All language subtitles for Ancient Aliens S01E05

[music playing]

At 14:46 Pacific
Standard Time,

12 different locations
across the globe

were breached in what appears to
have been a coordinated attack

by an unknown enemy.

This is a textbook
military invasion.

We cannot lose Los Angeles.

[explosions]

NARRATOR: Alien spaceships
invade the Earth.

Extraterrestrial technology of
an awesome and deadly nature.

And humans, fleeing in terror.

These and other
alien base scenarios

have been the plot lines of
countless science fiction

movies and television shows.

But what if extraterrestrial
beings came to Earth tomorrow?

Would they signal the
birth of a new age

of peace and prosperity?

Or trigger a war of the worlds?

The day that it's
announced we're not alone

is the day that this
planet changes forever.

The very structures
of government

and the very structures
of religion will crumble.

Everybody wants
to meet an alien.

But we have to start small.

We have to learn how to
walk before we can run.

NARRATOR: Millions of
people around the world

believe we have been
visited in the past

by extraterrestrial beings.

What if it were true?

Did ancient aliens really
help to shape our history?

And if so what might
happen when they return?

These objects were completely
undetected until they

entered our atmosphere.

NASA estimates that
they are not hitting

the water at terminal velocity.

They're slowing
down before impact.

[side conversations]

Thermal imaging from
the Hubble telescope

shows us that these
central objects are

all the same geometric shape.

They appear
mechanical in nature.

This is not a meteor
shower, Marines.

We are in Threatcon Delta.

All units gear up.

[helicopters whirring]

NARRATOR: Millions
of people gasped

at the sight of an army of
spaceships in full assault

against the human race.

Oh!

What is that?

NARRATOR: Within
seconds, landmarks

in London, Tokyo, New
York City, and Los Angeles

are blown to bits.

Aliens have invaded the Earth.

[yelling]

Contact!

We got fire!

[screaming]

NARRATOR: The war between
humans and extraterrestrials

has begun.

[screaming]

Like other big budget
Hollywood epics,

"Battle Los Angeles"
offers audiences

a state of the art look
at an alien encounter

of the deadly kind.

But for those who think
the story is entirely

a work of fiction, think again.

"Battle Los Angeles"
was actually

inspired by a real
life event, one that

happened nearly 70 years ago.

Los Angeles, California.

In the early months of
1942, the city was on edge.

The recent surprise
attack on Pearl Harbor

had propelled America
into World War II.

And the threat of a Japanese
invasion by sea or by air

kept the military on full alert.

Pearl Harbor was a very
recent memory for people.

People were in high alert.

There was a great
deal of suspicion.

Japanese-Americans were being
put in internment camps.

There were German U
boats in the Atlantic.

Japanese submarines
in the Pacific.

And people were very fearful.

NARRATOR: In a well-organized
defense operation,

air raid wardens
and the Coast Guard

were monitoring the Pacific
shoreline as never before.

The war had started.

I was a 13-year-old kid.

And this one night, which was
February, 1942, the sirens

started wailing in the
middle of the night.

[sirens blaring]

Blackout.

And we'd had several
blackouts before this.

NARRATOR: On February 25,
between the hours of 3:12

and 4:15 AM, the 37th
coast artillery brigade

in Los Angeles fired off a
barrage of anti-aircraft shells

at an unidentified
flying object.

[explosions]

Watchers on the roof top
of the Columbia Broadcasting

building in the
heart of Hollywood

could plainly see the flashes
of guns and searchlights

cruising the skies in a wide
arc along the coastal area.

[machine gun fire]

I think what woke me up
initially was the sound

of anti-aircraft guns.

I jumped out of bed.

And my parents were up.

My father was an
air raid warden.

He figured this has
to be the real thing.

My mother was telling
my brother and I,

get under the bed!

Get under the bed!

Stay there!

And of course, we got out.

And we peeked.

There was all this firing.

It was almost like
a 4th of July.

[explosions]

I started hearing a
lot of loud explosions.

My brother and I looked
out the bedroom window,

saw searchlights, twisting
and turning in the sky.

NARRATOR: But what
was the strange UFO

that the searchlights
were focused on?

Where had it come from,
Japan or somewhere from out

of this world?

Could this incredible
photograph,

published the next morning
in "The Los Angeles Times"

provide the proof?

Could ancient
astronaut theorists

have been right all along?

It was practically overhead.

And I mean overhead.

NARRATOR: Retired anthropology
professor C. Scott Lyttleton

was nine years old and
growing up in Hermosa Beach

when he spotted
the strange object

hovering right over his house.

We saw what my mother
always called a silver bug.

I'd characterize it today
as a lozenge, a long oval.

It was something I'll
never, ever forget.

It was caught in
searchlight beams.

And anti-aircraft shells
were exploding all around it.

It gradually went like this
and then began to lose altitude

a little bit as
it moved over what

had to have been Redondo Beach.

We lost track of it.

But the banging continued.

And very quickly
afterward, I saw,

we all saw, a flight of
planes following the track

of the object going
overhead, anywhere

from three to five
interceptors, clearly

piston driven US planes.

No one has ever admitted that
those planes were in the sky.

Our first thought,
immediately, was

a Japanese observation plane.

Later, the Japanese
records definitively

proved there were no Japanese
planes over Southern California

that night or, indeed, ever.

NARRATOR: After ruling
out the possibility

that a Japanese plane had
invaded American airspace,

Secretary of the Navy,
Frank Knox attributed

the incident to war nerves.

But Secretary of
War Henry Stimson

quickly refuted this
explanation, defensively

declaring that an actual
aircraft had been the target

of the assault. To this day,
no one seems to know just what

or who was hovering over
Los Angeles that night.

[explosions]

Some claim that the Los Angeles
air raid was nothing more

than an elaborate
training exercise,

a show put on by the military
to keep citizens on the ready in

case of a real attack.

Others alleged that the
unidentified flying object was,

in fact, a barrage
balloon that had

broken loose from its tether.

But even that explanation
doesn't seem credible to those

who witnessed the actual event.

The one place where there
were barrage balloons,

they were anchored above the
aircraft plants in El Segundo

and Douglas North American.

It would have to have
slipped its tether,

floated North up to the
Santa Monica Mountains

and then back down this way.

Barrage balloons don't
maneuver like that.

NARRATOR: Regardless
of the controversy,

one fact is undisputed.

An estimated 14,000 shells were
fired at the strange object.

And shrapnel rained from
the sky for over an hour.

But what were the guns aimed at?

Would the Army really have
put civilian lives in danger

for a drill?

[side conversations]

Major panic.

Six people got killed
due to car accidents

and hit by falling shrapnel.

[gunfire]

A friend of mine said he
witnessed a piece of shrapnel

go through his
neighbor's garage roof.

So oh, yeah, there were some
damage from falling shrapnel.

The next morning, there
was something in our backyard

my mother told me to go roll up.

It was like a tarp or something.

And when I bent down, or
kneeled down in the grass,

I cut my knee.

And I have my piece of shrapnel.

I've kept it all these years.

There's my shrapnel.

And it's very sharp.

