1 00:00:02,586 --> 00:00:04,420 NARRATOR: For centuries 2 00:00:04,421 --> 00:00:08,424 mankind believed that life only existed here on Earth, 3 00:00:08,425 --> 00:00:13,930 but today many scientists agree that we are not alone. 4 00:00:14,056 --> 00:00:17,350 MICHAEL CREMO: Practically every human civilization 5 00:00:17,434 --> 00:00:19,268 that has ever existed 6 00:00:19,353 --> 00:00:24,440 tells us we are not alone in the cosmos. 7 00:00:26,068 --> 00:00:27,735 GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: A long, long time ago, 8 00:00:27,861 --> 00:00:29,654 extraterrestrials came here, 9 00:00:29,738 --> 00:00:34,909 and through a targeted mutation of our genes, 10 00:00:35,035 --> 00:00:36,452 we became human. 11 00:00:36,453 --> 00:00:38,746 DAVID CHILDRESS: We have, in theory, 12 00:00:38,872 --> 00:00:43,084 a worldwide civilization that has extraterrestrials 13 00:00:43,168 --> 00:00:45,044 interacting with it, 14 00:00:45,129 --> 00:00:48,172 and human beings, as we are today, 15 00:00:48,298 --> 00:00:53,094 who are possibly the genetic breeding of these aliens. 16 00:00:53,178 --> 00:00:55,054 NICK POPE: If we’re being visited, 17 00:00:55,139 --> 00:00:57,306 they've probably always been here. 18 00:00:58,642 --> 00:01:00,852 NARRATOR: Millions of people around the world 19 00:01:00,936 --> 00:01:03,479 believe we have been visited in the past 20 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:05,773 by extraterrestrial beings. 21 00:01:05,899 --> 00:01:08,735 But what if it were true? 22 00:01:08,861 --> 00:01:12,947 Did ancient aliens really help to shape our history? 23 00:01:13,073 --> 00:01:17,410 And if so, why did they come here? 24 00:01:17,494 --> 00:01:21,497 And just what was their mission? 25 00:01:57,242 --> 00:02:00,203 NARRATOR: On July 20, 1969, 26 00:02:00,329 --> 00:02:04,749 the Apollo 1 1 mission reached its destination... 27 00:02:04,833 --> 00:02:08,753 and two men-- Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin-- 28 00:02:08,837 --> 00:02:11,547 actually walked on the moon. 29 00:02:11,548 --> 00:02:13,382 MAN: They've got the flag up now, 30 00:02:13,467 --> 00:02:16,219 and you can see the Stars and Stripes on the lunar surface. 31 00:02:16,345 --> 00:02:19,055 MAN 2: Beautiful, just beautiful. 32 00:02:19,181 --> 00:02:20,556 NARRATOR: It was the first time in history 33 00:02:20,641 --> 00:02:22,558 that beings left their home 34 00:02:22,559 --> 00:02:25,561 and traveled through space to an alien planet. 35 00:02:25,646 --> 00:02:27,563 Or was it? 36 00:02:27,564 --> 00:02:30,566 Were we really the first creatures in the universe 37 00:02:30,567 --> 00:02:33,236 capable of traveling to another world? 38 00:02:37,449 --> 00:02:39,992 Given the vastness of the universe 39 00:02:40,077 --> 00:02:44,080 and the billions of years that it took to create our galaxy, 40 00:02:44,206 --> 00:02:47,583 is it so hard to imagine that such a thing 41 00:02:47,668 --> 00:02:50,211 might have happened before, 44 00:02:56,844 --> 00:03:00,596 BILL BIRNES: The ancient alien astronaut theory 45 00:03:00,597 --> 00:03:05,601 presupposes that thousands and thousands of years ago-- 46 00:03:05,602 --> 00:03:08,062 even before recorded history-- 47 00:03:08,188 --> 00:03:13,609 Earth was visited by astronauts from another world. 48 00:03:13,610 --> 00:03:16,237 NARRATOR: But if alien beings did, in fact, 49 00:03:16,321 --> 00:03:19,824 travel to Earth, why? 50 00:03:19,908 --> 00:03:22,660 Did they come to explore, 51 00:03:22,786 --> 00:03:25,538 to plunder, to study, 52 00:03:25,622 --> 00:03:29,625 to hunt, or to breed? 53 00:03:29,626 --> 00:03:31,252 When Armstrong and Aldrin 54 00:03:31,336 --> 00:03:33,629 explored their incredible surroundings, 55 00:03:33,630 --> 00:03:36,465 they found the moon a barren landscape. 56 00:03:36,550 --> 00:03:38,509 It seemed to offer little more 57 00:03:38,635 --> 00:03:42,722 than a lifeless oasis of rocks and dust. 58 00:03:44,641 --> 00:03:46,684 But in 1986, 59 00:03:46,810 --> 00:03:50,646 further testing determined that the lunar landscape 60 00:03:50,647 --> 00:03:53,649 actually contains a high amount of helium-3, 61 00:03:53,650 --> 00:03:57,028 an extremely powerful nonpolluting, 62 00:03:57,112 --> 00:03:59,655 nonradioactive fuel source. 63 00:03:59,698 --> 00:04:02,325 (engines rumbling) 64 00:04:02,451 --> 00:04:05,244 Experts estimate that a single space shuttle 65 00:04:05,329 --> 00:04:08,289 filled with this material could satisfy all the energy needs 66 00:04:08,373 --> 00:04:12,043 in the United States for an entire year. 67 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:16,589 Think of it. 68 00:04:16,673 --> 00:04:18,382 Armadas of spaceships 69 00:04:18,508 --> 00:04:22,678 mining the moon and other planets for natural resources. 70 00:04:22,679 --> 00:04:26,057 Could this help explain why Earth might have served 71 00:04:26,141 --> 00:04:29,685 as a destination for travelers from other worlds? 72 00:04:29,686 --> 00:04:33,606 BIRNES: We'd go out there with robot mining crews 73 00:04:33,690 --> 00:04:35,107 and eventually human mining crews, 74 00:04:35,192 --> 00:04:39,278 mine those planets, extract the ore. 75 00:04:39,363 --> 00:04:42,114 Ships would come; they'd take the ore and bring them back. 76 00:04:42,199 --> 00:04:46,077 Well, if we would do it, why wouldn't extraterrestrials? 77 00:04:48,705 --> 00:04:52,166 NARRATOR: But if alien excavators did come to Earth-- 78 00:04:52,292 --> 00:04:57,713 perhaps thousands of years ago-- wouldn't there be evidence? 79 00:05:00,008 --> 00:05:03,344 Here, in what is now known as Iraq, 80 00:05:03,428 --> 00:05:07,223 lies what is commonly regarded by historians and archaeologists 81 00:05:07,349 --> 00:05:09,725 as the "cradle of civilization." 82 00:05:09,726 --> 00:05:13,646 Between 3500 and 1900 BC, 83 00:05:13,730 --> 00:05:17,191 the fertile area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers 84 00:05:17,317 --> 00:05:19,777 was the home of the Sumerian people. 85 00:05:19,903 --> 00:05:22,321 TSOUKALOS: The Sumerians were one of the first cultures 86 00:05:22,406 --> 00:05:25,116 that built actual cities 87 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:29,537 with streets and a street grid, almost like New York City, 88 00:05:29,621 --> 00:05:31,789 where you have, you know, a square street grid. 89 00:05:31,915 --> 00:05:35,167 They invented cobblestones. 90 00:05:35,252 --> 00:05:38,129 They had a sewage system. 91 00:05:38,213 --> 00:05:41,924 They were taught in agriculture. 92 00:05:44,011 --> 00:05:45,803 NARRATOR: The Sumerians also invented 93 00:05:45,929 --> 00:05:47,763 the first known writing system 94 00:05:47,764 --> 00:05:51,434 by using cuneiform script on clay tablets. 95 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:53,394 In the 19th century, 96 00:05:53,478 --> 00:05:57,148 archeologists exploring the ancient ruins of Nineveh 97 00:05:57,232 --> 00:06:00,818 discovered 22,000 of these clay tablets. 98 00:06:00,944 --> 00:06:05,781 When they were later translated, the texts described many stories 99 00:06:05,782 --> 00:06:10,286 similar to those found in the Judeo-Christian Bible. 100 00:06:10,412 --> 00:06:12,788 Virtually every story that's in Genesis-- 101 00:06:12,789 --> 00:06:15,958 the flood story, Adam and Eve story-- 102 00:06:16,043 --> 00:06:19,962 they all have precedence with the ancient Sumerians. 103 00:06:22,466 --> 00:06:26,635 NARRATOR: In 1976, author Zecharia Sitchin 104 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,805 published his own translations of the Sumerian texts 105 00:06:29,806 --> 00:06:33,684 in a series of books called The Earth Chronicles. 106 00:06:33,810 --> 00:06:35,644 According to Sitchin, 107 00:06:35,729 --> 00:06:38,272 the clay tablets describe an alien race 108 00:06:38,398 --> 00:06:43,819 known as the Anunnaki who came to Earth to mine gold. 109 00:06:43,862 --> 00:06:46,822 TSOUKALOS: Zecharia Sitchin has essentially suggested 110 00:06:46,823 --> 00:06:50,534 that the reason why we were visited in the remote past 111 00:06:50,660 --> 00:06:53,746 is because the ancient astronauts' home planet 112 00:06:53,830 --> 00:06:57,833 needed gold for their atmosphere 113 00:06:57,834 --> 00:07:03,631 and that their gold content in the atmosphere was depleting, 114 00:07:03,715 --> 00:07:07,510 so they came to Earth in order to mine gold 115 00:07:07,636 --> 00:07:11,097 and bring it back to their home planet. 116 00:07:16,353 --> 00:07:18,854 NARRATOR: But why gold? 117 00:07:18,939 --> 00:07:21,857 What are the unique properties of this precious metal 118 00:07:21,858 --> 00:07:23,651 that might make it important 119 00:07:23,735 --> 00:07:26,153 and worth traveling through the galaxy for? 120 00:07:29,866 --> 00:07:32,243 I think, for extraterrestrials, 121 00:07:32,327 --> 00:07:34,787 gold would be an important resource just like it is for us. 122 00:07:34,871 --> 00:07:36,914 If it's at all like our society, 123 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:39,500 one of the major things it's going to be built on 124 00:07:39,584 --> 00:07:42,503 is electricity, and gold really is one of the top conductors, 125 00:07:42,587 --> 00:07:45,881 and its malleability and its ability to make it into wires, 126 00:07:45,882 --> 00:07:49,385 use it in really small forms as nanoparticles is going 127 00:07:49,511 --> 00:07:51,053 to make it an incredible technological resource 128 00:07:51,138 --> 00:07:54,932 for any sort of life-forms that reach that level 129 00:07:55,058 --> 00:07:57,893 of dealing with electricity and technology as we do. 130 00:07:57,978 --> 00:08:00,688 One of the exciting directions 131 00:08:00,772 --> 00:08:02,940 is possibly as an energy source 132 00:08:03,066 --> 00:08:06,277 through properties called thermoelectric effects, 133 00:08:06,361 --> 00:08:09,530 where it can take heat and turn it directly into electricity. 134 00:08:09,614 --> 00:08:14,201 This would be obviously a very nice clean energy source. 135 00:08:14,327 --> 00:08:17,913 NARRATOR: With its capacity to create energy and conduct heat, 136 00:08:17,914 --> 00:08:22,418 some scientists believe gold may also be an invaluable asset 137 00:08:22,544 --> 00:08:25,296 in the construction of spaceships. 138 00:08:25,380 --> 00:08:27,923 DENNIN: Gold actually reflects infrared light. 139 00:08:27,924 --> 00:08:32,720 Infrared is basically light that's not quite red, 140 00:08:32,804 --> 00:08:35,931 and so you don't see it, but we interact with it as heat. 141 00:08:35,974 --> 00:08:38,309 The radiation will interact with your molecules 142 00:08:38,393 --> 00:08:40,936 and make them vibrate faster and you'll feel that as heat, 143 00:08:40,937 --> 00:08:42,813 so it makes a great heat shield, 144 00:08:42,939 --> 00:08:44,940 partly because it's so malleable. 145 00:08:44,941 --> 00:08:46,942 You can make it very thin; it's easy to work with; 146 00:08:46,943 --> 00:08:50,571 and it has great properties for reflecting and heat protection. 147 00:08:53,158 --> 00:08:57,328 The only metal that really lasts is gold. 148 00:08:57,412 --> 00:08:59,121 Gold is indestructible. 149 00:08:59,206 --> 00:09:05,836 All gold from ancient times still exists today. 150 00:09:05,962 --> 00:09:08,964 GEORGE NOORY: If you look at Zecharia Sitchin's theories-- 151 00:09:08,965 --> 00:09:11,967 that E.T.s came down from another planet 152 00:09:11,968 --> 00:09:13,260 in our solar system, 153 00:09:13,386 --> 00:09:16,472 which is on a 3,600-year elliptical orbit, 154 00:09:16,598 --> 00:09:20,226 that they were running out of minerals, and gold specifically, 155 00:09:20,352 --> 00:09:25,773 that they somehow needed to line their atmosphere with. 156 00:09:25,857 --> 00:09:30,986 These extraterrestrials, they just first measure our planet. 157 00:09:30,987 --> 00:09:32,988 And they have the instrument to find out: 158 00:09:32,989 --> 00:09:36,450 where on this planet do we find raw material? 159 00:09:36,576 --> 00:09:39,495 NOORY: Through their incredible equipment, 160 00:09:39,621 --> 00:09:42,998 they find a planet that has this. 161 00:09:42,999 --> 00:09:44,375 It's got gold. 162 00:09:44,459 --> 00:09:46,252 So they decide "We're going to go there 163 00:09:46,378 --> 00:09:48,003 and we're going to mine." 164 00:09:48,004 --> 00:09:51,298 So they send some expeditions to planet Earth. 165 00:09:51,424 --> 00:09:55,010 All of a sudden they get here and the factions begin to say, 166 00:09:55,011 --> 00:09:57,012 "Well, there's a lot of gold here, 167 00:09:57,013 --> 00:09:59,014 "but we're not digging it out. 168 00:09:59,015 --> 00:10:01,016 What are we going to do? We need workers." 169 00:10:02,519 --> 00:10:05,020 HORN: The story that came down to the Sumerians 170 00:10:05,021 --> 00:10:09,608 is that the Anunnaki were mining gold on the earth, 171 00:10:09,693 --> 00:10:13,612 and the run-of-the-mill workers complained, 172 00:10:13,697 --> 00:10:16,490 said, "This is really hard work and we're tired. 173 00:10:16,616 --> 00:10:18,659 We don't want to do this anymore." 174 00:10:18,743 --> 00:10:20,452 And so they had a big council and they decided 175 00:10:20,537 --> 00:10:24,540 to create a primitive worker called an Adamu. 176 00:10:28,044 --> 00:10:30,296 So they look at what is on this planet, 177 00:10:30,422 --> 00:10:32,339 and that is Homo erectus, 178 00:10:32,465 --> 00:10:34,842 and they say, "Well, they're not very intelligent 179 00:10:34,926 --> 00:10:36,343 "and they're not going to listen to us, 180 00:10:36,469 --> 00:10:38,679 so we're going to genetically alter them." 181 00:10:38,763 --> 00:10:42,057 HORN: The Anunnaki created humans 182 00:10:42,058 --> 00:10:43,934 as a slave species. 183 00:10:44,060 --> 00:10:46,061 NARRATOR: According to Zecharia Sitchin, 184 00:10:46,062 --> 00:10:48,731 the Adamu were the first modern humans. 185 00:10:48,857 --> 00:10:54,153 They were created by the Anunnaki 450,000 years ago 186 00:10:54,279 --> 00:10:56,864 when they genetically mixed their DNA 187 00:10:56,948 --> 00:11:00,242 with that of prehistoric man. 188 00:11:00,327 --> 00:11:03,078 VON DANIKEN: They took one cell 189 00:11:03,079 --> 00:11:05,748 of one of these ancestors of us. 190 00:11:05,874 --> 00:11:09,126 They changed the cell by an artificial mutation. 191 00:11:09,252 --> 00:11:11,086 They changed the DNA code, 192 00:11:11,087 --> 00:11:13,088 what our genetics are doing every day. 193 00:11:13,089 --> 00:11:15,090 It's carved in their stone. 194 00:11:15,091 --> 00:11:17,301 This is not something made up. 195 00:11:17,385 --> 00:11:19,887 This is part of the Sumerian history. 196 00:11:21,681 --> 00:11:25,184 HORN: They believed that the gods came down and created them, 197 00:11:25,310 --> 00:11:27,728 and they were their slave species. 198 00:11:27,812 --> 00:11:31,148 They knew that, and they didn't have any philosophical beliefs 199 00:11:31,274 --> 00:11:34,318 about the purpose of man or anything. 200 00:11:34,402 --> 00:11:36,153 NOORY: If you believe Sitchin's theory 201 00:11:36,279 --> 00:11:41,325 that mankind was created by E.T.s for slave labor, 202 00:11:41,409 --> 00:11:43,952 all of a sudden it makes sense. 