lie not on Earth
but 400 light-years away?
LEONARD KAPAHULEHUA: According to our traditions,
we are all offspring of star people.
NARRATOR: Throughout the world,
ancient people pointed
to the Pleiades and called it home.
MICHIO KAKU: References to the Pleiades
go back thousands of years
into antiquity.
In fact, the Kepler space telescope
has found evidence of planets in the Pleiades.
NARRATOR: Now a new discovery
provides an intriguing link to this star system.
BRUCE FENTON: This object seems to come
from the Pleiades star cluster,
which is quite astonishing.
GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: It's almost like a calling card
of where the extraterrestrials came from.
They came down from the Pleiades.
NARRATOR: There is a doorway
in the universe.
Beyond it is the promise of truth.
It demands we question everything
we have ever been taught.
The evidence is all around us.
The future is right before our eyes.
We are not alone.
We have never been alone.
♪ ♪
Scientists at the University of Hawaii
Haleakala Observatory
detect a strange object
traveling through our solar system.
They initially catalog it as an asteroid,
but after further examination,
researchers observe that the object accelerated
as it approached the Sun,
acting more like a comet
but without any other comet-like characteristics.
The find forces astronomers
to reclassify it as something entirely new:
an interstellar object.
KAREN MEECH: We'd never seen anything like this
in the solar system before.
We get an estimate of its size
at about 800 meters or half a kilometer in length.
Roughly a cigar-like shape.
It was moving very fast,
a little more than 195,000 miles per hour.
You get a chill sometimes when you understand
something is very important or is really exciting,
and that's what I felt with this object.
NARRATOR: Our Milky Way galaxy
is estimated to consist of 100,000 million stars,
each indicating the presence of a solar system.
Because the distances between them are so vast,
astronomers believed it was impossible
for an object from another solar system
to reach our own...
until now.
It just came from outside our solar system,
meaning it wasn't material from our star being created.
It's from a different star system somewhere else.
That's historic that we've actually seen it.
We now know objects can travel
from one star system to another.
NARRATOR: Researchers dubbed the interstellar visitor
'Oumuamua, a Hawaiian term meaning
"a messenger from afar arriving first."
Is it possible that the interstellar visitor
was, in fact, a messenger?
One sent on a mission to our solar system?
MICHAEL SALLA: Different scientists
have analyzed the data
and deduced that it's something very different
to an asteroid or a comet.
So the scientific data does point to it actually being
some artificial creation.
We've had open speculation
about how this thing might be an interstellar spacecraft.
Talk from... from a Harvard professor.
NARRATOR: The chair of Harvard's astronomy department,
Dr. Avi Loeb,
noted that the object seemed to follow the propulsion patterns
of a new technology that is currently being tested
for future space missions, known as solar sail propulsion.
Large reflective sails capture sunlight
to propel a craft through the vacuum of space.
You can design, essentially, photon sails.
So the idea has been to make a-a material
that reflects photons, which is light, very efficiently.
You deploy this and you basically accelerate
under starlight.
And then you just cruise.
NARRATOR: Was similar alien technology used to propel 'Oumuamua?
FENTON: It makes you wonder, was that a targeted mission,
some sort of probe that has been sent in to look for life?
TAYLOR: Before man actually went to the Moon
and walked on it, we sent a lot of probes
around the Moon to look at it.
And it's quite likely that some version of NASA
from some other star system
could send a probe here to Earth.
NARRATOR: The trajectory of the interstellar object
took it past the Sun,
where it made a turn and then ran parallel to Earth's orbit.
It traveled between our planet and Mars
before it began its journey out of our solar system.
When 'Oumuamua arrived, nobody knew where it came from.
Then in 2018,
an astronomer at the University of Hertfordshire retraced
its movements and discovered that it came from the Pleiades.
We have to ask,
is it possible that it was actually sent from the Pleiades?
NARRATOR: For ancient astronaut theorists,
the revelation that 'Oumuamua traveled to our solar system
from the area of the Pleiades star cluster
is highly intriguing.
