Ancient astronaut theory
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Ancient astronaut theory is a term used to describe the theories of ancient extraterrestrial contact being involved in some way with the origin or development of human culture. Most notably popularized by authors such as Erich von Däniken and Zecharia Sitchin, this theory is an expansion or elaboration of the more basic Paleocontact theory.
These theories often claim that human beings are either the descendants or creations of beings who landed on Earth millennia ago — ideas that are commonly dismissed by the scientific community.
Another element of this view is the suggestion that much of human wisdom or religion was given to man by extraterrestrial visitors in ancient times. This possibility has been considered by some scientists, including Carl Sagan and I.S. Shklovskii, but the lack of hard evidence and the nature of the concept makes it unpopular among the scientific community.
Adherents
Ancient astronaut theories have been advanced by authors such as Charles Fort (1919), Morris K. Jessup (1955), George Hunt Williamson (1957), Peter Kolosimo (in his 1957 book, Il pianeta sconosciuto), Henri Lhote (1958),http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/L/Lhote.html Matest M. Agrest (1959), W. Raymond Drake (1964), Erich von Däniken (1968), Robert Charroux (1969), Dr. S. Lunskaya (1970) Robert K. G. Temple (1976), Zecharia Sitchin (1978) and Richard Hoagland.Däniken
Erich von Däniken was foremost in popularizing ancient astronaut theories in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the 1968 publication of his best-selling Chariots of the Gods and its sequels. The evidence that von Däniken put forward to support his vision of paleo-contact can be categorised as follows:
- Artifacts and monumental constructions have been found whose manufacture appears to have required a more sophisticated technological ability than that presumed to have been available to their associated contemporary cultures. These include objects and structures whose purpose or origins are not known, as well as those deemed to be beyond the capabilities of the societies attributed with their manufacture, at least in the eyes of Von Däniken and his supporters. Von Däniken maintains that these artifacts must have been manufactured either by extraterrestrial visitors or by humans who learned the necessary knowledge from them. Such artifacts and monuments he cites include Stonehenge, the head statues of Easter Island, the Antikythera mechanism and the Ancient Baghdad Electric Batteries. (See OOPArt)
- In ancient art and iconography throughout the world, themes can be observed which can be interpreted to illustrate astronauts, air and space vehicles, non-human but intelligent creatures, and artifacts of anachronistically-advanced technology. Von Däniken also identifies details that appear to be similar in the art of geographically-diverse historical cultures, which he argues imply a common origin.
- The origins of many religions could be interpreted or characterized as reactions to contacts of primitive humans with some alien race. In this view, the humans considered the technology of the aliens to be supernatural and the aliens themselves to be gods. According to von Däniken, the oral and written traditions of most religions contain references to visitors from stars and vehicles travelling through air and space. These, he says, should be interpreted as literal descriptions which have changed during the passage of time and become more obscure, rather than symbolic or mythical fiction. One such is Ezekiel's revelation in the Old Testament, which Däniken interprets as a detailed description of a landing spacecraft.
Sitchin
Zecharia Sitchin's continuing body of work The Earth Chronicles, beginning with the first installment The 12th Planet, revolves around Sitchin's interpretation of ancient Sumerian and Middle Eastern texts and mysterious megalithic sites and anomalous artifacts from around the world. He theorizes the gods of old were actually astronauts from the planet Nibiru, which the Sumerians believed to be a remote "12th" planet (counting the Sun and Moon as planets) associated with the god Marduk. According to Sitchin, Nibiru continues to orbit our sun on a 3,600-year elongated orbit.According to Sitchin, the Sumerians relate how 50 "Anunnaki" or inhabitants of Nibiru came to Earth approximately 400,000 years ago with the intent of mining raw materials for transport back to their own world. With their small numbers they soon tired of the task and set out to genetically engineer laborers to work the mines. After much trial and error they eventually created homo sapiens sapiens: the "Adapa" (model man) or Adam of later mythology.
Evidence
Many authors use ancient mythologies to support their theories, most notably the basic tenet of nearly all ancient creation myths of a god or gods having come from the "heavens" to earth and creating man, with the extraordinary adventures of these various gods interpreted as being modern technologies as seen from the perspective of a simple-minded earthman.For example, flying machines often show up in ancient texts. One classical example is the Vimanas, flying machines that can be found in the literature of India in which stories range from fantastic aerial battles employing various weaponry including bombs, to the mundane relating simple technical information, flight procedure, and flights of fancy.http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_7.htm#Ancient%20Indian
In the Biblical Old Testament, God is described as having various attributes that could be interpreted as primitive descriptions of advanced rockets or other flying machines. He is described as having an upper body of metal[Ezekiel 1:26-28], appearing on a column of smoke and/or fire[Exodus 13:21] and making the sound of a trumpet[Exodus 19:16-19]. These descriptions portray the God of the ancient Hebrews as not only having the characteristics of a flying machine, but also quite clearly describe God as a physical presence[Numbers 35:34], not an abstraction. This God follows the Hebrews around and rains lighting[2 Samuel 22:10-16] and stones[Joshua 10:10-11] down upon their enemies from His position in the sky. Additionally, the characteristics of the Ark of the Covenant[Wikipedia Baghdad Battery article]: "On Mythbusters' 29th episode (which aired on March 23, 2005), the Baghdad battery "myth" was put to the test... For the religious experience aspect of the batteries, a replica of the fabled Ark of the Covenant was constructed, complete with two angels (strangely resembling Adam and Jamie). Instead of linking the angels’ golden wings to the low power batteries, an electric fence generator was connected. When touched, the wings produced a strong feeling of tightness in the chest. Although the batteries themselves had not been used, it was surmised that, due to the apparent lack of knowledge of electricity, any form of electrical sensation from them could equate to the “divine presence” in the eyes of ancient people. and the Urim and Thummim[Wikipedia article on Urim and Thummim]: "According to the teachings of Judaism, a small parchment with God's holy name, the Tetragrammaton, inscribed on it was slipped into an opening under the Urim and Thummim on the high priest's breast plate, which caused the breastplate to "glow" and thereby "transmit messages" from God to the Children of Israel." are identified as suggesting high technology, perhaps from alien origins.
