Original subtitles

>> NARRATOR: Wondrous

wizards...

>> GRAHAM PHILLIPS: Merlin is

the authority, really,

the advisor behind the throne.

>> NARRATOR: ...mysterious

sorcerers...

>> SABINA MAGLIOCCO: Their job

was really to communicate with

the sacred in order to bring

about a change here on Earth.

>> NARRATOR: ...and heavenly

beings possessed of

unimaginable power.

>> JONATHAN YOUNG: So what had

begun as a battle of magic

becomes a horrific bloodbath.

>> NARRATOR: Throughout the

ancient world, magic was used

for everything from healing

to communicating with the gods.

But did real magic really exist?

And if so, could it have come

from an otherworldly source?

>> PHILLIPPENS: Certain

human beings seem to have

somehow mastered the power of

the universe to an extent that

even we don't understand.

>> DAVID CHILDRESS: The ancients

believed that they learned magic

from their gods,

and extraterrestrial gods had

taught them these powers.

>> NARRATOR: Millions of people

around the world believe we have

been visited in the past by

extraterrestrial beings.

What if it were true?

Did ancient aliens really help

to shape our history?

And will we find proof by.

And will we find proof by exploring the magic of the gods?

Exploring the magic of the gods?

>> NARRATOR: Las Vegas, Nevada,

2009.

Magician Steve Wyrick stuns a

circle of 40 onlookers as he

appears to make

a three-ton Hummer...

>> STEVE WYRICK: Raise the curtain!

>> NARRATOR: ...vanish in an

instant.

Instant. >> WYRICK: Everyone, join hands.

>> WYRICK: Everyone, join hands.

All right.

There's 40 people around

the Hummer.

Watch this.

Do it... now!

[Wyrick laughs]

>> NARRATOR: The continued

popularity of illusions like

these speaks to a worldwide

fascination with magic

that can be traced back

thousands of years.

>> JONATHAN YOUNG: We long

for some kind of connection to

the supernatural, and we can

have it for a couple of hours

and the price of a ticket by

attending a magic show.

When we go to the theater

and see a stage magician,

we know supernatural events are

not happening before our eyes

no matter how much it

seems like they are.

We sometimes think of the people

of the ancient worlds

as simple.

They lived in a world

saturated with magic.

There really was no distinction

between ordinary life

and the supernatural.

They were completely embedded in

each other.

So belief in magic was

absolutely universal.

>> MAGLIOCCO: It was a way

of looking at the world as an

interconnected whole, as well

as a technology through which

you could make things happen in

the everyday material world.

Magic offered people an

opportunity to influence the

outcome of important events

and to know the will of the gods

and to communicate directly with

those gods.

>> COPPENS: In the ancient

times, it is actually said

that magic was of the gods.

Somehow otherworldly,

somehow beyond the confines

of ordinary reality.

What we see is that

certain human beings seem to

have somehow mastered the power

of the universe to an extent

that even we don't understand.

>> BRIAN SOWERS: Magic in the

ancient world was primarily

viewed as, in some ways,

coercive.

Which is to say people are

attempting to control the

spiritual realm to do something

in their daily lives.

So, whereas modern magic is

primarily driven to engage

in sort of trickery,

in the ancient world

there was an attempt to sort of

coerce spirits to sort of affect

one's life and the direction

of one's life.

Whether that would be one's

fate or, in some ways,

nature as well.

>> NARRATOR: But did magic

really exist in the ancient

world?

Not as a form of theater

but as a means of replicating

but as a means of replicating the power of the gods?

The power of the gods?

Shanxi Province,

China, 7th century A.D.

The Zhongtiao Mountain range.

Here, according to Chinese

mythology, lived Zhang Guo Lao,

a Taoist saint thought to

possess unique magical abilities

and a profound understanding of

the secrets of nature.

He was one of what were referred

to as the Eight Immortals.

>> DOMINIC STEAVU: So the Eight.

Immortals are these

semi-mythical figures

in Chinese history.