[explosions]

By a process of elimination,
the most efficient--

and I say this as a scholar--

the most efficient
explanation is

that it was what we would
call today a UFO, something

not of this world,
something that

belonged to another technology.

If that's true, then this
event was one of the largest

mass UFO sightings in history.

Over a million people saw it.

NARRATOR: But whether
it was a UFO or not,

the memories remain vivid
for those who saw something

in the sky that night.

So vivid, in fact,
that many of them

gather each year
at Fort MacArthur

in San Pedro, California to
reenact this mysterious event.

The city went crazy.

They thought we were being
attacked by Japanese planes.

Some theories said
weather balloon.

Others said, you
know, I saw a plane.

I know I saw a plane.

And others say,
no, no such plane.

Back then, it
was a scary thing.

I think to this day they don't
know what they were firing at.

Was it a weather balloon
or flying saucers?

NARRATOR: But for
those who believe

they saw an alien
craft that night,

one important question remains.

What happened to it?

The rumor is that it
finally crashed in the water

and was recovered
by Navy divers.

So maybe it was wounded.

And it crashed.

And this might explain why the
military was so quick to react

to Roswell five years later.

Because they may already have
had at least some inkling

of what they would find there.

NARRATOR: Was Earth really
visited by an alien spacecraft

on the morning of
February 25, 1942?

And could the global
threats posed by World

War II have provided a trigger?

Perhaps the answer
would be found

half a world away in the skies
over Adolf Hitler's Germany.

In his 1993 book,
"The Gods of Eden,"

author William Bramley
theorized that extraterrestrials

played a part in nearly every
catastrophe in human history

and have even used
war as a means

to control the growth
of the human population.

But while many are skeptical
about Bramley's claims,

there is one thing
on which they agree,

that the number of
reported UFO sightings

always increases during wartime.

In times of war, when vast
civilizations are in conflict,

and in conflict so
terrible that it seems

as though the civilizations
will wipe themselves out,

suddenly, out of
nowhere, UFOs appear.

NARRATOR: While skeptics
and military historians

attribute these alleged
sightings to war nerves

or stress, those
who believe in UFOs

find the number of
instances hard to dismiss.

[explosions]

When World War II broke
out in September of 1939,

there were numerous reports
of unidentified flying objects

spotted over Hitler's Germany.

Although the term UFO
had not yet been coined,

the Allies believe the bogies,
as they were then known,

were new fighter planes
being developed by the Nazis.

But the first
combat bomber jets,

the German Messerschmitt Me 262,
weren't deployed by the German

Air Force until 1943.

It certainly doesn't
escape notice just how

advanced the Nazi
propulsion systems

and their aeronautics
technology really was.

They had the first operational
jet fighter to see combat.

They were building and
test flying aircraft

that look incredibly
similar to UFOs

that are reported even today.

They had greatly advanced
rocket technology.

There have long been
rumors about Nazi projects

to build aircraft
using UFO technology.

At the end of
the 19th century,

there was Aleister Crowley,
HG Wells, Bram Stoker,

who wrote "Dracula," and Jules
Verne, who wrote "From Earth

to The Moon."

They were in a society
called The Golden Dawn.

In that society, they
actually believed

in the existence not only of
UFOs, but extraterrestrials.

That culture influenced
Hitler in the late 1920s,

early into the 1930s.

In looking for the
origins of the Aryan race,

they went all the way to
India and the Vedic texts,

which talk about UFOs.

So Hitler, in his own way,
was a UFO believer and sought

to develop his own version of
a UFO based on the Vedic texts

to have a dramatic
Wunderwaffe, a wonder

weapon, that would end the war.

[explosions]

NARRATOR: Although
the Nazis never

developed the so-called
wonder weapon,

reports of strange flying
machines in German airspace

continued throughout the war.

But just what was it that the
Allied pilots were reporting?

In the 1940s, as waves
of American bombers

were literally obliterating
German cities, Dresden,

Homburg, Berlin, in these
raids, American fighter pilots

saw these balls of light
coming at their planes.

They didn't know what they were.

They thought they were German
secret weapons at first.

So they call them foo fighters.

The word fear in French is fire.

And these were balls
of fire coming out.

So instead of fear fighters,
they were foo fighters.

They were seen in larger
numbers over Germany

and over Western
Europe, where they were

described variously as
structured craft, or simply

balls of light.

It was so
important at the time

that the military
began to notice it

and they began to
investigate these things.

There are hundreds of cases.

None seem to be very
harmful to planes.

But they were all
over the place.

NARRATOR: Curiously, when
the foo fighters appeared,

Allied aircraft would sometimes
experienced mechanical failure.

And perhaps most
mystifying of all

was that some pilots reported
flying right through the refers

as if they had no mass.

It was never discovered
what the foo fighters were

or where they came from.

But the theory that
they were some sort

of German secret
weapon was widely

accepted among Allied
pilots at the time.

But could the Third
Reich have possessed

technology more advanced than
even our most modern aircraft?

Some believe what the Nazis
had developed was an advanced

mechanism that
scientists are still

working on today,
mercury-powered anti-gravity

technology.

This involves mercury
being in a closed

system, like a glass ball.

Once that mercury
becomes spinning

in a gyroscopic manner
within a closed system,

that creates a lift.

The electrified lift is
also a very bright light.

And in fact, many UFOs are
described as exactly that.

Towards the end of World War II,
the Germans started producing

massive amounts of mercury.

And in fact, a number of the
U boats that were later sunk,

one was sunk near Singapore,
another in Norway,

it's only a few years ago
they actually found it.

And its entire
cargo was mercury.

What the few historians have
actually written about foo

fighters, and which is still
apparently a secret today,

is that they were a kind
of mercury, plasma ball.

And the purpose of
the foo fighters

was to make a highly
pulsed magnetic charge

and field around the bombers
which would then cut out

the engines and interfere
with the electrical systems

in the planes.

NARRATOR: Could foo fighters
really have been based

on extraterrestrial technology?

If so, where did
the Germans get it?

UFO theorists point to the
discovery of a flying saucer

that allegedly crashed
in the Black Forest

near Freiburg, Germany in 1936.

Some believe German
scientists repaired

the craft to test its energy
and propulsion systems.

And through reverse
engineering, were

able to replicate some of these
so-called alien technologies.

Did the Nazis take this craft?

And was there some sort of
a pact that happened there?

Did the Nazis-- did
they retrieve bodies?

It's hard to pin down
how much they had?

Was there contact?

There's always
been that theory

that they had a captured
craft and that they

were reverse engineering it.

It's very possible.

They were truly way more
advanced than any culture

at the time.

Thank God for the
American know how.

Because we were combating them
with our own kind of knowledge

and technology as well.

After World War II,
there was an exercise

mounted by the Americans
called Operation Paperclip.

The Allies had been
confronted with all

this amazing technology from
Germany, the jet engines,

airplanes, the rocket
engine airplanes,

all these amazing devices.

To give you an example of
some of the material that

was collected by
Operation Paperclip,

right at the end of the
war, Von Braun and his team

had begun designing multi-stage
rockets capable of reaching

the United States.

They also had plans for a
space station, the classic

circular sci-fi space station.

And on this, they had a
huge sunlight collector

and mirror that was
designed to focus

sunlight down on the Earth
as a kind of death ray.