203 00:11:44,037 --> 00:11:46,163 And then when you look at the biblical terms 204 00:11:46,289 --> 00:11:48,540 of what may have happened-- Adam and Eve? 205 00:11:48,625 --> 00:11:52,002 Sure, they may have been two individuals 206 00:11:52,128 --> 00:11:55,130 back a long time ago, the beginning of time. 207 00:11:55,173 --> 00:11:57,841 But perhaps Adam and Eve were the first 208 00:11:57,967 --> 00:12:02,012 of the genetically created human beings. 209 00:12:04,140 --> 00:12:07,142 NARRATOR: Closer comparisons between the Hebrew Bible 210 00:12:07,143 --> 00:12:11,146 and the Sumerian texts reveal many similarities, 211 00:12:11,147 --> 00:12:15,234 not only in their stories, but also in their language. 212 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:17,945 "Adam" is Hebrew for "man." 213 00:12:18,029 --> 00:12:22,157 "Adamu" is what the Sumerians refer to as "first man," 214 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:24,785 the Anunnaki slaves. 215 00:12:24,869 --> 00:12:29,164 But do the Sumerian tablets actually describe an alien race, 216 00:12:29,165 --> 00:12:34,211 a race that conducted mining operations on a global scale? 217 00:12:34,337 --> 00:12:36,839 ♪ ♪ 218 00:12:38,842 --> 00:12:43,178 Thousands of miles away, on the African continent, 219 00:12:43,179 --> 00:12:46,849 ruins of ancient gold mines have recently been discovered. 220 00:12:46,975 --> 00:12:50,978 The largest concentration can be found in South Africa, 221 00:12:51,062 --> 00:12:54,440 where some excavations, according to scientists, 222 00:12:54,566 --> 00:12:58,193 date back some 150,000 years. 223 00:12:58,236 --> 00:13:02,114 They're in areas that have an abundance of gold right now, 224 00:13:02,198 --> 00:13:04,825 so it's very possible that they could have mined it. 225 00:13:04,909 --> 00:13:06,994 Now, the big question is, how do we know 226 00:13:07,078 --> 00:13:08,662 they weren't human beings that simply did that? 227 00:13:08,788 --> 00:13:10,873 Why the E.T. theory? 228 00:13:12,208 --> 00:13:14,209 NARRATOR: In many languages in Africa, 229 00:13:14,210 --> 00:13:16,378 the native word for "star" 230 00:13:16,463 --> 00:13:19,256 means "bringer of knowledge or enlightenment." 231 00:13:19,382 --> 00:13:23,886 Some African cultures believe that extraterrestrial beings 232 00:13:24,012 --> 00:13:28,098 have been visiting the earth for tens of thousands of years. 233 00:13:28,224 --> 00:13:32,060 Zulu legends speak of a time when "visitors from the stars" 234 00:13:32,145 --> 00:13:36,231 came to excavate gold and other natural resources. 235 00:13:36,232 --> 00:13:39,234 These mines were worked by "artificially produced 236 00:13:39,235 --> 00:13:43,238 flesh-and-blood slaves created by the First People." 237 00:13:43,239 --> 00:13:45,908 CHILDRESS: Some ancient mines in Southern Africa 238 00:13:46,034 --> 00:13:49,828 are thought to be a hundred thousand years old or older. 239 00:13:49,913 --> 00:13:52,247 If humans weren't doing that mining 240 00:13:52,290 --> 00:13:55,250 a hundred thousand years ago, and making metals, 241 00:13:55,251 --> 00:13:57,252 then we would have to assume 242 00:13:57,253 --> 00:13:59,254 it would be extraterrestrials doing it. 243 00:13:59,297 --> 00:14:01,507 NARRATOR: Alien slave mines? 244 00:14:01,633 --> 00:14:04,510 Genetically engineered humans? 245 00:14:04,636 --> 00:14:07,304 To believers of ancient astronaut theory, 246 00:14:07,430 --> 00:14:10,098 these notions are not far-fetched fantasies 247 00:14:10,183 --> 00:14:12,935 or fairy tales, but facts, 248 00:14:13,061 --> 00:14:16,355 and they point to additional evidence of alien mining 249 00:14:16,481 --> 00:14:21,276 a halfworld away... on the American continent. 250 00:14:26,282 --> 00:14:30,369 Peru has long been known as "the land of gold." 251 00:14:30,495 --> 00:14:35,165 In ancient times, Incan rulers adorned themselves with it. 252 00:14:35,291 --> 00:14:38,460 And when the Spanish explorers arrived in the 16th century, 253 00:14:38,545 --> 00:14:43,298 they sent shiploads of their plunder back home to Spain. 254 00:14:45,301 --> 00:14:47,302 Gold was largely a valuable commodity 255 00:14:47,303 --> 00:14:50,889 because of being rare and easy to make jewelry, coinage. 256 00:14:50,974 --> 00:14:53,016 And if you’re looking at, like, the ancient Incas, 257 00:14:53,142 --> 00:14:56,228 those people are using gold as a status symbol. 258 00:14:56,312 --> 00:14:59,356 Many cultures thought it came directly from the gods. 259 00:15:00,567 --> 00:15:02,401 People thought gold was so pure, 260 00:15:02,527 --> 00:15:04,319 so wonderful, it must heal, 261 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:06,196 and they would actually occasionally ingest pure gold. 262 00:15:08,533 --> 00:15:10,951 Certainly, we're discovering more and more, 263 00:15:11,035 --> 00:15:12,411 as we get better at archeology 264 00:15:12,537 --> 00:15:14,329 and as we can look into these things, 265 00:15:14,414 --> 00:15:16,331 applications that people have used. 266 00:15:16,332 --> 00:15:18,834 For instance, there is some evidence that ancient people 267 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:21,128 had very primitive batteries, 268 00:15:21,212 --> 00:15:23,422 and this would be a place in which gold would be 269 00:15:23,548 --> 00:15:25,340 very useful because of its electrical properties 270 00:15:25,341 --> 00:15:26,925 and its conductivity. 271 00:15:28,344 --> 00:15:30,345 NARRATOR: It should not be surprising, then, 272 00:15:30,346 --> 00:15:35,017 to find archaeological evidence of ancient gold mines. 273 00:15:35,143 --> 00:15:37,853 But some sites have recently been discovered 274 00:15:37,979 --> 00:15:42,357 that date back some 50,000 years. 275 00:15:42,358 --> 00:15:46,361 All throughout areas in Peru, you see remnants 276 00:15:46,362 --> 00:15:50,365 of what could have been ancient mining operations. 277 00:15:50,366 --> 00:15:51,783 It's there. 278 00:15:51,868 --> 00:15:55,370 They go down, some cases, thousands of feet deep. 279 00:15:55,455 --> 00:15:58,373 DENNIN: Gold turns out to be surprisingly easy to mine for, 280 00:15:58,416 --> 00:16:01,418 even though it's relatively rare. 281 00:16:01,544 --> 00:16:04,212 There's a lot of common techniques ancient people used, 282 00:16:04,297 --> 00:16:07,424 and some of them were used, you know, well into recent times. 283 00:16:07,550 --> 00:16:10,552 A lot of it, you know, involves using water, often, 284 00:16:10,637 --> 00:16:13,096 to change the properties of the rock around it. 285 00:16:13,222 --> 00:16:16,391 A lot of heating and freezing, and the gold will come loose. 286 00:16:19,270 --> 00:16:21,438 NARRATOR: In addition to gold, 287 00:16:21,564 --> 00:16:23,899 other ancient sites in Peru 288 00:16:24,025 --> 00:16:28,070 provide evidence that they were once mined for quartz, 289 00:16:28,196 --> 00:16:29,905 hematite, 290 00:16:30,031 --> 00:16:31,865 and red ochre. 291 00:16:31,991 --> 00:16:33,450 DENNIN: They're used for different things. 292 00:16:33,576 --> 00:16:35,285 Quartz is incredibly common. 293 00:16:35,411 --> 00:16:36,453 It's basically silicone dioxide. 294 00:16:36,579 --> 00:16:38,038 It's kind of like glass. 295 00:16:38,122 --> 00:16:40,415 It's a great mineral; it's hard; 296 00:16:40,416 --> 00:16:43,418 but it can be formed into pretty sculptures; 297 00:16:43,419 --> 00:16:46,046 you could make quartz statues; 298 00:16:46,130 --> 00:16:48,298 you could probably even use it for money 299 00:16:48,424 --> 00:16:51,593 before you discovered minerals and gold. 300 00:16:51,678 --> 00:16:54,054 Hematite and ochre are much more valuable 301 00:16:54,138 --> 00:16:56,473 because of their iron oxide. 302 00:16:59,268 --> 00:17:01,311 And particularly ochre is important as a pigment, 303 00:17:01,437 --> 00:17:03,438 so as soon as you're gonna start having painting, 304 00:17:03,481 --> 00:17:06,525 cave drawings even, or any sort of art work, 305 00:17:06,651 --> 00:17:08,652 you need to make colors. 306 00:17:08,736 --> 00:17:10,654 And making color can be a challenge, 307 00:17:10,738 --> 00:17:13,448 and ochre is a great source of that. 308 00:17:15,451 --> 00:17:17,452 NARRATOR: Also located in Peru 309 00:17:17,453 --> 00:17:20,539 are the world-famous Nazca Lines. 310 00:17:20,665 --> 00:17:23,458 While the origins of these ancient geoglyphs 311 00:17:23,459 --> 00:17:26,837 remain a mystery, the area in which the lines are located 312 00:17:26,921 --> 00:17:30,465 suggests that a major excavation took place there, 313 00:17:30,466 --> 00:17:34,469 perhaps hundreds of centuries ago. 314 00:17:34,470 --> 00:17:38,473 TSOUKALOS: At Nazca, entire mountaintops have been removed. 315 00:17:38,474 --> 00:17:43,186 I mean, this all requires machining. 316 00:17:43,312 --> 00:17:45,480 And I'm not talking, you know, 317 00:17:45,481 --> 00:17:49,276 a little wheelbarrow and-and a pick. 318 00:17:49,360 --> 00:17:51,486 I'm talking sophisticated machinery, 319 00:17:51,487 --> 00:17:57,075 because we today would also need sophisticated machinery 320 00:17:57,160 --> 00:17:59,911 in order to achieve such feats. 321 00:17:59,996 --> 00:18:01,580 NARRATOR: Could the vast flat plain 322 00:18:01,706 --> 00:18:05,292 located in the Nazca Desert be evidence 323 00:18:05,376 --> 00:18:07,794 of a gigantic mining operation, 324 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:13,008 one that took place hundreds of thousands of years ago? 325 00:18:13,134 --> 00:18:15,886 TSOUKALOS: Whoever comes here in a spaceship, 326 00:18:15,970 --> 00:18:20,932 Nazca would be like a beacon, as in: "Come here." 327 00:18:21,017 --> 00:18:23,518 Because the moment you come to Nazca, 328 00:18:23,519 --> 00:18:27,022 you're sort of confronted with a Cliffs Notes to planet Earth, 329 00:18:27,148 --> 00:18:30,192 where you have all sorts of raw materials 330 00:18:30,318 --> 00:18:32,778 that exist in that one particular spot 331 00:18:32,904 --> 00:18:37,532 in very, very abundant quantities. 332 00:18:37,617 --> 00:18:39,534 NOORY: I think the Nazca Lines 333 00:18:39,535 --> 00:18:41,453 aren't evidence of search for gold, 334 00:18:41,537 --> 00:18:43,622 but they're evidence of some communication 335 00:18:43,748 --> 00:18:47,375 with possibly E.T.s, or gods, from above. 336 00:18:48,586 --> 00:18:51,129 NARRATOR: But despite the controversy, 337 00:18:51,214 --> 00:18:53,840 one thing is certain: the plain, 338 00:18:53,966 --> 00:18:56,927 and the lines that scar the surrounding countryside, 339 00:18:57,011 --> 00:18:59,638 are not natural formations. 340 00:19:01,390 --> 00:19:04,351 But while scientists and ancient astronaut theorists 341 00:19:04,435 --> 00:19:07,562 remain divided about who, or what, 342 00:19:07,563 --> 00:19:09,272 created the Nazca Lines, 343 00:19:09,398 --> 00:19:11,817 they are in agreement about one thing: 344 00:19:11,943 --> 00:19:15,195 the so-called Band of Holes, 345 00:19:15,279 --> 00:19:19,825 located in the Pisco Valley is a complete mystery. 346 00:19:22,662 --> 00:19:24,579 In the mountains of Peru, 347 00:19:24,580 --> 00:19:28,583 we have what's commonly referred to as the Band of Holes, 348 00:19:28,584 --> 00:19:31,837 and it is this Band of Holes 349 00:19:31,963 --> 00:19:36,508 that were carved or dug into the mountainside. 350 00:19:38,386 --> 00:19:41,596 ROBERT M. SCHOCH: It's a bunch of little, shallow holes, 351 00:19:41,597 --> 00:19:46,101 dug into the ground, and it's had all kinds of explanations. 352 00:19:46,227 --> 00:19:48,228 Some people say it was just pot hunters, 353 00:19:48,312 --> 00:19:51,439 you know, looting, looking for burials. 354 00:19:51,524 --> 00:19:53,817 Some people think it looks like 355 00:19:53,901 --> 00:19:56,653 some kind of machine was running over the territory. 356 00:19:56,779 --> 00:19:58,238 Some people think it was 357 00:19:58,322 --> 00:20:01,074 some kind of systematic mining operation. 358 00:20:03,244 --> 00:20:05,412 VON DANIKEN: They need raw material, be it gold, 359 00:20:05,496 --> 00:20:08,540 be it silver, be it uranium, whatever; they need something. 360 00:20:08,624 --> 00:20:11,793 And they send something down like a shuttle. 361 00:20:11,878 --> 00:20:13,253 It can be a robot. 362 00:20:13,337 --> 00:20:15,630 No extraterrestrial is on board. 363 00:20:15,631 --> 00:20:18,633 And this robot just caresses over the surfaces 364 00:20:18,634 --> 00:20:22,804 and collects and measures raw material, and disappears again. 365 00:20:24,348 --> 00:20:26,224 NARRATOR: The holes run about three feet apart 366 00:20:26,309 --> 00:20:29,311 and measure six to seven feet in depth, 367 00:20:29,437 --> 00:20:32,647 and number in the thousands. 368 00:20:34,317 --> 00:20:36,693 DENNIN: Often we see regular structures like that 369 00:20:36,819 --> 00:20:39,654 and we assume either a person or an intelligent life 370 00:20:39,655 --> 00:20:42,449 had to make it, but there's lots of examples in nature 371 00:20:42,533 --> 00:20:46,161 where the natural processes lead to large-scale 372 00:20:46,287 --> 00:20:47,662 what we call "pattern formation." 373 00:20:47,663 --> 00:20:49,831 You see it on a small scale in animals. 374 00:20:49,916 --> 00:20:51,750 You look at leopards and zebras-- 375 00:20:51,876 --> 00:20:53,668 leopards have spots; zebras have stripes. 376 00:20:53,669 --> 00:20:56,046 Surprisingly, on geological scales, 377 00:20:56,130 --> 00:20:58,673 some of the same processes that give you spots on a leopard 378 00:20:58,674 --> 00:21:01,593 could give you indentations in the ground 379 00:21:01,677 --> 00:21:03,386 and raised areas that would look like holes. 380 00:21:03,512 --> 00:21:06,556 It would take a long time over geological scales, 381 00:21:06,682 --> 00:21:08,183 but we've had a long time, 382 00:21:08,309 --> 00:21:10,685 and that might be what they're left over from. 383 00:21:12,396 --> 00:21:15,065 NARRATOR: Mainstream archeologists suggest 384 00:21:15,149 --> 00:21:17,692 the holes were used to store grain, 385 00:21:17,735 --> 00:21:23,406 but ancient astronaut theorists reject that notion. 386 00:21:23,532 --> 00:21:27,702 TSOUKALOS: It's a mystery because who in their right mind 387 00:21:27,703 --> 00:21:30,622 would go ahead and dig all these holes? 388 00:21:30,706 --> 00:21:32,707 For what? 389 00:21:32,708 --> 00:21:35,961 The other intriguing aspect about the Band of Holes 390 00:21:36,087 --> 00:21:40,590 is that you can only see it from the air. 391 00:21:41,717 --> 00:21:43,718 When you stand down there, 392 00:21:43,719 --> 00:21:46,721 all you see is a couple of holes dug into the ground, 393 00:21:46,722 --> 00:21:48,890 and it doesn't really mean much. 394 00:21:48,975 --> 00:21:50,600 But if you’re up in the air, 395 00:21:50,726 --> 00:21:54,813 there is this long band with these individual holes 396 00:21:54,939 --> 00:21:59,651 that you can see, and you can conceivably create 397 00:21:59,735 --> 00:22:04,614 some type of message that can only be seen from the air. 398 00:22:09,161 --> 00:22:12,205 NARRATOR: But if ancient aliens came to Earth 399 00:22:12,331 --> 00:22:15,625 searching for gold, why did they leave? 