The majority of them,

they're based on people who

actually existed, and then

certain legends accrued around

these people as time passed.

The historical figure

of Zhang Guo Lao is thought

to have lived in the mid-7th

and the mid-8th centuries.

And he was very renowned

for his magical skills

even at the time.

>> YOUNG: Zhang Guo Lao

is possibly the most interesting

of the Eight Immortals.

He is depicted as an old man.

He could make himself invisible.

He could go without food

for days.

>> NARRATOR: According to

Chinese mythology, Zhang Guo Lao

first emerged at the very

beginning of the universe,

where he appeared out of chaos

where he appeared out of chaos in the form of a white bat.

In the form of a white bat.

He was thought to be a gifted

alchemist, necromancer

and sorcerer.

>> STEAVU: So Zhang Guo Lao

is often depicted as riding

a magical mule, and what's

peculiar is that he is seated

facing backwards on this mule.

The mule can ride divine

winds and also cross

thousands of miles in a single

day without ever stopping once

for rest.

When Zhang Guo Lao finds

a place that he wants to settle,

for the night,

he actually folds up his mule as

one would fold a piece of paper

until it is the size that you

can fit in your pocket.

>> CHILDRESS: And then he would

reactivate it by sprinkling

water on it, and it would

reappear again.

So you have to ask yourself,

is this white mule actually some

kind of incredible alien

technology that allowed him

to travel around China?

>> GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: It's

entirely possible that what

they're describing here is some

type of a craft and that Zhang.

Guo Lao himself may possibly

have been an extraterrestrial.

In order to explain

his abilities and technology,

our ancestors described him

as a magical being.

>> DAVID WILCOCK: But is it

possible that extraterrestrials

could develop a technology in

which you have some sort of

flying machine that can fold

itself into hyperspace?

It runs on an advanced

energy propulsion source.

You can travel with it.

It's short, it's compact.

And when you're done, you just

fold it into hyperspace, and

it's something that you hold in

your hand and... [whooshes]

The whole thing just folds up.

>> NARRATOR: Is it possible that

Zhang Guo Lao really existed?

And if so, could his amazing

powers of transformation have

been based on an advanced,

perhaps extraterrestrial form

of transportation?

Ancient astronaut theorists

believe further clues can be

found more than 1,700 miles away

in Patna, India.

Situated on the southern shores

of the Ganges River, this

ancient city is believed to be

the place where the great

spiritual leader Buddha

embarked on an incredible

embarked on an incredible journey in 483 B.C.

journey in 483 B.C.

>> YOUNG: Gautama Buddha was a

messenger and sage, who was born

in what is now Nepal sometime

around 500 to 600 Before the.

Common Era.

And he was the original figure

in the teachings that became.

Buddhism.

>> JUDY HO: When the Buddha was

born, his father was told by

a seer that "your son is going

to become a great teacher."

The Buddha's message, his

teaching, is supposed to bring

people out of suffering.

He made up a religion to solve

what he considered as the basic

problems of living.

>> STEAVU: The Buddha traveled

around India spreading his

teachings.

His followers in the monastic

community grew increasingly.

He was perceived as a human, but

an extraordinary human.

In the process of gaining

enlightenment, he had these

realizations that were marked

by supernatural powers.

He actually projected and built,

through pure psychic power, this

bejeweled walkway up in the sky.

And he paced up and down that

walkway filled with jewels for

about a week.

>> NARRATOR: According to

ancient texts, near the end of

his life, Buddha and his many

disciples attempted to cross the

Ganges, but were blocked by

raging floodwaters.

>> YOUNG: Well, it happened to

be the time of the year when

the great rivers flooded.

It's at its high peak.

Not only is it very, very wide,

almost a mile wide at that time

of the year, but it's going

very fast, something like 70

miles an hour, a virtualid.

>> STEAVU: And he sees people

on one side of the Ganges trying

to build up these frail rafts,

trying to cross the river.

And what he does is...

in an instant, and the text says

that in the time it takes for

a strong man to stretch out his

bent arm, or to bend his

outstretched arm, the Buddha

appears on the other side of

appears on the other side of the river.

