Ancient Aliens
Ancient Aliens is an American television series produced by Prometheus Entertainment that explores the pseudoscientific hypothesis of ancient astronauts in a non-critical, documentary format. Episodes also explore related pseudoscientific and pseudohistoric topics, such as: Atlantis and other lost ancient civilizations, extraterrestrial contact and ufology, and popular conspiracy theories. The series, which has aired on History since 2010, has been a target for criticism of History's channel drift, as well as criticism for promoting unorthodox or unproven hypotheses as fact. According to Smithsonian, episodes of the series overwhelm the viewer with "fictions and distortions" by using a Gish gallop.
Originally broadcast as two-hour documentary special in 2009, Ancient Aliens: The Series aired for three seasons as a flagship series on History from 2010 to 2012. The series moved to H2 from 2012 to 2014, with frequent re-airings of episodes on History and other A&E services. In 2015, the series returned to History after H2 was relaunched as Vice on TV. A nineteenth season began in 2023. All episodes are narrated by Robert Clotworthy.
The series is inspired by the works of Erich von Däniken, Zecharia Sitchin, Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval, Brinsley Trench, Charles Hapgood, and Edgar Cayce. Producer Giorgio Tsoukalos, writer David Childress and journalist Nick Pope are featured guests.
The series has been criticized by historians, cosmologists, archaeologists and other scientists for presenting and promoting pseudoscience, pseudohistory and pseudoarchaeology as fact. Episodes are frequently characterized as "far-fetched", "hugely speculative", and "expound wildly on theories suggesting that astronauts wandered the Earth freely in ancient times." Many of the claims made by guests are not commonly accepted as fact by the scientific community. Brian Dunning, debunking the series, called it "a slap in the face to the ingenuity of the human race".
Production
Executive producer of the series was Kevin Burns from 2009 until 2021. Giorgio Tsoukalos serves as consulting producer, and is a featured guest, appearing in every episode. UFO researcher C. Scott Littleton served as a producing consultant during the series development until his death in 2010.Ancient Aliens originally aired a two-hour documentary special for the History Channel on March 8, 2009. The special was re-run several times, and is now packaged with the series as its pilot episode. Ancient Aliens: The Series aired on History from 2010 to 2011, then moved to H2 where it was promoted as one of the network's flagship series until 2014. Frequent re-airings of episodes continued on the History channel, with highlights and repackaged episodes airing on A&E and Lifetime. A selection of thirteen episodes which focused on the 2012 phenomenon was made available for syndication in the United States and Canada during the 2011–12 television season. In some foreign markets, the series still carries the Ancient Aliens: The Series title card.
In 2015, the series returned to History after H2 was relaunched as Vice on TV. In response to complaints from disgruntled fans, Vice on TV created Action Bronson Watches Ancient Aliens. History renewed Ancient Aliens for a fifteenth season which premiered on January 24, 2020. Due to COVID-19 pandemic disrupting production, the season ended after all completed episodes were broadcast. Production was soon restarted, and a sixteenth season began on November 13, 2020. A twentieth season began broadcast in 2024.
The spin-off series Ancient Aliens: Origins aired in 2024.
Premise and cosmology
The series is based on and inspired by the pseudoscientific ancient astronauts hypothesis popularized in Chariots of the Gods?, by Erich von Däniken, and The 12th Planet, by Zecharia Sitchin. According to von Däniken, Sitchin, and others, extraterrestrial beings visited Earth in the distant past and introduced civilization, architecture, and high technology to pre-historic humans. Many, if not all, of ancient man's achievements in language, mathematics, science, technology and architecture, such as the Egyptian pyramids, Pumapunku, Teotihuacan, and Stonehenge, are attributed to the influence of extraterrestrials.Remnants of extraterrestrial visitations are claimed to be found in religious texts, ancient myths and legendary histories, in addition to fragments found in the sacred texts and practices of Hinduism, Ancient Egyptian religion, Gnostic Christianity, and more recent religious movements such as Mormonism. The hypothesis also holds that ancient visitations left etymological remnants in many of the world's languages, such as the root words for "Dagon", "dragon", "dog", and "Danann", or the frequent occurrence of the prefix anu- to mean "friend" or "visitor." Additionally, anatomically modern humans are alleged to be the result of genetic modification and/or modern humans are somehow biologically descended from ancient astronauts, which is the focus of many of von Däniken's and Sitchin's works.