There were all these
wild ideas coming out

of that team that turned
it into a very valuable

coup for the United States.

Ultimately, it was Von Braun
who built the Saturn V rocket

that took people to the moon.

NARRATOR: The story
of the World War II

foo fighters, much like that
of the Battle of Los Angeles,

has been largely
forgotten or dismissed

by traditional historians.

But an event that happened
just two years after the war

had even the skeptics wondering.

What if aliens really did exist?

And could one of their
craft have crashed to Earth?

Mainstream archaeologists
have long rejected the notion

that extraterrestrial beings
had a hand in creating

the pyramids of Egypt.

Theologians and
religious scholars

refute the idea that stories
of the Bible or the Mahabharata

could be describing
alien encounters.

And governments
throughout history

have officially denied
reports that the Earth has

been visited by flying saucers.

But on July 8,
1947, a UFO sighting

was reported that
even the United States

government had trouble denying.

Why?

Because this time, the report
was issued by the US Army.

I'm walking on the
Foster Ranch between Corona

and Roswell, New Mexico, not far
from what is called The Debris

Field, right over that hill.

And that debris field refers to
headlines back in July of 1947

about a disc, one of
those mysterious UFOs

actually crashing
right out here.

NARRATOR: One night
in early July 1947,

a major thunderstorm
rolled across New Mexico.

The next morning,
rancher Mack Brazel went

out to check on the damage.

Mack Brazel went out to
make sure everything was

where it was supposed to be.

And he came across this really
extensive area of debris,

stuff he had never seen before.

He brought it to the
local sheriff's office.

In 1947, Roswell was home
to Roswell Army Airfield.

The sheriff called the base.

The base sent
Major Jesse Marcel.

And at that point,
it basically became

a military site, as they
gathered up every bit

of debris they could find.

NARRATOR: In their
initial report,

Army officials
made a vague claim

of having started the
recovery of the debris

sometime last week.

But why didn't the Army report
their findings right away?

And why were they so
ambiguous about the timeline?

Now one of the
biggest things we

have is the newspaper of July
8, 1947, where Colonel Blanchard

issued a order to Lieutenant
Walter Haught, who

was a public information
officer, saying basically,

we have in our possession
a flying saucer.

It's being taken to Fort
Worth to higher headquarters.

Roswell was a real
turning point for ufology.

I think that was because the
military, for the first time,

admitted that they
had a crashed disc.

And because it was admitted
at the time, of course

it caused a sensation.

Then July 9, General Ramey
issued a press release saying,

no, it was a weather balloon.

And that started the best
documented UFO cover up ever.

NARRATOR: Army officials
referred to the debris

as being part of a flying disc.

Internal memos even
referenced the crash site

as having victims.

So why, less than
24 hours later,

did they suddenly decide
that what they had retrieved

was nothing more than
a weather balloon?

Although Blanchard and Ramey
stuck by the revised story,

Lieutenant Haught stood by the
contents of his initial report

his entire life.

And those who believe him
think modern technology

may have recently provided
the irrefutable evidence

they have been looking for.

When Major Marcel took
the debris to Fort Worth,

and General Ramey spread it out
to give this press conference

that it was a weather balloon,
there was a picture taken.

And in his hand is
a piece of paper.

And it's a very
little piece of paper.

I mean, and this
has been blown up.

And it is a memo.

There is a leading
researcher in the field

who is pulling the
words out of this.

And they include things
like, team at Fort Worth

forwarded victims of
the wreck, pot or pan.

And so every year that
the technology improves,

General Ramey may be
the one to solve it.

Bob Wood, a
researcher in UFOs,

had received leaked
documents in 1996

and shared them with
me and a few others.

This document called
the Interplanetary

Phenomenon Unit, with
a War Department stamp,

dated July 22, 1947.

The most disturbing aspect
of this investigation

was that there were other bodies
found not far from Landing Zone

1, the Mack Brazel site
between Corona and Roswell

that looked as if they had been
dissected as you would a frog.

It does not define were
those bodies human,

were those bodies non-human?

But suddenly, for me,
this electric jolt

that came into
holding that document

and reading at the end of
the '90s, what would explain

finally that our government
knew that extraterrestrial

biological entities from
somewhere else in the cosmos

was interacting with our
planet for a very long time.

NARRATOR: Five years after
Roswell, the United States

Air Force coined the
term, unidentified flying

object, or UFO.

In the decades since,
thousands of UFOs

have been reported,
photographed, and videotaped

all over the world.

Oh, my God.

Perhaps one of the biggest,
most revolutionary pieces

of technology to change our
view of UFOs and flying saucers

is the video cam.

Whoa.

I'm getting a series
of lights right there.

I got it.
I got it.

I got it.

You only have to look at what
happened in Phoenix, Arizona

in March of 1997, when these
huge flying boomerangs went

right across Phoenix, right
through the whole valley

heading South to
the Mexico border.

These were all
caught on cameras.

Network news caught these.

Local news caught these.

You saw these on CNN.

You saw these on Larry King.

Oh, there it is,
over to the left.

Wow!

And yes, people
called them flares.

Of course, they did.

But the fact is, when you see
something with your own eyes--

Look, dude.

Pat, you got it?

I see it.

Even if it's on
a video camera,

suddenly your
perspective changes.

And that middle one
is moving quick.

It's only the
beginning, you guys.

So now, according to recent
polls, Gallup polls and Roper

polls, well over
50% of Americans

believe that flying
saucers exist.

And close to 50% believe
that the government knows

that flying saucers exist
and that the government

is hiding that fact.

NARRATOR: But why so many
UFO sightings after Roswell?

Is it a coincidence?

Or is the world's growing
belief in aliens providing cover

for those who might
previously have

been too afraid of
ridicule to come forward?

Perhaps there is another reason.

Perhaps there are more
sightings because there

is a genuine increase
in alien visitations

ever since the dawn
of the space age.

There had been plenty of
stories of UFOs and aliens

prior to that, a
lot of sightings.

They weren't as widely reported.

Somewhat also because
World War II had

been going on prior to that.

But because now we had a
crash and there was more room

in the newspaper, so to
speak, I think that really

helped the subject take off.

NARRATOR: If, as some suggest,
aliens from other worlds

truly are among us and have done
their best to keep themselves

hidden for thousands
of years, will they

ever reveal their presence?

More importantly, what
happens if they do?

And what if it is
already happening?

Throughout human history,
man has gazed up at the stars

in awe and with wonder.

Our ancient ancestors charted
their movements identified

constellations and
marked time by creating

celestial-based calendars.

The stars also became the source
of countless myths and legends.

Many of these describe
visitors coming down to Earth

from somewhere out there.

Others speak of
entire civilizations

existing out in the cosmos.

The ancient Sanskrit writings
of India tell us, for example,

there are 400,000 human-like
species scattered throughout

the cosmos in different planets,
different solar systems,

even different dimensions.

NARRATOR: But where
are these alien beings?

Did they come to
Earth in the past,

as the ancient astronaut theory
suggests, and then leave?

If so, will they ever come back?

Today, scientists
around the world

have stopped waiting
around and are

taking steps to find intelligent
extraterrestrial life.

