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Archeologist Debunks History Channel's "Ancient Aliens"
Posted by Pile
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[Pseudo-Science] |
 One of the archaeologists at Bad Archaeology lambastes the History Channel for its series Ancient Aliens and treating its nonsense as though it were fact. |
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"For some reason, there is a channel known as The History Channel. Given its schedule, I can only conclude that the name is ironic in a postmodern sense. It certainly bears only a tangential relationship to something that I would recognize as "history". I've been aware for some time that its programming is weighted towards the American Civil War and Nazis, much in the way that the ?bookshop? W H Smith has a "History" section that deals largely in World War II and bullshit history. Given that the channel has aired series such as The Bible Code: predicting Armageddon and Nostradamus Effect, I really ought not to be shocked at any of its offerings.
And yet, the discovery that it has given air time to a programe called Ancient Aliens (note that it's not even a question!) is shocking and profoundly depressing. And it's in its second series! Given that many people in the modern world use the television as their principal window on the world and source of information about that world, for a significant number of them, it has an authority that probably no other institution (even school) does. If it's been on a television documentary, so popular wisdom has it, then it must be true: a twenty-first century equivalent of "I read it in the paper, so it must be true?. A quote from an online forum should suffice to illustrate the point: "I don't think you will be able to easily "debunk" anything you see on the history channel. Everything that you see on their shows comes from legit scientific sources and is supported by many word class researches and experts". There are times when I despair for the future of our civilization.
The background information for the series, posted on the channel's website, says:
"According to ancient alien theorists, extraterrestrials with superior knowledge of science and engineering landed on Earth thousands of years ago, sharing their expertise with early civilizations and forever changing the course of human history? Ancient alien theory grew out of the centuries-old idea that life exists on other planets? The space program played no small part in this as well: If mankind could travel to other planets, why couldn't extraterrestrials visit Earth?"
Most ancient alien theorists, including von D'niken, point to two types of evidence to support their ideas. The first is ancient religious texts in which humans witness and interact with gods or other heavenly beings who descend from the sky "sometimes in vehicles resembling spaceships" and possess spectacular powers. The second is physical specimens such as artwork depicting alien-like figures and ancient architectural marvels like Stonehenge and the pyramids of Egypt.
This blurb flatters the promoters of the ideas that descriptions of gods from the sky in ancient texts are accounts of genuine extraterrestrial visitations and that archaeological remains that make little obvious sense to us today: it calls them theorists. Almost as if they are scientists. And for many of us, scientists are the ultimate arbiters of what is real and what is not.
On the page dealing with Evidence of Ancient Aliens? (at least the web designer has had the courtesy to make it a question!), we find six things presented in support of the idea (okay, let's be generous and go with the channel's word, theory). These are:
* The Nazca Lines
* Vimanas
* The Moai of Easter Island
* Puma Punku
* The Book of Ezekiel
* Pacal's Sarcophagus
It's an eclectic list, to be sure, and it covers some exotic locations as well as some interesting ancient literature. But it's a hugely problematical list and it has the fingerprints of Erich von D'niken all over it; moreover, four of the items have been widely debunked since the 1970s (perhaps best in Ronald Story's 1976 The space-gods revealed: a close look at the theories of Erich von D'niken).
The Nazca Lines are one of von D'niken?s favourite bits of evidence, so it's little wonder they show up here. Situated in southern Peru, they consist of lines, geometric shapes and animal representations etched into the surface of the desert by the simple expedient of removing the oxidised pebbles on its surface to reveal the contrasting colour of the sand beneath. The designs are thus shallow, on average only 0.15 m (5.9 inches) deep. The History Channel?s website repeats the claim first put forward by Erich von D'niken that "the lines served as runways" for the gods? spaceships; this conveniently ignores the fact that anything with any weight, such as a spaceship, landing on the plain would disturb the pebble surface and reveal the lighter sand underneath, thus creating new lines and effacing any designs it might pass over. This has clearly not happened. The lines "whatever their origin" can never have been used as runways.
A vimana is something found in ancient Hindu literature, with a variety of meanings. Its etymology (it can be analysed vi-m'na) means ‘measuring out’ or ‘traversing’ but in literature it refers to a ruler’s palace, the tower above the holy of holies in a Hindu temple, a god’s palace, a flying seat or flying building (from which, some modern dialects use the word to mean ‘aircraft’) and a chariot. Although vimanas make occasional appearances in Vedic literature, the text most quoted as evidence for their reality is the Vaimanika Shastra, purportedly a treatise on aeronautics written by Bharadwaja, one of the mythical sages of Hinduism. If genuine, it would be remarkable. Of course, it isn’t. Nobody had heard of the text until 1952, when its existence was revealed by Gomatam R Josyer (said to have been Director of the International Academy of Sanskrit Research in Mysore), according to whom it had been dictated by Pandit Subbaraya Shastry (1866-1940) in 1918-23. Despite its sonorous name, the International Academy of Sanskrit Research seems only to have had the one director and to have produced only one publication of its prestigious research: G R Josyer’s Vymaanika Shaastra Aeronautics of Maharshi Bharadwaaja. I can smell something and it isn’t aircraft fuel. Basically, the pillar on which the Ancient Aliens theory that vimanas were real flying machines rests turns out to be a mid-twentieth century hoax.
