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NARRATOR: Billions of planets throughout the galaxy

NARRATOR: Billions of planets throughout the galaxy capable of supporting life.

capable of supporting life.

MICHAEL DENNIN: The discovery of exoplanets changed our view

of the potential for life in the universe.

NARRATOR: Are there other intelligent species

beyond Earth?

MICHIO KAKU: Civilizations could have risen and fallen

even before the Earth was formed.

NARRATOR: Could the evidence of their existence

be closer than we think?

DAVID CHILDRESS: The astronauts talked about

seeing extraterrestrial objects on the Moon.

NARRATOR: And might the proof have been with us all along?

GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: Planets in this Goldilocks Zone

have life very similar to ours.

The only question is, was it them who came here

thousands of years ago?

NARRATOR: There is a doorway in the universe.

Beyond it is the promise of truth.

It demands we question everything

It demands we question everything we have ever been taught.

we have ever been taught.

The evidence is all around us.

The future is right before our eyes.

The future is right before our eyes. We are not alone.

We are not alone.

We have never been alone.

Cape Canaveral, Florida.

April 18th, 2018.

At 6:51 p.m.,

a Falcon 9 rocket blasts off on a mission

to deploy a NASA space telescope into orbit...

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS.

TESS is like a survey of the whole sky,

a survey of the nearest 100 light-years or so

of planets that would be around these stars.

NARRATOR: In the first four years of its mission,

TESS collected a range of scientific data,

and found 66 worlds beyond our solar system,

called exoplanets.

SUMMERS: Exoplanets are planets that exist

outside of our solar system.

We're certainly in an exoplanet golden age of discovery.

Twenty years ago, we didn't know

if there were other Earth-like planets in the universe.

And now, we can't imagine how we could discover things

at a higher rate and still try to make sense of it.

It's such a struggle just to keep up with the discoveries

that we're making right now.

NARRATOR: It is only recently with the development

of deep-space satellites and high-powered telescopes

that a more accurate understanding of nearby planets,

especially planets capable of supporting human life,

has been possible.

But it wasn't so long ago that the notion

of Earth-like planets existing in our galaxy

wasn't simply unknown-- it was considered blasphemy.

When the 16th century Italian philosopher and cosmologist

Giordano Bruno expressed his belief

in "an infinity of worlds" and raised the possibility

that other planets could harbor life,

he was charged with heresy and burned at the stake.

KAKU: It was heretical, revolutionary to believe

that there could be alien life out there.

Giordano Bruno was burned alive

in the streets of Rome, and what was his crime?

To say that there are aliens out there on other planets.

WILLIAM HENRY: You weren't allowed to think like that.

It challenged all their predispositions

It challenged all their predispositions and their power structure.

and their power structure.

No, there are no other worlds.

There's nothing out there.

But there is something out there,

there's no question about it.

NARRATOR: As recently as the early 1990s,

astronomers were still unable to detect these distant planets,

even with high-powered telescopes.

It's hard to see an exoplanet.

Imagine trying to look at a firefly next to a spotlight.

It's incredibly difficult because stars

shine by their own light, they give off their own light.

But planets reflect light.

A typical star is about ten billion times brighter

than a planet.

NARRATOR: Thanks to remarkable advances in technology,

astronomers made the very first discovery of an exoplanet

in 1992 using an Earth-based telescope.

But that search kicked into high gear in 2009

with the launch of Kepler, the first space telescope

specially designed to find exoplanets.

And in 2018, Kepler was replaced

by the even more powerful, TESS.

DENNIN: So, one of the really cool things

about TESS, the satellite that NASA's put up,

is basically it was specifically designed to detect exoplanets

by what's called the transit method,

which is where when a planet goes in front of a star,

it blocks the light briefly,

and you really see the light blink on and off.

AMY TEITEL: That telltale dip is what tells you

there might be something that's passing in front of it.

The regularity tells you about the orbit,

which is the easiest way to actually start looking

for new planets.

NARRATOR: Although the initial objective in the search

for exoplanets was simply to determine how many stars

in our galaxy might have planets in orbit around them,

the actual results were staggering.

the actual results were staggering. Our galaxy has around 400 billion stars.

Our galaxy has around 400 billion stars.

From what we've seen so far is, on average,

every star has at least one planet.

So, that means that there are 400 billion--

at least-- planets in our galaxy.

NARRATOR: 400 billion planets? In the Milky Way galaxy alone?

The discovery of such an extraordinary number

of exoplanets represents a radical change

in our understanding of the universe.

But even more radical is the notion

that millions of those planets might actually be capable

of not just supporting life, but generating it.

And to that end, astronomers and astrophysicists

actively search for planets in a region they refer to

as the Goldilocks Zone.

DENNIN: The Goldilocks Zone is exactly that range

for a given star of where water's gonna be liquid

on a given type of planet.

KAKU: We want a planet that is not too close,

not too far from the mother star, but just right.

Planets that may have oxygen and H2O-- water--

that may make possible an atmosphere...

...and maybe even life.

NARRATOR: Based upon current observations,

scientists are astounded by the number

of potentially habitable planets

that exist in the Goldilocks Zone.

SUMMERS: With at least 400 billion planets

in our galaxy, if you just look at 1% of that,

you're still talking about billions of planets

that could potentially be habitable.

This is exciting 'cause we once thought

This is exciting 'cause we once thought that we were the only game in town,

that we were the only game in town,

that can only exist on the planet Earth.

DENNIN: The discovery of exoplanets,

I think it's really changed our view

of the potential for life in the universe.

Fundamentally I think most scientists would now agree

that there is some form of life elsewhere in the universe.

NARRATOR: But in spite of the abundance

of habitable exoplanets, many scientists

still cling to the notion that the only kind of life

likely to exist outside of Earth is microbial or bacterial.

They are resistant to what they claim are far-fetched notions

that these planets might not only contain more sophisticated

or evolved life-forms, but intelligent life-forms--

some much more evolved or technologically advanced

than our own.

Think about it-- the universe is about 13.8 billion years old.

The Earth is 4.6 billion years old.

Civilizations over billions of years

Civilizations over billions of years could have risen and fallen

could have risen and fallen

even before the Earth was formed.

NARRATOR: Although the realization that the galaxy

is teeming with Earth-like planets has triggered

a revolution in conventional scientific thinking,

as far as ancient astronaut theorists are concerned,

it merely confirms what they have believed all along.

TSOUKALOS: The discoveries of exoplanets

over the past few years have been absolutely extraordinary.

I remember that the first time they discovered

this first exoplanet, and me and my colleagues

were like-- were saying, okay, this will be the first of many.

And now, apparently as many as three exoplanets

are being discovered on a daily basis.

So, what we've said all along-- that Earth is not unique

in this gigantic universe-- turns out to be correct.

This raises the question that we've been bringing up,

that for thousands of years there's evidence

of some type of visitation from other civilizations.

Hopefully, our sciences,

able to now detect exoplanets, will allow us to pinpoint

some of these actual home worlds where aliens

have been visiting us.

TSOUKALOS: I propose that most of those planets

TSOUKALOS: I propose that most of those planets that are in this Goldilocks Zone

that are in this Goldilocks Zone

that are in this Goldilocks Zone have life very similar to ours.

have life very similar to ours.

The only question is, was it them who came here

thousands of years ago?

NARRATOR: Could it be that Earth was visited

by beings who inhabited a life-sustaining exoplanet?

As far as ancient astronaut theorists are concerned,

the answer is a resounding "yes," and they claim

the proof can be found by carefully examining everything

from ancient carvings, to the religious beliefs

of ancient cultures from across the globe.

NARRATOR: La Silla Observatory, Chile.

2011.

Astronomers announce the discovery

of a large Earth-like planet orbiting a star

in the constellation Orion.

