All language subtitles for Ancient.Aliens.Origins.S01E04.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR:
A giant missing link
in human evolution.

Evidence in our DNA
of genetic manipulation.

And global accounts detailing

an otherworldly hand
in the creation of man.

For nearly two decades,

Ancient Aliens
has traveled the globe

exploring towering
megalithic structures,

mysterious artifacts

and stories
of otherworldly beings

in a quest for evidence
that might reveal

the truth of our
extraterrestrial origins.

When you look at the rapid pace
of human evolution,

it begs the question,

was our evolution manipulated
in some way?

NARRATOR:
Now we take a look back

through the
Ancient Aliens archives

to the show's very origins

to examine the evidence
that we are not alone.

We have never been alone.

♪ ♪

After more than 300 hours
of content on Ancient Aliens,

for me, when I look back
over the series,

one of the most intriguing
topics we've covered

-is the origins of humanity.
-Oh, absolutely.

And one of the biggest questions
of the ancient astronaut theory

is the exploration
of the missing link

in human evolution.

And it is a fact

that tens of thousands
of years ago

this giant leap happened,

and it essentially
defies the laws

of conventional evolution.

And that's where
this episode kicks off,

with a show from season three,

where we explore the possibility
that aliens influenced

the creation of humanity.

NARRATOR:
South Africa.

25 miles northwest
of Johannesburg

lie the Malapa Caves.

Here, in August of 2008,
paleoanthropologist Lee Berger

and his nine-year-old son,
Matthew,

discover several fossilized
skeletal remains

of two-million-year-old
early humans,

including a female adult

and male child,
perhaps a mother and son.

The size and shape
of the bones indicate

that the individuals
walked upright

and had modern hands.

Over the past several decades,

scientists have unearthed
the remains of nearly two dozen

different types
of early human ancestors,

all known as hominids.

IAN TATTERSALL:
We have an extremely good fossil
record of ancient hominids.

And I think the picture
emerging from it

is pretty clear
that in earlier days

before Homo sapiens came along

there were typically many
different kinds of hominids

coexisting in the world.

CRAIG STANFORD:
We have a hard time getting
our minds around this now

because, of course, there's just
one kind of human on Earth today

and there are
seven billion of us,

but at one time within the last
few hundred thousand years,

you could find two or even three
species of hominin

living in the same area
at the same time.

NARRATOR:
Most mainstream scholars tell us

hominids evolved
from an ape ancestor

nearly six million years ago

through what is referred to
as natural selection.

This theory of evolution
was first popularized

by English anthropologist
Charles Darwin

in his 1859 book
On the Origin of Species.

TATTERSALL:
Darwin's mechanism of evolution
was natural selection.

That is to say
a long-term process

whereby
better-adapted individuals

reproduce more successfully.

FIORELLA TERENZI:
Darwin's theory of evolution
by natural selection

explain that organism
with certain traits,

such as mutation,

turn out to be
actually beneficial.

Turn out to be of advantage in
the struggle for reproduction.

So mutation allow organism

to survive and to pass on

to the next generation
these mutation.

Darwin speculated
that over time,

hominids walking on two feet
used their hands to make tools.

This, in turn,
made them smarter.

Then, approximately
200,000 years ago,

hominids evolved into
Homo sapiens, or modern man.

But many scholars dispute
Darwin's findings.

We don't see dolphins
building cars.

We don't see elephants
building houses.

That might sound trite,
but it's a fact

that these animals
just simply haven't progressed

and advanced in the way we have.

And the big question is,
why is that?

Why should that happen?
Why should we be so unique?

STANFORD:
Tool use doesn't really
come into play

for several million years
after the first earliest humans

began to walk upright.

And then brain size
doesn't really begin to expand

and really mushroom in size

until the last
several hundred thousand years.

So, actually, six million years
of human evolution,

there are millions of years
separating each of those

major features: upright posture,
tool use, brain expansion.

So Darwin was wrong
because he couldn't possibly

have known the chronology
in his day.

In 1967, British zoologist
Desmond Morris

argued against Darwin's theories
on evolution

in his book The Naked Ape.

In it, Morris wrote
that there was no reason

why man stood alone
from other species

in terms of his nudity.

Well, of course,
as Homo sapiens,

we still continue to have
a coating of hair,

but that hair is very much
reduced over most of our bodies,

and that reduction
probably goes back

way beyond Homo sapiens in time.

It probably goes back
to the time when the very first

early bipedal hominids
came out of the forests,

uh, in Africa into the savannas,

where they had more sun and, uh,

more thermal radiation
to... to cope with.

STANFORD:
In places like Europe,
Northern Europe,

why we lost body hair, it's
a chicken-and-egg question.

Did we lose our body hair
because we began

to wear clothing
to keep us warm,

or was there some other
factor at work

that caused us
to lose our body hair?

Perhaps women didn't find
body hair on men attractive,

and so it was lost
because they didn't

choose those men as mates.

There's no way
to ever answer that question.

If we were to subscribe 100%

to the idea
of survival of the fittest,

isn't it illogical to think
that all of a sudden

we're completely naked
and we're losing all of our fur?

I mean, that makes
absolutely no sense

because right after
we shed our fur,

we had to wear furs
to keep warm.

Had we not worn any furs,
we would have frozen to death.

We would have died.

So the whole idea
that we shed all of our hair

in order to survive
because we were stronger

logically makes no sense.

NARRATOR:
But if Darwin's theory
of natural selection

cannot account
for the appearance

of intelligent, hairless
Homo sapiens, what can?

Might the transition of hominids
to modern human beings

have been the result
of an otherworldly design,

as ancient astronaut
theorists believe?

Alfred Russel Wallace,
a colleague of Darwin,

called it
the intelligence evolution.

TATTERSALL:
Darwin believed
that the human brain

had been driven into existence
by natural selection,

but Wallace couldn't quite
see how this could be so.

What Wallace perceived was that
the way that humans think,

their intellectual faculties
are qualitatively different

from anything
that had preceded them.

And he couldn't quite see
how this enormous gap

could be bridged
by natural selection.

So he invoked another
explanation for the evolution,

the arrival of, uh, modern
human cognitive abilities.

His choice was
a spiritual explanation.

DAVID CHILDRESS:
Alfred believed there was
an unseen creative spirit

that was behind all life
on our planet.

And he believed that this
unseen creative spirit

had interceded three times
in this planet.

The first was to create life
from inorganic matter.

And then the second time
was when animals

achieved some kind
of consciousness.

And the third time
was when humans

suddenly were able to have
the mental abilities

that we have today.

But he felt that it wasn't just,
uh, random selection

like Charles Darwin thought.

He believed
that all of these changes

had a creative intelligence
behind it.

The view that I have is that
because the rest of nature

hasn't changed that much
that arguably we shouldn't.

So that suggests to me
we're seeing something

potentially that has gone
against nature,

and if it's gone against nature,
maybe that means

because somebody has been
manipulating nature.

