Ancient astronaut theories

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paintings from Val Camonica, Italy, c.10,000 BC, have been claimed to depict extraterrestrial visitors. It has also been posited that they show gods or other mythological persons from religions of that time.

The Dogū (土偶) has been speculated to be an Ancient Astronaut that visited earth during the Jōmon period of Ancient Japan; it shows features claimed to resemble a space suit, goggles and a space helmet.

Ancient astronaut theories are various proposals that Earth has been visited by intelligent extraterrestrial beings, and that such contact is linked to either the origins or development of human cultures, technologies and/or religions. Some of these theories suggests that gods from most — if not all — religions are actually extraterrestrial beings, and their technologies were mistaken for divine entities by primitive man^[1][2]. While no peer-reviewed scientific journal validates such claims, these theories have been popularized, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century, by writers Erich von Däniken, Zecharia Sitchin and others^[3].

[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^[4].

Ancient astronaut theories also may include the idea that civilization may have evolved on earth twice, and that the visitation of ancient astronauts may reflect the return of descendants of ancient humans whose population was separated from earthbound humans^{[citation needed]}.

Proponents of ancient astronaut theories point to what they perceive as gaps in historical and archaeological records and also what they see as an absence of definitive explanations in certain contexts from the archaeological sciences. Advocates of these theories put forward as evidence their interpretations of various archaeological artifacts, which they deem to have been anachronistic or beyond the presumed 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 realized by the contacted cultures.

Critics maintain, however, that any gaps in contemporary knowledge of the past do not demonstrate that such speculative ideas are a necessary, or even plausible, conclusion to draw from the available data. A number of ancient astronaut claims are made in direct opposition to the consensus scientific interpretation of evidence and to legitimate scientific explanations. The scientific community remains generally skeptical, and the dominant view is that there is no actual evidence to support ancient astronaut and paleocontact theories.^[5]

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.

[edit] Adherents

Ancient astronaut theories have been advanced by authors such as:

• Charles Berlitz (in his book The Bermuda Triangle)
• Charles Fort (1919)
• Morris K. Jessup (1955)
• George Hunt Williamson (1957)
• Peter Kolosimo (in his 1957 book, Il pianeta sconosciuto)
• Henri Lhote (1958),^[6]
• Matest M. Agrest (1959)
• Jacques Bergier & Louis Pauwels in their (1959) book, The Morning of the Magicians
• Brinsley Le Poer Trench (1960)
• W. Raymond Drake (1964)
• Brad Steiger (1967) in his book, The Flying Saucer Menace
• Erich von Däniken (1968)
• Robert Charroux (1969)
• Dr. S. Lunskaya (1970)
• Rod Serling in his (1974) documentary In Search of Ancient Astronauts
• Robert K. G. Temple (1976)
• Zecharia Sitchin (1978)
• Maurice Chatelain (1978)
• Richard C. Hoagland
• Burak Eldem
• Alan F. Alford
• Ellen Lloyd

[edit] Theosophy

Theosophical writings of the 19th and early 20th centuries contain many precursors to the ancient astronaut theories. Theosophy influenced authors such as H. P. Lovecraft, Charles Fort, and Erich von Däniken^{[citation needed]}.

[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 for his vision of paleocontact is:

• Certain artifacts and monumental constructions are claimed by von Däniken to have required a more sophisticated technological ability in their construction than what was available to the ancient cultures who constructed them. 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)
• Von Däniken claims that ancient art and iconography throughout the world illustrates air and space vehicles, non-human but intelligent creatures, ancient astronauts and artifacts of an anachronistically advanced technology. Von Däniken also claims that geographically separated historical cultures share artistic themes, which he argues imply a common origin. For one such example, refer to von Däniken's interpretation of the sarcophagus 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.
• The origins of many religions are interpreted by von Däniken as reactions to encounters with an alien race. According to his view, humans considered the technology of the aliens to be supernatural and the aliens themselves to be gods. Von Däniken claims 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 been interpreted by primitive peoples as supernatural events, or 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^[7].