Will technology finally
be able to prove

what our ancient ancestors
believed thousands of years

ago?

In 1960, astronomer and
physicist Frank Drake

set up an unusual telescope
in the hills of West Virginia.

The strange device was
made from surplus World

War II radar equipment.

But rather than containing
a traditional optical lens,

it housed a directional
radio antenna.

A few simple calculations
showed that radio telescopes

have the power to transmit
and receive across literally

interstellar distances.

We're talking many light years.

So Frank Drake turned
a radio telescope

on a couple of nearby
stars and tuned in

to see if he could pick up
a message from the aliens.

So this was a sort
of crazy thing to do.

NARRATOR: Drake failed to
pick up any sounds that day.

But the science of radio
astronomy was born.

If we couldn't see
aliens in space,

maybe we could hear them.

The things we focused on
in the past for searching

for extraterrestrial life
is really passively trying

to discover signals, on
the basis that if they were

technologically advanced,
they would have some form

of electricity, like we do.

And all electricity
generates radiation

and sends out the signals.

And hopefully, we'd detect it.

NARRATOR: In 1961, Frank Drake
and a group of astronomers,

physicists, and biologists
formed a privately funded

organization called SETI, the
Search for Extraterrestrial

Intelligence.

Their goal was to focus massive
radio telescopes towards space

and listen.

Drake estimated the probability
that intelligent life existed

out in the universe in
a formula that became

known as the Drake equation.

The Drake equation is like
a bridge between scientists

and nonscientists.

Because it explains
what you would

want to know to give a
number about how common

alien life could be.

There are multiple factors
within the Drake equation,

like the fraction of
stars that have planets,

and the fraction of those
planets that could be

habitable, and the
fraction of those

that might have liquid
water, and how many could

have evolved intelligent life.

And then one important
factor is the lifetime

of those civilizations.

And that is a big unknown.

We only know of one,
that's ourselves.

And how long are we
going to be around?

That's to be determined.

NARRATOR: Using
his equation, Drake

estimated that over 100
million advanced civilizations

could exist in just
the Milky Way galaxy.

SETI presupposes
that if you've

got an alien civilization
capable of traveling,

that's developed electronics,
they have a fingerprint.

That fingerprint is
a repetitive signal.

A repetitive signal will tell
them that it's not just noise,

junk frequencies out
there, but a real attempt

at communicating maybe not
with us, but with each other.

NARRATOR: On August 15, 1977,
astronomer Dr. Jerry Eman

was working on a SETI project
at Ohio State University when he

recorded an intermittent
signal coming

from the direction of the
constellation Sagittarius.

The signal lasted 72
seconds before being lost.

Eman believed that it was
of extraterrestrial origin.

But despite repeated
searches, and increasingly

larger telescopes, the signal
has never again been detected.

But what if SETI
intercepts a transmission

from another world?

What would happen next?

According to SETI's
post-detection protocols,

once an extraterrestrial
radio signal is confirmed,

news of the event should be kept
secret until the authorities

have been notified.

The government will then
decide whether or not

to try and make contact.

I think all bets are off.

Because here is this message.

It could contain
enormously important

information that would
transform our society

and maybe destabilize it.

What is it going to mean for
the future of our civilization?

These are momentous questions.

NARRATOR: Today, SETI continues
to scan the vicinities

of nearby stars for
artificially produced signals,

using several of the
world's largest telescopes.

In the next several years, when
it becomes fully operational,

SETI's new Allen
telescope array will

allow for the reconnaissance
of up to a million stars.

SETI has to search
a huge, huge area.

They'll tell you that now they
have searched the equivalent

of, like, a glass
of water compared

to the entire ocean on Earth.

They've a long way to go.

NARRATOR: While SETI
listens passively

to signals from
outer space, NASA

has attempted to contact
alien life directly,

through messages sent
aboard its space probes.

It's a long shot.

But there's no
reason, in my mind,

not to expect that
life evolved elsewhere.

What's harder to predict
or try and understand

is how likely is it
that it happened close

enough that there'd
be someone we could

actually communicate with.

NARRATOR: In 1972, NASA
agreed to attach small plaques

onto the outside of its
twin pioneer space probes,

the first human built
objects destined

to leave our solar system.

NASA contacted Cornell
University Professor Dr. Carl

Sagan to craft the message.

Carl Sagan was one
of the most active

astronomers in the search
for life outside our planet.

He was a very
prominent scientist.

He was an excellent astronomer.

And he really did a lot to
help us understand how we

might contact other
life or detect

life elsewhere in the universe.

NARRATOR: Sagan, along with
SETI founder Frank Drake,

designed a gold,
anodized aluminum plaque,

measuring roughly
6 by 9 inches, that

contained a collection
of symbolic images

representing humans and Earth.

The man and the
woman were nude.

And the gentleman
was holding one

arm up like this in
what was intended

to be a sign of greeting.

NARRATOR: A schematic
design of the solar system

was also shown, with the planned
trajectory of the Pioneer

spacecraft marked on it.

And a diagram of 14 pulsar
stars around the sun

made a chart that
might help someone work

out where the craft originated.

We tried to give them an
idea of where we're located.

And that's an
interesting problem,

is to figure out how
you would tell someone

where you're located in space.

Because you don't know where
they're going to find it.

And it was all in a
very stylistic design,

but in an attempt to hopefully
communicate at least some

of these ideas.

NARRATOR: Five years
later, in 1977, Dr. Sagan

got a second chance at designing
an interstellar message

when NASA agreed to
attach another one

to the Voyager space probes.

This time, Sagan
created a record album

made of gold-plated
copper, along with a series

of basic instructions
in how to make it work.

Sagan estimated that
the metallic disk

could survive in space for
at least a billion years.

One of the challenges
with technology

is trying to figure out one
that can do what you want.

So here you want to encode audio
and even some video images,

but do it in a way
that almost any

other technologically advanced
society could figure out.

And the advantage
of a record player

is it's both mechanical
and electrical.

The grooves are obvious.

And so they actually put
on the cover instructions

on how to play it.

NARRATOR: The recording included
a wide variety of sounds,

a baby's cry--

Wah.

--wind, surf and
rain, animal noises,

as well as classical
and cultural

music from around the world.

One interesting song selection
was Chuck Berry's rock

and roll hit, "Johnny Be Good."

Music is a good choice.

Because almost anything
vibrates and makes sound.

So I would have bet
that almost any culture

would develop music.

I believe it's Bach who gets
the most time on the record.

I don't know why they
picked that, to be honest.

But he is one of the more
mathematical composers.

And that may have been
one of the reasons,

because math is a more
universal language.

NARRATOR: Sagan also included
a wide array of photographs

of well-known man-made
structures and greetings

in 55 different languages.

I think the most important
one is the Sumerian language.

Now why would they include
Sumerian on that record?

Well, according to the
ancient alien theory,

ancient Sumeria
is the first place

where we made contact with
an extraterrestrial entity.

At this point, we obviously
haven't learned anything yet

about extraterrestrial life.

Because we haven't
been contacted back.

But I think for our own
purposes, any time you try

and go and figure out how you
want to communicate something,

it pushes your boundaries and
understanding of communication

itself.