PHILIP IMBROGNO:
There's no explanation
for human beings.

They shouldn't be here
on this planet.

If we were evolved and changed

by an extraterrestrial source

from our early primate
ancestors,

that's the only way, really,
you can account

for the human species--

unless you, of course,
put God in the equation.

And who knows
who the gods may have been?

GEORGE NOORY:
Charles Darwin might be rolling
over in his grave right now,

but it's very possible
that mankind came about

because of extraterrestrial
intervention.

NARRATOR:
Did the evolution
of modern humans

really receive a jump start
by extraterrestrial beings,

as ancient astronaut
theorists believe?

And if so, might there be
tangible evidence?

Some scientists believe
proof can be found

inside the human brain.

NARRATOR:
Chicago, Illinois.

December 2004.

Researchers at the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

of the University of Chicago

publish the results
of a study that claims

the sophistication
of the human brain

was the result of
a so-called special event.

They said mankind's intelligence

was not only
the result of evolution

and that around 50,000 years ago
the genes of ancient humans

went through an intense
amount of change

in a relatively short
amount of time,

what some refer to
as the big bang of the brain.

IMBROGNO:
No one really knows how

human beings developed so fast
in such a short period of time.

I don't believe
it was done naturally.

TATTERSALL:
It's very clear that fully
modern intellectual function

is a very recent acquisition
in our lineage.

It's not an improvement
upon what was there before.

It's a new kind of manipulation
of information in the mind.

LINDA MOULTON HOWE:
There's no other animal creature
on the planet

that has
such a comparative point,

and that's why they call it
the Big Brain Event.

REDFERN:
People talk about
the missing link.

Where is the link between

going from apes, monkeys,
gorillas, et cetera,

to being able to develop atomic
weaponry and fly in space?

PHILIP COPPENS:
When we're looking
at the origins of man,

we realize that 50,000 years ago

we really went where no creature
on Earth had ever gone before.

We have become human.

NARRATOR:
But what was the spark
that spurred human intelligence?

Was it a genetic mutation
brought about

by the natural selection process
of evolution,

as many mainstream
scientists contend?

Or could it have been
a genetic modification

produced by
extraterrestrial beings,

as ancient astronaut
theorists believe?

STANFORD:
There is the idea
that there was a gene or genes

that popped up sometime
in our ancestors randomly

that may have given us
the ability to symbolically

represent objects in
our environment or be abstract.

Those are things that-that,
for instance,

chimpanzees have a great deal
of trouble with

even when
they're taught language.

TATTERSALL:
Homo sapiens
emerging from Africa

started to behave symbolically.

They started to manipulate
information in their mind

in a way in which
their predecessors

had never done before.

They disassembled
the world around them

into a vocabulary of, uh,
discreet symbols

and recombined them
so they could imagine

new kinds of worlds.

ERICH VON DÄNIKEN:
Long, long time ago,

extraterrestrials arrived
on this planet.

They realized that the planet
was full of life,

and one of them
was the most advanced form,

was one of our ancestors.

They took the DNA out,

and they changed
the basic information

in the DNA.

This is what our genetics
are doing every day.

Now the cell was changed.

The product you plant
into the womb

of a female of the same species.

This female will give birth
to a child

approximately after nine months.

But because of this
artificial mutation,

that's different
because it was made artificially

by the extraterrestrials.

BILL BIRNES:
What if, as part of
the genetic updates

human beings were getting
from extraterrestrials,

one of those genetic updates

involved a software download,
a biological download

to differentiate the different
hemispheres of the brain

to allow human society--
toolmaking, fire,

social organization--
to be created,

and from that, that particular
species of hominid

became the human being
we are today?

LYLE ARMSTRONG:
If alien species out there

could fly across
interstellar space,

then in all probability,
they would have

similar DNA recombinant
technology.

Of course, it would depend

on their own genetic composition
being similar to ours.

But if they understood
sufficient chemistry

and physical principles
from their own experience of...

of the physical world model,
then in all probability,

manipulating our DNA
would be simple.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
But if alien beings
created humans

by genetically altering
our primitive ancestors,

might various versions
of hominids have been the result

of experiments at creating
intelligent life on Earth,

as ancient astronaut
theorists contend?

COPPENS:
This is one of the greatest
unanswered questions.

The ancient records do not say
that we are part

of a social experiment.

The ancient records say

that we were bestowed upon
this gift.

The gods gave us
the gift of intellect,

and it is for us to use it.

So yes, we might actually
be part of an experiment,

but it might be
an experiment in intelligence.

It might actually be a game,

a kind of the greatest
reality TV show

whereby the entire human species
is watched by ancient aliens

who have been watching the show
for maybe 50,000 years.

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS:
FOXP2 is a gene that was found
in our nucleotides,

and it is something that sets us
completely apart

from any other animal.

And scientists have suggested
that that gene alone

is responsible for language.

And there is absolutely
no evidence of origin

or that this thing
somehow mutated

from the animal kingdom
towards us.

So this gene exists out of
nowhere without any origin.

So my question is,
is it possible

that this gene was given to us
or grafted into us

by extraterrestrials
in the remote past?

And the answer is yes.

Was it the same
nonhuman ancient aliens

of so many ancient settlements
on this planet

deciding that they wanted humans

to be able to communicate
at a more sophisticated level?

I think that's
the fundamental angst today

among people
trying to understand,

who we are in relationship
to extraterrestrials

that may have been manipulating
DNA on this planet

for thousands of years?

NARRATOR:
Might the evidence
of our alien origins

really have been
passed down to us

implanted in our genetic code,

as ancient astronaut
theorists believe?

Perhaps further evidence
can be found

not by scientists
but by religious scholars

that claim Adam and Eve
really did exist.

When you look at the rapid pace
of human evolution

and you consider
what's being called

the big bang of the brain,
it begs the question:

Was our evolution manipulated
in some way?

Well, yeah, because that is
what the great majority

of creation stories talk about.

That long ago, these beings
descended from the sky

and created human beings.

And so, to me, this idea is not
as far-fetched as it might seem.

Not at all. I mean,
when we look across cultures,

we can go into ancient Greece

and see Prometheus
creating humans.

Go over to Egypt,
we have the gods

Ptah and Khnum creating humans.

And even in the Bible,
obviously,

it all starts with Adam and Eve.

NARRATOR:
The Hebrew Bible.

In it, the Book of Genesis
describes how God created

the first two humans,
Adam and Eve,

in the Garden of Eden
and told them

to go forth and multiply.

For centuries,
scientists and theologians

have debated whether this story
of the creation of man

was mere myth
or historical fact.

JONATHAN YOUNG:
The Torah mentions that humanity

is made out of the dust
of the Earth

and that God breathed life
into this to make us animated.

Here is the breath of soul
and the breath of vitality,

the divine breath
which suggests that the spark,

the life force that makes
a human body tick,

is divine in its nature.

