All language subtitles for Ancient.Aliens.Origins.S02E04.Otherworldly.Rulers.1080p.HULU.WEB-DL.H264-RAWR_track3_[eng]

Powerful leaders
who descended from the stars.

God-like kings
guided by celestial forces.

And mythical deities
that fathered

royal bloodlines.

For nearly two decades,

Ancient Aliens
has traveled the globe

exploring towering
megalithic structures,

mysterious artifacts

and stories of

otherworldly beings

in a quest
for evidence that might

reveal the truth of our

extraterrestrial origins.

There are some
who say that some of

today's kings and queens

are direct descendants

of the so-called gods.

Now, we take a look back through

the Ancient Aliens archives

to the show's very origins

to examine the evidence
that we are not alone.

We have never been alone.

The ancient astronaut
theory proposes

that extraterrestrials came
to Earth thousands of years ago,

essentially
to jumpstart civilization.

And what's so
fascinating to me is that

many of these ancient cultures
say that their first

rulers were the gods,

or at least, the descendants

of the so-called gods.

Right, and we see this
in Egypt and China

and Japan and Scandinavia,
and all over the place.

And you have to wonder,
are we seeing this same story

over and over again,

in all of these places because

people are witnessing
the same alien visitors,

but misinterpreting them
as gods.

Right, and this
would fit right in

with the idea of
E.T.s jumpstarting civilization

because then
they would have been

the first rulers until
humans were ready

to take the reins.

And we covered this
in a 2010 episode

called "Gods and Aliens."

Truva, Turkey.

For over 150 years,
this small city has been

the center
of one of the greatest

archaeological finds
in modern history,

the possible discovery

of the legendary city of Troy.

In 1868, amateur archaeologist
Heinrich Schliemann

set out to find what he believed

was the city
that served as the basis

for the Trojan War, as described

in one of the greatest pieces
of classical literature,

Homer's epic poem, the Iliad.

Written in the 8th century BC,

Homer's Iliad tells
the tale of a great war,

born of feuding
and jealous gods.

While most scholars
believed the story

of the Trojan War
was a work of fiction,

Schliemann was determined
to prove the myth was a reality.

Heinrich Schliemann's
discoveries rocked

the archaeological world.

Armed with his copy
of the Iliad, basically,

he just decided
he was gonna find Troy.

And so he went
and just dug a big hole,

and when he went,
he discovered the real Troy.

But if Homer's
story of Troy was true,

what would it say about
other Greek stories and myths?

Might those also be true?

Did powerful gods and
goddesses actually exist?

And, if so,
where did they come from?

Hellas, also known as Greece.

Each day, thousands of tourists
visit temples and monuments

built to honor
the gods of another age.

The Acropolis.

Delphi.

The Parthenon.

The Temple of Apollo.

These ancient sites reflect
a powerful reverence

for beings that
supposedly ruled the world

thousands of years ago.

When you look at many
of the mythologies

around the world,
they have these stories

of gods coming down
from the sky.

There's a beautiful description
of the way that the gods move,

like, when they kind of
come down to the Earth.

You get the sense of them

gliding down, but
the way that they move

is kind of beyond time.
It just kind of happens.

If the ancient Greeks
invented the stories of gods

as a primitive attempt
to explain their universe,

how can we account for
similar deities found in widely

different regions
and cultures around the globe?

Was it mere coincidence?

Or was there a common
origin for these gods,

who supposedly traveled
to Earth from the skies?

The earliest civilization
we have, 3800 BC,

the Sumerians actually
give us visual descriptions

of these beings
and speak of this time

that they lived amongst
their living gods.

They called their gods
the Anunnaki,

and that term simply meant

"those who from heaven
come to Earth."

Mythology is chock-full

of these episodes of gods
coming down to Earth.

I mean, because mythology
is so interested

in the relationship
between gods and humans,

there is necessarily
gonna be a lot of communication

and communion
between the two of them.

In his book,
Odyssey of the Gods,

Erich von Däniken argues
that the world's sacred books

are full of descriptions,

not of gods,
but of supernatural beings

interacting with humans.

ERICH VON DÄNIKEN:
Some thousands of years ago,

when our forefathers
were still primitive,

some extraterrestrials
descended to our planet.

And because of misunderstanding,
like of technology,

our forefathers thought
that these extraterrestrials

must be some gods.

Mount Olympus.

Greece's highest mountain.

According to ancient myths,

this site was
the home of the gods.

It was here, on Mount Olympus,
that Zeus sat on his throne

and determined
the fate of mortal men.

Whenever we have references
to Mount Olympus,

it is described to be
this magnificent palace

on top of
Mount Olympus, allegedly.

And the temple walls
were always gleaming of gold,

or gleaming with silver,

and a lot of little lights
that they described as jewels.

Well, if you look at that
from modern perspective,

what if that place,
Mount Olympus,

wasn't necessarily
the top of a mountain,

but it was, in fact,
a spaceship?

Because it is described
how, sometimes,

there was a big rumbling
with Mount Olympus,

and the entire top lifted off.

But if Mount Olympus

was home to alien visitors,

could Zeus
have been their leader?

According to both
the Iliad and the Odyssey,

Zeus was often depicted
as wielding a lightning bolt.

It appears to be

a very powerful weapon
because he could

destroy whole cities

with this thunderbolt
weapon of his.

Similarly,

Zeus's brother Poseidon,
the god of the sea,

was armed with a trident.

He was able to create tsunamis,

tidal waves, with this weapon.

The trident weapon of Poseidon

seems to have been
something more

than just a pitchfork.

So is it possible
that the lightning bolt

and the trident is some type

of a direct energy device?

Arguably, one of
the most important

of the Greek gods was Apollo...

...who rode the skies
in his chariot of fire.

VON DÄNIKEN:
Apollo, first, was the teacher

of the young Greeks
living there.

He teach them

how to make buildings on
the mountain, on the hillside.

He teach them how to make roads.

He teach them in astronomy.

Centuries later,
when Rome ruled over Europe

and the Mediterranean,
from the 1st century BC

until the 7th century AD,

the Romans paid homage
to gods similar to the Greeks.

Zeus was now known as Jupiter.

Poseidon was called Neptune.

But Apollo was known to
both the Romans and the Greeks.

Coincidence?

Or, as most ancient
astronaut theorists believe,

was it the historical
account of powerful beings

that came to Earth
thousands of years ago?

We know that
the extraterrestrials,

more than likely, are the source
of what they call "gods."

How did they get here?

More than likely
in some type of craft.

What we map into
our myths and our legends

are incredible stories,
incredible events.