We all want to find
aliens, whether it's

the planetary scientists
looking for signs of life

on another distant
planet, whether it's

the ancient alien proponents
who want to find signs of life

of aliens who have
visited in the past,

and whether it's people today
who want to have experiences

with UFOs and aliens that
have visited them recently,

all of us are trying
to do the same thing.

NARRATOR: While the search
for extraterrestrial beings

continues, a new
space-based telescope

is hunting for planets
that may contain life.

Are there other
Earths out there?

And if so, how
will we find them?

Ignition.

[explosion]

On March 6, 2009, NASA launched
a Delta Two rocket into space.

On board was a new
telescope named

in honor of German
astronomer, Johann Kepler.

The space-based telescope
was designed specifically

to discover the existence of
Earth-like planets located

outside our own solar system.

The Kepler search is focused on
a specific section of the Milky

Way known as Orion's Spur.

Kepler's job is to
answer the question,

how common are other Earths.

And to do this, Kepler
is looking at one part

of the sky for 3 and 1/2 years.

Imagine keeping your
eyes open and staring

at just one part of the sky.

And what they're doing is
they're looking at stars.

And then as a planet goes around
that star, when the planet gets

in front of the
star, the starlight

dims just a little bit
from our vantage point.

Because it's being
blocked by the planet.

And so you look for that
dimming of those stars

and then that's how you're
able to detect these planets.

NARRATOR: So far,
the Kepler telescope

has confirmed the
existence of five planets

outside our own solar system.

NASA officials expect
to find several hundred

more exoplanets like these
before their mission is

completed.

Once a planet has been located,
scientists must then determine

if it might contain water.

We know from Earth
that all life on Earth

requires liquid water.

[water gurgling]

So that is the
approach that we've

been taking for looking for
life elsewhere in the universe.

Follow the water.

And so that is step one.

On Earth, wherever we find
liquid water, we find life.

And it's true.

Life on Earth can exist
on an extraordinary range

of conditions, extreme organisms
that live in the scalding

effluent coming out
of the Earth's crust,

deep beneath the ocean.

There are other remarkable
organisms living in the waste

pools of nuclear reactors and
extreme radiation environments

and so on.

But the one thing
that seems to be

absolutely necessary for life
as we know it is liquid water.

NARRATOR: To determine if
a planet contains water

and possibly life, scientists
use special telescopes

to analyze its atmosphere.

We look at the light
coming from the planet.

And we split that light
up, like a rainbow.

Now if you look at
a rainbow in the sky

and you look really,
really carefully,

you will see some dark lines.

You'll see some colors
missing from the rainbow.

And those colors are missing
because of absorption

by gases in Earth's atmosphere.

So effectively, we're getting
a rainbow from another planet.

And we're looking for dark lines
that tell us what kind of gases

are in the atmosphere.

NARRATOR: To better
understand how life affects

its atmosphere, NASA
scientists study

microbial mats at California's
Moss Landing Wildlife Area.

Microbial mats are
important to NASA

for a whole bunch of reasons.

The organisms that
are in microbial maps

have been on Earth just about
longer than any other kind

of organism.

They make a number
of things which

we call biomarkers, which
are important in our search

for life on other planets.

So there are
textural biomarkers.

So when you pull up a
piece of microbial mat

and look at the surface,
what does that look like?

So one of the things that we're
doing with these microbial mats

is we're measuring
the fluxes of methane.

Methane is a gas that's
produced by certain kinds

of organisms that use
the organic matter that's

in these mats.

And when that methane
goes into our atmosphere,

it can be detected by other
missions, such as Terrestrial

Planet Finder, which is one
of NASA's concept missions

for looking for gases that are
produced by life on exoplanets.

We can look for the signature
of oxygen or water on a planet.

And at least that would give
us an idea of life forms

like ourselves, ones
that are carbon based

and use oxygen and
carbon dioxide cycles.

Our atmosphere is not stable
without living organisms.

It would have
evaporated away by now.

And so if you're
looking out in space

and you detect, around a star,
a signature of the chemicals

that we know exist for
life, that's very strong

evidence that's life is there.

Now it doesn't help you know
if it's intelligent life,

but it does give you
an evidence for life.

NARRATOR: With a
universe literally full

of possibilities, planet hunters
focus their search on an area

they call a Goldilocks zone.

The Goldilocks
zone for planets

is the place where a planet
is not too hot, not too cold,

but just the right
temperature for life.

Right now we know of
no planets like Earth

in a Goldilocks zone.

One planet comes close.

It's called Gliese 581d.

But we're not entirely sure
if that planet is really

in the Goldilocks zone or not.

In recent years, it's
been recognized that there's

more than one Goldilocks zone.

For example, there
could be life inside icy

planetesimals, these, like,
small planets or large moons.

The moon of Jupiter, Europa,
is a very good example.

Europa is liquid
beneath an ice cap.

It's liquid underneath because
of tidal heating and friction

going on inside the planet.

So it could be
that there is life,

microbial probably only, deep
down under the ice on Europa.

It's a very challenging
question, if there's life

elsewhere in our solar system.

You have so many components
that have to come together.

We have to have an
understanding of the science.

We have to ask the
right questions.

I wish I had a tricorder that I
could just go and, like, point.

And it would say
life or no life.

Right?

But we don't have that.

So we have to be smart.

And we have to be clever.

And we have to
develop instruments

that can actually
address the questions

we're trying to answer.

It's inevitable.

There's so many
planets out there.

It's inevitable
that we'll find one

in the Goldilocks zone any day.

NARRATOR: But while the Kepler
telescope has only just begun

scanning the horizon, NASA is
already planning the next step

in its search for
extraterrestrial life,

the 2014 launch of the
James Webb Space Telescope.

People always ask me,
do you expect to find

an Earth in your lifetime?

And I say yes, absolutely.

When I was a student,
there was almost nobody

prepared to argue that way.

The feeling back in
the '60s and '70s

was that even if they were
other earthlike planets,

life is such an improbable
freak event, that it would never

ever happen anywhere else.

Now the prevailing view
is, yes, the universe

is teeming with life.

Everybody wants
to meet an alien.

But we have to start small.

We have to learn how to
walk before we can run.

The fascinating thing for me
is that we're only 4 and 1/2

billion years old
in a universe that's

close to 14 billion years old.

What would happen with some of
these earthlike planets that

had a 5 or 10 billion
year head start on us?

Gosh, you can only imagine.

NARRATOR: But what if humans
are not the only intelligent

creatures searching for
life in the universe?

What if there are beings
on other planets conducting

a search of their own?

And what if, in
their search, they

find us before we find them?

Some believe they already have.

In March 2010, a
mysterious pulsating light

floated over Cleveland, Ohio
for 11 consecutive nights.

We're having a sighting
right now over the lake.

I'm going to say
270 degrees South.

[static]

There are two objects.

One is coming up from the left.

These are extremely close to
each other there's absolutely

no way these are planes.

Right now what's happening
is the initial object that

came out, it's sitting there.

It's hovering.

It's getting extremely bright.

It's illuminating
different colors.

And the second object appeared
from, I'm going to say,

the top left of it.

