The Ancient Alien Question Read online

  In Chariots of the Gods, von Däniken posed more than 230 questions, each one of them challenging the scientific paradigm of the late 1960s. Demonstrating that science had not properly explained a given structure, artifact, or legend, he then queried whether they could be evidence of an alien visitation or intervention. He pointed at the pyramids of Giza in Egypt, and the phenomenally intricate walls at many of the Peruvian archaeological sites, such as Sacsayhuaman, where the most oddly shaped stones, some weighing more than 100 tons, fit perfectly together, as if first designed on a computer screen. Questions are also raised by quaint descriptions in the bible, such as how Lot’s wife could possibly have turned to salt when looking back at Sodom being destroyed by God. And what are we to make of Genesis 6, where there are references to giants and “the sons of God” coming down to mate with “the daughters of men”? The question of alien intervention in our planet’s history has continued to be posed...and only in the rarest of occasions has science provided an answer.

  “Science”—I use the term occasionally to encompass the entire scientific field and its members; similarly “archaeology”—feels it should not have to answer these questions, because, as scientists see it, they are posed by an idiot (though on occasion science will try to find a nicer word for it). When Erich von Däniken spoke at Northwestern University in Evanton, Illinois, on December 2, 1973, he invited the audience to look at the evidence with “today’s Space-age eyes—not the eyes of yesterday.” During the questions afterward, he was asked if he had received any academic degrees, to which he replied, “If a degree were offered in my subject, I would be the professor.” On February 12, 1975, the University of Bolivia actually bestowed him with the degree of Honorary Doctor, for his valuable services toward the enrichment of the academic and scientific heritage of the university, as well as for bringing to the attention of the world the importance of the archaeological treasures that exist in the altiplano of the Andes.

  What von Däniken wrote in 1968 is the underlying principle of the Ancient Alien Theory: that we need to re-examine all our archaeological records through the lens of the late 20th and early 21st century, as we might have failed to recognize that some ancient structures were built with highly technological means and/or by, or with the help of, nonhuman intelligences.

  Though science as a whole has refused to accept this invitation, individual scientists have. Dr. Hermann Oberth, the father of modern rocketry, was once asked about the Ancient Alien Theory, and he replied that he was convinced that there were other intelligences in the universe, and that they had probably visited Earth in ancient times. He added, “Most conservative scientists are against everything that is new, just as they were against my plans to build rockets that could take man to the moon. Scientists who considered themselves to be very modern-thinking people announced that man might reach the moon, but not before many, many thousands of years.”1

  Skeptical scholars have claimed that they do not need to look at the Ancient Alien Question, because von Däniken has been proven wrong. They site certain ancient sites, like Peru’s famous Nazca lines, hundreds of lines drawn on the desert sands of Peru, somewhat resembling the layout of a modern airport, which were hardly explored by scientists at the time von Däniken brought them to global attention. Could it be an ancient airport?, von Däniken pondered. The suggestion has since become one of the most famous examples of the Ancient Alien Question. By posing it, von Däniken forced scientists to study the lines closely, after decades of neglect. He forced science to come up with an answer. Though the answer revealed that the Nazca lines were not the product of an alien civilization or intervention, the investigation did radically alter science’s understanding of this region and the local civilization, discovering that it was far more advanced than previously assumed. There is even speculation that the people who created these geoglyphs between AD 450 and 600 possessed hot air balloons!

  On rare occasions such as this, science has addressed the Ancient Alien Question, but still, at more than 40 years later, most of the 230 questions posed by von Däniken remain unanswered by science. Worse, science refuses to pose the question itself, and, almost half a century later, it therefore remains the task of people outside the scientific community to ask the question again.