The river.

>> TSOUKALOS: Now, there was

no boat, no form of

transportation whatsoever, and

people witnessed this.

So was this some sort of a

miracle?

Of course not.

So are we talking about

teleportation here?

Some type of technology that was

misinterpreted as a miracle?

>> NARRATOR: Might the

incredible feats performed by

beings like Buddha and Zhang.

Guo Lao be based on real-life

extraterrestrial encounters?

And if so, could they have been

the inspiration for what we now

call "magic"?

Perhaps further evidence can be

found by examining the stories

of a famous sorcerer whose

supernatural powers helped to

supernatural powers helped to build a mighty nation.

Build a mighty nation.

>> NARRATOR: Tintagel Island,

England.

500 A.D.

Here, hidden along the rugged.

Cornwall coastline, is the

entrance to a mysterious cave

thought to have housed the great

wizard Merlin.

>> KATHLEEN McGOWAN: We first

see Merlin historically in the

writings of Geoffrey of.

Monmouth.

He tells the story of this

extraordinary character who most

famously shows up during the

time period of Arthur.

I think that there is this

tendency to think of him

as the man in the pointed cap.

And to be a little bit sort of

comical, um, or ridiculous.

When, in fact, the real Merlin

is a very, very serious and very

important character.

>> PHILLIPS: According to

stories, King Arthur lived

around 500 A.D., and he was

advised by this wise man called

Merlin.

Merlin is attributed as having

all sorts of miraculous powers.

He is said to be able to bring

lightning down, and thunder.

Lightning down, and thunder. He can levitate rocks.

He can levitate rocks.

He can foresee the future.

He can call upon a mist to cover

the battlefield.

>> TOK THOMPSON: Merlin seems to

have been based on this idea of

the Druids.

Druids were the sort of

religious figures, uh, in a lot

of this early society.

In some cases, we see them

associated with the, uh, more

Celtic warrior groups, where

they wou. Might function as

a king's advisor.

Druids appear as very magical,

and having various other ways

that they could interact with

the supernatural world for the

benefit of the mundane world.

>> PHILLIPS: There is a

manuscript in the British

library called the Annales.

Cambriae, which means the Welsh.

Annals.

And in there it refers to a man

by the name of Merlin living

in a forest somewhere in the

north.

And the way it refers to this

Merlin, is it could very well

be the same Merlin as the Merlin

in the stories of Arthur.

>> NARRATOR: According to

legend, it is Merlin who was

the mastermind behind a plan

which would unite the various

kingdoms of Britain into one

nation, capable of fending off

invasion by Saxon forces.

He launches a quest to install

the young Arthur as king, using

his formidable powers.

>> YOUNG: Merlin is

stage-managihe union of.

Britain from before the time

Arthur is conceived.

He essentially manipulates

things so that Arthur can be

born in a way that has royal

blood, but he does not grow up

in a castle, which was a

dangerous place for a divinely

ordained leader to be.

He was able to be a tutor to

Arthur in his childhood,

Arthur in his childhood, teach him ways of nature.

Teach him ways of nature.

>> PHILLIPS: He makes him king

by getting Arthur to perform all

sorts of feats that no one else

can do, like drawing the sword

from the stone.

And it seems that he wants to

make Arthur into a sort of

immortal figure in the eyes of

the people, so that they will

readily follow him and make him

their one and only king.

In other words, Merlin is the

authority, really, the advisor

behind the throne.

>> NARRATOR: Did Merlin use

pernatural or otherworldly

knowledge to empower Arthur, and

in so doing, create the British.

Empire?

But why?

And who... or what... was Merlin?

Ancient astronaut theorists

believe clues can be found in

the strange circumstances

surrounding Merlin's birth.

>> YOUNG: The birth of Merlin is

a miraculous tale.

His mother was a nun, a virgin,

who has a steamy erotic dream,

and she wakes up just knowing

she is pregnant.

So Merlin's father could've

been an incubus.

