Season 11

Is there evidence of ancient technology buried beneath the ice of the most southern continent?

Within 20 years, we are expecting to send the first colonizers to the Red Planet. Astronauts will brave the six-month journey to become the first extraterrestrials visitors to Mars--where they are expected to live and die there, never to return to Earth. But why have we always had a strange fascination with this particular planet? The latest NASA research has revealed that not only is there evidence of liquid water on the planet, but that life on Earth was most likely seeded on Mars. Ancient Astronaut theorists even suggest that the development of life on Earth may have similarities to how scientists are currently planning to keep humans alive on the red planet. Could extraterrestrials from Mars have colonized Earth in our remote past? Could our voyage to Mars not only unlock the mysteries of our ancient, extraterrestrial origins--but also be the key to the long-term survival of the human species?

In the 21st century, technology is heading in a radical new direction--the merging of man and machine. Smart drugs, nanorobots, and machine-printed organs are just a few of the cutting-edge innovations catalyzing the evolution of humankind into an entirely new species. Transhumanists envision a future in which we become cyborgs, achieving far superior intelligence, the ability to survive beyond Earth's atmosphere without a spacesuit, and the possibility of immortality. But might similarly superhuman beings have walked the Earth once before? Beings that our ancestors regarded as gods? Ancient Astronaut theorists say yes, and suggest that we are simply following the course they set us on from the very beginning of mankind--to transcend our flesh and become like our extraterrestrial creators.

Millions of people around the world believe we have been visited in the past by extraterrestrial beings. What if it were true? This is the question Ancient Astronaut theorists have posed since Erich von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods was first published in 1968; examining scientific, archaeological, astronomical, and historical evidence to find the answer. In recent years, more new evidence has been revealed than ever before that suggests there was extraterrestrial intervention on Earth in the distant past. Satellite images have exposed geoglyphs resembling Nazca lines in Kazakhstan. Ground penetrating radar has detected remnants of ancient technology in Machu Picchu. And thermal scanning has uncovered hidden chambers behind King Tut's tomb that may hold the remains of extraterrestrial beings. Could we be at the tipping point where the overwhelming evidence outweighs any last shred of doubt?

Scientists theorize that when mankind encounters extraterrestrials, we'll need to speak to them through the universal language of mathematics and binary code. But is it possible that extraterrestrials have already been communicating with our greatest mathematicians and engineers? Might they have somehow aided them in bringing about the space age and computers? Ancient Astronaut theorists say yes. As evidence, they point to the true father of the space program, Nikolai Fyodorov, a "Cosmist" who believed that human civilization had its origins in outer space and that it was our destiny to return to the cosmos. Wernher von Braun was greatly influenced by Fyodorov and he was motivated by a similar, secret belief when he ran the mission that put the first man on the moon. Is it possible that humanity's greatest visionaries have been carrying out an extraterrestrial master plan?

A "Cosmic Egg" -- in which the universe, or some primordial being comes into existence by the hatching of an egg -- is found in the creation myths of many cultures. Why is this concept so pervasive throughout the world? Clues to the origin of the Cosmic Egg may lie in another symbol commonly paired with the egg -- the symbol of intertwined snakes -- which some believe represents ancient knowledge of the DNA double-helix spiral. Did our ancestors have advanced insight into human biological coding? And could the Cosmic Egg represent, not the cosmos or the gods, but our own creation and genetic manipulation? Ancient Astronaut theorists suggest that just like the world's most iconic religious symbols, the Cosmic Egg cannot be summed up as representing a singular thing, but may have a much deeper meaning.

The Aborigines of Australia are the oldest, continuously surviving society on Earth. The stories preserved in their oral tradition are said to date back over 60,000 years, to an era they call the "Dreamtime" and contain fascinating descriptions about how life began and our planet was seeded by extraterrestrials. Linguistic experts have just discovered that many of these indigenous legends can be scientifically verified by examining the geological record. Ancient Astronaut theorists propose that if the Aboriginal's oral traditions are indeed this accurate, then perhaps the tales they tell about sky gods visiting Earth in large, fire-spewing crafts are true as well. Could the ultimate evidence about our extraterrestrial past be found within the sacred stories, sites, and rituals of Australia's Wisdom Keepers?

In 2013, former Canadian Minister of Defense, Paul Hellyer, made a shocking claim--that there is a federation of extraterrestrial beings monitoring and guiding humanity. But why would such an esteemed politician make such a controversial announcement? Ancient Astronaut theorists believe evidence can be found throughout history to prove his claims are true. Stories of emperors, kings and pharaohs consulting a pantheon of nine gods can be found in virtually every culture across the globe. Even channeling sessions conducted by CIA scientists in the 1950s connected with an otherworldly group of entities called "The Nine" -- extraterrestrials here to influence the events on Earth. Could there be an intergalactic council of nine secretly working behind the scenes, dictating the course of humanity?