And any extraterrestrial being,
any ancient alien

who has come here on Earth,

will be written down

into this account because it
is such an extraordinary event

that it'll be marked forever.

But if the stories
of Greek and Roman gods

are true, and they were,

in fact, extraterrestrials,
does this suggest

that aliens once held
authority over Earth?

Ancient astronaut
theorists say yes,

and suggest further evidence
of these otherworldly rulers

can be found within
the hieroglyphic inscriptions

of the Maya.

You know, the Maya of Central
America are one of the most

successful civilizations
in history,

lasting over 2,000 years.

And many of the Mayan rulers

claimed a connection
to the gods.

One of their most
intriguing rulers has to be

King Pakal, who's become famous

for this very curious carving

on the lid of his sarcophagus.

It appears to portray him
in the cockpit

- of some sort of a craft.
-Oh, absolutely.

When I look at that carving,

what I see
is a breathing apparatus,

he's manipulating some controls,

his feet are on pedals,

and it seems
to be exhaust flames

at the bottom of the carving.

So, to me, this is King Pakal
piloting a spaceship.

Central America.

Here, in western Honduras,

lie the impressive ruins of
the ancient Maya city of Copan.

And though Copan's temples,
pyramids and monuments

rank among the most
important of any Mayan sites,

researchers looking to explain

the incredible
achievements of the Maya

have been drawn
to a 72-step structure

known as
the Hieroglyphic Stairway.

The Hieroglyphic Stairway

at Copan was constructed
in the early 700s AD...

...with the intent of
writing out the history

of Copan at that time.

And so it was designed as
a public monument to the glory

and success of all the kings,

from Yax K'uk' Mo' all the way

to the 13th one
who commissioned it to be built.

Carved into 1,200 stones
in the massive monument,

the ancient Maya symbols
known as glyphs

make up what historians
believe is one of the oldest

and most sophisticated
systems of writing.

But for centuries,
the glyphs found

throughout Mesoamerica
were undecipherable.

Then, in 1880,

German librarian and
anthropologist Ernst Förstemann

cracked the code.

Ernst Förstemann

was a librarian at Dresden,

and in his desk, he kept
one of the four Maya books,

the Dresden Codex.

He was a brilliant
mathematician,

and extremely logical
and had enormous insights.

And at a time when we couldn't
read a single Maya hieroglyph,

he was able to figure out
the Maya calligraphy.

Maya hieroglyphic writing
is very robust,

and that's because it uses,
really, two components.

There are logographs.
Logographs are really pictures

that represent entire words,

so "Balaam," for example,
which is "jaguar,"

could be written with
just the head of the jaguar.

On the other,
we have these things

that we call
phonetic complements.

And these are glyphs, they're
images that represent sounds.

According to interpretations
of the Hieroglyphic Stairway,

the glyphs chronicle
not only the history,

but also the origin
of the ancient Maya rulers.

The hieroglyphs
are really attached

to what was important
to royalty at the time,

and that was lineage and
the genealogies of the kings.

They went out of their way
to demonstrate

how they were connected
to their ancestors,

and the gods of their ancestors,

to establish
their right to rule.

This is a picture I took
of the... of a close-up

of a sculpture

of Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil,

the 13th ruler of Copan.

And he's depicted here on
the front in all of his finery.

And then the sculptor
put a hieroglyphic passage

on the side we don't
think commoners could read,

but all the elites could
and the king could.

So he or another
elite individual

could come here
and impress people

by saying this demonstrates
the semi-divinity

of our king and his power

to intercede between
us and the heavens.

But just what was the real
source of power and authority

behind the Maya priests
and kings?

Do the hieroglyphs reveal
an otherworldly truth

to their origin,
as the Maya themselves maintain?

Ancient astronaut theorists
believe the answer is yes.

What we have
to think about today is,

where did the origin
of the priesthood come from?

And the origin is
nothing else but that they,

the initial cabal of priests,

they were all in contact
with extraterrestrials,

and that's why
they were revered.

Our ancestors
thought they were gods

because they didn't understand

the nuts-and-bolts aspects
behind those visits.

But, when it all
comes down to it,

it was all
a huge misunderstanding

and a way to keep
the common people in place.

In the beginning,
the first ruler were gods.

Real descendants from
the sky, extraterrestrials.

But later,
the priests and the rulers

took the names
of their ancestors' god.

So they made a secret
and the kind of conspiracy

around them
because the normal people

should give them offerings,
should give them gold,

metal, all kinds
of gifts, et cetera,

as they did
some centuries before

for the real gods.

So it was a kind of conspiracy

among the priests
and among the kings.

Mayan hieroglyphs
specifically say that the Mayans

were absolutely convinced
about the existence

of otherworldly beings,
and that they actually believed

that these beings
manifested themselves

regularly at preordained
moments of time.

Perhaps further evidence
of the Mayan belief

in the existence of
extraterrestrial beings

may be found in their daily
rituals of human sacrifice.

Scholars believe
that blood offerings

were seen as an act of
devotion to the Maya rulers,

who were assumed to be
descendants of the gods.

We know that the Maya
practiced blood sacrifice

because they were still
doing it when the Spanish came.

We have images
on wall paintings,

on vases,

and in sculptures that show
people letting their own blood

and sacrificing other people.

The Mayans had
a complex pantheon,

which involved
gods from the sky,

and the rulers were supposed
to be descendants of these gods.

And they believed
that these gods demanded

sacrifices of them,

and that their blood,
the blood of their kings,

was the ideal
sacrifice for the gods.

Later, the Mayans began
to take captives, particularly

other royal captives, and
execute them using their blood

as the gift to the gods.

Blood sacrifice was
something that we humans

did ourselves because
we didn't understand

that what we dealt with
was nothing else

but flesh and blood
space travelers

instead of real or actual gods.

But why did the Maya
believe they were

connected to the gods by blood?

Might there have been
evidence within their DNA

that could link
the lineage of Maya kings

to otherworldly beings,

as ancient astronaut
theorists believe?

And if so, is it possible
that otherworldly visitors

may have stayed behind and
assumed the role of Maya kings?

Southern Mexico.

Surrounded by dense forests

in the foothills
of the Tumbala Mountains

lie the ruins of the ancient
Mayan city of Palenque.

Established as early as 1800 BC,

Palenque was one of
the key population centers

of the ancient Maya
civilization that dominated

present-day Central America
for nearly 2,000 years.

The site of Palenque is
still a vast unexcavated site.

They think that only ten percent

of this city has so far been
excavated by archaeologists.

The aqueduct system here at
Palenque was very sophisticated,

and the Mayans were actually
able to have water pressure

by siphoning water channels
off of the main river.