The mo’ai of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) are the well known monolithic stone statues that were erected in special locations on the island between about 1250 and 1500 CE. About 887 statues are known to exist, almost half of which are still in the quarry at Rano Raraku, which appears to have been the principal source of the stone from which they were carved. Those that made the journey were set up on stone platforms (known as ahu) on the coast, with the statues facing inland over the different clan areas of the island; each statue was carved to represent a deceased ancestor and they were intended to watch over their living descendants. After the first European contact with the islanders in 1722, when all the mo’ai on ahu were standing, fighting among the islanders resulted in the toppling of every single statue by 1868. Archaeological research since 1955 has revealed a great deal about the date and purpose of the statues and it is difficult to understand why they are considered evidence for ancient astronauts. Indeed, they are not ancient and were still being erected after Columbus’s voyage across the Atlantic.
Scattered masonry at Pumapunku
Pumapunku is a site that forms part of the better known Tiwanaku (Tiahuanaco) complex in Bolivia. Although the ancient astronauts proponents try to ascribe a vast age to the complex (over 14,000 years is not uncommon), there is a radiocarbon date from a primary deposit of 1510 ± 25 bp, which calibrates to 517-605 CE at 96% confidence. This quite clearly puts the origin of the site in the sixth century CE; those who want an earlier origin have to explain why no earlier cultural material has been found at the site. The sites are known for their stone architecture, which displays features that are quite unlike Old World building techniques. The complex joints between the stones are sophisticated and designed to provide strong wall without mortar and maximum stability in an earthquake zone; they are not evidence that aliens guided the human builders, as the programme seems to have claimed, and exhibit increasing sophistication with time.
Raphael’s imagined view of the vision of Ezekiel
The Book of Ezekiel is one of the more bizarre works in the Hebrew Bible. Attributed to a prophet who calls himself Ezekiel ben Buzi, who appears to have been born around 622 BCE, it details what he refers to as “visions of God”. This is the first problem for the ancient astronaut theorists, who want him to be describing an actual Close Encounter with a spaceship and its occupants. Nor is it a straightforward eyewitness account, as there is evidence in the text itself for extensive editing (indeed, there are numerous variants of the text in existence). The plan of the work is actually quite straightforward: Yahweh reveals himself to Ezekiel as a warrior god in a chariot and pronounces a series of judgements on Jerusalem and Judah, followed by a series of judgements on the gentiles (specifically the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, Philistines, Tyrians, Sidonians and Egyptians) and concluding with some vague prophecies about the return of the Jews to Judah, the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the bestowing of great blessings on the Jews. This does not sound like the imparting of extraterrestrial wisdom from a technologically advanced flying machine. Instead, it is typical of early Jewish apocalyptic literature. |
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you
Posted by chris theman on 2012-02-07 13:52:28 | 1st: the nazca line theory you have regarding spaceships disturbing the formation is garbage. how do you know that a spaceship would disturb anything? do you own a spaceship? do you know how they operate? you must be assuming that they operate with thrust. Assume? An ass of u and me. maybe a spaceship has control of its own gravity and thus would not disturb anything, including your tiny close-minded brain.
I have been to the Nazca lines and it is amazing, how do YOU explain these formations?
2nd: what makes you the expert on any of these "arch" items.
most of the past relics that are "discovered" are in themselves questionable. we will never know the truth or real purpose to any of these things. you are a skeptic at best, and your bashing of other peoples ideas are similar to what the catholic church did to many.
3rd: YOUR AN IDIOT!!! |
Response to You
Posted by Anonymous on 2012-02-10 09:08:11 | | You mean "you're an idiot," right? |
explanation
Posted by grey on 2012-02-10 13:12:36 | | His extraterrestrial creators ran out of contraction elixir, and used alien faeces and moon juice as an experimental replacement. |
| Posted by felicia on 2012-02-16 23:27:09 | | have you ever been to the actual sites mentioned above yourself? How much time have you spent trying to understand what you were actually writing. Ancient Aliens is a very entertaining show and I don't view what TV gives me as FACT nor I will take your "explanation" as fact. See how not everyone is narrow minded to view everything one sided?? |
Response to You
Posted by Anony-mouse on 2012-02-17 16:45:00 | OK have it your way, your ancient aliens could land without disturbing so much as a single pebble.
