by William L. Saylor
from
WorldMysteries Website
"A society committed to the
search for truth must give protection to, and set a high value on, the
original mind, however angular, however rasping, however socially
unpleasant it may be, for it is upon such minds, in large measure, that
the effective search for truth depends"
Caryl P. Haskins |
Contents
Introduction
Robert Graves (Graves 1968) writes,
"Mythology is the study of whatever
religious or heroic legends are so foreign to a student’s experience
that he cannot believe them to be true; hence the English adjective
‘mythical’ meaning ‘incredible’; hence the omission from standard
European mythologies of all Biblical narrative even when closely
paralleled by myths from Persia, Babylonia, Egypt and Greece."
For many modern skeptics the world’s oldest writings, on clay, stone and
papyrus, is simply myth.
However, if we dismiss all of the ancient
literature and inscriptions - the Bible, the Koran, the Mahabharata, and
the thousands of clay tablets from Mesopotamia - as too incredible to
believe, we would still have to deal with the question of the physical
evidence.
Who built the ancient megalithic structures? How were they
built? Why the practice of building pyramids at ancient sites all over
Earth for a period or time, and then suddenly abandon them? Who marked
the Earth’s surface with gigantic lines and figures? Who created the
astonishing artwork on Mars? Why and how were these things done?
In this
space age, with it’s remarkable technological advances, it is becoming
apparent that the "miracles", and other seemingly supernatural events
reported in ancient texts, the megalithic constructions, and the
enigmatic lines and artwork over the Earth, resulted from an advanced
technology which was incomprehensible and indescribable by the ancient
human observers. On these pages we take the position that there is a
reasonable explanation, within natural law, for these mysteries.
In this series of articles we will review the evidence that these
mysteries are attributable to ancient astronauts; extraterrestrials who
have visited Earth in prehistoric and historical times, and have
interacted with humans or their evolutionary predecessors, i.e. what
authors throughout history have referred to as "the gods".
Most authors, with the exception of Zecharia Sitchin (1976), who write
about ancient astronauts, take us to familiar sites around the world
where we get a "how-could-they-have-done-that?" feeling, but do not get
into details concerning the god’s technology, motivation, or their
whereabouts.
By contrast, in these pages I attempt to touch on the following
questions:
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What was the nature of the gods?
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How did they accomplish their seemingly miraculous feats?
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What did they value?
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What was their connection to humans?
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Where did they come from and where did they go?
The Ancient Astronaut Theory
"And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, there were
thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice
of the trumpets exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the
camp trembled…
And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the
Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the
smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly…And the voice of
the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder…"
– Exodus 19:16-19.
"Our sun is one of a 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy is
one
of billions of galaxies populating the universe. It would be the height
of presumption to think that we are the only living thing in that
enormous immensity"
– Wernher Von Braun
Back to Contents
The AA Hypothesis in Brief
AAs (Ancient Astronauts) first came to Earth many millennia ago.
They were beings whose
biology was similar to modern humans. They created modern mankind by
mixing their genetic makeup with that of sub-humans. The purpose of
mankind was to serve the AAs, principally by providing food and mining
and construction labor. The AAs did not allow humans to view them – only
their symbols (idols), suggesting that their appearance was frightening;
however humans were occasionally permitted to see their emissaries, e.g.
"geniuses" and "angels".
They also would not allow humans near them,
except priests who had cleansed and covered themselves and spread a
germicide, suggesting their susceptibility to earthly diseases. They
apparently moved about the Earth in spacecraft using chemical fuel, and
only landed on mountaintops or other rocky outcroppings; this reduced
the dust and provided physical protection from humans, and disease
control.
The earliest sites had a cave under the rock that protected the
priests during the coming and going of the spacecraft. Later they built,
or provided humans with tools to build, cyclopean structures – huge
earthen, baked brick, or stone ceremonial platforms and pyramids, which
served as landmarks and as landing and feeding sites.
Since they had
little defense against earthly bacteria, they developed methods to
nourish themselves with the vapors emanating from food and drink which
humans provided and burned for them. The food and drink was provided
through the custom of sacrifice, the burning of the meat and blood of
animals, and sometimes humans, which the AAs demanded. These ceremonial
and feeding sites were located all over the world, most on or near the
current equator or near earlier pole-shifted equators.
They taught
humans agriculture, astronomy, engineering, and provided the first laws.
They then departed from the face of Mankind.