All the Mayan cities
had ball courts in them

where they'd play
this celestial game

where the players

would knock
a rubber ball through

a stone or wooden hoop.

It's thought that this
is a representation

of alignments of the sun.

When you start looking
at all the various cultures,

whether it is
the ancient Babylonians,

the ancient Egyptians
or the Mayans,

we now know
that the people who were

by far the most advanced
was the Mayans.

According to
mainstream historians,

by the 9th century, the great
Maya cities were abandoned...

...and the Maya people
had vanished.

But why?

Many blame the disappearance
of the Maya on war,

overpopulation and drought.

But might the Maya
have left behind

clues to suggest
that their origin,

and destiny, had been plotted
by otherworldly forces?

1952. Archaeologist
Alberto Ruz Lhuillier

discovers the pyramid tomb
of King Pakal,

who ruled over the ancient
Mayan city of Palenque

from 615 to 683.

During his nearly 70-year reign,
Pakal transformed Palenque,

creating some of the most
significant inscriptions

and monuments of
the ancient Maya civilization.

The city of Palenque was sacked

by the ruler of Calakmul.

So this was really tragic
for the city itself.

And it sets the stage
for Janahb Pakal himself,

who becomes king
at a very early age,

and then takes this city

that's been destroyed,
and now brings it up

to what becomes one of
the most important cities

of the late Classic period.

This is the famous

Temple of the Inscriptions
behind me,

perhaps the most famous pyramid
in all of the Mayan world.

It was in 1948 that
the French-Mexican archaeologist

Alberto Ruz Lhuillier
began his excavations

at the top of
the Temple of Inscriptions.

What he found there

was the famous staircase
leading down

into the depths of the pyramid.

But the staircase
was completely filled in

with rubble
of small stones and dirt.

It took him four years

to slowly excavate,
step by step,

down the pyramid,
until he finally came

to the tomb of Lord Pakal
and the giant sarcophagus

and lid that the pyramid
were built around.

Arguably the most remarkable
Mayan artifact ever found,

the stone sarcophagus lid
of King Pakal

has produced
considerable controversy.

Mainstream scholars
believe the depiction

is of King Pakal on
a journey to the underworld.

But ancient astronaut
theorists believe

the king is portrayed seated
at the controls of a spacecraft,

and have dubbed him
the Palenque astronaut.

He appears
to be going into space.

He's the original rocket man,

there manipulating his
spacecraft, going into space.

We have maintained
for a very long time

that the depiction here

is of King Pakal sitting in
some type of a spacecraft.

Because he is at an angle

like modern-day astronauts
upon liftoff,

he's manipulating some controls
right here.

He has some type
of breathing apparatus

or some type of a telescope
in front of his face.

His feet are on
some type of a pedal.

And down here,
you have something

that looks like
an exhaust with flames.

In 2011, the strange carving
on King Pakal's sarcophagus lid

was translated into a 3D replica

by model maker Paul Francis.

When I saw this,
I instantly said,

"There's a guy
in a space capsule."

You know, it doesn't need
to be spelled out for me,

I don't have to find anything.
It was already there.

It was carved
many, many years ago.

I think this is
absolutely extraordinary

because this is
definitely one of

the most compelling pieces
in the ancient astronaut theory,

and to finally see Pakal
as a 3D sculpture,

to me, is a dream come true.

For the longest time,
we have said that

what is on this Pakal lid
is not something symbolic.

It was something
that the artist saw

or was told about,

and then he or she tried
to recreate this on a slab.

I love the craftsmanship.

I love how you, you know,

at the bottom of the Palenque
slab you see something like

- the flames--
- It looks, it looks like fire.

Exactly.

I had to do
a little interpretive--

I put engine bells on

- instead of the flame...
- Of course.

...but that's
the thruster stage.

I also love the detail that you
have underneath his right foot

where his foot
is resting on a pedestal,

and that is exactly what
we can see on the Palenque slab.

And how his hands are
manipulating some controls.

And also this kind of
breathing apparatus

that's going on
in front of his nose.

The breathing apparatus
is actually a very neat piece.

It's called the "Giver of Life."

The soul transfers through this,

and a giver of life to me

would be... air.

I mean, we breathe air.
This is a guy

who needs this mask to survive.

Because, where is he?

Outer space.

Could the carving on
the sarcophagus lid

of King Pakal
really provide confirmation

of the complicity
between Maya rulers

and extraterrestrial forces,

as ancient astronaut
theorists believe?

Perhaps further evidence
of a cosmic connection

can be found half a world
away in Egypt.

Any discussion about
otherworldly rulers

has to include
the ancient Egyptians.

- Right.
- Not only did they write

that the first pharaoh
was the god king Horus,

but that all subsequent pharaohs

saw themselves
as the reincarnation of Horus.

Oh, absolutely,

and in the afterlife,
each of these pharaohs

then becomes associated

with Horus's father Osiris.
And the ancient

Egyptian texts are even
clear in explaining where

these so-called gods came from,

the belt stars of Orion.

Right, and the Egyptians
also wrote about a time

when all the gods

lived on Earth among humans.

And if we're
to believe the texts,

it would seem that
they're talking about

- extraterrestrials.
- Right.

Abu Simbel, Egypt.

Here, on the western bank
of Lake Nasser

are two massive rock temples.

Carved out of the mountainside,
they were built during

the reign of Pharaoh Ramses II
in the 13th century BC.

Ramses II, also known as
Ramses the Great,

was probably
the greatest of the builders

of the ancient
Egyptian pharaohs.

He did this, basically,
to impress upon everybody

just how great he was.

What he created was a series of

absolutely gigantic

statues of himself,
and certain gods,

which formed the entrance into

a rock-cut series of inner
temples, shrines and rooms.

Ramses is forever here.

When one comes here,
you almost feel him around.

He leaves
this great temple here,

so that he could

constantly communicate

with his cosmic afterworld

and his earthly domain.

Within the main temple
of Abu Simbel

are statues of Ramses depicted
not just as a mortal king

and warrior but as the Egyptian
god of the afterlife, Osiris.

According to the Pyramid Texts,

ancient Egyptian
religious writings

that date back
to the 24th century BC,

Osiris was the offspring
of the Earth god Geb

and the sky goddess Nut

and often portrayed
as green-skinned.

He was considered to be
a wise and beloved ruler

who married his sister Isis

and was murdered
by his brother Set.

Osiris and Set were in conflict.

The story goes that Set,

being jealous of his more
successful brother, kills him...

...and cuts his body
into 14 pieces.

Isis, in despair,
collects the bodies

and performs the first
magical ritual of resurrection.

Isis, the wife and sister,

finds a way
to revive Osiris briefly

and conceive a son.

