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(music playing)
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NARRATOR: Reports
of UFO sightings come
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from all corners of the globe.
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I was taken on board a 200-foot
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diameter spacecraft in
the Mojave desert and given--
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I saw two great big,
real bright lights
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hanging up in the air.
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NARRATOR: Most believe
these alien encounters
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are a modern phenomenon.
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But the fact is they
have been reported
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for thousands of years.
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Practically every human civilization
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have been in touch with
extraterrestrial beings.
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In India, Israel--
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The Mayans and the Aztecs.
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The idea that there was
one or more non-human groups
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inspiring this is the truth.
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NARRATOR: Millions
of people around the world
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believe we have been
visited in the past
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by extraterrestrial beings.
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But what if it were true?
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Did ancient aliens really
help to shape our history?
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And if so, where did they come from?
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And just who were the visitors?
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(music playing)
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(music playing)
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Roswell, New Mexico.
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This sleepy town
in America's Southwest
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was once best known for
its large military air base.
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But that changed in
1947 when a local rancher
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reported that a spaceship
crashed on his property.
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Several weeks later,
the US Army issued
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a press release confirming
the existence of an alien craft.
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The next day,
the military changed its story
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and announced that what they
had found was a weather balloon.
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These conflicting reports
sent shockwaves around the world.
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And the name Roswell
became a pop culture code word
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that forever links
extraterrestrial visitation
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with enduring mystery.
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NICK POPE: Speculation
about why the Roswell
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crash would be covered
up is difficult to pin down.
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Some people talk about
this in terms of information
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that would be shattering
to our world view.
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STEVEN GREER: Almost
everyone's heard about
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the so-called Roswell event.
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And one of the real
implications of disclosure
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is that some of our
most cherished myths
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about the origins of the human race,
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and our history,
and archaeology would fall apart.
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GEORGE NOORY: Something
happened at Roswell, New Mexico
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a long time ago.
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People want the truth.
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I think there's something
in the human being itself
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that is striving,
that is hungry for this knowledge
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in order to answer questions
about our own existence.
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NARRATOR: Today, public opinion
polls indicate more than half
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the world's population
believes aliens
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have either come here in
the past or are coming here now.
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But what is it exactly that
makes so many people believe?
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I do think looking
upward makes sense.
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The universe is large.
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There are things out
there we do not understand.
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There is probably
intelligent life somewhere.
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ROBERT BAUVAL: People tend to forget
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that we're on a planet that's
4 and 1/2 billion years old.
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The presence of our civilization
in that vast scale of time--
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I mean, if I click my finger,
it wouldn't
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even be fast enough to say,
this is
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the time of our civilization.
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And to think that we're
the only ones in this vast period
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of time, to me it is absurd.
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SARA SEAGER: Our galaxy,
the Milky Way,
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has over 100 billion stars.
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And in our universe,
we think there are
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more than 100 billion galaxies.
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So if every star had a
planet with intelligent life,
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how many alien
civilizations would we have?
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ERICH VON DANIKEN: If you
take us as the crown of creation
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or the top of evolution,
we look at ourself
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as the greatest, the biggest.
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We say, how incredible, unique
we are in the whole universe.
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We forgot to learn modesty.
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JENNIFER HELDMANN: Each
step that we take makes
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us a little bit less special.
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We used to think
that we were the center
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of the universe as humans.
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And then we realized, oh,
all right, well, that's not true.
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But we're the center
of the galaxy.
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And like, well, all right.
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So we're like 2/3 of
the way out in a spiral arm.
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And then, well, at least our sun,
you know, or this-- no.
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The sun is actually in the middle,
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and the earth goes around it.
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So earth isn't even
the center of that system.
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And so the more that we learn,
we sort of-- you know,
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it's a very humbling science.
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(rockets firing)
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NARRATOR: When man
first landed on the moon,
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our perspective on the
universe changed forever.
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NEIL ARMSTRONG (ON RADIO): Houston,
the Eagle has landed.
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We aliens, who happened to
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go down the ladder on July, 1969--
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we aliens,
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we're certainly part
of a magnificent race.
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I just don't think people
have a grasp for what energy
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it takes to go from
one star to another.
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NARRATOR: This historic event
raised the question, if humans
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can successfully navigate in space
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and explore other worlds,
why couldn't
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beings from other parts of
the universe have done the same?
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And might they have already
come to Earth hundreds or perhaps
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thousands of years ago?
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I think the human past is
more fantastic than we all believe.
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I have come to the idea
that maybe extraterrestrials
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were on this planet.
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NARRATOR: Cahuachi, Peru.
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2,000 years ago,
this ancient settlement
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served as the religious
and cultural capital
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of the Nazca people.
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But sometime around 500 AD,
the Nazca
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mysteriously disappeared, leaving
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Cahuachi to fall into disarray.
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1,400 years later, in 1910,
anthropologist Ales Hrdlicka
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came to Cahuachi to study
the ancient Nazca civilization.
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During the dig, he unearthed some
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of the most surprising and shocking
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artifacts he had ever seen.
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They were skulls with enormous,
elongated craniums.
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Where did they come from?
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How did they get there?
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And were they human?
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DAVID CHILDRESS: In Peru, we find
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these weird elongated skulls.
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And they're bizarre-looking.
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I mean, these people
look like aliens.
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One may say, OK, aliens.
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But another aspect
that we have to consider
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is that skull and cranial
deformation, forming
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elongated heads, is a practice
that's known throughout much
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of the ancient world.
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NARRATOR: In 1870,
the process of skull deformation
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was well chronicled by
a German botanist and explorer
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named George Schweinfurth.
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While exploring the African Congo,
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he came in contact with
a tribe called the Mangbetu.
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They routinely performed
a ritual of cranial binding
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that allowed them
to physically alter
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the shape of human skulls.
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DAVID CHILDRESS: They
took infants' skulls,
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and compressed them, and bound them.
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And they forced the
cranium out and elongate it.
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And in many cases,
they doubled the size.
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And a big question is,
why was this being done?
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It may have been a way to
distinguish the elite, perhaps,
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from the everyday people.
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It may have been a social
stratification type of issue.
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Something that also appeals to me
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is that may have been a way
to express physically, and maybe
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try to achieve physically,
greater levels of consciousness
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or higher levels of mental ability.
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GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: In my opinion,
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they did this in
order to mimic the gods.
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And those gods were
physical beings
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because if they were just
a figment of our ancestors'
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imagination, I don't think
that's a compelling enough
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reason to expose your
children to such a ritual,
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to achieve that type of look.
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And in my opinion, these people were
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misinterpreted flesh-and-blood
space travelers.
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MAN: Some people have suggested
aliens had enlongated skulls.
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And apparently, ancient peoples
are mimicking those skulls.
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The old saying is that imitation is
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the sincerest form of flattery.
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NARRATOR: Although there
have been many images that attempt
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to depict what aliens
might actually look like,
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one in particular has come
to dominate the public perception.
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It, too,
features an elongated cranium
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and is associated with
an extraterrestrial race
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that many refer to as the Grays.
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NICK POPE: In terms of entities,
one very
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common description
are the so-called Grays,
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3 and 1/2, 4-feet tall--
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essentially humanoid,
but very spindly
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with disproportionately large heads
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and huge, black, almond-shaped eyes.
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NARRATOR: But would someone
in a primitive society
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really want to replicate
this look and deform their skull?
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Some archaeologists have
a different perspective.
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They point to artistic
self-expression
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as an explanation of these customs.
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There are all kinds of people
that either worship the body
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or use the body as art,
be it a tattoo or piercing
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of some sort, or tribes
that put things in their ears
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or in their lips to try
to grow parts of their body.
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Some societies,
we know, practiced binding parts
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of the body-- feet
or heads-- and tried
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to make certain shapes.
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And this was done
for whatever reason.
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We know today that this isn't
usually the most healthy thing
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to do.
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But it doesn't mean
that people don't do it.
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People are always trying
to change their body
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to make it look a certain way.
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NARRATOR: Whatever the explanation
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may be for these rituals,
they are not just found
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in Peru and the African Congo.
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Skull deformation
is a global phenomenon.
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DAVID CHILDRESS:
What's really strange
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is that this is found
all over the world.
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And this is something
that archaeologists
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cannot easily explain.
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Because for people
on remote islands,
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for people in South America,
or Malta,
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or in Africa,
to suddenly, independently do
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this cranial deformation
like this seems incredible.
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I mean, this is something
that had to be learned,
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something that was taught to them.
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ROBERT SCHOCH: We seem to
have basic similarities, as if there
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was one civilization or at least one
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type of culture that was influencing
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people around the world.
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I find it more and
more difficult to believe,
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what I was taught
as an undergraduate,
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that all of these different cultures
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just coincidentally came
up with the same concepts
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independently of each other.
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NARRATOR: Is it possible
that individual societies
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around the world were
influenced by similar events?
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And were they imitating real beings
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who visited from other planets?
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Some of the most compelling
images of an elongated cranium
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can be traced to ancient
Egypt and the depictions
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of one of its most
controversial pharaohs.
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Could it be that he,
too, was mimicking
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the look of extraterrestrials?
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Or is there an even
more outrageous explanation?
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Could he have been one of them?
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Long before the ancient
Egyptians built the pyramids
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or even settled
along the Nile River,
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they spoke of an era called
Tep Zepi, or the beginning of time.
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According to legends,
Tep Zepi was when sky gods descended
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from the stars to
earth on flying boats
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and then turned mud and
water into a new kingdom.
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ROBERT BAUVAL: The word god,
according to the
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ancient Egyptians, is Netjeru.
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It means a being that
came from the cosmos.
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They're very adamant
about the fact
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that their gods had
descended from the stars.
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They tell us that the god Osiris,
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who ruled with his consort
and sister, the goddess Isis,
251
00:15:33,765 --> 00:15:34,645
they were star gods.
252
00:15:34,705 --> 00:15:36,645
And we find they identify
them very clearly.
253
00:15:37,705 --> 00:15:40,105
Osiris was identified
as the constellation of Orion.
254
00:15:41,005 --> 00:15:44,645
And Isis was identified
with regard to the star Sirius,
255
00:15:44,705 --> 00:15:46,085
the brightest star in the sky.
256
00:15:47,625 --> 00:15:49,645
There's an interesting
point about this, that
257
00:15:49,705 --> 00:15:51,765
within the constellation Orion is
258
00:15:51,825 --> 00:15:53,805
the so-called Nursery of Stars.
259
00:15:56,685 --> 00:15:58,805
The stars in our galaxy literally
260
00:15:58,865 --> 00:16:00,885
were born in that zone.
261
00:16:01,005 --> 00:16:03,105
And it's very peculiar
that the ancient Egyptians
262
00:16:03,665 --> 00:16:08,085
insist that the birth of
star gods are in this constellation.
263
00:16:08,785 --> 00:16:11,105
They truly believed-- they
were very adamant about this--
264
00:16:11,665 --> 00:16:13,785
that their origins is in the sky.
265
00:16:20,025 --> 00:16:22,845
ROBERT SCHOCH: Something
that we see around the world
266
00:16:22,905 --> 00:16:24,845
with ancient
civilizations is that they
267
00:16:24,905 --> 00:16:29,025
had incredible knowledge
of the stars of the planets
268
00:16:29,085 --> 00:16:31,105
of the heavenly motions.
269
00:16:31,665 --> 00:16:33,865
The average person
in the ancient world
270
00:16:33,925 --> 00:16:36,965
had way more knowledge
of what's going
271
00:16:37,025 --> 00:16:42,885
on in the skies than a lot
of well-educated people today.
272
00:16:47,625 --> 00:16:50,745
NARRATOR: As ancient Egypt
grew into a great civilization,
273
00:16:51,025 --> 00:16:54,805
its citizens believed their
pharaohs were sons of Osiris,
274
00:16:54,865 --> 00:16:57,625
and thus living gods.
275
00:16:57,765 --> 00:16:59,665
Artwork and wall carvings depicted
276
00:16:59,725 --> 00:17:01,625
them as perfect humans.
277
00:17:01,865 --> 00:17:04,825
And while the people worshipped
many different gods,
278
00:17:04,885 --> 00:17:07,085
the pharaoh stood above them all.
279
00:17:07,905 --> 00:17:10,745
This basic Egyptian religious belief
280
00:17:10,805 --> 00:17:13,745
remained in force
for nearly 1,000 years
281
00:17:13,825 --> 00:17:16,965
until one pharaoh
changed everything.
282
00:17:17,865 --> 00:17:19,925
Who was this heretic?
283
00:17:22,725 --> 00:17:25,005
His name was Akhenaten.
284
00:17:25,065 --> 00:17:26,885
And in every surviving depiction,
285
00:17:26,945 --> 00:17:29,765
he is shown with an elongated skull.
286
00:17:30,825 --> 00:17:31,945
Who was he?
287
00:17:32,925 --> 00:17:35,885
According to Egyptian mythology,
he, too,
288
00:17:35,945 --> 00:17:38,765
was descended from the
gods who arrived on Earth
289
00:17:38,825 --> 00:17:40,745
at the time of Tep Zepi.
290
00:17:41,705 --> 00:17:43,825
But why do so many still believe he
291
00:17:43,885 --> 00:17:46,005
actually came from the stars?
292
00:17:47,885 --> 00:17:52,105
In 1352 BC,
Akhenaten ascended to the throne
293
00:17:52,665 --> 00:17:55,085
as the 10th pharaoh
of the 18th dynasty.
294
00:17:55,965 --> 00:17:58,985
Almost immediately,
he instituted a series
295
00:17:59,045 --> 00:18:02,745
of radical religious changes,
including a ban
296
00:18:02,805 --> 00:18:05,025
on references to multiple gods.
297
00:18:07,725 --> 00:18:10,085
ROBERT BAUVAL: It's a rather
strange thing that he would
298
00:18:10,645 --> 00:18:11,045
want to do that in one sweep.
299
00:18:11,105 --> 00:18:14,685
But he ordered all the
iconography of previous gods
300
00:18:14,745 --> 00:18:15,785
to be removed.
301
00:18:15,845 --> 00:18:17,965
He only allowed one emblem, which
302
00:18:18,025 --> 00:18:20,825
was the sun emblem,
literally a sun disk,
303
00:18:20,885 --> 00:18:23,845
with curious arms
or rays pouring down.
304
00:18:25,665 --> 00:18:26,905
Why did he do this?
305
00:18:26,965 --> 00:18:31,665
Because according to his
writings and his poems that
306
00:18:31,725 --> 00:18:34,865
were written about him later on, he
307
00:18:34,925 --> 00:18:39,905
was visited by one of
those beings that descended
308
00:18:39,965 --> 00:18:45,665
from the sky who told Akhenaten,
this is the way,
309
00:18:45,845 --> 00:18:47,045
I am your god.
310
00:18:48,105 --> 00:18:50,865
NARRATOR: This sun
god was known as Aten.
