Episode Guide

Aliens and the Old West

Ancient Astronaut theorists argue that encounters with extraterrestrial visitors didn't end in antiquity—they continued well into America's Wild West. The episode centers on four cases: an 1897 airship crash in Aurora, Texas, where locals reportedly buried a non-human pilot in the town cemetery; Utah petroglyphs depicting humanoid figures in what resembles protective suits; 19th-century rancher accounts of a strange creature at California's Elizabeth Lake; and cowboys in Tombstone, Arizona, who claimed to have fired at a massive metallic flying object. Proponents like those featured in the episode point to the Aurora incident as particularly compelling because it predates the Wright Brothers' first flight by six years, raising questions about what kind of aircraft could have existed in 1897. The episode asks whether these frontier reports represent genuine contact with beings from beyond Earth, preserved in an era before such stories became cultural clichés.

Aliens and Monsters

This episode asks whether legendary monsters like the Hindu Garuda, Greek Chimera, and three-headed Cerberus were products of ancient extraterrestrial genetic experiments rather than pure mythology. Ancient astronaut theorists, including Giorgio Tsoukalos, point to detailed descriptions in texts like Homer's Iliad and suggest these hybrid creatures—combining features of lions, snakes, birds, and humans—reflect actual beings created through advanced biotechnology. The episode draws a modern parallel with the 2008 "Montauk Monster," a strange carcass that washed ashore in Montauk, New York, which some speculated was a hybrid from the nearby Plum Island Animal Disease Center. George Noory and other theorists propose that if modern humans can genetically manipulate organisms in laboratories today, extraterrestrial visitors could have performed similar experiments in antiquity, creating the monsters documented across ancient cultures.

Aliens and Sacred Places

This episode explores whether humanity's most sacred sites reveal not just devotion to the divine, but contact with extraterrestrial visitors. Ancient astronaut theorists point to Jerusalem's Temple Mount, where the Ark of the Covenant—potentially housing otherworldly technology—was kept in Solomon's Temple, and where the Bible describes God "touching down" on Earth. They examine Mecca's Black Stone, revered as a heavenly gift that may actually be a meteorite marking an extraterrestrial arrival, and the massive stone platform at Baalbek, Lebanon, which some suggest resembles a landing pad too precisely engineered for ancient human construction. According to proponents like those featured, the convergence of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam at Temple Mount, along with legends of Solomon's ring granting supernatural powers, hints at technological intervention rather than mere spiritual symbolism.

Aliens and Temples of Gold

This episode explores whether humanity's obsession with gold might stem from ancient extraterrestrial contact rather than mere material desire. Ancient astronaut theorists propose that aliens came to Earth specifically to mine gold, citing Colombia's Lake Guatavita—where the Muisca people performed rituals offering gold to a "god" beneath the waters—as potential evidence of otherworldly influence. The episode connects this to claims about a golden library hidden under the Sphinx in Giza, UFO sightings over Peru's Lake Puray where gold allegedly lies submerged, and a church in southern France rumored to hold alchemical secrets. Proponents like David Childress argue that gold's properties—its inertness, conductivity, and ability to reflect infrared energy—make it essential for space travel, suggesting aliens needed it to protect their atmosphere or spacecraft, which would explain why ancient cultures universally prized it beyond its aesthetic value.

Aliens and Mysterious Rituals

This episode explores whether ancient rituals worldwide—from Mayan ceremonies to modern coronations—originated as attempts to reconnect with extraterrestrial visitors. At Chichen Itza's El Castillo pyramid, built between the 9th and 12th centuries, theorists like Erich von Däniken point to an engineered light phenomenon during the equinoxes: shadows descend the pyramid's balustrade, appearing to animate the feathered serpent god Kukulkan, whom ancient astronaut proponents suggest may have been an actual alien being. The episode's central premise, articulated by David Childress and others, is that rituals involving sacred chants, numerical sequences, blood sacrifice, and symbolic reenactments were designed not for metaphorical communion with gods, but for literal communication with otherworldly intelligences who once walked among humans and promised to return.