[edit] Zecharia Sitchin

Zecharia Sitchin's series The Earth Chronicles, beginning with The 12th Planet, revolves around Sitchin's interpretation of ancient Sumerian and Middle Eastern texts, megalithic sites and artifacts from around the world. He theorizes the gods of old Mesopotamia were actually astronauts from the planet "Nibiru", which Sitchin claims 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. Though modern astronomy has yet to find any direct evidence of this hypothetical planet, a number of recent observations of anomalies in the Kuiper belt and cometary trajectories have led some mainstream astronomers to suggest the explanation lies in the existence of a large planetary or stellar body beyond our known solar system. Sitchin also suggests that the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter is the shattered remains of the ancient planet "Tiamat" which he claims was destroyed in one of Niburu's orbits through the solar system.

According to Sitchin, the Sumerians relate how 50 Anunnaki, the inhabitants of Nibiru, came to Earth approximately 400,000 years ago with the intent of mining raw materials, especially gold, for transport back to Nibiru. 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. Sitchin claims the Anunnaki were active in human affairs until their culture was destroyed by global catastrophes caused by the abrupt end of the last ice-age some 12,000 years ago. Seeing that humans survived and all they had built was destroyed, from that point he says, "kingship was lowered from heaven to Earth" and the Anunnaki left Earth after giving humans the opportunity and means to govern themselves.

[edit] Robert Temple

Robert K. G. Temple's 1976 book, The Sirius Mystery argues that the Dogon people of northwestern Mali preserved an account of extraterrestrial visitation from around 5,000 years ago. He quotes various lines of evidence, including supposed advanced astronomical knowledge inherited by the tribe, descriptions, and comparative belief systems with ancient civilizations such as ancient Egypt and Sumer. His work draws heavily on the studies of cultural anthropologists, Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen^[8].

His conclusions however, were criticized by Carl Sagan and Ian Ridpath, among others, who pointed out discrepancies within Temple's account, and suggested that the Dogon may have received some of their astronomical information recently and probably from European sources^[9][10]. In addition, noted anthropologist and ecologist, Walter E. A. van Beek criticizes Temple's sources, mainly Griaule, for misrepresenting Dogon ethnography, imposing his own ideas, and fabricating his account^[11]. Responding to van Beek's article, daughter and colleague of Marcel Griaule, Genevieve Calame-Griaule dismissed van Beek's charges as being marred by a confusion of esoteric traditions and based almost entirely on speculation^[12]. van Beek continues to maintain that Griaule was wrong and cites other anthropologists who also reject his work^[13].

Temple responded to his critics by pointing out that certain information, like the density of Sirius B, had only been acquired by Westerners but a few years earlier. He also noted the possible detection of a third star in 1995^[14], which had already been documented as being incorporated into Dogon mythology^[15]. Skeptic and space journalist James Oberg was cautious in his approach to the information, stating that enthusiasts of Temple's claims have neither been proven or disproved in their assertions, and while Temple was not able to establish unquestionably the antiquity of most of the information in question, speculative notions of recent attainment from Europeans is "entirely circumstantial", and concludes that it is likely we will never know for sure and this case may in fact remain a mystery^[16].

[edit] Raëlian religious movement

Raëlism, or Raëlianism, is a religious movement created by Claude Vorilhon (or Raël). Raël claims to have encountered extraterrestrials on a number of occasions. On one such occasion, he claims that he was informed that humans were created by an advanced extraterrestrial humanoid race the Elohim, using their knowledge of DNA & Genetics. The Raëlian movement also argues against evolution and supports human cloning.

[edit] Purported evidence

[edit] Religious texts

Proponents cite ancient mythologies to support their viewpoints based on theories that hold that ancient creation myths of a god or gods who descend from the heavens to earth to create or instruct man are actually representations of alien visitors, whose superior technology accounts for their reception as gods. Arguably similar phenomenon are known in modern times as it has sometimes been the case when isolated cultures are exposed to Western technology. In the early 20th century, "cargo cults" were discovered in the South Pacific; cultures who believed various Western ships and their cargo to be sent from the Gods as fulfillment of prophecies concerning their return^[17]. As Arthur C. Clarke surmised in his 1961 book Profiles of the Future, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" ^[18].