311
00:18:51,705 --> 00:18:54,865
Akhenaten claimed to be
a direct descendant of Aten.
312
00:18:55,925 --> 00:18:59,065
Akhenaten, like any other pharaoh,
313
00:18:59,865 --> 00:19:02,905
regarded himself to be divine.
314
00:19:02,965 --> 00:19:04,045
He was a god.
315
00:19:04,765 --> 00:19:08,685
Not only himself believed
himself to be god,
316
00:19:08,745 --> 00:19:11,725
but the whole nation
saw him as a god.
317
00:19:11,785 --> 00:19:14,765
Now, the definition of
god is that he was a descendant
318
00:19:14,825 --> 00:19:16,765
from these celestial beings.
319
00:19:20,625 --> 00:19:22,705
NARRATOR: During his
fourth year as pharaoh,
320
00:19:22,805 --> 00:19:24,665
Akhenaten ordered the construction
321
00:19:24,725 --> 00:19:26,025
of a new capital city.
322
00:19:26,665 --> 00:19:30,045
He called it Amarna
and dedicated it to the sun.
323
00:19:32,845 --> 00:19:35,945
Akhenaten would spend
the next 10 years here,
324
00:19:36,045 --> 00:19:38,665
during which time
he instituted changes
325
00:19:38,725 --> 00:19:42,745
in both art and culture,
including how he, himself,
326
00:19:42,805 --> 00:19:44,645
would be publicly depicted.
327
00:19:46,765 --> 00:19:48,045
ROBERT CARGILL: In
Egyptian iconography,
328
00:19:48,105 --> 00:19:51,865
Egyptian pharaohs are depicted
as these triangular-shaped
329
00:19:51,925 --> 00:19:54,625
beings,
these broad, strong shoulders
330
00:19:54,685 --> 00:19:55,985
and these very skinny waists.
331
00:19:56,045 --> 00:19:58,665
Now, we look at leaders today,
and we
332
00:19:58,725 --> 00:20:00,045
know that most leaders
don't have broad shoulders
333
00:20:00,105 --> 00:20:01,705
and skinny waists.
334
00:20:01,805 --> 00:20:05,825
But it was important to depict
the Egyptian kings as having
335
00:20:05,885 --> 00:20:08,645
broad shoulders and skinny waists,
336
00:20:08,705 --> 00:20:11,805
the epitome of what
a king ought to look like.
337
00:20:13,945 --> 00:20:15,925
That's exactly the
opposite of Akhenaten.
338
00:20:15,985 --> 00:20:19,805
He shows himself,
perhaps as (inaudible),,
339
00:20:19,865 --> 00:20:21,985
a rather strange look.
340
00:20:22,045 --> 00:20:23,805
He has a very mystical look.
341
00:20:29,845 --> 00:20:32,625
ROBERT SCHOCH: If we
take Akhenaten's statues,
342
00:20:32,685 --> 00:20:34,825
for instance,
literally, he was a very
343
00:20:34,885 --> 00:20:36,765
strange-looking character.
344
00:20:36,825 --> 00:20:39,785
He sort of combined,
some people would say,
345
00:20:39,845 --> 00:20:43,865
feminine aspects
with masculine aspects,
346
00:20:43,925 --> 00:20:47,005
may have had an elongated skull.
347
00:20:47,965 --> 00:20:51,065
ROBERT CARGILL: The change
in royal iconography of Akhenaten
348
00:20:51,625 --> 00:20:55,625
showed him as he probably
really was, with a misshapen head,
349
00:20:55,685 --> 00:21:00,905
with a potbelly,
with a sunken chest, as opposed
350
00:21:00,965 --> 00:21:05,985
to the idealized iconography
of traditional Egyptian artists
351
00:21:06,045 --> 00:21:08,105
that show this big, strong pharaoh.
352
00:21:14,665 --> 00:21:16,825
NARRATOR: Akhenaten's wife,
Queen Nefertiti,
353
00:21:16,885 --> 00:21:18,925
and their children
were also depicted
354
00:21:18,985 --> 00:21:21,785
as having elongated skulls.
355
00:21:22,045 --> 00:21:25,965
So why were Akhenaten's
and Nefertiti's heads deformed?
356
00:21:26,825 --> 00:21:29,765
Did they suffer from
a genetic abnormality?
357
00:21:29,985 --> 00:21:32,785
Or did they deliberately
alter their shape?
358
00:21:33,645 --> 00:21:36,745
Some believe there could
be yet another explanation
359
00:21:36,805 --> 00:21:39,925
behind their strange,
otherworldly appearance.
360
00:21:42,725 --> 00:21:46,665
They look like they're different
361
00:21:46,725 --> 00:21:47,905
than other human beings.
362
00:21:50,925 --> 00:21:55,105
Is it possible that
Akhenaten might have been
363
00:21:55,665 --> 00:21:57,785
an extraterrestrial hybrid?
364
00:22:02,785 --> 00:22:04,045
ROBERT CARGILL: Ancient
alien enthusiast
365
00:22:04,105 --> 00:22:06,065
look at Pharaoh Akhenaten of Egypt
366
00:22:06,625 --> 00:22:08,885
and say, ah, look at that long head.
367
00:22:08,945 --> 00:22:10,045
That looks like an alien Gray.
368
00:22:10,105 --> 00:22:12,805
That looks like some kind
of something that's non-human
369
00:22:12,865 --> 00:22:15,065
or some hybrid between something
else and something human.
370
00:22:15,645 --> 00:22:18,065
It must be evidence
of alien interference,
371
00:22:18,625 --> 00:22:21,725
alien reproduction with humans,
something like that.
372
00:22:21,945 --> 00:22:23,045
I've been to Egypt.
373
00:22:23,105 --> 00:22:25,065
And one of the most
stunning things
374
00:22:25,625 --> 00:22:28,845
about seeing the archaeological
remains of ancient Egypt
375
00:22:28,905 --> 00:22:32,065
is that one unique pharaoh,
Akhenaten.
376
00:22:32,905 --> 00:22:33,985
GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: I mean, he's got
377
00:22:34,045 --> 00:22:38,005
a very narrow,
pointy face, high cheekbones,
378
00:22:38,065 --> 00:22:41,045
and a very elongated cranium.
379
00:22:41,885 --> 00:22:44,985
DAVID CHILDRESS: The idea
that they were either looking
380
00:22:45,045 --> 00:22:47,625
like extraterrestrials or perhaps
381
00:22:47,725 --> 00:22:52,985
had extraterrestrial DNA
in them is a credible idea.
382
00:22:56,705 --> 00:22:59,625
NARRATOR: Akhenaten
ruled for 17 years.
383
00:22:59,845 --> 00:23:02,705
After his reign,
Amarna was abandoned,
384
00:23:02,765 --> 00:23:05,065
and temples to the
sun were destroyed.
385
00:23:06,105 --> 00:23:09,845
Images of Akhenaten
were deliberately defaced.
386
00:23:10,625 --> 00:23:13,705
Ancient Egypt swiftly
returned to its old ways,
387
00:23:13,765 --> 00:23:15,645
worshipping many gods.
388
00:23:16,105 --> 00:23:18,705
Was this a rejection of Akhenaten's
389
00:23:18,765 --> 00:23:21,845
radical religious belief
system or a cover-up
390
00:23:21,925 --> 00:23:23,785
of his alien identity?
391
00:23:27,905 --> 00:23:29,845
There's been a lot
of theories about why.
392
00:23:31,705 --> 00:23:34,905
I mean, the most extreme
is that he somehow had some sort
393
00:23:34,965 --> 00:23:36,945
of extraterrestrial connection.
394
00:23:37,005 --> 00:23:40,745
If one accepts that
conclusion, then it
395
00:23:40,805 --> 00:23:44,825
would explain why he was
literally put off the reign
396
00:23:44,885 --> 00:23:46,745
and, some say, put to death.
397
00:23:49,765 --> 00:23:52,905
NARRATOR: Some Egyptologists
believe Akhenaten was forced
398
00:23:52,965 --> 00:23:55,945
to abdicate and flee
from Egypt with a group
399
00:23:56,005 --> 00:23:57,985
of his loyal followers.
400
00:23:59,045 --> 00:24:02,965
In 1907,
the actual body of Akhenaten
401
00:24:03,025 --> 00:24:06,105
was discovered in Egypt's
Valley of the Kings
402
00:24:06,665 --> 00:24:09,885
by a British archaeologist
named Edward Ayrton.
403
00:24:10,765 --> 00:24:13,945
After unearthing Akhenaten's
mummified remains,
404
00:24:14,045 --> 00:24:16,725
he was able to confirm that, indeed,
405
00:24:16,785 --> 00:24:20,865
the ancient pharaoh's skull
was misshapen and elongated.
406
00:24:23,705 --> 00:24:24,785
ROBERT CARGILL: Some scholars argue
407
00:24:24,845 --> 00:24:26,885
that he suffered from some
kind of physical abnormality.
408
00:24:26,945 --> 00:24:28,985
He suffered from
a disorder that caused
409
00:24:29,045 --> 00:24:31,705
his face to appear to be long,
or his head
410
00:24:31,765 --> 00:24:32,865
actually was longer.
411
00:24:32,925 --> 00:24:34,645
I think with Akhenaten,
we're dealing
412
00:24:34,705 --> 00:24:36,645
with a physical
deformation that wasn't
413
00:24:36,705 --> 00:24:38,065
corrected by the royal artist.
414
00:24:38,625 --> 00:24:40,005
They just depicted him as he was--
415
00:24:40,065 --> 00:24:42,105
potbelly, sunken chest, long head.
416
00:24:44,025 --> 00:24:45,805
NARRATOR: Akhenaten was succeeded
417
00:24:45,865 --> 00:24:48,845
by his son,
Tutankhamen, who became the most
418
00:24:48,905 --> 00:24:50,945
renowned pharaoh of all time.
419
00:24:51,985 --> 00:24:56,065
When his tomb was discovered
in 1922 by Howard Carter,
420
00:24:56,765 --> 00:25:00,905
Tutankhamen was also found
to have an elongated skull.
421
00:25:01,925 --> 00:25:05,025
Could he have inherited
alien genes from his father?
422
00:25:09,705 --> 00:25:13,985
Today, much of Akhenaten's
life still remains a mystery.
423
00:25:15,005 --> 00:25:17,825
Did he really change
Egypt's entire belief
424
00:25:17,885 --> 00:25:22,745
system because, as some suggest,
he was a celestial being?
425
00:25:23,625 --> 00:25:27,685
If that's true, might there
be evidence of similar entities
426
00:25:27,745 --> 00:25:28,965
coming to earth?
427
00:25:29,745 --> 00:25:33,025
Perhaps more clues can
be found thousands of miles
428
00:25:33,085 --> 00:25:37,105
away on the other side
of the African continent.
429
00:25:46,585 --> 00:25:49,425
Mali, in Northwest Africa--
430
00:25:49,745 --> 00:25:53,425
deep in a remote valley
live the Dogon people,
431
00:25:53,685 --> 00:25:56,645
who are the descendants
of a nomadic tribe that
432
00:25:56,705 --> 00:25:58,885
settled here around 1000 AD.
433
00:25:59,745 --> 00:26:02,825
Just like Akhenaten's followers,
the Dogon
434
00:26:02,885 --> 00:26:05,505
had been forced
to leave Egypt because
435
00:26:05,565 --> 00:26:06,865
of religious persecution.
436
00:26:09,525 --> 00:26:11,785
ROBERT SCHOCH: The Dogon's
claim a very long and ancient
437
00:26:11,845 --> 00:26:15,625
tradition and,
in my opinion, maintain
438
00:26:15,685 --> 00:26:19,525
some of the ancient
Egyptian traditions
439
00:26:19,585 --> 00:26:23,605
and myths that have been carried
on right into the present age.
440
00:26:25,605 --> 00:26:28,545
Parts of ancient
Egypt may not have died.
441
00:26:28,605 --> 00:26:32,865
They were carried on
to this day among the Dogon.
442
00:26:36,565 --> 00:26:39,405
NARRATOR: But what
exactly are their beliefs?
443
00:26:39,645 --> 00:26:41,865
Dogon mythology holds that the sky
444
00:26:42,425 --> 00:26:44,645
god Amma created the first living
445
00:26:44,705 --> 00:26:46,785
creature, known as Nommo.
446
00:26:47,625 --> 00:26:51,585
The legend also says that
shortly after his creation,
447
00:26:51,705 --> 00:26:55,625
Nommo multiplied into several parts,
one of which
448
00:26:55,685 --> 00:26:57,585
rebelled against Amma.
449
00:26:57,765 --> 00:27:01,665
Amma responded by destroying
him and scattering
450
00:27:01,725 --> 00:27:03,705
his ashes throughout the world.
451
00:27:05,505 --> 00:27:07,445
(non-english speech)
452
00:27:07,505 --> 00:27:08,845
INTERPRETER: According
to the Dogon myths,
453
00:27:09,485 --> 00:27:10,845
a god gave him this knowledge.
454
00:27:11,665 --> 00:27:15,725
He descended from the sky in an ark,
surfing on fire,
455
00:27:15,785 --> 00:27:17,585
and landed in a storm.
456
00:27:21,805 --> 00:27:26,525
GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: Still today,
Dogon celebrates a festival
457
00:27:26,605 --> 00:27:30,705
in the honor of Nommo
and that visitation that
458
00:27:30,765 --> 00:27:33,765
occurred in the remote past.
459
00:27:34,625 --> 00:27:36,425
How do we know this?
460
00:27:36,585 --> 00:27:40,585
For this festival,
they have wooden masks
461
00:27:40,645 --> 00:27:44,765
that date back to a very long time
462
00:27:44,825 --> 00:27:48,525
ago when this festival began.
463
00:27:52,845 --> 00:27:54,525
(non-english speech)
464
00:27:54,585 --> 00:27:56,685
INTERPRETER: Dogon masks
tell the mystic stories
465
00:27:56,745 --> 00:27:57,845
of their ancestors.
466
00:27:58,605 --> 00:28:00,545
This is a sculpture of the creator.
467
00:28:00,865 --> 00:28:02,565
They call him Amma.
468
00:28:03,685 --> 00:28:05,585
He's embracing the universe.
469
00:28:06,665 --> 00:28:08,505
This is how they pass on information
470
00:28:08,565 --> 00:28:12,885
from generation to generation,
by stories carved in masks.
471
00:28:13,445 --> 00:28:14,565
(non-english speech)
472
00:28:22,785 --> 00:28:25,785
NARRATOR: But could Nommo
have been a real person?
473
00:28:26,605 --> 00:28:30,525
Some see eerie similarities
between the Dogon's legend
474
00:28:30,585 --> 00:28:33,665
and the story of the
mysterious pharaoh, Akhenaten.
475
00:28:35,465 --> 00:28:37,685
Akhenaten believed
he was directly descended
476
00:28:37,745 --> 00:28:39,725
from the sun god, Aten.