The son is a god, the god Horus.

Horus grows up

and avenges his father,

defeats Set...

...and becomes
the first Horus king

of the land of Egypt,

the cosmic land of Egypt,

the land of the gods.

Is it possible that Ramses II
was, as he claimed,

an actual physical descendant
of Osiris?

And if the legends
are to be believed,

does this lineage suggest
that Ramses was, in fact,

an extraterrestrial hybrid,

part human, part so-called god?

As pharaoh,

Ramses considered himself
the embodiment of Horus...

...essentially the Sun god
on Earth during his lifetime.

And then once he passed on
to the afterlife,

he became essentially one
with the gods,

forming his rightful place

in the everlasting pantheons
of the gods.

The myth of Osiris
was extremely important

in the credibility
of the rulers of Egypt.

Every pharaoh saw himself
as a reincarnation of Horus,

the god of the daylight,
the god of life,

and the personification
of Osiris,

the god of the unseen and
the underworld, the afterlife.

And so, consequently,

the reason, in ancient Egypt,

that the pharaoh had the right
to tell you exactly what to do

and you had to obey him

was because he was
a direct descendant of a god,

in fact, a demigod himself.

Was Ramses II's
otherworldly connection

the reason he became one
of the most powerful pharaohs

in ancient Egypt?

And what does this say about
Egypt's other legendary rulers?

Could they have been,
as their legends claim,

actual descendants
of extraterrestrial beings?

According to researchers,

additional evidence can be found
in the design and construction

of the Abu Simbel temples.

We're in the Osirian Hall.

Amazing how they carved this out
of living rock.

Slowly cutting,
slowly fashioning.

And they produced this.
It's extraordinary.

The temple at Abu Simbel

was built
with astonishing precision.

Twice a year,

light from the morning Sun

traveled down the entire expanse
of the temple cave

to the very back wall,

illuminating the statue of
Ramses seated amongst the gods.

Ramses saw himself
as a living god.

And because of this,

he felt that he should have

this absolute control
over everything,

that he himself could even get
the Sun to shine in this way,

as if the Sun itself
was working on behalf of him.

But how and why did Ramses
design and build

such a sophisticated structure
more than 3,000 years ago?

Was it designed to channel some
cosmic or otherworldly power?

The world of the spirit
and the world of matter

seem divided at times.

But a great leader
like Ramses II understands

that the mysteries
need to be concrete.

There's a need for building.

And in these monuments
and palaces

and other structures
that Ramses built,

there will be depictions
of himself as a god

or in the company of gods,

showing a divine connection
to his rule and to the people.

There are stories
in which Ramses himself claims

that he was in direct contact...

...with the guardians
of the sky.

Now, who were
these guardians of the sky?

Were they just fantasy
or did they really exist?

Ramses II and-and
all the Egyptian pharaohs,

I mean, they saw themselves
as direct descendants of gods.

And their genetic material
and their blood

was the same blood
that was coming from the gods.

And those gods, apparently,
were extraterrestrials.

Is it possible, as ancient
astronaut theorists suggest,

that the legends
and stories of Osiris,

along with
the architectural wonders

like the temples of Abu Simbel,

provide evidence that the
pharaohs of ancient Egypt had,

in fact, otherworldly origins?

And if so, might similar legends

of divine rulers
throughout the world

reveal
extraterrestrial connections?

Perhaps the answers can be found

by examining
the celestial origins

of some of Asia's
greatest emperors.

Xinzheng, China.

It was here that Huangdi,

a mythical ancient leader
known as the Yellow Emperor,

is believed to have reigned
throughout the 27th century BC.

Viewed by many as the father
of Chinese culture,

the Yellow Emperor
has been credited

with creating
traditional Chinese medicine

such as acupuncture

and introducing advancements
like wooden houses,

the bow and arrow...

...bronze coins,

and a written language.

The Yellow Emperor is,

according to most Chinese,
a legendary figure.

He's a cultural hero
as well as a ruler.

But at the same time,
he's also believed to be

actually the founder
of Chinese civilization.

In fact, just about everything
that you would think

as the basic elements
of civilization

is somehow associated
with the Yellow Emperor.

According to some researchers,

the Yellow Emperor,
like other ancient rulers,

possessed otherworldly power.

And they believe
the proof can be found

by looking
at the celestial origins

of this mysterious leader.

Like the Egyptians,
the ancient Chinese believed

their emperors
received their powers

and abilities from the heavens.

The Chinese emperor is
actually called "Son of Heaven."

What that means is
that the emperor earns

his right to rule people because
he receive a certain guidance

from heaven to rule.

Heaven is always sending down
these messages,

telling the emperor when is
the best time to harvest,

when is the best time
to sow seeds,

when to actually wage a war.

So, um, it's very important
for the emperor then

to read the signs.

According to
ancient Chinese legends,

the Yellow Emperor
was floating through space.

He saw that the people of Earth

were sad and poor.

But he saw potential.

So in order to help
the people...

...he descended from the sky...

...and taught those people

different
scientific disciplines.

The Yellow Emperor
comes down to bring comfort,

order, and leadership
to his people.

So there's a direct connection
between the divine realms

and the beginnings
of our personality,

our identity, our nation.

According to legend,

after ruling for 100 years,

the Yellow Emperor
made preparations

to leave his earthly kingdom.

After Huangdi's work
was done on planet Earth,

he returned to the stars.

And he did this by doing
something very specific.

He installed a cauldron.

And the moment
he installed that thing,

according to
the ancient legends,

the heavens opened.

A yellow dragon comes down
from the heavens

and he rides the dragon out
into the stars

and becomes stars himself.

Mysterious cauldrons?

Flying dragons?

Could these fantastic notions
really have played a part

in the fate
of China's Yellow Emperor?

Or is there another, perhaps
more plausible explanation?

Are we really just talking
about folklore here?

Or did something
actually happen in real life?

And of course the answer is...

...that something
was witnessed by our ancestors

that they could best describe

with the vocabulary that was
available to them at the time.

When we look at the story
of the Yellow Emperor

ascending into heaven,

this, to me,
sounds like a description

of some type of UFO encounter.

It's very possible
that the Yellow Emperor

was actually traveling on a UFO.

Is it possible
the Yellow Emperor was, in fact,

an extraterrestrial being,

one that traveled to and from
Earth by means of a spacecraft?

If so, might there be similar
descriptions of close encounters

found in the historical accounts
of other,

perhaps even more mysterious
Far Eastern emperors?

Japan. 660 BC.

Emperor Jimmu becomes
the first ruler

of the island nation's
imperial family.

According to legend, the
ancient Japanese also believed

Jimmu was the direct descendent
of the Sun goddess, Amaterasu.