  Since 1968, many new archaeological discoveries have been made. Some, like the pyramid complex outside of the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo (discovered in 2005), have clearly illustrated the standoff between traditional historians and archaeologists when it comes to discoveries that challenge our accepted view of history. Western European and American archaeologists even declared a boycott of the site: They all agreed that they would not provide archaeological services for the project. I participated in a scientific conference on these pyramids in August 2008, which was attended by more than 50 academics, including 20 leading Egyptologists, among them the deans of archaeology of Ain Shams and Cairo University. During the debates, the audience was astonished to learn that these leading Egyptologists did not know that officially the oldest pyramid is now in Peru (dated to 3200 BC, almost a millennium older than those of Egypt). Neither did they know that the world’s largest pyramid is in Mexico (Cholula). When the leading archaeologists of our time do not even know—or can’t accept—the latest scientific findings in their field, is there any hope that they will ever be willing to address the Ancient Alien Question?

  The answer is a clear no, as can be seen in one of the most famous examples of the Ancient Alien Question: the Great Pyramid of Giza. Elements of the Giza Plateau continue to pose serious problems to established archaeologists: Egyptologists declare that the blocks of the Great Pyramid were hewn from a nearby quarry, but French scholar Joseph Davidovits strongly disagrees. Davidovits is internationally known and respected as the father of the new science of geopolymers. Geopolymerization is a chemical process through which artificial stone can be created that is almost indistinguishable from natural rock. This science is considered to be a revolution in the building industry. Applying this new science to old discoveries Davidovits has identified the blocks of the Great Pyramid as geopolymers, not natural rock—a conclusion he has reached through both chemical and observational analyses. However, leading Egyptologists, such as Dr. Zahi Hawass, misinterpret his conclusion by thinking that Davidovits is saying the blocks are “cement,” and vociferously proclaim that the Great Pyramid is clearly not made of cement, and therefore Davidovits is wrong! Hawass’s approach to new and radical conclusions is typical of science as a whole when confronted with new discoveries; rather than trying to respond to a most scientific theory supported by substantial evidence, Egyptologists prefer to ridicule and push aside this esteemed scholar. Of course, assuming that Davidovits is right—and he more than likely is—the next question to be asked is how the builders of the Great Pyramid were familiar with a chemical science that was only (re)discovered in the late 20th century. That is exactly the question Egyptologists do not want to hear asked, for it is automatically followed by the Ancient Alien Question.

  Today, hundreds of sites across the world display signs that the history of these monuments is far more involved than mainstream archaeology would have us believe. One of the more intriguing locations is Puma Punku, a small archaeological site that is part of Tiahuanaco on the Bolivian altiplano near Lake Titicaca. The site comprises stones that are so perfectly assembled that a razor blade cannot be inserted between them, and some of them weigh more than 100 tons. Most critically, some stones are very oddly shaped: One block has a six-sided opening on one side that becomes, on the other side of the same stone, a five-sided opening. Why anyone wanted or needed a stone with an opening that goes from a hexagon to a pentagon is a question archaeology has not posed—maybe because, even in the 21st century, modern science has no need for such intricate designs. There is also one stone at Puma Punku that has a 6-millimeter-wide groove containing equidistant drilled holes, which is an incredibly detailed feature to accomplish even today, and which clearly had some purpos
e to the site’s builders 1,500 years ago. Archaeology remains largely silent about Puma Punku.

  The Ancient Alien Question is a worldwide problem. When we look at Cuzco (Peru), we see intricate walls, some having 12 angles to each stone, on top of which very basic stones have been piled. It is clear that the lower levels are of a technologically sophisticated society, predating the Inca civilization, which used it as a foundation for their own buildings. But which civilization that was is a question not posed by science.

  There is also the gigantic standing stone in Carnac (France). The Grand Menhir, weighing 340 tons, was cut from a single piece of granite-like rock and transported “by a means we do not understand for certain,” according to the site leaflet. Elsewhere, there are three 800-ton stones incorporated into the base of the Temple of Baalbek in the Lebanon, while one weighing more than 1,200 tons lies abandoned in a nearby quarry. At the end of the 20th century, we had equipment capable of lifting up to 2,000 tons, but were still unable to transport these blocks. This means that the engineers of Baalbek possessed a technology that surpassed modern capabilities. Archaeology has never been able to explain how our ancestors were able to accomplish this.