NARRATOR:
In 1987, scholarly disagreements

over the origin of man
intensified

with the discovery
that the genetic lineage

of every living person
could be traced back

to a single woman
who once lived in Africa.

TATTERSALL:
It's pretty well established
by now,

particularly from the molecular,
the DNA record,

that Homo sapiens did originate
at one place in Africa

and after having become
fully modern

in the sense
of intellectually modern,

spread out to occupy Europe,
to occupy eastern Asia

and the Old World in general.

STANFORD:
It's sometimes called
the Eve model,

not meaning that we're all
descended from the same woman,

but it does mean
that there was a woman

in that early human population
migrating out of Africa

who was the only female
who ultimately left her genes

in every modern person.

NARRATOR:
But is it possible
that mainstream science

and the Book of Genesis

are both pointing to the same
moment in ancient time

when modern man
first appeared on Earth?

NOORY:
The myth of Adam and Eve,
I think, is not a myth.

I think it's a true story.

I think Adam and Eve
were on this planet.

They were the first
human beings that we know of.

And they helped
populate this planet.

What is the Garden of Eden?

I think it just
happened to be the area

that the genetically manipulated
human being, Adam and Eve,

were placed.

That's where they lived.

That's where
they started to breed.

And that's where the populations
of the planet started to grow.

NARRATOR:
If Adam and Eve
actually had existed

as described
in the Hebrew Bible,

might this also mean
that a serpent

really did tempt them to eat
from the tree of knowledge?

And if so, might this account
have been an effort to describe

the sudden awakening
of the modern human mind,

when man first became
an intelligent being?

(translated): In the Bible,
it says that if you eat

from this tree
you will be like God.

Satan, in the form of a snake,
tempts Adam and Eve

and promises them
that they will be like God.

The knowledge
that Adam and Eve acquire,

as well as humanity in general,

gives man the ability
to eventually carry out

genetic manipulations.

So, what was
this tree of knowledge?

Is the tree of knowledge,
in fact,

the helical DNA sequencing
in our own bodies

that was genetically engineered

by extraterrestrials
50,000 years ago

so that we would have the
abilities that we have today?

In my mind, it's our DNA itself
that is the tree of knowledge.

But why was this
suddenly a-a bad thing?

It would seem that the aliens,
some of them wanted us

to have this knowledge
to be like the gods.

But others said, "No, no,

man is not to have
all of this knowledge."

This is also the same story
of the Greek god Prometheus,

who, against the orders
of the other gods,

comes down to Earth and gives
mankind the knowledge of fire.

But because of this gift
to mankind,

he himself, as a god,
is, like Satan,

he's banished from the Earth.

And why?
Because he helped mankind

to have greater knowledge.

TSOUKALOS:
The whole idea
or concept of Satan

is based on
a misunderstood visit

by extraterrestrials
in the remote past.

According to
the ancient astronaut theory,

the reason why we have
the idea of a Satan today

is because there might have
been some type of a mutiny

between good and bad
extraterrestrial factions

in the remote past.

And so the mutineers
were cast out by the commander

and they became known
as the evil fallen angels,

which they never were.

NARRATOR:
If, as ancient astronaut
theorists believe,

extraterrestrials
were responsible

for providing humans
with intelligence,

might they have also given man
the ability to speak?

Our voice box, our larynx,
is so different than the apes--

even the chimpanzee,
who is our closest cousin--

that we're able to produce
sounds and produce language.

To a scientist today,
that's almost like it was

genetically designed so that
we can say words and sing.

REDFERN:
There really isn't anything

more advanced
than human language.

So many different cultures,

dialects, languages
around the world.

And the very fact
we can communicate

on such a deep, extensive level,

that really sets us apart
from all other animals.

Who invented language?
Where did that come from?

Was that something
instilled in us?

I think these are mysteries
that, to a large degree,

science and the world
of history, even in archaeology,

are still scrambling around
for answers.

Maybe we shouldn't be looking
down here for answers.

Maybe we should be
looking up there.

COPPENS:
We are told in the Bible

that we are made
into the image of God.

What does that mean?

Does it mean that we were made
physically in somebody's image?

And so, therefore,
the question--

namely, whether we are
descendants from apes

and other creatures
on this planet

or whether we truly
have been engineered--

can be answered by mythology.

Mythology is able to say

that we are not descending
from the ape

but that something happened
on this Earth

and an alien intervention came

and we were
the end result of this.

VON DÄNIKEN:
In my opinion,
the extraterrestrials,

by an artificial mutation,

they created
the intelligence of humans.

Then the extraterrestrial
disappeared.

And some of our ancestors

had again sex
with their ancestor,

with apelike beings.

And that was called
into mythology original sin.

Then they return again,
the gods.

They realized what happened.

And they decided to destroy
the whole race by a great flood

and to restart
the experiment again

with what we call
in mythology Noah.

That's all text.
That's the way it is.

CHILDRESS:
It would appear that
extraterrestrials came here,

used great apes,
other early hominids,

created what would be
Neanderthal man

or Homo erectus,
somebody similar to us,

and then refined that hominid

until they came up
with Homo sapien,

and then the other
early hominids were destroyed.

NARRATOR:
Might the Biblical account
of Adam and Eve and Noah's Ark

really be the retelling
of extraterrestrial events,

as ancient astronaut
theorists believe?

Perhaps further evidence
can be found

in the archaeological remnants
and eyewitness accounts

from man's
earliest known civilization.

For me, some of
the most intriguing stories

of extraterrestrial influence
on human evolution

comes from the Sumerians and
their stories of the Anunnaki.

I mean, some of these texts
actually tell us

that we were created in their
image and after their likeness.

A lot of this
seems to be explaining

some form of bioengineering.

Oh, absolutely.

In fact, we have many
ancient Sumerian carvings

that illustrate
something like this.

For example,
we have this one carving

where you have these two beings

and they seem to be manipulating
this double-helix structure.

Well, that to me is
reminiscent of a DNA strand.

Well, one of our first
discussions on Ancient Aliens

about the Sumerians
and their origin story

came in season one
in an episode, "The Mission."

NARRATOR: Here in
what is now known as Iraq

lies what is commonly regarded
by historians and archaeologists

as the cradle of civilization.

Between 3500 and 1900 BC,

the fertile area between
the Tigris and Euphrates rivers

was the home
of the Sumerian people.

TSOUKALOS:
The Sumerians were one
of the first cultures

that built actual cities

with streets
and a street grid like...

almost like New York City,
where you have, you know,

a square street grid.

They invented cobblestones.

Uh, they had a-a sewage system.

They were taught
in-in agriculture.

NARRATOR:
The Sumerians also invented
the first known writing system

by using cuneiform script
on clay tablets.

In the 19th century,
archaeologists exploring

the ancient ruins of Nineveh

discovered 22,000
of these clay tablets.

When they were later translated,
the texts described many stories

similar to those found
in the Judeo-Christian Bible.

Virtually every story
that's in Genesis--

uh, the flood story,
the Adam and Eve story--

they all have precedence
with the ancient Sumerians.