477
00:28:39,845 --> 00:28:44,545
Nommo was said to have been
created by the sky deity, Amma.
478
00:28:45,525 --> 00:28:49,465
Is it a coincidence that
both cultures, although thousands
479
00:28:49,525 --> 00:28:53,445
of miles apart, shared
mythical tales of beings coming
480
00:28:53,505 --> 00:28:57,665
from the skies and both
Nommo and Akhenaten were
481
00:28:57,725 --> 00:28:59,765
depicted with elongated heads?
482
00:29:01,445 --> 00:29:02,825
Is it possible that these legends
483
00:29:02,885 --> 00:29:05,405
were based on real events?
484
00:29:08,645 --> 00:29:10,525
(non-english speech)
485
00:29:10,585 --> 00:29:11,765
INTERPRETER: The Dogon
dwell in the central plateau
486
00:29:11,825 --> 00:29:14,865
region of Bandiagara.
487
00:29:15,745 --> 00:29:17,525
Their knowledge is centuries old,
488
00:29:17,585 --> 00:29:18,805
and their priests
have been sharing it
489
00:29:18,865 --> 00:29:20,565
with chosen individuals only.
490
00:29:20,625 --> 00:29:22,705
(non-english speech)
491
00:29:24,625 --> 00:29:27,865
In the 1920s,
French anthropologist Griaule
492
00:29:28,465 --> 00:29:30,825
and ethnologist Dieterlen
visited the tribe
493
00:29:30,885 --> 00:29:33,405
and were invited
to share their secrets.
494
00:29:33,465 --> 00:29:34,825
(non-english speech)
495
00:29:37,465 --> 00:29:39,485
NARRATOR: But one secret stood out.
496
00:29:39,805 --> 00:29:44,605
The Dogon claimed that their
god Amma came from a specific star
497
00:29:44,665 --> 00:29:48,485
in the Sirius constellation,
the same place
498
00:29:48,545 --> 00:29:49,845
where the ancient Egyptians believed
499
00:29:50,405 --> 00:29:52,465
their god, Osiris, was born.
500
00:29:53,645 --> 00:29:57,565
This star, which modern
astronomers refer to as Sirius
501
00:29:57,625 --> 00:30:00,725
B, the Dogon called Potolo.
502
00:30:01,525 --> 00:30:05,725
But what baffles experts is
that the star is so far from Earth,
503
00:30:05,785 --> 00:30:08,725
it's impossible to
see with the naked eye.
504
00:30:11,425 --> 00:30:12,725
ROBERT BAUVAL: I was very
intrigued by this, by the way.
505
00:30:12,785 --> 00:30:16,745
I mean, the Dogons should
not have known about the existence
506
00:30:16,805 --> 00:30:17,745
of this star.
507
00:30:18,625 --> 00:30:21,705
Sirius is the second-nearest
star from our solar system.
508
00:30:21,885 --> 00:30:23,745
It's eight lightyears away.
509
00:30:24,485 --> 00:30:27,545
In fact, it's not even visible
with standard telescopes.
510
00:30:27,705 --> 00:30:29,805
It was first seen, literally seen,
511
00:30:29,865 --> 00:30:31,865
and photographed in the 1970s.
512
00:30:33,505 --> 00:30:34,565
GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: Modern science
513
00:30:34,625 --> 00:30:39,725
has corroborated that Sirius B does,
indeed, exist.
514
00:30:39,825 --> 00:30:44,645
The problem is the Dogon
knew about this before
515
00:30:44,705 --> 00:30:47,725
modern science corroborated it.
516
00:30:48,465 --> 00:30:50,565
I mean, that's spooky.
517
00:30:53,445 --> 00:30:55,585
NARRATOR: Measurements
taken with the Hubble telescope
518
00:30:55,645 --> 00:31:00,445
in 2003 have confirmed
that Sirius B is what's
519
00:31:00,505 --> 00:31:04,765
known as a white dwarf,
or a partially burnt-out star
520
00:31:04,825 --> 00:31:07,505
with extremely dense mass.
521
00:31:07,765 --> 00:31:10,765
Although it is smaller
in size than Earth,
522
00:31:10,825 --> 00:31:14,725
it's estimated to weigh
eight times as much as our sun.
523
00:31:15,825 --> 00:31:19,425
But how did the Dogon
acquire this ancient knowledge
524
00:31:19,485 --> 00:31:21,785
of astronomy that
seems to be centuries
525
00:31:21,845 --> 00:31:24,545
more advanced than
that of modern science?
526
00:31:26,585 --> 00:31:29,545
The mystery is,
how did this story get passed
527
00:31:29,605 --> 00:31:32,805
on down generations if
the story came from a time
528
00:31:32,865 --> 00:31:34,625
before astronomers knew there was
529
00:31:34,685 --> 00:31:36,605
a companion star
to Sirius which can't
530
00:31:36,665 --> 00:31:38,445
be seen with the human eye?
531
00:31:40,485 --> 00:31:43,405
INTERPRETER: This is
the Dogon symbol for Sirius.
532
00:31:43,525 --> 00:31:46,745
When you move it around, you
can see an orbit around the center
533
00:31:46,805 --> 00:31:50,865
marked by Sirius A.
Sirius B circles around it,
534
00:31:51,425 --> 00:31:53,405
so it is a circular system.
535
00:31:53,625 --> 00:31:56,545
This sign is practically
an astronomical model
536
00:31:56,605 --> 00:31:59,525
that the Dogon could
not have invented because only
537
00:31:59,585 --> 00:32:01,485
Sirius A is visible.
538
00:32:02,525 --> 00:32:04,665
Sirius B and C are invisible.
539
00:32:05,465 --> 00:32:08,605
However, their description
of the orbit is correct.
540
00:32:09,585 --> 00:32:12,685
One assumption is
that this god, Nommo,
541
00:32:12,745 --> 00:32:14,725
who brought them
this knowledge, could
542
00:32:14,785 --> 00:32:16,885
have been an extraterrestrial
intelligence.
543
00:32:19,685 --> 00:32:21,845
NARRATOR: Since the
early 20th century,
544
00:32:22,505 --> 00:32:24,825
the tribe has been routinely
studied and researched
545
00:32:24,885 --> 00:32:26,745
by anthropologists.
546
00:32:27,565 --> 00:32:29,765
This has led many modern historians
547
00:32:29,825 --> 00:32:33,465
to claim that the Dogon
must have learned about astronomy
548
00:32:33,525 --> 00:32:34,865
from westerners.
549
00:32:36,865 --> 00:32:39,405
ROBERT CARGILL: The
Dogon mythology is so fluid
550
00:32:39,465 --> 00:32:42,885
that when science confirms
something that they might have
551
00:32:43,445 --> 00:32:45,405
believed in antiquity,
it might have
552
00:32:45,465 --> 00:32:46,565
just been sheer coincidence.
553
00:32:46,625 --> 00:32:48,685
Or it could have been
a conflation-- that
554
00:32:48,745 --> 00:32:52,545
is, because it's an oral culture
and because the mythology is so
555
00:32:52,605 --> 00:32:56,505
fluid, they heard something
that someone said about this star
556
00:32:56,565 --> 00:32:57,665
in relation to another star.
557
00:32:57,725 --> 00:33:00,465
And they just grafted
that into their mythology.
558
00:33:00,525 --> 00:33:02,405
They grafted that
into their religion.
559
00:33:02,465 --> 00:33:04,645
And then when some reporter,
some subsequent reporter,
560
00:33:04,705 --> 00:33:06,665
comes along and says,
what do you believe?
561
00:33:06,725 --> 00:33:09,605
They say, well, we've thought
this for millions of years.
562
00:33:10,405 --> 00:33:12,605
GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: When critics
suggest that this knowledge
563
00:33:12,665 --> 00:33:14,745
was given to them
by modern ethnologists,
564
00:33:14,805 --> 00:33:16,605
that's simply incorrect.
565
00:33:16,665 --> 00:33:21,885
Because we know that this
story goes back hundreds of years
566
00:33:22,445 --> 00:33:26,845
earlier than any modern
ethnologist ever went there.
567
00:33:28,445 --> 00:33:29,685
(non-english speech)
568
00:33:29,745 --> 00:33:30,885
INTERPRETER: If it were ever proven
569
00:33:31,445 --> 00:33:34,725
that all this information
is exactly correct, including
570
00:33:34,785 --> 00:33:37,505
the parts that are still
being studied by astronomers,
571
00:33:37,665 --> 00:33:40,505
this would mean that the
Earth had visitors from outer space
572
00:33:40,565 --> 00:33:41,845
in prehistoric times.
573
00:33:42,445 --> 00:33:43,825
(non-english speech)
574
00:33:43,885 --> 00:33:44,805
ROBERT BAUVAL: Either the inherited
575
00:33:44,865 --> 00:33:47,685
that knowledge and the question is,
from where?
576
00:33:47,745 --> 00:33:50,705
From a previous civilization,
or from some sort of
577
00:33:50,765 --> 00:33:52,485
extraterrestrial civilization?
578
00:33:52,605 --> 00:33:53,605
Or it's a coincidence.
579
00:33:53,665 --> 00:33:55,665
In my view, it is not a coincidence.
580
00:33:58,465 --> 00:34:00,445
NARRATOR: If the Dogon people really
581
00:34:00,505 --> 00:34:03,405
possessed this advanced
astronomical knowledge,
582
00:34:03,585 --> 00:34:06,505
were their legends
based on real events?
583
00:34:08,465 --> 00:34:11,665
The ancient Egyptians
and Dogon were far from alone
584
00:34:11,725 --> 00:34:14,445
in their belief in
gods or mystical beings
585
00:34:14,505 --> 00:34:15,885
that came from the sky.
586
00:34:18,805 --> 00:34:21,685
Is there an explanation
for similar myths
587
00:34:21,745 --> 00:34:25,405
shared by ancient cultures
all around the world?
588
00:34:25,685 --> 00:34:29,845
And what does that reveal
as to who these visitors may be?
589
00:34:30,665 --> 00:34:34,785
Perhaps the answer can
be found not in northern Africa,
590
00:34:34,845 --> 00:34:38,425
but here in the rocks and canyons
591
00:34:38,485 --> 00:34:39,845
of the American Southwest.
592
00:34:52,425 --> 00:34:57,565
30 miles south of Gallup,
New Mexico lies the Pueblo of Zuni.
593
00:35:02,345 --> 00:35:04,485
Sheltered from the
desolate high plains,
594
00:35:04,545 --> 00:35:07,585
this adobe city is
home to the Zuni Indians,
595
00:35:08,205 --> 00:35:11,285
one of the oldest indigenous
tribes in North America.
596
00:35:13,265 --> 00:35:16,445
They have inhabited this
land for almost 2,000 years
597
00:35:16,565 --> 00:35:19,505
and have protected
their secrets even longer.
598
00:35:23,305 --> 00:35:25,465
The Zuni are a very
interesting culture in that
599
00:35:25,525 --> 00:35:28,465
they're one of the few cultures
that really have not opened up
600
00:35:28,525 --> 00:35:31,425
to the rest of the
world about their star
601
00:35:31,485 --> 00:35:32,545
knowledge traditions.
602
00:35:32,605 --> 00:35:35,285
Most of this type
of information is very
603
00:35:35,345 --> 00:35:37,465
closely held by the natives.
604
00:35:38,125 --> 00:35:41,185
And I really find it very intriguing
605
00:35:41,245 --> 00:35:44,245
that this is the time
period in history where now
606
00:35:44,305 --> 00:35:45,605
we're starting to
learn more and more
607
00:35:46,165 --> 00:35:47,445
about their star knowledge.
608
00:35:52,125 --> 00:35:54,265
NARRATOR: Much of
the Zuni people's history
609
00:35:54,325 --> 00:35:57,385
is etched in the rocks
in the New Mexico desert.
610
00:36:04,385 --> 00:36:09,185
Tribal elder Clifford Mahooty
and archaeologist Dan Simplicio
611
00:36:09,305 --> 00:36:12,205
have studied the Zuni's
secret history firsthand.
612
00:36:13,185 --> 00:36:17,185
They've collected stories
passed down through generations that
613
00:36:17,245 --> 00:36:19,245
are rooted in the
belief that the tribe's
614
00:36:19,305 --> 00:36:22,345
creators and protectors
are supernatural beings
615
00:36:22,405 --> 00:36:23,465
from the sky.
616
00:36:24,545 --> 00:36:27,245
MAN: This one's kind
of interesting here.
617
00:36:27,345 --> 00:36:31,145
I would imagine it was
created in the last century.
618
00:36:31,205 --> 00:36:35,125
But on this design,
you can see the star figure.
619
00:36:35,545 --> 00:36:39,205
Celestial images oftentimes
are depicted in a lot
620
00:36:39,265 --> 00:36:40,585
of our cultural petroglyphs.
621
00:36:41,165 --> 00:36:43,605
And this is one of them
where it depicts a star.
622
00:36:44,245 --> 00:36:48,265
It could be the supernova
of the Crab Nebula.
623
00:36:50,365 --> 00:36:53,565
Our Zuni mythology,
in the prayer system
624
00:36:54,125 --> 00:36:58,605
and the ritualistic protocols,
talk about these people that
625
00:36:59,165 --> 00:37:02,465
came over here and told
us how to actually live
626
00:37:02,525 --> 00:37:04,565
our lives as being sky people.
627
00:37:08,525 --> 00:37:12,145
If you listen to a
lot of religious chants,
628
00:37:12,205 --> 00:37:14,525
and songs, and prayers,
that's all they talk about.
629
00:37:14,585 --> 00:37:16,345
They're talking about space.
630
00:37:16,405 --> 00:37:18,445
They're talking about
out there in the universe,
631
00:37:18,505 --> 00:37:19,565
where they came from.
632
00:37:20,125 --> 00:37:22,405
So they depict it
on that rock wall here.
633
00:37:22,465 --> 00:37:26,265
But the actual meaning
of it is somewhere more profound
634
00:37:26,325 --> 00:37:28,205
and more complex than that.
635
00:37:30,505 --> 00:37:33,265
NARRATOR: These drawings
are thought to have
636
00:37:33,325 --> 00:37:35,245
been created around 1200 BC.
637
00:37:35,445 --> 00:37:37,365
Yet they appear
to depict modern space
638
00:37:37,425 --> 00:37:39,465
travelers and their vehicles.
639
00:37:43,325 --> 00:37:45,285
If you move back a little bit, you
640
00:37:45,345 --> 00:37:48,205
can see another figure here.
641
00:37:48,485 --> 00:37:50,365
It has a dome.
642
00:37:50,445 --> 00:37:52,185
It has eyes.
643
00:37:52,285 --> 00:37:54,425
There's something coming down.
644
00:37:54,485 --> 00:37:55,425
CLIFFORD MAHOOTY: And a nose.