Back to Contents
Clues and More Clues
"The grand aim of all science is to cover the greatest number of
empirical facts by logical deduction from the smallest number of
hypothesis or axioms"
– Albert Einstein
The following twenty clues in support of the AA theory come to mind:
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The lines and figures which occur over the Earth, e.g. the
Peruvian Nazca lines and "roads", the Bolivian "ceques", the radial lines
emanating from ancient ceremonial sites, and the British "ley" lines,
precisely straight lines which connect ancient sacred sites.
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The ubiquitous pyramids of various styles scattered over the Earth, in
Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, the Far East, and in North and
South America. They apparently had several functions, serving as burial
sites, landmarks, landing sites, bomb shelters, feeding stations, and
ceremonial sites.
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The megalithic constructions arrayed essentially all over the Earth;
built of enormous stones weighing up to two million pounds. Why and how
this was accomplished has not been adequately explained.
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A unique and puzzling characteristic of the megalithic sites of both
hemispheres is the complex polygonal stones which were used in their
construction. Kiloton stones stacked, molded and sometimes fused
together. Why and how?
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The Polar Rounds, the concentration of ancient sites on or near the path
of the current and shifted equators, suggesting that the ancient
astronauts approached the Earth thru the solar plane , probably to use
the planets for braking, and built very close to the equator. Chatelain
(1988) says, "The polar rounds and the shift of the equator also explain
why we have found traces of civilizations in regions of the Earth that
today seem unfit for human habitation…". Remarkably many of the most
mysterious sites lie on one of these ancient equators.
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The many ancient writings about "gods" who could move through the air -
the
Enuma Elish, the Koran, the
Popol Vuh, the
Mahabharata, the Bible,
and the voyages of the gods as depicted on cylinder seals and stellae
from ancient Near Eastern civilizations.
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The Heavenly Gateways - getting to and from the Earth. Before
construction of the large pyramids and platforms the landing sites were
simply a natural rock outcropping. A cave was excavated underneath which
protected the priests during the coming and going of the Gods, or were
some of them bomb shelters?, e.g.
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Israel: Es-Sakhra, the sacred rock on the Temple Mount, Jerusalem. There
is a cave under the rock about 24 x 18 ft, and a hole in the ceiling
about 2.5 ft in diameter which permitted access to the surface (Ritmeyer,
1996).
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Egypt: The Great Pyramid.
The Great Pyramid was built on a huge bedrock
bubble. About 115 ft under the surface, accessed via a 300 ft
passageway, is an underground chamber measuring about 46 x 27 ft.
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Egypt: The Step Pyramid, with an elaborate multi-chambered cave
underneath, allegedly built by Imhotep.
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Egypt: The pyramids of Mycerinus, Khafre, Unas, Teti and most other all
had underground chambers. In fact the pyramids of Mycerinus and some
others did not even have chambers in the pyramids - all chambers were
underground!
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Mexico:
Teotihuacan.
There is a cave under the Sun Pyramid with several
side chambers (Tompkins, 1976).
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Peru: The Torreon,
Machu Picchu. A rock outcrop with a cave and altar
underneath.
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Peru: K’enko. A huge, rock outcrop with an altar underneath. A hole
above the altar allowed food to be passed to the surface.
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There are many other constructions on the Earth which seem to have
served as ancient navigation aids from the air, e.g. the
Nazca lines
next to the huge ceremonial site of Cahuachi, the Carnac stones and
"Fairy Stone" in Brittany, the
Sphinx at Giza, the Great Serpent Mound
in Ohio, and the "Giant" and other huge drawings in the Chilean and
Peruvian deserts.
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The spiral motif was a favorite design of the ancient astronauts,
appearing at sites all over the world, e.g. Brittany; Cahuachi, Peru;
Chaco Canyon; Nazca, Peru; Kawhia, New Zealand; Mu’a, Tonga; New Grange,
Scotland; Tarxien, Malta.
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Consider this: In 1969 at New Grange, Britain, a
Prof. O’Kelly proved
that on the winter solstice, December 21, the morning sun would enter
the passage and illuminate the spiral motif. Across the Atlantic, at
Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, light falling on the spiral also was used to
mark the equinoxes.