Flying machines are sometimes mentioned in ancient texts with one example the Vimanas, flying machines that can be found in the Sanskrit epics of India. These tales range from fantastic aerial battles employing various weaponry, to the mundane relating simple technical information, flight procedure, and flights of fancy. (See also Vaimanika Shastra, a text on Vimanas "channeled" in the early 20th century.)^[19]

In the Biblical Old Testament, the Book of Ezekiel tells of a flying object seen as a fiery whirlwind which when descended to the ground gave the appearance of being made of metal. It is described among other things as a wheel within a wheel containing four occupants, "living creatures", whose likeness was that of man. The passage goes on to say that wherever the wheels went the creatures went, and when the living creatures were lifted up the wheels were lifted up ^[20]. The apocryphal Book of Enoch tells of similar flying objects and beings, but goes further in that Enoch is taken on journeys to various corners of the Earth in the object and at one point even travels to the heavens ^[21]. In several chapters of the Old Testament, the Hebrew God Yaweh is depicted as traveling as a column of smoke and/or fire^[22] and making the sound of a trumpet.^[23] These descriptions also describe Yahweh as a physical presence^[24], not an abstraction. Yahweh is described raining lightning^[25] and stones^[26] down upon the enemies of the Hebrews. However, descriptions of the Hebrew God have also featured protecting wings and outstretched arms in the Psalms, features which may be considered contrary to theories of mechanical manifestations of God^[27].

Additionally, the characteristics of the Ark of the Covenant and the Urim and Thummim are identified as suggesting high technology, perhaps from alien origins^[28].

[edit] Artifacts and artwork

Alleged physical evidence includes the discovery of artifacts in Egypt and Peru, which are claimed to be similar to modern planes and gliders^[29], although typically these have been interpreted by archaeologists as stylized representations of birds and insects.

More support of this theory draws upon what are claimed to be flying saucers in medieval and renaissance art. Objects in the paintings that cannot be explained with relevance to the art piece are assumed by adherents to be flying saucers^[30]. This is used to support the ancient astronaut theory by attempting to show that the creators of humanity return to check up on their creation throughout time.

Other artistic support for the ancient astronaut theory has been sought in Palaeolithic cave paintings. Vondijina in Australia and Val Camonica in Italy (seen above) are claimed to bear a resemblance to present day astronauts. Supporters of the ancient astronaut theory sometimes claim that similarities such as dome shaped heads, interpreted as beings wearing space helmets, prove that early man was visited by an extraterrestrial race^[31].

[edit] Nazca Lines

The ancient Nazca lines comprise hundreds of enormous ground drawings etched into the high desert landscape of Peru which consist primarily of geometric shapes, but also include depictions of a variety of animals and at least one human^[32]. Many supporters of this theory cite the Nazca lines as evidence because the figures created by the lines are most clearly depicted or only able to be seen when viewed from the air. Writing professor Joe Nickell of the University of Kentucky, using only technology he believed to be available to people of the time, was able to recreate one of the larger figures with a reasonable degree of accuracy^[33].

[edit] Monumental architecture

Evidence for ancient astronauts is claimed to include the existence of ancient monuments and megalithic ruins such as the Giza pyramids of Egypt, Machu Picchu in Peru, or Baalbek in Lebanon^[34]. Supporters contend these stone structures could not have been built with the technical abilities and tools of the people of the time and further argue that many could not be duplicated even today. They suggest that the large size of the building stones, the precision in which they were laid, and the distances many were transported leaves the question open as to who constructed these sites. These contentions are categorically rejected by mainstream archeology. Such allegations are not unique in history, however, as 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.

