Original subtitles

- [Tony] Tonight on

"The Proof Is Out There: Alien Edition."

Are these Mayan stones

proof of extraterrestrial contact on Earth?

- If this is a real carving, it would be one

of the most significant archeological finds in history.

- [Tony] Does this manuscript suggest

that aliens visited Earth?

- It really looks like it should be a readable text,

but there's not a single word

that we've been able to translate.

- [Tony] And is this rock found in Africa

evidence of an alien civilization?

- Once this meteorite was discovered,

it opened up a whole new conversation

about the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

- [Tony] With UFO reports at an all-time high,

we're examining the most compelling evidence

caught on camera.

Tonight's focus: ancient visitors.

Our experts will analyze the evidence.

- So far, no one has been able

to figure out what it even is.

- [Tony] And then we'll pass a verdict.

- I think it's very possible

that it could be hiding information.

- The proof starts now.

[intense inquisitive music]

Good evening everyone,

and welcome to "The Proof Is Out There."

In the past we have examined paintings,

hieroglyphs, and cave art

to search for signs of extra-terrestrial visitation.

But do these next images actually show ancient people

interacting with alien life forms?

[subdued music]

It's March, 2017 in the rainforest of Huatusco

in the Mexican state of Veracruz.

Explorer Jose Aguayo and his colleagues

are checking out some caves

when they come across something

that needs to be seen to be believed.

[Jose speaking Spanish]

[camera shutter clicks]

- [Tony] Jose begins documenting

the cave walls and floor,

which are covered in intricate carvings,

and in a nearby river,

they stumble upon something even more compelling:

this triangular piece of jade.

On the left is a typical Mayan leader

wearing a traditional headdress,

but on the right is what looks like an alien being.

The two appear to be exchanging gifts.

And above the figures

is a craft that looks shockingly like a UFO.

Jose says the people who led them to the spot

did so for a very specific reason.

[Jose speaking Spanish]

- [Tony] Jason Martell says

the artifacts Jose's group found at this site

had been nicknamed the Stones of the First Encounter.

- Some of the people that discovered these artifacts

went on to theorize that there was some type

of an interaction and exchange happening

between the Mayans and the extraterrestrials,

and maybe there's still in existence

in part of these caves extraterrestrial technology.

- [Tony] But Martell says this isn't the first time

people have claimed aliens visited Mesoamerica.

- [Jason] There was 1,000-year-old Mexican cemetery

unearthed while some locals

were trying to create an irrigation channel,

and the discovery was of over a dozen

of these very elongated skulls,

very similar to these jade aliens.

- [Tony] Martell notes that many people see

a resemblance between this image

and multiple accounts of gray aliens

known for their gray skin, bulbous heads, small bodies,

and black almond-shaped eyes.

And he says there may be other references

to alien encounters in ancient Mayan texts.

- [Jason] The former minister of tourism

for the Mexican State of Campeche went on record

confirming the discovery of extraterrestrial life.

He also mentioned that there are

perhaps 3,000-year-old landing pads hidden in the jungle

and that there are ancient Mayan codices

that have been hidden from the public

which clearly discuss extraterrestrial contact.

- Even one of the most well-known Mayan codices,

the nearly 1,000-year-old Dresden Codex

includes advanced knowledge

of astronomy and celestial bodies.

So could these Mayan jade stones have been carved

to commemorate an interplanetary visit?

Let's see what our experts can dig up.

[inquisitive music]

- These bodies that we have found

that have elongated skulls do look very alien.

But of course, once we do the DNA

and we know the culture,

we know for certain that these people are human.

It is just a cultural practice known as head binding

where the distortion of the cranium

is important to that culture.

Generally only those with power in that culture do this.

- [Tony] So the elongated skulls aren't from alien visitors,

but our question is,

do these artifacts truly document Mayans

interacting with extraterrestrials?

- The location where it's found

is in what we call Mesoamerica,

a very large area of a patchwork of civilizations,

but it is not in the Maya area.