The planet is located in the Goldilocks Zone,

and the star it orbits is very similar to our own,

making it an ideal candidate for extraterrestrial life.

This is exciting 'cause we want to have a stable solar system

like the planet Earth, that's the goal.

NARRATOR: As far as ancient astronaut theorists are concerned,

this may be the most compelling exoplanet discovery yet,

because throughout the world, numerous ancient cultures

have told stories of otherworldly visitors

coming from Orion, and even built

their most important structures in alignment

with that constellation.

TSOUKALOS: All around the world,

there are these ancient structures

that have been built in the form of Orion.

One example that comes to mind is the Great Pyramid of Giza,

where the three pyramids are aligned

where the three pyramids are aligned according to the belt stars of Orion.

according to the belt stars of Orion.

But also, in the American Southwest,

there are structures that are in reference to Orion.

Native American myths talk specifically about visitors

Native American myths talk specifically about visitors who came here from the Orion constellation.

who came here from the Orion constellation.

The fact that Orion's constellation exists

in magnificent archaeological monuments on Earth

indicates to me that someone at some point

taught our ancestors where and how to build these structures

to illustrate where they are from.

NARRATOR: Is it possible that the exoplanet

discovered in the Orion constellation is the same place

where extraterrestrial visitors to Earth came from

where extraterrestrial visitors to Earth came from thousands of years ago?

thousands of years ago?

For ancient astronaut theorists,

such an audacious notion is a very real possibility.

And they also insist that Orion is not the only star system

And they also insist that Orion is not the only star system from where aliens may have come.

from where aliens may have come.

All over the world, we have different cultures

who identify with certain star systems as their origins.

The Quetchua people of Peru,

they believe that we're from the Pleiades.

In Africa, we have the Dogan, who are saying

that our origin is actually with the Sirius star system.

Various cultures have imagined they have come

from specific places-- the Pleiades or Sirius.

Well, that would be a planet near the star system,

suggesting that, at least in mythology,

that there are planets there that could be inhabited

by creatures like us.

NARRATOR: While many ancient cultures

pointed to distant star systems

as the homes of their gods, ancient astronaut theorists

suggest that one of the oldest human civilizations,

the Sumerians, left records of otherworldly beings

that came from a planet right in our own solar system--

a planet that until very recently

a planet that until very recently was thought not to exist.

was thought not to exist.

Author Zechariah Sitchin publishes his landmark book,

The 12th Planet, the first of over a dozen books

based upon Sitchin's translations

based upon Sitchin's translations of ancient Sumerian texts.

of ancient Sumerian texts.

The 12th Planet ultimately reshapes the way

millions of people view the history of life on Earth.

In it, Sitchin claims that ancient Sumerians

In it, Sitchin claims that ancient Sumerians wrote about an extraterrestrial race

wrote about an extraterrestrial race

that once visited Earth-- the Anunnaki.

The term Anunnaki is essentially interchangeable

with extraterrestrial, because the word Anunnaki itself

means, "those who from the heavens came."

MARTELL: There's a whole pantheon of Anunnaki, basically.

There was Anu, who is essentially the king

of all the Anunnaki, and then his two sons, Enlil and Enki.

When we look in a lot of the Sumerian tablets,

they seemed to have come from a much larger planet,

a reddish, glowing planet.

HENRY: One of the great questions about the Anunnaki is,

where did they come from?

Well, Zechariah went back into the ancient texts

and began to build a theory that the Anunnaki

came from an as yet undiscovered 12th planet

in our solar system that he called Nibiru.

MARTELL: Nibiru is described as a much larger planet

than Earth, and it has a very elliptical orbit.

More like a large egg-shaped orbit.

The kicker here is that it goes once around the sun

every 3,600 years.

So, a solar year for them is 3,600 of our years.

CHILDRESS: Sitchin believed that there was a time

during this 3,600-year orbit when this planet

was actually relatively close to the Earth.

And Sitchin then theorized the Anunnaki

would then fire their rockets,

and then they would come here to Earth,

and that this was how they were interacting with humans.

NARRATOR: For decades, astronomers claimed

that no such planet could exist in our solar system.

that no such planet could exist in our solar system. But in 2016, Caltech astronomers

But in 2016, Caltech astronomers

Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown

made a discovery that could prove this theory wrong.

Batygin and Brown were using an interesting method

of looking for other planets in the solar system.

Namely, they were looking at dwarf planets

and distant Kuiper belt objects to see how they move.

If they exhibit any strange behavior,

astronomers can use that to theorize new planets.

And what they found was a theoretical planet-sized mass

orbiting in a hugely elliptical orbit around the sun.

CHILDRESS: Astronomers have often suspected,

because of certain gravitational anomalies and things,

that there is still some other planet

far out in our solar system, beyond Pluto.

Astronomers call this other planet Planet X,

and it could be a very large planet.

Astronomers cannot see it,

but I would suspect that astronomers

will eventually discover it, and prove that it exists.

NARRATOR: Batygin and Brown estimate that Planet X

has a highly elliptical orbit and takes thousands of years

to make a single trip around our sun.

This matches exactly what Zechariah Sitchin found

in his translation of the ancient Sumerian tablets

concerning an extra planet in our solar system.

HENRY: The thing about it is, is that if we discover Planet X,

then we will also discover the Anunnaki.

So, they're absolutely entwined.

The idea of the Anunnaki

The idea of the Anunnaki and the discovery of Planet X

and the discovery of Planet X

and the discovery of Planet X will prove one another.

will prove one another.

NARRATOR: Could the Anunnaki gods

NARRATOR: Could the Anunnaki gods that visited the ancient Sumerians

that visited the ancient Sumerians

really be from the same Planet X

that astronomers have recently discovered?

And has Earth in fact played host

to alien visitors from multiple worlds?

Perhaps further clues of extraterrestrial contact

can be found by examining the accounts of a strange race

of sky gods that is said to have come from the star Sirius.

NARRATOR: Mali, Africa. 1931.

French anthropologist Marcel Griaule

French anthropologist Marcel Griaule treks through the forbidding desert

treks through the forbidding desert

in search of the mysterious Dogon tribe.

When he finds them, he becomes fascinated

by their culture and traditions.

As Griaule starts collecting Dogon legends,

he notices an eerie similarity to ancient tales

found across the globe--

tales of amphibious gods, in this case called Nommo,

who came from the sky, lived in the sea,

and helped mankind.

They describe these Nommos as being

very like mermaid or mermen-like,

but bequeathing lots of knowledge of astronomy,

math, and science to this ancient race.

The Dogon would say that the Nommo

The Dogon would say that the Nommo were these extraterrestrial gods,

were these extraterrestrial gods,

but they needed a watery environment to live in,

though they could come on land.

NARRATOR: Griaule learns that their arrival is known

NARRATOR: Griaule learns that their arrival is known as "The Day of the Fish."

as "The Day of the Fish."

The Dogon actually said,

"Well, this was our creator god, Nommo,

"who descended from the sky in a loud whirlwind of a storm

of thunder, smoke, and lightning."

NARRATOR: But what struck Griaule and shocked the world

weren't the Dogon legends themselves,

but where they said their amphibious gods came from.

A star that no one on Earth knew existed until 1862--

long after the Dogon claimed they knew of its existence.

CHILDRESS: In the 1930s, when French anthropologists

were first discussing the Nommo with these Dogon priests,

the Dogon priests said that the Nommo were coming

from the star system of Sirius.

Well, the French anthropologists were amazed at that,

Well, the French anthropologists were amazed at that, and were confused as well.

and were confused as well.

NARRATOR: According to the Dogon,

their gods didn't come from Sirius A--

a star that is clearly visible in the evening sky--

a star that is clearly visible in the evening sky-- but from its tiny companion,

but from its tiny companion,

a dying star called Sirius B that can only be seen

with advanced, high-powered telescopes.