NARRATOR:
In 1976,

author Zecharia Sitchin
published his own translations

of the Sumerian texts
in a series of books

called The Earth Chronicles.

According to Sitchin,
the clay tablets describe

an alien race
known as the Anunnaki

who came to Earth to mine gold.

TSOUKALOS:
Zecharia Sitchin has essentially
suggested that the reason

why we were visited
in the remote past

is because the ancient
astronauts' home planet

needed gold for their atmosphere

and that their gold content
in the atmosphere was depleting.

So they came to Earth
in order to mine gold

and bring it back
to their home planet.

NARRATOR:
But why gold?

What are the unique properties
of this precious metal

that might make it important
and worth traveling

through the galaxy for?

NOORY:
If you look at
Zecharia Sitchin's theories,

that ETs came down
from another planet

in our solar system, which is on
a 3,600-year elliptical orbit,

that they were running out
of minerals,

and gold, specifically,
that they somehow needed

to line their atmosphere with.

These extraterrestrials, they
just first measure our planet.

And they have the instrument
to find out,

where on this planet
do we find raw material?

NOORY:
Through their
incredible equipment,

they find a planet
that has this-- it's got gold.

So they decide, we're gonna
go there and we're gonna mine.

So they send some expeditions
to planet Earth.

All of a sudden, they get here
and the factions begin to say,

"Well, there's
a lot of gold here,

"but we're not digging it out.

What are we gonna do?
We need workers."

HORN:
The story that came down
to the Sumerians

is that the Anunnaki
were mining gold on the Earth.

And, uh, the run-of-the-mill
workers complained, said,

"This is really hard work
and we're tired.

We don't want
to do this anymore."

And so they had a big council,
and they decided to create

a primitive worker
called an Adamu.

So they look at what is
on this planet,

and that is Homo erectus,

and they say, "Well,
they're not very intelligent,

"and they're not
gonna listen to us,

so we're going to
genetically alter them."

The Anunnaki created, uh, humans
as a slave species.

NARRATOR:
According to Zecharia Sitchin,

the Adamu were the first
modern humans.

They were created by
the Anunnaki 450,000 years ago,

when they genetically mixed
their DNA

with that of prehistoric man.

They took one cell
of one of this ancestor of us.

They changed the cell
by an artificial mutation.

They changed the DNA code,

what our genetics
are doing every day.

It's carved in their stone.

This is not something made up.

This is part
of the Sumerian history.

HORN:
They believed
that the gods came down

and, uh, created them

and they were
their slave species.

They knew that,
and they didn't have any

philosophical beliefs about
the purpose of man or anything.

NOORY:
If you believe Sitchin's theory
that mankind was created

by ETs for slave labor,
all of a sudden, it makes sense.

And then when you look
at the biblical terms

of what may have happened--
Adam and Eve--

sure, they may have been
two individuals

back a long time ago,
the beginning of time.

But perhaps
Adam and Eve were the first

of the genetically created
human beings.

NARRATOR:
Closer comparisons
between the Hebrew Bible

and the Sumerian texts
reveal many similarities

not only in their stories
but also in their language.

"Adam" is Hebrew for "man."

Adamu is what the Sumerians
refer to as first man,

the Anunnaki slaves.

But do the Sumerian tablets
actually describe an alien race,

a race that conducted mining
operations on a global scale?

Thousands of miles away,
on the African continent,

ruins of ancient gold mines
have recently been discovered.

The largest concentration
can be found in South Africa,

where some excavations,
according to scientists,

date back some 150,000 years.

They're in areas that have
an abundance of gold right now.

So it's very possible
that they could've mined it.

Now, the big question is,
how do we know

they weren't human beings
that simply did that?

Why the ET theory?

CHILDRESS:
Some ancient mines
in Southern Africa

are thought to be
100,000 years old or older.

If humans weren't doing
that mining

100,000 years ago
and making metals,

then we would have to assume

it would be extraterrestrials
doing it.

NARRATOR:
Alien slave mines?

Genetically engineered humans?

To believers
of ancient astronaut theory,

these notions are not
far-fetched fantasies

or fairy tales but facts.

And they suggest
that further proof can be found

by examining
the mysterious remains

of an ancient Sumerian queen.

NARRATOR:
1927. Southeast Iraq.

During advanced excavations

at the ancient
Mesopotamian city of Ur,

British archaeologist
Leonard Woolley discovers

the remains of Queen Puabi.

According to reports,
the queen is found

with an unusually large skull,
similar to that possessed

by some Egyptian pharaohs
and mummies in Peru.

For many
ancient astronaut theorists,

the queen's skull provides
further evidence

of mankind's
extraterrestrial origins.

The description of the queen
was highly unusual.

A head that was huge.

She was not a normal human.

She may not have been
full Anunnaki.

She could have been a hybrid.

There is an effort underway
to try to get

genetic analysis of the bones.

There are characteristics
that allude to Anunnaki genes.

CHILDRESS:
This is what the Anunnaki
supposedly looked like,

with these
cone-head-type skulls.

So we would naturally think
that she is

one of the original Anunnaki

or certainly an
extraterrestrial-human hybrid.

COPPENS:
What's of interest
of Queen Puabi is that

she's a first-dynasty queen
and/or priestess.

So the fact that she's
first dynasty means

that she's very close to
the reign of the Anunnaki.

This puts her in
a very unique position

because she really
holds the key.

She might be
the evidence to suggest

whether or not the ancient
Anunnaki were physically real

and that specifically
the Anunnaki interbred.

NARRATOR:
But if the unusual skulls found
in Mesopotamia and elsewhere

are really evidence of
the Anunnaki's reign on Earth,

might the legends about them
descending from the sky

also be true?

And if so,
might the same be said

for other legends
that describe similar beings,

found in ancient texts
all over the world?

Angels.

The flying serpents
of Central America.

The Star People of the Anasazi.

The notion that
otherworldly beings

came to Earth from the heavens
is one of the most common themes

in ancient mythology
and religion.

Could the stories
really have a basis in truth?

REDFERN:
If we go back and look
into ancient history,

we find stories that sound
very, very similar.

They're sort of all-powerful,
magical superior entities,

and they come from above.

HOWE:
When you go into mythology,

when you go
into the Star People tales,

when you go into the Anunnaki,

it is the sameness,

the similarity
around the planet,

that makes you say something
has to be responsible

for the same dreams,
the same mythology,

the same idea
that life came from the stars.

WILLIAM HENRY:
All across the world,
we find stories

of otherworldly
or extraterrestrial beings

coming to Earth
and influencing humanity.

This raises a question:

Are there different races
of beings

coming from the stars and
influencing all these cultures?

Or is it possible that, in fact,

it's one race of beings,
the Anunnaki,

who influenced
all of these cultures

and they told the story
of the same beings?

NARRATOR:
Do worldwide legends
of so-called gods

really help to prove
that ancient man

was actually in contact
with extraterrestrial beings?