The Maya area kind of radiates out from where Guatemala is

into Belize, Honduras, Yucatan, Chiapas,

but Veracruz is far outside of the Maya area.

- [Tony] Strain adds that the piece has yet

to be put under a microscope to be accurately dated.

- [Kathy] The National Institute

of Anthropology and History of Mexico

have not authenticated these artifacts,

and so until they do so, I do not put any stock

that these are real artifacts from the Mayans.

I would like to believe that these are artifacts,

but I believe they're more arti-fictions.

[inquisitive music]

- Our verdict: these are likely fake artifacts.

The stones are inconsistent with Mayan traditions

and nothing else like them

has been found elsewhere in Mexico.

So their age and authenticity remain in doubt,

at least for now.

[unsettling music]

Decoding the Rosetta Stone in the 1800s

opened the door for the understanding

of Ancient Egyptian.

But there's one old manuscript that is so bizarre,

no one has been able to figure out what it says.

It's even been called the world's most mysterious book.

Take a look.

[subdued music]

- [Tony] It's 1912 outside Rome, Italy.

A Polish-American book dealer named Wilfrid Voynich

buys a text from a Jesuit college.

This late-Medieval manuscript

is made up of roughly 240 pages

bound in vellum made from calf skin.

Many pages feature colorful drawings of unusual plant life.

But then we come to this.

- This, some believe,

seems to show the heliocentric theory,

which is the Sun is at the center of the solar system

and the planets and celestial bodies are orbiting around it.

- [Tony] This wouldn't be so odd if it weren't for the fact

that this codex was apparently created

a century before astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus

first modeled his theory

that planets revolve around the Sun.

And what's stranger still

is this manuscript is written

in a language no one has ever heard of.

- [Erin] So far no one has been able to figure out

what the Voynich Manuscript says or what it even is.

It has six sections: botany, astronomy and astrology,

cosmology, biology, pharmacological,

and then a text section that appears to be recipes.

- [Tony] Elonka Dunin says who wrote this manuscript

is entirely unclear,

but we do know it passed through many hands.

- The general sense is that it came

from somewhere around the north of Italy

because if we zoom in to the tiny pictures,

there's a castle with a swallowtail merlon

and really the only place those kind of castles existed

was in northern Italy.

- [Tony] But that still leaves the question

of its unknown language

open to interpretation and speculation.

- [Erin] Some people believe that the Voynich may be

a previously undiscovered language dialect

of a civilization that no longer exists.

We've found cities under sand

and wiped off the face of the Earth by flood.

So maybe this comes from a civilization like that.

- [Tony] Yet, even that wouldn't explain

why this text seems to depict earth orbiting the Sun

long before that theory was modeled.

- [Erin] Some people think that the person

who created the Voynich had this extra-cosmic knowledge

that people on Earth didn't have.

In other words, an extraterrestrial.

[curious music]

- [Tony] The greatest cryptanalysts in history,

including the first chief of cryptology at the NSA

have tried to crack this code over the years.

Yet thus far, linguists, computer scientists,

and even computers themselves have failed.

So let's see if our experts can help further

our understanding of this centuries-old mystery.

[inquisitive music]

Over the years, some have wondered

if Voynich actually wrote this cryptic book himself

just to make a quick buck.

- This book was radiocarbon dated

to be between 1404 and 1438 so that we know it's very old.

It's made of vellum,

and vellum was a more expensive kind of paper.

For someone 600 years ago to think to themselves,

"Well, I'm gonna spend all this money

and invest the time to make it look like language

just to pull off a hoax."

That seems like an awful lot of work

for something that person would never live

to see the benefit of.

- [Tony] Despite its peculiarities

archeologist, Dr. Ed Barnhart says the book fits

with the style of the time.

- [Ed] Visually and structurally

it looks like an alphabetic text.

It's got short words and long words.

There are words that repeat, there are complete sentences,

it's organized in paragraphs.