And now it looks like
it's moving around it.

Wow!

They completely
just switched spots.

Oh, my God.

This is beautiful.

It knows we're watching.

It knows we're watching.

NARRATOR: The Cleveland
sighting is one of thousands

reported each year.

And while many are proved
to be false alarms,

others are not so
easily discredited.

- Right below.
- Right below it.

Oh.

Big bright white
flash just occurred.

NARRATOR: In 1991, Britain's
Ministry of Defense assigned

author and journalist Nick
Pope to track the hundreds

of sightings reported over
England, Scotland, and Wales

every year.

The Ministry of Defense has
been looking at the UFO issue

since the 1950s.

And the whole reason for
looking at these UFO sightings

is not necessarily because the
Department corporately believes

in extraterrestrial visitation.

It's more to do with
keeping a watchful eye

on any unusual activity
in British airspace.

Clearly, if there's
something there

that's a little bit
out of the ordinary,

we want to know about it.

[plane engine roaring]

My beliefs when I was
given this job were I

think what on Earth if I
let myself in for here?

I had no particular knowledge or
interest in the UFO phenomenon,

certainly no belief
in anything unusual.

But the more I looked
back through the archive

of old files, and the more
I began to investigate

the ones that were
being reported

to me on a daily basis,
I began to change my mind

and realize that some
of these UFO sightings

couldn't be explained
in conventional terms.

It's definitely moving.

NARRATOR: Many of the
most intriguing cases

Pope researched involved
eyewitness reports from pilots,

police, and military
officers, while others

featured classified
radar, video,

or photographic evidence.

[helicopter whirring]

One case that was a particular
turning point for me was

the so-called Cosford incident.

Now Cosford is a military
base in the United Kingdom.

And on the particular night in
question, which was 30 of March

1993, it was a wave of
sightings over a period

of about six hours.

And there were many police
and military witnesses.

And two Air Force bases,
Goffard and Chaudhuri,

were directly overflown by a
vast triangular-shaped craft.

Now the meteorological
officer at one of these bases

described this to me as
the size of a jumbo jet,

hovering while moving
very, very slowly,

and then accelerating
away to the horizon

at incredible speed.

He said many times faster
than a military jet.

And this was a man with
eight years experience

in the Air Force.

This sighting was
thoroughly investigated,

not only by private
UFO investigators

but also by the
British government, who

were unable to explain
all of the sightings

reported during this incident.

NARRATOR: Another intriguing
British UFO sighting

took place in December 1980.

US Air Force personnel
stationed in Suffolk, England,

reported seeing a brilliantly
illuminated spaceship

that landed in Rendlesham Forest
on two consecutive nights.

[radio static]

What made this case
particularly unusual

is that this was not
vague lights in the sky.

This was a landed metallic
craft that some of the witnesses

claim they got so
close to they could

actually touch the side of it.

One witness saw strange symbols
on the hull, which he likened

to Egyptian hieroglyphs.

He made a sketch of this
in his police notebook

and took some photos,
though he was subsequently

told they didn't come out.

The Ministry of
Defense looked at this.

And the Defense
intelligence staff

assessed radiation readings
that had been taken

at the landing site
as being significantly

higher than background.

And that's a direct quote
from the government's

own assessment.

The British
government generated

a massive file of information
about this sighting report.

But at this date,
it's very unlikely

that the actual truth about this
sighting will ever be known.

NARRATOR: But in spite of
the compelling eyewitness

testimony, the
Ministry of Defense

soon declared the case closed.

22 years later, when the
government declassified

files on the
Rendlesham Incident,

the evidence was inconclusive.

But what stood out
was the credibility

of the main witnesses who were
trained military personnel.

Obviously, as a
UFO hunter, I've

met a lot of people
who've encountered UFOs,

just flying on a
plane, for example.

You're on a plane.

And suddenly, the pilot
comes out of the cockpit.

And this has happened on
five separate occasions.

And he'll say to me, I
saw a UFO over Phoenix.

I saw a UFO over Texas.

Half my crew saw a UFO.

And you'll say to the pilot,
well, do you report it?

And they say, when the
flight controller says,

at the airport, do you want
to report a UFO sighting

and then bursts out
laughing, what you say is no.

There were UFO sightings
every single day,

real people with real
sightings of real UFOs.

It is very prevalent as more
and more people talk about it.

Something is going on.

In terms of the government
response to all this,

certainly in Britain,
the Ministry of Defense

policy for many years has
been to try and downplay

this subject, not really in
any great sinister attempt

to cover up the truth about
UFOs, whatever that might be.

But more out of embarrassment.

There are things
in our airspace.

We don't know what they are.

And that's not a good place for
the government and the military

to be.

NARRATOR: On December 1, 2009,
the British Ministry of Defense

quietly terminated
its UFO project,

citing that there had
been no credible evidence

that UFOs posed a potential
threat to the United Kingdom.

There are a number of aspects
of this decision that were

particularly controversial.

Firstly, UFO sightings
are at a 10 year

high in the United Kingdom.

So it seemed the most
inopportune moment

to pull the plug on 50 years
of research and investigation

into the UFO mystery.

The other point that made this
particularly controversial

was the way in which the
decision was announced.

There was no proactive
statement issued on this.

It simply said the
Department will not

respond to any inquiries
on this subject

and will no longer
investigate sightings.

NARRATOR: One hurdle confronting
those in favor of fully

disclosing classified
information related to UFOs

is the fact that most
mainstream scientists believe

that the study of
alien phenomena

is little more than
just fringe science.

It is this fear of
dismissal or ridicule

that keeps many scientists
hidden in the shadows.

Our best scientists who
communicate with one another

around the world have rules of
protocol, which include they

cannot appear to be religious.

They cannot believe
in flying saucers.

And they certainly shouldn't
hang around with anybody

who believes in flying saucers.

But it's all done, you might
say, behind closed doors.

Because nobody really wants to
draw attention to it, you know?

That they understand that
there's a penalty associated

with this kind of research.

And so consequently,
it's done invisibly.

To have been blockaded and
stopped by worries about peer

reviews and so forth is wrong.

We can speculate whether there
is life outside this planet.

We can speculate whether
there's been a contact

with other civilizations.

Why not?

NARRATOR: But as more scientists
openly embrace the probability

that there is intelligent
life existing elsewhere

in the universe, will the belief
that alien beings are visiting

us also become more accepted?

What might be the reaction
today if extraterrestrials

were to actually arrive
on Earth and make

themselves known to us?

Countless science
fiction books and films

tend to portray
aliens coming either

to warn us or destroy us.

Since the 1960s, people
have been thinking about,

well, what do we do?

Do we have a "Day The Earth
Stood Still" scenario?

If aliens come, do they
warn us that our planet's

facing disaster?

Do they attack us
the way the Martians

did in "War of the Worlds?"

Well, the answer is more
complicated than it seems.

It's not just somebody
landing and saying

take me to your leader.

The general consensus today is
that if extraterrestrials were

to show up tomorrow
they'd be hostile

and they would want to
enslave us and battle us

and destroy us and
all this crazy stuff.

In my opinion, that
won't be the case.

Because any civilization
that's mastered to travel

interstellar space would
be benevolent to a lesser

advanced society
technologically speaking.