Sirius A is the brightest star in the sky

because it is very luminous,

and it is also fairly close to the Earth.

In astronomy, it is a known fact

In astronomy, it is a known fact that there is a Sirius A and a Sirius B.

that there is a Sirius A and a Sirius B.

Sirius A can be seen, and Sirius B,

for us, is invisible, because it's just too small.

for us, is invisible, because it's just too small. Now, the Dogon knew

Now, the Dogon knew

about the invisible companion star to Sirius.

How did they know?

NARRATOR: For thousands of years, Sirius A

has played an outsized role in the imagination of Greeks,

Persians, Hindus, Romans,

Polynesians, and countless others.

The Egyptians even based their calendar on Sirius A.

And some believe they aligned the Giza pyramids

to Orion's belt, which points to Sirius A.

Villages along the Nile, and along the Euphrates,

ancient Mesopotamia, they lined up

ancient Mesopotamia, they lined up their village dwellings

their village dwellings

to mimic the constellation in which Sirius sat.

Sirius is one of the closest stars to us.

Sirius is one of the closest stars to us. It's 8.6 light-years away.

It's 8.6 light-years away.

Unlike the sun, which has a beautiful golden color,

Unlike the sun, which has a beautiful golden color, Sirius is a bluish white color,

Sirius is a bluish white color,

indicating it's much hotter than the surface of the sun,

and that corresponds to it being more massive than the sun

and that corresponds to it being more massive than the sun and burning hotter.

and burning hotter.

and burning hotter. It'll have a shorter lifespan.

It'll have a shorter lifespan.

NARRATOR: But how could the Dogon have known

about the existence of Sirius B?

Could they have at one time been in possession

of advanced technology?

Or could there be another, even more profound explanation?

The Dogon had an amazing degree of knowledge

about the Sirius system. They knew that the orbits

of the two stars were about 50 years' period,

of the two stars were about 50 years' period, and that the invisible star

and that the invisible star

was very dense and past its prime.

was very dense and past its prime. They also knew that the brighter one

They also knew that the brighter one

They also knew that the brighter one was a larger star than the sun.

was a larger star than the sun.

NARRATOR: The Dogon also knew that Sirius B

is about the size of Earth and spins on its axis.

There is no logical explanation for why the Dogon tribe

knew about the Sirius star system naturally.

knew about the Sirius star system naturally. We didn't have telescopes in those days.

We didn't have telescopes in those days.

How did they know this?

How did they know this? It's as if an ET came here

It's as if an ET came here

It's as if an ET came here and just told them all about that.

and just told them all about that.

and just told them all about that. It's an amazing story.

It's an amazing story.

KAKU: One theory is maybe the aliens

gave them this knowledge.

It can't be ruled out.

It can't be ruled out. That's one possibility,

That's one possibility,

because they got it right on the dot.

NARRATOR: But if a race of amphibious Nommo

came from Sirius B and gave the Dogon

came from Sirius B and gave the Dogon such gifts of knowledge,

such gifts of knowledge,

did they only visit this one desert tribe?

Or did they visit other peoples in other lands?

Or did they visit other peoples in other lands? TSOUKALOS: It would be one thing

TSOUKALOS: It would be one thing

if there's only one legend of a fish-man worldwide.

But the Nommo is one story

of dozens of amphibious bringers of knowledge

of dozens of amphibious bringers of knowledge to our ancestors.

to our ancestors.

The ancient Hindus talk about this,

the ancient Greeks, they all had these fish people

that, during the day, taught mankind,

and then at night they wandered back into the ocean

and then at night they wandered back into the ocean to just emerge the next day.

to just emerge the next day.

NARRATOR: If the Nommo from Sirius B

visited numerous ancient cultures,

is it possible that some physical evidence survived?

Sierra Leone, Africa.

The early 1990s.

As civil war rages across the country,

rebels begin forcing villagers

to mine so-called "blood diamonds."

But from deep within the Earth emerges a vast treasure

they weren't expecting.

Mysterious figures ranging from five to ten inches tall...

...often with reptilian or amphibian features.

They're very strange statues. Some are clay.

Some are of granite or limestone.

They are humans and human figures

with lizard heads.

There are hundreds of them.

NARRATOR: Archaeologists date the statues,

known as the Nomoli, to around 500 years old,

when Europeans first came into contact

with the people of Sierra Leone.

But researchers point out that the statues

were found buried as much as 150 feet deep

which would suggest that they are extremely ancient.

Normally, the deeper you go, the more ancient things are.

That indicates great antiquity.

BEN VONDERHEIDE: We know that Angelo Pitoni

was able to date the strata to 17,000 years old.

was able to date the strata to 17,000 years old. We ask the chiefs and they'll tell us

We ask the chiefs and they'll tell us

they could be even older.

they could be even older. NARRATOR: 17,000 years old?

NARRATOR: 17,000 years old?

If true, it would make the Nomoli statues

among the oldest man-made artifacts ever found,

and date them to 12,000 years

before the first known civilizations on Earth.

Could these curious artifacts

and the Dogon tribe's intimate knowledge

of a far-off star system provide evidence

of contact in the ancient past with beings from Sirius B?

of contact in the ancient past with beings from Sirius B? Ancient astronaut theorists say yes,

Ancient astronaut theorists say yes,

and suggest there's proof of other habitable planets--

most notably a star system that many cultures across the globe

most notably a star system that many cultures across the globe believe they originated from.

believe they originated from.

NARRATOR: Maui, Hawaii.

October 19, 2017.

Scientists at the University of Hawaii Haleakala Observatory

Scientists at the University of Hawaii Haleakala Observatory detect a strange object

detect a strange object

detect a strange object traveling through our solar system.

traveling through our solar system.

They initially catalog it as an asteroid,

but after further examination, researchers observe

that the object accelerated as it approached the sun,

acting more like a comet,

but without any other comet-like characteristics.

The find forces astronomers to reclassify it

as something entirely new-- an interstellar object.

KAREN MEECH: We'd never seen anything like this

in the solar system before.

in the solar system before. We get an estimate of its size

We get an estimate of its size

at about 800 meters, or half a kilometer in length.

Roughly a cigar-like shape.

It was moving very fast,

a little more than 195,000 miles per hour.

You get a chill sometimes when you understand something

is very important, or is really exciting.

And that's what I felt with this object.

NARRATOR: Our Milky Way galaxy is estimated to consist

of 100,000 million stars, each indicating the presence

of a solar system.

Because the distances between them are so vast,

astronomers believed it was impossible for an object

from another solar system to reach our own, until now.

It just came from outside our solar system,

meaning it wasn't material from our star being created.

It's from a different star system, somewhere else.

That's historic that we've actually seen it.

We now know objects can travel from one star system to another.

NARRATOR: Researchers dubbed the interstellar visitor

Oumuamua, a Hawaiian term

meaning "a messenger from afar arriving first."

Is it possible that the interstellar visitor

Is it possible that the interstellar visitor was in fact a messenger?

was in fact a messenger?

One sent on a mission to our solar system?

MICHAEL SALLA: Different scientists have analyzed the data

and deduced that it's something very different

to an asteroid or a comet.

So, the scientific data does point to it

actually being some artificial creation.

We've had open speculation

about how this thing might be an interstellar spacecraft.

Talk from a Harvard professor.

NARRATOR: The chair of Harvard's astronomy department,

NARRATOR: The chair of Harvard's astronomy department, Dr. Avi Loeb, noted that the object

Dr. Avi Loeb, noted that the object

seemed to follow the propulsion patterns of a new technology

that is currently being tested for future space missions...

...known as solar sail propulsion.