But there's not a single pattern

that they can actually start to translate what it says.

- [Tony] So could this actually be

the work of intelligent beings from out of this world?

- [Kathy] It really doesn't evoke somebody

who is advanced in technology.

I doubt aliens even use cursive or pen to paper.

- [Tony] If it's not aliens,

then could this actually be from a lost civilization?

- [Ed] Archeology's all about patterns

so the fact that the best minds in the world

have tried to find things associated with it and failed,

there's no way that a book, which is a fragile artifact,

remained and none of the other materials

of this ancient civilization remained whatsoever.

- [Tony] So then who did write this mysterious manuscript?

One key clue may be that,

at the time, cutting-edge scientists

proposing controversial theories of the universe

were subject to punishment from the church

for radical views.

- [Elonka] I think it's very possible

that it could be hiding information.

There were many things that scientists of the time

wouldn't want the church to know,

especially with alchemy and that would involve plants.

- [Tony] So were these scientists communicating in code

to avoid punishment?

- [Ed] We think that maybe it was some kind of brilliant

cipher that these scientists were using

where they could share information in books like this,

but if the church got ahold of it,

they would have no idea what they were talking about.

[inquisitive music]

- [Tony] Our verdict: the person or persons

who wrote this manuscript,

what it says, and why are still unknown.

It's possible scientists of the early Renaissance created it

to share controversial new theories

like the idea that the Earth orbits the Sun,

but unless we crack the code, we'll never know for sure.

- [Tony] All around the world, iconic ancient ruins stand

as hallmarks of human achievement,

the Great Pyramids in Egypt, Stonehenge in England.

But in our next story,

we visit an ancient site so impressive

some say it couldn't have been built by human hands.

[subdued music]

On a desert plateau

in the Andes Mountains of Western Bolivia

lies a place known as Puma Punku

which roughly translates to "door of the puma."

At a distance,

it looks a little bit like a construction site,

but a closer look reveals this.

We see dozens of amazing smooth stones

and structures featuring clean right angles

along with expertly fitted and spaced joints

and drill holes.

Perfectly cut H-patterns and designs

are seen carved into the stones,

some with small doorways.

These megaliths are among the biggest on earth

with the largest weighing about 131 tons.

Estimates on Puma Punku's age vary,

but many say it's more than 1,500 years old.

But author and filmmaker Brian Foerster

has studied the site for decades and he isn't so sure.

- Standard story is that it was constructed

by a culture called the Tiwanaku people

who were barely Bronze Age.

But when my first visit to Puma Punku

convinced me that it had to have been done

with very advanced technology.

The surfaces are so flat

that I had brought, at different times,

a three-foot level and put it up against the stones,

and they're perfectly straight.

There's no wobble of the level at all.

- [Tony] And this isn't the only mystery

at this ancient site.

- [Brien] There are very strange magnetic anomalies

with the gray andesite stone.

It makes compasses literally go crazy,

which is hard to explain.

- [Tony] The mysterious nature of this site

has even inspired otherworldly theories.

- [Brien] So the first time I went there, I entertained the

idea that it could have been done by aliens

that left nothing behind except the ruins themselves.

- There certainly are some people

who believe that these blocks

were so meticulously and precisely made

that they could only have been made by ancient astronauts.

Part of the mystery that exists here

is indeed, Puma Punku means "doorway of the puma."

So perhaps these are small doorways to go through

and enter a different world entirely.

[curious music]

- [Tony] The first modern power tool was invented in 1895.

It was a hand drill with a small electric motor

and it led to today's DIY darlings like this baby.

[drill whirs] [Tony chuckles]

But these inventions didn't exist thousands of years ago.

So how did Puma Punku come to be?

Let's drill down with our experts.

[inquisitive music]

A 2018 geologic study

unlocked a secret about these amazing structures.

- [Ed] A geologist determined

that perhaps these are, in fact, cement molds,

very ancient ones, ones made mostly of andesite dust,

and it would explain a lot of these perfect angles.