Fine.
Why then would a craft with such precise control *need* a landing strip? Of any kind? |
| Posted by Queen Kitten on 2012-02-17 21:47:31 | | I think it is very one sided. I would like to see equal time given to the opposing side but, I guess that wouldn't be good T.V. They are stretching it too . That show has at best one season of material. |
Response to all
Posted by Skeptic on 2012-02-18 21:10:57 | | You all seem to always want to see both sides of the issue given equal time. On one hand you want desperately to feel part of something special that we re not alone...and on the other hand you dont want to count out the opposition to it. The majority of people seem to keep holding out and never take a stand on the issue. So undecided that its pathetic. If it were such an issue people should look into it for themselves and not bitch and post stupid comments about how they disagree. This is a damn opinion. Take what you can leave what you dont need. Personally i agree. Von daniken is a damn loon and so is that crazy haired greek guy. It all smells like horse shit that can be packaged and sold for profit. Just like the 2012 doomsday trash. |
Response to all
Posted by Skeptic on 2012-02-18 21:11:49 | | You all seem to always want to see both sides of the issue given equal time. On one hand you want desperately to feel part of something special that we re not alone...and on the other hand you dont want to count out the opposition to it. The majority of people seem to keep holding out and never take a stand on the issue. So undecided that its pathetic. If it were such an issue people should look into it for themselves and not bitch and post stupid comments about how they disagree. This is a damn opinion. Take what you can leave what you dont need. Personally i agree. Von daniken is a damn loon and so is that crazy haired greek guy. It all smells like horse shit that can be packaged and sold for profit. Just like the 2012 doomsday trash. |
This is the real agenda of Ancient Aliens.
Posted by Julian on 2012-02-29 06:12:40 | | It's about this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9paNJJqMn3c |
I know it's true because of the hair
Posted by Crackers on 2012-03-10 09:48:37 | | When you have heatmiser hair like Giorgio Tsoukalos, everything you claim is automatically true. But that point aside, the show is good entertainment that sometimes makes me roll my eyes, and other times draws a question. Although presenting ancient alien "theory" on a history channel seems questionable, the show is interlaced with historical facts about what ancient people did (worship, construction, etc) which is only overlaid with the alien theories, and so you can learn facts while being entertained. I laugh, however, at the thought of advanced aliens traveling across the galaxy to get it on with filthy neanderthals, but then I look around at weird people in bars and maybe there is a kernel of truth to it all. |
| Posted by JustKaren on 2012-03-11 19:36:17 | I am an addict of this show! That being said, I find it highly entertaining and don't believe a word of it! But I can't stop watching it.
Crackers, the "heatmiser hair" comment has me cracking up! |
Look at it scientifically
Posted by William Hopper on 2012-03-17 10:52:58 | I am an atheist, and a sceptic by nature. As such, I think it's important to examine and address each origin-myth honestly before ridiculing it or rejecting it. Alien life is certainly a possibility given the vastness of the universe. That they MAY have come here is a possibility that, as a skeptic, I don't utterly reject without proofs. As you can't prove a negative, the possibility remains a "possibility", akin to other theories without substance. All you can really do is shrug or postulate. I prefer to shrug. Von Danegat prefers to postulate.
For those who are riled by this, I suggest you do what I did. Watch the series, take a few notes, then go out and find the contrary points of view... which is how I wound up on this page reading this dialogue. It's History Channel's job to bring you entertainment. It's your job to find the facts and cover all the bases before believing blindly. |
high
Posted by john q on 2012-03-19 22:23:28 | | hello all i think that all of you are stupid even me so please do not talk any more or type thank you |
| Posted by dave1212 on 2012-03-20 05:38:32 | | no |
| Posted by dailyartist on 2012-03-25 18:21:51 | | the person who posted this article seems to be taking the stand point of someone with superior knowledge. i agree with a few of the above people but in the end taking one side to the argument is 'silly' in my opinion so i will leave with this quote. "nothing is true, everything is permitted" seekers of wisdom will understand. |
Dude
Posted by DGerm84 on 2012-04-06 05:18:58 | | evidence of ancient aliens only comes in the form of specious and fallacious arguments. The data consists mainly of archeological sites and ancient myths. People begin with the ancient astronaut assumption and then force all data to fit the idea, or in the case of Erich von Däniken completely fabricate "evidence" , he produced photographs of pottery that he claimed had been found in an archaeological dig. The pottery depicts flying saucers and was said to have been dated from Biblical times. However, investigators from the show Nova found the potter who had made the allegedly ancient pots. They confronted von Däniken with evidence of his fraud. His reply was that his deception was justified because some people would only believe if they saw proof. Now if one of the leading authorities on "ancient-aliens" and the so called "father of the ancient astronaut theory" has to fake evidence then obviously there is no real evidence. |
You missed a few things.