There is little use of precise dates in many episodes. Guests use terms such as "the remote past", "prehistoric times", "ancient times", or they refer to "our ancient ancestors" in the abstract, when discussing hypothetical or alleged historical events. A frequent demarcation of pre-history from the modern era utilized by guests is "before or after 'The Ice Age, or approximately 12,000 years ago. Many guests featured on the series, including Graham Hancock, and Robert Schoch, have claimed a sophisticated, or highly advanced, human civilization was destroyed at the end of the Ice Age. The survivors or descendants of the survivors helped restart civilization beginning 8,500 years ago.
Many of the guests who appear in the series support and have expanded on such claims in their own work. The same guests have also promoted the work of other guests which has created a shared cosmogony for the creation of mankind and a shared, homo-centric, cosmology with significance placed on Sirius, Orion, Pleiades, the Moon, and Mars.
Presentation style
The series presents all claims made by guests in an uncritical, fast-paced format. The narration frequently frames claims made by guests or their responses as rhetorical questions which are answered with "ancient alien theorists say yes," or a variation thereof. After a particular claim is introduced, and explored in some detail, the narration cuts away with, "Perhaps more evidence can be found..." Another location, archeological find, or alleged event, with a hypothetical connection to the previous claim is introduced. Chariots of the Gods? used a similar framing device. Smithsonian described this presentation style as a Gish gallop, overwhelming the viewer with supposed evidence too quickly for them to fully consider any individual claim.When comments or claims are made by guests there is no indication made whether they are speculating on the rhetorical question made by the interviewer or narration, or if they are repeating claims made by other researchers, or if they are speaking of their own work or expertise. Geologist Robert Schoch said portions of his own interviews for the series are sometimes inserted into the finished episodes in a manner which is out of context, or wholly disconnected from the questions asked of him on and off camera.
Writer David Childress, who appears in every episode, frequently concludes his comments with the exclamation, "—probably extraterrestrials!" Both Childress and Giorgio Tsoukalos repeatedly assert pre-historic peoples lacked the vocabulary to describe "technological" or "high-tech" devices that they allegedly witnessed, and thus referred to extraterrestrial visitors using such technology as gods.
Terms such as "ancient astronauts", "ancient aliens", "alien visitors", "extra-terrestrial beings", "ancient gods", and "otherworldly beings", are used interchangeably by guests and the narration. Guests frequently conflate the meaning of "theory" and "hypothesis", or they frequently obscure or ignore the difference between mythology and legendary history, and verifiable archaeology, anthropology, or documented history.
Frequent guests
In the first season, credentialed scientists and professionals, such as Sara Seager and Michael Denning, respond to claims made by other guests, but their rebuttals were not rigorous. In subsequent episodes, scientists and professionals offer explanations of scientific phenomena or historical events without endorsing claims made by other guests, or they offer personal commentary. Psychologist Jonathan Young appears in 123 episodes, providing explanations of myths and legends, and legendary history. Boston University associate professor Robert Schoch presents his Sphinx water erosion hypothesis, as well as his hypothesis concerning the age and purpose of Göbekli Tepe, in several episodes. Erich von Däniken is the featured guest in the pilot episode, in addition to being the focus of two biographical episodes: "The Von Däniken Legacy", in Season 5, and "The Alien Phenomena", in Season 13.Radio talk show host George Noory appears in more than 80 episodes, including the pilot episode. Reverend Barry Downing, known for describing angels in the Bible as ancient astronauts, appears in the pilot episode, and his comments are repeated in later episodes. Writers Robert Bauval and Graham Hancock appear in many episodes. They both express skepticism of ancient astronauts, instead discussing their own theories of ancient civilizations. Hancock repeats the statement from his work that "There is a forgotten episode in human history." Nick Pope and Travis S. Taylor are also frequent guests.
Segments and highlights from all first-season episodes, including the pilot, were edited into later episodes as late as Season 12, so that guests who appeared in Season 1 ostensibly appear in later seasons, although footage of their original interviews was re-used.