Large reflective sails capture sunlight

to propel a craft through the vacuum of space.

You can design essentially photon sails.

So, the idea has been to make a material

that reflects photons-- which is light--

very efficiently.

You deploy this, and you basically accelerate

under starlight, and then you just cruise.

NARRATOR: Was similar alien technology

used to propel Oumuamua?

BRUCE FENTON: It makes you wonder,

was that a targeted mission,

some sort of probe

that has been sent in to look for life?

Before man actually went to the Moon and walked on it,

we sent a lot of probes around the Moon to look at it.

And it's quite likely that some version of NASA

from some other star system

could send a probe here to Earth.

NARRATOR: The trajectory of the interstellar object

took it past the sun, where it made a turn

and then ran parallel to Earth's orbit.

It traveled between our planet and Mars

before it began its journey out of our solar system.

When Oumuamua arrived, nobody knew where it came from.

Then in 2018, an astronomer

at the University of Hertfordshire

retraced its movements and discovered

retraced its movements and discovered that it came from the Pleiades.

that it came from the Pleiades.

We have to ask, is it possible

that it was actually sent from the Pleiades?

NARRATOR: For ancient astronaut theorists,

the revelation that Oumuamua traveled to our solar system

from the area of the Pleiades star cluster

is highly intriguing.

The Pleiades figures into the creation stories

of many ancient cultures from all around the world,

where it was taught that divine beings

came from these stars to seed life on Earth.

If we look at the mythologies of the Pleiades around the world,

there's some indication that this star cluster

is some way related to a visitation in ancient times.

NARRATOR: Located over 400 light-years from Earth

near the constellation of Taurus, the Pleiades

is commonly recognized as seven bright stars,

but actually consists of thousands.

SETH SHOSTAK: The Pleiades, everybody's heard of the Pleiades.

They're also known as the Seven Sisters,

'cause if you have really good eyesight,

you can see seven stars in a very compact configuration

in the winter sky.

And in fact, there are a lot more stars than seven.

There are actually 3,000 stars in the Pleiades.

KAKU: So, the Pleiades is a star cluster.

They're not separated by huge distances,

but they occur in a small area.

That's different from a constellation,

where the stars could be moving in all sorts of directions

and are separated by huge distances.

NARRATOR: The importance of this massive star cluster

to ancient peoples is revealed

not only by their creation stories,

but also in how they oriented their most important structures.

All around the world, we find ancient structures

that have alignments that infer a relationship to the Pleiades.

Now, these can be found in places like Chaco Canyon,

in Mesoamerica, in various parts of the world.

It's clear that the ancient people

wanted to incorporate the rising of the Pleiades in some way

with the building of these mega structures.

NARRATOR: Additionally, ancient artwork and artifacts

pay homage to these same stars with one depiction

dating back an incredible 18,000 years.

Perhaps the earliest reference to the Pleiades

is in the Lascaux caves in France.

But these go back thousands of years into antiquity,

even before the written language.

The Pleiades Constellation shows up in various artifacts,

one of them even being a Sumerian tablet relief

that shows what appears to be some type of a god

coming out of the Pleiades Constellation.

An interesting artifact coming out of the 1600s

is the Nebra Sky Disk,

depicting the constellation of Pleiades.

TSOUKALOS: Worldwide, we find hundreds of references

TSOUKALOS: Worldwide, we find hundreds of references having to do with the Pleiades,

having to do with the Pleiades,

not just on one continent, not just in one culture,

but in multiple continents, in multiple cultures worldwide.

That to me indicates that something happened here on Earth

having to do with someone visiting from the Pleiades.

ANDREW COLLINS: The seven stars making up the star cluster

of the Pleiades are very often represented as human figures.

In Greek mythology, they are seven sisters.

And in India, they are associated

with the Seven Rishi.

These are wise benefactors to humanity

from some kind of astronomical place in the sky.

We have to wonder, why are the Pleiades

being so specifically picked out of the night sky?

Is it possible that the Pleiades are the place

where our sky gods have come from?

NARRATOR: With thousands of stars in the Pleiades,

could it be a place that contains an Earth-like planet,

one that could have been the home planet

for our extraterrestrial ancestors?

The Kepler Space Telescope has found evidence

of planets in the Pleiades.

So, Kepler works by finding dips of light

as a planet passes in front of the star that it's orbiting

relative to the Earth.

Astronomers were able to see that there is some dimming

of stars in the Pleiades,

which is likely caused by planets.

NARRATOR: Could it be that our ancient ancestors

were visited by extraterrestrials

who taught them about their home planet deep in outer space?

If ancient man was seeded by beings from the Pleiades,

as well as other star systems,

could the desire to reconnect with our alien ancestors

be embedded in our DNA?

It would be man's constant fascination

with the worlds beyond our planet,

and unprecedented technological advancements

in the 20th century that would finally launch humans

into space and onto the Moon.

NARRATOR: NASA and Lockheed Martin project managers

announce preparations are underway

announce preparations are underway for the Exploration Mission 1,

for the Exploration Mission 1,

a manned Orion spacecraft journey to the Moon.

The Chinese, Russian, and Indian space agencies

follow suit, unveiling their own manned lunar exploration plans.

These missions would be the first time humans

traveled beyond low-Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.

But what could be the reason

for this renewed interest in the Moon?

And just why has it taken humanity so long to go back?

MAN: Liftoff, we have a liftoff.

Liftoff on Apollo 11.

Tranquility Base.

NARRATOR: Over 600 million people worldwide

are glued to their television sets

as they watch the shadowy figure of Astronaut Neil Armstrong

slowly step off the ladder of the Apollo 11 lunar module

onto the surface of the Moon.

(cheers and applause)

The moment marks one of the most important events

in the history of civilization.

It is the first time a human being

has set foot on alien terrain.

Apollo 11 is what people think of

when you talk about Apollo today,

and Neil Armstrong setting foot on the Moon.

The Moon is roughly 220,000 miles away from the Earth.

Even the best telescopes can't see what you can see

when you're just standing on the surface.

BUZZ ALDRIN: Before we went to the Moon, NASA was cautioned

by doomsday predictors and different people.

People wonder what it would be like on a place like that.

So different from this place here.

JONATHAN YOUNG: The idea of landing people on the Moon

has been in the imagination long before the technology

was anywhere near making it possible.

After all, to be on the Moon is to step

into a mythological landscape, the place of stories--

the place of wonder-- to step into the heavens,

and stand on ground of a kind that is not Earth.

HENRY: It was a huge moment for the human spirit.

While it was Americans that put a man on the Moon,

it was considered a victory for all of humanity.

Suddenly, science fiction became real,

and it opened up a new age of exploration.

TSOUKALOS: I think that every journey

starts with a first step.

The Moon was our first step into the universe,

into our solar system.

It is awesome to think that already 50 years ago

we became extraterrestrials on another planet.

NARRATOR: The Moon has captivated the imagination

of humanity since the dawn of civilization.

It is a quarter the size of the Earth,

and is by far the most dominant celestial body in the night sky.

RICK STROUD: It takes about 30 days to go round the Earth.

The Moon glows, and that's not because

of any property within the Moon.

It's reflecting the rays of the sun,

which causes it to glow.

The reason that the Moon has phases is that the Earth

blocks the light of the sun as the Moon

moves round the Earth,

so it incrementally gets a little bit more

and a little bit more of the sun's rays.

JOHN BRANDENBURG: The Moon's importance is very great.

It leads to tides, which help life transition

from living in the ocean to living on land.

It also stabilizes the Earth's tilt relative to its orbit.

Without the Moon, gravitational influences

can cause the poles of planets to wander around

kind of drunkenly, like a drunken sailor.

The Earth would have been a much more chaotic place

for life, especially advanced life, to develop

if it wasn't for the Moon.

