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Ancient Aliens(r) Lib/E: The Official Companion Book
The first official companion book to HISTORY(R) network's hit series Ancient Aliens(R) a powerful journey through human history that explores fascinating unanswered questions about the origins of our civilizations. With a foreword by Series Creator, Kevin Burns.Millions of people around the world believe we have been visited in the past by extraterrestrial beings. What if it were true? And if so, what if there were clues left behind? Each week, hundreds of thousands of viewers tune in to the wildly popular Ancient Aliens(R) television series to seek insight into those very questions--and to become part of a thrilling, probing exploration of the mysteries at the heart of world civilizations.The first official companion book to the hit show, Ancient Aliens(R) takes readers even deeper into the mysteries that have made the show a pop culture phenomenon. Filled with exciting insights and behind-the scenes stories from the show's creators and leading experts in ancient alien theory, the book explores the key questions at the heart of the series: Who were they?Why did they come?What did they leave behind?Where did they go?Will they return?Transporting readers around the globe, Ancient Aliens(R) explores the fascinating enigmas and mysterious artifacts our ancestors left behind, from incredible objects to amazingly accurate ancient maps; from the Great Pyramid of Giza and stone megaliths at Gobekli Tepe to the Nazca Plains and mysterious structures of Puma Punku. Both the ultimate-fan book and the perfect gift for readers new to the show, Ancient Aliens(R) is a compelling journey through the mysteries of our ancient civilizations and the possibility of alien influence on our cultures.
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Published November 15, 2016
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July 30, 2023
A VISUALLY APPEALING BOOK THAT LETS THE SHOW’S HOSTS EXPLAIN
Kevin Burns (Executive Producer of ‘Ancient Aliens’) wrote in the Foreword to this 2016 book, “our Indiana Jones documentary---and its connections to ‘Chariots of the Gods’---would also open the door into another exciting area: ancient astronaut theory. Believing that [the documentary] would be borrowing much from Erich von Däniken, I asked [my assistant] to find us … someone … who is carrying his mantle into the twenty-first century. Enter Giorgio Tsoukalos… The documentary special … was well received… [I] called Giorgio, ‘Is Erich von Däniken still alive?’ ‘Absolutlely!... I will be happy to arrange a phone call for you.’ … My phone conversation with Erich convinced me that a new approach to ‘Chariots of the Gods’… was imperative… We would call our documentary ‘Ancient Aliens.’ We also made a deliberate decision to not populate the program with the usual phalanx of naysayers, skeptics, and debunkers. Not because we didn’t want balance, mind you. It was simply because we wanted our show to be open-minded. For us, ‘Ancient Aliens’ was… a show about questions and possibilities. It is about a theory. The big ‘What if?’ We knew from the start that we couldn’t prove ancient astronaut theory any more than we could prove the resurrection of Jesus. It was an interpretation based on evidence. The show… quickly became a hit.” (Pg. ix-x)
He continues, “Have I become a believer? Let’s just say I remain open-minded, just as I hope our audiences are…. I deal only in facts---but I’m open to asking questions: Could it be? What if?... In this way our series remains honest. We let the ancient alien theorists have their day in court. We let them give answers to the questions we pose. Sometimes the answers are plausible. Sometimes they’re outrageous. All of them are honestly held and thoughtfully given… I think it’s fair to remind those skeptics in our audience that it is not we, the producers… who suggest that some fort of extraterrestrial intelligence inspired the building of ancient pyramids, tombs, and temples; it is the ancient astronaut theorists in the program who suggest that. And where do they get this notion from? Why, from the very walls of the pyramids, tombs, and temples!... I am frequently asked if I believe in the stories we tell---if I believe in ancient astronaut theory. My answer is simple: I’m open to it…. I believe there is much about our history---and our origins---that we still don’t know. But one fact is certain: our world is filled with architectural riddles and scientific anomalies. Science and religion each attempt to provide answers … ‘Ancient Aliens’ attempts to answer these same questions but with a unique and profound filter: What if intelligent beings had existed on this planet thousands of years ago? What if they influenced our past and guided our future?... What if it were true? All we ask is that you, our audience, keep an open mind.” (Pg. x-xi)
David Hatcher Childress says of the ‘elongated skulls’ found in many cultures, “We don’t know whether it is natura or was caused by intentional intervention, like cranial binding… We don’t know why ancient people did this. Were they possibly trying to imitate extraterrestrials who normally looked like this?... we should remember that the Anunnaki were described as these giants with elongated heads. Or had they just found a way to … double the brain capacity of a person? Were they trying to make people more psychic?... What’s really strange is that this is found all over the world… this is something that had to be learned, something that was taught to them.” (Pg. 43-44)
