Ancient Aliens

The premise of the series is based upon 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 that extraterrestrial beings visited 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 the influence of extraterrestrials. Remnants of said visitations are claimed to be found in religious texts, ancient myths and legendary histories, and the spiritual systems of many of the world's religions, including Hinduism, Ancient Egyptian religion, Gnostic Christianity, and Mormonism. The hypothesis also holds that 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 guests, who are introduced as "ancient alien theorists" or "researchers," support these claims, either in their own work or via statements made on camera, thereby creating a shared cosmology. Claims that anatomically modern humans are 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.

Claims related to UFO conspiracy theories, alien abductions, the Roswell and Rendlesham Forest incidents, in panspermia, and human space exploration feature prominently in many episodes and are explored within the context of the ancient-astronauts cosmology.

The series presents all claims made by guests in an uncritical format. The narration frames responses to claims as a rhetorical question, which is answered as: "ancient alien theorists say yes," or a variation thereof. Chariots of the Gods? used similar framing device. After a particular claim is explored in some detail, the narration cuts away with: "Perhaps more evidence can be found…" Another location, archeological find, or event, with a hypothetical connection to the previous claim, is introduced. Smithsonian Magazine described this presentation style as a Gish gallop.[8] Terms such as "ancient astronauts", "ancient aliens", "alien visitors", "extra-terrestrial beings", "ancient gods", and "otherworldly beings", are used interchangeably by guests and the narration. Guests frequently conflate the meaning of "theory" and "hypothesis".

There is little use of precise calendrical dates in many episodes. Guests use terms such as "the remote past", "prehistoric times", or they refer to "… our ancient ancestors" in the abstract when discussing hypothetical historical events. There is a frequent demarcation of history in numerous episodes as before or after "The Ice Age", which guests imply to mean before and after the Younger Dryas period—or, 12,000 years ago.

Writer David Childress, who appears in every episode, frequently concludes his comments with the phrase "—probably extraterrestrials." Both Childress and Giorgio Tsoukalos repeatedly assert ancient peoples lacked the vocabulary to describe "technological" or "high-tech" devices, such as rockets or missiles, advanced weapons, aircraft, powered land vehicles, and medical instruments, they supposedly witness. And thus referred to extra-terrestrial visitors using such technology as gods.

Erich von Däniken is the featured guest in the pilot episode, in addition to being the focus of two biographical episodes: "The Von Däniken Legacy", in Season 5, and "The Alien Phenomena", in Season 13.

In the first season, credentialed scientists and professionals, such as Sara Seager and Michael Denning, respond to claims made by other guests, but their rebuttals were not rigorous. In subsequent episodes, scientists and professionals offer explanations of scientific phenomena or historical events without endorsing claims made by other guests, or they offer personal commentary. Psychologist Jonathan Young appears in 123 episodes, providing explanations of myths and legends, and legendary history. Boston University associate professor Robert M. Schoch presents his Sphinx water erosion hypothesis, as well as his hypothesis concerning the age and purpose of Göbekli Tepe, in several episodes.

Radio talk show host George Noory appears in over 80 episodes, including the pilot episode. Reverend Barry Downing, known for describing angels in the Bible as ancient astronauts, appears in the pilot episode, and his comments are repeated in several other episodes. Writers Robert Bauval and Graham Hancock appear in many episodes. They both express skepticism of the ancient aliens premise, and expand on their own theories of ancient civilizations; Hancock repeats the statement from his work that "There is a forgotten episode in human history." In the episode "The Alien Phenomena", Bauval states "I don't see why not", with regard to von Däniken's claims originally made in Chariots of the Gods? potentially being true.

Segments and highlights from all first season episodes, including the pilot, were edited into later episodes up to Season 12, so that guests who appeared in Season 1 ostensibly appear in later seasons, although footage of their interviews was re-used.

Little empirical evidence is offered in many episodes to support the presented claims, instead many segments focus on out-of-place artifacts, such as: the London Hammer, Antikythera mechanism, or the Aiud object; or segments focus on alleged inconsistencies in the accepted historical record. Guests discuss evidence which supports their claims in general or abstract terms. Some guests have alleged professionals and government have suppressed evidence of ancient mysteries, such as the episode "The Prototypes" in which guests alleged the Smithsonian Institution suppressed findings of "giant humanoids" found alongside American Indian remains in the Kanawha Valley.

From Season 12 onward, episodes have included segments in which evidence that potentially supports the ancient astronauts hypothesis is subjected to testing by credentialed scientists and medical professionals on-camera. In the episode "The Science Wars" an elongated skull was subject to an MRI examination, and DNA was extracted and tested. In the episode "The Star Gods of Sirius" blue, porous, nitrogen-rich stones, were examined by geologists. However, none of the results produced—from the skull, the stones, or other objects examined in later episodes—proved conclusive.