NARRATOR: While the Moon is largely responsible

for allowing life to flourish on Earth,

this celestial body itself is inhospitable.

It has no breathable oxygen, and temperatures on the surface

reach extremes from 253 degrees Fahrenheit

when it's facing the sun, to -243 degrees in the shade.

STROUD: It was a very serious environment

'cause there's no oxygen.

So, the astronauts, once they were on the Moon,

they have to be completely sealed.

Its surface gravity,

which is what really counts if you're gonna go there,

is about a sixth of that on Earth,

which is why when you see those grainy images

of the early astronauts, they're sort of bouncing around

and the Moon has no atmosphere whatever.

STROUD: The astronauts, once they were on the Moon,

suddenly they were able to look at the world

that they'd grown up on, the Earth,

that they'd grown up on, the Earth, from a different place.

from a different place.

They were able to see all of mankind

in all its tininess in the universe.

And that, I know had a very profound effect

on the astronauts.

NARRATOR: Reaching the Moon was such an unbelievable feat

that even to this day, many people are convinced

the entire event was actually staged in a Hollywood studio.

But ancient astronaut theorists

suggest not only did we land on the Moon,

but what we found there was more incredible than we know.

SALLA: During the 1969 Apollo Moon mission,

after the landing, there was a very strange two-minute gap

after the landing, there was a very strange two-minute gap in radio transmissions.

in radio transmissions.

And what happened during those two minutes

has been subject to a lot of controversy.

MAN: Neil, this is Houston. Radio check, over.

Columbia, this is Houston, over.

Small white object.

NARRATOR: According to scientist and NASA researcher Otto Binder,

various HAM radio operators were able to intercept

secret communications with Mission Control

secret communications with Mission Control that were not made public.

that were not made public.

The astronauts apparently talked about seeing

extraterrestrial objects on the Moon,

including flying saucers parked along the edge of a crater

within their view.

Now, the truth of it is, is that each of the astronauts

had a separate medical channel.

That channel was not public,

and it could have been very easily used

to communicate information that you didn't want to be heard

over the general public transmissions.

What's really interesting about that story, though,

is the fact that within 30 minutes

of the landing on the Moon, that story was circulating

around NASA that, "Hey, guess what?

They saw something on the rim of a crater."

They were all upset. They didn't know what to do.

They didn't know if they should go out.

It is interesting when you watch the feed

of when they came back from the Moon.

They're not sitting there jumping up and down for joy

and saying, "I had the most incredible experience

in my life, I was on the Moon!"

They're not saying that. They look very sullen,

very depressed, they're looking down.

They almost look like they want to vomit,

that's how disturbed they look.

Could they have seen something there

that they didn't want to tell the public

that they didn't want to tell the public because of the implications?

because of the implications?

I believe that...

...what this country set out to do was something

...what this country set out to do was something that was going to be done sooner or later.

that was going to be done sooner or later.

We find for the first time that man has the flexibility

or the option of either walking this planet

or the option of either walking this planet or some other planet.

or some other planet.

It's a beginning of a new age.

NARRATOR: After Apollo 11, NASA would send

six more manned missions to the Moon,

six more manned missions to the Moon, culminating with Apollo 17 in 1972.

culminating with Apollo 17 in 1972.

ALAN BUTLER: One of the most interesting questions

with regard to our interaction with the Moon

is why we have never gone back there again

since the Apollo missions.

And what else is very telling is that although the USSR

at the time was getting to be quite able

to send its own astronauts to the Moon,

it never seems to have done so.

Could it be that there were agencies

associated with the Moon?

Aliens or other beings who had warned humanity

to stay away for some reason?

NARRATOR: Is it possible that the American astronauts

NARRATOR: Is it possible that the American astronauts were not alone on the Moon?

were not alone on the Moon?

Is that why after Apollo 17, we never went back?

Some ancient astronaut theorists

propose an even more incredible possibility

that the Moon came to orbit Earth not by chance,

but by design.

NARRATOR: Humans have been mesmerized by the Moon

since the dawn of man.

And although many theories have been proposed,

scientists cannot say with absolute certainty

how this celestial object came into being.

When I was a student, nobody really knew

where the Moon came from, and because it's so relatively big,

this was a real problem.

And I think that there is a tendency to think

that moons get somehow captured by the parent planets.

If you've got one body here and another body come--

coming along, it can't just get trapped into orbit like that.

The difficulty there is just basic physics.

So, this remained a puzzle until about 20 years ago

when another theory came along, and that is that the proto-Earth

was very early on in the history of the solar system

hit by a Mars-sized body--

hit obliquely that this Mars-sized body

plowed into the center of the Earth

and became the Earth's core and a lot of the outer material

got stripped off by this gargantuan collision,

and coalesced to form the Moon.

Now, they had to come up with a very bizarre theory

for how the Moon came into being,

because all the conventional theories don't make any sense.

The best theory of the Moon's formation

is phantasmagorically catastrophic--

collision of two things, you know,

at just the right angle to form this belt of debris

at just the right angle to form this belt of debris that then formed the Moon.

that then formed the Moon.

But the Moon, its exact size is such

But the Moon, its exact size is such that it gives us total eclipses.

that it gives us total eclipses.

Its disc exactly covers the sun.

And the chances of that occurring

are so-- literally, astronomically small.

It's-- it's very disturbing.

NARRATOR: The sun's diameter is 400 times greater than the Moon,

and coincidentally, the sun also happens to be

nearly precisely 400 times further away.

This is the reason that the sun and the Moon

appear the same size in the Earth's sky,

and why we on Earth can experience eclipses of the sun.

CHILDRESS: It's just perfectly in that orbit

to eclipse our sun.

The odds of the Moon being in that orbit accidentally

The odds of the Moon being in that orbit accidentally are a zillion to one.

are a zillion to one.

So, that right there is evidence that our Moon

is in a perfect orbit around our planet

is in a perfect orbit around our planet that's not accidental.

that's not accidental.

BARA: In order to have a solar eclipse,

the Moon has to be exactly the size that it is,

the Moon has to be exactly the size that it is, which is 2,160 miles.

which is 2,160 miles.

which is 2,160 miles. Not 2,161, not 2,159,

Not 2,161, not 2,159,

but 2,160 miles at its equator.

And there are people out there that actually think

that's a coincidence.

The fact is, is that that is by design.

NARRATOR: Throughout our observable galaxy,

this relationship and others have not been duplicated.

Other moons are sizably smaller by comparison

to their mother planet.

Earth's satellite not only orbits closer than it should

Earth's satellite not only orbits closer than it should for its size, it is also the only moon

for its size, it is also the only moon

in the solar system that has a near-perfect circular orbit.

And no other lunar bodies are known

to have such a stabilizing role as the Moon has with the Earth.

HENRY: Recent computer simulations have shown

that without the Moon's presence,

that without the Moon's presence, the Earth's axis tilt

the Earth's axis tilt

would be completely different than it is today.

We might not even have seasons as we know them presently.

Without the seasons, it could be very difficult

for life on Earth.

So, the Moon is actually performing

an incredible function.

an incredible function. It's life-sustaining.

It's life-sustaining.

Without it, we might not be here.

BUTLER: There are so many peculiarities

about the way the Moon has affected the Earth,

that one might be forgiven for believing

that there is intelligence behind it,

that there is intelligence behind it, that something made it that way.

that something made it that way.

The Moon is so strange,

so odd in terms of what we find elsewhere in the solar system,

and particularly in terms of what it does for the Earth,

having made the Earth into a haven for life,

that one feels obliged to ask the question,

"Could such things have come about by chance?"

Was it placed there deliberately?

Was it engineered, maybe by aliens?

And therefore, is our whole existence a planned event?