[edit] Baalbek, Lebanon

The three largest megalithic stones at Baalbek which together are referred to as the "Trilithon", are the largest stones quarried by man and are estimated to weigh 500 tons each with an even larger fourth stone left lying in the quarry over 1/2 of a mile away^[35]. The three stones sit on top of a wall nearly 26ft high, slightly lower than the quarry, comprised of similar stones weighing between 50-500 tons^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Moai of Easter Island

Challenging the idea that the transporting of huge megaliths by ancient man was beyond their capabilities, archaeologists at Easter Island have attempted to demonstrate how people with stone age technology could have moved small megaliths short distances like some of the Easter Island Moai^[36]. The poured concrete Moai used in the demonstration weighed approximately 6 tons and was lifted onto the sled by modern crane, but was able to be moved with rollers several meters and erected upright^[37]. Actual Moai, however, weigh on average 12.5 metric tons with the largest erected being 74.4 metric tons^[38].

[edit] Criticism

Other than the proponents' own interpretations of ancient writings and artifacts, there has yet to be found any hard evidence to support the ancient astronaut hypothesis.

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.^[39] “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)(see Fermi Paradox).

[edit] Ancient astronauts in fiction and arts

The ancient astronaut theory has been addressed frequently in science fiction and horror fiction, especially in TV and film, as human-like aliens are usually easier to cast and cheaper to clothe. Early occurrences in the genres include:

[edit] Novels and comics

• Garrett P. Serviss' Edison's Conquest of Mars, published in 1898, is perhaps the first example of the ancient astronaut theory, predating Fort's book by over 20 years. In it, the narrator learns that the Martians from The War of the Worlds visited Earth around 7500 BC, enslaving the inhabitants of the Fertile Crescent and bringing them to Egypt to make monuments of their conquest, including the Giza pyramid complex and the Great Sphinx (which is actually the face of the leader of the Martian expedition). Afterwards, a plague caused them to leave, with the Martians taking a number of their human slaves to Mars to serve them there, until an expedition led by Thomas Edison freed their descendants in the early 20th century.
• H. P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu (1926) and At the Mountains of Madness (1931).
• Kurt Vonnegut's The Sirens of Titan (1959) depicts the whole of human development and civilization to be a medium used by aliens for relaying messages to an alien space-explorer stranded on one of Saturn's moons.
• 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.
• In Larry Niven's Known Space (1964-present), humanity is descended from aliens called the Pak.
• Arthur C. Clarke has written several stories utilizing the theme, most famously in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
• The Tintin adventure Flight 714 (1968) references ancient astronaut theories.
• Philip K. Dick explores this theory in his VALIS trilogy. A race of ancient astronauts is thought to have placed an information-streaming satellite in orbit around Earth.
• Douglas Adams used a satirical version of the theory in his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series (1979-1992).
• Buzz Aldrin's and John Barnes' novel, Encounter With Tiber (1996), deals with the discovery of ancient alien encounters on Earth and Mars, with humanity utilizing recovered alien technology to advance the space program.
• In David Brin's Uplift Universe series, all known species were brought to sapience through the direct intervention of a known galactic "patron," except for the fabled first sentient species, the Progenitors, and humanity. While most humans take pride at achieving space travel without a patron, some humans (called Danikenites, after Erich von Däniken) and most Galactics believe otherwise.
• The novel The Sky People states that an ancient race of aliens populated Earth, Mars, and Venus with human and animal life.
• In William H. Keith, Jr.'s "Heritage Trilogy," a war between the United States and a United Europe (and later between the United States and China) has its roots in the discovery that ancient astronaunts visited Earth on several occasions. Ancient technology found on Mars, the Moon and Europa change the balance of power on Earth.
• In Walter Ernsting's The Day the Gods Died, an extraterrestrial civilization built the ruins of ancient Peru.
• In the Outlanders novel series by Mark Ellis, the Anunnaki are revealed to have the culprits behind a devastating nuclear war as well as being the Root Race of the so-called Gray aliens.
• The Marvel comic series The Eternals deals with robotic aliens (the Celestials) who had advanced the evolution of apes into man, as well as two sister races, the Eternals and the Deviants, who resembled "gods" and "demons" respectively.
• Yoshiki Takaya's manga series Bio-Booster Armor Guyver, later adapted several times into animated form and twice into a pair of americanized films, featured the idea that all life on earth was created by an organization of various alien beings as biological weapons intended for use in interstellar war, which were later abandoned for reasons unknown, and thus were never taken into space. According to the series, human beings are actually a 'first stage' organism that can be further mutated into monstrous creatures called Zoanoids, which supposedly account for many modern day myths of vampires and werewolves. The comic features an alien armor supposedly used by the aliens themselves which remains on Earth and is possessed by a highschooler. One of the principal characters, the most highly advanced living weapon, fears the aliens return and plans to take mankind out into space to find a means to confront the aliens on their own terms.
• In Jon Stewart's Naked Pictures of Famous People the section "The Recipe" claims to be a translation of an ancient Aztec text from 2000 BC depicting a celebrity awards ceremony. In the context of the book, Erich Von Daniken brought it to the world's attention in his book Weird, Huh? wondering if ancient alien visitors had brought knowledge of celebrity awards shows to the Aztecs.
• Doris Lessing's Canopus in Argos series describes the Earth from the view of two alien civilisations, responsible for bringing life to the planet.

