Episode Guide

The Top Ten Alien Influencers

In this countdown-style episode, Giorgio Tsoukalos presents ten historical figures and beings he believes served as extraterrestrial teachers to humanity. The list includes the Watchers—200 angelic beings described in the Book of Enoch, discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran in 1949—who allegedly took the biblical patriarch Enoch aboard a fiery chariot and taught him metalworking, astronomy, and "the secrets of heaven." Another entry features the kami, celestial beings in Japanese Shinto tradition said to number over eight million and descend from their "celestial palace in the sky" called Takamagahara, worshipped at the massive shrine complex in Ise, Japan. Ancient astronaut theorists like William Henry argue these accounts describe extraterrestrial contact, with beings who "didn't come from this planet" guiding human development.

The Top Ten Extraordinary Creatures

In this retrospective countdown episode, Giorgio Tsoukalos revisits ten creatures previously featured on Ancient Aliens that theorists believe could provide evidence of extraterrestrial visitation. The episode begins with Bigfoot at number ten, citing a 1979 encounter by author Chris O'Brien on Mount Shasta in northern California, where he heard terrifying vocalizations in dense forest. Ancient astronaut theorists point to alleged correlations between Bigfoot sightings and UFO activity—particularly a wave of reports in Pennsylvania where witnesses claimed to see ape-like creatures emerging from wooded areas during periods of increased UFO sightings. Most provocatively, the episode presents a secondhand account from Montana where a rancher allegedly shot at a Sasquatch with a .30-06 rifle, only to have the creature "disappear in a flash of light," which theorists interpret as possible evidence of interdimensional or extraterrestrial technology.

The Top Ten Hidden Alien Bases

This countdown episode catalogs ten locations that Ancient Astronaut theorists propose might house hidden extraterrestrial bases, with Antarctica taking the spotlight as number ten. The frozen continent attracts particular attention due to claims from military whistleblowers and researchers like Linda Moulton Howe, who in 2019 interviewed a former Navy flight engineer identified only as "Brian." He described encountering a large hole with a descending ramp in the ice near the South Pole during a 1985 flight—a feature that supposedly shouldn't exist on the flat Polar Plateau. The episode traces alleged extraterrestrial activity in Antarctica back to World War II, citing theories that Nazi U-boats discovered caverns beneath the ice containing advanced technology, and that a subsequent 1945 U.S. military expedition encountered craft emerging from the water.

The Top Ten Scariest Encounters

Ancient Aliens counts down ten terrifying encounters that researchers like Giorgio Tsoukalos and others present as potential evidence of extraterrestrial contact. The episode features incidents including a 1975 case near Zihuantanejo, Mexico, where pilot Carlos de Los Santos reported losing control of his aircraft after three gray, wingless objects allegedly hijacked his plane using magnetic forces, corroborated by Mexican air traffic control radar tracking. The countdown also examines Japan Airlines Flight 1628's 1986 Alaska encounter, unexplained cattle mutilations, a rural Texas incident that left witnesses with physical injuries, and a claimed public abduction witnessed by multiple people. The show argues that the credibility of trained observers—particularly commercial and military pilots with thousands of flight hours—lends weight to these accounts as evidence of non-human technology operating in Earth's airspace.

The Top Ten Mysterious Symbols and Codes

This countdown episode presents ten ancient symbols and codes that ancient astronaut theorists believe may contain evidence of extraterrestrial contact. Among the featured mysteries are the Carnac stones in northwest France, where over 3,000 megalithic monuments dating to approximately 5000 BCE are arranged in patterns that theorists claim demonstrate the Pythagorean theorem—thousands of years before Pythagoras lived. The episode also examines Peru's Band of Holes, a precise two-mile line of thousands of evenly-spaced depressions carved into the Cajamarquilla Plain, which theorists suggest may have served as communication markers for otherworldly visitors. The central argument posits that the mathematical sophistication and enigmatic purposes of these structures indicate knowledge transmitted by extraterrestrial beings to ancient cultures.