NARRATOR: Ancient astronaut theorists

suggest that the perfect size and placement of the Moon

may not be the product of mere chance,

but was engineered by extraterrestrial beings

in Earth's pre-history.

As evidence, they point to ancient accounts

that speak of a time before the celestial object

even existed.

Beginning in the 5th century B.C.,

Roman and Greek authors wrote of a time

"before there was a Moon in the heavens."

Allusions to this can also be found in the Hebrew Bible.

And there are Zulu legends that say that the Moon

was brought to Earth hundreds of generations ago.

Wowane and Mpanku were the names

of two Zulu deities from prehistory.

The Zulus have a legend

that it was they who brought the Moon into existence.

They supposedly did so by stealing an egg

from a giant sky dragon, hollowing out the center,

the yolk of the egg, and then rolling the resultant planet

across the sky to become the Moon.

And the reason that the Zulus say the Moon

was put there was to keep an eye on human beings.

WHITEHEAD: The Zulu legend is really interesting.

We first heard about it from a Zulu shaman named Credo Mutwa,

and he talked about the fact that the Moon

and he talked about the fact that the Moon was towed into our orbit.

was towed into our orbit.

And when it did so, it caused all kinds of floods

and cataclysms, and it changed the axis of the planet.

And you can't help but wonder,

could the Moon be an artificial satellite?

Could the Moon have come from somewhere else

and is now used as an observational base

for extraterrestrial beings?

NARRATOR: Is it possible that the Zulu legend is true,

as ancient astronaut theorists suggest?

Was our Moon towed into place in the remote past?

Perhaps further clues can be found

by examining the scientific evidence

suggesting that the Moon is, in fact, hollow.

NARRATOR: The surface of the Moon is scarred

with tens of thousands of impact craters of various sizes.

Scientists suggest this is due to the fact

that there has never been an atmosphere on the Moon

to help protect it from bombardment by space debris.

There are no natural erosive forces,

like wind or flowing water, to affect its surface.

And there is little geologic activity

to conceal damage done throughout the Moon's history.

DAVIES: When you study the distribution of craters,

you find that the surface is totally saturated--

that is, that there are craters within craters within craters,

right down to the smallest scale of size.

BARA: One of the things that's really interesting

BARA: One of the things that's really interesting about lunar craters is that

about lunar craters is that

even though some of them are very large

and some of them are very small,

they all seem to have the same depth

and that really shouldn't happen on a planetary body.

There should be variation in depth.

So, why are the Moon's craters so uniform?

It's really, really unusual and it's really not explainable

in terms of conventional or established geophysics.

Some of the craters on the Moon

are nowhere near similar to what they should look like.

In fact, they are incredibly wide craters,

and wherever the impact point is,

they're convex,

which means there's still the bulge of the Moon,

so this doesn't make any sense.

It's likely that there is something

under the lunar surface which is very resilient,

and which is preventing craters going any deeper than they do.

This could only really be either much harder rock--

which it can't be because of the mass of the Moon--

or alternatively a metal sphere of some kind

which is preventing more damage.

NARRATOR: Does the uniform depth of the craters on the Moon

suggest some sort of metallic barrier

underneath Moon rock and dust?

But if so, why wouldn't mainstream scientists

acknowledge this?

Ancient astronaut theorists suggest that by doing so,

they might also have to acknowledge

that the Moon may be hollow.

MAN: Yankee Clipper, Houston.

NARRATOR: During their ascent back to the command module,

Commander Charles Conrad, Jr. and lunar module pilot Alan Bean

release the Apollo 12 launch vehicle

and crash it back to the Moon.

MAN: Apollo 12, Houston. The LM is on its way down.

MAN 2: Roger.

NARRATOR: Upon impact, something very unexpected happened.

The Moon was said to have seismically reverberated

like a bell for more than an hour.

With Apollo 12, people refer to a crash.

It wasn't really a crash, it was a aimed de-orbit

of the rocket used to lift off the lunar module.

And the crew separated the launch vehicle

and crashed it back into the ground

right close to where they'd had a seismograph

that they had installed down there.

Well, it vibrated, so it was kind of an early clue

as to how solid was the surface of the Moon.

What was amazing about this is that suddenly the Moon

began to ring like a bell, and did so for nearly an hour.

Dr. Werner von Braun, who was then the head of NASA,

Dr. Werner von Braun, who was then the head of NASA, decided that for Apollo 13,

decided that for Apollo 13,

they were going to intentionally crash

a heavier portion of the rocket into the lunar surface.

And when they did this, the Moon rang like a gong this time

for over three hours into a depth of over 20 miles.

BUTLER: This was not expected,

and it still puzzles a lot of scientists today.

The inference is that the Moon must be hollow

because the Moon is made predominantly on the surface

of a kind of rock called basalt.

Although it's a very lightweight rock,

it also absorbs impact extremely well.

And so, if the whole of the Moon was made of that kind of rock,

you wouldn't expect it to reverberate

when a large impact took place.

The reason that this is played down

is because the idea of the Moon being hollow

just contradicts what we know about physics.

NARRATOR: In his 1966 book,

Intelligent Life in the Universe,

renowned scientist and astronomer Carl Sagan

defined modern scholarship regarding the composition

of celestial bodies throughout the cosmos.

Carl Sagan suggested that a natural satellite

cannot be a hollow object.

This is very odd, because why would the Moon

be vibrating unless it's a hollow object?

That would suggest it's artificial.

NICK REDFERN: Significant portions of the Moon

may have been hollowed out.

If that is the case,

the chances are that was not achieved naturally.

That would have to have been achieved artificially.

This brings up the important question,

who would have had the ability, the skills,

and the technology to do that?

and the technology to do that? Certainly not us.

Certainly not us.

That would only have to be the work

of extraterrestrials and no one else.

NARRATOR: Is it possible that the Moon is not only hollow,

but also an artificial structure?

And if so, could it be an extraterrestrial creation?

Moscow, Russia. July 1970.

After years of studying findings

from various Moon missions, two government scientists,

Mikhail Vasin and Alexander Shcherbakov,

Mikhail Vasin and Alexander Shcherbakov, publish an article in Sputnik Magazine

publish an article in Sputnik Magazine

revealing their shocking conclusion

about the nature of the Moon.

Their theory is that the Moon is likely a creation

of alien intelligence that was brought to Earth

of alien intelligence that was brought to Earth in the remote past.

in the remote past.

BUTLER: Two Russian physicists, Vasin and Scherbakov,

came up with the idea that the Moon

must be an artificial object.

They based their ideas on, first of all,

the fact that it appeared that the Moon was hollow.

Since no hollow planet could exist

according to the known laws of physics,

that would mean that the Moon had to be an artificial--

an engineered object.

DAVID WILCOCK: This article was quite groundbreaking.

In fact, what they did

is to fundamentally redefine scholarship

is to fundamentally redefine scholarship around what we think the Moon is.

around what we think the Moon is.

NARRATOR: Based on the maximum depth of the Moon craters,

Vasin and Scherbakov proposed that the surface

was only two-and-a-half miles thick.

NASA scientists had determined that this Moon dust

primarily consisted of chromium, titanium, and zirconium.

In their publication, Vasin and Scherbakov

noted if a material had to be devised

to protect a giant artificial satellite

from the unfavorable effects of temperature,

cosmic radiation, and meteorite bombardment,

the experts would probably have hit on precisely these elements.

TSOUKALOS: Now, they themselves proposed

that this suggestion is outlandish.

However, only through their calculations

However, only through their calculations and all the mathematics

and all the mathematics

they determined that their theory is correct.

they determined that their theory is correct. We're talking people in academia

We're talking people in academia

who may perhaps lose their position at the universities.

I don't think anybody would publish a paper like this

unless they were 100% convinced that their findings are true.

The entire object may be of artificial origin.