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One legend has it that when we are awakening but still lightly sleeping,
we might "see" one or more spirals. When this happens we are able to
hear or see through the ears and eyes of someone nearby or share their
thoughts (please let me know if this works!) But to be serious the
spiral motif, occurring at ancient megalithic sites all over Earth,
obviously had some special significance; and we now know that our galaxy
has the shape of a beautiful spiral. Is that it? Is the spiral motif the
signature of those who built or provided the tools to build these
enigmatic sites?
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They constructed on Earth reflections of their celestial abode:
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Maurice Chatelain (1988) says that the pattern of the most famous
cathedrals in 10 French cites "have the same configuration as the stars
in the constellation of Virgo."
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Bauval and Gilbert (1994) demonstrate that the Giza pyramids exactly
mirror the stars in Orion’s belt on 10,540 BC.
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Leviton and Coons (1987) believe that they have demonstrated the
coincidence of a pattern of prehistoric sites in central Somerset with
the constellation Canis Major.
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Zecharia Sitchin (1990) finds a pattern in the Coricancha in Cuzco which
he feels closely resembles the constellation Cygnus.
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Characteristics of site selection: Identification and access from the
air, security and disease control.
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The important ancient sites seem to have been selected for easy
identification and access from the air; on mountain peaks (Mt. Sinai,
Machu Picchu, Mt. Olympus), on islands in lakes (Malta, Lake Titicaca),
or on large artificial platforms (Baalbek, The Temple Mount).
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In addition various sites where the gods came and went were inaccessible
by most of the people of that time, on the tops of mountains or
pyramids. They would not allow humans near them, except priests who had
cleansed and covered themselves and spread a germicide, suggesting their
susceptibility to human diseases.
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Black and
Green (1992) state that a sick person was considered to have
sinned, that is, committed an offense against moral or divine law. The
illness could be expelled or undone by a god whom the “patient” would
appeal to through prayer. They write, “The use of the word 'patient'
emphasizes the Babylonian view of sin as synonymous with disease. Sin
could be transmitted by relatives or inherited from parents…Babylonians
did not have a concept of original sin, but they believed that they were
all very prone to sin.” (i.e. disease). This apparently is also the
meaning of sin as used in the Old Testament.
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And Jehovah said to
Moses, "Go to the people and sanctify them today and
tomorrow. And let them wash their clothes." (Exo 19:10). If you read the old testament substituting “disease” or “germs” for
“sin” and “sterilize” for “sanctify” you will be surprised.
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And Jehovah said to
Moses, "Go down, warn the people lest they break
through to gaze at Jehovah, and many of them fall." (Exo 19:21).
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"And also the priests, those approaching Jehovah, let them sanctify
(cleanse) themselves, that Jehovah not burst forth among them." (Exo
19:22).
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"And Jehovah said to him (Moses), ‘Come, go down. And you come up and
Aaron with you. And let not the priests and the people break through to
come up to Jehovah, lest He burst forth among them.’" (Exo 19:23).
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"And if you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build them of
cut stones. When you swing your tool on it you defile it." (Exo 20:25).
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Apparently some of the gods were frightful to look at, and took great
care to not be seen by humans, except possibly by the highest priests.
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The feeding of large numbers of AAs by the "sacrifice" of animals, and
sometimes humans.
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Genetic engineering. From various ancient texts we read of the creation
of mankind and "virgins" giving birth to god-kings and prophets. As our
own biotechnology evolves what were unfathomable mysteries for our
forefathers are now beginning to make sense.
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Astronomy and mathematics. The ancient civilizations, which arose in
both hemispheres near the equator, possessed an extensive knowledge of
astronomy and mathematics.
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The sudden appearance of a technologically advanced human civilization.
John Cohane (1977) writes, "Until one arrives at Cro-Magnon man, about
30,000 BC, it is impossible to hold up a single piece of fossil evidence
and say with assurance: ‘This came from an ancestor of man’." He
discusses other evidence and concludes, "…and this evidence indicating
that only 10,000 years ago there was a sudden and unaccountable
emergence of a full-blown intelligent civilization…".
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The several references to the use of nuclear or other advanced weapons
during the god’s struggles with each other.
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They must overcome the restraints of time, and there are several hints
of gravitational time dilation when comparing the lives of the ancient
astronauts with that of humans.
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All of the ancient ceremonial sites, in both hemispheres, have been
abandoned. In the Americas the centers came to an abrupt and unexplained
end, with the exception of the Aztec centers, before the arrival of the
Spaniards.