And if so, is it possible
that religious tales

of otherworldly beings
interbreeding with humans

support the notion
that the stories of the Anunnaki

are based on historical fact?

According to some researchers,
the answers may lie

in the Hebrew Bible's story
of the Nephilim.

FATHER WILLIAM FULCO:
The Nephilim are mentioned

in the sixth Chapter of Genesis,

where we have the, uh...
the sons of the gods

mating with the...
the daughters of men

and producing, therefore,
superhuman folk.

SCOTT ROBERTS:
The Nephilim are described

in some translations
as being giants.

The relationship between
the Anunnaki and the Nephilim

is really a story
of two cultures

but are related.

The Anunnaki was the god caste

who created primordial man
to enslave them,

while the Nephilim
were the offspring of those

who came down
and intermingled with humans.

HENRY:
Now, these beings
could be giant in stature,

but we're also told
that the Nephilim

possessed extraordinary
supernatural knowledge

that they shared with
certain portions of humanity.

NARRATOR:
In Greek mythology,
Zeus, the ruler of the gods,

is said to have fathered
two hybrid sons,

Hercules and Perseus,
both with earthly women.

And the apocryphal
Book of Enoch describes beings

known as the Watchers,

angels who fell from heaven
and procreated with humans.

Could these tales
actually have their origins

in the ancient stories
of the Anunnaki?

The story of the Anunnaki
might seem like

something right out of sci-fi.

But when we compare the fact

that every culture
around the world--

from the Hindus to the Greeks,
the Romans, Egyptians, Mayas--

all around the world,
we have a similar description

of these beings coming
to Earth from the heavens,

having offspring that were then
one half divine, one half human.

NARRATOR:
But if legends of gods,
angels and giants

coming to Earth
and breeding with human females

are to be believed,

might there need to be
some evidence?

Ancient astronaut theorists
say the answer is yes

and believe that evidence exists
in the countless depictions

of the Anunnaki
as winged, giant creatures.

Evidence found
all throughout the region

formerly known as Mesopotamia.

The Anunnaki,
we can also see them

on different carvings
or on cylinder seals

where they are depicted
as having wings.

Sometimes they have faces
like birds with beaks.

But they're also very humanlike,

giant beings
with muscular bodies

wearing things
that look like wristwatches.

Now, is this an exact replica
of what people saw?

Clearly, the evidence
that we have

here in the Sumerian culture
of wall descriptions,

the artwork,
the esoteric cuneiform script,

they went to great lengths
to record

this very momentous information.

We have to start to look
at this in a fresh new light

and stop thinking of it
as just mythology.

Looking into
the Sumerian accounts,

what we are finding
is that the Anunnaki

are described as special.

Their age spans are
far longer than anything

a human being can have.

And afterwards,
whether they disappeared

into complete oblivion or
whether they somehow remained

here on planet Earth
remains a question mark.

NARRATOR:
Might the similar images
and descriptions

of gods who descended from
the heavens to rule on Earth

be something of a smoking gun,

proof that the Anunnaki
were actual beings

who came to Earth
from another world?

But if so,
why has very little evidence

of their time on Earth survived?

Why are they
virtually forgotten?

Ancient astronaut theorists
believe that the answers

can be found in the ancient
stories of a great flood.

(thunder crashes)

One of the best-known stories
in the Old Testament

is the great flood.

In a way, this, too,
is an origin story,

but maybe it's actually
more of a reboot story,

because you have, essentially,
the Earth being

wiped clean of the old order

and then a chosen figure
being tasked with starting anew

and repopulating the world.

Yeah, and it's fascinating
that this story isn't

localized to just the Bible.

You find it in countries
around the world.

Hindu writings,
even the story of Gilgamesh,

the Epic of Gilgamesh
in the Sumerian writings.

Right, and this is exactly
why this story holds

such great importance for
the ancient astronaut theory.

Because, essentially,
the flood illustrates the end

of a time period
when those so-called Watchers

or those visitors
were interacting

with our ancestors
in physical form.

NARRATOR:
Qumran, Palestine. 1946.

In the desert,
ten miles east of Jerusalem,

a Bedouin shepherd leaves
his flock of sheep and goats

to look for a stray.

Walking along the cliffs,

the shepherd spots a cave
in the distance.

ROBERT MULLINS:
He threw a stone into a cave,

and he heard the crack
of breaking pottery.

So he went in to investigate
and found jars

that contained
ancient manuscripts.

The Bedouin shepherd's find
led to a discovery

of 11 caves that contained
the most extraordinary cache

of literature,
arguably in human history,

the Dead Sea Scrolls.

There are 800 pieces
of literature

found in these 11 caves,
and it tells us

so much about the ancient world.

One of the amazing revelations
is a story about Noah

that we don't see
in the Old Testament.

And the story is that
when Noah is born

he's an extraordinary baby
with a strange complexion

and the ability to light up
the room with his eyes.

What's interesting is that
you actually have

Noah's father, Lamech,
questioning whether or not

Noah is his son.

And this is due to the fact
that we have this story

about these fallen angels

that came down
and had sex with women.

Lamech confronts his wife,
Batenosh:

"Is it my son, or is it...
is it one of theirs?"

TSOUKALOS:
Noah's exterior is described
as very foreign.

His eyes are described
to be glowing like sunbeams.

His skin is glowing, as well.

Now, that's a very bizarre
description.

And so one has to ask
the question:

What if Noah was one
of the extraterrestrials?

NARRATOR:
Could it be, as ancient
astronaut theorists suggest,

that the Biblical figure of Noah
was, in fact, an alien being?

Is this the reason
he is described

as having a strange complexion
and glowing eyes?

The key thing that's going on
with Noah is that

he is pure in God's sight,
and so is his family.

And this purity
seems to be genetic

as much as what
you might call spiritual.

And so, when God
makes plans to wipe out

the rest of humanity,
what he's wiping out

is the extraterrestrial
dimension of humanity

that has come about through
the pollution of human genetics.

NARRATOR:
Could extraterrestrials
have sent the great flood

to cleanse the Earth
of genetic mistakes

and make Noah the father
of a new version of humankind?

According to ancient stories,

the world that Noah's
descendants were born into

was very different from the one
that existed in pre-flood times,

when gods, giants, fairies
and other creatures

were said to share
the planet with humans.

The flood does seem to serve
as a demarcation point.

(thunder crashing)

In the Bible, we read about how,
before the flood,

people had longer lives,

but then after the flood,
shorter lives.

We see the same thing
in Mesopotamian tradition

with the Sumerian King List
where, before the flood,

we have kings that ruled
in Mesopotamia

with extraordinarily long lives.

After the flood,
the lengths of reigns

of these kings
becomes much shorter.

The other thing that happened
before this great demarcation

is that the gods
were present among us.

There was a close interaction

between the human
and the sacred.

The gods would guide us,
and they would be tempted.

There would be interaction--
the god might marry a mortal,

and then there would be
descendants of the gods.

Now the gods seem so far away.