400 00:22:15,751 --> 00:22:21,256 More gold still exists here, as do many other valuable minerals. 401 00:22:21,382 --> 00:22:24,175 Could it be that ancient mining operations 402 00:22:24,260 --> 00:22:28,763 were just the means to another possibly greater end? 403 00:22:28,764 --> 00:22:32,434 Or perhaps the real alien mission on Earth 404 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:38,231 was to hunt the greatest prey in the universe: Man. 405 00:22:41,402 --> 00:22:43,778 Alamosa, Colorado. 406 00:22:43,863 --> 00:22:47,282 September 7, 1967. 407 00:22:47,408 --> 00:22:50,035 When a three-year-old horse named Snippy went missing, 408 00:22:50,161 --> 00:22:53,872 her owners grew concerned and went out looking for her. 409 00:22:53,998 --> 00:22:58,793 Their search yielded a gruesome and mysterious discovery. 410 00:22:58,794 --> 00:23:02,630 Snippys body had been mutilated... 411 00:23:02,715 --> 00:23:03,798 (horse neighing) 412 00:23:03,799 --> 00:23:06,176 ...almost surgically. 413 00:23:06,260 --> 00:23:08,803 An examination of the carcass 414 00:23:08,804 --> 00:23:11,431 showed that her skin and flesh had been neatly cut; 415 00:23:11,515 --> 00:23:13,683 her heart and brain had been removed, 416 00:23:13,809 --> 00:23:17,896 and a formaldehyde-like odor emitted from the remains. 417 00:23:18,022 --> 00:23:19,814 An autopsy also revealed 418 00:23:19,857 --> 00:23:22,817 that her spinal fluid had been removed. 419 00:23:22,818 --> 00:23:26,112 The events of Snippys death stunned the community 420 00:23:26,238 --> 00:23:30,325 and remain shrouded in mystery, even to this day. 421 00:23:30,451 --> 00:23:34,829 Since the mutilation, an estimated 50,000 similar events 422 00:23:34,830 --> 00:23:37,499 have been reported around the world, 423 00:23:37,625 --> 00:23:41,086 most of them involving cattle. 424 00:23:41,212 --> 00:23:43,838 But it was not until about the middle of the 1970s 425 00:23:43,839 --> 00:23:46,841 that cattle mutilations really entered into Ufology. 426 00:23:46,842 --> 00:23:51,012 Farmers would come out and find some prize livestock 427 00:23:51,097 --> 00:23:52,931 that was alive and healthy the day before 428 00:23:53,057 --> 00:23:55,016 and then it was just suddenly dead. 429 00:23:55,101 --> 00:23:59,229 And it looked like it had been cut up in a rather odd way. 430 00:23:59,313 --> 00:24:02,857 That certain parts of the body looked like they were cut out 431 00:24:02,858 --> 00:24:05,693 in ways that seemed to be almost surgical. 432 00:24:08,572 --> 00:24:12,700 NARRATOR: Television producer and UFO investigator Linda Howe 433 00:24:12,785 --> 00:24:15,912 has been tracking the mystery of animal mutilation 434 00:24:16,038 --> 00:24:17,872 for over 30 years. 435 00:24:17,915 --> 00:24:20,375 HOWE: I began trying to get to the bottom of what was happening 436 00:24:20,501 --> 00:24:22,752 to all of these animals. 437 00:24:22,878 --> 00:24:25,964 There were horses, cows, other domestic animals 438 00:24:26,090 --> 00:24:29,884 found with the same pattern of bloodless excisions. 439 00:24:29,969 --> 00:24:34,347 The law enforcement called them animal mutilations. 440 00:24:35,891 --> 00:24:39,894 266-some Polaroids, from so many cases, 441 00:24:39,895 --> 00:24:43,064 and the first thing I felt was anger. 442 00:24:43,149 --> 00:24:47,902 And then I felt nervous, and then I felt afraid. 443 00:24:49,572 --> 00:24:52,490 I sat across from sheriffs who told me, 444 00:24:52,575 --> 00:24:54,617 "Linda, we're not dealing with predators, disease, 445 00:24:54,743 --> 00:24:56,911 "and satanic cults. 446 00:24:56,912 --> 00:24:59,581 We're dealing with creatures from outer space." 447 00:25:05,004 --> 00:25:07,547 There are several explanations for why aliens 448 00:25:07,631 --> 00:25:09,841 would want to experiment on cows. 449 00:25:09,925 --> 00:25:11,843 One is that they're just looking for food. 450 00:25:11,927 --> 00:25:13,595 One that they're looking for some kind of information 451 00:25:13,721 --> 00:25:15,972 about vertebrate organisms. 452 00:25:16,098 --> 00:25:17,932 Another one is that they're looking 453 00:25:17,933 --> 00:25:21,978 for some kind of genetic material for some reason. 454 00:25:22,104 --> 00:25:24,230 HOWE: The closest answer I've ever gotten 455 00:25:24,356 --> 00:25:27,984 was from a man who had had very upfront, 456 00:25:28,110 --> 00:25:31,112 and close and personal observations of nonhumans 457 00:25:31,197 --> 00:25:33,364 in his work for the government. 458 00:25:33,449 --> 00:25:36,326 He told me, he said, "The best answer I can give you, Linda, 459 00:25:36,410 --> 00:25:38,620 is: It's a genetic harvest." 460 00:25:38,746 --> 00:25:42,123 But once you have said, "a genetic harvest from Earth," 461 00:25:42,208 --> 00:25:44,959 there's even a bigger question. 462 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:47,378 Why a genetic harvest from Earth? 463 00:25:47,463 --> 00:25:51,758 What is being made with this genetic harvest? 464 00:25:51,842 --> 00:25:54,010 To what end? 465 00:25:58,140 --> 00:26:00,767 NARRATOR: The answer to these questions 466 00:26:00,851 --> 00:26:03,561 might be found in our ancient past, 467 00:26:03,646 --> 00:26:06,981 in the bizarre, almost Frankenstein-like experiments 468 00:26:06,982 --> 00:26:10,860 that were practiced by early civilizations. 469 00:26:12,446 --> 00:26:15,990 We have ancient descriptions from Egypt 470 00:26:15,991 --> 00:26:18,993 where it says specifically 471 00:26:18,994 --> 00:26:23,998 that the gods created these chimeras-- 472 00:26:24,041 --> 00:26:27,001 mixed beings, or hybrids. 473 00:26:27,002 --> 00:26:29,879 We find paintings 474 00:26:30,005 --> 00:26:34,050 where you have a human body with a cut-off head 475 00:26:34,176 --> 00:26:37,011 and a red tube coming out of it, 476 00:26:37,012 --> 00:26:41,891 and next to it, you have just the head of some animal. 477 00:26:42,017 --> 00:26:44,936 And in the next picture-- 'cause they're like... 478 00:26:45,020 --> 00:26:46,896 they look like comic strips almost-- 479 00:26:47,022 --> 00:26:50,191 and in the next picture, you see the same human body 480 00:26:50,276 --> 00:26:54,946 with the animal head attached to the human neck. 481 00:26:55,030 --> 00:26:56,906 NARRATOR: Incredibly, 482 00:26:57,032 --> 00:26:59,867 examples of strange human-animal hybrid beings 483 00:26:59,952 --> 00:27:03,955 date back to a time even older than ancient Egypt. 484 00:27:04,039 --> 00:27:06,040 TSOUKALOS: According to mainstream archaeology, 485 00:27:06,041 --> 00:27:11,045 ancient Sumeria is the earliest civilization of humankind. 486 00:27:11,046 --> 00:27:14,966 And the interesting part is the fact 487 00:27:15,050 --> 00:27:19,971 that their earliest writings are filled with references 488 00:27:20,055 --> 00:27:22,432 of these bizarre beings 489 00:27:22,516 --> 00:27:27,061 that descended from the sky called the Anunnaki. 490 00:27:27,062 --> 00:27:31,065 Anunnaki means "those who from the heavens came." 491 00:27:34,903 --> 00:27:37,363 NARRATOR: But is there any physical evidence 492 00:27:37,489 --> 00:27:39,574 of these human-animal hybrids? 493 00:27:39,700 --> 00:27:43,453 If so, wouldn't we have found skeletal remains? 494 00:27:43,537 --> 00:27:46,956 The answer may have been found in Saqqâra, Egypt, 495 00:27:47,082 --> 00:27:49,542 home to that country's oldest pyramid. 496 00:27:49,668 --> 00:27:55,006 In 1851, French scholar and Egyptologist Auguste Mariette 497 00:27:55,090 --> 00:27:58,676 explored a deep tomb dedicated to the sacred Apis bull. 498 00:27:58,761 --> 00:28:02,889 Inside were two sealed and intact sarcophagi. 499 00:28:02,973 --> 00:28:04,932 But when Mariette opened them, 500 00:28:05,017 --> 00:28:07,393 what they contained was shocking. 501 00:28:08,937 --> 00:28:11,898 TSOUKALOS: They opened the sarcophagus 502 00:28:11,982 --> 00:28:13,983 and they didn't find a bull. 503 00:28:14,109 --> 00:28:18,112 Instead, they found this black mass 504 00:28:18,113 --> 00:28:21,991 of what’s called bitumen, a type of asphalt. 505 00:28:22,117 --> 00:28:26,746 And inside this stinking mass, they found the bone fragments 506 00:28:26,830 --> 00:28:32,001 of seven different types of animals crushed up. 507 00:28:33,962 --> 00:28:36,297 According to the accompanying texts, 508 00:28:36,382 --> 00:28:40,426 some type of monsters existed 509 00:28:40,552 --> 00:28:42,428 during the time of the Egyptians. 510 00:28:42,554 --> 00:28:46,140 And so who knows whether or not the priests 511 00:28:46,141 --> 00:28:52,021 instructed the people to destroy these beings, to rip them apart, 512 00:28:52,147 --> 00:28:55,400 to crush their bones, and put them inside this stinking mass, 513 00:28:55,526 --> 00:28:57,193 and put them underneath a lid, 514 00:28:57,319 --> 00:29:02,156 in the sarcophagus, weighing 80 tons. 515 00:29:02,199 --> 00:29:05,159 I mean, all... in all of Egypt we can find 516 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:08,371 mummified remains of every single animal, 517 00:29:08,455 --> 00:29:12,166 but we find these sarcophagi 518 00:29:12,167 --> 00:29:15,545 that contain these crushed-up bones. 519 00:29:15,629 --> 00:29:19,340 Doesn't that mean the ancient Egyptians did not want 520 00:29:19,425 --> 00:29:25,179 for those creatures to ever return after their death? 521 00:29:26,890 --> 00:29:30,226 NARRATOR: Of course, mainstream scientists and archeologists 522 00:29:30,352 --> 00:29:33,187 believe ancient Greek and Egyptian stories 523 00:29:33,188 --> 00:29:36,357 of animal and human hybrids are just fanciful products 524 00:29:36,442 --> 00:29:38,651 of the imagination. 525 00:29:38,777 --> 00:29:40,486 But are they? 526 00:29:40,612 --> 00:29:42,655 There is this period in pre-dynastic Egypt, 527 00:29:42,781 --> 00:29:45,283 where these demigods ruled. 528 00:29:45,409 --> 00:29:47,201 We have not found human remains. 529 00:29:47,202 --> 00:29:48,494 We do not know who they were. 530 00:29:48,620 --> 00:29:51,247 But we do have scientific evidence 531 00:29:51,373 --> 00:29:53,791 that at least the ancient Egyptians believed firmly 532 00:29:53,876 --> 00:29:56,085 that they ruled. 533 00:29:56,211 --> 00:29:59,589 As to whether they are just human beings, like you or I; 534 00:29:59,673 --> 00:30:01,632 or whether they come from somewhere else; 535 00:30:01,717 --> 00:30:05,595 or whether they are a hybrid being, we have no idea. 536 00:30:05,679 --> 00:30:08,222 NARRATOR: What if ancient civilizations 537 00:30:08,307 --> 00:30:10,683 possessed the advanced scientific knowledge 538 00:30:10,809 --> 00:30:13,227 of our own modern day scientists? 539 00:30:13,228 --> 00:30:17,023 What if they, too, had unlocked the mysteries of DNA-- 540 00:30:17,107 --> 00:30:20,443 cloning and gene-splicing? 541 00:30:20,527 --> 00:30:23,321 TSOUKALOS: Why is this so fascinating? 542 00:30:23,447 --> 00:30:28,409 Well, because if you look at this from a genetics aspect, 543 00:30:28,494 --> 00:30:31,454 we're in the process right now today 544 00:30:31,538 --> 00:30:37,335 of being able to recreate creatures like that. 545 00:30:37,461 --> 00:30:39,545 I mean, this is Frankenstein. 546 00:30:39,671 --> 00:30:41,297 This is science fiction stuff. 547 00:30:41,423 --> 00:30:46,093 Yet, in ancient Egypt, we have the exact same descriptions, 548 00:30:46,178 --> 00:30:51,682 the exact same depictions of some very bizarre, 549 00:30:51,767 --> 00:30:57,688 hybridization program which took place thousands of years ago. 550 00:30:59,650 --> 00:31:04,362 BIRNES: They are mixing alien, animal and human DNA, 551 00:31:04,488 --> 00:31:07,365 not just for ten years or 20 years, 552 00:31:07,491 --> 00:31:10,493 but for thousands and thousands of years. 553 00:31:10,577 --> 00:31:13,329 And that's why there are so many alien abductions, 554 00:31:13,455 --> 00:31:16,290 and that's why each generation 555 00:31:16,375 --> 00:31:19,293 is cyclically more advanced than the next, 556 00:31:19,294 --> 00:31:22,296 until we get to the complete union of two cultures-- 557 00:31:22,339 --> 00:31:24,131 the ultimate hybrid. 558 00:31:26,176 --> 00:31:28,970 HOWE: I think the answer clearly is, 559 00:31:29,096 --> 00:31:31,180 we're not alone in this universe 560 00:31:31,306 --> 00:31:33,975 and we have nonhuman intelligences 561 00:31:34,101 --> 00:31:35,560 interacting with this planet 562 00:31:35,686 --> 00:31:40,314 for reasons that are still unknown to most of us. 563 00:31:40,315 --> 00:31:43,693 It leaves you feeling a little nervous. 564 00:31:43,777 --> 00:31:47,488 NARRATOR: If alien beings came here, as some suggest, 565 00:31:47,573 --> 00:31:51,617 to perform strange mutation experiments on animals, 566 00:31:51,743 --> 00:31:54,412 could they have done the same on humans? 567 00:31:54,538 --> 00:31:57,331 And if so, why? 568 00:32:04,172 --> 00:32:07,550 Life on Earth comes in a tremendous diversity 569 00:32:07,634 --> 00:32:10,344 of shapes and sizes. 570 00:32:10,345 --> 00:32:14,348 It can be found from the depths of the deepest oceans 571 00:32:14,349 --> 00:32:18,352 to the peaks of the highest mountains. 572 00:32:18,353 --> 00:32:22,148 But the vast array of life-forms we see today 573 00:32:22,232 --> 00:32:26,360 is only a small portion of what has existed on this planet 574 00:32:26,361 --> 00:32:29,071 during its millions of years of history. 575 00:32:29,197 --> 00:32:34,619 In fact, scientists estimate that 97% of all the species 576 00:32:34,745 --> 00:32:38,372 that have ever lived on Earth are now extinct. 577 00:32:40,375 --> 00:32:43,294 CREMO: Most scientists today will tell us 578 00:32:43,378 --> 00:32:48,466 that there have been six major extinction events 579 00:32:48,592 --> 00:32:52,178 that have occurred during the history of life on Earth. 580 00:32:52,262 --> 00:32:55,681 The most recent of these extinction events 581 00:32:55,807 --> 00:32:58,392 was the one that occurred 65 million years ago 582 00:32:58,393 --> 00:33:02,188 and wiped out the dinosaurs. 583 00:33:03,815 --> 00:33:06,442 NARRATOR: Paleontologists attribute these mass extinctions 584 00:33:06,568 --> 00:33:10,404 to natural causes such as meteor strikes... 585 00:33:10,405 --> 00:33:12,323 (loud boom) 586 00:33:12,407 --> 00:33:16,786 ...floods and dropping sea levels. 587 00:33:16,870 --> 00:33:20,122 But another theory suggests that these extinctions 588 00:33:20,248 --> 00:33:24,669 were not caused by nature, but by alien beings. 589 00:33:24,795 --> 00:33:28,798 HORN: In the ancient Sumerian texts, they can control weather, 590 00:33:28,882 --> 00:33:32,426 they can cause droughts, and they did this to humans. 591 00:33:32,511 --> 00:33:37,348 They are capable of producing their own disasters. 592 00:33:40,268 --> 00:33:41,811 NARRATOR: But were now-extinct life-forms 593 00:33:41,895 --> 00:33:44,230 actually exterminated in order to make way for other, 594 00:33:44,314 --> 00:33:48,067 perhaps more docile or desirable species? 595 00:33:48,151 --> 00:33:51,737 Was the intent to clear the way for colonization? 