And if that is the case, my question is,

who built the Moon, who placed it here,

and how long ago?

NOORY: Would I discount the fact that the Moon

is a foreign object, a spaceship, a Death Star?

I don't think you can rule that out.

NARRATOR: Is it possible that the Moon

is actually a spacecraft?

And might it have allowed extraterrestrials

to discretely monitor our planet?

If so, did these visitors come from distant stars,

or from planets within our own solar system?

Clues may be found as we travel deeper into outer space,

to a planet some believe was once our alien home--

the Red Planet, Mars.

NARRATOR: Houston, Texas. June 7, 2017.

At Johnson Space Center, Vice President Mike Pence

announces NASA's 2017 astronaut class.

As American astronauts,

you may yet return our nation to the Moon.

You may be the first to travel to Mars.

You may have experiences that we can only imagine,

those of us who walk on terra firma.

NARRATOR: These 12 men and women were chosen

from a record 18,300 applicants,

more than doubling the previous record of 8,000

set four decades earlier in 1978.

Today, humankind's desire to travel to space

has never been greater, and establishing colonies

off Earth is not only a possibility, but a priority.

The only question is, where will we go first?

In the near term, there are three basic locations.

There is going to the Moon, there is going to Mars,

There is going to the Moon, there is going to Mars, and then there is free space.

and then there is free space.

This is going to the asteroids

and using the asteroidal materials to build colonies.

I think you can look at all three of those

I think you can look at all three of those as options in the near term.

as options in the near term.

I firmly believe that a single-planet species

is not long to survive,

and that we really have to be able to move out

into the solar system.

Early on in the evolution of the solar system,

Early on in the evolution of the solar system, we believe Venus, Earth, and Mars

we believe Venus, Earth, and Mars

had a significant amount of water.

And they all evolved differently.

Venus went through a runaway greenhouse effect.

The water evaporated, and now the temperature

is so high and the pressure is so high.

It's a place we just can't inhabit.

And when you think about that, what is the next place

for humankind to go? It's Mars.

It's smaller than the Earth,

but it's got a lot of the basic characteristics,

and it's a great place to start and work from.

I think the most common misconception about Mars

is that it's going to be easier than it actually is.

Right now, the International Space Station

is orbiting 250 miles above us.

The Moon is 250,000 miles away, a factor of 1,000.

The trip to Mars will take you on a trip

The trip to Mars will take you on a trip that's 250 million miles away.

that's 250 million miles away.

This is not a simple rocket trip.

STEPHEN PETRANEK: Wernher von Braun built the Saturn V rocket

STEPHEN PETRANEK: Wernher von Braun built the Saturn V rocket to get astronauts to the Moon.

to get astronauts to the Moon.

We took three days to go there in the Saturn V.

Going to Mars is at least 240 days,

given current technology.

given current technology. And that's not an easy trip.

And that's not an easy trip.

NARRATOR: While a manned mission to the Red Planet

will be a long and perilous journey,

experts say Mars has many advantages

experts say Mars has many advantages for human colonization.

for human colonization.

Temperature fluctuations are less extreme

than those of the Moon, for example,

and its gravity is more Earth-like.

People don't seem to be terraforming the Moon.

Mars is a little easier. Mars already has an atmosphere,

there's a lot of real estate.

I mean, you could do this.

NARRATOR: For thousands of years,

Mars has practically been a human obsession.

Even before it was known to be a planet,

it was distinguished from the other nearby stars

by its deep amber color.

Mars was referred to as Nergal by the Babylonians--

the Great Hero, also a god of war.

In Greece, they referred to Mars as Ares, the god of war.

The god Mars, the god of war, the god of aggression,

comes from this particularly visible heavenly body.

And I wonder if the desire, the quest,

the yearning to explore Mars

has an aggressive or competitive element to it,

if Mars himself is not somehow involved in the project.

NARRATOR: Over the centuries, humans have conceived

numerous and often humorous notions

of what Mars and its possible Martian inhabitants

of what Mars and its possible Martian inhabitants might look like up close.

might look like up close.

It has been the subject of countless books,

motion pictures, and even video games.

But what if some of the creative depictions

But what if some of the creative depictions of our interplanetary neighbor

of our interplanetary neighbor

of our interplanetary neighbor don't come from human imagination,

don't come from human imagination,

but from human memory?

Carl Jung theorized that mankind had a collective consciousness.

And this is a kind of genetic memory or inherited memory.

For instance, if our ancestors

For instance, if our ancestors perceived that lightning was dangerous,

perceived that lightning was dangerous,

we might inherit, then, a fear of lightning.

And so, it's possible in this same way

that our ancient associations with Mars

are actually within our genes and embedded in our neurons

as part of our DNA.

If our ancestors experienced something,

it goes into our genome, it goes into our DNA.

What if humanity originated on Mars,

and we are still answering to that call unknowingly?

NARRATOR: Could there be a profound connection

NARRATOR: Could there be a profound connection that links humans to Mars

that links humans to Mars

deeply embedded in our subconsciousness?

Ancient astronaut theorists say yes,

and suggest the answer is slowly being revealed

as we get closer to colonizing the so-called Red Planet.

Amersfoort, the Netherlands. 2012.

A private Dutch organization known as Mars One

A private Dutch organization known as Mars One announces a global mission

announces a global mission

to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars.

The following year, they begin accepting applications

from would-be colonists for a manned expedition

scheduled for 2023.

But while the opportunity to be among the first humans on Mars

is an exciting one, one aspect of the mission

seems certain to turn away many would-be applicants.

It will be a one-way trip.

Nevertheless, thousands of people apply.

By the time I heard about Mars One,

I had been telling all my friends,

I don't care what it's gonna take,

I'm gonna make it to space in my lifetime.

And it felt like there was a calling, a destiny there.

I get asked if it's worth the sacrifice

of leaving everything I've known on Earth--

family, friends, sunshine, rain, the beach--

and I think to live the first half of my life

as an Earthling, and the second half

as an Earthling, and the second half as a Martian-- what an amazing way

as a Martian-- what an amazing way

to kind of give your life to the greater cause of humanity.

This is a defining point in the human timeline.

So, I suppose the biggest thing that draws people to Mars One,

the thing that kind of hooks their attention,

is the fact that it's a one-way mission.

This is very much about humanity setting up

a permanent outpost on another planet.

And that's, I suppose, the thing that drew me to it

in the first place.

BRANDENBURG: Mars and Earth

have to be in a very synchronous place

in order to make the shortest trip to Mars.

When you get there, Earth and Mars

are gonna be very far apart.

And you will not be able to leave and come back

And you will not be able to leave and come back for at least 400 days.

for at least 400 days.

In fact, it would take you longer to get back

if you left right away

than if you waited 400 days to come back.

So, once you get there, you're stuck,

and you have to stay there.

And, the truth is that it's so expensive

to get people to Mars and to establish the first colonies,

that this is always, always gonna be a one-way trip.

I don't like the idea that we do the same thing

that we did with the Moon 50 years ago,

where we go there, walk around, explore it a little bit,

and then come back, and then sort of ask the question,

"Why bother going there? We've been there before."

The most common attribute through all of the candidates

is this idea that we're all interested in serving something

that's bigger than ourselves as an individual.

It's very much about doing something for the species.

The journey to get to Mars is very similar

to the first settlers arriving in the Americas.

Mars One plans to send teams of four at a time.

And every two years afterwards, there will be a new team

to arrive and join the community.

Eventually, probably, we're gonna see

tens of thousands of people arrive.

I think for us, right now, if we make the leap

and start to create colonies off-planet,

we're looking at the next giant leap of humankind.

NARRATOR: As the possibility of colonizing Mars

becomes a reality, just what effect

will living in outer space have on human evolution?