The Japanese people worshipped
a deity named Amaterasu

who was believed
to shine like the Sun.

She sent her descendants
to Earth

in order to bring order out
of chaos.

Japan's first emperor, Jimmu,

directly connected himself
as a descendant of Amaterasu,

therefore setting up his lineage
in connection to this divinity.

He was the man who united

the island of Japan's
various warring factions

into-into one country.

And all emperors since Jimmu

have all claimed descent
from the Sun goddess.

And the reason why the Japanese
flag has this rising sun

is that it represents the
descent from the Sun goddess.

According to legend,

the Sun goddess Amaterasu
gave three gifts to Jimmu...

...a mirror,

a jewel,

and a sword.

Known as the imperial regalia
of Japan,

it is believed that,
with these divine artifacts,

Jimmu was able
to control his empire.

Apart from the emperor
and a few elite priests,

no one's ever allowed
to see them.

So, where they are,
nobody knows.

But it is said that in three
separate shrines in Japan,

which are
also tourist attractions,

somewhere deep inside them,

the priesthood keeps
these secret crown jewels

that no one
is ever allowed to see.

But what unique powers
might these three divine gifts

have possessed?

Might they have been
not merely symbols of power

but examples of highly advanced
extraterrestrial technology?

According to legend,

this mirror was
quite extraordinary.

VON DÄNIKEN:
They say in this mirror
he could see what happened

at every minute around all the
islands in the Pacific Oceans.

At every minute.
So what is this mirror?

Some technical device?

So what is it
that we're looking at here?

Well, if you look at it
from a perspective

of misunderstood technology,

then next time you look
at your computer monitor

and you're looking
at a YouTube clip from,

let's say, the Iguazu Falls,

then you are looking
at a magic mirror

that shows you
everything in the world.

And you kind of have
to wonder here

whether these objects
had more power

than just an ordinary thing.

And perhaps they were actually
highly technical objects

given to him
by extraterrestrials,

by the gods, to help him
as the first emperor.

Might Jimmu's mirror really have
been a technological device

given to the emperor
in an effort

to help him rule his people?

Does it suggest the emperor
was actually an alien being?

Or was he a human messenger

employed by the gods
to impose order

and propagate the notion
that otherworldly visitors

were to be regarded
by humans as gods?

Perhaps the proof can be found
by examining the legends

of other ancient kings
and rulers,

rulers who some believe
had even more powerful

and deadly
extraterrestrial technology.

Of all the places I've traveled,

nowhere have I encountered
more people who are open

to the ancient astronaut theory
than in India.

And their ancient stories
are full of legends

of celestial beings
traveling across the sky

and having access
to tremendous technology.

And a central figure
of those stories is Rama,

a god king who ruled
around 7,000 years ago and was

a very early teacher
of humankind.

Right. And Rama had
this incredible weapon

that caused mass devastation.

And the way it's described,

it sounds like an atomic weapon.

- Mm-hmm.
- We talked about this

in a 2013 episode called
"Emperors, Kings, and Pharaohs."

November 13, 2012.

Every fall,
Hindus throughout the world

celebrate in a festival
of lights called Diwali.

Diwali is a five-day
festival of lights,

which is as important
to the Hindus

as Christmas is to Christians.

The Hindus celebrate this
festival with great reverence.

The festival
commemorates King Rama,

one of the most popular figures
of Hinduism.

But just who was King Rama?

And why is this ancient leader
so revered even to this day?

Hindus believe that Rama

was a real-- physically--
historical king

who lived 7,000 years ago.

Now, Rama was supposed
to bring writing

and enlightenment and philosophy

and all sorts of various other
engineering skills to humanity.

In Hindu mythology,
Rama is described

as the embodiment
of truth and goodness.

And it is said
that he was a reincarnation

of the blue-skinned god Vishnu.

According to the Hindu texts,

Rama's rise to power began
after a battle he waged

with a ten-headed demon king
named Ravana,

who had kidnapped his wife.

Rama goes in search of his wife,

who was kidnapped by Ravana.

There's a long battle,
uh, between Ravana

and Rama and his army.

Rama used an incredibly
sophisticated device

called the Brahmastra

to kill the demon king
and rescue his wife.

Known to cause severe damage,

it was a weapon
for which there was no defense.

Brahmastra is
the most deadliest weapon

ever conceived,
ever produced in Hinduism.

And Brahmastra, obviously,
as the name suggests,

it was created
by god Brahma himself.

It was a weapon
that was so powerful that,

when it was used,

it would absolutely annihilate
the enemy completely...

...and would also make
the whole environment

around where the weapon
was used completely desolate.

What this sounds like

is something
that we would create today.

It actually sounds like
the effects of a nuclear bomb.

Might the Brahmastra,

as described
in ancient Indian texts,

really have existed?

And if so,
where did it come from?

Might it have been something
like a nuclear weapon,

one created by the gods and used
by Rama thousands of years ago?

In the case
of the ancient Indian epics,

what we're being told is that
this was technology of the gods,

that this was
extraterrestrial technology

which was somehow used
or at least could be used

on planet Earth
and which could result

in the complete destruction
or annihilation

of the human species.

Did King Rama possess a deadly,
perhaps nuclear power?

If so, do the stories
of the Brahmastra

help to prove that Rama

and other ancient rulers
like him

descended
from extraterrestrial beings?

Sanchi, India.

Here, 400 miles south
of New Delhi,

lies the Great Stupa,

a dome-shaped Buddhist shrine.

This incredible structure
was first commissioned

in the 3rd century BC
by Ashoka the Great,

an emperor who ruled over
most of India by 263 BC.

Ashoka the Great was intent

in conquering all of India.

So there was one place that
he had not been able to conquer.

And he finally mounts
this attack.

It is said that many thousands
of people were killed,

soldiers, from both sides.

When he went
to the battleground,

he became very, very moved
by this horrendous scene.

And then he became a changed man
and he devoted all of his time

in propagating the
peaceful message of the Buddha.

But according to
the 2nd century Sanskrit text

called the Ashokavadana,

there is another,
even more profound tale

describing
Ashoka's transformation

from brutal tyrant
to religious leader,

one that some believe
provides evidence

of an otherworldly influence.

A wandering monk
was imprisoned by Ashoka.

He throws this man
into a cauldron

and wants to boil him alive.

At this point, the monk
levitates up into the air.

The eyewitness reports say
that the monk's body

was half fire

and half flowing water.

Ashoka was so amazed
by what he saw

that he completely shut down
the torture prisons.

After Ashoka's conversion,

he gets so engaged
in the Buddhist tradition

that he begins building stupas,

most notably the one at Sanchi.