Posted by Watcher on 2012-04-09 18:35:41 | 1. The Puma Punku stones have detailing and accuracy that defy being made by hand. Only diamond cutting machinery or lasers would be capable of creating such intricate designs in that particular type of stone - that technology according to archeologists was not available at the time.
2. The Nazca lines were not used as runways. The idea or theory is that the entire plateau was. It is the only plateau like that in the area that appears to be unnatural. No evidence of erosion exists such as the accumulation of fallen rock from what would be the top of the mountain or apex erosion.
3. I think the biggest evidence of all that extraterrestrial life exists is the fact that we are here. It's statistically laughable to assume we would be alone and/or the most advanced in the universe. We are here, and with the humanly unimaginable number of galaxies and habitible (by our standards) planets that exist, it would be insane to think we are the only conscious life out there. Religion, as we are led to believe by the Vatican etc., would have us think we were created by one god and descendents of one man and woman. Seriously?? That's a little less scientifically possible than aliens, in my opinion. I also feel like the theory of evolution is a little off. I can find nothing that shows real evidence that we have had any sign of evolution since the theory took hold. You would think we would have seen something advantageous pop up by now. Maybe a blue human, or green hair or something.
But back to 'us.'. We are all made up of elements. Carbons, Hydrogens etc., i feel it's only reasonable to assume that combination occurs frequently throughout the universe. It's possible that we are in a 'low-key' solar system and other solar systems have several habitible planets and interacting extraterrestrials.
It's also fact that Earth is a 'young' planet. Therefore, if life does exist out there, it would be millions, maybe billions of years ahead of us - meaning we would have no way of comprehending their power/science/motives. |
NOBODY knows
Posted by Thecomingtruth on 2012-04-12 19:49:42 | | I find it ironic that the people who say this is flat out crap are hard core Christians! And I'm a Christian! Can we prove Jesus walked on water? Did Noah really part the sea? Then how can you say that Ancient Alien theory is bullshit? |
Bored Grad Student
Posted by Fan of Thales on 2012-04-15 19:47:38 | | After reading some of the comments here and elsewhere on the 'Internets', I now hope a planet-killer asteroid hits the Earth someday very soon. The 'stupid gene' must be wiped out, erased from the genetic blueprint. |
| Posted by Unknown Ancient Alien on 2012-04-22 15:20:42 | | This show sucks. |
Blue humans real!!!
Posted by Bex on 2012-04-22 21:59:16 | | Don't know about green hair, but please DO LOOK UP "The Blue Fugates of Kentucky!" |
Noah?
Posted by Meetoo on 2012-04-23 16:49:57 | | Did Noah really part the sea? Fuggin kidding right? Stupid xtian. Noah surfed it, Moses parted it, Heston shot it...sheesh. |
who knows
Posted by grorrack(from planet x) on 2012-05-03 07:10:14 | | nobody really knows,do they?It's an interesting show.Makes you wonder whats really going on here,or out there.fact or not,some things cant be explained.our ancestors were no dummys,maybe more advanced then us now.did little green men help them?maybe.....explain my eludium pu 36 explosive space modulator? |
Mr
Posted by SeekerOfKnowledge on 2012-05-04 14:04:21 | | Res ipsa loquitur |
| Posted by Random on 2012-05-04 20:26:30 | | This is so stupid. The whole world are closed minded idiots who have become slaves to how the government and media percieve the idea of ETs. The only way this Ancient Alien idea can be debunked fairly is if every inch of the universe is explored all at the same time to prove no ETs exist. |
Reply To Most
Posted by The Duke of What the hell is up with gullible mo on 2012-05-05 17:38:37 | Entertaining bullshit that solves nothing. Not unlike throwing eggs at politicians...
The shape of a pyramid is architecturally simple. The weight is concentrated down through the structure at the center, and distributed out evenly at the base.
Why or how did our ancestors build these odd monuments - Without alien help?
Umm... Because any other shape, considering the technology available at the time, would have fallen the f*ck down!!
Let's assume the Nazca Lines WERE drawn to entice ET visitors. What does that prove? Certainly not that aliens actually came, just that some people thought it was worth a shot.
I draw a target over my chest, intending to be shot. Five years later, I'm found strangled to death - It's a pretty damn poor pathologist that says "Well, he MEANT to be shot, therefore he must have been shot..."!
I read a great joke about this, which I'll paraphrase for your convenience:
"Ever heard of the Statue of Liberty? Yeah? Well in a thousand years - Aliens did it." |
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