That would be a dark angel,

one of the devil's legion,

a monstrous figure, who in this

case came and had sex with

innocent women while they slept,

in their dreams.

>> McGOWAN: The most common

legends about Merlin say that

he got his powers through this

demonic father.

Merlin was baptized and then

the demonic nature melted aw

but he maintained all of the

magic from the demon father.

>> WILLIAM HENRY: When we're

confronted by the story of

Merlin, we're looking at a

medieval figure who is possibly

another example of an

otherworldly being, who is half

human, half extraterrestrial,

and that he, in fact, is a

representative of this long line

of otherworldly beings.

>> WILCOCK: This is the real

core of British history.

It's very revered.

It doesn't seem that someone

just made this up out of

nowhere.

It could be that the stories

help cover up the truth.

Which was that human-

extraterrestrial contact

did occur.

That Merlin was actually an

extraterrestrial being who was

sent here to help King Arthur

establish his kingdom, and that.

Merlin's advanced capabilities

might be nothing more than the

use of technology that he had

available to him.

>> NARRATOR: Is it possible that

Merlin had what many bve to

have been otherworldly origins?

If so, might his magic really

have been based, not on occult

forces, but on advanced

forces, but on advanced extraterrestrial technology?

Extraterrestrial technology?

London.

1966.

The British Museum acquires an

unusual Aztec artifact thought

to possess magical powers.

Known as the "Devil's Looking."

"Glass," this mirror, made of

black volcanic glass, once

belonged to the influential

16th century scholar, John Dee.

Dee was a respected

mathematician, astrologer,

and close advisor

to Queen Elizabeth I.

He was also considered to be a

powerful magician and claimed he

used the mirror to communicate

with angels.

>> MICHAEL BAILEY: John Dee was

a famous magician in the.

Elizabethan Period in England.

Probably the most famous.

Renaissance mage, at least from.

England from that time, and he

became very obsessed with trying

to conjure angels.

Later magical practitioners

start to refer to it as Enochian

magic.

>> JONATHAN PENDRAGON: John Dee

believed that there was an

angelic language.

That there was a sound, a real

sound, not just a concept, but

a voice that the universe spoke

in, that the angels, that those

with supreme knowledge had their

very, very own language.

And he was trying to tap into

that.

>> JOHN DESALVO: Dee believes

this information was given to

him because God originally

wanted it to go to mankind

throughout all of time.

This Enochian magic was given to

man before but has been lost

throughout the ages.

God originally gave it to

Adam, the legend goes, and then

to the prophet Enoch,

to the prophet Enoch, and maybe to others in between.

And maybe to others in between.

>> NARRATOR: Did early magicians

like John Dee really have access

to extraterrestrial technology?

Technology that was mistakenly

believed to be of a supernatural

or divine origin?

>> MAGLIOCCO: In the ancient

world, magicians were religious

specialists whose job was to

interact with the spirit world

on behalf of their social group.

Their job was really to

communicate with the sacred

in order to bring about real and

in order to bring about real and lasting change here on Earth.

Lasting change here on Earth.

>> YOUNG: Centers of power

would have magicians.

The courts of the time, whether

a king, a Caesar or a pharaoh

would have "vizars"... wizards,

magicians... advising them,

protecting them, using their

secret powers to heal, to guide

in battle.

It was an important part of

leship in ancient times.

These figures had enormous

power and enormous influence,

not only helping a leader,

but helping a country

stay together.

>> NARRATOR: Is it possible that

the early practitioners of what

we call magic were really

individuals in possession of

advanced extraterrestrial

knowledge...

knowledge that could change the

course of human history?

Ancient astronaut theorists

believe that such an audacious

notion is, in fact, possible and

believe further evidence may be

found in the legends of a

mysterious device... one so

powerful, it could make its

powerful, it could make its user disappear.

User disappear.

>> NARRATOR: Dallas, Texas.

2011.

Researchers at the University of.

Texas's Nanotech Institute

discover a process that can

actually make objects invisible.