645
00:37:55,485 --> 00:37:56,585
Like a nose.
Through the nose.
646
00:37:57,145 --> 00:37:58,405
But it kind of flares out.
647
00:37:58,465 --> 00:38:01,205
I think it was something
to do with the ancient ones.
648
00:38:01,265 --> 00:38:05,425
When they saw something,
they took as much description of it
649
00:38:05,485 --> 00:38:06,465
to put it on there.
650
00:38:06,525 --> 00:38:09,305
Of course, it's not going
to be exactly what they saw.
651
00:38:09,525 --> 00:38:12,565
But that's as best as they
can do for something that they saw.
652
00:38:14,325 --> 00:38:15,405
DAVID CHILDRESS:
With all petroglyphs
653
00:38:15,465 --> 00:38:16,325
and things like that--
654
00:38:16,385 --> 00:38:19,165
I mean,
they're up to interpretation.
655
00:38:19,225 --> 00:38:22,605
Sometimes they're just
doodlings of people.
656
00:38:23,205 --> 00:38:26,365
But other times,
they may well be actual descriptions
657
00:38:26,425 --> 00:38:30,225
and depictions of some kind of god
658
00:38:30,285 --> 00:38:33,485
from outer space,
some ancient astronaut.
659
00:38:33,545 --> 00:38:37,205
And when you go around,
say, like the Zuni Pueblo, I mean,
660
00:38:37,265 --> 00:38:39,505
that's what they'll tell
you those petroglyphs are.
661
00:38:40,445 --> 00:38:44,285
Even the Zunis themselves
call them the spaceman.
662
00:38:45,585 --> 00:38:50,165
MAN: This one seems to have
two legs coming out like that.
663
00:38:50,225 --> 00:38:53,485
It has a broad, diamond-shaped body.
664
00:38:54,145 --> 00:38:57,485
There probably was a bigger
head that chipped off here.
665
00:38:59,205 --> 00:39:01,605
That's very different-looking
than humans are.
666
00:39:02,525 --> 00:39:05,345
CLIFFORD MAHOOTY: Now,
usually, they're called UFOs.
667
00:39:05,405 --> 00:39:08,245
But in the Zuni way, we've always
668
00:39:08,305 --> 00:39:11,345
been taught that they're
the keepers of the upper world,
669
00:39:11,405 --> 00:39:13,245
which means space.
670
00:39:13,365 --> 00:39:16,345
They're sky people, beings that are
671
00:39:16,425 --> 00:39:18,505
of the extraterrestrial origin.
672
00:39:19,205 --> 00:39:22,145
And this is still
within our mythology and
673
00:39:22,205 --> 00:39:24,165
our religious practices today.
674
00:39:30,145 --> 00:39:32,225
NARRATOR: Like most Indian tribes,
675
00:39:32,285 --> 00:39:35,265
the Zunis call these
sky people Kachinas.
676
00:39:35,585 --> 00:39:38,365
According to the
Zuni's creation story,
677
00:39:38,445 --> 00:39:41,405
the Kachina gods came
down from the heavens
678
00:39:41,465 --> 00:39:44,485
to lead the Zunis to Earth
through a special portal.
679
00:39:48,305 --> 00:39:49,485
CLIFFORD MAHOOTY: The Sipapu--
680
00:39:49,545 --> 00:39:53,585
that's the entrance to the
fourth world or the underworld.
681
00:39:54,145 --> 00:39:58,365
And that's a representation
of where the Kachinas come and go.
682
00:39:59,245 --> 00:40:02,145
And so according
to their mythologies,
683
00:40:02,205 --> 00:40:05,565
the Zunis were brought
forth into the world of light--
684
00:40:06,125 --> 00:40:07,585
which is where we are at today--
685
00:40:08,145 --> 00:40:11,365
by what I would interpret
as extraterrestrial beings
686
00:40:11,425 --> 00:40:12,505
from the universe.
687
00:40:14,405 --> 00:40:17,425
(chanting)
688
00:40:19,385 --> 00:40:22,425
NARRATOR: Every year,
the Zunis participate in a ceremony
689
00:40:22,485 --> 00:40:24,585
known as the Shalako festival.
690
00:40:25,265 --> 00:40:28,525
Dressed in traditional costumes
to represent the Kachinas,
691
00:40:29,145 --> 00:40:32,305
the Indians celebrate the
arrival of the gods on Earth.
692
00:40:36,185 --> 00:40:39,265
This is a figurine of Kachina gods.
693
00:40:39,465 --> 00:40:43,165
And these guys are some
gods from the sky who came down.
694
00:40:43,225 --> 00:40:45,405
They wear weird helmets.
695
00:40:46,225 --> 00:40:49,445
GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: This
one has a helmet as a head.
696
00:40:49,505 --> 00:40:53,605
And if you look at
the whole body of it,
697
00:40:54,365 --> 00:40:57,505
it's as if it wears
some type of a suit.
698
00:40:58,245 --> 00:41:02,465
This one here also has
the helmet and the visor.
699
00:41:03,365 --> 00:41:05,445
For the Pueblo Indians
like the Zunis,
700
00:41:05,505 --> 00:41:08,425
these are their sky gods that,
every year,
701
00:41:08,485 --> 00:41:10,145
they have special ceremonies.
702
00:41:10,205 --> 00:41:12,545
People put on these
special costumes and masks
703
00:41:12,605 --> 00:41:15,225
to re-enact the coming of the gods.
704
00:41:16,365 --> 00:41:19,345
They really look
like ancient astronauts.
705
00:41:27,125 --> 00:41:29,285
BILL BIRNES: If you look
at the poetry, and the legends,
706
00:41:29,345 --> 00:41:34,345
and the stories from American
Indian tribes in the Southwest,
707
00:41:34,405 --> 00:41:37,405
they have the legend
of the star people.
708
00:41:38,145 --> 00:41:41,405
The star people came to
Earth and seeded planet Earth.
709
00:41:41,465 --> 00:41:44,145
And they came on flying ships.
710
00:41:45,165 --> 00:41:48,245
If you speak to the elders,
they will tell you that a lot of us
711
00:41:48,305 --> 00:41:51,145
believe in the existence
of extraterrestrials.
712
00:41:53,245 --> 00:41:55,585
The Zunis don't have
a written language.
713
00:41:56,145 --> 00:41:58,485
The storyteller comes
and he tells the young children
714
00:41:58,545 --> 00:42:00,205
how it all happened.
715
00:42:00,265 --> 00:42:03,325
All of their songs that
they do in their ceremonies
716
00:42:03,505 --> 00:42:05,505
tell the story over and over.
717
00:42:05,565 --> 00:42:08,285
And that's how they passed it down.
718
00:42:08,345 --> 00:42:12,525
Traditions, customs, beliefs--
they taught in the Indian way.
719
00:42:12,585 --> 00:42:15,505
They used things they
understand to explain things
720
00:42:15,565 --> 00:42:17,365
that they don't understand.
721
00:42:17,565 --> 00:42:22,405
I remember my grandparents
talking about a craft that flew
722
00:42:22,465 --> 00:42:27,485
and had actually crash-landed
on one of the mesas east of here.
723
00:42:30,285 --> 00:42:33,605
There's no interpretation
of what an aircraft is.
724
00:42:34,165 --> 00:42:36,545
So the closest thing
that they could interpret
725
00:42:36,605 --> 00:42:39,325
as anything capable
of flight is a bird
726
00:42:39,385 --> 00:42:42,285
or our masked Kachina dancers.
727
00:42:44,185 --> 00:42:46,605
CLIFFORD MAHOOTY: We're a very,
very superstitious people.
728
00:42:47,265 --> 00:42:49,485
It's always been
in the history of Zuni
729
00:42:49,545 --> 00:42:53,145
that they've always been here,
even right here
730
00:42:53,205 --> 00:42:54,445
where we're sitting right now.
731
00:42:54,505 --> 00:42:55,565
But you just don't see them.
732
00:42:56,125 --> 00:42:57,425
They're in a different frequency.
733
00:42:57,545 --> 00:42:59,485
And those are very, very sacred.
734
00:42:59,545 --> 00:43:01,485
And those are very, very secret.
735
00:43:02,225 --> 00:43:04,185
They're out there somewhere.
736
00:43:09,405 --> 00:43:12,425
NARRATOR: For those who believe
that ancient astronauts came
737
00:43:12,485 --> 00:43:16,205
to Earth thousands of years ago,
prehistoric artwork
738
00:43:16,265 --> 00:43:18,405
provides more clues
and what they claim
739
00:43:18,465 --> 00:43:20,605
is a growing body of evidence.
740
00:43:21,405 --> 00:43:25,125
From wall carvings and
statues in ancient Egypt
741
00:43:25,425 --> 00:43:28,345
to tribal traditions
and exotic masks
742
00:43:28,405 --> 00:43:33,485
in West Africa to petroglyphs
in the American Southwest--
743
00:43:34,285 --> 00:43:36,525
all thousands of years old--
744
00:43:37,125 --> 00:43:40,205
they seem to recount
similar stories of visitors
745
00:43:40,265 --> 00:43:41,405
from the skies.
746
00:43:42,485 --> 00:43:45,165
Could the legends of alien beings
747
00:43:45,225 --> 00:43:47,565
visiting Earth
thousands of years ago
748
00:43:48,325 --> 00:43:51,065
have inspired more
traditional beliefs?
749
00:44:02,785 --> 00:44:05,645
Celestial beams
coming down to earth,
750
00:44:06,845 --> 00:44:09,725
gods descending from the sky--
751
00:44:09,985 --> 00:44:12,945
can these events only
be found in the ancient legends
752
00:44:13,005 --> 00:44:14,005
of the Zuni?
753
00:44:14,945 --> 00:44:18,025
Do similar accounts exist
in other cultures and other
754
00:44:18,585 --> 00:44:20,625
religions across the world?
755
00:44:20,905 --> 00:44:24,565
And if so, what is the explanation?
756
00:44:25,665 --> 00:44:26,765
GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: We have to remind
757
00:44:26,825 --> 00:44:30,685
ourselves that our ancestors
were highly intelligent.
758
00:44:30,765 --> 00:44:34,665
However, their technological
frame of reference
759
00:44:34,725 --> 00:44:37,725
was different than
our technological frame
760
00:44:37,785 --> 00:44:38,725
of reference.
761
00:44:38,785 --> 00:44:41,845
So they didn't have the vocabulary
762
00:44:41,905 --> 00:44:45,725
with which to describe
or with which to name
763
00:44:45,785 --> 00:44:47,965
certain things that they saw.
764
00:44:48,025 --> 00:44:49,745
So what did they do?
765
00:44:49,805 --> 00:44:55,565
They used words that they
were familiar with in their time.
766
00:44:55,645 --> 00:44:58,025
And so they tried
to describe whatever
767
00:44:58,585 --> 00:45:01,665
they witnessed to the
best of their abilities
768
00:45:01,725 --> 00:45:04,005
with their vocabulary.
769
00:45:08,885 --> 00:45:12,545
NARRATOR: Ancient China also
shared some of the same beliefs
770
00:45:12,605 --> 00:45:14,765
that can be found
in Egyptian, Native
771
00:45:14,825 --> 00:45:18,545
American,
and Dogon legends, that deities
772
00:45:18,605 --> 00:45:20,605
arrived from the stars.
773
00:45:21,545 --> 00:45:25,945
According to Chinese mythology
dating back to 3000 BC,
774
00:45:26,005 --> 00:45:28,865
when the god named Huangdi was born,
775
00:45:28,945 --> 00:45:31,805
there was a radiance
from the great star, Chi.
776
00:45:35,605 --> 00:45:37,905
Huangdi would later
emerge from the belly
777
00:45:37,965 --> 00:45:42,625
of a fire-breathing dragon
to become China's first emperor.
778
00:45:43,685 --> 00:45:45,685
The origins of the
Han Chinese people
779
00:45:45,745 --> 00:45:50,005
start with a story of a great
god looking down with empathy.
780
00:45:51,565 --> 00:45:56,005
Here were a people in poverty
in a beautiful, rich country.
781
00:45:56,565 --> 00:45:57,845
The landscape was profound.
782
00:45:57,905 --> 00:45:59,785
But the people were suffering.
783
00:46:00,865 --> 00:46:03,785
He took pity and
decided to come down.
784
00:46:09,885 --> 00:46:13,585
GIORGIO TSOUKALOS:
Huangdi arrived on planet
785
00:46:13,825 --> 00:46:15,905
Earth in a flying dragon.
786
00:46:17,665 --> 00:46:19,905
He had the power of flight.
787
00:46:19,965 --> 00:46:24,765
Huangdi could be
anywhere within minutes.
788
00:46:24,825 --> 00:46:29,645
And he usually accomplished
this by hopping on his dragon
789
00:46:29,745 --> 00:46:31,665
and flying somewhere.
790
00:46:35,585 --> 00:46:38,025
Now this divine energy becomes human
791
00:46:38,585 --> 00:46:41,745
and is a great leader,
the Yellow Emperor, who
792
00:46:41,805 --> 00:46:43,725
rules and unites the people.
793
00:46:43,785 --> 00:46:45,665
And there is a period
of great prosperity
794
00:46:45,725 --> 00:46:47,625
until his work is done.
795
00:46:47,965 --> 00:46:50,925
NARRATOR: Huangdi brought
order to the chaos,
796
00:46:51,025 --> 00:46:53,745
creating China's first empire.
797
00:46:54,625 --> 00:46:57,925
He is seen as a cultural
hero and is credited
798
00:46:57,985 --> 00:46:59,965
with the invention of the compass,
799
00:47:00,545 --> 00:47:02,825
acupuncture, and the standardization
800
00:47:02,885 --> 00:47:04,605
of Chinese writing.
801
00:47:05,545 --> 00:47:08,905
One of his greatest legacies
is the Great Wall of China.
802
00:47:10,025 --> 00:47:13,925
When the land is prosperous,
he decides it's time to go.
803
00:47:14,025 --> 00:47:16,565
And the great yellow
dragon comes back.
804
00:47:16,625 --> 00:47:18,785
And he gets back into
the belly of the dragon
805
00:47:18,845 --> 00:47:20,545
and flies off forever.
806
00:47:23,545 --> 00:47:27,805
Now, were these dragons truly
807
00:47:27,865 --> 00:47:31,705
dragons in a biological nature?
808
00:47:34,585 --> 00:47:39,565
Or were they misinterpreted
types of machines?
809
00:47:39,645 --> 00:47:41,945
Because as we all know, dragons are
810
00:47:42,005 --> 00:47:46,925
always correlated with
spewing fire and a lot of smoke.
811
00:47:48,805 --> 00:47:51,025
Whenever we see a
modern rocket take off,
812
00:47:51,585 --> 00:47:52,705
there's all this smoke.
813
00:47:52,765 --> 00:47:56,545
And sometimes the smoke is yellow,
and sometimes it's red.