It just seems hard to believe

that people 2,000 years ago

had the technology to make cement.

- [Tony] Amazing, but not impossible.

After all, the ancient Egyptians are said

to have invented a mortar-like crude form of concrete,

and were using it in 3,000 BCE

before the commonly believed construction of Puma Punku.

And even if these were card from stone blocks,

the ancient Tiwanaku

had surprisingly effective tools for that.

- [Ed] The tools needed could have been fashioned

out of the local stone,

especially flint or what we call chert.

That is a very hard stone.

And if you use it in the hands of a master,

it can carve into granite.

- [Tony] What about those who suggest

these structures were created by aliens?

- [Ed] There are many fantastic works of man,

some much older than Puma Punku.

Has anyone ever suggested

that the Greek Parthenon was made by aliens?

No.

Well, to me it's evidence

that humans had the same capacity all over the planet.

- [Tony] Then what explains Brien Foerster's claim

that the stones wield strange magnetic properties?

- [Ed] There are a few stones that are magnetized,

but stones can be naturally magnetized.

If a large iron-infiltrated stone

gets hit by a bolt of lightning,

that is enough to magnetize it.

- [Tony] But these explanations remain speculative,

at least in part.

Many questions remain about Puma Punku,

especially because no sculpting tools

have ever been found here.

- [Ed] The lack of tools points in favor

of not being able to explain the architecture.

The huge size of the blocks as well.

How could they move such big things?

And frankly, that's still an unanswered part of the mystery.

[curious music]

- Our verdict: this mystery remains partially unexplained.

We believe Puma Punku is a manmade structure,

but the specific tools used

and how the rocks were moved remain unknown.

Researchers continue to study the site,

and as the saying goes, nothing's written in stone.

- If aliens have visited Earth, when did they first arrive?

Well, some claim the earliest recorded accounts

of alien encounters date back to 1440 BC.

But one strange object discovered near

some ancient fossils might be archeological evidence

that dates back much farther.

It's the 1970s, near Aiud, Romania.

construction workers are digging

on the banks of the Mures River

when they uncover some seemingly ancient objects.

One, this large hammerhead-like piece

looks manmade and very old with a thick patina

or layer of film produced by oxidation.

Known as the Wedge of Aiud,

it weighs nearly five pounds.

It's close to eight inches long,

five inches wide and three inches thick.

And what's really weird,

it appears to be connected to some very old bones.

- The fossil remains

that were located alongside this wedge

were mastodon fossils.

So the Wedge of Aiud

kind of became this odd mystery object

found next to an extinct animal.

- [Tony] Romanian authorities examine the items

and estimate that the mastodon

or prehistoric elephant fossils

are 2.5 million years old,

suggesting the wedge is from the same era.

That's strange, since modern humans

have only been around for about 200,000 years.

So it was sent to Romanian archeologists

and a Swiss lab for further study.

- [MJ] They figured out that it was artificially created

because the holes and the shape were machine made.

- [Tony] What's more, the Wedge of Aiud is 90% aluminum

and has the properties of 11 other metals.

The fact that the wedge is aluminum is especially peculiar

because while aluminum is a naturally occurring element,

it has to be extracted from ore in a complicated process

that wasn't discovered until the 19th century.

So given all that,

is it possible this object wasn't made by early humans,

but by some other intelligent being?

- [MJ] Ufologists have come to the conclusion

that perhaps the Wedge of Aiud

is part of a UFO in landing gear

that ran over the mastodon and killed it on purpose.

Cattle mutilations that have occurred in the past

indicate at least to them

that aliens will purposefully kill mammals

for scientific study.

- [Tony] So could this wedge be proof

that aliens have been studying life on Earth

since even before there were modern humans?

- [MJ] It's a strange historical anachronism

that should not exist.

- [Tony] There's a name in archeology for these kinds of

finds or rather an acronym.