These scientists spin tiny

carbon fibers into sheets, and

submerge them into water.

An electrical charge heats the

material, and changes the way

the surrounding water bends

light, making an object appear

to vanish at the turn of a

switch.

>> RAY BAUGHMAN: We are not

actually seeing around the

object we're cloaking.

What we're doing is we're using

the heated carbon nanotube sheet

to bend light.

So when we think we're looking

in a particular direction,

we're actually looking

at neighboring seawater.

We're using very extraordinary

materials to accomplish our

mirage cloaking.

>> NARRATOR: But as innovative

as this remarkabechnology

is, stories of devices with

similar powers can be found

similar powers can be found throughout history.

Throughout history.

Serifos, Greece.

It was here, on this tiny island

in the Aegean Sea, the ancient

Greeks believed the hero Perseus

set off on his seemingly

impossible mission to kill the

fearsome Gorgon Medusa.

>> YOUNG: So Perseus had

this incredible challenge

because Medusa was powerful, and

you just look at her and die, so

it is a true dangerous situation

it is a true dangerous situation for the hero.

For the hero.

>> NARRATOR: According to

mythology, Perseus is given a

magical helmet that ultimately

ensures his success.

Called the Helm of Darkness,

the cap belonged to Hades,

the cap belonged to Hades, the god of the Underworld.

The god of the Underworld.

>> SOWERS: Perseus goes on this adventure with the help of a

number of the-the Greek gods.

He is given a number of

mythological items that are

going to help him on

his journey.

He is given the cap of Hades,

He is given the cap of Hades, which will make him invisible.

Which will make him invisible.

He then successfully

kills Medusa...

kills Medusa... [Medusa bellowing]

[Medusa bellowing]

...and the other two Gorgons try

to find him but they can't see

him because he's wearing the

helm of invisibility.

>> NARRATOR: Did the Helm of.

Darkness really make Perseus

disappear?

Or might there be another,

perhaps more scientific,

explanation?

>> WILCOCK: This could be an

ancient example of an advanced

technology, using the bendable

nature of light, and laws of

physics that we're now aware

of, to make something that

seems to be impossible very

attainable, and with a

techgy that anyone could

techgy that anyone could use, if they wanted to.

Use, if they wanted to.

>> NARRATOR: Is Hades' helmet

evidence of an alien technology

once used in ancient times?

And if so, might the tales of

other magical devices in the

distant past offer proof that

our ancestors had access to

other even more highly advanced

other even more highly advanced extraterrestrial tools?

Extraterrestrial tools?

Ponza, Italy.

Located in the Mediterranean.

Sea, this crescent-shaped island

is thought to be the legendary

home of the Greek goddess.

Circe...

A goddess thought to possess a

a goddess thought to possess a wand with remarkable power.

Wand with remarkable power.

But the notion of a wand as an

instrument of magic can be

traced back even farther,

back to the very origins of

magic itself.

>> YOUNG: The idea of magic

comes from the area known as.

Persia, or Iran.

This is from Zoroaster, the.

Zoroastrian traditions and

rituals.

The magi, the priest of that

belief system would use a

handful of wands as a magical

intercession, a way to connect

intercession, a way to connect the unseen world and the seen.

The unseen world and the seen.

Magicians and leaders of all

kind use staffs and verges and

rods and wands and scepters,

maces, all from similar

maces, all from similar traditions.

Traditions.

>> NARRATOR: The ancient

accounts of Circe's famous wand

describe it as a formidable

weapon, capable of producing

astonishing physical

transformations.

>> TSOUKALOS: According

to Greek mythology,

Circe was the daughter of.

Helios, the god of the sun.

And according to those legends,

she was incredibly beautiful.

In fact, she was radiant.

She was glowing because she was

not of this Earth.

The ancient Greeks considered

her the goddess of magic.

The stories surrounding Circe

usually refer to her

powerful wand, with which

she was able to transform people

into animals.

>> SOWERS: And so there's

a famous story in the.