Ancient Astronaut theorists suggest that evidence of extraterrestrial visitation exists in every corner of the Earth, but some say the most compelling can be found in one of the world's least accessible places--China. China is the cradle to one of mankind's earliest and most influential civilizations. The advents of gunpowder, paper, the compass, and countless other major innovations form the technological base on which our modern societies function. But historically, China has also had a policy of isolationism. From the Great Wall erected thousands of years ago to the "Great Firewall" of today, China has long prevented both people and information from entering or exiting its domain. While China has long been a secretive and isolationist country, new evidence suggest that aliens walked among us in the ancient past, and may have been with us all the way up to today... hiding among us.

Recent archaeological discoveries reveal a very different picture of what life on Earth looked like in the remote past. It was a real-life version of "Lord of the Rings," where humans shared the planet with various different types of intelligent human-like species, such as Neanderthals, Denisovans, and even hobbits. But how is it that these various hominid species developed separately in isolated pockets of the globe? And why does no fossil evidence exist suggesting a slow gradual delineation from a common species? Ancient Astronaut theorists suggest these different intelligent species seem to have come straight out of the incubator, and that Earth itself may have served as an extraterrestrial laboratory. A laboratory where different human prototypes once existed--but only one species was chosen to survive. Is mankind the result of an extraterrestrial experiment?

It was mankind's finest hour, the greatest technological achievement of the 20th Century--the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon. But the Apollo program was short-lived, and after Apollo 17 in 1972, we never went back. Could it be that we encountered something--or someone--on the Moon? Did the Apollo astronauts witness more than NASA wants us to know? The Moon is the most visible celestial body in the night sky and is essential to life on Earth. But what if the Moon is not the natural object we believe it to be? Unidentified lunar objects in NASA photography may point to extraterrestrial structures on the moon, and possibly evidence of what lies beneath the surface. Some Ancient Astronaut theorists have even suggested that the Moon is actually an artificial object, placed in its current position by otherworldly beings thousands of years ago.

Russia is a vast country, spanning over 6 million square miles of some of the most rugged terrain on Earth, much of which is uninhabited and largely unexplored. It is also the home of 'cosmism' -- a belief that human civilization originated in the cosmos and is destined to return to space. But many believe the rise of communism led to a wall of secrecy surrounding ancient and modern extraterrestrial contact in Russia. Ancient astronaut theorists suggest that otherworldly visitations predate the establishment of the Russian nation, and point to the ancient settlement at Arkaim as evidence--a centuries-old megalithic site that, like Stonehenge, is oriented along astronomical lines. In addition, tiny metal coils and springs recovered 30 feet beneath the Ural Mountains may indicate the presence of advanced technology on Earth thousands of years ago.

The U.S. military has long denied that the infamous 1947 Roswell crash was anything other than a weather balloon, but FBI files released in 2011 include a memo to J. Edgar Hoover regarding the recovery of not one, but three "flying saucers." Could the U.S. government really have extraterrestrial crafts in their possession? Ancient Astronaut theorists say yes, and claim that Roswell is just the tip of the iceberg. Over a dozen other UFO crashes were reported all across the world around the same time as Roswell, and it is rumored that the wreckage from these incidents was retrieved and hidden away at secret military bases like Area 51 in Nevada, Kapustin Yar in Russia, Pine Gap in Australia, Rudloe Manor in England, and even in the remote hills of China. But if true, what happened to these alien spaceships?

Thousands of people from every part of the world have reported being abducted by aliens, including even a world leader--President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov of the Russian Republic of Kalmykia, who announced in 2007 that he had been taken aboard an extraterrestrial ship. Could the alien abduction phenomenon be true? But if so, why are people being taken? And perhaps more importantly--why are they being returned? Stories of human abduction by otherworldly entities can be found in mythologies dating back thousands of years, and the abductees often return to Earth with new knowledge or instructions for mankind. In modern times, researchers of alleged alien abductions have found extraterrestrial objects implanted just under the skin, strange patterns in genetic mutations, and knowledge of entire alien languages from abductees. Is it possible that extraterrestrials are secretly manipulating mankind through these abduction events?

Of the millions of Hindu gods, none is more important than Shiva--the great destroyer. Ancient Astronaut theorists suggest this powerful being that possessed flying machines, incredible weapons, and had supernatural abilities may, in fact, have been the leader of an extraterrestrial faction that came to Earth wielding advanced technology. And the evidence, they say, comes not just from the incredible stories of the ancient Vedic texts, but is also carved in stone throughout the Hindu world. The megalithic Kailasa Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva is carved from a single rock cliff, and it is said that it took just 18 years to chisel out the estimated 400,000 tons of rock excavated in its construction. But how was this accomplished over a thousand years ago when modern engineers say such a feat is not even possible with today's technology?