  Because archaeology and history are such insular disciplines—always looking within a culture but never across cultures—a series of pertinent questions are never asked, let alone answered. For example, why is it that in 2500 BC, the three pyramids of the Giza Complex in Egypt were laid out in the formation of Orion’s Belt, and that about two millennia later, the three pyramids of Teotihuacán in Mexico, on the other side of the world, were constructed similarly? Clearly, there was a common understanding or an exchange of ideas, yet science dogmatically states that there was no such contact, and that the cultures of Egypt and Central America developed completely independently from each other until Columbus discovered the New World in 1492. Why is it that cultures that supposedly never met still held gold to be the metal of the gods, even though gold as such has little practical value or utility? Such evidence makes it clear that our ancestors communicated far more frequently than accepted history dictates. At the very least, a group of experts must have traveled around the world, sharing advanced knowledge among many ancient civilizations.

  In 1968, von Däniken also identified a number of artifacts that in his opinion were evidence of advanced technology, such as the ancient Baghdad electric batteries, which have now been proven to indeed be able to hold electrical charges, and a small bee-like carving that he believed was a tiny representation of an airplane, which has since been reproduced and is shown to have perfect flying capabilities. Terra Preta, a type of soil, has recently been identified as being present across the Amazon basin. This soil type is incredibly fertile—and artificially engineered. The presence of this soil is evidence of a lost civilization that was once spread across the Amazon; as many as 20 million people lived there at one point. Indeed, in 1541, Spanish friar Gaspar de Carvajal chronicled the area’s “cities that gleamed white,” with “fine highways” and “fruitful lands.”2 But shortly afterward, none of these cities could be found, so scientists referred to de Carvajal and others reporting similar bustling cities as deluded. Today, this erroneous interpretation of history is slowly being rectified, as it has been archaeologically shown that these cities indeed existed. This lost Amazonian civilization shows how quickly traces of an advanced civilization can disappear, and demonstrates that our perspective on history needs to adapt and change on an almost daily basis. Alas, this happens all too seldom. By posing the Ancient Alien Question, it will become clear whether civilization (agriculture, organized religion, and so on), that great adventure our ancestors began several thousands of years ago, was a purely human enterprise or was aided by otherworldly intelligences. Indications are that the truth about our past is far more interesting than what we have believed, and this book will show that the evidence clearly suggests that we were not alone.

  Indeed, what astronomy is discovering is that the building blocks of life did not originate on Earth, but came here from outer space. In the early 1970s, Francis Crick, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, argued that DNA was too complex and intricate to have been accidentally created in primordial ooze on planet Earth. Half a century later, he is being proven correct. Scientific juggernauts like the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are now proposing that comets brought amino acids to our planet. British astrophysicists Sir Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe have even shown that a number of viruses—including the common flu virus—come from outer space, arriving on our planet via passing comets whose dust settles in our upper atmosphere. In November 1999, the Leonids meteor train was found to contain signatures of organic material. All life on Earth is therefore likely to be of extraterrestrial origin, with the building blocks of DNA, according to the latest scientific research, even spontaneously being created in interstellar space. This suggests that DNA-based life is intrinsic to the very fabric of the universe; it means that somewhere out there, the odds are good that we could find life as it exists on our planet.

  Our ancestors understood that they were not alone, and said as much. The legends of so many civilizations speak clearly of a time when “the gods” walked among us. The Egyptian civilization is but one of several that have such references. Science scoffs at these legends. But, as in the case of the Amazonian civilization, it is clear that the stories were finally found to have been true—we just chose to ignore or disbelieve them, until the evidence was so substantial and direct that it had to be accepted as factual. Hundreds of legends exist about deities that descended from the skies and interacted with humankind and taught them civilization. Almost every ancient civilization on this planet has written accounts that say as much. This is a cross-cultural phenomenon, occurring in civilizations that officially never had any contact with each other. The Ancient Alien Question is merely asking, if some legends are proving to be true, whether other legends could be true as well. And there is substantial evidence, from the Giza Plateau to the mountainous heights of Peru, that the answer to the question is yes—We Were Not Alone.