They're called OOPArts for out-of-place artifacts.

So could the OOPArt known as the Wedge of Aiud

be proof of an extraterrestrial exploration?

Or something we haven't considered yet?

Let's turn to our experts to hammer this one out.

[inquisitive music]

Kathy Strain explains

that if the wedge was made by modern humans,

it being found near prehistoric fossils

would seem to defy

the archeological concept of superposition.

- [Kathy] Superposition means that when you find two items

at the same level, the same depth,

they're likely associated with each other.

However, aluminum wasn't capable of being smelted

and created into an object until 1825.

- [Tony] So the superposition theory would suggest

the wedge and the mastodon existed at the same time

deepening the mystery.

But hold on, there's one important missing clue

we need to consider.

- [Ed] It's on a river.

Rivers bring things from far upstream

and deposit them in banks in flood episodes.

This is disturbed context

and you cannot equate things time-wise

in a disturbed context.

- [Tony] So if the location can't confirm anything,

how can we date this wedge?

Barnhart says the patina can be a good indicator of its age,

but maybe not in this case.

- [Ed] Metal very quickly becomes oxidized

and then processes like being buried in sand

can turn that oxidation into patina.

But that kind of patina can grow in just a few years.

It doesn't take thousands of years

for the kind of patina that grows on aluminum to form.

- [Tony] So maybe it's not as old as originally thought,

but that still leaves us asking, who made it?

Is it possible it's from an alien spaceship?

Aluminum is often used on aircraft instead

of steel or iron 'cause even though it's weaker than those

two metals, it's also more lightweight.

But one Romanian historian believes the wedge

is from an earth-bound craft,

specifically the landing gear

of a World War II German Messerschmitt

ME 262 fighter jet.

Remember, it was found in the former Axis power of Romania.

- [Kathy] We were using aluminum and aerodynamics at that time.

We know that aircraft flew across the area

many times during the war

and I think it's just a piece that happened to fall off

and then over time worked itself down into the sand.

[curious music]

- [Tony] Our verdict: Based on the material and the design,

this is likely a piece of landing gear

though from a German military plane rather than a UFO.

It probably ended up next to the fossil bones

when the high waters from the Mures River

disturbed the surrounding soil.

But since we can't accurately date the aluminum,

the Wedge of Aiud could be much older

and more mysterious than we can even imagine.

- [Tony] For at least five generations,

a mysterious landmark

has baffled and inspired people in one East African nation.

Now it's finally been analyzed scientifically

and researchers have discovered something

that is literally out of this world.

It's September, 2019 near the village of El Ali in Somalia.

Prospectors searching for opals in a lush valley

stumble upon a completely different

type of valuable stone.

[prospectors chatter in foreign language]

- [Tony] Video of the scene shows a group of locals

examining the unusual rock.

[videographer speaking foreign language]

- [Tony] One man attaches a magnet

to this reddish-brown boulder and it sticks.

All told, this object is about six and a half feet long,

just over three feet wide, and more than four feet tall.

It weighs in at over 16 and a half tons.

And as the locals demonstrate,

when struck by a small rock

it resonates with metallic tones.

Tests show it's a meteorite and experts suspect that,

like this similar meteorite

encountered by the Inuit people in Greenland,

the boulder in Somalia was useful

for making important tools.

As such, it acquired both a practical and a spiritual value.

Science writer Amy Teitel says this treasured rock

is known as Nightfall by the locals

since, according to legend,

it came from the skies

hundreds if not thousands of years ago.

- Nightfall became an object

of deep significance for locals in Somalia,

and it's thought to be a link

between the Earth and the heavens.

It kind of brings to mind

the mysticism surrounding the monolith

in the early scenes of "2001: A Space Odyssey"

where that monolith had the power

to change human evolution and change the course of events.

- [Tony] But here's the weird thing.

The tests show some of the metal in this rock

doesn't seem natural.