So there are these theories
that this was

the big shifting point
in human history.

It is really interesting
to note that the interaction

with these higher beings seems
to only be located in the past.

All these depictions of "there
were giants upon the Earth"

or a time when man
interacted with the gods.

Where are the gods today?

We only seem to have
subtle interactions.

ROB SIMONE:
It's curious to think
why that might have been.

What was it
about this great flood,

this dividing line in history,

that caused the separation
of god and man?

It could be that our evolution

depended upon
a natural upbringing,

an upbringing
that was not contaminated

by this notion that we're
not alone in the universe.

It could be a necessary part
of the human development.

NARRATOR:
Could it be that the great flood

removed not only most living
creatures from the planet

but also the alien beings
that lived alongside humanity?

And if Noah represented
a new breed of human,

as ancient astronaut
theorists suggest,

might his lineage and our own

really have origins
beyond Earth?

NARRATOR:
Tell al-Uhaymir, Iraq.

Here in what was once the
ancient Sumerian city of Kish,

archaeologists unearthed

the world's oldest
written document.

The Kish tablet dates to 3500 BC

and is believed to predate
both the Sumerian cuneiform

and Egyptian
hieroglyphic writing

by nearly a hundred years.

Developing the ability
to express thoughts

through written language is one
of the first ways in which man

separated itself from the rest
of the animal kingdom.

In the 5,000 years since,

humans have harnessed
electricity,

split the atom,
developed computers

and placed a man on the Moon.

No other species on Earth
can claim

such unique achievements
in such a short span of time.

In comparison to other animals,
our evolution is pretty brief.

Um, it's been
a fairly short time--

only a couple million years,
probably--

since the first hominids.

WARD:
One of the great
scientific questions is:

Why is it our species
uniquely arose

into this truly advanced

technological intelligence
that we have?

Clearly, there's nothing else
on planet Earth that is like us.

There are many intelligences,

but nothing
is wielding technology

to the extent that we do.

PAUL DAVIES:
If we just had to sort of
go back to the jungle,

the proverbial jungle,
and just survive,

most of us wouldn't really live
for very long.

Human beings,
apart from their intelligence,

uh, really are not
very well suited to occupying

a wide range of environments.

(crying)

NARRATOR:
In addition to
our incredible intelligence,

biologists have also
noted contrasts

between human physiology
and other animals.

KIRSTEN FISHER:
Compared to other animals,
I think we're a little odd.

A baby horse is born,
for instance,

and it's able to walk around

and-and do its own thing,
like, immediately.

The same is certainly not true
of a... of a human infant.

We are pretty helpless.

We're born before we're quite
neurologically cooked.

There are many vulnerabilities
which go alongside

our, uh, much vaunted
intelligence.

We became bipeds,
and that freed up our forelimbs

to be able
to manipulate objects,

make tools and so on,
but it comes at a price

because we've got
these back problems.

WILLIAM R. LEONARD:
Lower back pain is something

that is virtually unknown
in other primate species,

whereas it's something
that is very common

in contemporary humans.

NARRATOR:
In 2013,
ecologist Dr. Ellis Silver

set forth in his book
Humans Are Not from Earth

a possible theory to explain
why humans seem

so evolutionarily unsuited
to the planet.

Dr. Ellis Silver developed
an idea that perhaps

the human race did not
actually naturally evolve

here on the Earth
but somewhere else.

WILCOCK:
Silver's book raises a lot

of very provocative
and intriguing questions.

For example,
why is it that we get

cataracts from the Sun?

Why is it that the Sun
seems to hurt us

if we go out for too long?

So Dr. Silver suggests
that we might have come

from a planet
with different solar exposure.

We also have 223 genes
that appear in human DNA

that do not appear
in any other species on Earth,

suggesting again that there's
something unusual about us.

MIKE BARA:
They've discovered
that astronauts,

when they're in space,
their circadian rhythms

actually change from 24 hours,

like we have
when we're here on Earth,

to 24.9 hours, which is
the exact circadian rhythm

or the exact length
of a Martian day,

not an Earth day.

NOORY:
The patterns of who we are
as human beings

doesn't fit into
some of the other creatures

that are on this planet.

Dr. Silver, his theory was that

we were either brought here
or seeded here

but clearly of
an extraterrestrial origin.

CHILDRESS:
We are, in a sense,
transplanted here

from some other solar system.

And Neanderthals
were already here,

and we are a crossbred

part alien race
that's part Neanderthal

and part extraterrestrial.

NARRATOR:
Might Dr. Silver's observations
of human physiology

be proof that we are
a hybrid species,

one whose origin comes from
a celestial place?

Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes

and claim further evidence
can be found

in the narratives
of numerous religions.

Brigham Young,
one of the most important

leaders of the Mormon religion,

proposed that the biblical Adam
was not created on Earth

but was born to parents
on another world

and then was brought
to our planet.

In the Zohar, the primary text
of Jewish mysticism,

a similar story is told.

Adam actually had parents--

a mother and a father--

and that God took Adam

from whatever place
that he came from.

We don't understand
what that is.

Another dimension,
another world-- we don't know.

We are half physical,
and we are half

something much greater.

Celestial,
extraterrestrial, divine.

TSOUKALOS:
According to
the ancient astronaut theory,

we were created
in the image of the gods,

and those stories are reflected
in all of our ancient legends.

For example, the Native American
culture clearly states

that our entire planet
was seeded.

LOGAN HAWKES:
In the ancient American world,

part of their core
belief system is that

they may not
have originated on Earth.

We know that the Hopi,
for example, believed

that they, uh,
were brought to the Earth

by Star People
from the Orion system.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible
that these ancient accounts

reveal the truth
behind human genesis?

And if so, do humanity's origins
lie beyond Earth?

Perhaps further clues
can be found by examining

a strange anomaly in our blood.

It's fascinating
to think about--

we're just not really built
to survive this planet.

But because of
our high intelligence,

we are at the top
of the food chain.

Other animals don't have
the ability to do things

like build rocket ships
to send them to Mars.

Well, you have to wonder,
of all the millions

of species on this planet,
why are we the only one

that's evolved to build cities
and travel beyond Earth?

TSOUKALOS:
Right.

And I think that there
are markers that point towards

a potential ET intervention
in our own human species.

For example,
the Rh-negative blood type.

Everybody agrees
that it's very rare, number one.

Number two, even scientists
agree that it is an anomaly.

And what's even more fascinating
is that the great majority

of modern-day alien abductees,

they have exactly that
Rh-negative blood type.

NARRATOR:
Located between the border

of Spain and France is
the Pyrenees mountain range.

The people that occupy
this isolated region

are known as the Basque,

and they have long confounded
anthropologists and historians.

The language spoken
by the enclave is not related

to any other
in that part of the world.

And the population also has
the highest concentration

of Rh-negative blood type
in the world.

Up to 35% of Basque people
have Rh-negative blood.

And Rh-negative blood is one
of the most unusual blood types.