The Top Ten Alien Disasters

"The Top Ten Alien Disasters" examines whether catastrophic events throughout history—from nuclear accidents to biblical plagues—might reveal extraterrestrial intervention on Earth. The episode spotlights the 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, where theorists including David Childress and William Henry note that UFO sightings were reported both before and after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that triggered reactor failures. Ancient astronaut theorists propose that the relatively contained outcome—given predictions of hemispheric devastation—suggests alien involvement in crisis mitigation. The episode draws parallels to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Pripyat, Ukraine, where similar UFO reports and sightings of a winged creature with glowing red eyes allegedly coincided with the reactor number 4 meltdown, proposing a pattern of otherworldly monitoring or intervention at nuclear sites.

Secrets of the Sumerians

The episode explores whether the ancient Sumerians—who established civilization in Mesopotamia over 7,000 years ago—owed their sudden technological achievements to extraterrestrial intervention. Ancient astronaut theorists like Giorgio Tsoukalos argue that the Sumerian invention of writing, mathematics, and the wheel, seemingly without precedent, suggests direct intervention by the Anunnaki, beings the Sumerians described as "gods who came down from the sky." The discovery of cuneiform tablets in the 1800s and the nine statues of King Gudea found at Girsu in 1877 revealed a civilization older than previously known empires like the Akkadians and Babylonians. Theorists point to the Sumerians' own accounts crediting their knowledge to celestial visitors as evidence these may have been actual extraterrestrial contact events rather than mythology.

The UFO Superhighway

This episode investigates the 37th parallel north, a line of latitude stretching across the United States that UFO researchers claim experiences a disproportionate number of unexplained phenomena. Former sheriff's deputy Chuck Zukowski and his sister Debbie Ziegelmeyer, director of MUFON's Missouri branch, began mapping UFO sightings and cattle mutilations in 2011 after noticing that two major earthquakes—a 5.3-magnitude quake in Trinidad, Colorado, and a 5.8-magnitude event in Piedmont, Virginia—both occurred along this latitude within 12 hours of each other. Analyzing thousands of reports, they found that nearly all documented incidents fell within the 69-mile-wide band. Ancient Aliens theorists like Giorgio Tsoukalos suggest this pattern extends to historical accounts, noting that Hopi kachina legends describe beings descending at Black Mesa, also located near the 37th parallel.

Mysteries of Scotland

"Mysteries of Scotland" proposes that Scotland's concentration of unexplained phenomena—from ancient stone circles to modern UFO sightings—suggests the region has served as a long-term destination for extraterrestrial visitors. Ancient astronaut theorists including Giorgio Tsoukalos argue Scotland is "crucial in figuring out the larger picture that our origins is not down here on Earth, but out there." The episode highlights Scotland's foundation legend involving Scota, allegedly the daughter of Pharaoh Akhenaten and sister of King Tutankhamun, who according to theorists like Andrew Collins fled Egypt during religious persecution and established the Scottish people. UFO researcher Ryan Sprague notes that Scotland's UFO report volume compared to its population is "astronomical," while theorists suggest the country's ancient stone circles may possess energetic properties that attracted otherworldly attention. Even Hadrian's Wall, built by Romans in 128 AD to contain the fearsome Pictish warriors, is presented as evidence of Scotland's exceptional nature.

Mystery of the Stone Spheres

This episode explores the global phenomenon of ancient stone spheres, from Kansas to Kazakhstan, with special focus on the hundreds discovered in Costa Rica's Diquis Delta in 1939. Workers clearing jungle for banana plantations stumbled upon massive spheres—some weighing up to 15 tons and measuring over six feet in diameter—that appeared perfectly formed. Ancient astronaut theorists, examining similar spheres found worldwide, propose these objects may reflect extraterrestrial influence. They point to what they describe as "machine-like" precision in some spheres' carved spirals, unusual elemental composition in certain specimens, and the objects' consistent appearance across disconnected ancient cultures. The theorists suggest these spheres might represent ancient attempts to replicate celestial bodies observed in contact with alien visitors, noting that spherical geometry appears throughout nature from planets down to atomic structures.