Tiahuanaco in Bolivia and the entire region were abandoned by
1050 AD. The AAs had all left the Earth.
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Communication with the Gods. There is the suggestion that
Yahweh could
only communicate with the Israelites via the Ark of the Covenant: "And
the Israelites inquired of the LORD, for the ark of the covenant of God
was there in those days, and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron,
ministered before it in those days, saying..."
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The Israelites were instructed to blow a trumpet to signal Jehovah
(probably also other AAs) to come to the sacrifice or to call God to an
assembly of the tribe, or to signal for God’s assistance during battle
(Numbers 10:2-10). This suggests that Yahweh could not receive the
prayers of the Israelites; however other passages suggest that Yahweh
could indeed receive the prayers of the Israelites if they were within
earshot of the Ark. But he apparently could not reply to them via the
Ark, only through the prophets within whom he had placed his ‘spirit’,
e.g. when Hezekiah prayed the Lord’s answer came through Isaiah who said
to Hezekiah, "So says Jehovah, the God of Israel. I have heard that
which you have prayed to Me…" ( 2 Kings 19:20).
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Also when David
prayed to God, the answer came to David through his
"seer", Gad: "And Jehovah spoke to Gad, the seer of David, saying ‘Go;
and you shall speak to David, saying…’" (1 Chronicles 21:9).
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Last and most important, the space colonization argument of the
SETI community. The argument is that the use of nuclear propulsion at, say,
1/10th the speed of light could easily be accomplished, and that if only
one advanced civilization existed in the galaxy it could colonize the
galaxy in a mere 1-10 million years. They then conclude that “we don’t
see them here; therefore they do not exist”. The following section
examines this clue in greater depth.
Back to Contents
The Galaxy Has Been Colonized
“This, then is the paradox: all our logic, all our anti-isocentrism,
assures us that we are not unique – that they must be there. And yet we
do not see them!”
– David Viewing
Physicist Enrico Fermi once asked: "If there are extraterrestrials,
where are they?" "If they existed," he said, "they would be here." It
was a casual question over lunch, and I suspect that if he had thought
further about it he might have further speculated, “or have they been
here and have left?” We’ll never know, but his question, which became
known as the “Fermi Paradox” or “Space Travel Argument”, raised a great
deal of discussion in the SETI community.
The paradox lead a few scientists -
Freeman Dyson, Michael Hart, David
Viewing and Frank Tipler among others - to speculate that any older
technologically advanced civilization would have colonized the galaxy by
now, and since they are not here, they don’t exist; therefore “SETI is a
waist of time and money”.
The “space colonization” proponents argue that the use of nuclear
propulsion at, say, 1/10th the speed of light could easily be
accomplished, and that if only one advanced civilization existed in the
galaxy it could colonize the galaxy in a mere 1-10 million years. They
then conclude that “we don’t see them here; therefore they do not
exist”. The argument apparently assumed that the alien’s would
physically occupy all the habitable planets rather than just develop
them. I think this was where they got off track.
Others have countered.
Kuiper and Morris (1977) stated, “The search for
extraterrestrial intelligence should begin by assuming that the galaxy
has been colonized”. The paper was more wild speculation but the
positions and titles of the authors, and a few equations, were
apparently enough to get it into the journal Science.
But there is another reason we should assume that it has already been
"colonized". In a recent paper astronomer Dr Charles Lineweaver (2001),
studying the tricky business of terrestrial planet formation, argues
that "...this gives us an age distribution for life on such planets and
a rare clue about how we compare with other life that might inhabit the
Universe." From the age distribution he then concludes, "most of the
life forms in the universe have had two billion years longer to evolve
than we have." Apparently we're the new kid on the block.
As used here "Colonization" is probably a misnomer, since in our case
the ancient astronauts goal seemed to be the extension of their biology,
knowledge, laws, and technology, by example or by physical manipulation
of the biological blueprint of the most promising animal they found
here; sort of a galactic migration of intelligence, survival traits and
culture, rather then physical beings. It appears that when we attained a
certain technological level they got out of the way.
My thought here is that their argument is forceful but their conclusion
is incorrect. It is in fact a powerful statement in support of the
AA
hypothesis - that the Earth, probably along with most habitable bodies
in the galaxy, has indeed been colonized by ancient astronauts and, at
least in part, we are them!
Curiously, to my knowledge, none of the AA
authors have appreciated the compelling logic of this argument and the
strong corroboration it gives to the AA theory.
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