- [Amy] The meteorite is 90% iron and nickel,

but there are also two new minerals

that scientists have discovered in this meteorite

that we don't see naturally occurring on earth.

One is called elaliite for the town of El Ali.

The other is elkinstantonite

named for planetary scientist, Lindy Elkins-Tanton.

- [Tony] Elaliite and elkinstantonite

don't exist naturally on Earth,

but we've created them artificially in a lab.

That quirky fact has led some to believe

there may be more to this meteorite than meets the eye.

- [Amy] Because the meteorite came from space

and has high metallic content

some wonder if they see technosignatures

or proof of some alien technology.

- [Tony] A technosignature is a property

that provides evidence of past or present tech.

The thinking is if this material only exists on Earth

when we create it with our sophisticated methods,

can it only exist elsewhere because, likewise,

other beings are creating a there with their tech?

According to a recent Cornell study,

new minerals found in other meteorites

appear to be promising candidates for superconductors,

meaning they may be of real use

for a technologically advanced alien civilization.

So could this mystical meteorite be proof

of extraterrestrial life?

Let's see what our experts say.

[inquisitive music]

- Both of these are iron phosphorus minerals

that we do not find on Earth

because of the presence of water.

In the presence of water, these minerals would dissolve

and form into other minerals.

What we have on earth

are not even 1% of the number of minerals

that you could form

under different environmental conditions.

- [Tony] So they may be alien to us here on earth,

but could minerals like these

be found naturally on other planets?

- [Dr. Bob] From our recent studies of Mars and the Moon,

we found several minerals

that are found under different environmental conditions.

We have higher pressure here

than we do on Mars or on the Moon,

and so those pressures affect how these atoms form together

into what we call a crystal lattice or a crystal cage.

- [Tony] Anderson says these minerals

were probably made not by alien mineralogist,

but by a high-speed collision

which turned the solid surface of the meteor molten,

and the minerals then crystallized into a new form

when that molten metal cooled.

- In this particular case,

we see no evidence of a structured craft

or pieces of a structured craft.

We also see no writing or inscriptions.

We are just looking at a rock

that happens to have a couple new minerals

that can be synthesized naturally.

[curious music]

- [Tony] Our verdict: This is an exotic rock

from our own solar system that, by coincidence,

contains special minerals

we artificially developed decades ago.

A potential third new mineral found in the meteorite

is still being analyzed.

No wonder the locals treat Nightfall with such reverence.

- [Tony] We have respect

for the world's great religions on this show

so we want to tread carefully with this next piece.

It's about Christianity

and some ideas that are truly out of this world.

[subdued music]

May, 2023, about 12 miles northwest

of the capital of Tbilisi, Georgia,

the majestic Svetitskhoveli Cathedral sits on a hill.

Inside, is a painting that's hundreds of years old,

but just now taking the internet by storm.

It's a depiction of Jesus's crucifixion

with what looks like two flying saucers in the background,

one blue, one red.

Their classic dome shapes

have three sharp triangles sprouting from their undersides.

It's an image that appears so unusual,

it caught the attention of Bret Nicholson

lead pastor of One Life Church in Kentucky.

- My first reaction was,

"Wow, those look like flying saucers,"

Typically with scenes of the crucifixion

you'll see Jesus between two thieves.

You'll see the people at the base of the cross.

What you don't see in most portrayals

of the crucifixion is UFOs.

- [Tony] That may be true,

but according to author Jason Martell,

people have been exploring the connection

between Christianity and UFOs for centuries.

- In 1584, a Christian monk named Giordano Bruno from Naples

theorized that there were an infinite number of planets

all with intelligent life,

each one having its own Jesus Christ visiting that planet.

In more recent times, my colleague

and good friend Eric von Danikin has theorized

that many of these depictions

of some type of a religious event

are actually depicting some type

of an extraterrestrial interaction,

possibly aliens visiting ancient man.

- [Tony] We know that ancient pagan religions

often explain things by saying the gods were responsible.

