Ancient Aliens

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Ancient Aliens is an American television series that premiered on April 20, 2010 on the History channel. Produced by Prometheus Entertainment, the program presents theories of ancient astronauts and proposes that historical texts, archaeology and legends contain evidence of past human-extraterrestrial contact. The show has been criticized for presenting disputed pseudoscience. The series' de facto pilot was a TV special of the same name that aired on March 8, 2009. A second season began airing on Thursday, October 28, 2010 in the 10ET/9CT time slot.
Production
The executive producer of Ancient Aliens is Kevin Burns, who also directed and wrote the pilot episode. Giorgio A. Tsoukalos serves as consulting producer and appeared on screen in the pilot. Erich von Däniken appeared in the pilot episode, and UFO researcher C. Scott Littleton served as an expert consultant for the show until his death in 2010.
Radio talk show host George Noory spoke in five episodes, including the pilot. Reverend Barry Downing, known for describing angels in the Bible as ancient astronauts, offered his viewpoints in the pilot episode. Psychologist Jonathan Young appeared on screen in every episode but the first pilot.
Critical reception
Reviewers have characterized Ancient Aliens variously as "far fetched" and "hugely speculative", and of "...expound[ing] wildly on theories suggesting that astronauts wandered the Earth freely in ancient time." The ideas presented on the program have been criticized as pseudoscience and pseudohistory.
Episodes
Pilot (2009)
Episode Title
Original Air date
Pilot (1)
"Ancient Aliens: Chariots, Gods & Beyond"
March 8, 2009
The pilot presents the views of author Erich von Däniken who theorized that advanced beings from another world visited primitive humans, gave them the knowledge of the solar system, concepts of engineering and mathematics, and became the basis for their religions and cultures as he claims are evidenced by ancient monuments such as the Nazca Lines, the Pyramids of Giza and the Moai statues of Easter Island.
Season one (2010)
Episode Title
Original air date
101 (2)
"The Evidence"
April 20, 2010
This episode suggests that aliens made contact with primitive humans, and cites as evidence, Indian Sanskrit texts from around 3000 BC that are suggested to describe flying machines called Vimanas; Egyptian megaliths that are said to show precision cutting work thought to be too advanced for the time; and Jewish Zohar writings that are said to describe a "manna machine" similar to chlorella algae processing of today.
102 (3)
"The Visitors"
April 27, 2010
The episode proposes that alien visitations have occurred around the globe, and cites as evidence, claims that the Dogon people were given galactic knowledge by a star god; the Hopi and Zuni celebrations of Kachinas (or "gods from the sky") that are symbolized with headdress that are said to resemble modern space helmets; and that the Chinese Huangdi was a Han leader who came to Earth on a yellow dragon which is suggested to have been a metaphor for a spaceship.
103 (4)
"The Mission"
May 4, 2010
This episode posits that extraterrestrials have a mission plan for Earth and mankind, and cites as evidence, Sumerian tablets that allegedly describe the Anunnaki as a race of creatures that came to Earth to mine gold; the purpose of cattle mutilations; the mile-long "band of holes" near Pisco, Peru; Egyptian hieroglyphs that are said to depict hybrid creatures that are part man/part animal; and crystal skulls and crop circles that are said to contain messages from aliens.
104 (5)
"Closer Encounters"
May 18, 2010
This episode suggests that alien encounters have been documented in various historical texts, citing as evidence, the 13th century book Otia Imperialia which describes an incident in Bristol, England ascribed to UFOs; the log entries of Christopher Columbus that report lights in the sky; stories of cigar-shaped craft allegedly seen over Europe during the Black Plague; and Medieval art that supposedly depicts disc-shaped objects floating in the heavens.
105 (6)
"The Return"
May 25, 2010
This episode proposes that aliens have contacted man as recently as the 20th century, citing examples such as the Battle of Los Angeles and the Roswell UFO Incident. It also looks at the modern SETI project and speculates what would happen if aliens answered back; what protocols exist to determine who would speak on behalf of mankind, and how we would communicate.

Season two (2010)
Episode Title
Original Air date
201 (7)
"Mysterious Places"
October 28, 2010
This episode examines locations around the Earth that are proposed "hot spots" of UFO activity; such as the Bermuda Triangle; Mexico's "Zone of Silence" an area of land said to naturally disrupt radio signals; the portal-like structure at Peru's Puerta de Hayu Marka; and the curious rock formations of the Markawasi Plateau.
202 (8)
"Gods & Aliens"
November 4, 2010
This episode looks at legends about powerful gods and fearsome monsters that have similarities between them even though these legends are found in different cultures separated by vast distances, and this episode also suggests that these legends may be eyewitness accounts of alien visitations. Also discussed are tales of gods interacting with humans, imparting wisdom and technology and impregnating women to create demigods who are supposedly the offspring of human/alien unions.
203 (9)
"Underwater Worlds"
November 11, 2010
This episode suggests that various underwater structures and ruins found around the globe may have been used by extraterrestrials; such as the temple ruins found under Lake Titicaca in Peru; the geometric structures of Yonaguni off the coast of Japan, and ancient Indian texts that allegedly describe other sunken cities yet to be discovered.
204 (10)
"Underground Aliens"
November 18, 2010
This episode theorizes that various underground places may have been extraterrestrial lairs; such as a lost cave in Ecuador said to hold metal tablets containing alien knowledge; the underground city of Derinkuyu in Turkey; Native American legends of "inner-earth" beings; and rumors of a secret U.S. Military-base supposedly built alongside aliens inside the Archuleta Mesa near Dulce, New Mexico.
205 (11)
"Aliens and the Third Reich"
November 25, 2010
This episode speculates that Nazi Germany had experimented with advanced alien technology and built flying machines; such as the Haunebu and the Die Glocke (The Bell); and rumors that some of this technology may have made its way to the United States and helped jump start the Apollo program.
206 (12)
"Alien Tech"
December 2, 2010
This episode proposes that some advanced weapon technologies currently in development, such as laser and sonic weapons, are rediscovered technologies used by advanced beings in the past. Also discussed are theories that aliens provided gravity manipulation devices to help man construct colossal stone structures around the world.
207 (13)
"Angels and Aliens"
December 9, 2010
This episode looks at various stories of angelic visitations that to some ancient astronaut theorists read more like alien encounters than divine appearances, and suggests they are not supernatural beings, but visitors from distant planets.
208 (14)
"Unexplained Structures"
December 16, 2010
This episode suggests that various sites around the world; such as Göbekli Tepe in Turkey; the Incan ruins of Sacsayhuamán in Peru; the Carnac stones of France; and Zorats Karer in Armenia, show construction techniques and mathematical concepts that were not believed to have been known at the time, and that this knowledge was gained from alien visitors.
209 (15)
"Alien Devastations"
December 23, 2010
This episode surmises that aliens may have caused various disasters, as depicted in the Bible and other texts, or even tried to warn man of them; such as Noah of the Great Flood. Also proposed is that some disasters ushered changes in human evolution and that our leaps in technology over the centuries were achieved with alien help.
210 (16)
"Alien Contacts"
December 30, 2010
This episode proposes that extraterrestrials may have contacted various humans throughout history, such as Moses and Joan of Arc, to help guide and inspire them to achieve great things; or to pass on important messages for humanity; such as a supposed binary message given to a UFO-contactee during the 1980 Rendlesham Forest incident who believes it is the coordinates to a mythical island called Hy-Brazil.
Season three (2011)
Season 3 is tentatively set to premiere Thursday July, 28.