814
00:47:56,605 --> 00:48:00,565
So it's very bizarre
how we have these correlations
815
00:48:00,625 --> 00:48:04,025
between the ancient times
and modern times today.
816
00:48:05,025 --> 00:48:07,825
Mythology is the effort to grasp
817
00:48:07,885 --> 00:48:10,845
what we can't grasp,
to understand what is beyond us.
818
00:48:10,905 --> 00:48:13,705
In the Eastern teachings,
the dragons very often
819
00:48:13,765 --> 00:48:16,965
carry people, sometimes
on their back and sometimes
820
00:48:17,025 --> 00:48:18,565
inside their bellies.
821
00:48:18,625 --> 00:48:21,625
So if we think of
them as a poet's effort
822
00:48:21,685 --> 00:48:24,025
to explain a vehicle
that was strange to them,
823
00:48:24,625 --> 00:48:25,985
well, those sound
like flying saucers.
824
00:48:26,545 --> 00:48:28,725
So it might just be
a problem of translation.
825
00:48:28,785 --> 00:48:29,965
Because after all, it's just a word.
826
00:48:30,025 --> 00:48:31,565
He's trying to describe something
827
00:48:31,625 --> 00:48:33,725
that's very difficult to grasp.
828
00:48:37,905 --> 00:48:41,685
NARRATOR: 4,000 miles West of China,
another tale
829
00:48:41,745 --> 00:48:44,545
of celestial beings
influencing civilization
830
00:48:44,605 --> 00:48:49,025
can be found, this time
in what is now modern-day Iraq.
831
00:48:50,745 --> 00:48:53,705
The Babylonian legend of Enuma Elish
832
00:48:53,765 --> 00:48:56,665
dates back to the
seventh century BC.
833
00:48:56,885 --> 00:49:02,025
The text was first discovered
in 1849 by British archaeologist
834
00:49:02,585 --> 00:49:04,785
Sir Austen Henry
Layard while searching
835
00:49:04,845 --> 00:49:08,825
the ruins of the Library
of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh.
836
00:49:08,965 --> 00:49:11,705
The story tells of
how the first humans
837
00:49:11,765 --> 00:49:14,605
were created by an
extraterrestrial race
838
00:49:14,665 --> 00:49:16,545
known as the Anunnaki.
839
00:49:23,985 --> 00:49:26,765
GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: In
the ancient texts of Samaria,
840
00:49:26,945 --> 00:49:30,005
we have descriptions
841
00:49:30,565 --> 00:49:34,605
of these beings
descending from the sky
842
00:49:34,665 --> 00:49:36,685
called the Anunnaki.
843
00:49:37,565 --> 00:49:42,745
The term Anunnaki means
"those who from the heavens came."
844
00:49:43,025 --> 00:49:46,825
It says,
word for word, that these beings
845
00:49:46,905 --> 00:49:51,545
descended in flying
vehicles from the sky.
846
00:49:51,925 --> 00:49:55,845
And we can find not only
descriptions of the Anunnaki
847
00:49:55,905 --> 00:49:57,805
but also depictions.
848
00:49:57,925 --> 00:50:01,665
And we can see them in statues,
in carvings.
849
00:50:01,725 --> 00:50:04,865
So it's all very interesting to see
850
00:50:04,925 --> 00:50:09,625
that those beings looked
like modern-day space travelers
851
00:50:09,685 --> 00:50:10,745
with weird suits.
852
00:50:10,805 --> 00:50:12,925
Some of them wore wristwatches.
853
00:50:13,025 --> 00:50:18,745
They had boots on,
and helmets, and above all, wings.
854
00:50:18,825 --> 00:50:21,765
And they were always
described or depicted
855
00:50:21,845 --> 00:50:27,545
in floating above some quote,
unquote "regular people."
856
00:50:28,845 --> 00:50:32,865
So the question is,
who were the Anunnaki?
857
00:50:32,925 --> 00:50:35,885
And according to the
ancient astronaut hypothesis,
858
00:50:36,005 --> 00:50:38,825
they were space
travelers who visited
859
00:50:38,885 --> 00:50:41,545
Earth in the remote past.
860
00:50:48,825 --> 00:50:50,625
NARRATOR: Similar
themes can be found
861
00:50:50,685 --> 00:50:53,005
in the legends of
Greek and Roman gods,
862
00:50:53,605 --> 00:50:55,865
which also describe
events that some interpret
863
00:50:55,945 --> 00:50:58,585
as extraterrestrial contact.
864
00:50:58,925 --> 00:51:01,645
Both cultures believed
in powerful gods
865
00:51:01,705 --> 00:51:04,905
who lived in the heavens
and often came down to Earth
866
00:51:04,965 --> 00:51:06,885
to interact with humans.
867
00:51:09,925 --> 00:51:11,665
DAVID CHILDRESS:
A well-known example
868
00:51:11,725 --> 00:51:13,905
is Zeus and the Greek gods.
869
00:51:13,965 --> 00:51:17,665
And they've come down from the sky,
and Mount Olympus,
870
00:51:17,725 --> 00:51:19,585
where they live in some mountain.
871
00:51:19,685 --> 00:51:22,005
And they're bringing,
really, civilization
872
00:51:22,565 --> 00:51:24,745
and sciences to mankind.
873
00:51:24,825 --> 00:51:27,605
But they have many
human attributes
874
00:51:27,665 --> 00:51:30,805
too where, yeah,
they're attracted to human women.
875
00:51:31,705 --> 00:51:33,945
They want to have sex and
children with as many of them
876
00:51:34,005 --> 00:51:34,845
as they can.
877
00:51:34,905 --> 00:51:37,705
And then they go back into the sky.
878
00:51:38,705 --> 00:51:41,005
THOMAS BULLARD: These ideas
of gods mating with humans
879
00:51:41,565 --> 00:51:45,645
are very commonplace,
like Zeus in Greek mythology
880
00:51:45,725 --> 00:51:48,545
was always coming down,
and mating with mortals,
881
00:51:48,685 --> 00:51:52,925
and producing demigods
like Hercules or Helen of Troy,
882
00:51:53,005 --> 00:51:55,905
who were exceptionally beautiful,
883
00:51:55,965 --> 00:52:01,905
exceptionally powerful,
unusually gifted in every way.
884
00:52:02,665 --> 00:52:04,885
So in other words, you were creating
885
00:52:04,945 --> 00:52:07,665
a better race, in this sense.
886
00:52:07,865 --> 00:52:09,805
GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: In the
ancient (inaudible) opinion,
887
00:52:09,865 --> 00:52:15,025
the whole pantheon of gods
that we have in ancient Greece
888
00:52:15,685 --> 00:52:19,785
consists of nothing
else but flesh-and-blood
889
00:52:19,845 --> 00:52:23,805
extraterrestrials
who were misinterpreted
890
00:52:24,025 --> 00:52:28,985
as being these divine
creatures by our ancestors.
891
00:52:30,025 --> 00:52:32,785
MICHAEL CREMO: There's a lot
of evidence showing that we're not
892
00:52:32,845 --> 00:52:38,005
alone in the cosmos and that
our human civilizations on Earth
893
00:52:38,565 --> 00:52:41,645
have been interacting
for long periods of time
894
00:52:41,825 --> 00:52:45,545
with extraterrestrial intelligences.
895
00:52:46,585 --> 00:52:48,005
NARRATOR: Belief in celestial beings
896
00:52:48,565 --> 00:52:50,725
interacting with
humans is a cornerstone
897
00:52:50,785 --> 00:52:52,865
in several major religions.
898
00:52:52,985 --> 00:52:56,785
In fact, according to
the Bible's Book of Genesis,
899
00:52:56,845 --> 00:53:00,665
God created the first humans,
Adam and Eve.
900
00:53:01,545 --> 00:53:04,005
The Bible also
contains other passages
901
00:53:04,585 --> 00:53:07,025
that describe strange
interactions between
902
00:53:07,585 --> 00:53:09,765
otherworldly beings and humans.
903
00:53:10,945 --> 00:53:12,985
ROBERT CARGILL: People
believe messengers of some sort
904
00:53:13,545 --> 00:53:14,625
come down from the heavens.
905
00:53:14,685 --> 00:53:16,585
They came down and
they had sex with humans.
906
00:53:16,645 --> 00:53:20,605
And this is where we produce giants,
people like Goliath.
907
00:53:20,665 --> 00:53:23,645
So in a technical sense,
they are alien.
908
00:53:23,705 --> 00:53:26,725
They're gods,
or they're angels, or they're
909
00:53:26,785 --> 00:53:28,785
some kind of superhuman thing.
910
00:53:29,665 --> 00:53:30,965
NARRATOR: Interpreting these Bible
911
00:53:31,025 --> 00:53:33,565
stories has also
led to a certain amount
912
00:53:33,625 --> 00:53:34,985
of debate and controversy.
913
00:53:35,925 --> 00:53:39,705
While most see a single
god directing and influencing
914
00:53:39,765 --> 00:53:43,985
mankind's destiny, others
argue that it is really a number
915
00:53:44,545 --> 00:53:45,945
of gods that are responsible.
916
00:53:47,865 --> 00:53:49,685
GIORGIO TSOUKALOS:
In the Old Testament,
917
00:53:49,745 --> 00:53:53,985
it says very clearly,
let us make man in our image,
918
00:53:54,545 --> 00:53:56,645
according to our likeness.
919
00:53:56,705 --> 00:53:59,705
Now, grammatically speaking,
that sentence
920
00:53:59,765 --> 00:54:02,805
doesn't make sense
because you have God
921
00:54:02,865 --> 00:54:04,885
and then you have "our image."
922
00:54:04,985 --> 00:54:09,705
Well, theologians suggest
that by "our," what they meant
923
00:54:09,765 --> 00:54:11,945
is the Trinity, the Holy Trinity.
924
00:54:12,545 --> 00:54:14,645
So basically, if you were to change
925
00:54:14,705 --> 00:54:17,965
the word God to gods,
then all of a sudden,
926
00:54:18,545 --> 00:54:20,545
the sentence makes sense.
927
00:54:20,645 --> 00:54:25,805
And then the gods created
men in our own image.
928
00:54:25,965 --> 00:54:27,605
ROBERT CARGILL: So
you have this reference,
929
00:54:27,665 --> 00:54:30,685
let us create man in our image.
930
00:54:30,765 --> 00:54:32,565
And several religious texts--
931
00:54:32,625 --> 00:54:35,805
specifically the Hebrew Bible,
which Christians also accept,
932
00:54:35,905 --> 00:54:38,865
and in the Quran,
which Muslims revere as holy--
933
00:54:38,925 --> 00:54:42,745
you have the reference
to god in the plural.
934
00:54:42,805 --> 00:54:44,865
And it is incredibly interesting.
935
00:54:46,905 --> 00:54:49,665
NARRATOR: But do all of
these religious scriptures that
936
00:54:49,725 --> 00:54:53,545
tell similar stories really
point to the possibility
937
00:54:53,705 --> 00:54:56,965
that aliens have visited
Earth throughout ancient history?
938
00:54:59,605 --> 00:55:03,705
The fact is the story
of creation in our own
939
00:55:03,765 --> 00:55:08,645
Bible is the story of creation
in cultures around the world--
940
00:55:08,705 --> 00:55:12,685
the story of the flood,
the evolution of the human species,
941
00:55:12,745 --> 00:55:14,945
the development of language.
942
00:55:15,585 --> 00:55:17,645
All of this points to--
943
00:55:17,905 --> 00:55:19,865
in fact, the Bible says so--
944
00:55:19,925 --> 00:55:24,905
life on Earth came from contact
with an extraterrestrial life
945
00:55:24,965 --> 00:55:25,965
form.
946
00:55:26,025 --> 00:55:27,585
That's in the Bible.
947
00:55:27,645 --> 00:55:29,585
That's in ancient
cultures around the world.
948
00:55:29,645 --> 00:55:32,685
So I believe the theory
of ancient astronauts is true.
949
00:55:32,745 --> 00:55:34,905
And I believe there's
solid evidence there.
950
00:55:34,965 --> 00:55:37,925
And I believe the harder
you try to refute that evidence,
951
00:55:37,985 --> 00:55:40,665
the more you wind
up against a brick wall
952
00:55:40,805 --> 00:55:45,885
that ancient astronauts visited us,
visited Earth thousands
953
00:55:45,945 --> 00:55:49,965
upon thousands of years ago
and seeded the very civilization we
954
00:55:50,025 --> 00:55:51,585
have today.
955
00:55:53,985 --> 00:55:56,945
NARRATOR: If the believers
in the ancient astronaut theory
956
00:55:57,005 --> 00:56:00,885
are correct,
then just who were these visitors?
957
00:56:01,645 --> 00:56:05,705
And might cutting-edge
astrophysics and biology help
958
00:56:05,765 --> 00:56:06,945
us to uncover their identity?
959
00:56:16,365 --> 00:56:19,645
On March 18, 1965,
960
00:56:19,765 --> 00:56:22,505
Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov
961
00:56:22,625 --> 00:56:26,645
stepped outside the Voskhod
2 and became the first human
962
00:56:26,705 --> 00:56:28,585
to walk in space.
963
00:56:33,365 --> 00:56:36,505
He spent 12 minutes and
8 seconds outside his ship
964
00:56:36,565 --> 00:56:37,765
before returning.
965
00:56:39,585 --> 00:56:43,585
Leonov's survival depended
upon a protective suit that
966
00:56:43,645 --> 00:56:45,365
could keep him alive where there was
967
00:56:45,425 --> 00:56:47,725
neither atmospheric
pressure nor oxygen.
968
00:56:50,405 --> 00:56:51,785
If we need spacesuits,
969
00:56:52,345 --> 00:56:56,325
would aliens traveling to
earth require the same protection?
970
00:56:59,605 --> 00:57:02,665
Is that what we're looking
at in these ancient carvings
971
00:57:02,725 --> 00:57:04,445
and drawings?
972
00:57:05,405 --> 00:57:08,465
When critics ask, well, why would
973
00:57:08,545 --> 00:57:13,665
ancient astronauts have
to wear astronaut suits
974
00:57:13,765 --> 00:57:15,685
that we're familiar with today?
975
00:57:16,385 --> 00:57:17,665
The answer is very simple.
976
00:57:18,305 --> 00:57:22,625
Can we go through space
without wearing a type of suit?
977
00:57:22,705 --> 00:57:24,585
Of course not.
We would die.
978
00:57:28,565 --> 00:57:33,605
Because who says that whoever
visited us in the remote past,
979
00:57:34,405 --> 00:57:39,305
that they could breathe
in the atmosphere of planet Earth?
980
00:57:43,425 --> 00:57:47,505
So it's not far-fetched to suggest
981
00:57:48,645 --> 00:57:50,405
that they did, in fact,
982
00:57:50,465 --> 00:57:52,465
wear some type of suit.