  Chapter 1

  One Small Question for Man, One Giant Question for Humankind

  The term First Contact applies to the moment when we employ a means of communication with alien beings that also have a means of talking back to us. There are several ways First Contact could happen. The most popular idea, originating from the UFO phenomenon, is the image of ET landing on the lawn of the White House and greeting the president. However, scientists hope they are the first to establish communication with ET, via radio signals. In science fiction, First Contact was most famously envisioned in the television series Star Trek. It occurred—or should that read, will occur?—on April 5, 2063, when Zefram Cochrane made the first warp drive flight on a ship called the Phoenix. The flight was noticed by the Vulcans, who then landed on Earth to make contact with humankind, telling us that we were not alone in the universe. From there on, we boldly went where no one had gone before.

  In real life, theoretical physicist Michio Kaku has said that First Contact would be an earth-changing event. After the discovery of fire, agriculture, writing, and mathematics, he says, “First Contact would top everything.”1 It would be the most giant step humankind had ever taken, or encountered. The question, of course, is whether First Contact has already been established, or is still a thing of the future. Proponents of the Ancient Alien Theory argue that First Contact has already happened, but that this momentous event has somehow been forgotten. Could that truly be the case?

  Contact

  In 1997, I attended the Ancient Astronaut Society’s World Conference in Orlando, Florida, and visited the Kennedy Space Center while I was at it. That same week, I saw the enjoyable movie Men in Black and the deeply inspired Contact, the latter based on a Carl Sagan novel in which the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence project (SETI) makes contact with an alien civilization. What happens next is relevant to the Ancient Alien Question: The message humank
ind receives contains a blueprint of an extremely complex device, whose ultimate purpose is unknown, but is assumed to send a person to the aliens’ home world. The construction of the device also requires the active cooperation—and finances—of several nations. Once it is built, someone is selected to occupy the “seat,” which turns out to propel this person to another dimension, apparently light-years away, where the “only” thing that happens is a conversation with these alien beings—without leaving behind any material evidence that contact has been made between two intelligent species. When the human scientist asks the aliens whether they constructed a series of what seem to be stargates or interdimensional portals, the alien answers that they do not know who built this mechanism through which they and other species can hop through the universe; someone long ago built it, but the who is unknown.

  The ensuing congressional hearings formally conclude that there is no evidence that contact was established, and that the device malfunctioned. Though the scientist swears it sent her into another dimension, none of the instruments there to monitor the device registered this event.

  Let’s take this outside of the realm of fiction. If this scenario had occurred in real life, the only physical remains of contact with aliens would be two devices: one blown up by a terrorist on Cape Canaveral and the other on an island near Japan. Fast-forward several hundred (if not thousand) years, and what would we see? What would we remember? Would anything survive? Let’s be totally realistic, and ask what our ancestors a thousand years from now will find at Cape Canaveral. Will any of the metal launch platforms survive? Unlikely. Some of the ruins of the buildings might be found, but maybe not even that. If we are lucky, there might be accounts of how, for a brief period of time, humankind sent people into space, and that we once went to the moon. Today, there are several popular authors who hotly contest that we ever went to the moon, arguing that the landing was just American propaganda created to instill a sense of superiority over the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. Though I do not agree, let us assume that some of their writings also survive the test of time, and the future historians incorporate them in their accounts. Future history might then say that “There was a widely held belief that humans walked on the moon, but even in their own times, some thought otherwise.” The historians might go on to say that they have found archaeological evidence at Cape Canaveral, but that the question of whether or not we ever went into space, or to the moon, cannot be proven.