The Lost Tombs

This episode explores new archaeological discoveries in the Maya jungles that ancient astronaut theorists suggest might reveal extraterrestrial contact. The central mystery hinges on how the Maya developed such sophisticated astronomical knowledge, including tracking Earth's vast orbits through the Milky Way galaxy and creating what scholars agree is the ancient world's most complex calendar system—decoded from texts like the 12th-century Dresden Codex. Ancient astronaut theorists point to observatories at sites like Palenque and Chichén Itzá as evidence the Maya possessed knowledge beyond what a pre-industrial civilization should have achieved, with some theorists claiming "the early Maya themselves said we were taught by extraterrestrial beings." The episode also highlights how recent jungle surveys have upended the traditional timeline, revealing that pre-Classic era Maya (previously thought to be simple nomadic people) actually built cities as large or larger than their Classic-period descendants.

The Sirius Connection

"The Sirius Connection" explores whether stargates—portals allowing instantaneous travel across space, time, or even dimensions—could be more than science fiction. Ancient astronaut theorists argue that myths of divine gateways appear across cultures: the Anunnaki traveling through portals in ancient Sumeria, Egyptian pharaohs ascending through the "portals of Ptah," and Hindu traditions describing Vishnu's cosmic exhalations creating universes. The episode traces how Einstein and Rosen's 1935 theory of space bridges (now called wormholes) gave scientific language to ideas that allegedly permeate ancient religious texts. Some contributors suggest the U.S. government has pursued stargate technology, with one witness claiming to have seen scientists "open the fabric of space." The central question: do these recurring portal myths reflect actual ancient knowledge of traversable wormholes?

The Top Ten Underground Worlds

This episode examines whether recent government whistleblowers are finally forcing transparency about alleged UFO crash retrievals and secret reverse-engineering programs. Featuring testimony from the 2023 House Oversight Committee hearing on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, the episode highlights claims from former Air Force intelligence officer David Grusch, who testified under oath about what he describes as a "multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse engineering program," and retired Navy pilots Ryan Graves and David Fravor, who reported routine encounters with unexplained aerial phenomena. Ancient Aliens theorists argue that the willingness of credentialed military insiders to testify publicly—despite alleged threats and career risks—represents a watershed moment, suggesting the Pentagon has concealed evidence of extraterrestrial technology for over seventy years, dating back to incidents like the 1947 Roswell crash involving Major Jesse Marcel.

The Top Ten Alien Weapons

This episode argues that humanity's current search for extraterrestrial intelligence—exemplified by the December 2021 launch of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana—represents a continuation of efforts that stretch back thousands of years. Ancient astronaut theorists featured in the episode contend that civilizations including the Sumerians, Babylonians, Egyptians, and Mayans were all tracking celestial bodies as part of an ancient search for contact with beings from beyond Earth. The theorists suggest our modern ten-billion-dollar investment in technologies capable of examining thousands of exoplanets in the "Goldilocks zone" and detecting chemical signatures of life reflects something deeply rooted in human history, implying our ancestors may have had reasons to look skyward for intelligences beyond our world.

The Top Ten Ancient Power Sources

Dr. Jacques Vallée, an astronomer and computer scientist with a PhD who contributed to the early development of the internet, stands alone as the only researcher involved in both Project Blue Book in 1952 and the Pentagon's 2007 Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program. The episode profiles Vallée's argument that UFO encounters aren't merely a modern phenomenon but extend thousands of years into the past, drawing connections between ancient accounts and contemporary sightings. His interest began at age 15 in a French town 30 miles northwest of Paris, where he and a friend independently witnessed and sketched identical disc-shaped objects near the local church. Ancient astronaut theorists highlight Vallée's pioneering question: whether historical records describe experiences identical to modern UFO reports, suggesting a pattern spanning human civilization.