Odysseywhere Odysseus and his

men land on a mysterious island.

And they come come upon

a house where there's a

woman inside who's

singing songs.

And the songs that she

sings sort of lure the men into

the house, and Circe says that

she's going to entertain them.

And in the course of her

interactions with them,

she pulls out a wand

and touches them with it.

As a result, the men are.

As a result, the men are then transformed into pigs.

Then transformed into pigs.

>> YOUNG: The idea of

transformation is fascinating.

There was fear in the ancient

world that you could be changed

into a wolf or some

other animal.

And then it was imagined

that some people with

extraordinary powers could do

this to you, against your will,

and that was greatly feared.

And a good deal of magical

practice was to try to avoid

such a calamity.

>> NARRATOR: Was Circe's magic

wand simply a mythological

invention, one rooted in

mankind's primitive imagination

and superstition, as mainstream

scholars suggest?

Or might this incredible

device have actually existed.

>> TSOUKALOS: Because we

all know that all of these myths

have a core of truth to them;

Something that happened

in real life.

And so when we talk about

powerful wands that are used in

order to transform people

into animals...

the only thing that something

like this could have happened

is if it was a

technological device.

>> WILCOCK: Is it possible,

however, that an extremely

advanced technology could

actually, somehow, generate

a shape-shifting effect...

and completely retool the DNA,

the physical tissues, the flesh

of a living human being?

Many different ancient

legends describe some sort

of handheld device that had

incredible capability to do

things that would seem to be

magical or even impossible.

We see Vishnu's spear.

We see Vishnu's spear. We see Thor's hammer.

We see Thor's hammer.

We see Zeus's thunderbolt.

This could very well all be

examples of a handheld

technology that

extraterrestrial humans who

look like us did possess.

>> NARRATOR: Might Circe have

come from a divine, possibly

extraterrestrial lineage?

And if so, could her wand have

been based on highly advanced

alien technology?

Ancient astronaut theorists

believe such an idea is

possible, and believe more

evidence can be found in

the stories of one of the most

epic and destructive

confrontations in

confrontations in religious history.

Religious history.

>> NARRATOR: Qantir, the Nile.

Delta, Egypt, 60 miles

northeast of Cairo.

Many historians believe that

beneath these fields lie the

ancient ruins of the lost city

of Pi-Ramesse.

In the 13th century B.C.,

during the reign of.

Pharaoh Ramses II, this

city served as the capitol of

Egypt, and according to some

theologians, was the historical

site of the Ten Plagues of Egypt

as described in the Biblical.

Book of Exodus.

>> MICHAEL CARTER: We have

the story of the Exodus, which

is the story of the Hebrew

people leaving Egypt.

And so Moses is going to be

the liberator.

He's chosen by God, i.e.

Yahweh, to go to pharaoh and

say, "Let my people go."

>> PATRICK COOKE: Moses is told

by this angel inside the burning

bush that he must go to Pharaoh

and convince him to release

700,000 Hebrews.

The next thing that most

people know is that he's in

the court of pharaoh

challenging pharaoh's magicians.

>> YOUNG: In the very

ancient civilization of Egypt,

magicians played an important

part in the court

of the pharaoh.

They protected the pharaoh from

dark powers.

They healed him

from time to time.

They gave him legitimacy

with the people.

They were vital in the court

life in ancient Egypt.

>> PENDRAGON: The Egyptians

had no word for religion.

For them, magic was their

religion.

It was around them,

it was part of them.

It was the power of their

deities, it created their

deities.

It was a constant force

in their life.

So to study magic,

to understand magic was

to understand magic was to understand the world.

To understand the world.

>> ROBERT BAUVAL: Egyptians were

the masters of natural magic.

They understood how magic really

works, how you could use nature

and use the power of a human

mind to create an effect.

>> NARRATOR: According to the.

Biblical account, God instructs

Moses to give the pharaoh a

demonstration of his divine

power, one that will force him

power, one that will force him to free the Israelite slaves.

To free the Israelite slaves.