Giorgio Tsoukalos says of Puma Punku, “The most prominent stones … are grey andesite and red sandstone… How this was done remains a mystery to this day. We also find what seem to be physical impossibilities in ancient rock-cutting techniques … where entire blocks of stone were somehow cut out of the rock face. How was the back of that block released so that the block could be taken out from the rock face?... I’ve talked to mining engineers and all sorts of people involved with rock cutting, and they told me that unless you have an access point where you can slide the blade behind it, you cannot do this…” (Pg. 51-53)
Jason Martell asserts, “Sumerian legends describe how two Anunnaki scientists … genetically engineered the first human being. Interestingly, our DNA contains a bunch of ‘junk DNA.’ And we haven’t been able to determine what this is possibly used for. Humans’ genetic structure seems to have been patched together, spliced here, moved there. It’s a very disorganized system…. So, many theories suggest that ‘junk DNA’ could be leftover extraterrestrial material.” (Pg. 64)
Childress observes, “There’s also the mystery of the disappearance of many of the Mayans---hundreds of cities were simply deserted, and we don’t know why… other civilizations have also essentially vanished for no discernible reason… mass disappearances---whole areas just completely depopulated---have happened… And the exact causes for this remains a mystery.” (Pg. 80)
Giorgio suggests, “extraterrestrials brought the tools to build these sites and taught humankind how to use these tools… gave them all the types of knowledge needed to build something magnificent. After they were done, the extraterrestrials took their tools and disappeared again. That is why it is very unlikely that we’ll ever find any type of tool used to build those monuments.” (Pg. 85)
Philip Coppens wonders, “These ancient epics … described something very similar to what we would call missile attacks. They saw fire being spewed from aerial objects. They saw what they called thunder and lightning, which was the best way they could describe what they were actually seeing in the skies… And do the question is, When the ancient Indians refer to fire, is that really what they were seeing, or is that the nearest word they could find to impart what was truly happening?” (Pg. 100)
Rabbi Ariel Bar Tzadok argues, “The Ark [of the Bible]… was a technological device delivered by some intelligence beyond that which we human beings understand… Today, when we get too close to something that is dangerous to us, whether … of a chemical nature or energetic nature, we can die. There is no moral or religious judgement. The Ark was the same… It was dangerous to touch the Ark… There was some kind of energy in the Ark, which had the power to kill.” (Pg. 141)
William Henry speculates, “The ancient Sumerians left incredible evidence or clues of the possibility of wormhole travel as well… According to Zechariah Sitchin, [the Anunnaki] came to Earth on a special mission… Sitchin believed they came form Nibiru… the Anunnaki said that Niburu is a star, a gate, and a crossing place, opening up the possibility that the Anunnaki, as these ephemeral or nonphysical spirit beings, are actually traveling through stargates and wormholes. In fact, this is what we see in their artwork. When we see the Anunnaki coming and going from the stars to the Earth plane, they are very often coming and going through gateways.” (Pg. 201)
Fans of the series will love this book---particularly the fact that the ‘theorists’ are allowed more space to develop their ideas and arguments. Those of us who are more skeptical, will at least find Kevin Burns’ Foreword rather ‘revealing,’ of the nature of the History Channel’s approach to this controversial subject.
Kevin Burns (Executive Producer of ‘Ancient Aliens’) wrote in the Foreword to this 2016 book, “our Indiana Jones documentary---and its connections to ‘Chariots of the Gods’---would also open the door into another exciting area: ancient astronaut theory. Believing that [the documentary] would be borrowing much from Erich von Däniken, I asked [my assistant] to find us … someone … who is carrying his mantle into the twenty-first century. Enter Giorgio Tsoukalos… The documentary special … was well received… [I] called Giorgio, ‘Is Erich von Däniken still alive?’ ‘Absolutlely!... I will be happy to arrange a phone call for you.’ … My phone conversation with Erich convinced me that a new approach to ‘Chariots of the Gods’… was imperative… We would call our documentary ‘Ancient Aliens.’ We also made a deliberate decision to not populate the program with the usual phalanx of naysayers, skeptics, and debunkers. Not because we didn’t want balance, mind you. It was simply because we wanted our show to be open-minded. For us, ‘Ancient Aliens’ was… a show about questions and possibilities. It is about a theory. The big ‘What if?’ We knew from the start that we couldn’t prove ancient astronaut theory any more than we could prove the resurrection of Jesus. It was an interpretation based on evidence. The show… quickly became a hit.” (Pg. ix-x)