The Giza Legacy

This episode explores the widespread ancient tradition of "teacher gods"—divine or otherworldly beings who allegedly instructed early humans in the foundational skills of civilization. Ancient astronaut theorists, examining accounts from cultures worldwide, argue these stories may reflect actual contact with extraterrestrial visitors rather than mere mythology. The Sumerians of Mesopotamia, emerging over 6,000 years ago, credited their revolutionary developments—agriculture, the wheel, written language—to the Anunnaki, gods who descended from the heavens. Similarly, the Greek philosopher Aristotle, who founded the Lyceum in Athens, claimed much of his wisdom came from a "daemonium," a personal guiding spirit or unseen advisor. Proponents like those featured suggest the consistency of these narratives across unconnected cultures points toward flesh-and-blood extraterrestrials whom ancient peoples misinterpreted as gods.

The Alien Autopsy

Deep beneath the sands of Saqqara, twenty-four enormous stone sarcophagi—each weighing more than 70 tons—sit mysteriously empty. Ancient astronaut theorists suggest these precision-carved boxes may represent something far beyond funeral purposes. The episode traces their discovery back to 1851, when French archaeologist Auguste Mariette arrived in Egypt during Egyptology's formative years, seeking manuscripts for the Louvre but finding himself drawn to rumors of buried treasures near the Step Pyramid of Djoser. The theorists highlight the boxes' extraordinary craftsmanship and question whether their purpose was technological rather than ceremonial, proposing that extraterrestrial visitors may have designed them for unknown functions that ancient Egyptians later repurposed or imitated.

The Mystery of Gobekli Tepe

Despite its title referencing Göbekli Tepe, this episode profiles investigative journalist Linda Moulton Howe and her four-decade career reporting on what she terms "high strangeness"—from cattle mutilations in Logan County, Colorado in 1979 to crop circles, UFO sightings, and alleged alien abductions. Ancient Aliens theorists including Giorgio Tsoukalos and Bill Birnes argue that Howe's work documenting over 1,600 accounts of the "human abduction syndrome" reveals patterns suggesting extraterrestrial contact occurred not only in modern times but throughout human history. The episode frames Howe, a Stanford-trained journalist with Emmy and Peabody awards from her mainstream reporting career at KNBC Los Angeles, as a credible voice who brought scientific rigor to phenomena other reporters dismissed, presenting her investigations as potential evidence of ongoing extraterrestrial presence on Earth.

The Ancient Stargazers

This episode explores whether certain individuals have been selected for repeated contact with extraterrestrials throughout history, from biblical figures to modern abductees. Ancient astronaut theorists argue that figures like Elijah, Enoch, and the Cambodian legend of Preah Pisnokar—who allegedly visited Indra's Palace, interpreted as an orbiting space station—represent historical abduction events parallel to contemporary cases. Jacques Vallée's expansion of J. Allen Hynek's close encounter classification system to include fourth and fifth kinds (abduction and physical effects) reflects what theorists see as hundreds of thousands of global reports demanding serious consideration. The episode examines repeat abductees like Wyoming rancher Pat McGuire, whose 1976 experiences began with mysteriously mutilated cattle, suggesting a coordinated extraterrestrial project spanning millennia.

The Alien Code

Puma Punku, a site in the Bolivian Andes featuring roughly 150 massive stone blocks scattered across the landscape, has puzzled observers since Spanish explorer Pedro Cieza de León documented it in the 16th century. Ancient astronaut theorists including Giorgio Tsoukalos and Erich von Däniken highlight the precision engineering of blocks weighing up to 130 tons, transported from quarries eight miles away across mountain ranges, and carved with such exactitude that right angles and complex geometric patterns appear throughout. The episode explores whether new technology might decode the site's original purpose and argues that the Inca themselves told early Spanish chroniclers they did not build Puma Punku, leaving the identity of the actual builders—and their possible extraterrestrial assistance—as an open question.