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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ancient astronauts | 6/6 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T09:16:51.153763+00:00 | kb-cron |
==== Moai ==== The Moai statues of Easter Island were moved miles from the Rano Raraku quarry to their current locations, and archaeologists have wondered how massive statues such as these could have been transported. The folklore of the native Rapa Nui people says that chiefs and priests used mana to make the statues of the island walk. In 1982, Czech engineer Pavel Pavel and a group of sixteen people used a replica concrete moai to test a method that could have transported the statues. They tied ropes to it and in two groups pulled and twisted it back and forth, making it move forward in a walking motion. They called it the "refrigerator method" and demonstrated that the massive statues could be easily moved by a small group of people.
=== Religious and cultural practices ===
A number of ancient cultures, such as the ancient Egyptians and some Native Americans, artificially lengthened the skulls of their children. Some ancient astronaut proponents propose that this was done to emulate extraterrestrial visitors, whom they saw as gods.
==== Akhenaten ==== Among the ancient rulers depicted with elongated skulls are pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti. The depiction of Akhenaten and his family with traits like elongated skulls, limbs, underdeveloped torsos, and gynecomastia in Amarna art is hypothesized to be the effect of a familial disease. Marriage between family members, especially siblings, was common in ancient Egyptian royal families, elevating the risk of such disorders. Studies on the remains of the ruling family of 18th Dynasty Egypt have found evidence of deformities and illnesses. Proposed syndromes of Akhenaten include Loeys-Dietz syndrome, Marfan's syndrome, Frohlich syndrome, and Antley-Bixler syndrome. Akhenaten worshipped the sun disk god Aten and it is suggested that such worship could point to a disease that is alleviated by sunlight.
== In popular culture ==
Ancient astronauts have been addressed frequently in science fiction and horror fiction in many different media. In a 2004 article in Skeptic magazine, Jason Colavito writes that von Däniken borrowed many of the book's concepts from Le Matin des magiciens (Morning of the Magicians), that this book in turn was heavily influenced by the Cthulhu Mythos, and that the core of the ancient astronaut hypothesis originates in H. P. Lovecraft's works "The Call of Cthulhu" and At the Mountains of Madness. Colavito later expanded on this idea in his book The Cult of Alien Gods: H. P. Lovecraft and Extraterrestrial Pop Culture. The idea that aliens visited Earth in the past is frequently seen in works of fiction. For example, the comic book Thor considers that all the Norse mythology is based on actual beings living in other dimensions, who were worshipped as gods by the Vikings and who reappear on Earth in modern times. Däniken's work, however, inspired several works and franchises over time, such as Eternals, Stargate, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Prometheus and The X-Files. All those works do not take the idea seriously, but merely use it as a narrative device. Another angle may be to leave the aliens out of the story, and focus instead on devices they left behind, as in the novels Scarlet Dream, Galactic Derelict, World of Ptavvs, Toolmaker Koan, and A Fire Upon the Deep. Aliens may also appear as an elder race that created or shepherded humans in their early times; and may or may not be present in the work's present day. Ancient Aliens is a television series that features proponents of the ancient astronaut hypothesis, such as Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, David Childress, Erich von Däniken, Steven M. Greer, and Nick Pope.
== Proponents == Many publications have argued for the ancient astronauts hypotheses. The following are notable examples:
== See also == Archaeoastronomy Vimana Extraterrestrials in Meitei culture Extraterrestrial hypothesis First contact (science fiction) List of topics characterized as pseudoscience Panspermia Pseudoarchaeology Science fantasy Silurian hypothesis Xenoarchaeology In film: 2001: A Space Odyssey
== Notes ==
== References ==
=== Bibliography ===
== Further reading == Avalos, Hector (2002), "The Ancient Near East in Modern Science Fiction: Zechariah Sitchin's The 12th Planet as Case Study", Journal of Higher Criticism, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 49–70 Colavito, Jason (2005), The Cult of Alien Gods: H. P. Lovecraft and Extraterrestrial Pop Culture, Prometheus Books, ISBN 1-59102-352-1 Fagan, Garrett G. (2006). Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-30593-4 Grünschloß, Andreas (June 2006), ""Ancient Astronaut" Narrations: A Popular Discourse on Our Religious Past" (PDF), Marburg Journal of Religion, vol. 11, no. 1, ISSN 1612-2941, archived (PDF) from the original on March 9, 2008, retrieved December 9, 2006 Harris, Christie. (1975). Sky Man on the Totem Pole?. New York: Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-30450-1 Raël (1974), The Message Given by Extra-terrestrials, Nova Dist, ISBN 2-940252-20-3 Sitchin, Zecharia (1999), The 12th Planet (The Earth Chronicles, Book 1), Avon, ISBN 0-380-39362-X Stiebing, William H. (1984). Ancient Astronauts, Cosmic Collisions and Other Popular Theories About Man's Past. Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-285-8 Story, Ronald. (1976). The Space Gods Revealed: A Close Look at the Theories of Erich von Däniken. Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-014141-7 Trefil, James. (2007). "Who Were the Ancient Engineers of Egypt?". Skeptical Inquirer (Committee for Skeptical Inquiry) 17.1. White, Peter. (1976). The Past Is Human: Debunking Von Daniken's Gee-Whiz Theories. Taplinger. ISBN 978-0-8008-6266-4
== External links == 'Fringe' or 'cult' archaeology examined by professional archaeologist Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews, archived from the original on December 14, 2007, retrieved February 4, 2007 Ancient Astronauts – Skeptic's Dictionary Dunning, Brian. "Skeptoid #449: Ancient Astronauts". Skeptoid.