And it's the one blood type
that is least likely

to mutate or interact
with other blood types.

NARRATOR:
Human blood types are grouped
into four distinct designations

that include O, A, B and AB.

Additionally,
there is another variance

between blood types
known as the Rh factor,

or Rhesus factor,
which is a measure

of rhesus-based antigens
in the blood.

The name comes
from a monkey from India

and other parts of Asia,
which is the rhesus macaque.

And this monkey
was used in experiments

looking at blood transfusions.

How blood was received
from recipients varied.

And it was discovered
that the Rhesus factor

could be positive or negative.

Most humans in the world
are Rhesus-positive.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
85% of humans in the world

are Rh-positive
and have no issues

receiving blood from positive
or negative donors.

But for the Rh-negative
population,

receiving Rh-positive blood
may be fatal,

as the body will try to destroy
the foreign antigens.

And for women
that are Rh-negative,

mating with
an Rh-positive partner

could be detrimental
to the fetus.

If a Rhesus-positive and
a Rhesus-negative, uh, parents

were to have an offspring,

there is a potential danger
to the offspring,

because these two blood types
can't interbreed, basically.

Medical intervention is needed.

It's why, actually, in the past,
people had to have a blood test

before they were allowed
to get married.

REDFERN:
The very fact
that an Rh-negative mother,

her body would actually try
to kill an Rh-positive baby,

generates bizarre scenarios.

How on earth could this happen?

It suggests
somewhere in our lineage

that the Rh-negatives
and the Rh-positives

are perceived as being
profoundly different.

And also, studies
of Rh-negatives suggest

that they have lower than normal
blood pressure,

lower than normal pulse.

In a number of cases, they have
an extra vertebra in their back.

WILL HART:
Rh-negative is very rare.

Most of the world didn't have it

until colonization started
in the 15th century.

Rh-negative didn't exist
in the Americas,

and it didn't exist
in Southern Africa.

It didn't exist in Asia.

It was only in Europe.

So it spread out from there.

Out of Africa,
that theory has it

that all human beings originated

in Africa, Southern Africa,
sub-Sahara--

they're all Rh-positive.

They don't have any Rh-negative.

Where did Rh-negative
evolve, then?

NOORY:
15% of the humans have
Rh-negative blood-- 15%.

And scientists have no idea
where it came from.

What they do believe is that
if you have that,

you may have been evolved

from a different kind of species
on this planet.

Now, was that species put here,
genetically altered,

or was it just a natural
formation of the planet

in its evolutionary stage?

Who knows? But the fact is
that Rh-negative people--

and again, there's 15% of them
on this planet--

may have come
from outside sources.

NARRATOR:
Could the Rh-negative blood type

offer evidence of a vastly
different prehuman evolution

than what we are led to believe
in our history books?

Might it offer
indisputable proof

of extraterrestrial intervention
in the remote past?

But if so,
is the experimentation

with intelligent hominin over,

or is it still taking place?

You can't have a discussion
about the possible

extraterrestrial influence
on human evolution

without discussing
the highly intelligent kids

being born today,
known as the Star Children.

Right, and not only are they
highly intelligent

but some of them
seem to have some sort

of extrasensory capabilities.

Like, for example,
telekinesis, which allows you

to move objects
without even touching them.

Or other psychic abilities.

And here is the thing.

Some of these cases
are documented.

I remember we talked
about the Star Children

in season six of Ancient Aliens.

Do you remember what
the title of that show was?

-"The Star Children."
-MARTELL: Of course.

-Go figure.
-Figures.

NARRATOR:
Throughout the world,

there are children who possess
astonishing abilities.

In 2002, Sho Yano graduated
summa cum laude

from Loyola University Chicago
at the age of 12.

Six years later,
he received a PhD

in molecular genetics
and cell biology.

In 2006, six-year-old

Ainan Celeste Cawley
of Singapore,

who spoke his first words
at two weeks old,

gave a science lecture
about acid and alkaloids.

And in 2013, Adam Kirby became

the youngest member
of British Mensa

at just two years old,

scoring 141 on an IQ test

and reading books
by the age of ten months.

Highly gifted children
often know things

that they shouldn't know.

They often surprise us

with the things they're able to
understand at very young ages.

And they're able
to bring together

disparate pieces
of information from history,

scientific discovery
and their own experiences

and heightened intuitive sense.

NARRATOR:
Throughout human history,

there have been children
who stand out

for their advanced knowledge
and incredible abilities.

But are these uniquely talented
and intelligent children

simply the product
of good genetics?

Or could there be
another explanation

for why some children
display abilities

far beyond their years?

Some ancient astronaut theorists

believe there are children
born here on Earth

who have a connection
to beings from beyond our world.

They call them Star Children.

When we see these Star Children,
these children who are gifted

with extraordinary
human function...

...born seeming
to know things already,

show that there is some sort
of interaction going on

with a nonphysical intelligence.

DAVID WEATHERLY:
The concept is that
children are being born

with a higher level
of awareness.

These kids, many people believe,

are being born in order to help

usher in a true new age,

a time of peace,

a time of
a greater consciousness

and greater prosperity
for the planet.

What is commonly termed
the Star Children

has always been with
the American Indian people

throughout the ages.

And, uh, these are
special children.

They're the ones
that can heal with their hands.

These Star Children are said to
have lots of special qualities.

Their psychic abilities
are quite enhanced.

And so these Star Children,
in a way, are some new race

that's living amongst us
right now.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible that some of
the world's most gifted children

really have
an otherworldly connection?

A connection that endows them
with special gifts

and the power
to transform society?

Today there is evidence

that a higher number
of unusually gifted children

are being born than ever before.

WILCOCK:
There is genetic evidence

to prove that humans
are evolving

at a rapid rate of speed.

For example, an anthropologist
from the University of Wisconsin

named Professor John Hawks
studied human DNA,

and what he found was that
in the past 5,000 years alone

human DNA has evolved
by seven percent

in its overall
genetic structure.

That is a staggering amount.

Every decade, we're getting
smarter and smarter and smarter.

NARRATOR:
But those who have studied
the Star Children phenomenon

say that these
unusually gifted children

display more than just
superior intelligence.

RICHARD BOYLAN:
Star Kids are advanced
in several departments.

These kids are much brighter

than the old-school child
of a previous generation.

They are very sensitive.

They are compassionate.

They have a mission sense.

They're using, uh, special gifts
they have as advanced Star Kids.

For example,
in the area of telepathy.

They can pick up on things

that somebody else
is thinking or sensing.

Parents of Star Children

know that their children
are different.

Maybe their child is psychic
and talking about

seeing things
that other people can't see.

Or hearing things
other people can't hear,

or knowing things
that other people don't know.

Some of the Star Children
have very high energy.

They can go long periods without
sleeping, without eating.

It's just not your normal,
typical child.

NARRATOR:
According to Nikki Pattillo,

her daughter Maddy has told her
that her home is in the sky

and has displayed
numerous astonishing abilities

like telekinesis
and psychic visions.