Perhaps clues can be found by exploring the atmospheres

of recently discovered exoplanets

and the type of life-forms we might find there.

NARRATOR: La Silla Observatory, Chile, 2009.

Astronomers identify a potentially habitable planet

Astronomers identify a potentially habitable planet orbiting the star Gliese 667C.

orbiting the star Gliese 667C.

orbiting the star Gliese 667C. It's a large Earth-like planet

It's a large Earth-like planet

located firmly in the Goldilocks Zone.

While evidence of life has yet to be discovered,

While evidence of life has yet to be discovered, scientists are able to speculate

scientists are able to speculate

as to how life on this planet would evolve.

When we imagine life on other planets,

we have to imagine that the environment on those planets

will determine what the creature may look like.

DENNIN: In considering planets larger than Earth,

the increased gravity will likely result

in shorter, complex life-forms.

This results in a more stable life-form

and protects against falls.

So, life-forms on larger planets

would likely be smaller than those on smaller planets.

NARRATOR: Like Earth, a major evolutionary force

on the planet is the strength of its sun.

Gliese 667C is a red dwarf star, an M star,

that's about 1.4% as bright as our sun.

Because M-dwarf stars are much smaller than our sun,

they're much cooler, and they give off a lot less light.

Because the star gives out such low light compared to our sun,

any life on those planets would look much different.

BIRNES: Let's assume for the sake of argument

that there is life on Gliese 667C.

Such life would be living in kind of eternal darkness.

In order for life-forms on a planet like that to see,

In order for life-forms on a planet like that to see, they'd be like owls on planet Earth.

they'd be like owls on planet Earth.

They would have very, very large eyes,

to capture as much light as possible.

CHILDRESS: They are going to develop eyes

that are perhaps more like a insect's eyes,

where you're seeing different light spectrums

where you're seeing different light spectrums and heat signatures--

and heat signatures--

something completely different than the way we see.

NARRATOR: For ancient astronaut theorists,

NARRATOR: For ancient astronaut theorists, these descriptions share a curious similarity

these descriptions share a curious similarity

to accounts reported by alleged alien abductees.

BIRNES: Alien abductees give very consistent accounts

of some of the types of aliens they see.

The most consistent account is four feet,

short, gray, big-headed, big-eyed aliens.

And this would fit what we might expect with gravity

so intense that you couldn't grow to six feet.

NARRATOR: Short, gray aliens with large, black eyes?

Is it possible that the habitable planet

orbiting Gliese 667C is the home world of the beings

known in the UFO community as the Grays?

As far as ancient astronaut theorists are concerned,

the planet orbiting Gliese 667C is just one

of a number of recently discovered worlds

that could represent places of origin for extraterrestrials

encountered both in modern times and in the distant past.

Mountain View, CA.

April 2013.

NASA scientists at the Ames Research Center

NASA scientists at the Ames Research Center announce that the Kepler Space Telescope

announce that the Kepler Space Telescope

has discovered two new exoplanets

that seem highly promising for life.

Named Kepler-62e and 62f,

they are so-called water worlds--

planets covered by an all-encompassing global ocean.

DENNIN: The planets 62e and f are very exciting

because they are ocean-covered planets

and in the habitable zone.

and in the habitable zone. So, if you're an ocean-covered planet,

So, if you're an ocean-covered planet,

it increases the chance that there's actually life

on that planet.

If there is a water world, with an atmosphere, with water,

the creatures that may inhabit there are waterborne creatures.

They wouldn't necessarily look like human beings

standing up on two legs and two arms,

they might look more like mermaids.

NARRATOR: Ancient astronaut theorists point out

that many early civilizations reported sky visitors

with amphibious, fish-like characteristics.

Considered to be gods, they were seen in China,

sub-Saharan Africa, Central America,

and Egypt, just to name a few.

These amphibian beings were said to interact with humans by day

and retreat to rivers or lakes at night.

Could such entities have come from so-called water worlds

like Kepler 62-e and f?

Creatures like that, if they existed,

would evolve on water worlds-- planets with a global ocean.

And it just so happens that in the ongoing search

for exoplanets, many such worlds are being discovered.

CHILDRESS: These half-human, half-fish type gods,

that are like us but are still aquatic,

are coming from these water planets.

Extraterrestrials may be very attracted to planet Earth

because the oceans are huge and vast.

because the oceans are huge and vast. So, aquatic extraterrestrials

So, aquatic extraterrestrials

could find a very happy home here on planet Earth.

KAKU: So, when we encounter alien life-forms out in space,

are they gonna look like us? No.

They could look completely different from us

and have a different pathway to intelligence.

NARRATOR: In their search for habitable exoplanets,

could mainstream scientists be discovering the home worlds

of extraterrestrial visitors to Earth?

For ancient astronaut theorists,

the answer is a resounding "yes,"

the answer is a resounding "yes," and they suggest that the search for life

and they suggest that the search for life

is about to be revolutionized once again,

is about to be revolutionized once again, as NASA continues to launch

as NASA continues to launch

extraordinary new technology into space.

NARRATOR: Astronomers Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz

are awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics

for discovering the first exoplanet in 1992.

In the years since, more than 4,000

have been examined and categorized,

and more are being found every day.

KAKU: Let's do a science experiment tonight.

Go outside, look up and see all the thousands of stars you see.

Every single one, on average, has a planet going around them,

and about one in 20 has an Earth-like planet.

And so, when you look at the stars tonight,

realize that somebody could be looking back at you

from outer space.

NARRATOR: In 2021, NASA launched the James Webb Space Telescope,

NARRATOR: In 2021, NASA launched the James Webb Space Telescope, a satellite that can do something

a satellite that can do something

once thought impossible-- take detailed, color images

of an exoplanet.

The James Webb Space Telescope is a different type of telescope

than we've had in space before.

It will give us the ability to look at the reflected light

from exoplanets and the infrared part of the spectrum

and to search for the potential for biology being present.

NARRATOR: But when we look upon the images of other worlds

and possibly even the beings that inhabit them,

what will we find?

CHILDRESS: I think that what's really lying in store

for humanity now is that we will prove

that there are these exoplanets out there, that they have life,

and quite possibly intelligent life

capable of coming to our solar system.

This will cause a sea change all over the world,

within scientific communities,

and within the religious communities too.

NARRATOR: If astronomers discover exoplanets

NARRATOR: If astronomers discover exoplanets with intelligent alien life-forms,

with intelligent alien life-forms,

with intelligent alien life-forms, will they appear eerily familiar?

will they appear eerily familiar?

Could they find amphibious humanoid beings,

like the gods depicted in ancient times?

Small, gray aliens, like those reported by alleged abductees?

And is it possible that some visitors,

perhaps coming from worlds very similar to Earth,

perhaps coming from worlds very similar to Earth, might look remarkably like us?

might look remarkably like us?

Within established ancient astronaut theory,

it's generally thought that these extraterrestrial beings

coming from outside of our solar system

were interacting with our society,

and they were manipulating our DNA,

and in a sense, creating people on this planet-- us--

who looked like them and are similar to them.

HENRY: As we discover more and more exoplanets,

the implications for humanity are enormous.

I think it's very possible that we are on the verge

of discovering our home planet, the place of our origins.

TSOUKALOS: The big revelation will not be,

"do they look like us," but we look like them,

'cause we are their offspring.

NARRATOR: Is humanity on the verge of finally discovering

an alien planet populated by intelligent life-forms?

And if so, might we find that they are not only similar to us,

but are, in fact, the creator gods

our ancestors wrote about thousands of years ago?

Perhaps as we search deeper in outer space,

somewhere on a distant planet, an alien race

has its own telescopes focused on us

watching our progress

and waiting for the day when we are ready

to learn the truth about our extraterrestrial origins.

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