By now, almost everyone is familiar with the History Network’s most famous show, Ancient Aliens. Even those who aren’t die hard fans have likely come across an episode in passing, or have definitely seen one of the multiple memes involving frequent interviewee and producer Giorgio Tsoukalos and his ever-expanding hair.
The show presents various topics involving ancient alien theory, which claims that aliens have visited our planet in the past and influenced our development and history as species. As ludicrous as this sounds, some theories actually seem somewhat plausible, while others are as out there as E.T.’s home planet.
Males Sense: Orion Correlation Theory
Ancient Aliens is presented in a documentary-style format, which means it relies heavily on expository narration and interviews with eye-witnesses and experts in the field. The series has its regulars in producer Giorgio Tsoukalos, author David Childress, and the grandfather of ancient alien theory, Erik Von Däniken.
Occasional contributor Robert Bauval related one of his more interesting theories, in that the position of the locations of the pyramids at Giza correspond exactly with the positions of the stars in Orion’s Belt. Too precise to be a coincidence, it begs the question as to whether the ancient Egyptians had otherworldly help in designing such a complex engineering plan.
Ridiculous: Hollow Earth Theory
One of the more far-fetched theories the show has advocated is that of the Hollow Earth, which postulates that the Earth does not contain a mantle or molten core, but is in fact, empty. This theory was popularized in the recent MonsterVerse films, which showed that underneath the Earth’s crust is a vast and lush environment where monsters like Godzilla and King Kong live and originate from.
Ancient Aliens has frequently made reference to the idea that extraterrestrials are using the Earth’s interior as a base of operations to spy on humanity. Notwithstanding the fact that the Hollow Earth Theory was disproven centuries ago, it’s hard to believe that a species that has mastered interstellar travel would need to hide in a way that doesn’t use technology.
Makes Sense: Rendlesham Forest Incident
In late December of 1980, the skies near the RAF Woodbridge Base near Rendlesham forest lit up with unidentified lights. Dispatched to investigate, USAF sergeant James Penniston came across an unidentified flying object nestled in the canopy. Proceeding with caution, he eventually got close enough to touch it, as it had what he described as grooved hieroglyphics carved into its hull.
As several Ancient Aliens episodes relate, Penniston would later get flashes of the numbers 1 and 0 through his mind, always in the same order, which he wrote down in a notebook. After decades, he had the sequence of numbers decoded in binary. The result was a message that was difficult to discount, to say nothing of being both otherworldly and chilling.
Ridiculous: That’s No Moon…
It’s a scene that’s famous to both Star Wars fans and everyday moviegoers alike. As the Millennium Falcon chases a lone Tie-Fighter through the debris field that was once Alderaan, Luke Skywalker notes that he’s headed for a small moon. In an astute observation, Obi-Wan Kenobi notes, “that’s no moon, that’s a space station,” underscoring the awesomeness of the Death Star.
Some of the contributors to Ancient Aliens must have been Star Wars fans, because they theorize that the moon may be an artificial, dust-covered alien satellite meant to spy on us. To say that is outlandish is an understatement, as multiple manned missions and probes have definitively proved otherwise.
Makes Sense: Cattle Mutilations
On the surface, the phenomenon of cattle mutilations- the widespread dismemberment of livestock across the globe- can be explained away by everything from predation to natural decomposition. But a closer inspection reveals that those theories don’t hold water.
Firstly, the areas where the wounds appear are eerily similar: ears, eyeballs, jaws, genitals, and the rectum. Secondly, they are bloodless. Thirdly, they are performed with a surgery-like precision- neat, clean, and with no ragged edges or teeth marks. So unless Wile E. Coyote has finally put his Acme products to good use, there’s just as much of a chance of these mutilations being authored by extraterrestrials as they are by wolves or bears with scalpels.
Ridiculous: The Reptilians
Beyond faking the moon landing and flat-earth conspiracy theories, one of the most outlandish speculations to surface in recent years is that revolving around extraterrestrial beings know as the “Reptilians.”
Popularized by British author David Icke and featured on several episodes of Ancient Aliens, the theory postulates that the Earth is controlled by a cadre of shape-shifting alien reptilian humanoids from another dimension. Using subterfuge and disguise, their plan is to control key areas of human politics, government, militaries, and economics to create a New World Order with themselves at its head.
Makes Sense: Puma Punku
When it comes to famous structures of the ancient world, there are arguably none more famous than the Pyramids of Giza. They also have quite a notoriety amongst ancient alien theorists, who marvel at their engineering and are convinced that the level of technical knowledge needed to build such structures had to come from extraterrestrial tutors.
But they aren’t the only structures ancient alien theorists believe were built with alien know-how. Puma Punku, an archeological structure built in the mountains of Bolivia, was constructed with such precision that a piece of paper can’t be slid between the blocks. These megaton blocks were also too heavy to transport by people who had no access to modern machinery. Where did the knowledge come from then? According to the experts on Ancient Aliens, the answer lies in the stars…
Ridiculous: Aliens Killed The Dinosaurs
Even before Jurassic Park and its many sequels thrilled audiences with live-action representations of these magnificent beasts, dinosaurs captured the imaginations of millions. Equally as awe-inspiring was the method of their extinction: an asteroid that slammed into Earth causing untold destruction approximately 66 million years ago.
Ancient alien theorists don’t discount the asteroid theory but do not believe it hit the Earth at random. Rather, they believe the asteroid was directed here by aliens who wished to clear the Earth of life so as make room for their latest project: humanity.
Makes Sense: Abductions
Perhaps the best evidence offered by Ancient Aliens as to the existence of extraterrestrial life are accounts of alien abductions. Ancient and modern history is rife with sources describing otherworldly beings appearing at night to take wary sleepers to mysterious places and subject them to biological experiments.
Most would discount these experiences as fevered dreams, but how would one account for the consistency in all these accounts despite differences in time and geography? Also, what about the mysterious, microscopic metal fragments some abductees have had surgically removed from their bodies following abductions? How did the fragments find themselves in the abductees’ bodies unbeknownst to them? The answer could very well be otherworldly.
Ridiculous: The Bigfoot/Loch Ness Connections
Believing in the existence of extraterrestrial life is difficult for most people, much less believing aliens have been visiting Earth for centuries to aid humanity in its development. When you add Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster to the mix, you’d be hard-pressed to find even the most open-minded individual willing to even entertain the idea.
Some ancient alien theorists believe that Bigfoot is actually an alien evolutionary experiment left on Earth to spy on humanity for his alien masters. Others believe that the Loch Ness Monster is a creature out of time, phasing in and out of alien dimensions due to a geographic alignment of terrestrial and cosmic energies. Either way, it’s hard to give credence to such outlandish theories.