But could ten-year-old
Maddy Pattillo

really have
superhuman abilities?

If so, where did they come from?

OLDHAM:
Science tells us that

in addition to the two-strand
double-helix DNA

there's an additional ten
etheric strands of DNA

that is dormant in humans

and has been
since recorded history.

It's highly possible
that alien creators

have designed us this way

and certain individuals
are chosen throughout time

to awaken these dormant strands

in order to help
mankind advance.

NARRATOR:
Are Star Children really

tapping into something
inherent in our DNA?

According to geneticist
David Reich

of the Harvard Medical School,
there is, in fact,

something mysterious inside us
that has yet to be identified.

In his study
published in the fall of 2013,

Reich examined
the genome of Neanderthals

and another group of ancient
hominids known as Denisovans,

both of which interbred
with humans.

He discovered that their DNA,

dating back
more than 400,000 years,

contains an unknown ancestor.

Now, this is
incredibly exciting to me

because I've always maintained

that what some geneticists
currently refer to as junk DNA

might not be junk after all.

And this study
proves this in part.

DNA is a code.

And just because its code
hasn't been cracked yet

doesn't mean it's actually junk.

And to speculate even further,

what if this unknown species
was not of earthly origin

and every human being
already is part alien?

It's clear that there have been

huge leaps forward in our
evolution, but then the question

always comes up:
Where did it begin?

Well, there's a theory
known as panspermia,

and when Ancient Aliens first
premiered over 15 years ago,

most scientists dismissed it,

but many believe now
that it's true.

And this is the idea that life
first arrived on Earth

via a comet or a meteor.

But some go further and say
this wasn't just chance;

it was aimed here deliberately

by an intelligent
extraterrestrial species.

Right, so it's very possible

that that is how Homo sapiens
first emerged on Earth.

And then later,
the extraterrestrials visited

in order to continue
their manipulation of our DNA.

Because we now know
that life can survive

when traveling in space,

so this idea that it all
began elsewhere

is definitely in the realm
of the possible.

NARRATOR:
Huntsville, Alabama.

NASA's Marshall
Space Flight Center.

Here, in March of 2011,

astrobiologist Richard Hoover
reports the extraordinary news

that he found
microfossil organisms--

or ancient bacteria--
inside rare meteorites

that are more than
four billion years old,

dating back to the birth
of our solar system.

Until recently,
scientists did not believe

life could survive
the rigors of space travel.

But Hoover's finding suggests

that live bacteria
made it to Earth

and may have even
taken root here.

♪ ♪

TERENZI:
Microorganism trapped
inside comets

can survive the travel

through interplanetary space

and interstellar space.

And the reason is
that microorganism

are trapped in the rocky core.

Around, you have a thick shield
of icy material.

And on top, you have
a stratification of dust.

Dust is highly effective
in shielding

the microorganism
from ultraviolet light.

So comet are
an excellent vehicle

to transport microorganism
single-cell life,

amino acid
in the vastness of space.

REDFERN:
Instead of aliens
coming to the Earth in UFOs

in classic Hollywood terms,
a microbial piece of life

comes to the Earth
on a meteorite,

survives entry
into our atmosphere,

crashes on the planet
and begins to thrive.

NARRATOR:
The theory that life on Earth

began with alien organisms
landing here

from other parts of the universe
is controversial.

Called panspermia,
one of the most vocal proponents

of this theory
was Sir Francis Crick,

a British scientist
who codiscovered DNA in 1953.

PETER FIEBAG (translated):
Francis Crick, codiscoverer

of the double helix in cells,

said that all this
can't happen by chance

but has to have been engineered.

One of his arguments is that
the rotation of the DNA

is in the same direction
for all living things.

Had DNA developed on Earth,
it would probably have had

a 50-50 distribution,

and that's exactly
what we don't have.

NOORY:
One of the reasons why I think

the theory of panspermia
is so incredible

is that it tells you
that there's life

throughout the universe.

If panspermia is correct,

life came here on comets
or meteorites

and we're being seeded
not only on this planet

but other planets as well.

And it could be
part of the great design.

BIRNES:
It is the intentional...

the deliberate colonization
of other planets, other worlds

by an intelligent race of beings

using not flying saucers
landing in the desert somewhere

or in the middle of a city

but the best way
to colonize a planet--

you colonize it
with your own DNA

and let the DNA sprout
into your own species.

REDFERN:
In terms of our science
and technology today,

we have the ability
to extract cells and DNA

at a genetic level
and save them.

That's how we have
so-called test-tube babies

for couples
who can't have babies.

We preserve the materials
for when they're needed.

And the day may well come
when we send into outer space

the equivalent of, like,
Noah's Ark,

but instead of sending
literal animals,

we send their essence,
their DNA, their genetic makeup.

I don't rule out the idea

that we could seed
a whole new world.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Today scientists know that only

about five percent of the DNA
contained in our genes

is used to reproduce
human beings.

The remainder is
an undecipherable code,

once referred to as junk DNA.

But is it really possible

that so much of our DNA
is unnecessary?

Or might the majority
of our DNA be decoded

sometime in the future?

And when it is,
what might our DNA reveal

about the origin of modern man?

TSOUKALOS:
Just because we cannot decipher

95% of our genetic material

doesn't necessarily mean
that that 95% is,

in fact, useless.

Nature is extremely efficient.

DNA is the most powerful
storage device in the universe.

Not even with all
the supercomputers

combined in the world

could we store
as much information

as we could store on DNA.

So I'm suggesting
that the ultimate proof

of extraterrestrial life
will not be found

in a crashed spaceship
or in a text,

but it will be found
within our own genes.

We have so much to learn
from studying our own DNA.

We're only just now
beginning to decode

the human DNA sequence.

And as we do that,
what we may discover

is that extraterrestrial DNA

is built into our own genetics.

NOORY:
Whatever is out there
created the universe,

this planet
and other planets and life.

And I strongly believe
that this tie-in

with whether gods and ETs
were one and the same

might very well be the case.

It does not take away
from the fact

that there's a god,
that there's a higher power,

that there's some creation
out there that made the ETs.

But I think that layer
between God and man

is right in the middle,

and that's extraterrestrials
from other planets.

♪ ♪

I wonder sometimes,
is it possible

that we're getting
periodic upgrades to our DNA

that help us make
these large leaps forward?

That plays to exactly what
we see unfolding in front of us.

The question is:
What are we dealing with?

And if Earth, if humanity
is some sort of experiment,

some sort of project, well,

you don't take your eye
off your own creation.

Somebody is watching closely,

and somebody perhaps
is making adjustments.

And that is exactly
why our ancestors

referred to them
as the Watchers--

'cause they watched.

And, you know, nobody ever said
that the watching stopped.

And in my opinion,
that is because

we are hybrid beings.

We are half human
and half extraterrestrial.

It's loaded into us.

It's preprogrammed
that our origin

is not down here
but it's out there.

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