The Pleiades figures into the creation stories
of many ancient cultures from all around the world,
where it was taught that divine beings came from these stars
to seed life on Earth.
If we look at the mythologies of the Pleiades around the world,
there's some indication that this star cluster
is in some way related to a visitation in ancient times.
NARRATOR: Located over 400 light-years from Earth,
near the constellation of Taurus, the Pleiades
is commonly recognized as seven bright stars,
but actually consists of thousands.
SETH SHOSTAK: The Pleiades.
Everybody's heard of the Pleiades.
They're also known as the Seven Sisters,
'cause if you have really good eyesight,
you can see seven stars in a very compact configuration
in the winter sky.
And in fact, there are a lot more stars than seven.
There are actually 3,000 stars in the Pleiades.
KAKU: So the Pleiades is a star cluster.
They're not separated by huge distances,
but they occur in a small area.
That's different from a constellation,
where the stars could be moving in all sorts of directions
and are separated by huge distances.
NARRATOR: The importance of this massive star cluster to ancient peoples
is revealed not only by their creation stories,
but also in how they oriented their most important structures.
FENTON: All around the world,
we find ancient structures that have alignments
that infer a relationship to the Pleiades.
Now, these can be found in places like Chaco Canyon,
in Mesoamerica, in various parts of the world.
It's clear that the ancient people wanted to incorporate
the rising of the Pleiades in some way
with the building of these megastructures.
NARRATOR: Additionally, ancient artwork and artifacts
pay homage to these same stars, with one depiction
dating back an incredible 18,000 years.
KAKU: Perhaps the earliest reference to the Pleiades
is in the Lascaux caves in France.
But these go back thousands of years into antiquity,
even before the written language.
The Pleiades constellation shows up in various artifacts,
one of them even being a Sumerian tablet relief
that shows what appears to be some type of a god
coming out of the Pleiades constellation.
An interesting artifact coming out of the 1600s
is the Nebra sky disk, depicting the constellation of Pleiades.
TSOUKALOS: Worldwide, we find hundreds of references
having to do with the Pleiades.
Not just on one continent, not just in one culture,
but in multiple continents, in multiple cultures worldwide.
That to me indicates that something happened here on Earth
having to do with someone visiting from the Pleiades.
ANDREW COLLINS: The seven stars
making up the star cluster of the Pleiades
are very often represented as human figures.
Uh, in Greek mythology, they are seven sisters.
And in India, they are associated with the seven rishi.
These are wise benefactors to humanity
from some kind of astronomical place in the sky.
We have to wonder, why are the Pleiades
being so specifically picked out of the night sky?
Is it possible that the Pleiades are the place
where our sky gods have come from?
NARRATOR: With thousands of stars in the Pleiades,
could it be a place that contains an Earth-like planet,
one that could have been the home planet
for our extraterrestrial ancestors?
The Kepler space telescope has found evidence
of planets in the Pleiades.
So, Kepler works by finding dips of light
as a planet passes in front of the star that it's orbiting
relative to the Earth.
Astronomers were able to see that there is some dimming
of stars in the Pleiades, which is likely caused by planets.
NARRATOR: Could the Pleiades star system be the place
where human life on Earth first originated?
And, if so, could there be a connection between the Pleiades
and the unusual interstellar object
that came to our solar system in 2017?
Perhaps the answer can be found
by examining a culture
that continues to call the Pleiades home.
We are all offspring of star people.
So they consider themselves to be hybrids,
genetic offshoots of Pleiadian visitors to the Earth.
(singing in Hawaiian)
NARRATOR: Indigenous Hawaiians celebrate the annual Makahiki festival,
a four-month-long period honoring
the Hawaiian new year and the reappearance
of the Pleiades star cluster in the sky.
The celebration commemorates Lono,
the god of rain and peace,
and his arrival to Earth in a canoe.
SALLA: It's a time of celebration
and to acknowledge the Hawaiians' connection
to the Pleiades star system,
'cause this is how the Hawaiians consider
their ancestors actually having
first established their presence on the Earth.
We have all kind of connection with the Pleiades,
but we call it, uh, Ka po'e o ka lani, the people of the heave.