596 00:33:51,863 --> 00:33:53,447 Or invasion? 597 00:33:53,448 --> 00:33:56,492 And if so, what sort of technology would be needed 598 00:33:56,618 --> 00:33:59,453 to effect such a widespread change? 599 00:34:01,456 --> 00:34:06,961 BIRNES: Some theories say that we have that technology now, 600 00:34:07,087 --> 00:34:08,713 called scalar technology. 601 00:34:08,839 --> 00:34:11,924 We heat up through high, electrical impulses, 602 00:34:12,050 --> 00:34:16,470 a certain spot on the water, and that creates a hurricane. 603 00:34:16,471 --> 00:34:18,764 And by making a path with that beam, 604 00:34:18,890 --> 00:34:21,392 you can track the hurricane. 605 00:34:21,476 --> 00:34:24,854 Now if we can do that-- and this is hypothetical-- 606 00:34:24,938 --> 00:34:29,108 if we can do that, why can't an alien culture say, 607 00:34:29,192 --> 00:34:32,486 "Let's create an ice age on planet Earth?" 608 00:34:32,487 --> 00:34:37,700 It will kill off the dinosaurs, but pave the way 609 00:34:37,784 --> 00:34:42,496 for aliens to implant human beings on planet Earth. 610 00:34:45,417 --> 00:34:49,503 NARRATOR: Did alien beings come to Earth in order to stay? 611 00:34:49,504 --> 00:34:51,797 Might they, as some believe, 612 00:34:51,923 --> 00:34:55,342 have seeded it with their own genetic offspring? 613 00:34:55,427 --> 00:34:57,887 If so, where is the proof? 614 00:34:57,971 --> 00:35:02,349 Some ancient astronaut theorists point to myths 615 00:35:02,434 --> 00:35:04,727 that describe gods coming down from the heavens 616 00:35:04,811 --> 00:35:07,229 in order to mate with humans. 617 00:35:07,355 --> 00:35:10,024 TSOUKALOS: Ancient texts talk about the fact 618 00:35:10,150 --> 00:35:13,235 that whoever visited the earth in the remote past, 619 00:35:13,361 --> 00:35:17,531 these gods, thought that Earth women were quite beautiful. 620 00:35:17,616 --> 00:35:21,535 So, in many occasions, we find stories 621 00:35:21,536 --> 00:35:24,830 where those visitors 622 00:35:24,956 --> 00:35:28,542 essentially mated with Earth women. 623 00:35:28,543 --> 00:35:31,045 It was misinterpreted, 624 00:35:31,171 --> 00:35:35,549 misunderstood as something divine that came here. 625 00:35:35,550 --> 00:35:38,552 They were flesh-and-blood extraterrestrials. 626 00:35:40,555 --> 00:35:42,556 NARRATOR: Native American folklore 627 00:35:42,557 --> 00:35:44,934 refers to those beings who came down from the heavens 628 00:35:45,018 --> 00:35:48,729 to breed with Earth women as Star People. 629 00:35:51,191 --> 00:35:56,195 NANCY RED STAR: The Star People are extraterrestrial people. 630 00:35:56,279 --> 00:36:00,574 They are not from this... this earth. 631 00:36:02,577 --> 00:36:04,578 They visit. 632 00:36:04,579 --> 00:36:07,289 They are star ancestors. 633 00:36:09,584 --> 00:36:14,046 BULLARD: There's a great deal of interaction between them. 634 00:36:14,172 --> 00:36:17,883 Like some of the American Indian star husband tales 635 00:36:18,009 --> 00:36:22,596 where some woman sleeping outside at night looks up at 636 00:36:22,597 --> 00:36:24,390 a star and thinks it's very beautiful 637 00:36:24,474 --> 00:36:27,184 and would like to go there, and winds up finding herself 638 00:36:27,269 --> 00:36:29,603 in the morning being pulled up into heaven 639 00:36:29,646 --> 00:36:32,690 and meeting with the supernatural being 640 00:36:32,816 --> 00:36:34,775 who was associated with that star, 641 00:36:34,860 --> 00:36:37,611 and becoming the bride of the star husband. 642 00:36:37,696 --> 00:36:40,489 NARRATOR: According to Native American mythology, 643 00:36:40,615 --> 00:36:43,784 the brides of these alien beings would become pregnant 644 00:36:43,869 --> 00:36:47,496 and give birth to star children. 645 00:36:47,622 --> 00:36:49,623 They would be raised by the native mother 646 00:36:49,624 --> 00:36:51,333 until the age of six, 647 00:36:51,459 --> 00:36:54,795 when they went to live with their star father. 648 00:36:56,631 --> 00:36:59,925 Similar stories of intimate encounters 649 00:37:00,051 --> 00:37:02,636 between celestial beings and humans 650 00:37:02,637 --> 00:37:06,640 can be found in ancient Hebrew and Judeo-Christian testaments 651 00:37:06,683 --> 00:37:09,643 often referred to as the pseudepigraph, 652 00:37:09,644 --> 00:37:12,646 or what many refer to as the Apocrypha. 653 00:37:12,647 --> 00:37:14,857 ROBERT R. CARGILL: There are lots of instances 654 00:37:14,941 --> 00:37:16,650 in the pseudepigraph-- 655 00:37:16,651 --> 00:37:18,819 these are the books that didn't make it into the Bible-- 656 00:37:18,904 --> 00:37:22,656 where people are visited by beings 657 00:37:22,657 --> 00:37:24,533 that aren't from this earth. 658 00:37:24,659 --> 00:37:28,078 TSOUKALOS: Before the Bible became the Bible of today, 659 00:37:28,163 --> 00:37:30,331 there were many additional books 660 00:37:30,457 --> 00:37:34,460 that used to be a part of the Bible. 661 00:37:34,544 --> 00:37:38,839 They were removed in what was called the Council of Nicaea 662 00:37:38,924 --> 00:37:44,136 because those books contained too much information, 663 00:37:44,262 --> 00:37:46,680 dangerous knowledge. 664 00:37:46,765 --> 00:37:49,934 CARGILL: In Genesis 6, where it talks about these watchers 665 00:37:50,060 --> 00:37:52,686 that are kind of angels that came down from heaven 666 00:37:52,729 --> 00:37:56,690 and had sex with the women of the earth. 667 00:37:58,401 --> 00:38:00,861 VON DANIKEN: These strangers had sex 668 00:38:00,946 --> 00:38:04,782 with beautiful young girls on our planet. 669 00:38:04,908 --> 00:38:07,117 How can angels have sex? 670 00:38:07,202 --> 00:38:08,869 This is impossible. 671 00:38:08,954 --> 00:38:12,206 In our point, in our view, angels were something spiritual, 672 00:38:12,332 --> 00:38:15,709 not something who has a body, and has a feeling of sex. 673 00:38:15,710 --> 00:38:17,211 But they had sex. 674 00:38:17,337 --> 00:38:20,756 Our prehistoric ancestors could not understand, 675 00:38:20,882 --> 00:38:23,300 and they believe that these extraterrestrials 676 00:38:23,385 --> 00:38:25,719 are some kind of gods. 677 00:38:25,720 --> 00:38:28,722 JONATHAN YOUNG: The conception of the Christ. 678 00:38:28,723 --> 00:38:31,016 An angel comes to the holy mother, 679 00:38:31,142 --> 00:38:32,726 to the Virgin Mary, and tells her 680 00:38:32,811 --> 00:38:34,603 that she's going to be blessed by God with a child. 681 00:38:34,729 --> 00:38:40,234 And then, essentially, she finds herself pregnant. 682 00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:42,194 REV. BARRY H. DOWNING: There is an angelic reality point 683 00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:43,988 in the New Testament. 684 00:38:44,114 --> 00:38:47,741 And whether it be at the birth of Jesus, or his resurrection, 685 00:38:47,742 --> 00:38:50,411 we've got the possibility of other powers 686 00:38:50,537 --> 00:38:51,829 from another world being involved 687 00:38:51,955 --> 00:38:53,747 from the beginning to the end. 688 00:38:53,790 --> 00:38:55,833 BULLARD: The more literal version 689 00:38:55,959 --> 00:38:59,753 is the idea that Jesus is strictly alien, 690 00:38:59,838 --> 00:39:03,048 which, of course, in a sense, he is as, uh... 691 00:39:03,174 --> 00:39:05,551 You know, even if you take him as the son of God, 692 00:39:05,635 --> 00:39:07,678 then obviously, he is not of this earth. 693 00:39:07,762 --> 00:39:09,763 NOORY: I tend to believe that Jesus 694 00:39:09,764 --> 00:39:11,974 was a very spiritual human being 695 00:39:12,058 --> 00:39:14,935 who understood a lot of things 696 00:39:15,020 --> 00:39:17,354 that we're beginning to learn today. 697 00:39:17,439 --> 00:39:19,690 But it's also very possible that he might have been 698 00:39:19,774 --> 00:39:24,361 an extraterrestrial who came down to teach us things. 699 00:39:24,446 --> 00:39:30,784 That divine intelligence is very real in some form or fashion. 700 00:39:34,247 --> 00:39:36,832 NARRATOR: Tales of gods mating with humans 701 00:39:36,958 --> 00:39:40,085 are prevalent in everything from Greek and Roman mythology 702 00:39:40,211 --> 00:39:43,380 to Native American legends. 703 00:39:43,465 --> 00:39:47,801 In China, at the end of the fifth century BC, 704 00:39:47,802 --> 00:39:50,804 the country was divided into seven states, 705 00:39:50,847 --> 00:39:53,724 each ruled by powerful warlords 706 00:39:53,808 --> 00:39:56,393 who battled for territory and power. 707 00:39:56,478 --> 00:39:59,396 It was during this turbulent era 708 00:39:59,481 --> 00:40:03,275 when the legendary story of Huangdi first appeared. 709 00:40:04,819 --> 00:40:07,821 YOUNG: A great god took the form of a dragon, 710 00:40:07,822 --> 00:40:09,656 came down to a hilltop 711 00:40:09,741 --> 00:40:12,826 where a young maiden was out gathering fruit. 712 00:40:12,827 --> 00:40:17,039 And as this great dragon came near, the sky darkened. 713 00:40:17,123 --> 00:40:18,832 It was like a storm. 714 00:40:18,833 --> 00:40:21,126 She was terrified, and she passed out. 715 00:40:21,252 --> 00:40:23,921 When she came awake again, 716 00:40:24,047 --> 00:40:25,839 uh, the sun had come out again, 717 00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:29,468 and the dragon was gone, and she was pregnant. 718 00:40:29,552 --> 00:40:33,013 NARRATOR: Much like the story of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, 719 00:40:33,098 --> 00:40:36,725 the story of Huangdi told of an earthling woman 720 00:40:36,851 --> 00:40:38,644 who would give birth to him-- 721 00:40:38,728 --> 00:40:40,562 the legendary first emperor of China 722 00:40:40,688 --> 00:40:43,857 who ushered in a time of great change. 723 00:40:43,858 --> 00:40:46,068 Gods deliberately bred with humans 724 00:40:46,152 --> 00:40:47,861 so that they could produce... 725 00:40:47,862 --> 00:40:49,279 they could get a race that they could trust 726 00:40:49,364 --> 00:40:51,865 and control a little bit better. 727 00:40:51,866 --> 00:40:55,285 CHILDRESS: In my mind, legends and-and myths 728 00:40:55,370 --> 00:40:57,079 are based on something real-- 729 00:40:57,163 --> 00:41:01,792 while they have been mythified and distorted 730 00:41:01,876 --> 00:41:03,877 and exaggerated, in many cases-- 731 00:41:03,878 --> 00:41:07,464 but there is, in my mind, some core of truth here. 732 00:41:09,801 --> 00:41:12,386 NARRATOR: Another prevalent theme in ancient texts, 733 00:41:12,512 --> 00:41:16,765 myths, and religions is that of a cataclysm of some kind. 734 00:41:18,309 --> 00:41:21,520 Usually, these come in the form of an intense flood, 735 00:41:21,604 --> 00:41:24,898 fire, or other devastating catastrophe. 736 00:41:24,983 --> 00:41:28,735 In the Hebrew Bible, for example, 737 00:41:28,820 --> 00:41:32,573 God punishes mankind for their decadence and sinful ways. 738 00:41:32,699 --> 00:41:37,703 He sends punishment in the form of a great flood... 739 00:41:37,787 --> 00:41:41,748 which destroys nearly all living things on the planet, 740 00:41:41,833 --> 00:41:44,626 except for Noah, his family, 741 00:41:44,752 --> 00:41:49,173 and the animals rescued aboard his ark. 742 00:41:49,299 --> 00:41:53,510 Similar stories can be found in numerous ancient texts. 743 00:41:53,595 --> 00:41:58,348 Many of the mythical tales of most civilizations 744 00:41:58,433 --> 00:42:00,350 include some kind of idea 745 00:42:00,435 --> 00:42:02,936 that there are gods that came to Earth at some point. 746 00:42:08,109 --> 00:42:13,155 One interpretation has been that these are literal descriptions 747 00:42:13,239 --> 00:42:14,948 of visitors from space. 748 00:42:14,949 --> 00:42:17,326 Not gods, but some creatures of... 749 00:42:17,410 --> 00:42:20,954 with advanced technology that came to Earth in times past, 750 00:42:21,039 --> 00:42:25,459 and either created mankind, brought culture to the earth, 751 00:42:25,585 --> 00:42:29,963 brought civilization, and then, for some reason, departed, 752 00:42:29,964 --> 00:42:32,257 usually under some kind of breach 753 00:42:32,383 --> 00:42:35,219 between mankind and the gods. 754 00:42:38,681 --> 00:42:40,766 NARRATOR: Take the case of the once-thriving 755 00:42:40,850 --> 00:42:44,353 Mesoamerican cultures of the Aztecs and the Mayans. 756 00:42:44,437 --> 00:42:49,775 By the year 1500 AD, they had all but vanished. 757 00:42:50,985 --> 00:42:52,611 But why? 758 00:42:52,695 --> 00:42:55,405 Was there a natural disaster of some kind? 759 00:42:55,490 --> 00:42:59,451 Or is there another, more otherworldly explanation? 760 00:43:00,912 --> 00:43:05,415 At some point, it all crashed 761 00:43:05,500 --> 00:43:09,002 in a cataclysmic disaster. 762 00:43:09,003 --> 00:43:12,798 And the world, as they knew it, came to an end. 763 00:43:12,882 --> 00:43:18,178 And tidal waves washed across continents. 764 00:43:18,263 --> 00:43:21,932 Areas of the planet went underwater. 765 00:43:22,016 --> 00:43:24,851 And the megalithic building that was going on then, too, 766 00:43:24,936 --> 00:43:27,020 also completely stopped. 767 00:43:27,021 --> 00:43:29,898 And it's what we see at certain areas. 768 00:43:30,024 --> 00:43:35,195 Like in Peru, where giant blocks of granite have been quarried 769 00:43:35,280 --> 00:43:39,408 and partially moved to where they were going. 770 00:43:39,492 --> 00:43:45,455 But then it all came to a sudden, complete halt. 771 00:43:48,835 --> 00:43:51,837 NARRATOR: For nearly 3,000 years, 772 00:43:51,921 --> 00:43:55,674 the Mayan civilization thrived in Central America. 773 00:43:55,758 --> 00:43:57,759 Among their many accomplishments, 774 00:43:57,885 --> 00:44:01,054 the ancient Maya invented a remarkably complex 775 00:44:01,055 --> 00:44:03,056 and accurate calendar. 776 00:44:03,099 --> 00:44:05,267 According to scholars, 777 00:44:05,351 --> 00:44:10,772 the calendar started on August 1 1, 31 14 BC. 778 00:44:10,898 --> 00:44:13,066 The first calendar cycle ends 779 00:44:13,109 --> 00:44:18,113 about 5,000 years later on December 21, 2012. 780 00:44:19,532 --> 00:44:21,074 But why? 781 00:44:21,159 --> 00:44:24,077 Did the Mayans know something about mankind's future-- 782 00:44:24,078 --> 00:44:28,665 something we have forgotten or chosen to ignore? 783 00:44:28,750 --> 00:44:32,085 CHILDRESS: There's a lot of excitement being generated now 784 00:44:32,086 --> 00:44:36,715 about the Mayan calendar ending in year 2012, 785 00:44:36,799 --> 00:44:39,676 and if there is such a cataclysm 786 00:44:39,761 --> 00:44:43,722 or some massive Earth change that's suddenly going to occur. 787 00:44:43,806 --> 00:44:47,809 And so the idea that ancient people, like the Mayans say, 788 00:44:47,935 --> 00:44:51,188 were somehow totally in tune with this 789 00:44:51,314 --> 00:44:57,110 and had knowledge of these kind of vast cosmic cycles, which 790 00:44:57,111 --> 00:45:00,822 apparently led to cataclysmic changes on the earth, 791 00:45:00,948 --> 00:45:03,784 that's the kind of advanced knowledge 792 00:45:03,910 --> 00:45:06,119 that we wouldn't expect them to have. 793 00:45:06,120 --> 00:45:08,955 And where would they get that kind of knowledge? 