Guests have presented other unproven historical and pseudoscientific hypotheses related to, or dependent upon an understanding of: Atlantis and other lost civilizations, as described in works by Brinsley Le Poer Trench and Edgar Cayce, or ley lines as originally described by Alfred Watkins; cataclysmic pole shifts as promoted by Charles Hapgood; various forms of Christian and Hindu creationism, or pseudohistory promoted by various religious movements; mythical elements of the Kabbalah, Zohar, and Book of Enoch; and various new religious movements. These hypotheses and claims are discussed within the scope of ancient astronauts cosmology.

Other concepts explored include faith healing, remote viewing, and various psychic phenomena. Numerous guests discuss various forms of catastrophism, and refer to other featured guests or historical figures as catastrophists. In various episodes, guests have claimed prominent historical figures were either influenced by or were possibly "extra-terrestrial" or "otherworldly beings."

Guests have also discussed unrelated pseudoscientific claims, such as: dinosaurs coexisting with humans until a recent extinction event, crystal healing and crystal skulls, as well as Freemasonry, rosicrucianism, and the New World Order. Linda Moulton Howe appears in several episodes which explore alien abduction, animal mutilation, and conspiracies involving military installations on Antarctica. The 2013 Citizen Hearing on Disclosure features prominently in numerous episodes.

Prior to December 2012, several episodes explored facets of the 2012 Mayan doomsday prophecy. The episodes "The Maya Conspiracy" and "The Doomsday Prophecies", which aired in February 2012, explored the Maya calendar and its relation to the construction of Palenque, the god Kukulkan, in addition to links between the Maya civilization and the ancient astronaut hypothesis. Episodes focusing on Mesoamerica broadcast after 2012 make no mention of the 2012 phenomenon. In the episode "The God Particle", guests linked the Mayan long count to the discovery of the Higgs boson.[13]

The series has been criticized by historians, cosmologists, archaeologists and other scientists for presenting and promoting pseudoscience, pseudohistory and pseudoarchaeology as fact. Episodes are frequently characterized as "far-fetched",[18] "hugely speculative",[19] and "expound[ing] wildly on theories suggesting that astronauts wandered the Earth freely in ancient times."[20] Many of the claims made by guests are not commonly accepted as fact by the scientific community.[21] In 2009, History professor Ronald H. Fritze observed that pseudoscience has a periodic popularity in the U.S.:[21][22]

In a pop culture with a short memory and a voracious appetite, aliens and pyramids and lost civilizations are recycled like fashions.

Brad Lockwood of Forbes characterized Ancient Aliens as an example of History's channel drift toward "programs devoted to monsters, aliens, and conspiracies". He added that, "Ancient Aliens defies all ability to suspend disbelief for the sake of entertainment."[3] Alex Knapp, also of Forbes, cited archaeologist Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews' rebuke of History for treating "nonsense as though it were fact."[23]

Science writer Riley Black was critical of the series—particularly an episode that suggested "aliens exterminated dinosaurs to make way for our species"—which she characterized as "some of the most noxious sludge in television's bottomless chum bucket." Black accused the series of employing a Gish gallop technique to overwhelm the viewer with many "fictions and distortions."[8] Others have called attention to a paucity of opposing viewpoints, such as Kenneth Feder, Professor of Archaeology at Central Connecticut State University and author of Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology. He was approached by producers, "My response was, I'd be happy to be on your show, but you should know that I think that the ancient astronaut hypothesis is execrable bullshit."[24] He added, "I haven't heard back from them, rather remarkably. So, I guess maybe they're not interested in the other point of view."[25] In 2016, Vice on TV producer Jordan Kinley said of Ancient Aliens claims:[12]

You feel kind of lost when someone questions the historical narrative you’ve been taught. I don’t believe much of what’s talked about … but I think it’s a good time for people to realize that some of our history is manufactured. Some of it is manufactured to be accurate, and some of it is manufactured to excuse horrible things that have happened.

In the 2019 issue of Public Archaeology, Franco D. Rossi of Johns Hopkins University published a retrospective of his experience at the 2018 Boston Alien Con. He characterized Ancient Aliens and its fans as a "science fiction fandom" which also trafficked in "misinformation" and "conspiracies."[26] He warned professionals in various history fields will have to reckon with ancient astronaut hypothesis and its adherents. In March 2020, podcaster Brian Dunning challenged and debunked many of the claims featured on Ancient Aliens. At the conclusion of the third episode, Dunning quoted Kenneth Feder's Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology:[27]

I realize that for some of you I'm being mean, snarky, and inflexible on this topic. And you'd be right. But in the face of a program and, at its core, a philosophy that is based on assumptions that degrade and diminish the inherent human capacity to invent, create, build, cooperate, and rise to the occasion to solve great technological challenges, both in the present and in the past, I maintain that meanness and inflexibility are entirely appropriate responses.