(woman singing in Hawaiian)
NARRATOR: The festivities incorporate the recitation of the Kumulipo,
a sacred chant of over 2,000 lines
passed down for centuries solely by oral tradition.
(man singing in Hawaiian)
HUGH NEWMAN: The chant chronicles
the creation of the first humans
and is said to go back over 1,100 generations,
back to the very beginning of their civilization.
SALLA: In Hawaii, the Kumulipo is the genealogical record
of the Hawaiians.
And it goes back centuries, if not thousands of years.
And according to the Hawaiians, the Kumulipo actually traces
the ancestry of Hawaiians to the Pleiades.
So they consider themselves to be hybrids,
or genetic offshoots of Pleiadian visitors to the Earth.
NARRATOR: The Pleiades are the first stars ever mentioned
in ancient literature,
and play a prominent role in the creation stories
of various cultures,
including the Siberians, Southeast Asians,
Pacific Islanders, Australians and Indigenous Americans.
DAVID CHILDRESS: Throughout the Pacific,
in Japan and the Philippines,
we have stories of gods coming from the Pleiades.
And the Japanese emperor is said to have been descended
from the Pleiades.
MICHAEL CARTER: The Cherokee call themselves the original people.
We say we were dropped here, the Great Spirit put us here,
and that our true home, our ancestral home,
is in this star system.
JONATHAN YOUNG: The Mayans believed the Pleiades was the home of the ancestors,
and their language refers to the star system as seeds.
The seed, the source of things;
the egg from which something grows.
So they're seeing the star system as the source
of their civilization.
STEVEN STRONG: The original people of Australia know so much
about their sky heroes.
They came from the stars.
The elders tell me time after time,
"The Pleiades, they are our people.
They are our ancestors."
NEWMAN: The similarities are astounding.
We really have to question why there are so many similarities
between these different cultures and the creation stories
all around the world linked with beings from the Pleiades.
NARRATOR: Among the many legends expressed by Native Hawaiians,
one is that visitors from the Pleiades came to Earth
and established the lost continent of Lemuria,
also known as Mu.
The Land of Mu, also called Lemuria,
is one of these lost continent stories, like Atlantis.
But this one is thought to be in the Pacific.
A great civilization of high culture
and technological achievement
that vanishes under the sea.
We humans were close to the gods
and reached a very advanced stage of culture
and civilization and technology.
And it slipped away.
There were some ideas that the continent of Lemuria
was where humanity began.
This, then, would be the point of origin for humanity.
(conch horn sounding)
NICK POPE: Some of the tribal elders and other priests
in the Hawaiian native religions believe that
all Hawaiians are Lemurian.
HENRY: The belief that the Hawaiian Islands were originally
part of Lemuria, or Mu,
this great continent in the Pacific Ocean
that suffered a terrible cataclysm
and sank under the waters,
this is another connection with the Pleiades,
because it's thought that the Pleiadeans were
the original settlers of Lemuria.
NARRATOR: Hawaiian oral traditions say that Lemuria
disappeared into the sea,
but some ancient astronaut theorists propose another
even more profound possibility.
TSOUKALOS: The common accepted idea is that Lemuria, at some point, sank.
I actually think Lemuria, in my opinion,
was not a landmass.
It was a craft that landed in the sea,
and it was able to move around.
Move around under its own propulsion.
Somebody who has no idea about high tech--
well, then, for all intents and purposes,
that thing just disappeared, or it sank,
because it's no longer there.
It was another example of misunderstood technology.
Could that have been ancient Lemuria?
(men chanting)
NARRATOR: Is it possible that Lemuria,
described by the Native Hawaiians
as a place of high technology,
was an island made not of earth and rock,
but of metal?
Could it have been a massive spaceship
that ascended into the sky and set a course for the Pleiades?
Ancient astronaut theorists say yes,
and suggest that further evidence can be found
embedded within human DNA.
They compared the DNA of the bone,
and there was no comparison with human DNA.
SALLA: These groups shared this belief
about the Pleiades being the origin point.