983
00:57:57,665 --> 00:58:01,525
NARRATOR: Why might these
images resemble modern astronauts?
984
00:58:05,385 --> 00:58:07,785
If they are aliens, is it possible
985
00:58:08,345 --> 00:58:10,345
they are similar to humans?
986
00:58:11,345 --> 00:58:14,625
And could they have come
from a planet just like Earth?
987
00:58:17,785 --> 00:58:21,425
At the turn of the
20th century, a group
988
00:58:21,485 --> 00:58:25,485
of British and German scientists
considered this possibility.
989
00:58:25,765 --> 00:58:29,585
They embraced a theory put
forth by early Greek philosophers
990
00:58:29,645 --> 00:58:33,765
that all life in the universe
began in one specific place.
991
00:58:35,605 --> 00:58:38,625
This theory is called panspermia.
992
00:58:39,445 --> 00:58:42,605
Panspermia is the theory
that life formed in one place
993
00:58:42,665 --> 00:58:44,785
and then got spread
around to other places.
994
00:58:47,325 --> 00:58:50,405
In outer space,
in the medium between stars,
995
00:58:50,465 --> 00:58:52,765
we see molecules that are
the building blocks of life.
996
00:58:53,505 --> 00:58:54,785
So it's easy to get
the building blocks of life
997
00:58:55,345 --> 00:58:56,405
to another planet.
998
00:58:57,385 --> 00:58:58,685
For example, if life formed on Mars,
999
00:58:58,745 --> 00:59:00,385
it could have come here to Earth,
1000
00:59:02,305 --> 00:59:03,505
contaminated Earth,
1001
00:59:03,565 --> 00:59:04,785
and then started life here.
1002
00:59:08,665 --> 00:59:11,685
NARRATOR: Roughly
3.6 billion years ago,
1003
00:59:11,785 --> 00:59:17,345
Mars was warm and wet, much
like the conditions on Earth today.
1004
00:59:17,765 --> 00:59:20,765
Biologists believe that
because Mars cooled more
1005
00:59:21,325 --> 00:59:25,385
quickly than other planets,
life may have developed there first.
1006
00:59:29,625 --> 00:59:31,385
PAUL DAVIES: Mars
is a better candidate
1007
00:59:31,465 --> 00:59:33,685
for life during the early
part of the solar system.
1008
00:59:34,385 --> 00:59:35,765
Mars rocks are coming
here all the time.
1009
00:59:36,325 --> 00:59:37,505
And these have been
knocked off Mars
1010
00:59:37,565 --> 00:59:39,525
by asteroid and comet impacts.
1011
00:59:40,785 --> 00:59:44,445
And we know that they
could convey any Martian
1012
00:59:44,505 --> 00:59:46,365
microorganisms to Earth.
1013
00:59:49,525 --> 00:59:53,305
NARRATOR: In August,
1996, a team of scientists
1014
00:59:53,365 --> 00:59:55,305
made a stunning announcement.
1015
00:59:57,385 --> 01:00:00,645
A Martian meteorite found
in Antarctica contained
1016
01:00:00,705 --> 01:00:02,685
evidence of fossilized life.
1017
01:00:04,425 --> 01:00:08,745
The four-pound rock,
designated ALH84001,
1018
01:00:09,565 --> 01:00:12,465
showed the presence
of carbonate globules
1019
01:00:12,565 --> 01:00:15,545
excreted by microbes
when they were alive on Mars
1020
01:00:15,605 --> 01:00:18,385
3.6 billion years ago.
1021
01:00:18,665 --> 01:00:21,465
Earth was no longer alone.
1022
01:00:22,765 --> 01:00:26,725
Life had existed
elsewhere in the universe.
1023
01:00:27,625 --> 01:00:30,585
So this cross-contamination
between Mars and Earth,
1024
01:00:30,645 --> 01:00:34,485
which 20 years ago was regarded
as a rather wild conjecture,
1025
01:00:34,545 --> 01:00:38,585
is now pretty much accepted
by the astrobiology community.
1026
01:00:43,545 --> 01:00:45,645
NARRATOR: Astrobiologists
studying the origin
1027
01:00:45,705 --> 01:00:48,405
and evolution of
life in the universe
1028
01:00:48,545 --> 01:00:51,445
embraced the possibility
that life on Earth
1029
01:00:51,505 --> 01:00:53,685
began in outer space.
1030
01:00:58,665 --> 01:01:00,685
Did modern-day scientists finally
1031
01:01:00,745 --> 01:01:04,725
prove what ancient cultures
have believed for centuries?
1032
01:01:09,525 --> 01:01:12,645
ROBERT BAUVAL: The
common myth or idea
1033
01:01:12,705 --> 01:01:18,405
that the origins of humankind
is from the stars is widespread.
1034
01:01:18,525 --> 01:01:20,665
Ancient cultures have
the ancient Egyptians,
1035
01:01:20,725 --> 01:01:24,365
the Mayans, the Aztecs,
the Indians, and so forth--
1036
01:01:24,545 --> 01:01:25,785
it is intriguing.
1037
01:01:26,565 --> 01:01:28,345
And it's probably true.
1038
01:01:29,405 --> 01:01:31,545
And I mean it from an
astrophysical point of view.
1039
01:01:31,605 --> 01:01:33,305
We do come from the stars.
1040
01:01:33,365 --> 01:01:34,785
It's a fact that life on Earth has
1041
01:01:35,345 --> 01:01:37,345
been seeded by the coming of a comet
1042
01:01:37,405 --> 01:01:38,705
containing the life matter.
1043
01:01:43,385 --> 01:01:46,465
I personally suspect
there is life out there.
1044
01:01:46,525 --> 01:01:48,645
In fact, I believe
that we have evidence--
1045
01:01:48,705 --> 01:01:51,505
if nothing else,
microbial evidence--
1046
01:01:51,565 --> 01:01:54,405
for life extraterrestrially.
1047
01:01:55,645 --> 01:01:59,345
NARRATOR: But if life did
land on Earth from outer space,
1048
01:01:59,625 --> 01:02:01,445
was it by accident?
1049
01:02:01,645 --> 01:02:04,765
Or might it have been
sent here on purpose?
1050
01:02:10,525 --> 01:02:13,385
One mainstream
scientist thought so.
1051
01:02:14,345 --> 01:02:16,685
British geneticist Francis Crick is
1052
01:02:16,745 --> 01:02:19,725
best known for his
collaboration with James Watson.
1053
01:02:20,345 --> 01:02:25,665
Together, they unraveled
the structure of human DNA in 1953.
1054
01:02:29,465 --> 01:02:31,665
Less than 10 years later, they were
1055
01:02:31,725 --> 01:02:34,325
awarded the Nobel Prize
for their groundbreaking
1056
01:02:34,385 --> 01:02:35,525
work in genetics.
1057
01:02:37,465 --> 01:02:42,305
In the 1960s, Crick became
a proponent of panspermia theory
1058
01:02:42,545 --> 01:02:45,625
and took it to a whole
new level with an idea
1059
01:02:45,685 --> 01:02:48,505
he called directed panspermia.
1060
01:02:49,505 --> 01:02:51,665
GRAHAM HANCOCK: Francis
Crick hypothesized that somewhere,
1061
01:02:51,725 --> 01:02:53,725
perhaps on the other
side of the galaxy,
1062
01:02:55,625 --> 01:03:00,545
there had been a civilization
of advanced intelligent beings.
1063
01:03:00,745 --> 01:03:03,305
And they had found that their planet
1064
01:03:03,365 --> 01:03:04,525
was going to be destroyed.
1065
01:03:04,585 --> 01:03:07,745
Perhaps a supernova was
going to go off in their vicinity,
1066
01:03:08,305 --> 01:03:10,605
and their planet would
be sterilized of life.
1067
01:03:13,385 --> 01:03:15,645
And he asked himself, what
would an intelligent civilization
1068
01:03:15,705 --> 01:03:17,465
do in that situation?
1069
01:03:17,565 --> 01:03:20,345
Well, first of all, they'd
try to figure out if they could get
1070
01:03:20,405 --> 01:03:24,525
out of there, if they could
actually preserve their lives
1071
01:03:24,585 --> 01:03:26,525
and the lives of their descendants,
perhaps crowd
1072
01:03:26,585 --> 01:03:29,425
into spaceships and fly
across interstellar space
1073
01:03:29,485 --> 01:03:32,445
until they found a suitable
planet to colonize.
1074
01:03:38,325 --> 01:03:40,445
NARRATOR: But could
it actually be true?
1075
01:03:40,725 --> 01:03:42,585
Could we really be the descendants
1076
01:03:42,645 --> 01:03:46,485
of an alien race that traveled
here from another world?
1077
01:03:51,725 --> 01:03:57,625
The ultimate implication
of some exobiological theories
1078
01:03:57,685 --> 01:04:01,445
is actually that we,
ourselves, are extraterrestrials,
1079
01:04:01,665 --> 01:04:06,385
that life on Earth arose
because organic material was
1080
01:04:06,445 --> 01:04:08,505
brought here from elsewhere.
1081
01:04:11,745 --> 01:04:15,345
What if we're the ones,
the descendants of those
1082
01:04:15,425 --> 01:04:17,305
who came from another planet?
1083
01:04:17,545 --> 01:04:19,485
We weren't created.
1084
01:04:20,325 --> 01:04:24,585
We were brought here,
seeded planet Earth as a colony
1085
01:04:24,645 --> 01:04:26,585
from some other planet.
1086
01:04:26,785 --> 01:04:30,585
So we are colonists of another race.
1087
01:04:30,645 --> 01:04:33,445
And that's why the
aliens look like us.
1088
01:04:36,645 --> 01:04:41,325
In my opinion,
it's not unscientific to consider
1089
01:04:41,385 --> 01:04:45,605
the possibility of ancient
astronauts, alien intervention.
1090
01:04:45,685 --> 01:04:48,425
We live in a huge universe.
1091
01:04:50,565 --> 01:04:55,705
Now, bacteria versus
humanoids, one may
1092
01:04:55,765 --> 01:04:57,585
say that's a big difference.
1093
01:04:57,665 --> 01:04:59,385
But in some ways,
it's not a big difference.
1094
01:04:59,445 --> 01:05:02,765
Where you have life,
you have the ability for that life
1095
01:05:03,325 --> 01:05:07,305
to develop into what
we consider civilization
1096
01:05:07,365 --> 01:05:09,505
or intelligent beings.
1097
01:05:12,785 --> 01:05:15,745
NARRATOR: Is it just a
coincidence that modern science
1098
01:05:16,305 --> 01:05:20,345
and ancient alien theory
have come to the same conclusion,
1099
01:05:21,785 --> 01:05:25,425
that life on Earth
came from the stars?
1100
01:05:27,445 --> 01:05:29,745
And if it's possible that,
billions of years
1101
01:05:30,305 --> 01:05:32,745
ago, an extraterrestrial race spread
1102
01:05:33,305 --> 01:05:37,305
out across space, how would
they survive in their new home?
1103
01:05:39,605 --> 01:05:43,165
Could they really
be our missing link?
1104
01:05:51,925 --> 01:05:54,105
For thousands of years, mankind has
1105
01:05:54,165 --> 01:05:56,185
tried to depict
alien beings who they
1106
01:05:56,245 --> 01:05:58,185
believe came from the skies.
1107
01:05:59,205 --> 01:06:01,205
Many of those
creatures seem to share
1108
01:06:01,265 --> 01:06:03,225
characteristics with humans.
1109
01:06:04,245 --> 01:06:08,925
They often have two arms,
two legs, fingers, and a head
1110
01:06:10,025 --> 01:06:11,265
just like we do.
1111
01:06:12,085 --> 01:06:14,125
Biologists refer to this basic body
1112
01:06:14,185 --> 01:06:16,285
shape as bilateral symmetry.
1113
01:06:17,205 --> 01:06:20,905
Bilateral symmetry is,
very simply, you divide something
1114
01:06:20,965 --> 01:06:22,205
down the middle into two parts.
1115
01:06:23,085 --> 01:06:24,925
And lateral means up and down.
1116
01:06:25,045 --> 01:06:28,065
And the two sides are an
exact reflection of each other.
1117
01:06:28,885 --> 01:06:31,225
If you fold the thing in half,
all the parts line up.
1118
01:06:43,185 --> 01:06:45,085
That being bilaterally symmetrical
1119
01:06:45,145 --> 01:06:49,225
allows you to be streamlined
and to develop a head end.
1120
01:06:49,285 --> 01:06:51,125
So you become cephalized.
1121
01:06:51,185 --> 01:06:54,005
And that certainly happened
in vertebrates-- virtually, the
1122
01:06:54,065 --> 01:06:55,145
mouth at the end of something.
1123
01:06:55,205 --> 01:06:57,065
And then you get
progressive development.
1124
01:06:57,125 --> 01:07:00,285
And that seems to have led to many,
many advances.
1125
01:07:04,945 --> 01:07:06,065
MAN: So when you look at it closely,
1126
01:07:06,125 --> 01:07:08,185
you can see a lot
of advantages coming in.
1127
01:07:09,165 --> 01:07:12,265
Having the two arms and the
two legs to work together really
1128
01:07:12,325 --> 01:07:15,985
give you great mobility,
and balance, and speed.
1129
01:07:22,925 --> 01:07:26,145
Having eyes on two sides,
separated, give really improved
1130
01:07:26,205 --> 01:07:27,885
vision in various ways.
1131
01:07:27,945 --> 01:07:29,165
Animals that are predominantly prey
1132
01:07:29,225 --> 01:07:32,285
use their two eyes independently
and get a huge field of view.
1133
01:07:32,905 --> 01:07:34,165
Animals that are
predominantly hunters
1134
01:07:34,225 --> 01:07:36,165
have them more in the
front and get really good depth
1135
01:07:36,225 --> 01:07:37,985
perception, which you
need if you're going to land
1136
01:07:38,045 --> 01:07:39,925
on the animal you're hunting.
1137
01:07:49,325 --> 01:07:52,325
NARRATOR: If it is true
that aliens resemble humans
1138
01:07:52,885 --> 01:07:54,925
in their physical characteristics,
1139
01:07:55,085 --> 01:07:58,225
might there also
be genetic similarities?
1140
01:08:00,025 --> 01:08:02,105
Could we even be related?
1141
01:08:05,225 --> 01:08:07,045
In 2003,
1142
01:08:07,145 --> 01:08:10,025
the US government announced
that the Human Genome
1143
01:08:10,085 --> 01:08:12,945
Project had identified
all of the nearly
1144
01:08:13,005 --> 01:08:16,005
25,000 genes in the human body.
1145
01:08:16,345 --> 01:08:19,065
For the first time, scientists had
1146
01:08:19,125 --> 01:08:22,185
a roadmap to the genetic
makeup of humans.