794 00:45:09,040 --> 00:45:12,167 You would think that would have to come from extraterrestrials. 795 00:45:12,293 --> 00:45:14,169 NARRATOR: if we accept the notion 796 00:45:14,295 --> 00:45:17,631 that alien beings left behind the Mayan calendar 797 00:45:17,757 --> 00:45:21,134 as some type of ancient advanced warning device, 798 00:45:21,135 --> 00:45:24,429 might they have left other astronomical instruments 799 00:45:24,555 --> 00:45:26,139 here on Earth? 800 00:45:26,140 --> 00:45:28,767 And if so, why was it so important 801 00:45:28,851 --> 00:45:33,230 for ancient civilizations to track the stars? 802 00:45:38,653 --> 00:45:41,071 The stars. 803 00:45:42,365 --> 00:45:44,157 Since the beginning of time, 804 00:45:44,242 --> 00:45:48,161 man has gazed in wonder at the night sky. 805 00:45:48,162 --> 00:45:51,164 Stars became the stuff of legends, 806 00:45:51,165 --> 00:45:53,208 home of the gods 807 00:45:53,334 --> 00:45:57,170 and sometimes, man's final resting place. 808 00:45:57,171 --> 00:46:01,174 It is no surprise then that ancient man 809 00:46:01,175 --> 00:46:05,053 built monuments dedicated to these celestial wonders. 810 00:46:05,179 --> 00:46:08,181 When we look at ancient monuments around the world-- 811 00:46:08,266 --> 00:46:10,600 these Mesolithic structures-- 812 00:46:10,685 --> 00:46:16,815 we find that many of them are aligned astronomically 813 00:46:16,899 --> 00:46:21,611 to the sun, to planets, to stars. 814 00:46:21,696 --> 00:46:25,198 Numerous examples can be listed. 815 00:46:25,283 --> 00:46:27,617 Stonehenge is essentially 816 00:46:27,702 --> 00:46:31,204 an ancient astronomical observatory. 817 00:46:33,207 --> 00:46:36,209 Yes, it may have been used for ritualistic purposes. 818 00:46:36,210 --> 00:46:39,004 It may have been used for religious purposes. 819 00:46:39,088 --> 00:46:41,381 But it's very clear that it was also used 820 00:46:41,466 --> 00:46:45,594 for astronomical purposes, for observations. 821 00:46:45,678 --> 00:46:51,224 We're not surprised, whether it's Stonehenge, pyramids, 822 00:46:51,267 --> 00:46:53,685 or perhaps the Nazca Lines, 823 00:46:53,811 --> 00:46:55,395 that ancient people understood events 824 00:46:55,480 --> 00:46:59,608 that were going to happen in the sky, and when they would repeat. 825 00:46:59,692 --> 00:47:05,280 NARRATOR: But why was ancient man so fixated on the sky? 826 00:47:05,406 --> 00:47:08,241 And why did they construct elaborate stone monuments 827 00:47:08,284 --> 00:47:12,621 and temples in order to track the movements of the stars? 828 00:47:12,705 --> 00:47:17,751 Was it simply to help farmers know when to plant their crops? 829 00:47:17,877 --> 00:47:19,252 Or might there have been another, 830 00:47:19,253 --> 00:47:22,422 perhaps more profound purpose? 831 00:47:22,507 --> 00:47:25,258 Could they, as some believe, 832 00:47:25,259 --> 00:47:31,264 have been constructed as a type of extraterrestrial GPS system? 833 00:47:33,976 --> 00:47:37,312 Nabta Playa, Egypt. 834 00:47:37,438 --> 00:47:39,773 500 miles south of Cairo 835 00:47:39,899 --> 00:47:43,276 in Egypt's Nubian Desert sits one of the oldest 836 00:47:43,361 --> 00:47:46,488 astronomical sites ever discovered. 837 00:47:46,572 --> 00:47:51,284 In 1974, archaeologist Fred Wendorf 838 00:47:51,285 --> 00:47:52,994 almost passed it by 839 00:47:53,120 --> 00:47:58,291 before noticing its small stone artifacts and toppled rocks. 840 00:47:58,292 --> 00:48:01,127 ROBERT BAUVAL: It's a very strange site. 841 00:48:01,212 --> 00:48:02,963 It's just strange stone formations, 842 00:48:03,089 --> 00:48:05,715 circles, uh, stone alignments. 843 00:48:05,800 --> 00:48:10,470 Bizarre trigger lines with strange rocks and others. 844 00:48:11,764 --> 00:48:13,890 NARRATOR: Later excavations 845 00:48:13,975 --> 00:48:19,312 put the date of the astronomical device at approximately 5000 BC, 846 00:48:19,313 --> 00:48:22,232 making it close to 1,000 years older 847 00:48:22,316 --> 00:48:25,902 than the remarkably similar formation at Stonehenge. 848 00:48:25,987 --> 00:48:27,737 BAUVAL: When they brought an astronomer there, 849 00:48:27,822 --> 00:48:29,573 they realized that it was a ceremonial site, 850 00:48:29,699 --> 00:48:32,033 very intensely astronomical. 851 00:48:32,159 --> 00:48:34,327 The intriguing thing about this site 852 00:48:34,328 --> 00:48:37,747 is that it shows that they were tracking stars 853 00:48:37,832 --> 00:48:39,207 over thousands of years. 854 00:48:39,333 --> 00:48:41,418 And to track stars over that period, 855 00:48:41,544 --> 00:48:44,170 they must have have been aware of what we call "precession," 856 00:48:44,255 --> 00:48:47,340 which means they weren't simply astronomers, 857 00:48:47,425 --> 00:48:48,967 or ancient astronomers. 858 00:48:49,051 --> 00:48:51,219 They were very sophisticated astronomers. 859 00:48:53,347 --> 00:48:55,640 NARRATOR: Could the people who built Nabta Playa 860 00:48:55,766 --> 00:48:58,810 7,000 years ago have possessed 861 00:48:58,936 --> 00:49:02,355 an advanced understanding of physics and astronomy? 862 00:49:02,356 --> 00:49:06,234 One that rivals or, perhaps, surpasses our own? 863 00:49:06,360 --> 00:49:09,195 And why were they tracking Orion and Sirius? 864 00:49:12,366 --> 00:49:16,369 In 1994, the mystery of Nabta Playa 865 00:49:16,370 --> 00:49:18,455 took on even greater significance 866 00:49:18,581 --> 00:49:21,875 when Robert Bauval announced a surprising discovery 867 00:49:22,001 --> 00:49:24,878 along Egypt's Giza Plateau. 868 00:49:27,548 --> 00:49:32,010 The Great Pyramid contained four long interior shafts. 869 00:49:32,094 --> 00:49:35,639 Bauval determined that they were each precisely aligned 870 00:49:35,765 --> 00:49:39,893 with specific stars in the sky. 871 00:49:40,019 --> 00:49:43,772 BAUVAL: The southern ones aligned to the belt of Orion 872 00:49:43,856 --> 00:49:45,982 and to Sirius, 873 00:49:46,067 --> 00:49:49,402 and the northern ones aligned to the polar stars. 874 00:49:49,403 --> 00:49:51,488 Again, this is very intriguing. 875 00:49:51,614 --> 00:49:53,406 In terms of construction engineering, 876 00:49:53,449 --> 00:49:55,575 that's-that's bull's-eye. 877 00:49:55,660 --> 00:49:59,871 As an engineer, I know that it's one thing building a pyramid. 878 00:49:59,997 --> 00:50:01,414 But it's another thing building a pyramid 879 00:50:01,499 --> 00:50:03,333 with that kind of precision. 880 00:50:03,417 --> 00:50:08,046 NARRATOR: Bauval also proved that the three pyramids of Giza 881 00:50:08,130 --> 00:50:10,840 were laid out in the precise order and position 882 00:50:10,925 --> 00:50:14,719 of the three stars of the Orion's Belt constellation. 883 00:50:14,845 --> 00:50:17,222 But what exactly is the significance 884 00:50:17,306 --> 00:50:18,598 of the shaft alignment 885 00:50:18,683 --> 00:50:22,352 and the layout of the pyramids themselves? 886 00:50:25,314 --> 00:50:26,648 BAUVAL: I mean, we're deciphering a message. 887 00:50:26,732 --> 00:50:28,483 The question is whether it is religious 888 00:50:28,609 --> 00:50:30,443 or whether it is a stellar message. 889 00:50:30,444 --> 00:50:33,071 The fact is that what we have on the ground 890 00:50:33,155 --> 00:50:35,907 is an image of a constellation 891 00:50:36,033 --> 00:50:40,328 that we know now is the birthplace of stars. 892 00:50:41,539 --> 00:50:44,082 Literally, stars are being born there. 893 00:50:44,166 --> 00:50:45,917 And the Egyptians themselves 894 00:50:46,043 --> 00:50:49,838 believed that their gods had descended from the stars. 895 00:50:52,341 --> 00:50:55,969 NOORY: That could be either a knowledge of ancient astronomy, 896 00:50:56,095 --> 00:50:57,762 or it could also be a road map 897 00:50:57,888 --> 00:51:01,057 to where these E.T.s may have come from. 898 00:51:01,142 --> 00:51:03,977 NARRATOR: But why were the ancients so fixated 899 00:51:04,103 --> 00:51:06,646 on the Orion and Sirius constellations? 900 00:51:06,731 --> 00:51:09,983 Some believe the answer can be found 901 00:51:10,109 --> 00:51:13,528 on the other side of the world in North America. 902 00:51:15,781 --> 00:51:20,493 Cholula, Mexico is home to the largest pyramid in the world. 903 00:51:20,536 --> 00:51:24,330 More than 3,000 years old, it is estimated 904 00:51:24,415 --> 00:51:27,917 that it took approximately 1,400 years to complete. 905 00:51:28,002 --> 00:51:29,961 TSOUKALOS: Even though the Cholula Pyramid 906 00:51:30,087 --> 00:51:34,507 doesn't look like much because of the overgrown vegetation, 907 00:51:34,550 --> 00:51:38,011 it is in fact the world's largest monument 908 00:51:38,137 --> 00:51:42,515 ever constructed by human hands. 909 00:51:42,516 --> 00:51:45,894 In fact, the volume of the Cholula Pyramid-- 910 00:51:45,978 --> 00:51:51,900 the whole pyramid complex-- is 4.45 million cubic meters. 911 00:51:51,984 --> 00:51:54,152 The Great Pyramid in Egypt 912 00:51:54,236 --> 00:52:00,992 only has 2.5 million cubic meters in volume. 913 00:52:01,118 --> 00:52:03,536 So, the Great Pyramid at Giza 914 00:52:03,579 --> 00:52:06,998 is way taller than the Cholula Pyramid, 915 00:52:07,124 --> 00:52:12,253 but volume-wise, the Cholula Pyramid is, by far, 916 00:52:12,379 --> 00:52:18,426 the largest man-made structure ever created on planet Earth. 917 00:52:21,555 --> 00:52:24,182 NARRATOR: Originally built by the Olmecs 918 00:52:24,266 --> 00:52:27,560 in the third century BC, the pyramid was later added on to 919 00:52:27,645 --> 00:52:30,772 and used by the Toltecs and the Aztecs 920 00:52:30,856 --> 00:52:34,567 as a place of religious ritual and human sacrifice. 921 00:52:36,570 --> 00:52:39,572 But along with its history of bloodshed, 922 00:52:39,573 --> 00:52:41,574 an examination of the pyramid 923 00:52:41,617 --> 00:52:44,160 reveals that the ancient cultures of the region 924 00:52:44,245 --> 00:52:47,580 had a remarkable understanding of astronomy. 925 00:52:47,623 --> 00:52:50,834 CREMO: It's interesting to consider 926 00:52:50,960 --> 00:52:55,505 what the Aztec people thought about its origins. 927 00:52:55,589 --> 00:53:00,593 They did not think it was built by humans, like us, 928 00:53:00,636 --> 00:53:02,595 which is our theory today. 929 00:53:03,764 --> 00:53:06,599 According to the ancient Aztec tradition, 930 00:53:06,684 --> 00:53:10,603 the Cholula Pyramid was built 931 00:53:10,604 --> 00:53:15,859 by a being they called a "giant." 932 00:53:15,985 --> 00:53:19,988 If you look at the Aztec cosmology, 933 00:53:20,072 --> 00:53:22,824 you'll see that these giant beings 934 00:53:22,908 --> 00:53:26,619 were identified with different celestial objects. 935 00:53:26,620 --> 00:53:29,622 The one in particular 936 00:53:29,623 --> 00:53:32,625 that is said to have built the Cholula Pyramid 937 00:53:32,626 --> 00:53:35,336 is identified with the planet Venus. 938 00:53:39,633 --> 00:53:42,051 NARRATOR: Both the Aztecs and the ancient Egyptians 939 00:53:42,136 --> 00:53:45,013 charted most of the planets in the solar system 940 00:53:45,097 --> 00:53:48,099 thousands of years before European astronomers. 941 00:53:48,225 --> 00:53:49,809 But why? 942 00:53:49,894 --> 00:53:53,646 And even more compelling is the fact that the two cultures 943 00:53:53,731 --> 00:53:57,734 were thousands of miles and half a world apart. 944 00:53:57,860 --> 00:54:01,070 CHILDRESS: Mainstream archeologists are telling us 945 00:54:01,155 --> 00:54:03,448 that all these civilizations around the world-- 946 00:54:03,532 --> 00:54:05,658 in the Americas, on remote Pacific islands, 947 00:54:05,659 --> 00:54:07,660 in Asia and Africa and Europe-- 948 00:54:07,661 --> 00:54:10,663 that they're all disconnected with each other, 949 00:54:10,706 --> 00:54:13,666 and that there wasn't some contact with South America, 950 00:54:13,667 --> 00:54:18,338 and Egypt, or any of these ancient civilizations. 951 00:54:18,464 --> 00:54:20,673 But really, it has to be the other way around. 952 00:54:20,674 --> 00:54:23,384 All of these ancient civilizations 953 00:54:23,510 --> 00:54:25,136 were connected in some way. 954 00:54:26,680 --> 00:54:28,681 NARRATOR: But were these holy sites, 955 00:54:28,724 --> 00:54:31,684 as ancient astronaut proponents suggest, 956 00:54:31,685 --> 00:54:34,187 really connected to each other? 957 00:54:34,313 --> 00:54:36,689 And if so, why? 958 00:54:36,690 --> 00:54:39,692 Are they evidence of aliens coming to Earth? 959 00:54:39,693 --> 00:54:42,612 MAN: Whoa, I'm getting a series of lights right there. 960 00:54:42,696 --> 00:54:43,905 I got it, I got it, I got it. 961 00:54:43,989 --> 00:54:45,698 NOORY: These reports that we continue to get 962 00:54:45,783 --> 00:54:49,702 from people of E.T. visitations and craft, 963 00:54:49,703 --> 00:54:52,872 clearly points out to me that we're being visited. 964 00:54:52,957 --> 00:54:54,374 And we have been visited. 965 00:54:54,500 --> 00:54:55,708 MAN: Oh, there it is-- over to the left. 966 00:54:55,793 --> 00:54:57,543 NOORY: They may have physically left the planet, 967 00:54:57,628 --> 00:54:59,754 in terms of a civilization, 968 00:54:59,880 --> 00:55:02,548 but they-they're continuing to come back 969 00:55:02,633 --> 00:55:04,717 and monitor us for some reason. 970 00:55:04,802 --> 00:55:06,719 -MAN: Dude, wow. -MAN 2: They're back. 971 00:55:06,762 --> 00:55:08,137 -More appeared, bro. -Yeah. 972 00:55:08,222 --> 00:55:10,723 NARRATOR: If aliens are watching us today, 973 00:55:10,766 --> 00:55:12,725 what are they waiting for? 974 00:55:12,726 --> 00:55:14,894 Or, as some claim, 975 00:55:14,979 --> 00:55:20,149 have they already left messages for us in plain view? 976 00:55:25,739 --> 00:55:29,993 90 miles west of London, in the county of Wiltshire, 977 00:55:30,119 --> 00:55:32,787 the English countryside remains pretty much as it has 978 00:55:32,913 --> 00:55:34,956 for thousands of years. 979 00:55:35,040 --> 00:55:37,750 Small farms, stone walls, 980 00:55:37,751 --> 00:55:40,628 and rolling green hills provide inhabitants 981 00:55:40,754 --> 00:55:43,756 with an environment of peace and stability. 982 00:55:45,968 --> 00:55:48,845 This historic region is also home 983 00:55:48,971 --> 00:55:51,681 to a large number of ancient sacred sites, 984 00:55:51,765 --> 00:55:55,184 many built thousands of years ago. 985 00:55:55,269 --> 00:55:56,769 It's an ancient, sacred landscape 986 00:55:56,770 --> 00:55:58,479 where most of them occur. 987 00:55:58,605 --> 00:56:00,648 There are monuments that you know about: 988 00:56:00,774 --> 00:56:04,152 Stonehenge, Avebury, Silbury Hill. 989 00:56:04,236 --> 00:56:05,695 This is one small area 990 00:56:05,779 --> 00:56:07,780 that seems to be a manipulated landscape 991 00:56:07,781 --> 00:56:09,699 that was done thousands of years ago 992 00:56:09,783 --> 00:56:11,784 where sacred rituals have taken place. 993 00:56:17,374 --> 00:56:18,791 NARRATOR: But in 1978, 994 00:56:18,876 --> 00:56:21,836 Wiltshire's tranquil landscape became the focus 995 00:56:21,962 --> 00:56:25,256 of a controversy that persists to this day. 996 00:56:28,802 --> 00:56:32,430 REPORTER: Today alongside the tracks of farm machinery, 997 00:56:32,514 --> 00:56:35,183 a new set of circles were found. 