Like other stupas
throughout Asia,

Ashoka's great monument
has become

one of the most important places
of Buddhist pilgrimage.

Pilgrims would make a visit
to the stupa

in order to receive blessings
and prayer energy.

Ashoka built stupas and other
structures throughout Asia

that were inscribed
with his teachings.

And from this, we get
the idea that he was trying

to communicate through stone
throughout time and generations.

But just what was Ashoka
trying to communicate?

Is it possible,
as some researchers believe,

that Ashoka had experienced
an extraterrestrial encounter?

And if so, might stupas
actually represent

something
much more technological

and with origins
even more out of this world?

When you look at the structure
of these stupas,

it certainly appears
as if there may be

some reference being made
in their shape

to actual extraterrestrial
piloted vehicles.

This may be related to
the Hindu legend of the vimana,

which is allegedly a noiseless,
wingless aircraft

that flies through the air.

Vimanas are
described in the Hindu epics.

And their mission is
to transport gods, primarily,

and the gods are the owners
of these vehicles,

because they are worthy
of traveling through space

very fast.

These people built, in stone,

objects which they seem
to have seen in the sky,

in flight, at some point,
no doubt,

landed on the surface
of the Earth as well.

When these objects left,

they began
to build them in stone

so that they would have
reminders

that this was the instruments
in which the gods came to them.

Might the Great Stupa
really have been built

to symbolize vimanas,

the flying machines described
in ancient Hindu texts?

And if so, might this provide
even more compelling proof

that powerful leaders,
like Rama and Ashoka the Great,

were in direct contact
with extraterrestrial beings?

For proponents
of the ancient astronaut theory,

few examples stand out more than
that of an odd-looking pharaoh

and his obsession
with a disc in the sky.

One of the most interesting
stories we have

about a potentially
otherworldly ruler

is that of the Egyptian pharaoh
Akhenaten.

And he had
this strange appearance,

with an odd-shaped body

- and an elongated head.
- Right.

And he had Egypt abandon
its entire pantheon of gods

in order to worship
the Aten only,

which was this disc-shaped deity
up in the sky.

Now, to me,
for all intents and purposes,

that sounds like
a flying saucer.

And what's even more compelling
about Akhenaten

is we know for certain
he was real.

This isn't a figure
from mythology.

Akhenaten is
in the historical record.

Amarna, Egypt. 1891.

Italian archaeologist
Alessandro Barsanti

explores the tomb constructed
for the pharaoh Akhenaten...

...but finds no evidence
of his mummy.

What's really interesting
is that the Egyptologists

were certain that they would
find Akhenaten behind that tomb.

And they didn't.

Just what happened
to this revolutionary leader

after his death is as mysterious
as the pharaoh himself.

Was he never actually buried
in his tomb?

Or could he have been removed?

Akhenaten ruled from 1353 BC

until his death 17 years later.

His reign was dominated
by controversy,

when he abandoned the pantheon
of old Egyptian gods

and instead demanded
that his subjects worship

the Sun god Aten.

The Aten was something
that he saw in the sky

between two mountains...

...that inspired him to create
the sacred city of Amarna.

Now, the typical view is
the Aten must be the Sun,

but it is entirely possible

that what Akhenaten
was seeing was, in fact,

an extraterrestrial
flying craft.

Did Akhenaten uproot
the entire kingdom of Egypt

because of
an extraterrestrial encounter?

Or could there be an even more
profound explanation?

If you compare images
of Akhenaten

to other depictions of pharaohs,

you'll notice that Akhenaten
looks very different.

He had this very bizarre
elongated skull,

and he had this weird potbelly
and weird arms.

So, was he really a human?

Perhaps Akhenaten
was not of this earth.

While archaeologists
have yet to uncover

the remains of Akhenaten,

ancient astronaut theorists
believe

that depictions of him
having an elongated skull

could be more
than just artistic license,

because there are other mummies
that do, in fact,

have unusual skulls.

Some elongated skulls
can be explained by the fact

that numerous ancient cultures
practiced head binding,

a form of body modification
where the heads of infants

were tightly bound
to force their skulls

to become conical in shape.

But several misshapen skulls
appear to defy explanation.

In Peru and Malta,

elongated skulls
have been discovered

that are mysteriously missing
a sagittal suture,

the fibrous jagged joint
found in all human skulls.

When you compare some
of these elongated skulls,

some have sutures,
like we have as humans,

and then there are other skulls

that do not have
the same sutures.

So is it possible
that some of 'em are

of actual
extraterrestrial origin?

It would not surprise me
in the least bit.

In the least bit.

Could the elongated skulls
found on certain mummies

actually be
of extraterrestrial origin?

For years, researcher
Brien Foerster has been studying

elongated skulls found
in Paracas, Peru.

And recent DNA tests
have yielded startling results.

Initial results,
though ambiguous,

seem to indicate that
partial segments of their DNA

are not to be found
in what is called GenBank,

which is the record of human DNA
that's been decoded so far.

Astonishingly, the geneticist
who's been studying them

has said that their DNA,

at least in some aspects,

are not human.

Might the DNA of the mummified
Paracas skulls contain the truth

about ancient man's contact
with extraterrestrials?

Could it be that the mummy of
Akhenaten has never been found

because it was
deliberately hidden or destroyed

to keep us from discovering
its alien origin?

I hope that one day
Akhenaten's mummy is discovered

so we can take a look
at that elongated skull

and compare it
to the many other similar skulls

- that have been discovered
around the world.
- Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Right. And some of the most
unusual elongated skulls

have been found in Peru.

And we don't
really know much about

who these skulls belonged to,

but they look so strange

that they might be
extraterrestrials.

Absolutely.

And my good friend and mentor,

Erich von Däniken, in 2018,

traveled to Peru

to examine some
of these elongated skulls

up close and personal.

Paracas, Peru.

February 2018.

In his ongoing search
for further evidence

that ancient aliens came
to Earth centuries ago,

Erich von Däniken travels
to the Paracas History Museum

to meet with the museum's
assistant director

Brien Foerster.

Foerster has promised
to give him an up close look

at a remarkable collection
of skulls,

skulls which von Däniken
believes are not

- of human origin.
-These were all found

in the same tomb,

and so they were members
of the same family.

Over the years,

hundreds of strangely elongated
human-like skulls

have been found
all over the world,

from Australia--
where the skulls were estimated

to be at least
10,000 years old--

to the Ukraine-- where they were
found in catacombs

that are known to date back
at least 5,000 years.

Because throughout history,
various cultures have engaged

in the ritual practice
of artificially elongating

the skulls of infants
by tightly wrapping their heads,

most members
of both the scientific

and academic communities
have dismissed the skulls

found in Peru
as having been created

by using the same method.