>> ROBERT MULLINS: In order to

help compel pharaoh, Moses

throws down his staff so it

turns into a serpent.

The Egyptian magicians,

they look at that and they go,

"Gosh, we can do this, too."

>> COOKE: All of the

magicians throw their rods down

on the ground.

They all turn into snakes.

But Moses' snake eats all

those other snakes.

And that's the beginning of what

we know as probably the greatest

magic contest ever recorded.

>> PENDRAGON: God is equipping

Moses to face off pharaoh

and pharaoh's magicians.

It is a literal battle

of sorcerers.

>> NARRATOR: The confrontation

quickly escalates as God

proceeds to unleash a series of

ten increasingly devastating

plagues on the people of Egypt.

>> MULLINS: In the first plague,

Moses touches his staff

to the Nile River, and it

becomes blood, but the magicians

are able to do this as well.

In the second plague, Moses

multiplies frogs, but so can the

magicians, although once they do

it, they can't get rid

of the frogs.

In the third plague,

Moses brings about gnats,

or some think lice.

So for each of these plagues,

they begin to increase

in their severity.

And up through the third plague,

the Egyptian magicians are able

to replicate everything Moses

is doing.

But finally, they have to

concede that, you know,

this is the finger of God,

and beyond this, we can't

challenge him anymore.

>> COOKE: What we're seeing

here is very strange.

We're seeing a magic competition

that God is continuing,

forcing a continuance of this.

And it eventually leads to the

death of every firstborn male

in Egypt, which finally ends

the entire thing.

And Moses takes not only the

700,000 Hebrews out, but

generally considered to be

between one and two million

Egyptians go with him, as well,

on what we now know as the.

Exodus.

>> YOUNG: So what had begun

as a battle of magic tricks,

turning staffs into serpents,

becomes, really,

a horrific bloodbath.

That is, as the resistance

continues, Yahweh keeps upping

the ante.

The plagues get worse and worse.

Now, these are supernatural

events.

We don't know how they were

done, how they transpired, but

the shift in history happened

because of the plagues.

So, magic prevailed.

>> GEORGE NOORY: Theologians

will say, "This was God that did

this."

I have a different theory.

I don't think God is mean.

I don't think God goes out and

kills and so it could've been

extraterrestrial.

>> NARRATOR: Might the story of

the Ten Plagues of Egypt really

be an account of a deadly

contest between humans in

possession of extraterrestrial

technology, as ancient astronaut

theorists believe?

>> CHILDRESS: The ancient

Egyptians believed that they

learned magic from their gods,

and these extraterrestrial gods

had taught them these powers.

Suddenly, they found out that

they were up against a more

powerful force, a more powerful

magic than they had.

>> WILCOCK: We're not dealing

with two indigenous human

cultures battling it out here

on Earth.

We're dealing with people on.

Earth in a war they could not.

Earth in a war they could not win against extraterrestrials.

Win against extraterrestrials.

>> TSOUKALOS: In many of the

ancient texts, it seems apparent

that the gods actually took

sides.

They were involved in battles.

So to suggest that they might've

been also involved in plagues is

plausible.

So the question is, was it

really God who unleashed these

plagues upon Egypt, or was it in

fact an extraterrestrial?

And according to the ancient

astronaut theory, it was a

misunderstood, misinterpreted

extraterrestrial who, in this

particular case, sided with the.

Israelites.

>> NARRATOR: Might the

incredible power, wielded by

Moses against the Egyptians,

have been of an extraterrestrial

origin...

a power based as much on science

as on an extraordinary knowledge

of the powers of the human mind?

Many ancient astronaut theorists

believe the answer is "yes," and

that the key to what many

perceive as magic can be found

not only on other worlds, but

not only on other worlds, but right within the human body.

Right within the human body.

>> NARRATOR: New York City.

2012.

Magician David Blaine begins a

72-hour stint standing in the

middle of a million volts of

electrical current, protected by

only a suit of armor.

But is it a mere trick?

An illusion?

Or is it evidence that what we

call magic actually exists?