998 00:56:35,267 --> 00:56:38,603 No human tracks lead to the markings. 999 00:56:42,024 --> 00:56:45,109 NARRATOR: There, carved in fields of wheat, 1000 00:56:45,235 --> 00:56:49,739 barley, and rye were elaborate geometric patterns. 1001 00:56:49,823 --> 00:56:52,825 Even more curious was the fact 1002 00:56:52,826 --> 00:56:56,287 that much like the famed Nazca Lines of Peru, 1003 00:56:56,413 --> 00:56:59,832 the designs were only visible from the air. 1004 00:56:59,833 --> 00:57:01,626 TAYLOR: When you see it for the first time, 1005 00:57:01,710 --> 00:57:03,711 you go, "What in the world is that doing there?" 1006 00:57:03,837 --> 00:57:06,089 I mean, it's obviously not natural. 1007 00:57:07,841 --> 00:57:10,551 BULLARD: There have been cases that have been traced back 1008 00:57:10,677 --> 00:57:13,137 for hundreds of years-- so-called mowing devil, 1009 00:57:13,263 --> 00:57:15,848 where apparently some sort of a devil 1010 00:57:15,891 --> 00:57:18,851 supposedly mowed a field in a single night. 1011 00:57:18,852 --> 00:57:21,145 But they became recognized as a phenomenon 1012 00:57:21,271 --> 00:57:23,564 only when these circles started appearing 1013 00:57:23,690 --> 00:57:26,275 in English wheat fields. 1014 00:57:26,360 --> 00:57:28,444 They were very simple things at first. 1015 00:57:28,529 --> 00:57:32,031 And, well... but they kept occurring year after year, 1016 00:57:32,116 --> 00:57:33,866 and each year they seemed to get a little more elaborate. 1017 00:57:33,867 --> 00:57:35,576 One of the early theories 1018 00:57:35,702 --> 00:57:38,704 was that there was some kind of whirlwind that was making them. 1019 00:57:38,789 --> 00:57:40,873 But as they became more elaborate, 1020 00:57:40,874 --> 00:57:44,502 they also became associated with paranormal activity, 1021 00:57:44,586 --> 00:57:46,170 particularly UFOs. 1022 00:57:46,296 --> 00:57:49,298 Some people said they saw a light in the field at night. 1023 00:57:49,383 --> 00:57:53,886 And some people that... began to read that as a UFO presence. 1024 00:57:53,887 --> 00:57:55,888 ROBERT MOORE: This circle in a Wiltshire field 1025 00:57:55,889 --> 00:57:57,890 is just one of 200 such markings 1026 00:57:57,891 --> 00:58:00,685 to have been discovered in the last six weeks. 1027 00:58:00,769 --> 00:58:02,979 To farmers and scientists, 1028 00:58:03,105 --> 00:58:06,149 how they're formed or by whom remains a big mystery. 1029 00:58:06,275 --> 00:58:08,484 NARRATOR: Not surprisingly, 1030 00:58:08,569 --> 00:58:11,571 the region became the focus of intense interest 1031 00:58:11,697 --> 00:58:14,824 from UFO enthusiasts and skeptics, 1032 00:58:14,908 --> 00:58:16,993 each offering explanations as to who 1033 00:58:17,119 --> 00:58:21,831 or what was responsible for this strange phenomenon. 1034 00:58:21,915 --> 00:58:26,002 But if in fact, alien beings from another planet 1035 00:58:26,128 --> 00:58:28,421 were responsible for the crop circles, 1036 00:58:28,547 --> 00:58:31,215 why were they making them in England? 1037 00:58:31,341 --> 00:58:33,843 Were they trying to contact us 1038 00:58:33,927 --> 00:58:37,805 or were there clues embedded in the designs? 1039 00:58:37,931 --> 00:58:39,932 And was the proximity to Stonehenge 1040 00:58:39,933 --> 00:58:44,312 and other ancient sites of any particular significance? 1041 00:58:44,396 --> 00:58:46,856 So you have the idea of these earth energies, 1042 00:58:46,940 --> 00:58:48,941 and these ancient structures, 1043 00:58:48,942 --> 00:58:51,819 and then the crop circles are appearing around them. 1044 00:58:51,945 --> 00:58:55,239 And many of the crop circles appear to be 1045 00:58:55,365 --> 00:58:58,951 some kind of signals and ancient writing. 1046 00:58:58,952 --> 00:59:01,954 The crop circles are calling us back to a time 1047 00:59:01,955 --> 00:59:04,790 before science and spirit got separated, 1048 00:59:04,875 --> 00:59:07,251 when we were whole; we had a sense of wholeness. 1049 00:59:07,377 --> 00:59:09,462 And here, they're landing near sacred sites 1050 00:59:09,588 --> 00:59:11,172 that are from an ancient time 1051 00:59:11,256 --> 00:59:13,758 when we did experience those things. 1052 00:59:13,842 --> 00:59:17,053 When I saw the first photographs, I was... 1053 00:59:17,179 --> 00:59:19,472 haunted, actually. 1054 00:59:19,598 --> 00:59:22,600 Are these extraterrestrials doing this? 1055 00:59:22,684 --> 00:59:24,060 Are we dealing with somebody 1056 00:59:24,186 --> 00:59:26,979 who knows how to bend space and time? 1057 00:59:26,980 --> 00:59:31,817 Our entire relationship with the universe and quantum physics-- 1058 00:59:31,902 --> 00:59:33,611 in all of its complexities-- 1059 00:59:33,695 --> 00:59:39,242 has been pushed hard by crop formations alone. 1060 00:59:41,620 --> 00:59:43,871 CHILDRESS: Certainly it is one theory 1061 00:59:43,997 --> 00:59:47,708 that extraterrestrials are trying to communicate 1062 00:59:47,834 --> 00:59:51,003 in a big way through popular media. 1063 00:59:51,088 --> 00:59:54,173 Crop circles do get in the newspapers all over the world. 1064 00:59:54,258 --> 00:59:56,175 Perhaps that's what they want. 1065 00:59:56,260 --> 00:59:58,052 These are being carefully designed. 1066 00:59:58,178 --> 00:59:59,845 They're not accidental-- 1067 00:59:59,930 --> 01:00:02,014 both, in terms of the shape, and where they land. 1068 01:00:02,015 --> 01:00:03,933 These aren't accidents. 1069 01:00:04,017 --> 01:00:08,020 There's a mind behind this that's making these decisions. 1070 01:00:08,063 --> 01:00:10,022 Where is that mind? 1071 01:00:10,023 --> 01:00:11,691 What kind of body is it in? 1072 01:00:16,947 --> 01:00:19,031 NARRATOR: Scientists struggled to find an explanation 1073 01:00:19,032 --> 01:00:22,535 for the phenomenon, until in 1991, 1074 01:00:22,661 --> 01:00:25,037 two self-proclaimed British pranksters, 1075 01:00:25,080 --> 01:00:27,540 Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, 1076 01:00:27,666 --> 01:00:33,087 came forward and proclaimed that they were the ones responsible. 1077 01:00:33,213 --> 01:00:36,048 They showed how they could make crop circles 1078 01:00:36,133 --> 01:00:38,759 in a single night using some very simple tools. 1079 01:00:38,885 --> 01:00:41,095 And at the time, people said, 1080 01:00:41,221 --> 01:00:43,055 "Well, that must be the explanation for it." 1081 01:00:43,056 --> 01:00:47,059 NARRATOR: Nevertheless, some researchers remain skeptical 1082 01:00:47,060 --> 01:00:48,894 that a single pair of elderly men 1083 01:00:48,979 --> 01:00:53,065 could have created literally hundreds of designs 1084 01:00:53,066 --> 01:00:54,525 in the dead of night 1085 01:00:54,651 --> 01:00:57,737 with little more than a few boards and some rope. 1086 01:00:57,863 --> 01:00:59,155 TAYLOR: You know, it was very effective. 1087 01:00:59,281 --> 01:01:01,365 You still will run into people-- 1088 01:01:01,491 --> 01:01:03,242 "Crop circles-- oh, forget about them. 1089 01:01:03,327 --> 01:01:06,078 "Those two old guys made a... come on, don't be so naive! 1090 01:01:06,079 --> 01:01:08,080 "They-they were done by those two old guys years ago. 1091 01:01:08,081 --> 01:01:10,082 What are you paying attention to them anymore?" 1092 01:01:10,167 --> 01:01:13,085 Very effective piece of disinformation. 1093 01:01:14,588 --> 01:01:16,255 NARRATOR: During the years that followed 1094 01:01:16,340 --> 01:01:18,466 Bower and Chorley's confession, 1095 01:01:18,550 --> 01:01:21,969 crop circles continued to appear in the English countryside 1096 01:01:22,095 --> 01:01:25,389 and at various locations around the world. 1097 01:01:25,515 --> 01:01:30,686 Some were inarguably the work of artists or jokesters. 1098 01:01:30,771 --> 01:01:33,731 But after studying soil samples and grain dispersion patterns 1099 01:01:33,815 --> 01:01:35,274 in the disturbed farmland, 1100 01:01:35,359 --> 01:01:39,362 researchers concluded that it would be impossible 1101 01:01:39,488 --> 01:01:41,781 for all of these designs to be man-made. 1102 01:01:41,907 --> 01:01:44,950 Well, in what we would consider to be a mysterious crop circle, 1103 01:01:45,035 --> 01:01:47,119 where we can't identify it being made by people, 1104 01:01:47,120 --> 01:01:49,580 the lay is absolutely beautiful, the lay of the crop. 1105 01:01:49,706 --> 01:01:51,957 It's like a million carpet layers came down, 1106 01:01:52,042 --> 01:01:54,126 and put these stalks of grain down, 1107 01:01:54,127 --> 01:01:56,128 right parallel to one another. 1108 01:01:56,129 --> 01:01:58,130 It's just a gorgeous thing to behold. 1109 01:01:58,131 --> 01:02:00,049 When the hoaxers make them, 1110 01:02:00,133 --> 01:02:02,134 they tend to be sloppy and messy because they're not... 1111 01:02:02,135 --> 01:02:03,594 they haven't got that same force. 1112 01:02:03,720 --> 01:02:05,554 They're doing handmade manipulation, 1113 01:02:05,639 --> 01:02:08,432 which doesn't lay them down quite as beautifully. 1114 01:02:11,353 --> 01:02:13,312 NARRATOR: In 1991, 1115 01:02:13,397 --> 01:02:16,357 noted biophysicist Dr. William Levengood 1116 01:02:16,441 --> 01:02:19,151 put forth a startling new theory. 1117 01:02:19,152 --> 01:02:22,405 After spending ten years studying crop circle sites 1118 01:02:22,531 --> 01:02:25,658 and samples, he concluded that they were created 1119 01:02:25,784 --> 01:02:28,077 by a complex energy system, 1120 01:02:28,161 --> 01:02:30,621 which he called a spinning plasma vortex 1121 01:02:30,747 --> 01:02:35,459 that comes down from somewhere high up in the atmosphere. 1122 01:02:38,380 --> 01:02:41,674 HOWE: Biophysicist Levengood has now analyzed 1123 01:02:41,800 --> 01:02:47,763 350-some samples from crop formations in his career. 1124 01:02:47,848 --> 01:02:50,099 Now, if Levengood were sitting here with me, 1125 01:02:50,183 --> 01:02:54,186 he would say, "All I can do is, I can take you from the ground, 1126 01:02:54,271 --> 01:02:58,441 "I can take you from the crops, up. 1127 01:02:58,567 --> 01:03:02,027 "But I can't tell you what sets in motion 1128 01:03:02,112 --> 01:03:05,197 "that spinning plasma vortex in the first place. 1129 01:03:05,198 --> 01:03:10,035 It's still a huge mystery." 1130 01:03:10,120 --> 01:03:12,204 The anomalous things that happen inside crop circles 1131 01:03:12,247 --> 01:03:14,206 are in fact one of the indications 1132 01:03:14,207 --> 01:03:16,208 that you're in a so-called genuine circle 1133 01:03:16,209 --> 01:03:18,794 because indeed the weirdest things happen. 1134 01:03:18,879 --> 01:03:20,713 Batteries fail-- brand-new batteries. 1135 01:03:20,839 --> 01:03:22,423 People go in with cameras. 1136 01:03:22,507 --> 01:03:24,508 Cell phones don't work. 1137 01:03:24,634 --> 01:03:26,093 There have been people who have started reading 1138 01:03:26,219 --> 01:03:29,305 all kinds of messages into these crop circles. 1139 01:03:29,431 --> 01:03:31,932 Uh, that they have some kind of digital significance 1140 01:03:32,058 --> 01:03:33,434 that you can read. 1141 01:03:33,518 --> 01:03:34,894 There's a kind of numerology, 1142 01:03:35,020 --> 01:03:36,270 and there'll be a kind of message. 1143 01:03:36,396 --> 01:03:40,107 People are really reading something into it. 1144 01:03:41,651 --> 01:03:43,861 TAYLOR: In terms of who or what is delivering them-- 1145 01:03:43,945 --> 01:03:45,738 we have no way to know that. 1146 01:03:45,864 --> 01:03:47,323 We only have science fiction 1147 01:03:47,449 --> 01:03:49,492 that tells us what's coming to visit us. 1148 01:03:49,618 --> 01:03:51,243 So, we have to just speculate 1149 01:03:51,244 --> 01:03:53,120 about where this might be coming from. 1150 01:03:53,246 --> 01:03:55,247 We have to wait for whatever the source is 1151 01:03:55,248 --> 01:03:56,457 to introduce itself to us. 1152 01:03:56,541 --> 01:04:00,085 Are we dealing with time travelers? 1153 01:04:00,170 --> 01:04:02,254 Are we dealing with spiritual forces 1154 01:04:02,255 --> 01:04:04,840 from some dimension we don't understand? 1155 01:04:04,925 --> 01:04:07,718 Are we dealing with advanced intelligences 1156 01:04:07,844 --> 01:04:10,095 that are not even in this galaxy, 1157 01:04:10,180 --> 01:04:12,056 that are from someplace else? 1158 01:04:12,140 --> 01:04:15,267 And is this a form of communication? 1159 01:04:15,268 --> 01:04:18,771 The conversations keep getting more and more complicated. 1160 01:04:18,897 --> 01:04:20,147 Crop circles are contact. 1161 01:04:20,273 --> 01:04:21,899 We are being contacted. 1162 01:04:21,983 --> 01:04:24,276 Just because we don't have the bodies to shake hands with, 1163 01:04:24,277 --> 01:04:26,278 we have the evidence that the bodies have left us. 1164 01:04:26,279 --> 01:04:27,905 I'm absolutely convinced 1165 01:04:27,989 --> 01:04:30,449 that crop circles are evidence of intelligent life. 1166 01:04:30,534 --> 01:04:34,286 There is intelligence bombarding us, winking at us, waving. 1167 01:04:34,371 --> 01:04:36,997 NARRATOR: Are these mysterious crop circles 1168 01:04:37,123 --> 01:04:40,084 messages or warnings? 1169 01:04:40,168 --> 01:04:44,296 Or might they have another, perhaps more profound, purpose? 1170 01:04:44,297 --> 01:04:46,674 Could they be futuristic clues 1171 01:04:46,758 --> 01:04:49,718 guiding us to our ultimate destiny 1172 01:04:49,803 --> 01:04:51,387 or ancient symbols 1173 01:04:51,513 --> 01:04:55,182 paving the way for our ultimate destruction? 1174 01:05:01,481 --> 01:05:04,483 Belize, Central America. 1175 01:05:04,568 --> 01:05:09,405 In 1924, British adventurer Frederick Mitchell-Hedges 1176 01:05:09,531 --> 01:05:11,949 traveled here with his daughter Anna 1177 01:05:12,033 --> 01:05:16,829 to explore the ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Lubaantun. 1178 01:05:16,955 --> 01:05:20,833 One afternoon Anna climbed to the top of a crumbling pyramid, 1179 01:05:20,959 --> 01:05:23,335 hoping to see the ocean. 1180 01:05:23,378 --> 01:05:25,337 It was high noon and she was at the top, 1181 01:05:25,380 --> 01:05:28,173 and the way the sun came in, the way the rocks had moved 1182 01:05:28,258 --> 01:05:30,384 in that there was just a small opening 1183 01:05:30,510 --> 01:05:32,344 and the light from the sun went through 1184 01:05:32,429 --> 01:05:34,221 and it hit the top of the skull, 1185 01:05:34,347 --> 01:05:36,348 and she ran down and she's all excited. 1186 01:05:36,391 --> 01:05:39,184 She said "There's someone in there with a flashlight." 1187 01:05:39,269 --> 01:05:41,812 NARRATOR: Anna's father and others in their party 1188 01:05:41,938 --> 01:05:46,233 were too large to fit inside the small opening of the pyramid, 1189 01:05:46,359 --> 01:05:50,738 so they tied a rope around Anna and lowered her into the hole. 1190 01:05:50,822 --> 01:05:52,573 When she came back up, 1191 01:05:52,657 --> 01:05:56,452 Anna held the top of a strange crystal skull. 1192 01:05:56,578 --> 01:06:00,164 A second search uncovered a matching jaw. 1193 01:06:00,248 --> 01:06:03,876 The two-piece skull weighed 1 1 pounds, seven ounces 1194 01:06:04,002 --> 01:06:08,255 and appeared to be carved from a single piece of rock crystal. 