But Brien Foerster is one

of a growing handful
that does not agree.

According
to his years of research,

a number of the skulls
on display at the Paracas Museum

exhibit other characteristics
that cannot be explained

by the native practice
of head-binding.

What's controversial
about the elongated skulls is

that, in many cases,
the cranial capacity is larger

than a normal human.

And therefore, they would not
simply be examples

of cranial deformation,

but possibly a separate
subspecies of humanity,

or more.

- Now. Oh, wow, wow, wow.
- Yeah.

At least 20, if not more,
I would suggest here.

Mm-hmm.
This is the main display case.

This is a normal-looking
human skull

from the Inca time period.

This was a farmer, but then
you see the variation in shapes.

You have ones which are
horizontally elongated,

like that one.

And then you have
the classic vertical elongation.

And notice the size
of the eye sockets.

The eye sockets are,
in some cases,

50% larger
than a normal human being.

VON DÄNIKEN:
Wow. Absolutely incredible.

You have two possibilities.

Are we humans made the change?

Artificially,
we pressed the head together,

- the bones together?
- Mm-hmm.

Or we have it to do again
with extraterrestrials.

Very unlikely that it's simple
cranial deformation.

I think genetically,

this person may have been born
with an elongated skull.

What can you explain me
to this here?

Well, I want you
to go ahead and hold this.

Mamma mia.

That's a classic
Paracas elongated skull.

Except there is no fontanelle.
I see nada.

Exactly.
The sagittal suture is missing.

Something is wrong here.

Missing the sagittal suture?

The fibrous tissue joint found
on every human skull,

connecting the two large bones
that protect the brain?

But how could it be missing?

And so, medical professionals
are absolutely

dumbfounded when they see it.

It doesn't fit in
with a normal human skull.

Incredible.

Eight years

after Erich von Däniken wrote
Chariots of the Gods,

author and researcher
Zecharia Sitchin

began publishing his
Earth Chronicles book series,

which also proposed
that ancient aliens had a hand

in the creation
and development of humankind.

In There Were Giants
Upon the Earth,

Sitchin suggested
that extraterrestrial DNA

still exists in humans

and that the proof
might be found

by closely examining
the ancient skull

of a Sumerian queen who ruled
sometime around 2500 BC,

and which is currently
being stored

at the Natural History Museum
in London.

One of the greatest
researchers of our time

in the ancient astronaut theory,
Zecharia Sitchin,

who passed away in 2010,
had one last wish,

closing out his legacy
of research,

which was to test the remains
of Queen Puabi.

Sitchin spent 50 years
of research

looking into Sumerian cuneiform,

and putting forth the idea

that the Anunnaki,
these extraterrestrial gods,

visited ancient Sumer.

And what's really interesting is

that she was actually known
as "Nin-Puabi,"

with the "nin"
actually representing

the term "goddess"
in the Sumerian language.

So, Zecharia Sitchin
felt very strongly

that if
the Natural History Museum

were to do genetic testing
on Queen Puabi,

that we would find
that there are parts of her DNA

that are extraterrestrial.

It's said
that she had an elongated head,

as many of the kings and queens
and royalty of Sumeria had,

as did the Anunnaki.

And some say
that she had more teeth

in her mouth
than a normal human.

If they won't test
these remains,

you have to ask why.

Is there some secret encoded
in that DNA

that they don't want to hear?

Might it be that the remains
of Queen Puabi could prove

for once and for all
that ancient astronaut theory

isn't theory after all?

Is it possible that proof

of humanity's extraterrestrial
origins actually exists?

And, if so,
could it currently be sitting,

unexamined,
on a shelf in a London museum?

Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes,

but believe equally compelling
evidence can also be found

by tracing back
the genealogical roots

of modern royalty.

One thing that's
really interesting to me is

that while we've been talking
about all these ancient

rulers and stories,

there are some monarchies
around the world, even today,

that claim a connection
to the gods.

And that's why bloodlines

are considered so important
to some royal families.

Oh, sure.

And this isn't something
that people only thought about

thousands of years ago.

There are some who say
that some of today's

kings and queens
are direct descendants

of the so-called gods.

London, England.

June 2012.

Queen Elizabeth II

celebrates her Diamond Jubilee,

commemorating 60 years
on the British throne.

The 87-year-old monarch presides
over the United Kingdom

and 15 commonwealth realms,

with a combined population

of more than 134 million people.

Her grandsons,

Prince William and Prince Harry,
are heirs to the throne,

in the line of succession after
their father Prince Charles.

But from where does the British
monarchy claim its authority?

And what are the origins
of its vast wealth

and symbolic power?

Queen Elizabeth II has sat

on the throne since 1952.

And she has huge prestige,

because the royal family
in this country

is one of the most
successful organizations,

institutions in the world.

One of the most important things

for any leader is
their bloodline to be continued.

We want the best for our own
children, our own offspring,

as if it's some form
of immortality.

The succession of power
in ancient civilizations

depended very much
on bloodlines.

Like other European monarchies,

the British royal family has
fiercely protected the integrity

of its bloodlines
for thousands of years, but why?

What exactly is so unique
or significant

about royal bloodlines?

Various leaders
of ancient cultures went

to considerable lengths
to make sure

that their own bloodline
continued

as the ruling elite.

For example, the pharaohs of
Egypt married their own sisters

or mothers.

The famous Tutankhamen
was married to his own sister,

and previous to that, he was
married to his own grandmother

so that they could keep the
blood within the same family.

So, if you were
of the same blood

as Cyrus, Ramses,
Alexander II,

Leonidas of Sparta,

you had some kind of claim
to recognition.

In the ancient world,

it was seen as extending
to the right to rule.

It gave legitimacy,
it gave continuity,

it gave certainty.

That is still recognized
in some respects now.

We have had, for instance,

father and son presidents
of the United States.

We've had a series of members of
the same family running India.

We have even had tyrannies
in North Korea,

father-son inheritance.

It's extraordinary the extent
to which this still exists.

It is important for people

to feel their leaders
are extraordinary, not common.

So much is focused
on the bloodlines.

Have they descended
from the gods?

Have they descended from rulers
that were unusually exceptional?

And it was something

that they would
obviously pass on

into the successive generations,

so that if you had that blood,

you also had that power
of connection with the gods.

According to some researchers,

the bloodline
of Queen Elizabeth II

can be traced all the way back
to that of a mythical deity

named Woden.

If we look closely,

the current monarch,
Queen Elizabeth II,

could trace lineage to Woden
through the Kings of Wessex.