>> MAGLIOCCO: We're interested

in people like David Blaine

because we find those things

amazing.

It just pushes the boundaries of

what human beings are capable

of.

And I think that we ask

ourselves, could we be capable

of such a thing?

>> PENDRAGON: We will embrace

the endurance effects.

We will embrace them because we

think this might be real.

Maybe there's something to this.

Maybe there isn't a trick.

Maybe I can evolve into a person

able to do this kind of magic.

We are quite literally searching.

We are quite literally searching for the supernatural in ourself.

For the supernatural in ourself.

>> NARRATOR: Izu Oshima.

60 miles south of Tokyo.

It was here, in the seventh

century B.C., that a legendary

Japanese mystic known as En no.

Gyoja was banished for his

so-called magical powers.

>> YOUNG: En no Gyoja was the

founder of an ascetic teaching.

Shugendomeans the practice

of training and testing.

This tradition from the seventh

century, done up in the

mountains with great physical,

arduous exercises and discipline

is said to lead to an access

to supernatural powers beyond

our understanding.

>> PENDRAGON: En no Gyoja's

magic differs from our European

concepts of magic in many ways.

This is something that you bring

out of yourself.

He would go high into the

mountains... less oxygen,

isolated, less food.

Just one lapse of concentration

and you die.

And then also meditating in

the middle of a waterfall.

That's where he finds silence.

That's where he finds control.

>> STEAVU: Even historical

records depict En no Gyoja as

someone who was endowed with

magical capacities, and the

ability to also summon and

control demons and spirits.

En no Gyoja was also known for

his ability to ride the

five-colored clouds.

He was also set to be executed

a number of times, and every

time the executioners' axe

landed on the back of his neck,

the axe actually shattered

the axe actually shattered to pieces.

To pieces.

>> TSOUKALOS: Still, today,

we're making ongoing discoveries

about the capabilities and

potential of the human brain and

body.

So it's possible that in the

stories and legends of En no.

Gyoja, we're seeing someone who

was able to somehow access

knowledge that was already

hardwired into our own DNA by

extraterrestrials.

>> NARRATOR: Is it possible that

ancient magicians like En no.

Gyoja were able to tap into

incredible extraterrestrial

abilities embedded within the

human body?

And might this explain similar

feats performed by more modern

magicians like Harry Houdini

and David Blaine?

>> WILCOCK: Magic appears to be

a derivation of extraterrestrial

technology.

It's the accessing of the human

potential, using the technology

of the human form.

Magic derived from

extraterrestrial beings seems

to be the linkage that they gave

us to enable us to become more

like them.

>> NARRATOR: Do ancient accounts

of magic really suggest evidence

of advanced, otherworldly

knowledge?

A knowledge given to early

humans as a means of helping

them unlock their own... some

might say "divine"... potential?

>> YOUNG: We are drawn to magic.

We need something extraordinary

that allows us to transcend

everyday life, and what we sense

as profound limits and

frustrations to what we would

like to be and like to do.

It is both a fantasy release and

to a degree, a bit of a map that

we might be able to reach

further than we think.

That we might be able to do more

than humans have done before.

That we might be more than this.

>> WILCOCK: Magic enables latent

potentials that we're not

supposed to have.

But throughout history, many

people have demonstrated those

capabilities.

They've been witnessed.

It's been written down and

passed along with great

excitement and enthusiasm.

>> COPPENS: And then, of course,

the question is where did they

get this from?

Did they develop this on their

own?

Or was it somehow given to them

by the gods?

In each occasion, we find that

our ancestors specifically state

that magic is given to mankind

by the gods, by non-human

intelligences, by

intelligences, by extraterrestrial beings.

Extraterrestrial beings.

>> NARRATOR: Did ancient magic

really have otherworldly

origins?

And was it based not on mere

trickery, but on advanced

knowledge of science and

the powers of the human brain?

Perhaps we will discover

the answer when we open our eyes

to the possibility that what we

think we know is an illusion,

and what we think is illusion

may very well be real.

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