1195 01:06:09,799 --> 01:06:11,258 COPPENS: It's the only crystal skull 1196 01:06:11,384 --> 01:06:13,385 which is almost perfectly humanoid. 1197 01:06:13,470 --> 01:06:15,763 It's the only crystal skull which has a detachable jaw, 1198 01:06:15,847 --> 01:06:18,766 and when I say "almost perfectly humanoid," 1199 01:06:18,850 --> 01:06:22,394 the one thing which is missing is the sutures on the cranium. 1200 01:06:22,437 --> 01:06:25,105 It has a perfect cranium. 1201 01:06:25,231 --> 01:06:27,316 So it almost suggests that, 1202 01:06:27,400 --> 01:06:28,692 even though it's a human crystal skull, 1203 01:06:28,818 --> 01:06:30,653 those who were carving it 1204 01:06:30,779 --> 01:06:33,280 somehow felt that this creature was not born. 1205 01:06:33,406 --> 01:06:35,616 It somehow came into this world perfectly. 1206 01:06:37,243 --> 01:06:38,827 NARRATOR: The skull's appearance 1207 01:06:38,912 --> 01:06:42,665 created an immediate sensation among the local tribesmen. 1208 01:06:42,791 --> 01:06:44,458 HOMANN: When the natives saw it, 1209 01:06:44,584 --> 01:06:46,293 it was like their god had returned. 1210 01:06:46,419 --> 01:06:47,461 They all started crying 1211 01:06:47,587 --> 01:06:49,713 and kissing the earth and everything. 1212 01:06:49,839 --> 01:06:52,424 They were just so excited, and Mitchell-Hedges seeing this, 1213 01:06:52,425 --> 01:06:54,593 he presented it to the high priest 1214 01:06:54,678 --> 01:06:59,139 and they put it in an altar, and for 24 hours a day 1215 01:06:59,265 --> 01:07:01,642 they burned flames around the-the crystal skull. 1216 01:07:04,437 --> 01:07:07,481 NARRATOR: The Mayan elders believed that, in ancient times, 1217 01:07:07,607 --> 01:07:12,444 13 crystal skulls were buried in secret places around the world. 1218 01:07:12,487 --> 01:07:16,448 Currently it is claimed that seven have been found. 1219 01:07:16,449 --> 01:07:18,826 Four are in private collections 1220 01:07:18,910 --> 01:07:22,746 and one each in the British Museum, the Smithsonian, 1221 01:07:22,872 --> 01:07:25,457 and the Quai Branly Museum in Paris. 1222 01:07:25,500 --> 01:07:28,669 All have been the focus of intense examination, 1223 01:07:28,753 --> 01:07:31,880 speculation, and even worship. 1224 01:07:34,134 --> 01:07:36,468 SHERRY WHITFIELD: A lot of natives and a lot of people 1225 01:07:36,469 --> 01:07:37,720 working with crystal skulls 1226 01:07:37,846 --> 01:07:40,305 say that the high quartz content skulls 1227 01:07:40,390 --> 01:07:42,683 and especially the quartz skulls themselves 1228 01:07:42,767 --> 01:07:46,395 is the highest frequency or energy or vibration 1229 01:07:46,479 --> 01:07:48,897 possible on the physical plane, 1230 01:07:48,982 --> 01:07:52,484 and so a lot of native people kind of worshipped 1231 01:07:52,485 --> 01:07:55,529 or took care of these objects because they knew 1232 01:07:55,655 --> 01:07:58,365 that they had or felt that they had 1233 01:07:58,491 --> 01:08:01,076 the highest energy possible on the earth plane. 1234 01:08:05,498 --> 01:08:07,499 NARRATOR: But what are the exact origins 1235 01:08:07,500 --> 01:08:10,711 of these mysterious crystal skulls? 1236 01:08:10,795 --> 01:08:14,757 Since their discovery, scientific tests have determined 1237 01:08:14,883 --> 01:08:17,509 that the two owned by the British Museum 1238 01:08:17,510 --> 01:08:19,178 and the Quai Branly 1239 01:08:19,304 --> 01:08:22,514 were not authentic pre-Columbian artifacts. 1240 01:08:22,515 --> 01:08:27,394 Could it be that the Mitchell- Hedges skull was also a fake? 1241 01:08:27,520 --> 01:08:31,774 In the 1960s, it underwent extensive testing 1242 01:08:31,900 --> 01:08:35,527 by art curator Frank Dorland and the Hewlett-Packard Company. 1243 01:08:35,528 --> 01:08:38,530 HOMANN: They used the most advanced stuff that they had. 1244 01:08:38,615 --> 01:08:40,949 They could not find any marks on it 1245 01:08:41,034 --> 01:08:42,826 except for around the jaw 1246 01:08:42,952 --> 01:08:44,620 and, I think, a little bit around the eyes-- 1247 01:08:44,746 --> 01:08:49,124 the only place they saw tool marks using their techniques. 1248 01:08:49,209 --> 01:08:52,252 At the time, Hewlett-Packard found that the temperature 1249 01:08:52,378 --> 01:08:54,254 always stays about the same temperature, 1250 01:08:54,380 --> 01:08:56,632 no matter if it's in hot or cold. 1251 01:08:56,758 --> 01:08:59,802 It was carved against the lines of the crystal. 1252 01:08:59,928 --> 01:09:01,220 If anybody tried to do that, 1253 01:09:01,346 --> 01:09:03,555 it would break into a thousand pieces. 1254 01:09:03,556 --> 01:09:06,558 It's made out of a high level of electronic crystal, 1255 01:09:06,601 --> 01:09:10,562 and they're not really sure exactly where it came from. 1256 01:09:12,357 --> 01:09:14,024 If you listen to the academics, 1257 01:09:14,150 --> 01:09:16,610 crystal skulls are all modern fabrications, 1258 01:09:16,736 --> 01:09:19,613 meaning somebody has gone on there with a wheel 1259 01:09:19,739 --> 01:09:21,573 and has carved them as such, 1260 01:09:21,574 --> 01:09:25,577 and this is where the big divide is between established academics 1261 01:09:25,578 --> 01:09:28,080 and alternative researchers like myself, 1262 01:09:28,206 --> 01:09:30,582 who feel that the academics are not using 1263 01:09:30,625 --> 01:09:32,668 all the available evidence to draw their conclusions, 1264 01:09:32,794 --> 01:09:34,503 and, in short, we believe 1265 01:09:34,587 --> 01:09:36,296 that the academics are wrong in their conclusions. 1266 01:09:41,636 --> 01:09:45,597 NARRATOR: Are these skulls really ancient artifacts? 1267 01:09:45,640 --> 01:09:50,602 And if not, who or what carved them? 1268 01:09:50,603 --> 01:09:54,022 Crystal skulls, according to certain stories, 1269 01:09:54,107 --> 01:09:57,609 yes, they are alien artifacts. 1270 01:09:57,610 --> 01:10:02,406 Even some people think they're made on another planet. 1271 01:10:02,490 --> 01:10:04,616 (indistinct whispering) 1272 01:10:04,701 --> 01:10:07,870 I think there are links between crystal skulls 1273 01:10:07,996 --> 01:10:09,538 and extraterrestrials, 1274 01:10:09,622 --> 01:10:11,456 not necessarily that they were carved 1275 01:10:11,541 --> 01:10:13,625 and created by extraterrestrials. 1276 01:10:13,668 --> 01:10:16,295 I've been told they were created by humans, 1277 01:10:16,421 --> 01:10:18,630 but they were created specifically 1278 01:10:18,631 --> 01:10:22,634 to hold records from alien civilizations. 1279 01:10:22,635 --> 01:10:25,095 NARRATOR: Could there actually be 1280 01:10:25,221 --> 01:10:30,017 some type of coded information stored inside these skulls? 1281 01:10:30,101 --> 01:10:34,646 And if there is, how could it be retrieved? 1282 01:10:34,647 --> 01:10:36,940 WHITFIELD: There is a legend that there were 13 skulls 1283 01:10:37,066 --> 01:10:40,527 and that when the 13 skulls come together, 1284 01:10:40,653 --> 01:10:44,531 then something significant will change in the world. 1285 01:10:45,950 --> 01:10:47,659 TSOUKALOS: Legends suggest 1286 01:10:47,660 --> 01:10:50,746 that there are 12 additional worlds out there, 1287 01:10:50,872 --> 01:10:54,875 planets which are inhabited by intelligent species. 1288 01:10:54,959 --> 01:11:01,548 Now, we belong to those worlds or to those planets, 1289 01:11:01,674 --> 01:11:06,678 and our planet Earth is called "planet of the children." 1290 01:11:08,681 --> 01:11:13,060 They also suggest that these 13 crystal skulls 1291 01:11:13,144 --> 01:11:16,521 that allegedly exist on planet Earth 1292 01:11:16,606 --> 01:11:22,527 were each brought here from one of those 12 planets... 1293 01:11:22,612 --> 01:11:26,573 and the 13th skull 1294 01:11:26,699 --> 01:11:29,409 is the one that apparently contains 1295 01:11:29,535 --> 01:11:34,706 all of the information of all those 12 different worlds. 1296 01:11:34,707 --> 01:11:38,710 CHILDRESS: Within each crystal skull, information is stored, 1297 01:11:38,711 --> 01:11:41,088 and in fact IBM has shown that, too, 1298 01:11:41,172 --> 01:11:44,591 that quartz crystal can store millions of gigabytes 1299 01:11:44,717 --> 01:11:48,095 of information, and, in fact, any quartz crystal 1300 01:11:48,179 --> 01:11:52,391 or a crystal skull could hold much more information 1301 01:11:52,517 --> 01:11:56,311 than any computer we have now. 1302 01:11:56,396 --> 01:11:59,731 So when these crystal skulls would be brought together, 1303 01:11:59,732 --> 01:12:03,735 they begin to interface with each other... 1304 01:12:05,738 --> 01:12:11,034 ...and ultimately a greater knowledge and information 1305 01:12:11,160 --> 01:12:14,204 is condensed and brought to us, 1306 01:12:14,330 --> 01:12:17,207 and that's the legend of the crystal skulls. 1307 01:12:17,333 --> 01:12:21,336 NARRATOR: But as ancient astronaut theorists maintain, 1308 01:12:21,421 --> 01:12:23,005 why would visiting aliens 1309 01:12:23,131 --> 01:12:26,133 have given the crystal skull to the Maya? 1310 01:12:26,217 --> 01:12:27,801 To what purpose? 1311 01:12:27,927 --> 01:12:30,679 COPPENS: The skull is a very important motif for the Mayans. 1312 01:12:30,763 --> 01:12:32,222 When you look around the Mayan monuments, 1313 01:12:32,348 --> 01:12:34,766 you see skulls carved pretty much everywhere. 1314 01:12:34,851 --> 01:12:39,771 They use it for some of the notations for calendars. 1315 01:12:39,772 --> 01:12:41,773 NARRATOR: And it is the Mayan calendar 1316 01:12:41,774 --> 01:12:43,775 that many people refer to 1317 01:12:43,776 --> 01:12:46,778 when discussing the possibility of a new Armageddon. 1318 01:12:46,821 --> 01:12:50,073 Are the skulls somehow linked to this? 1319 01:12:50,199 --> 01:12:51,783 The current keeper 1320 01:12:51,784 --> 01:12:55,787 of the Mitchell-Hedges skull believes they are. 1321 01:12:57,081 --> 01:12:59,082 We've got 2012 just a few years away. 1322 01:12:59,208 --> 01:13:00,667 All these different things are happening, 1323 01:13:00,793 --> 01:13:03,587 the wars, et cetera, and I think the skulls 1324 01:13:03,671 --> 01:13:05,839 are coming forward to do what they were... 1325 01:13:05,965 --> 01:13:07,674 they were made to do. 1326 01:13:07,800 --> 01:13:09,676 NARRATOR: But are these skulls the trigger 1327 01:13:09,802 --> 01:13:12,304 that will begin the dawn of a new era? 1328 01:13:12,430 --> 01:13:15,390 Or will they simply be used as a tool 1329 01:13:15,475 --> 01:13:18,185 by some form of extraterrestrial intelligence 1330 01:13:18,269 --> 01:13:22,689 to guide mankind to its next stage of evolution? 1331 01:13:22,815 --> 01:13:26,610 If so, is this intelligence waiting and watching 1332 01:13:26,694 --> 01:13:28,820 for the right moment? 1333 01:13:28,821 --> 01:13:32,824 And from where exactly could it be watching us? 1334 01:13:41,000 --> 01:13:44,878 If extraterrestrial beings do exist in the universe, 1335 01:13:45,004 --> 01:13:46,838 where are they? 1336 01:13:46,923 --> 01:13:50,342 That was the question posed by Enrico Fermi, 1337 01:13:50,468 --> 01:13:53,845 one of the leading scientists of the 20th century. 1338 01:13:57,517 --> 01:13:59,851 PAUL DAVIES: Shortly after the Second World War, 1339 01:13:59,852 --> 01:14:02,562 the famous physicist Enrico Fermi, 1340 01:14:02,688 --> 01:14:05,315 who was taking part in the Manhattan Project 1341 01:14:05,441 --> 01:14:06,858 to build the atomic bomb, 1342 01:14:06,859 --> 01:14:08,860 was talking at Los Alamos with some friends 1343 01:14:08,903 --> 01:14:11,655 about the reports of flying saucers, 1344 01:14:11,739 --> 01:14:13,865 and Fermi suddenly said, 1345 01:14:13,866 --> 01:14:17,744 in relation to extraterrestrial intelligent beings, 1346 01:14:17,870 --> 01:14:19,079 "Where are they?" 1347 01:14:19,163 --> 01:14:20,872 And he was simply making the point 1348 01:14:20,915 --> 01:14:24,126 that if there was a civilization somewhere in the galaxy 1349 01:14:24,252 --> 01:14:27,879 that had arisen, say, 100 million years ago, 1350 01:14:27,880 --> 01:14:32,134 then they had plenty of time to spread across the galaxy. 1351 01:14:32,260 --> 01:14:35,679 Fermi said, "Gee, if there’s all of these civilizations 1352 01:14:35,763 --> 01:14:37,889 "out there and all of these planets out there, 1353 01:14:37,932 --> 01:14:39,558 where is everybody?" 1354 01:14:41,477 --> 01:14:43,979 NARRATOR: The Fermi paradox, as it became known, 1355 01:14:44,105 --> 01:14:47,524 was an attempt to explain the lack of evidence of aliens 1356 01:14:47,608 --> 01:14:52,070 despite the mathematical probability of their existence. 1357 01:14:52,155 --> 01:14:53,905 CARGILL: Up unto this point, to modern time, 1358 01:14:53,906 --> 01:14:55,907 no credible scholar, no credible scientist 1359 01:14:55,950 --> 01:14:57,909 looks at any of the evidence 1360 01:14:57,952 --> 01:15:01,121 that ancient alien enthusiasts put forth and say, 1361 01:15:01,205 --> 01:15:02,914 "Yes, this is evidence of ancient aliens." 1362 01:15:02,915 --> 01:15:04,916 No credible scholar does that. 1363 01:15:05,001 --> 01:15:07,794 Moreover, the whole SETI project-- 1364 01:15:07,920 --> 01:15:10,755 the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence-- 1365 01:15:10,840 --> 01:15:13,925 it's been going on now for nearly 50 years. 1366 01:15:13,926 --> 01:15:18,180 The fact that we have found no radio telescope evidence 1367 01:15:18,306 --> 01:15:22,392 of extraterrestrials plays very much into the Fermi paradox 1368 01:15:22,518 --> 01:15:25,937 in that it further indicates: 1369 01:15:25,980 --> 01:15:30,525 if they’re out there, why aren't we hearing from them? 1370 01:15:30,610 --> 01:15:33,945 And we don't seem to be hearing from them. 1371 01:15:37,408 --> 01:15:39,117 NARRATOR: But in the 1960s, 1372 01:15:39,202 --> 01:15:43,955 MIT astrophysicist John Ball rebutted Fermi's hypothesis 1373 01:15:43,956 --> 01:15:48,877 with a controversial one of his own: the zoo hypothesis. 1374 01:15:48,961 --> 01:15:52,839 The zoo hypothesis says that we are in a zoo, 1375 01:15:52,965 --> 01:15:54,883 or a wilderness area, 1376 01:15:54,967 --> 01:15:57,344 that they have essentially left alone 1377 01:15:57,428 --> 01:15:59,387 and are going to leave alone 1378 01:15:59,472 --> 01:16:03,391 to allow us to develop in our own way and at our own rate. 1379 01:16:03,476 --> 01:16:07,562 CROWE: Extraterrestrials have detected us on Earth, 1380 01:16:07,647 --> 01:16:11,149 but have chosen not to come here, not to invade, 1381 01:16:11,234 --> 01:16:13,985 but rather to observe us 1382 01:16:13,986 --> 01:16:17,489 as we observe animals in the zoo. 1383 01:16:19,700 --> 01:16:22,702 They've thought, "We'll do a study of those earthlings 1384 01:16:22,828 --> 01:16:26,998 and see what sort of people they are." 1385 01:16:26,999 --> 01:16:28,917 Now, why would they do this? 1386 01:16:29,001 --> 01:16:31,628 Well, if on the one hand we have nothing they want, 1387 01:16:31,712 --> 01:16:33,004 that's surely true. 1388 01:16:33,047 --> 01:16:35,006 And on the other hand, 1389 01:16:35,007 --> 01:16:38,593 we aren't able to interfere with whatever they're doing. 