Dunning agreed with Feder that Ancient Aliens should be called out for what it is, adding: "I maintain that meanness and inflexibility are entirely appropriate responses."[27]

Many guests featured in episodes of the series have publicly expressed skepticism of the series' premise or of the ancient astronaut hypothesis. In the pilot episode, Sister Ilia Delio of the Washington Theological Union repeated comments made previously about the predilection for literalism common among supporters of the ancient astronaut hypothesis:[28]

Can we liken Ezekiel’s chariot to a UFO? The ancients used myth and metaphor and images to describe their experience of God. I think what we don’t want to fall to is a type of 'fundamental literalism'. The stories of the Old Testament emerge out of the people of that time, out of their own context, to make sense of their experience of God. We can gain insight by reading the Old Testament and reading about Ezekiel’s chariot, but its not to draw a strict analogy between his chariot and a UFO.

At at 2014 hearing of the House Committee on Science, Seth Shostak said, "The public is fascinated with the idea that we may be being visited now, or maybe in the past," but there is not any evidence which has convinced him "that we were visited in [historical] times."[29] Shostak has appeared in twelve episodes. In a 2018 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Robert Schoch said promoters of the ancient astronaut hypothesis "want everything to be 'ancient aliens'," which in his view was "sort of a cop-out". He added those same promoters are often motivated to sell books, DVDs, and conference tickets instead of presenting facts.[30] Belief in the ancient alien hypothesis and other ancient mysteries "fills a void" for some people, according to Schoch, but he "tries to fill that void with something real." Schoch remarked portions of his own interviews for the series are sometimes inserted into the finished episodes in a manner which is out of context.

William Shatner, who appeared in the Season 16 episode "William Shatner Meets Ancient Aliens ", told Inverse: "I had some spirited discussions with these experts who believe aliens were here, and like most people, I was dubious about the whole thing." He added, "they intrigued me enough to think something's going on."[7]

Giorgio Tsoukalos's appearances in the series inspired the Ancient Aliens meme featuring screenshots of Tsoukalos highlighting his unusual hairstyle overlaid with the caption: "I'm not saying it was aliens … but it was aliens."[31] Tsoukalos does not make the statement in any episode. Variations of the meme were uploaded by users as early as November 2010.[31][32] According to Dictionary.com the meme mimicked "the tone of conviction used by Tsoukalos to present unfounded far-fetched pseudo-logic as fact."[32]

During a 2015 Reddit AMA, Tsoukalos said he loved the meme, adding "it's a great honor to have been embraced" by the Internet.[33][34] During a 2016 interview with CNN Philippines Tsoukalos's meme-ification was discussed at length. The interview was later published online as "Meet the Hair Guy from Ancient Aliens."[35] In 2021, Tsoukalos made a cameo appearance in an episode of Syfy's Resident Alien in which he was described by the lead character as "that high-haired gentleman".[36] The episode included several references Tsoukalos's hair style and to Ancient Aliens.[37]

From 2016 to 2018, A&E Networks co-produced several installments of Alien Con, a convention inspired by the series.[38][39] Footage from the 2016 and 2017 conventions appeared in several episodes which aired during Seasons 11 and 12. Highlights from the November 2018 convention in Baltimore were included in several episodes that aired in 2019, most prominently the episode "Project Hybrid".[40]

South Park parodied the series in the episode "A History Channel Thanksgiving". Ramsey Isler of IGN commented, "The aim is placed squarely on Ancient Aliens specifically".[41] South Park's animation style created a "a perfect satire of all the ridiculousness of this series, including the black and white art with aliens photoshopped in, and interviews with people of dubious authority".

Many guests featured on Ancient Aliens regularly appear in other History channel series, such as The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch and The Curse of Oak Island. Segments from History channel series have appeared in Ancient Aliens. In 2016, Vice on TV released Action Bronson Watches Ancient Aliens as a special episode, which was followed by a ten-episode series later renamed as Traveling the Stars. Each episode features rapper Action Bronson and celebrity guests reacting to episodes of Ancient Aliens while intoxicated by cannabis. Bronson praised Ancient Aliens, saying it is "the best thing that was ever created by man."[42] According to producers Jordan Kinley and Hannah Gregg, Traveling the Stars was developed as a response to complaints by disgruntled viewers of H2 which Vice on TV's programming replaced.[12] Traveling the Stars was renewed for a second season in 2019.

William Shatner, who appears in two episodes, is the presenter for The UnXplained which explores many of the same topics as Ancient Aliens. Shatner narrated the English-language version of the 1976 documentary Mystery of the Gods which itself was based on von Däniken's books published after Chariots of the Gods?.