Woden is supposedly
an ancient king.

He is obviously a variation

on the Norse god Odin
or the German Wotan.

But he is a mighty,
powerful, furious leader,

a semi-god
or a god in his own right.

He is also a warrior leader,

so he is a very exciting,
ecstatic energy.

Now, interestingly,

the legends associated
with this god, Woden,

was that usually
around midwinter,

the god Woden would lead
a great hunt across the skies.

All these horsemen would be seen
flying across the skies.

It's described that when
Woden would pass overhead,

that people would witness seeing

strong winds and hearing
thunderous claps of sound.

And Woden, in some legends,

was said to have been seen
riding an eight-legged horse.

In ancient English legends,

Woden was known
as the god of wind.

And whenever he appeared,

he flew across the sky

in a fiery, eight-legged horse.

Now what does that mean?

Whatever it was
they encountered,

that they witnessed
up in the sky,

could best be described
as an eight-legged horse,

because they didn't have
the vocabulary for spacecraft.

But did,
as mainstream scholars suggest,

Queen Elizabeth's ancestors

simply claim
a blood connection to Woden

in an effort to strengthen
and legitimize their reign?

Or is it possible

that the British monarch
is an actual

flesh-and-blood descendant
of otherworldly beings?

Tracing royal lineage back

to a god implies great wisdom,

almost celestial power,
a connection to the divine,

truly making the gods
on our side.

Kings and queens
all over the world,

particularly in Europe,

they are from
a special bloodline,

and they make a big deal
of that.

So you have to ask yourself,

what is it about their blood,

as opposed to other people's
blood, that's so special?

Might ancient royalty's

possible
extraterrestrial origins

explain why monarchs have
protected their bloodlines

for centuries?

Or might there be another
even more biological reason?

What if the proof could be seen
with the naked eye?

Not in ancient monuments

or deciphered texts,
but in our own DNA?

The Mongol Empire

in the 13th century AD.

This massive kingdom,

one that stretched
from the Caspian Sea

to the Sea of Japan,

was forged
by the emperor Genghis Khan.

Uniting the nomadic tribes
of Northeast Asia,

historians believe
that by the time

of his death in 1227,

Genghis Khan ruled over as many
as 100 million people.

Many people think of
the great empires of the world,

such as the Roman Empire,

the empire
of Alexander the Great,

or the British Empire.

The greatest in landmass, area,

the world has ever seen was
the empire of Genghis Khan.

He and his immediate descendants
conquered all of China,

conquered most
of what's now Russia,

and half of Europe.

It was an astonishing empire,

and built by people

who had had really no proper
civilization before that.

Although generally believed

to be a brutal
and bloody conqueror,

Genghis Khan also
brought communication,

technology, justice
and prosperity to his people.

He attributed his success
to Tengri,

the god of the eternal blue sky.

Genghis Khan was known
to disappear for days

and climb
the most sacred mountain of Asia

in order to commune with Tengri,

who imparted to him
not only battle plans,

but spiritual capability

that made him
the amazing leader that he was.

Genghis Khan believed Tengri
to be his sky father,

and claimed that he had a direct
genetic connection with Tengri.

He even referred to himself
as a man from the sky.

Now, if this is actually
the case,

Genghis Khan
might have some type

of extraterrestrial component
to him.

We know
that scientifically today,

one in 200 people
can actually be traced back

to Genghis Khan.

So if Genghis Khan does have

any extraterrestrial genetics
to him, it's possible

that over 16 million people
now share this same gene.

Is it possible
that Genghis Khan did, in fact,

have extraterrestrial ancestry,
as he himself claimed?

And, if so, might evidence
of that alien biology appear

in certain bloodlines,
even today?

London, England.

January 2013.

Researchers
at the University College London

announce their discovery
of a unique DNA sequence,

one that suggests
that some people may,

in fact, be born to lead.

Comparing DNA samples taken
from sets of twins,

both fraternal and identical,

scientists were able
to determine

that as much as 24%
of leadership behavior

could be attributed to genetics.

These are classical
twin studies.

The identical twins
are genetically identical.

Non-identical twins

are basically like siblings.

The kids were asked
whether, in their job,

they supervised someone,

or they did not
supervise someone.

This was the question
the research team

associated
with leadership quality,

yes or no.

Minor changes

in the genetic composition
were then correlated

with the incidence
of having a leadership

or not having a leadership,

based on the answer
to the question.

And it was demonstrated

that one particular genotype
associates

with having a leadership role.

Before this, it was assumed
that leadership was learned.

But now we know
that leadership has a direct

genetic component to it,

and it can, in fact,
be inherited.

But is it really possible

that the world's
legendary leaders

might have shared
a common genetic trait?

A so-called leadership gene?

And might this gene have been,

not a product
of genetic evolution,

but inherited by mankind
from some otherworldly source?

VON DÄNIKEN:
A long, long time ago,

the gods from outer space
were on Earth,

and they definitely
made a genetical change

with some of our humans.

These humans obviously

are of a little higher level
than the rest of mankind.

Just like today, we want

to view our leaders
as being special,

smarter than us, more capable,

and it's the same thing
in ancient times, too.

The rulers were special.

They somehow had god
in their bloods.

They were descendants
of the gods.

They had special DNA.

One thing is certain,

and that is, if it wasn't
for these ancient peoples

believing that their kings

and emperors were divine,
there is very little

to have held these
early civilizations together.

And believing that your leader
was somehow a god,

or descended from a god,
kept people together.

And so, it's a part of survival
of the human race.

Many of our greatest rulers
were guided

or influenced directly,

according to what they say,
by celestial beings.

Perhaps it is this influence

that gave some of these rulers
the capacity

to change human history.

Were there really
extraterrestrial influences

steering the emperors,
kings and pharaohs

of the ancient world?

And, if so,

does this mean that the blood
of the so-called gods

doesn't only flow
throughout the veins

of today's monarchs,

but in the DNA
of millions of people

living throughout the world?

The implications are
both astonishing and profound.

Because it may not be
that we need to wait

for Earth's alien ancestors
to return.

It may be...
they are already here.

I mean, when you think about it,

what we're talking
about here is humans

being coregents
or co-rulers with the gods,

- with extraterrestrials.
-Yeah, and so,

the gods are, you know,
training these new god-kings,

who are perhaps, you know,
semi-extraterrestrial,

- to learn how to rule.
-Right.

And they aided us
in the evolutionary process.

And so, you know,
I don't think that,

if you have someone

that you are the father
or the parents of,

that you lose interest.

I think it's something where

we're "stuck with them"
for a long time.

Right.

We were, in part,
trained by these gods

in order to participate

in a galactic government.

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