Aliens and Ancient Engineers

This episode explores whether ancient builders at sites like Ollantaytambo in Peru's Sacred Valley possessed technology far beyond what we credit them with—or received help from extraterrestrial visitors. Ancient astronaut theorists point to massive red granite slabs weighing over 50 tons, transported across rivers and up mountains, then fitted together so precisely that a human hair cannot slip between them. Mainstream archaeology attributes the site to the Inca Emperor Pachacuti around 1440 AD, but some researchers argue the oldest sections date back 12,000 years or more, built by mysterious pre-Inca cultures. The episode asks how such precision stonework could be achieved without modern equipment, suggesting possibilities ranging from laser-like cutting tools to acoustic chambers in Malta designed for interplanetary communication, and temples in Vijayanagara, India, allegedly built to harness cosmic energy.

Aliens, Plagues and Epidemics

This episode proposes that some of history's deadliest epidemics may have extraterrestrial origins, either through microbes arriving on meteorites or through deliberate alien intervention. Ancient astronaut theorists point to medieval accounts during the Black Death describing bronze flying ships releasing strange mists over afflicted cities, suggesting these weren't natural outbreaks but targeted events. The 1917 apparitions at Fatima, Portugal—where 100,000 witnesses reported seeing the sun transform into a spinning disc—occurred less than a year before the Spanish Influenza killed 50 million people, a timing theorists like Philip Coppens find significant. NASA astrobiologist Richard Hoover's 2011 research identifying possible microfossils in meteorites lends scientific weight to panspermia, the idea that life can travel through space, while Giorgio Tsoukalos suggests advanced civilizations might use biological weapons rather than conventional warfare.

Aliens and Lost Worlds

This episode explores whether the ruins of ancient civilizations like the Mayan city of Copan in Honduras contain evidence of extraterrestrial contact. Ancient astronaut theorists point to stone carvings at Copan—including statues wearing what they describe as gear with boxes, tubes, and buttons resembling astronaut suits—as potential proof that otherworldly beings visited or even ruled these lost worlds. The episode also examines controversial sculptures called stelae featuring what some interpret as elephants and dragons, motifs seemingly out of place in Central America, leading theorists to suggest connections between distant cultures facilitated by alien technology. Additional segments investigate the Nazca people's landscape modifications and body alterations as possible signals to "star gods," and examine whether legendary locations like the Garden of Eden might hide submerged evidence of advanced ancient-alien collaboration.

Aliens and Deadly Weapons

This episode investigates whether humanity's most transformative technological leap—the mastery of fire and metalworking—might have been guided by extraterrestrial intervention. Ancient astronaut theorists point to a striking pattern: cultures worldwide, from Greek myths of Prometheus to Native American and Maori traditions, describe fire as a gift stolen from the gods rather than a human discovery. Giorgio Tsoukalos and David Southwell highlight the rapid advancement from stone-tipped weapons to sophisticated metal swords, particularly noting the transition to iron weaponry around the Bronze Age (beginning circa 3,300 BC in the Near East). Philip Coppens questions why disparate cultures share nearly identical origin stories for fire, while the episode explores ancient texts like the Mahabharata, which Deepak Shimkhada notes describes 46 different weapon types, some sounding remarkably similar to modern armaments according to Bill Birnes.

Aliens and Evil Places

This episode asks whether Earth's most notorious "evil" locations—places associated with mysterious deaths, disappearances, and persistent local warnings—might be connected to past extraterrestrial activity that left behind dangerous "negative energy." Ancient astronaut theorists focus particularly on Japan's Aokigahara Forest at the base of Mount Fuji, where officials recover 70 to 150 bodies annually from people who travel there specifically to end their lives, and Australia's Black Mountains, where local Aboriginal myths describe ancient serpent gods and where hikers have vanished without trace. The episode suggests these sites share a common thread: Indigenous populations have long warned outsiders to stay away, and those who ignore such warnings face disproportionate rates of death or disappearance. Proponents argue that the persistent cultural warnings and unusual phenomena at these locations could indicate places where extraterrestrial beings once operated, leaving behind harmful residual effects that humans instinctively recognize as dangerous.

Aliens and the Founding Fathers

This episode explores the theory that America's Founding Fathers possessed knowledge of extraterrestrial contact and encoded it into the nation's symbols and architecture. Ancient astronaut theorists point to several pieces of evidence: a mysterious disc-shaped object appearing in a painting of George Washington, alleged "star gate" symbolism in the Capitol dome, and the 1952 Washington D.C. UFO incident when seven unidentified objects appeared on radar over the White House and Capitol building before evading intercepting fighter jets. The episode suggests that Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson—both members of the Lunar Society, a group that met monthly to discuss scientific ideas including life on other planets—may have incorporated extraterrestrial awareness into America's founding documents and the design of Washington D.C. itself, drawing parallels between their revolutionary governmental structure and ancient Greek and Roman philosophy.