Simple statistics shows
that if we make contact

with extraterrestrial
civilization,

we are the new
kids on the block.

We're the ones who are
at the back of the queue

when it comes to intelligence.

So they'll be teaching us stuff.

We won't have a great
deal to teach them.

There are a wide range of
benefits that can be derived

from accepting that we have
neighbors in the galaxy that

are visiting us.

There are reports of
medical treatments

that have been performed for
the benefit of several people

who have had contact.

There are advanced
energy technologies.

Reports are that
some of these have

been reverse engineered already
and are used in military craft.

There are communications
technologies.

So really, any area
of life that we have

could be beneficially impacted
by acknowledging that there are

these other people out
there, that they have

information, knowledge,
that they can share

with us that would benefit us.

It's going to depend on how
the discovery comes about.

If in fact it's distant
radio broadcast,

we might expect one thing.

If, in fact, there's
some type of visitation

that fits in with
beliefs about UFOs

that might be something else.

But on the whole, I think
people are much more prepared

for, shall we say, contact.

NARRATOR: Many who believe
contact with extraterrestrials

is inevitable
suggest governments

need to prepare themselves.

It's a field of study
known as exopolitics.

Exopolitics
poses the question,

what should our response
be to that situation

at a societal level?

Not necessarily at a
governmental level,

but actually individuals,
how can we reach

out the hand of friendship?

Exopolitics has really been
a grassroots movement of people

concerned about this issue
and want disclosure on the UFO

subject and also want to
help organize people locally

to get the information out
through their governments

and make this big change happen.

NARRATOR: But if we
reach out in friendship,

what guarantee do we have that
it will be returned in kind?

Many scientists, including famed
theoretical physicist Stephen

Hawking, believe alien
beings could pose a threat

and suggest we do everything
possible to prevent contact.

If extraterrestrials or aliens
were aggressive or warlike,

and they came here, is it a
case where resistance is futile?

How do you wipe out
life on planet Earth?

That's easy-- a plague.

Simple, no UFOs, no
zorching beams from the sky,

no explosions, no Empire
State Building collapsing,

none of that.

We can do that.

Why can't aliens do that?

To think that we
would be able to come up

with some type of
a defense mechanism

or have defenses against
interstellar traveling society

is ludicrous.

NARRATOR: Whether they
came as friend or foe,

if extraterrestrials did land
somewhere in the United States,

it's possible the aliens
would be greeted by government

or military personnel
wearing hazmat suits

and testing for harmful
pathogens and radiation.

Many conspiracy
theorists suspect

the government's next step would
be to cover up the visitation.

They cite as evidence a reputed
sighting that took place

over Washington, DC in 1952.

In full view of
the entire world,

a squadron of formation of UFOs
buzzed Washington and fought

our own F-93 jet fighters.

General Samford willingly
and deliberately,

maybe on instructions from
Harry Truman who was president,

lied to the American people.

We have received and analyzed
between 1 and 2,000 reports.

Of this great mass
of reports, we

have been able adequately to
explain the great bulk of them.

His own Captain Ruppelt, in
his own book on flying saucers,

says Samford was lying.

We have the letter
from the Air Force

to Dean Condon
saying deep six UFOs.

So have UFOs come to
planet Earth in full view,

have manifested themselves,
have shown themselves?

Yes.

Did we see it?

Yes.

Was there a protocol
for handling it?

Yes.

That protocol was called deny.

NARRATOR: But if an alien
visitation proved undeniable,

who might be chosen
to then speak

to those inside the spacecraft?

Who could best represent all the
nations and interests of Earth?

If aliens do land on Earth,
I think we should send our best

world leaders who are the most
open-minded and reasonable,

but who also have the
ability to defend themselves

against those aliens.

In my opinion, that's
one of the reasons

we have a United Nations.

Yes, it prevents wars
and delivers food.

But on the other hand, just
imagine the Security Council

itself convening to
deal with aliens,

an image on a big screen
at the United Nations.

The answer is I think it all
happened back in the 1940s

and that was one of the reasons
that Roosevelt and Eleanor

Roosevelt pushed so hard for the
formation of a United Nations

to replace the
League of Nations.

Somebody had to
confront the aliens.

The notion that our
leaders, elected or otherwise,

should speak on our
behalf, I don't necessarily

think that makes sense.

There are a lot of people
who might have better ideas

and the people who
are in government.

I'd like to see a profoundly
democratic, with a small D,

unauthoritarian
interaction with aliens.

NARRATOR: Currently,
there are no

known official protocols in
place for an alien visitation.

But there are those
who think that contact

with extraterrestrials
is imminent

and that our world leaders
must plan for the event now.

We're not alone
in the universe.

We have friends and relatives
out there in the galaxies.

And we need to take on this
task, one way or the other,

of just getting the job done
and getting to the point

where we're considering
the practical details

of interacting with these
friends and neighbors

out there.

Who is responsible
for that relationship?

Well, the State
Department isn't.

The United Nations isn't.

And I think this is
a very big problem.

So there needs to be
a diplomatic effort

to make contact with
these interstellar

civilizations in such
a way that it puts

wiser people in charge of that.

Even if you don't corporately
believe in extraterrestrials,

if you think the possibility
of alien visitation

is vanishingly small,
the consequences,

if it does happen, are immense.

And therefore, it's
prudent to have something

in place to deal with it.

Personally, I think it
would be very, very exciting.

I mean, it would be just like
the first time the explorers

came from Europe to the
Americas and discovered

a whole new culture and
they had to interact.

Hopefully, it won't work out
as some of the bad things

that occurred, then.

It would be a more
positive experience.

And maybe we've learned from
that and we can go forward.

NARRATOR: What
would happen after

any potential
extraterrestrial contact

is open to much speculation.

But most people
concede one thing.

The world as we know it
would change dramatically.

The result would be that the
fundamentalist orthodox belief

systems of every organized
religion on Earth

would collapse.

Meaning that it would
really bring into

question the origins
of the human race,

the genesis stories, and a
whole lot of other issues.

The very structures
of government

and the very structures
of religion will crumble.

NARRATOR: But in 2008,
a stunning announcement

was made from a very surprising
source, proof to some

that miracles, like
aliens, do indeed exist.

The Vatican, Rome,
this walled enclave

has been the center of power
for the Catholic church

since the fifth century.

It's not only the
Pope's residence,

but a place of homage
for one billion

Catholics and represents
nearly 2,000 years

of Christian teaching
and tradition.

But in 2008, the Vatican
made an announcement

that some say might
threaten its own existence.

The chief astronomer of the
Vatican observatory, Father

Gabriel Funes, acknowledged
the possibility of alien life

exists on other planets.

They basically
said that belief

in planetary life
outside of Earth

does not negate
one's belief in God.

Now 500 years ago, if the
Vatican would have said that,

they would have burned
everybody on the stake.

The present Pope
Benedict, of course,

has a very scientific bent.

And he respects
intellectual life in a way

that is quite extraordinary.

So he seemed quite
open to entertain

the idea, what if there
is life on other planets.

It's certainly an interesting
question for a Christian

to approach it
scientifically and challenges

your belief of how much of
this you attribute to God.