He continues, “Have I become a believer? Let’s just say I remain open-minded, just as I hope our audiences are…. I deal only in facts---but I’m open to asking questions: Could it be? What if?... In this way our series remains honest. We let the ancient alien theorists have their day in court. We let them give answers to the questions we pose. Sometimes the answers are plausible. Sometimes they’re outrageous. All of them are honestly held and thoughtfully given… I think it’s fair to remind those skeptics in our audience that it is not we, the producers… who suggest that some fort of extraterrestrial intelligence inspired the building of ancient pyramids, tombs, and temples; it is the ancient astronaut theorists in the program who suggest that. And where do they get this notion from? Why, from the very walls of the pyramids, tombs, and temples!... I am frequently asked if I believe in the stories we tell---if I believe in ancient astronaut theory. My answer is simple: I’m open to it…. I believe there is much about our history---and our origins---that we still don’t know. But one fact is certain: our world is filled with architectural riddles and scientific anomalies. Science and religion each attempt to provide answers … ‘Ancient Aliens’ attempts to answer these same questions but with a unique and profound filter: What if intelligent beings had existed on this planet thousands of years ago? What if they influenced our past and guided our future?... What if it were true? All we ask is that you, our audience, keep an open mind.” (Pg. x-xi)
David Hatcher Childress says of the ‘elongated skulls’ found in many cultures, “We don’t know whether it is natura or was caused by intentional intervention, like cranial binding… We don’t know why ancient people did this. Were they possibly trying to imitate extraterrestrials who normally looked like this?... we should remember that the Anunnaki were described as these giants with elongated heads. Or had they just found a way to … double the brain capacity of a person? Were they trying to make people more psychic?... What’s really strange is that this is found all over the world… this is something that had to be learned, something that was taught to them.” (Pg. 43-44)
Giorgio Tsoukalos says of Puma Punku, “The most prominent stones … are grey andesite and red sandstone… How this was done remains a mystery to this day. We also find what seem to be physical impossibilities in ancient rock-cutting techniques … where entire blocks of stone were somehow cut out of the rock face. How was the back of that block released so that the block could be taken out from the rock face?... I’ve talked to mining engineers and all sorts of people involved with rock cutting, and they told me that unless you have an access point where you can slide the blade behind it, you cannot do this…” (Pg. 51-53)
Jason Martell asserts, “Sumerian legends describe how two Anunnaki scientists … genetically engineered the first human being. Interestingly, our DNA contains a bunch of ‘junk DNA.’ And we haven’t been able to determine what this is possibly used for. Humans’ genetic structure seems to have been patched together, spliced here, moved there. It’s a very disorganized system…. So, many theories suggest that ‘junk DNA’ could be leftover extraterrestrial material.” (Pg. 64)
Childress observes, “There’s also the mystery of the disappearance of many of the Mayans---hundreds of cities were simply deserted, and we don’t know why… other civilizations have also essentially vanished for no discernible reason… mass disappearances---whole areas just completely depopulated---have happened… And the exact causes for this remains a mystery.” (Pg. 80)
Giorgio suggests, “extraterrestrials brought the tools to build these sites and taught humankind how to use these tools… gave them all the types of knowledge needed to build something magnificent. After they were done, the extraterrestrials took their tools and disappeared again. That is why it is very unlikely that we’ll ever find any type of tool used to build those monuments.” (Pg. 85)
Philip Coppens wonders, “These ancient epics … described something very similar to what we would call missile attacks. They saw fire being spewed from aerial objects. They saw what they called thunder and lightning, which was the best way they could describe what they were actually seeing in the skies… And do the question is, When the ancient Indians refer to fire, is that really what they were seeing, or is that the nearest word they could find to impart what was truly happening?” (Pg. 100)
Rabbi Ariel Bar Tzadok argues, “The Ark [of the Bible]… was a technological device delivered by some intelligence beyond that which we human beings understand… Today, when we get too close to something that is dangerous to us, whether … of a chemical nature or energetic nature, we can die. There is no moral or religious judgement. The Ark was the same… It was dangerous to touch the Ark… There was some kind of energy in the Ark, which had the power to kill.” (Pg. 141)
William Henry speculates, “The ancient Sumerians left incredible evidence or clues of the possibility of wormhole travel as well… According to Zechariah Sitchin, [the Anunnaki] came to Earth on a special mission… Sitchin believed they came form Nibiru… the Anunnaki said that Niburu is a star, a gate, and a crossing place, opening up the possibility that the Anunnaki, as these ephemeral or nonphysical spirit beings, are actually traveling through stargates and wormholes. In fact, this is what we see in their artwork. When we see the Anunnaki coming and going from the stars to the Earth plane, they are very often coming and going through gateways.” (Pg. 201)
Fans of the series will love this book---particularly the fact that the ‘theorists’ are allowed more space to develop their ideas and arguments. Those of us who are more skeptical, will at least find Kevin Burns’ Foreword rather ‘revealing,’ of the nature of the History Channel’s approach to this controversial subject.
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