[edit] Movies and television series

• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) links the existence of Crystal skulls to aliens, that were perceived as gods to the Maya culture.
• Nigel Kneale's Quatermass and the Pit television serial (1958-1959) used a version of the idea.
• The BBC, Doctor Who serial Pyramids of Mars (1975) featured a conflict on Earth between aliens of a race named the Osirans forming the basis of Egyptian mythology, and a number of other Doctor Who serials have used similar ideas.
• The original Battlestar Galactica and the 2003 remake depicts humans as having originated on a distant planet and formed thirteen colonies, Earth being the last and most distant. The plots of both concern a group of humans attempting to find Earth. The original 1978 series is more closely linked to the Ancient Astronaut theory, using modernized versions of ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Middle Ages costumes, as well as mixing ancient myths and religious materials into the storylines. In contrast, the SCI-FI Channel's 2003 remake deals little with ancient myths and legends and depicts an American-like culture, although the religion, which is similar to the Greek religion, is prominent among some characters.
• The French animated TV series Il était une fois... l'Espace (1982) (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.
• The TV show The X-Files (1993-2002) has borrowed the theory.
• The movie Stargate (1994) and its spin-off television series Stargate SG-1 (1997-2007) and Stargate Atlantis (2004-present) feature aliens called the Ancients (alternatively Alterans, Lanteans, or Anqueetas) who are found to have traveled to Earth millions of years ago to start and influence human evolution; and the sinister Goa'uld, who posed as gods; and the benevolent Asgard, who also posed as gods.
  • The Stargate: Ultimate Edition: Director’s Cut DVD includes a featurette interview with Erich von Däniken entitled "Is there a Stargate?".
• A 1996 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 Moai statues which Easter Island is famous for.
• In Star Trek, the Ancient humanoids seeded the galaxy with humanoid life. The episode Plato's Stepchildren also uses this theme.
  • In the Star Trek: Voyager episode Tattoo, we learn that Chakotay is descended from the Rubber Tree People who were visited by Sky Spirits 45,000 years ago. The Sky Spirits, who are actually advanced, space-faring aliens, granted these primitive humans a genetic alteration which influenced their development.
• Lilith and Adam in the manga/anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion were two extraterrestrial beings that landed on Earth and gave birth to humanity.
• While not specifically using Earth as an example, the fictional Star Wars universe has many references to aliens giving primitive races technology, or humans de-advancing into a more primitive society as time passes.
• The film Ice Age briefly shows an alien spacecraft trapped in ice during the Ice Age.
• One of the Spriggan chapters depicts Tezcatlipoca as an ancient astronaut during a mission in Mexico.
• In the Babylon 5 universe, many of the First Ones, and in particular the Vorlons and Shadows, visited Earth (and the homeworlds of other races) at various times in history.
• The predator (Yautja) alien race from the movie Alien vs. Predator is described in the film as having traveled to earth at a prehistoric time and having a culture serve them as Gods.
• In the television show Dilbert, Dilbert and Dogbert visit a museum with an exhibit supporting the theory of aliens assisting the Egyptians in the construction of the Pyramid. After Dilbert asks what happened to the aliens after the pyramids were constructed, they move to the next exhibit depicting the Egyptians feasting on the aliens.
• In Frederik Pohl's Gateway series of novels, the Heechee are described as an ancient alien race that visited our solar system thousands of years ago. They left behind a variety of futuristic technology, which creates many interesting opportunities for Earth.
• The Futurama episode "A Pharaoh to Remember" features an alien culture that claims to have been taught space travel, mummification and pyramid building by the ancient Egyptians.
• In the cartoon The Flintstones, Fred is sometimes accompanied by Gazoo, a little green space man with many amazing powers.
• Monty Python's Life of Brian includes a chase sequence where Brian briefly escapes from Roman legionaries by accidentally falling into an alien spaceship.
• The idea of paleocontact appears in numerous science fiction stories and films, most notably, in the first scene of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.
• On the TV series Earth: Final Conflict, the Atavus species traveled to Earth in the distant past and ruled over it, using neanderthals as slaves and a food source. The Atavus were also present in Ancient Egypt as well. The Taelon race was also known to have visited Earth in the ancient past.
• In Space Island One, the crew of the Unity encounter a Babylonian space probe, the Tower of Babel having been a rocket rather than a literal tower to reach the heavens.