1147
01:08:48,325 --> 01:08:53,165
In 2006, genetic researchers
at the University of California
1148
01:08:53,225 --> 01:08:56,965
at Santa Cruz discovered
an area of the genome
1149
01:08:57,105 --> 01:09:02,165
they called HAR1 that
appears to be unique to humans.
1150
01:09:03,065 --> 01:09:07,865
Scientists believe the
HAR1 gene plays a critical role
1151
01:09:07,925 --> 01:09:10,325
in the advanced development
of the human brain
1152
01:09:11,045 --> 01:09:15,105
and is a key element that
sets us apart from other animals.
1153
01:09:15,225 --> 01:09:17,185
But where did it come from?
1154
01:09:17,965 --> 01:09:19,945
Did humans develop
this distinct gene
1155
01:09:20,005 --> 01:09:22,145
naturally through evolution?
1156
01:09:22,945 --> 01:09:25,945
Or did it land here
from another planet?
1157
01:09:28,185 --> 01:09:30,925
Francis Crick, the British scientist
1158
01:09:30,985 --> 01:09:33,245
who helped discover
the structure of DNA,
1159
01:09:33,925 --> 01:09:37,925
believed that human genes
could not have evolved by chance.
1160
01:09:38,085 --> 01:09:40,965
Crick didn't feel, in that
period of roughly 600 million
1161
01:09:41,025 --> 01:09:43,205
years, from the formation
of the planet down to the time
1162
01:09:43,265 --> 01:09:45,145
when the planet could
first support life,
1163
01:09:45,205 --> 01:09:47,965
there was enough time
for DNA to evolve by accident.
1164
01:09:48,025 --> 01:09:51,005
It's an enormously
complicated molecule.
1165
01:09:51,065 --> 01:09:52,985
Crick gave this analogy.
1166
01:09:53,085 --> 01:09:57,285
You would be more likely
to assemble a fully functioning
1167
01:09:57,345 --> 01:10:02,325
and flying jumbo jet by passing
a hurricane through a junkyard
1168
01:10:03,085 --> 01:10:06,145
than you would be to
assemble the DNA molecule
1169
01:10:06,205 --> 01:10:09,925
by chance in any
kind of primeval soup
1170
01:10:09,985 --> 01:10:11,345
in 500 or 600 million years.
1171
01:10:11,905 --> 01:10:13,285
It's just not possible.
1172
01:10:15,185 --> 01:10:17,125
NARRATOR: But if
this molecule could not
1173
01:10:17,185 --> 01:10:21,245
have evolved accidentally,
how was it created?
1174
01:10:22,005 --> 01:10:26,285
Was it, as some believe,
put there on purpose?
1175
01:10:27,165 --> 01:10:30,925
The question should not be,
do the extraterrestrials look
1176
01:10:30,985 --> 01:10:32,865
like us or what do
the extraterrestrials
1177
01:10:32,925 --> 01:10:36,945
look like, but, do we look
like the extraterrestrials?
1178
01:10:37,005 --> 01:10:39,265
Because according to
the ancient astronaut theory,
1179
01:10:40,245 --> 01:10:45,045
a long, long time ago,
extraterrestrials came here.
1180
01:10:45,165 --> 01:10:50,005
And through a targeted
mutation of our genes,
1181
01:10:50,065 --> 01:10:52,865
we, quote unquote, became "human."
1182
01:10:57,305 --> 01:10:59,905
(non-english speech)
1183
01:11:00,145 --> 01:11:02,905
INTERPRETER: Possibly, there
is information in our DNA about
1184
01:11:02,965 --> 01:11:06,005
whether human evolution
was manipulated or not.
1185
01:11:09,945 --> 01:11:13,965
The DNA is almost deciphered,
yet we only understand 5%
1186
01:11:14,025 --> 01:11:15,945
of the information it carries.
1187
01:11:16,105 --> 01:11:18,945
(non-english speech)
1188
01:11:19,865 --> 01:11:20,865
GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: Geneticists have
1189
01:11:20,925 --> 01:11:24,905
determined that
it only takes about 5%
1190
01:11:25,045 --> 01:11:27,145
to clone a human being.
1191
01:11:27,205 --> 01:11:32,085
And that 95% of that
genetic material that we have
1192
01:11:32,145 --> 01:11:35,085
in our bodies is
nothing more than what
1193
01:11:35,145 --> 01:11:38,885
they refer to as genetic junk.
1194
01:11:39,885 --> 01:11:40,885
Why is everything there?
1195
01:11:40,945 --> 01:11:43,025
And there's probably parts
of the DNA that don't have
1196
01:11:43,085 --> 01:11:44,185
an obvious current function.
1197
01:11:44,245 --> 01:11:45,945
Maybe they're left
over from something
1198
01:11:46,005 --> 01:11:47,145
that was used in the past, kind of
1199
01:11:47,205 --> 01:11:48,925
like our appendix is left over.
1200
01:11:50,165 --> 01:11:53,005
NARRATOR: Could this
genetic junk hold the key
1201
01:11:53,065 --> 01:11:55,045
to the evolution of humans?
1202
01:11:55,885 --> 01:11:58,965
Some people suggest
that decoding our DNA
1203
01:11:59,025 --> 01:12:04,045
entirely will unlock startling
information about our origins.
1204
01:12:05,045 --> 01:12:07,165
But could it even prove that aliens
1205
01:12:07,225 --> 01:12:10,965
played a role in our development
thousands of years ago?
1206
01:12:12,125 --> 01:12:14,085
GRAHAM HANCOCK: If you,
hypothetically,
1207
01:12:14,145 --> 01:12:20,085
wanted to record an eternal
message that could be decoded
1208
01:12:20,145 --> 01:12:22,265
by a creature that
had eventually evolved
1209
01:12:22,325 --> 01:12:24,325
enough intelligence to decode it,
1210
01:12:24,885 --> 01:12:26,105
then the place to put that message
1211
01:12:26,165 --> 01:12:30,285
would not be on some
monument or in some text which
1212
01:12:30,925 --> 01:12:35,105
might be swept away,
but actually on the DNA
1213
01:12:35,185 --> 01:12:37,185
of the creature itself.
1214
01:12:42,065 --> 01:12:48,005
It's recently been established
that DNA is a recording medium
1215
01:12:48,065 --> 01:12:49,345
of almost limitless power.
1216
01:12:49,905 --> 01:12:52,225
It would be technically
possible to record
1217
01:12:52,285 --> 01:12:55,245
the entire knowledge
of a civilization
1218
01:12:55,305 --> 01:12:57,905
on the DNA in our bodies.
1219
01:12:57,965 --> 01:13:01,265
All you'd need is a way
to access that information.
1220
01:13:04,925 --> 01:13:06,965
ERICH VON DANIKEN:
I think we have something,
1221
01:13:07,085 --> 01:13:10,065
the whole humanity in our genes.
1222
01:13:10,245 --> 01:13:14,165
Somewhere in our genes,
it is coded
1223
01:13:14,885 --> 01:13:18,105
that extraterrestrials
were here thousands of years ago.
1224
01:13:19,985 --> 01:13:22,045
NARRATOR: But the questions persist.
1225
01:13:22,265 --> 01:13:26,285
If aliens visited Earth
tens of thousands of years ago,
1226
01:13:28,025 --> 01:13:29,885
how did they get here?
1227
01:13:30,905 --> 01:13:33,245
When we look to the
past for the answers,
1228
01:13:33,345 --> 01:13:36,245
are we looking in the wrong place?
1229
01:13:37,125 --> 01:13:42,085
Should we actually
look forward to our future?
1230
01:13:54,025 --> 01:13:58,685
Scientists agree that the
best chances of finding alien life
1231
01:13:58,805 --> 01:14:01,685
will be on planets similar to ours.
1232
01:14:01,905 --> 01:14:04,105
And descriptions
of extraterrestrials
1233
01:14:04,665 --> 01:14:07,625
seem to resemble
humans in many ways.
1234
01:14:08,005 --> 01:14:12,105
Some ancient astronaut theorists
draw a surprising conclusion
1235
01:14:12,665 --> 01:14:15,745
from these facts,
suggesting that aliens
1236
01:14:15,805 --> 01:14:17,925
might actually be human.
1237
01:14:19,645 --> 01:14:24,085
It is odd that many of
the descriptions of aliens
1238
01:14:24,805 --> 01:14:26,825
are effectively humanoid.
1239
01:14:26,885 --> 01:14:30,725
And this raises an
interesting possibility.
1240
01:14:30,785 --> 01:14:33,745
One idea that's been put
forward is that these are not
1241
01:14:33,805 --> 01:14:35,825
extraterrestrials at all but they're
1242
01:14:35,885 --> 01:14:37,765
time-travelers from the future.
1243
01:14:38,865 --> 01:14:43,625
They could be us from 1,000,
2,000, 10,000 years from now.
1244
01:14:44,785 --> 01:14:47,685
Let's assume for a moment
that 10,000 years from now
1245
01:14:47,745 --> 01:14:49,805
on this planet, if we all survive,
1246
01:14:49,865 --> 01:14:51,705
that time travel was created.
1247
01:14:51,765 --> 01:14:53,745
They've invented
it just like the time
1248
01:14:53,805 --> 01:14:55,705
machine of HG Wells' days.
1249
01:14:55,765 --> 01:14:57,925
They can go back
or they can go forward.
1250
01:14:58,885 --> 01:15:01,625
So let's assume
10,000 years from now,
1251
01:15:01,925 --> 01:15:05,045
we decide to come back to see us.
1252
01:15:05,625 --> 01:15:07,785
Maybe they have changed physically.
1253
01:15:07,845 --> 01:15:11,705
They look like the alien
Grays or whoever they may be.
1254
01:15:13,105 --> 01:15:16,065
It could well be that
ancient astronauts might not
1255
01:15:16,625 --> 01:15:18,805
be creatures from
other planets at all,
1256
01:15:18,865 --> 01:15:23,625
but time travelers from
2720 in a time machine.
1257
01:15:26,785 --> 01:15:28,945
NARRATOR: Time travel
is an essential concept
1258
01:15:29,005 --> 01:15:30,725
for science fiction.
1259
01:15:31,005 --> 01:15:34,045
But would it be possible
for flesh-and-blood humans
1260
01:15:34,105 --> 01:15:37,025
to find a way to transport
themselves through time
1261
01:15:37,085 --> 01:15:39,005
with current technology?
1262
01:15:39,845 --> 01:15:43,065
Would this enable us to
cover the vast distances of space?
1263
01:15:44,845 --> 01:15:46,865
If I could travel close
to the speed of light,
1264
01:15:46,925 --> 01:15:50,745
I could reach the year 3000,
say, in a couple of years.
1265
01:15:50,805 --> 01:15:52,805
I would have to get very close
to the speed of light for that,
1266
01:15:52,865 --> 01:15:55,745
but it's doable. And we
know that this isn't a theory.
1267
01:15:55,805 --> 01:15:57,065
This is real physics.
1268
01:15:57,625 --> 01:15:59,745
We can demonstrate
these timewarping effects.
1269
01:16:02,065 --> 01:16:04,765
So you can reach the
future quicker by traveling
1270
01:16:04,825 --> 01:16:06,645
close to the speed of light.
1271
01:16:07,725 --> 01:16:09,725
NARRATOR: The concept of time travel
1272
01:16:09,785 --> 01:16:13,645
was first proposed
by Albert Einstein in 1905
1273
01:16:13,805 --> 01:16:17,005
when he published his
theory of special relativity.
1274
01:16:17,825 --> 01:16:20,045
Ancient astronaut theory
says that astronauts
1275
01:16:20,105 --> 01:16:22,825
visited us a long time
ago from somewhere else.
1276
01:16:23,725 --> 01:16:25,845
The technology involved
in doing that, we would assume,
1277
01:16:25,905 --> 01:16:27,085
would be similar to
what we understand now.
1278
01:16:27,645 --> 01:16:28,865
I mean, we know special relativity
1279
01:16:28,925 --> 01:16:31,025
is the law of physics.
It holds anywhere in the universe.
1280
01:16:32,665 --> 01:16:34,765
The ancient astronauts
would come all the way here,
1281
01:16:34,825 --> 01:16:36,085
and travel these large distances,
1282
01:16:36,645 --> 01:16:39,045
and not age that much
relative to their home planet.
1283
01:16:39,105 --> 01:16:41,725
Because if you're going close
enough to the speed of light,
1284
01:16:41,785 --> 01:16:45,785
you will have slowed down
time enough that when you get back,
1285
01:16:45,845 --> 01:16:47,765
hundreds,
thousands, or even millions of years
1286
01:16:47,825 --> 01:16:48,865
could have passed.
1287
01:16:56,105 --> 01:16:59,825
NARRATOR: One limitation
to this method of travel is that
1288
01:16:59,885 --> 01:17:03,865
because a spacecraft has mass,
it theoretically cannot
1289
01:17:03,925 --> 01:17:05,945
reach the exact speed of light.
1290
01:17:06,885 --> 01:17:09,005
The resulting reduction in velocity
1291
01:17:09,665 --> 01:17:12,785
would then dramatically
increase the amount of time needed
1292
01:17:12,845 --> 01:17:14,985
to cross the vast universe.
1293
01:17:16,745 --> 01:17:19,805
Well, there's definitely
many theories about how
1294
01:17:19,865 --> 01:17:23,825
extraterrestrials got here,
how their propulsion system
1295
01:17:23,885 --> 01:17:25,645
got them to planet Earth.
1296
01:17:25,705 --> 01:17:28,905
They're surely not coming
here the way we go out into space.
1297
01:17:28,965 --> 01:17:30,105
They'd never get here.
1298
01:17:30,725 --> 01:17:32,005
They are finding different ways.
1299
01:17:32,065 --> 01:17:34,945
They have either developed
a new form of propulsion
1300
01:17:35,085 --> 01:17:37,885
or they're able to travel
through what I've always
1301
01:17:37,945 --> 01:17:41,905
believed, wormholes,
throughout the universe that would
1302
01:17:41,965 --> 01:17:44,765
instantaneously put them here.
1303
01:17:47,085 --> 01:17:49,765
NARRATOR: The idea
of wormholes was first
1304
01:17:49,825 --> 01:17:53,705
proposed in 1935 by Albert Einstein
1305
01:17:53,765 --> 01:17:56,665
and his longtime
collaborator Nathan Rosen.
1306
01:17:57,625 --> 01:17:59,885
They began to explore
the possibility
1307
01:17:59,945 --> 01:18:03,925
that space and time could
literally be bent to create
1308
01:18:03,985 --> 01:18:05,945
a time travel shortcut.
1309
01:18:08,645 --> 01:18:10,645
Wormholes have not been detected.
1310
01:18:10,705 --> 01:18:13,785
They're a postulated
structure in space
1311
01:18:13,845 --> 01:18:15,985
that involve actually
taking-- if you want to think
1312
01:18:16,045 --> 01:18:18,785
of a sheet of paper,
bending it in half,
1313
01:18:18,845 --> 01:18:21,745
and connecting the two
pieces that you get together,
1314
01:18:21,985 --> 01:18:24,645
a wormhole is thought
to do something like that.