1390 01:16:38,678 --> 01:16:40,262 That's also surely true. 1391 01:16:40,388 --> 01:16:42,305 They're out there doing their own thing, 1392 01:16:42,431 --> 01:16:45,016 and they're not paying any attention to us. 1393 01:16:45,017 --> 01:16:46,810 And we're not clever enough 1394 01:16:46,894 --> 01:16:51,064 to eavesdrop on whatever they're doing. 1395 01:16:51,190 --> 01:16:53,650 That's the predicament we're in. 1396 01:16:53,734 --> 01:16:57,529 We have something that is looking down and monitoring us. 1397 01:16:57,655 --> 01:17:01,950 We are on the Petri dish and we can't get out far enough 1398 01:17:02,034 --> 01:17:07,038 to see what's behind those eyes behind that microscope. 1399 01:17:10,251 --> 01:17:15,755 NARRATOR: If aliens are watching us right now, where are they? 1400 01:17:15,881 --> 01:17:17,841 Some believe they are sitting out in space 1401 01:17:17,925 --> 01:17:19,759 in what are called "Lagrange points," 1402 01:17:19,885 --> 01:17:23,680 named after mathematician and astronomer Joseph Lagrange, 1403 01:17:23,764 --> 01:17:27,559 who discovered them in 1772. 1404 01:17:27,685 --> 01:17:30,353 There are five of these points between the sun, 1405 01:17:30,479 --> 01:17:32,772 the earth and our moon. 1406 01:17:32,898 --> 01:17:35,066 SEAGER: Lagrange points are points between two bodies 1407 01:17:35,067 --> 01:17:37,068 where the forces balance equally. 1408 01:17:37,069 --> 01:17:39,070 Think of, like, a seesaw when you have one really heavy person 1409 01:17:39,071 --> 01:17:40,363 and one really light person. 1410 01:17:40,489 --> 01:17:42,907 There's a kind of balance point in there, 1411 01:17:42,992 --> 01:17:44,075 and that's what a Lagrange point is. 1412 01:17:44,160 --> 01:17:46,077 DAVIES: Lagrange points 1413 01:17:46,078 --> 01:17:49,080 is where we send some of our own satellites. 1414 01:17:49,123 --> 01:17:50,582 And that's a point in space 1415 01:17:50,708 --> 01:17:52,751 where you can just sort of sit there inert 1416 01:17:52,877 --> 01:17:54,919 for millions of years if you had to 1417 01:17:55,004 --> 01:17:57,339 without having to worry about in course corrections. 1418 01:17:57,465 --> 01:18:00,383 If you go anywhere else in the solar system, uh, 1419 01:18:00,509 --> 01:18:03,094 then in order to keep pace with Earth as it orbits the sun, 1420 01:18:03,137 --> 01:18:06,181 you've got to continually change your position. 1421 01:18:06,307 --> 01:18:09,392 SEAGER: So people have talked about Lagrange points 1422 01:18:09,518 --> 01:18:11,811 as a place where a spacecraft might hide out 1423 01:18:11,937 --> 01:18:14,147 because you don't have to do a lot to stay in that spot. 1424 01:18:14,273 --> 01:18:16,399 It's sort of equally balanced and you just get carried along. 1425 01:18:18,611 --> 01:18:20,987 TSOUKALOS: If an extraterrestrial race 1426 01:18:21,113 --> 01:18:23,615 would have ever visited our solar system, 1427 01:18:23,741 --> 01:18:27,118 they would have placed a probe in those specific points 1428 01:18:27,119 --> 01:18:31,122 in order to observe us, to record us, what have you. 1429 01:18:31,123 --> 01:18:33,124 So, I mean, this is not something that 1430 01:18:33,209 --> 01:18:36,836 the ancient astronaut theory has proposed. 1431 01:18:36,962 --> 01:18:40,131 This is, you know, university professors, 1432 01:18:40,132 --> 01:18:43,134 astrophysicists who have proposed this. 1433 01:18:45,930 --> 01:18:48,973 NARRATOR: Some argue that another reason alien beings 1434 01:18:49,058 --> 01:18:50,517 have yet to reveal themselves 1435 01:18:50,601 --> 01:18:53,978 is because they don't yet consider us worthy. 1436 01:18:54,063 --> 01:18:58,233 This forms the basis of John Ball's jungle hypothesis. 1437 01:18:58,359 --> 01:19:01,403 BALL: The jungle hypothesis just means 1438 01:19:01,529 --> 01:19:04,656 that if you have animals, 1439 01:19:04,782 --> 01:19:07,158 such as ants, that live in the jungle, 1440 01:19:07,243 --> 01:19:09,160 no matter how many of them you have, 1441 01:19:09,161 --> 01:19:12,163 their chances of ever having seen a human being 1442 01:19:12,164 --> 01:19:13,456 are very slim. 1443 01:19:13,582 --> 01:19:16,167 Not because we're hiding or anything, 1444 01:19:16,168 --> 01:19:18,545 but we just don't have a reason to go into the jungle 1445 01:19:18,629 --> 01:19:20,046 and step on anthills. 1446 01:19:20,172 --> 01:19:24,884 So, the idea is that we are probably related 1447 01:19:25,010 --> 01:19:27,178 to advanced extraterrestrial intelligence 1448 01:19:27,179 --> 01:19:30,807 similar to an anthill might be related to humans. 1449 01:19:30,891 --> 01:19:32,851 And the fact that we've never seen 1450 01:19:32,977 --> 01:19:35,061 any extraterrestrial intelligence 1451 01:19:35,187 --> 01:19:37,397 is just we don't have anything they want. 1452 01:19:39,191 --> 01:19:41,776 HOWE: We could actually shake hands with something 1453 01:19:41,861 --> 01:19:44,696 that might have been coming and going on this planet 1454 01:19:44,822 --> 01:19:48,283 for literally thousands, perhaps millions, of years, 1455 01:19:48,409 --> 01:19:53,204 and has kept a distance during the last age of man 1456 01:19:53,247 --> 01:19:55,123 for reasons unknown, 1457 01:19:55,207 --> 01:20:01,296 and maybe is waiting for us all to finally grow up. 1458 01:20:01,422 --> 01:20:03,423 CROWE: One thing that can be said 1459 01:20:03,507 --> 01:20:06,217 with a great deal of confidence 1460 01:20:06,218 --> 01:20:11,598 is that, if the contact is initiated by them, 1461 01:20:11,682 --> 01:20:15,226 they are going to be not only superior to us, 1462 01:20:15,227 --> 01:20:18,938 but greatly superior to us. 1463 01:20:19,064 --> 01:20:23,234 They won't be just beginners like we are. 1464 01:20:23,235 --> 01:20:27,697 They will be far more advanced than we are. 1465 01:20:34,747 --> 01:20:37,540 NARRATOR: Both the jungle and zoo hypotheses 1466 01:20:37,666 --> 01:20:41,044 propose that alien beings are watching us, 1467 01:20:41,128 --> 01:20:45,507 but are, for the time being, keeping their distance. 1468 01:20:45,633 --> 01:20:47,300 But what if they’re not? 1469 01:20:47,426 --> 01:20:51,513 What if the alien mission was to integrate with our society 1470 01:20:51,639 --> 01:20:54,265 in a way that avoids detection? 1471 01:20:54,266 --> 01:20:59,896 If so, might they be walking among us right now? 1472 01:21:04,276 --> 01:21:07,654 According to the ancient astronaut theory, 1473 01:21:07,738 --> 01:21:10,740 aliens may have come to Earth for many reasons: 1474 01:21:10,866 --> 01:21:13,952 to excavate, to breed, to conquer, 1475 01:21:14,078 --> 01:21:16,579 or simply to explore. 1476 01:21:16,705 --> 01:21:18,998 MATTHEW F. DOWD: Certainly, we want to go out 1477 01:21:19,124 --> 01:21:20,291 and find out about things we don't know about. 1478 01:21:20,334 --> 01:21:22,210 We see the moon. 1479 01:21:22,294 --> 01:21:24,462 We want to go up to the moon and find out more things about it; 1480 01:21:24,547 --> 01:21:26,172 we see Mars, we want to go there. 1481 01:21:26,298 --> 01:21:28,299 We want to go to Jupiter. We send out our probes. 1482 01:21:28,300 --> 01:21:31,302 So, if aliens are something like us, 1483 01:21:31,303 --> 01:21:33,596 then perhaps they have that same kind of motivation. 1484 01:21:33,722 --> 01:21:35,223 They just want to go learn. 1485 01:21:36,684 --> 01:21:39,394 TSOUKALOS: Just like we exhibit curiosity, 1486 01:21:39,520 --> 01:21:45,316 there are other species out there that have the same trait. 1487 01:21:46,902 --> 01:21:49,362 It would be very egotistical to think 1488 01:21:49,488 --> 01:21:53,116 that we're the only explorers in this galaxy. 1489 01:21:53,200 --> 01:21:55,702 I mean, that would be a very sad statement 1490 01:21:55,786 --> 01:21:59,789 to suggest we're the only ones with a brain 1491 01:21:59,915 --> 01:22:02,500 and want to go out there and explore. 1492 01:22:05,045 --> 01:22:07,046 NARRATOR: But while our own journeys into space 1493 01:22:07,172 --> 01:22:09,424 have been brief and largely exploratory, 1494 01:22:09,550 --> 01:22:13,344 could other beings, traveling millions of miles to Earth, 1495 01:22:13,345 --> 01:22:15,346 have stayed? 1496 01:22:15,389 --> 01:22:18,850 And, if so, might they still be among us? 1497 01:22:18,976 --> 01:22:21,936 CHILDRESS: Many ancient astronaut theorists think 1498 01:22:22,021 --> 01:22:23,646 this all happened in the past 1499 01:22:23,772 --> 01:22:26,566 and the extraterrestrials came here, did this and did that, 1500 01:22:26,650 --> 01:22:29,193 and then they took off back to their own planet. 1501 01:22:31,071 --> 01:22:33,448 But there's a lot of evidence to show that extraterrestrials 1502 01:22:33,574 --> 01:22:36,451 who might have come here in the past, they've never left. 1503 01:22:38,996 --> 01:22:42,373 They have bases somewhere on the planet 1504 01:22:42,374 --> 01:22:46,377 underneath the oceans, inside mountains. 1505 01:22:48,005 --> 01:22:51,883 In South America, there is very strong beliefs 1506 01:22:52,009 --> 01:22:57,263 that many UFOs come out of lakes and underwater. 1507 01:22:57,389 --> 01:23:02,435 And that Lake Titicaca and other lakes in Peru and Bolivia 1508 01:23:02,561 --> 01:23:07,398 and other areas of South America have some kind of underground, 1509 01:23:07,399 --> 01:23:11,694 underwater alien base associated with them. 1510 01:23:16,200 --> 01:23:19,410 If aliens were coming to our planet, 1511 01:23:19,411 --> 01:23:21,204 there seems little doubt 1512 01:23:21,288 --> 01:23:24,791 that they would stop at the moon on their way here. 1513 01:23:26,669 --> 01:23:30,213 The moon itself is kind of the eye in the sky. 1514 01:23:31,840 --> 01:23:34,842 NASA says that the moon is apparently hollow. 1515 01:23:38,013 --> 01:23:40,139 During the Apollo missions, 1516 01:23:40,265 --> 01:23:43,434 the command module crashed into the moon... 1517 01:23:45,270 --> 01:23:46,521 (bell clangs) 1518 01:23:46,647 --> 01:23:50,441 ...and the moon rang like a bell for hours. 1519 01:23:50,442 --> 01:23:53,361 There are craters on the moon 1520 01:23:53,445 --> 01:23:56,072 which they cannot find a bottom to, 1521 01:23:56,156 --> 01:23:58,950 and it's thought, by some researchers, 1522 01:23:59,076 --> 01:24:05,456 that these bottomless craters are entrances inside our moon. 1523 01:24:10,045 --> 01:24:12,964 The whole enigma of the moon 1524 01:24:13,090 --> 01:24:16,175 gets weirder and weirder the more you know it. 1525 01:24:16,301 --> 01:24:19,470 Was the moon actually brought here from another solar system 1526 01:24:19,471 --> 01:24:23,141 and put into orbit around our planet? 1527 01:24:23,267 --> 01:24:26,477 Biologists say that life on this planet 1528 01:24:26,478 --> 01:24:29,731 could never have occurred without our moon. 1529 01:24:29,857 --> 01:24:31,190 And the reason for that 1530 01:24:31,316 --> 01:24:34,485 is that the moon creates the tidal effect. 1531 01:24:34,486 --> 01:24:36,988 And without the effect of tides 1532 01:24:37,114 --> 01:24:40,992 and this rhythmic motion on the oceans, 1533 01:24:41,118 --> 01:24:44,912 life would never have begun on this planet. 1534 01:24:50,502 --> 01:24:53,296 In my mind, the evidence is there 1535 01:24:53,380 --> 01:24:58,509 that the moon is a gigantic spaceship... 1536 01:24:58,510 --> 01:25:01,012 in orbit around our planet. 1537 01:25:01,138 --> 01:25:07,226 It's occupied by some extraterrestrial race. 1538 01:25:07,352 --> 01:25:12,690 In many ways, it's much like the George Lucas Death Star concept 1539 01:25:12,775 --> 01:25:17,236 in Star Wars where they're building this artificial moon 1540 01:25:17,362 --> 01:25:21,574 that's capable, with technology, of actually destroying a planet. 1541 01:25:24,912 --> 01:25:28,539 NARRATOR: But if alien beings are using the moon 1542 01:25:28,582 --> 01:25:32,585 as some sort of satellite for Earth observation, why? 1543 01:25:32,711 --> 01:25:34,587 What would be the purpose? 1544 01:25:34,713 --> 01:25:36,964 And where is the proof? 1545 01:25:37,049 --> 01:25:39,383 RED STAR: They would like to see us evolve. 1546 01:25:39,468 --> 01:25:42,261 You know, they are great masters, 1547 01:25:42,387 --> 01:25:46,349 great... um, avatars. 1548 01:25:46,433 --> 01:25:48,810 They are very high. 1549 01:25:48,936 --> 01:25:51,062 And so are we. 1550 01:25:51,188 --> 01:25:53,940 And we need to live up to our potential. 1551 01:25:55,567 --> 01:26:00,571 We really need to live up to our potential for all people. 1552 01:26:00,572 --> 01:26:02,573 (angry shouting) 1553 01:26:02,574 --> 01:26:06,828 HOWE: And today, we are living still, 1554 01:26:06,954 --> 01:26:09,038 as if we are alone in the universe 1555 01:26:09,164 --> 01:26:12,583 while hundreds and thousands of people 1556 01:26:12,626 --> 01:26:14,961 are seeing unusual craft in the skies 1557 01:26:15,045 --> 01:26:17,421 as they did 5,000 years ago. 1558 01:26:17,506 --> 01:26:24,053 And so, in a way, the idea that the ancient aliens 1559 01:26:24,179 --> 01:26:27,974 would finally be coming around full circle 1560 01:26:28,058 --> 01:26:31,602 all the way into the 21st century... 1561 01:26:31,603 --> 01:26:35,606 us trying to push open a truth 1562 01:26:35,607 --> 01:26:38,693 that governments have suppressed in the 20th century, 1563 01:26:38,819 --> 01:26:41,612 is really very ironic. 1564 01:26:44,700 --> 01:26:47,618 NARRATOR: There are many diverse and conflicting theories 1565 01:26:47,619 --> 01:26:50,621 concerning the idea that alien astronauts 1566 01:26:50,622 --> 01:26:53,124 have been visiting the earth for centuries. 1567 01:26:53,250 --> 01:26:57,712 But perhaps the proof lies in the most obvious place of all: 1568 01:26:57,838 --> 01:27:00,882 right within ourselves. 1569 01:27:01,008 --> 01:27:05,428 VON DANIKEN: Somewhere in our genes it is coded 1570 01:27:05,512 --> 01:27:09,348 that extra terrestrials were here thousands of years ago. 1571 01:27:09,474 --> 01:27:12,476 And it takes a certain time 1572 01:27:12,561 --> 01:27:17,315 before this message is open to us, maybe in the brain. 1573 01:27:17,441 --> 01:27:20,651 NOORY: I don't believe extraterrestrials, E.T.s, 1574 01:27:20,694 --> 01:27:23,696 ancient astronauts are the missing link. 1575 01:27:23,822 --> 01:27:26,032 I think what they very well could be, 1576 01:27:26,116 --> 01:27:28,075 they may be the beginning of the link-- 1577 01:27:28,160 --> 01:27:31,162 the link that helped genetically alter human beings, 1578 01:27:31,288 --> 01:27:33,664 the link that jump-started our civilization 1579 01:27:33,665 --> 01:27:35,958 the way we are today. 1580 01:27:36,084 --> 01:27:39,045 It's very possible they came down here 1581 01:27:39,129 --> 01:27:42,256 and saw some creature, and they said, "You know what? 1582 01:27:42,341 --> 01:27:43,925 "We're going to jump-start this. 1583 01:27:44,051 --> 01:27:47,303 "It may take another ten million years 1584 01:27:47,387 --> 01:27:50,681 for this thing to become smart and intelligent." 1585 01:27:50,682 --> 01:27:52,600 So they created us. 1586 01:27:52,684 --> 01:27:54,852 And we're smart and intelligent now, aren't we?