Other examples include the very detailed descriptions in the Biblical Book of Ezekiel, the apocryphal Book of Enoch, and countless ancient stories from China to Peru.
Physical evidence includes the discovery of ancient "model airplanes" in Egypt and South America, which bear a passing resemblance to modern planes and gliders.http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_7.htm Probably the most famous piece of circumstantial evidence are the Nazca lines of Peru; countless enormous ground drawings which can only be seen from high in the air.http://www.peru-explorer.com/nasca.htm and http://www.crystalinks.com/nazca.html
Earlier ideas
Earlier sources — while generally not referencing ancient astronauts per se — suggest the creation of some monuments was beyond human means, such as Saxo Grammaticus' suggestion that giants had created Denmark's massive dolmens, or in tales that Merlin had assembled Stonehenge via magic.Evidence for ancient astronauts often consists of allegations that ancient monuments, such as the pyramids of Egypt, or Machu Picchu in Peru, or other ancient megalithic ruins, such as Baalbek in Lebanon,http://www.sacredsites.com/middle_east/lebanon/baalbek.htm could not have been built without technical abilities beyond those of people at that time. Such allegations are not unique in history. Similar reasoning lay behind the wonder of the Cyclopean masonry walling at Mycenaean cities in the eyes of Greeks of the following "Dark Age," who believed that the giant Cyclopes had built the walls. Typical candidates for the lost civilizations that taught or provided these skills are the lost continents of Atlantis, Lemuria and Mu.
Another frequent theme that can be encountered in many mythologies is a person who comes from far away as a god, or as the archetype of a "civilizing hero" who brings knowledge to mankind. Prometheus is the best-known Western example. In Native American lore there are numerous examples, including Quetzalcoatl of the Aztecs and Viracocha of the Incas.
In Theosophical writings of the 19th and early 20th centuries, many precursors to the ancient astronaut theories can be found. Theosophy influenced authors such as H. P. Lovecraft and Charles Fort, and even later authors such as Erich von Däniken.
Ancient astronauts in fiction
The ancient astronaut theory has been addressed frequently in science fiction and horror fiction. Early occurrences in the genres include H. P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu (1926) and At the Mountains of Madness (1931), and John W. Campbell's Who Goes There? (1938) (the last two stories both incidentally set in Antarctica). Arthur C. Clarke has written several stories utilizing the theme, most famously in . So too did Walter Ernsting (The Day the Gods Died). Douglas Adams used a satirical version of the theory in his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. The Doctor Who serial Pyramids of Mars featured the Egyptian gods being aliens. In Larry Niven's Known Space, humanity is descended from aliens called The Pak. In Star Trek, The Progenitors seeded the galaxy with humanoid life. Even the Tintin adventure Flight 714 references ancient astronaut theories.The TV show The X-Files has borrowed the theory, and both the original Battlestar Galactica and the 2003 remake explored the idea that Earth was colonized by man millennia ago. The movie Stargate and its spin-off television series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis feature aliens posing as gods to influence early earth cultures, and later on in the SG-1 series, aliens are found to have traveled to earth millions of years ago to influence human evolution. The Stargate: Ultimate Edition: Director’s Cut DVD includes a featurette interview with Erich von Däniken entitled "Is there a Stargate?".
The computer game Rise of Legends features the Cuotl, a Pre-Columbian mesoamerican civilisation manipulated by a group of aliens whose spaceship crashed.
The Tabletop Battle Game, Warhammer Fantasy also uses aspects of the Ancient Astronaut Theory. The race of Lizardmen being created by the so called Old Ones in an attempt to fight Chaos.
The manga Bio-Booster Armor Guyver features numerous ancient astronaut trappings in its explanation of the Creators and the origin of the Guyver.
Notes
References
- Erich Von Daniken, Chariots of the Gods. Berkley Publishing Group, 1972. ISBN 0425166805.
- Zecharia Sitchin, The 12th Planet (The Earth Chronicles, Book 1). Avon, 1999. ISBN 038039362X.
- Rael, The Message Given by Extra-terrestials. Nova Dist. 1974. ISBN 2940252203
- Robert Charroux, Masters of the world. Berkley Pub. Corp. 1974. ASIN B0006WIE1O
See also
External links
- [Center for Ancient Astronaut Research]
- [Erich von Däniken Homepage]
- [Annual Ancient Astronaut Theory Forum]
- [Von Daniken's Maya Astronaut]
- [Aurora Paradox]
- [Aliens in Cryptozoology]
- [Ellen Lloyd's Ancient Astronauts]
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