1315
01:18:24,765 --> 01:18:27,625
Space gets warped,
and it connects between two
1316
01:18:27,685 --> 01:18:28,825
different parts of space.
1317
01:18:28,885 --> 01:18:30,745
There's predictions about
what they would look like.
1318
01:18:30,805 --> 01:18:32,885
There's theories about them.
But we haven't detected one yet.
1319
01:18:33,085 --> 01:18:34,665
You're not actually ever traveling
1320
01:18:34,725 --> 01:18:37,065
faster than the speed of light,
you're just cutting corners.
1321
01:18:38,725 --> 01:18:42,005
You don't actually have
to go light speed and travel
1322
01:18:42,065 --> 01:18:43,785
for lightyears to someplace.
1323
01:18:43,845 --> 01:18:45,845
You literally go there
through a wormhole,
1324
01:18:45,905 --> 01:18:48,085
and through hyperspace,
and bang, you're there.
1325
01:18:49,825 --> 01:18:51,825
MAN: If you can have
a wormhole in space,
1326
01:18:51,885 --> 01:18:54,045
then it can be turned,
in principle, into a time machine.
1327
01:18:55,105 --> 01:18:59,885
And so travel back in
time as well as forward in time
1328
01:18:59,945 --> 01:19:01,025
would then be possible.
1329
01:19:01,085 --> 01:19:03,685
The problem is,
where do you get your wormhole?
1330
01:19:04,025 --> 01:19:06,925
It's not inconceivable
that wormholes
1331
01:19:06,985 --> 01:19:08,845
were made in the Big Bang, puffed
1332
01:19:08,905 --> 01:19:09,965
out along with everything else.
1333
01:19:10,025 --> 01:19:12,005
There might be one
out there in the universe
1334
01:19:12,065 --> 01:19:15,785
we could harvest and
adapt to form a time machine.
1335
01:19:16,745 --> 01:19:18,805
If you end up discovering
that you could make wormholes,
1336
01:19:18,865 --> 01:19:21,825
then that increases the range
that you can explore in space.
1337
01:19:21,945 --> 01:19:23,745
And that increases the likelihood
1338
01:19:23,805 --> 01:19:26,025
of having two civilizations
at the same time
1339
01:19:26,085 --> 01:19:28,905
with the right technology
to communicate with each other.
1340
01:19:31,085 --> 01:19:33,645
NARRATOR: While
theoretically possible,
1341
01:19:33,745 --> 01:19:36,085
traveling through wormholes
or at the speed of light
1342
01:19:36,865 --> 01:19:39,825
is currently impossible
for us here on Earth.
1343
01:19:44,885 --> 01:19:49,945
Using modern propulsion methods,
it would take 70,000 years
1344
01:19:50,005 --> 01:19:51,945
to reach the nearest star.
1345
01:19:52,905 --> 01:19:54,865
The fastest rockets
are totally puny.
1346
01:19:54,925 --> 01:19:55,985
It's really pathetic.
1347
01:19:56,045 --> 01:20:00,945
So we're talking about
0.01% of the speed of light
1348
01:20:01,005 --> 01:20:02,665
if you're lucky.
1349
01:20:02,725 --> 01:20:05,065
Any object that we can
fire out of the solar system
1350
01:20:05,625 --> 01:20:07,725
is going to take tens
of thousands of years
1351
01:20:07,785 --> 01:20:09,065
to reach the nearest star.
1352
01:20:12,945 --> 01:20:16,945
NARRATOR: Believe it or not,
at 4.6 billion years old,
1353
01:20:17,625 --> 01:20:21,025
our solar system is one
of the youngest in the universe.
1354
01:20:21,885 --> 01:20:25,025
But if civilizations
exist in other galaxies,
1355
01:20:25,705 --> 01:20:27,085
is it possible that they are more
1356
01:20:27,645 --> 01:20:28,985
advanced than those on Earth?
1357
01:20:29,805 --> 01:20:32,805
And if so, could they
be ahead of us in their ability
1358
01:20:32,865 --> 01:20:34,965
to travel through space and time?
1359
01:20:37,665 --> 01:20:40,965
For extraterrestrials to
come here through the vast reaches
1360
01:20:41,025 --> 01:20:43,665
of space to our planet, they clearly
1361
01:20:43,725 --> 01:20:46,965
have to have technology
that's way in advance
1362
01:20:47,025 --> 01:20:48,885
of what we have today.
1363
01:20:48,945 --> 01:20:51,685
To go from solar
system to solar system,
1364
01:20:51,745 --> 01:20:54,845
rather than going warp
speed like in Star Trek,
1365
01:20:54,985 --> 01:20:57,985
you're really going to
travel as they do in Star Wars
1366
01:20:58,725 --> 01:21:01,065
where you're jumping
through hyperspace.
1367
01:21:01,705 --> 01:21:04,985
Going from solar system
to solar system is no time at all.
1368
01:21:09,945 --> 01:21:12,025
Just because we can't
travel from star
1369
01:21:12,085 --> 01:21:16,925
to star does not mean another,
more advanced society
1370
01:21:16,985 --> 01:21:18,665
can't do it either.
1371
01:21:19,005 --> 01:21:21,705
I think that's the
height of human arrogance,
1372
01:21:21,765 --> 01:21:24,105
to say just because we can't do it,
1373
01:21:24,665 --> 01:21:26,945
another more advanced civilization
1374
01:21:27,005 --> 01:21:28,685
can't do it either.
1375
01:21:28,745 --> 01:21:32,065
So we have to stop looking
at us that we are the pinnacle
1376
01:21:32,625 --> 01:21:34,065
of creation, because we're not.
1377
01:21:37,865 --> 01:21:39,805
NARRATOR: Celestial beings,
1378
01:21:41,725 --> 01:21:43,825
visitors from the skies,
1379
01:21:45,685 --> 01:21:48,925
deities descending from
the heavens to interact with man--
1380
01:21:49,925 --> 01:21:53,685
could these worldwide
stories be the foundation
1381
01:21:53,825 --> 01:21:55,925
for the prevailing
belief that something
1382
01:21:55,985 --> 01:22:00,705
greater than ourselves
from beyond our world created
1383
01:22:00,765 --> 01:22:01,445
the universe as we know it?
1384
01:22:17,465 --> 01:22:20,225
Almost all of the great world faiths
1385
01:22:20,285 --> 01:22:22,305
are based on stories
of celestial beings
1386
01:22:22,365 --> 01:22:24,025
who visit earth.
1387
01:22:25,185 --> 01:22:28,025
Many millions of people
accept these legends
1388
01:22:28,085 --> 01:22:30,205
as part of their core beliefs.
1389
01:22:36,225 --> 01:22:41,325
And from the earliest cave
drawings to images at Roswell,
1390
01:22:42,205 --> 01:22:46,485
we see artists' interpretations
of extraterrestrials or gods
1391
01:22:47,045 --> 01:22:48,365
coming to our planet.
1392
01:22:50,445 --> 01:22:52,025
JONATHAN YOUNG: In many traditions,
1393
01:22:52,085 --> 01:22:54,465
there is something
coming from above.
1394
01:22:55,465 --> 01:22:58,285
There is a stairway to heaven,
or there's a whirlwind,
1395
01:22:58,345 --> 01:23:00,265
or an angel descends.
1396
01:23:01,425 --> 01:23:04,205
Sometimes the encounter
is quite dangerous,
1397
01:23:07,205 --> 01:23:10,105
as would be appropriate to
something awesome, and larger,
1398
01:23:10,165 --> 01:23:11,365
and more powerful than we are.
1399
01:23:11,425 --> 01:23:13,145
Usually, it is memorable.
1400
01:23:20,125 --> 01:23:22,425
Many of the myths are
much more specific.
1401
01:23:23,125 --> 01:23:25,145
And they really talk about
1402
01:23:25,425 --> 01:23:28,425
gods physically coming to earth,
1403
01:23:29,065 --> 01:23:35,065
landing, doing miracles,
and showing the people how to live.
1404
01:23:38,145 --> 01:23:41,105
NARRATOR: If visitors
did come from the stars,
1405
01:23:41,205 --> 01:23:43,305
is it possible that
they actually changed
1406
01:23:43,365 --> 01:23:45,465
the way ancient people thought?
1407
01:23:48,025 --> 01:23:50,125
Did they provide
an intellectual spark
1408
01:23:50,185 --> 01:23:52,265
to prehistoric civilizations?
1409
01:23:54,025 --> 01:23:57,245
Could that be the reason
why so many different cultures
1410
01:23:57,305 --> 01:24:00,285
could build such large
and lasting monuments?
1411
01:24:03,445 --> 01:24:05,485
It's almost as if
primitive man woke up one
1412
01:24:06,045 --> 01:24:08,365
morning and went,
hey, I've got this knowledge,
1413
01:24:08,425 --> 01:24:10,445
and I know how to make tools,
and I'm going to go
1414
01:24:10,505 --> 01:24:12,405
and build all these things.
1415
01:24:13,105 --> 01:24:15,205
Nah. I don't think
it happened that way.
1416
01:24:15,345 --> 01:24:18,045
I think that others
came down to this planet
1417
01:24:18,105 --> 01:24:20,105
and started teaching other people
1418
01:24:20,245 --> 01:24:22,225
that were beginning to evolve.
1419
01:24:24,285 --> 01:24:27,345
But the one thing
I truly do not believe
1420
01:24:28,025 --> 01:24:30,505
is that modern cavemen at the time
1421
01:24:31,065 --> 01:24:34,465
basically created all
this knowledge out of thin air.
1422
01:24:39,245 --> 01:24:43,045
All around the world,
we have concise descriptions
1423
01:24:43,105 --> 01:24:48,165
in ancient texts which say,
word for word,
1424
01:24:48,405 --> 01:24:53,145
that some beings came from the sky.
1425
01:24:54,345 --> 01:24:58,465
So it's as if this
intellectual Big Bang
1426
01:24:59,025 --> 01:25:03,045
or this Big Bang
of knowledge occurred
1427
01:25:03,185 --> 01:25:06,085
in various periods of time.
1428
01:25:06,265 --> 01:25:10,205
And those various periods of time,
most concisely,
1429
01:25:10,265 --> 01:25:15,125
always correlate with
some type of description
1430
01:25:15,325 --> 01:25:19,285
of gods descending from the sky.
1431
01:25:26,165 --> 01:25:28,425
GRAHAM HANCOCK: I do think
of that as a very significant
1432
01:25:28,485 --> 01:25:31,305
before and after moment
in the human story.
1433
01:25:31,365 --> 01:25:35,045
And it is not a moment that
is linked to physical evolution.
1434
01:25:35,105 --> 01:25:36,485
We've already got the hardware.
1435
01:25:37,045 --> 01:25:40,105
It's as though something
happened to our software around
1436
01:25:40,165 --> 01:25:42,365
about that time.
And I think it's a very intriguing
1437
01:25:42,425 --> 01:25:44,285
moment in the human story.
1438
01:25:48,365 --> 01:25:51,225
NARRATOR: For supporters
of ancient alien theory,
1439
01:25:51,285 --> 01:25:54,045
the verdict is already in.
1440
01:25:54,305 --> 01:25:57,065
They believe that
aliens visited many
1441
01:25:57,125 --> 01:26:00,365
of Earth's earliest cultures
thousands of years ago.
1442
01:26:02,045 --> 01:26:03,305
But is it possible?
1443
01:26:04,165 --> 01:26:06,145
Are extraterrestrials responsible
1444
01:26:06,205 --> 01:26:10,165
for the sacred creation myths
of the first human civilizations?
1445
01:26:11,245 --> 01:26:13,385
Might they have
tampered with our DNA?
1446
01:26:14,505 --> 01:26:18,065
Are humans themselves
aliens from another planet
1447
01:26:18,125 --> 01:26:21,405
in the heavens or
even from another time?
1448
01:26:22,405 --> 01:26:25,345
While man continues
to search for these answers,
1449
01:26:25,405 --> 01:26:27,365
the questions remain.
1450
01:26:28,145 --> 01:26:31,365
If they came here,
what was their mission?
1451
01:26:32,265 --> 01:26:34,225
We call Earth home.
1452
01:26:35,025 --> 01:26:37,185
But with perfect
conditions for life,
1453
01:26:37,325 --> 01:26:40,225
could it be a beacon calling out to
1454
01:26:40,285 --> 01:26:45,125
other intelligent civilizations
that may exist in the universe?
1455
01:26:48,505 --> 01:26:51,225
ROBERT CARGILL: I think there
is life-- simple life, bacterial
1456
01:26:51,285 --> 01:26:52,445
life, microbial life--
1457
01:26:53,045 --> 01:26:55,305
on other planets.
I think we're going to find that.
1458
01:26:56,125 --> 01:26:57,085
And who knows?
1459
01:26:57,145 --> 01:27:00,325
Maybe one day,
we'll find some other planet that's
1460
01:27:00,385 --> 01:27:04,065
capable of sustaining life,
that has evolved people
1461
01:27:04,125 --> 01:27:06,305
over a long period of time,
that are also
1462
01:27:06,365 --> 01:27:08,345
looking up at the
stars wondering,
1463
01:27:08,505 --> 01:27:11,225
is there anybody else out there?
Are we the only ones?
1464
01:27:12,125 --> 01:27:13,205
JENNIFER HELDMANN:
What bigger question
1465
01:27:13,265 --> 01:27:16,305
could we ask about ourselves
and our place in the universe?
1466
01:27:16,365 --> 01:27:20,025
Is there life elsewhere
in the universe, or are we it?
1467
01:27:20,285 --> 01:27:22,425
I mean, I think it's one
of the most fascinating questions.
1468
01:27:22,485 --> 01:27:25,165
And we're fortunate
enough to live in a time
1469
01:27:25,225 --> 01:27:28,065
when we can address this
question scientifically
1470
01:27:28,125 --> 01:27:30,145
and really try and
get at some answers.
1471
01:27:31,505 --> 01:27:33,425
GEORGE NOORY: You can
then come up with a conclusion
1472
01:27:33,485 --> 01:27:35,245
that something, one, very strange
1473
01:27:35,305 --> 01:27:39,105
is happening on this planet,
and two,
1474
01:27:39,205 --> 01:27:42,505
if it's coming from
outside of this system,
1475
01:27:43,105 --> 01:27:45,285
then we're being visited
by something that has
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some intelligence behind it.
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GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: In the end,
the truth wins.
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And we've seen this in
history where scientific theories
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or ideas that have
been deemed impossible
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01:28:03,165 --> 01:28:05,325
turned out to be true.
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And so it is my firm conviction
that the same will count
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for the ancient alien theory.
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(theme sound)
115175
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