[edit] Music

• Chris de Burgh's A Spaceman Came Travelling deals with the concept of an ancient astronaut, in this case pertaining to the Christ story.
• 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?"
• Several songs by Philadelphia-based rap group Lost Children of Babylon deal with ancient astronaut theory, explicitly stating that "Jesus Christ was really an ancient astronaut". Jedi Mind Trick's debut album, The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological & Electro-Magnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness, features the Lost Children of Babylon and therefore also promotes ancient astronaut theories.

[edit] See also

• OOPArts – "out of place artifacts," found in very unusual or seemingly impossible locations
• Pseudoarchaeology – pseudoscientific archaeology
• List of pseudosciences and pseudoscientific concepts
• Raëlism – an ancient astronaut/UFO religion founded in 1970s
• Robert K. G. Temple – author of The Sirius Mystery, a book exploring extraterrestrial contact by the Dogon people
• Xenoarchaeology – archaeology of the physical remains of past alien cultures, mainly in science fiction

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

[edit] Further reading

• Avalos, Hector (2002) "The Ancient Near East in Modern Science Fiction: Zechariah Sitchin's The 12th Planet as Case Study." Journal of Higher Criticism, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 49-70.
• Harris, Christie (1975) Sky Man on the Totem Pole? New York: Atheneum.

[edit] External links

• UFOs and Art
• Center for Ancient Astronaut Research
• Pre-Incan_Airplanes
• Erich von Däniken Homepage
• Annual Ancient Astronaut Theory Forum
• Von Daniken's Maya Astronaut
• Robby D. Duncan's "12th Planet"
• Aurora Paradox
• Aliens in Cryptozoology
• EARS: Evidence of Alien contact Revealed in Scripture
• Ellen Lloyd's Ancient Astronauts
• SitchinIsWrong.com addressing flaws in the writings of Zecharia Sitchin
• Statements about Flying Saucers and Extraterrestrial Life made by Hermann Oberth(Redirects to MUFON.org).
• 'Fringe' or 'cult' archaeology examined by professional archaeologist Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews
• Previously undocumented alien encounters

v • d • e Ufology Main Areas of Study Contactees · Crashes · Exopolitics · Extraterrestrials · Locations · Sightings · Topics · Vehicles Involvement Category:Counter-intelligence · Culture · Government Personnel · Government Responses · Organizations · Religions · Ufologist