For instance, ancient Greeks believed the goddess Demeter

was responsible for the changing seasons.

Could the authors of the Bible have done the same thing?

If ancient astronauts visited Earth,

did previous civilizations chalk this up

to visitations by angels or communication from God?

Was Jesus himself an extraterrestrial visitor?

- [Jason] Some people have pointed out the fact Jesus

Christ today could be classified as some type of higher

intelligence, possibly even extraterrestrial.

This would explain some of the miraculous abilities

that he was able to perform.

- [Tony] Pope Francis commented

that if Martians were to land on Earth

and wanted to be baptized,

he would welcome them with open arms.

It seems the lines between religion and ufology

have never been blurrier.

Perhaps this painting

can finally prove a distinct connection.

[inquisitive music]

- When we see Jesus walking the Earth in the Bible,

he does so as a human.

We also know Jesus, of course, is born on Earth.

Mary of Nazareth is his biological mother,

so therefore Jesus is not an alien.

- [Tony] So if you read the Bible literally

Jesus himself was human.

But could other biblical figures

have had close encounters with aliens

that they interpreted as messages from God?

Based on modern-day alien abduction reports,

O'Neill doesn't see the connection.

- [Michael] Some people who claim alien abduction say

they've gone through surgical experimentation or procedures.

They've had loss of memory

or loss of time during that period.

This is not similar in any way to what we see in the Bible.

Because these are such drastically

different experiences, there's no reason at all

to think they share a common source.

- [Tony] So if ufology and Christianity

truly don't intersect in any way,

how do we explain what looks like flying saucers

in the painting in Georgia?

- [Ed] The principles of art history

say we look to similar examples

to try to understand what these symbols are.

There are hundreds of these paintings

of Jesus at crucifixion

and each one of them have things floating above his face

on the left and right,

but instead of these two alien spaceships, they show angels.

- [Tony] But Barnhart believes that

as this painting is in an Eastern Orthodox church

instead of angels, the artist chose another symbol.

- [Ed] We know that the Eastern Orthodox Church

focuses on the statement that just as he was crucified,

the sky went dark. [thunder crashes]

So in standard depictions in Eastern Orthodox crucifixion,

we often times see the Sun and the Moon half covered.

It's denoting that eclipse moment.

So these are really very similar

to other standard depictions of the same time

in which we see a half moon and a half sun.

[inquisitive music]

- [Tony] Let there be light.

Our verdict: These are just depictions

of the Sun and the Moon.

But scholars estimate there are

about 4,000 different religions

practiced throughout the world.

So who's to say?

Maybe one of them

has been inspired by extraterrestrial interaction.

- [Tony] Brain surgery is famously complicated, right?

Something only modern science could pull off.

But as you're about to see,

it looks like some ancient societies

may have something to teach us about how to operate in here.

[subdued music]

It's February, 2022 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

the Museum of Osteology, also known as The Bones Museum,

makes a post about one of its newest artifacts

and the photo of it has the comment section going wild.

The image shows an elongated skull

with a strange metal implant embedded inside it.

The skull found in Peru appears to be human,

but the odd stretched-out shape

of the bulbous cranial bones could suggest otherwise.

The implant itself is coarse and bumpy

and is clearly not an organic part of the skeleton.

It appears to be composed of two parts,

an eye-like shape on top and a circle at the bottom.

Forensic anthropologist, Dr. John Verano,

who studies prehistoric skulls like this for a living

was stumped when he first saw this image.

- I've never seen anything like this.

I looked at it and I said,

"Well, doesn't look genuine to me."

- [Tony] Though this implant is rare, perhaps unique,

author Heidi Hollis says

there's a long history of elongated skulls in Peru.

- For us to be able to find elongated skulls,

that's not the rare element here.

Finding an elongated skull with a metal plate in it,

now that takes a cake.

- [Tony] Peruvian archeologist Julio Tello

discovered hundreds of elongated cone-shaped skulls

buried in the Paracas region in the late 1920s.