[traditional singing]

NARRATOR: Many wondered
about the church's

motives and timing.

Why, after centuries
of belief in man

as God's supreme creation,
and the only intelligent life

in the universe, did the Vatican
make an announcement that could

turn Christianity on its head?

Did they know something
the rest of us did not?

This is something that is
completely new in the history

of the Church.

That the extraterrestrial
question is not only addressed,

but at the same time, it's OK.

I mean, that is a major
change in opinion,

a major change in
the status quo.

And I ask, why?

Would it have huge
ramifications?

Of course.

Does it change anything?

Of course.

But at the same time,
would that change

religion or belief in God?

Not really.

Some people say,
well, the Catholic

church must know something.

Maybe they're trying to
get ahead of the game here.

On the other hand, it
may just be that they're

being very clever and simply
trying to cover all the bases

in case there is some
great announcement

or discovery about alien life.

Because make no
mistake about it,

if it is announced that alien
life has been discovered people

are going to look to
their religious leaders

for some sort of guidance about
this, whether it's Christians,

Jews, Muslims, Hindus.

If extraterrestrial
life was found,

then the church would
react presumably

as it does with any data.

See what there is.

I don't think there would
be any conflict in the way

that we look on our humanity.

What we would find is that
God creates intelligent life

in a variety of ways.

And I think what we
would learn from that

is we can't restrict
God to any one mode

of making intelligent life.

NARRATOR: The idea that
intelligent life exists

elsewhere in the
universe has been

debated by religious leaders,
historians, and scientists.

But not everyone
agrees how it's proof

would affect human
spirituality or the

many religious institutions.

What would happen
to our interpretation

of the book of "Genesis?"

Well, the book of "Genesis"
looks at the universe

from the point of view of Earth.

We look at the sun.

We look at the moon.

We look at the stars.

So to realize that the Earth is
just one small, pale, blue dot

in this immense
universe, I think

it would only expand our
interpretation of "Genesis."

I don't think it would change
it in any fundamental way.

It's an interesting question
for Christianity in general,

since Christianity would
teach that salvation

comes through Jesus who was
apparently an earthling.

What do you do if there
are people on Mars?

Are they saved, according
to our viewpoint?

I don't know.

Christians have
always had this problem

that if there are
aliens out there,

are they not to be saved?

It's not a problem for Jews.

It's certainly not a problem
for Buddhists or Hindus.

But Christians are
in a particular fix

for a very simple
reason, that Christianity

alone among the world's
religions, has an incarnation.

What they mean by that
is that God became

incarnate in the
form of Jesus Christ

in order to be the Savior.

When you talk to Christians,
they sort of say, oh, well,

there isn't a problem really.

Because you know, we have
accommodated Galileo.

We've accommodated Darwin.

Why can't we accommodate ET?

Well, I think there's
a big difference.

I think science and
religion have more in common

than perhaps the popular
perception suggests.

On the one hand, we
have science, which

deals with reason and fact.

On the other hand,
we have religion,

which deals with faith.

Science is an
evolving proposition.

And what we know today
will almost certainly

be reformed and
maybe even replaced

at some point in the future.

So to think that
science somehow provides

the truth in contrast
to religion, I think,

is a mistake.

NARRATOR: While scientists
and religious leaders

may still ponder the notion
of aliens visiting Earth,

ancient astronaut
theorists claim

that the evidence exists in
plain sight around the world.

But if this theory
was accepted, what

do we have to change
about our beliefs, about

our knowledge, our history,
and the very beginnings

of human civilization?

For thousands of years, humans
have recorded events that

seem to suggest otherworldly
beings came down from the skies

to visit Earth.

These ancient visitations
represent the foundations

of those who believe Earth
was visited in the past

by advanced beings
from other planets.

They are also said to
explain many of the mysteries

surrounding our past.

The most important
was religion.

The gods have descended
to our answers of time.

Now it enters into the
holy books, into mythology.

Now later, people
try, reasonable people

try to understand this.

They make out religions of it.

But the core is
extraterrestrials

have come here.

That was the beginning
of all the big religions.

There are two main
components why we are

who we are today as a species.

One, someone tampered
with our genetic makeup,

and two, technology.

Because all of a sudden,
we were doing and building

things that we would still have
difficulties recreating today.

And the ancient texts
are very clear that many

of our achievements
in the past happened

due to a direct intervention
of extraterrestrials

that arrived from the skies.

NARRATOR: Ancient astronaut
theorists also cite as evidence

the amazing similarities
between isolated

cultures all over the planet.

But why did different
civilizations

build immense
megalithic structures

to honor otherworldly beings?

Why do so many ancient
texts seem to reference

men flying in the sky?

And why do the ancient
Egyptians, Hopi Indians,

and the Dogon tribe
of North Africa

all believe their ancestors
came from what we know

as the constellation Sirius?

If the
extraterrestrials wanted

to leave behind a message
of where they came from,

then it would serve
them very well

to build those structures
with a reference

to their location of origin.

So if we have connections
to the Sirius star system,

well, it would
lend us to believe

that here we have a reference
of where they might come from.

NARRATOR: The question
of the possibility

of extraterrestrial life is
as old as civilization itself.

Ancient astronaut theorists, as
well as many noted scientists,

point to the immense
size of the universe

and concede that other
beings must exist

somewhere else besides Earth.

The way we look at
history is very fragile.

Any discovery which
is made somewhere

can change the way
we look at history.

I think if we were to identify
that an alien presence has been

here on Earth in the
past, I think there are

two very important questions.

Did ET just come by and
visit and then disappear?

Or did actually ET come, stay,
and contribute to civilization?

I think the second one
is far more important.

Because it shows us far more.

It actually rewrites
mankind's identity rather than

just whether or not some
extraterrestrial being

came here on a holiday and
then left without really

leaving something behind.

People are always looking
for an ultimate proof

of the existence
of extraterrestrial

intelligent beings.

But I think a more useful and
honest question is how much

and what kind of evidence would
be enough for you to believe

that they're out there?

There is evidence that
indicates that it's possible

that humans were visited
by extraterrestrials

in the distant past.

And if we are too quick to
discard that possibility then

we might be shutting ourselves
out from something that

might be really fascinating and
might take us to a next level

that we can't even imagine.

We have logic.

We have intuition.

We have our senses.

And to limit ourselves
through the scientific route

is a mistake.

We can send people on the moon.

We can plan journeys to Mars.

We can make cell phones.

But we haven't explained
the fundamental questions

that we should be dealing with.

Where do we come from?

What are we supposed to do here?

And where are we going?

We really have not
come with the answers

and we know no better
than the ancients

that were trying to explain.

NARRATOR: If ancient
aliens actually visited us

in the past, will they return?

And if so, how, as
friends, allies, saviors?

Or as films like
"Battle Los Angeles"

suggest, as deadly
and ruthless enemies?

We're running out of time.

[explosions]

In all of the
ancient texts, there is

one thing that is very clear.

And that is that these
gods one day will return.

NARRATOR: But if
alien beings do invade

our Earth with the intent to
harm us, will we be prepared?

Oh!

NARRATOR: Will we really
be ready to fight back?