Aliens and Deadly Cults

This episode examines whether historical and modern cult leaders—from Marshall Applewhite of Heaven's Gate, who led 39 followers to mass suicide in Rancho Santa Fe, California in 1997, to ancient Egyptian pharaohs who claimed descent from the sky god Horus—might have been receiving messages from extraterrestrial sources rather than simply deceiving followers or experiencing mental illness. Ancient astronaut theorists, including those featured in the episode, propose that figures like the Roman emperor Caligula, who replaced gods' heads on statues with his own, and the pharaohs who built the pyramids and temple complex at Luxor, genuinely believed in their divine connections because they were actually in contact with otherworldly beings. The episode asks whether modern cult leaders like Charles Manson, Adolfo Constanzo, and Shoko Asahara might have misinterpreted alien communications, or whether extraterrestrials could have a deliberately sinister agenda in manipulating human behavior.

Aliens and the Secret Code

This episode explores claims that ancient monuments worldwide—from Stonehenge to the Great Pyramid, Teotihuacan to Machu Picchu—were intentionally positioned along a geometric grid of electromagnetic energy. Ancient astronaut theorists argue that structures separated by thousands of miles and centuries follow measurable patterns when mapped together, suggesting coordination beyond coincidence. Philip Coppens and other researchers propose that ancient cultures marked "power spots" where Earth's magnetic field creates anomalies, constructing megalithic sites at these nodules of energy. The episode invokes Plato's description of Earth as composed of geometric solids—12 pentagonal faces with 20 vertices—as early evidence for this "world grid" concept, which theorists believe reveals either prehistoric global communication or extraterrestrial guidance in site selection.

Aliens and the Undead

This episode explores whether ancient beliefs about the undead—zombies, vampires, and resurrection—might have extraterrestrial origins rather than purely mythological ones. The investigation begins in Egypt's Valley of the Kings with Tutankhamun's tomb, discovered by Howard Carter in 1922, where the pharaoh's mummified body was preserved alongside the Book of the Dead, a collection of spells designed to guide him through encounters with demons and trials before being "reborn into the next world." Ancient Aliens theorists ask why cultures worldwide practiced mummification—dating back to 5000 BC in Chile and Peru—and whether these elaborate preservation rituals suggest ancient people witnessed actual reanimation, possibly through advanced extraterrestrial technology. The episode examines whether stories of soulless creatures and bodies returning to life reflect distorted memories of alien encounters rather than mere superstition.

Aliens, Gods and Heroes

This episode explores whether ancient myths about gods and heroes might preserve memories of extraterrestrial visitors, proposing that superhuman abilities attributed to deities could reflect advanced technology misunderstood by ancient cultures. Ancient astronaut theorists suggest humanity's enduring fascination with god-like powers—flight, superhuman strength, celestial ascension—stems from actual encounters with technologically superior beings. The episode focuses on the Dikteon Cave on Crete's Lassithi Plateau, where archaeological excavations have uncovered 4,000-year-old offerings of honey and goat milk, precisely matching Hesiod's 8th-century BC account in *Theogony* of the infant Zeus being nourished in a cave. Theorists argue these correlations between mythology and physical evidence suggest the stories document real events involving beings ancient Greeks interpreted as gods but who may have been extraterrestrial.

Aliens and the Creation of Man

This episode questions whether human evolution can be explained by natural selection alone, pointing to the apparent uniqueness of human intelligence and rapid cognitive development. Ancient astronaut theorists cite the 2008 discovery at South Africa's Malapa Caves—where paleoanthropologist Lee Berger found two-million-year-old hominid remains with modern hands and upright posture—as evidence that something beyond gradual evolution shaped humanity. They argue that the timeline of human development is problematic: millions of years separate upright walking, tool use, and the dramatic brain expansion that occurred only in the last few hundred thousand years. Proponents suggest that unexplained DNA sequences and ancient petroglyphs depicting "star beings" point to extraterrestrial intervention in human creation, offering an alternative to Darwin's theory of natural selection through beneficial mutations over time.