And Hollis notes that their surprising appearance

makes some wonder

if they could have extraterrestrial origins.

- [Heidi] In pop culture we often do see aliens

as being portrayed as having an elongated skull.

From the popular "Aliens" movies

to the gray aliens witnessed by people

said to be abducted by alien beings.

- [Tony] Recent genetic testing of the Peruvian skulls

apparently found they had mitochondrial DNA

with mutations unknown to any human or animal on Earth,

and the metal in the skull adds another bizarre dimension.

- [Heidi] It's highly unusual to see such perfection

done on something so ancient.

How? And who did this?

- [Tony] We often associate metallic objects

with electronics.

So maybe the skull implant is some sort of microchip

or, in this case, macrochip,

for aliens to communicate with their home planet.

We know people microchip their pets

to help locate them when they go missing.

In the case of dogs and cats,

a device the size of a grain of rice

is implanted just under the skin

over the shoulder blades.

Could this cranial implant actually track aliens?

Does it reveal other ancient secrets?

Or is this just one big hoax taking us all for a wild ride?

Let's ask the experts.

[inquisitive music]

- There have been a lot of known hoaxes in archeology

in particular with Peruvian skulls.

Crystal skulls that were found all over the world

that were said to have been made by alien technology.

Those were fakes.

We know that they were cut by a jeweler's equipment,

and so it's always possible that something can be hoax.

- [Tony] But Strain says there's reason

to believe the skull is authentic.

- [Kathy] We can see every element

of what a human skull looks like.

That is not easy to hoax 'cause bone is bone.

We can also date this using radiocarbon,

and so that would tell us for certain

that it is 2,000 years old.

- [Tony] So since this skull seems to be real,

could it actually belong to an ancient alien

who visited Earth from another planet?

- This shows what we call cranial deformation,

and that means that probably

when this individual was very young,

boards were strapped to the skull

so that it would elongate and change the shape of the skull.

It was very prevalent in South America

where this skull is believed to have come from.

- [Tony] Barnhart says it was generally people

of elite status from Andean cultures like the Paracas

who underwent this practice.

Yet we know some people

who claim they've been abducted by aliens

who say they had metal devices implanted into their bodies.

So maybe these are actually alien implants

into human abductees who've undergone skull elongation.

Or is it possible the South Americans

were able to also carry out

other complex skull modifications like this?

- [Kathy] We have found other skulls

that have what we call trepanation and repairs to them.

Trepanation is the practice of drilling or removing bone

from a head that has undergone trauma.

- [Tony] Strain says a recent amazing discovery

in Peru in late 2021 may solve the riddle.

These are obsidian surgical tools

found in what's believed to be a doctor's grave.

Strain says this proves ancient South Americans

actually had the know-how to perform this procedure.

Yet, even though trepanation

is a recognized ancient practice,

John Verano still isn't convinced

this implant is authentic

since he's never seen metal like this from that time.

- [John] If this skull with its metal implant is genuine

and if it really reflects surgery and implant,

of course it would be a significant historic discovery.

But given that it doesn't look like anything

I've ever seen in metallurgy in the Andes,

that's why I have my doubts.

- [Tony] So while John leans toward this being a hoax,

there's plenty of other evidence

to suggest this is the 2,000-year-old skull

of a human who survived a life-threatening surgery.

[curious music]

Our verdict: This skull is most likely

an example of ancient trepanation.

But until the skull is radiocarbon dated

to confirm its age, concluding with absolute certainty

that this artifact is authentic

would be getting ahead of ourselves.

[serious music]

From ancient carvings and paintings

to structures that defy explanation,

clues from humanity's distant past

suggest we may not have been alone.

If visitors from another world once walked among us,

their traces remain

and we'll continue searching for the truth.

Thank you so much for watching

this special edition of "The Proof Is Out There."

Please send us any video, images,

or sound that you think we should investigate

and remember to keep those cameras rolling.