design.

[edit] Ancient astronauts in music

  • Frank Zappa's "Inca Roads" (from the album One Size Fits All) deals with Ancient Astronaut Theory. The primary lyric is "Did a vehicle come from somewhere out there just to land in the Andes? Was it round, and did it have a motor, or was it something different? Did a vehicle fly along the mountain and find a place to park itself, or did someone build a place to leave a space for such a thing to land?"

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ For one such example, refer to von Däniken's interpretation of the sarcophogus lid recovered from the tomb of the Classic-era Maya ruler of Palenque, Pacal. Von Däniken claimed the design represented a seated astronaut, whereas the iconography and accompanying Maya text clearly identifies it as a portrait of the ruler himself with the World Tree of Maya mythology.
  2. ^ http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/L/Lhote.html
  3. ^ Erich von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods: Science or Charlatanism?, Robert Sheaffer. First published in the "NICAP UFO Investigator", October/November, 1974. http://www.debunker.com/texts/vondanik.html
  4. ^ http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_7.htm#Ancient%20Indian
  5. ^ Ezekiel 1:26-28
  6. ^ Exodus 13:21
  7. ^ Exodus 19:16-19
  8. ^ Numbers 35:34
  9. ^ 2 Samuel 22:10-16
  10. ^ Joshua 10:10-11
  11. ^ Wikipedia Baghdad Battery article: "On Mythbusters' 29th episode (which aired on March 23, 2005), the Baghdad battery "myth" was put to the test... For the religious experience aspect of the batteries, a replica of the fabled Ark of the Covenant was constructed, complete with two angels (strangely resembling Adam and Jamie). Instead of linking the angels’ golden wings to the low power batteries, an electric fence generator was connected. When touched, the wings produced a strong feeling of tightness in the chest. Although the batteries themselves had not been used, it was surmised that, due to the apparent lack of knowledge of electricity, any form of electrical sensation from them could equate to the “divine presence” in the eyes of ancient people.
  12. ^ Wikipedia article on Urim and Thummim: "According to the teachings of Judaism, a small parchment with God's holy name, the Tetragrammaton, inscribed on it was slipped into an opening under the Urim and Thummim on the high priest's breast plate, which caused the breastplate to "glow" and thereby "transmit messages" from God to the Children of Israel."
  13. ^ http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_7.htm
  14. ^ http://www.crystalinks.com/nazca.html
  15. ^ http://www.etcontact.net/AncientAstronauts.htm
  16. ^ http://www.sacredsites.com/middle_east/lebanon/baalbek.htm
  17. ^ http://www.geocities.com/area51/corridor/8148/dogon.html
  18. ^ http://www.eridu.co.uk/Author/human_origins/ancient_astronauts.html

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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