This episode proposes that UFO sightings and alien encounters might actually be evidence of time travelers from humanity's distant future rather than extraterrestrial visitors. Ancient astronaut theorists point to Einstein's special theory of relativity—published in Bern in 1905—as the scientific foundation that makes time travel theoretically possible, noting that time slows down for objects traveling near light speed. The episode highlights the alleged Nazi Bell experiment (Die Glocke), a bell-shaped device reportedly built in Poland's Owl Mountains between 1943 and 1945, which some researchers claim was an attempt to create a functioning time machine using rapidly rotating magnetic fields. Theorists suggest that advanced beings seen throughout history, often interpreted as gods or aliens, could be evolved humans from our own timeline who have mastered time travel technology.
Mainstream physics does confirm that time dilation is real—clocks on GPS satellites tick at different rates than those on Earth, exactly as Einstein predicted—but traveling backward in time remains purely hypothetical, with most physicists citing causality paradoxes as fundamental barriers. The Nazi Bell story originates from post-war interrogations but lacks physical evidence, and no such device was found when Allied forces captured German research facilities. For skeptics, the episode offers a fascinating look at how cutting-edge physics intersects with wartime legends and the enduring human desire to explain mysterious encounters, even if the leap from time dilation to functional time machines remains scientifically unfounded.
Himalayan Mountains, Tibet (Nazi expedition site)
China · Buddhist/Hindu/Islamic
Theorists argue that a May 1938 Nazi expedition to Tibet discovered the Kalachakra Buddhist teachings on cyclical time mastery and that Nazi scientists may have drawn on these ancient secrets in their attempt to build a time machine. The expedition was officially aimed at finding the origins of the Aryan race.
Owl Mountains Underground Complexes (Die Glocke site)
Poland · Modern
Theorists argue that Nazi scientists constructed secret underground facilities in the Owl Mountains to experiment with Die Glocke, a bell-shaped device with rapidly rotating magnetic fields believed to function as a time machine capable of altering history. The existence of the device was first reported by Nazi general Jakob Sporrenberg under interrogation by Polish authorities after the war, though neither the Bell nor its commander Hans Kammler were found when Allies captured the research center.
Temple of Isis, Agilkia Island
Egypt · Ancient Egyptian
Theorists argue that the Temple of Isis on Agilkia Island is connected to the star Sirius as a point of origin for extraterrestrial time travelers who educated ancient humanity, citing the Egyptian identification of Isis with Sirius and the many cultures worldwide that share beliefs in gods coming from that star system. Mainstream Egyptology regards the temple as a center of worship for the goddess of fertility and nature built in the fourth century BC and used until the sixth century AD.
University of Connecticut Time Machine Laboratory
United States · Modern
Theoretical physicist Ronald Mallett demonstrated a large-scale model of a time machine using a ring laser device, arguing that circulating light twists space and eventually time into a loop, potentially enabling backward time travel and binary-coded message transmission through neutron spin. This represents a serious scientific research program grounded in Einstein's general relativity.