"Ancient astronauts" (or "ancient aliens") refers to the idea, often presented in a pseudoscientific way, that intelligent extraterrestrial beings visited Earth and made contact with humans in antiquity and prehistoric times. Proponents suggest that this contact influenced the development of modern cultures, technologies, religions, and human biology. A common position is that deities from most, if not all, religions are extraterrestrial in origin, and that advanced technologies brought to Earth by ancient astronauts were interpreted as evidence of divine status by early humans...
TheThe idea that ancient astronauts existed is not taken seriously by most academics, and has received no credible attention in peer reviewed studies. When proponents of the idea present evidence in favor of their beliefs, it is often distorted or fabricated. Well-known proponents in the latter half of the 20th century who have written numerous books or appear regularly in mass media include Erich von Däniken, Zecharia Sitchin, Robert K. G. Temple, Giorgio A. Tsoukalos and David Hatcher Childress...
The premise of the series "Ancient Aliens" is based on and inspired by the pseudoscientific ancient astronauts hypothesis previously popularized in Chariots of the Gods? by Erich von Däniken, and The 12th Planet, by Zecharia Sitchin, which purports extra-terrestrial beings visited the Earth in antiquity or prehistoric times and introduced civilization, architecture, and high-technology, to primitive humans. Many, if not all, of ancient man's achievements in language, mathematics, science, technology and stone construction, such as Egyptian pyramids, Pumapunku, and Stonehenge, are attributed to ancient man acting under the influence of extra-terrestrials. Remnants of said visitations are found in religious texts, ancient myth and legendary histories, and in the spiritual systems of many of the world's religions—such as Hinduism, Ancient Egyptian religion, Gnostic Christianity, and Mormonism. The hypothesis also purports ancient visitations left etymological remnants in many of the world's languages, such as the root words for "Dagon", "dragon", "dog", and "Danann", or the frequent occurrence of the word "anu" meaning friend or visitor. Many of the interviewed guest, who are introduced as ancient alien theorists or researchers, support these claims, either in their own work—creating a shared cosmology—or via statements made on-camera. Claims that anatomically modern humans were the result of genetic modification and or are somehow biologically descended from the ancient aliens—a hypothesis also popularized by von Däniken and Sitchin—are the focus of many episodes. UFO conspiracy theories and alien abduction claims, feature prominently in many episodes, in addition to claims related to the Roswell and Rendlesham Forest incidents. Such claims are explored within the context of the ancient astronauts cosmology, in addition to panspermia, and human space exploration both ancient and recent...
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