NARRATOR: Followers of Hindu, Buddhist,
Jain and Bon faiths
consider this peak the earthly abode of their gods.
Many pilgrims making their ascent to the peak
stop at the Saptarishi caves
on the southern face of the mountain.
Here, they pay their respects to the seven great sages,
the divine benefactors of mankind.
The Saptarishis are here on Earth
to train, to impart their knowledge to human beings.
And after they finished their job,
and they went back to the sky, they went back to heaven,
and the Pleiades are their wives.
SALLA: The Saptarishis are linked to the Pleiades star system.
We actually have a connection between these ascended masters
and the Pleiades star system.
NARRATOR: Today, many people of India, Tibet and Nepal
claim that they can trace their genetic lineage
to the Saptarishis...
powerful cosmic beings associated with the Pleiades.
Ancient astronaut theorists say intriguing new
scientific evidence may actually help to prove
these stories true.
They point specifically to the region's native mountain people
known as the Sherpas.
The Sherpas are world-renowned for being able to survive
at very high altitudes.
This is no fluke.
They found that the Sherpas carry a specific gene
that enables them to survive in oxygen-starved environments.
If we were up there, we would probably get very sick,
or even die.
NARRATOR: Geneticists have identified a "super-athlete" gene
encoded into Sherpa DNA
that regulates oxygen in the body much more efficiently
than other human populations.
And in July 2014, geneticists identified exactly where
this unique gift came from.
It was passed down by a mysterious ancient lineage
of prehumans.
In the remote Altai Mountains,
at an elevation of over 14,000 feet,
archaeologists discover a pinky bone
of an ancient humanoid species that dates back 40,000 years.
VON DANIKEN: These bones have been analyzed at the Max Planck Institute
for Anthropology in Germany.
And they are absolutely specialized in DNA.
They compared the DNA of the bone,
and there was no comparison with human DNA.
NARRATOR: Anthropologists named this new species Denisovan,
after the cave where the bone was found.
And from this small bone fragment,
scientists have been able to sequence
the entire Denisovan genome.
NEWMAN: Something incredible came out
of this DNA testing.
They found that the Denisovans
had the same super-athlete gene
found in the Sherpas of Tibet.
And not only that.
After additional testing, they actually found
that the Denisovans passed down this gene to them.
What we're beginning to discover is
that human origins are a lot more complex
than what we ever imagined.
NARRATOR: In the decade since the Denisovans were discovered,
scientists have traced their DNA to modern human populations
in Australia, the Americas,
the Pacific Islands, India and Tibet.
And to this day, remarkably,
the native people that inhabit these regions
all share a profound connection to the Pleiades star cluster.
SALLA: Researchers have found
these groups shared this cultural belief
about the Pleiades actually being the origin point,
as being critical for the establishment
of their culture, their history.
Their lineage is somehow attributed to the Pleiades.
NARRATOR: Is it possible
that the Denisovan bone fragment found in Siberia once belonged
to an extraterrestrial being from the Pleiades?
Stories of visitors from this star cluster are so widespread,
they have even been given a name--
the Pleiadeans.
We've had all kinds of guests over the many years
I've been doing Coast to Coast that have talked
about various star systems and clusters,
including the Pleiades.
And they talk about how
the Pleiadeans are primarily Nordics.
They look like us, or should I say we look like them?
HENRY: In eyewitness descriptions,
they are described as light beings
and blue-skinned beings that come from the sky.
CAROLINE CORY: The ancient civilizations knew
that the Pleiadeans have been in contact
with Earth since the beginning of time.
It is possible
that the Pleiadeans seeded the Earth with their own DNA
to upgrade the genetic material of humanity
to ensure that it will continue to evolve.
NARRATOR: While the Pleiades is cited
as the ancestral home for many cultures around the world,
historians and mythologists point out
that there are other star systems--
like Orion and Sirius-- that also figure prominently
in ancient accounts concerning mankind's place of origin.
Different cultures imagine they have come
from specific locations in the constellations,
like the Pleiades or Sirius.
Orion shows up in so many different locations.
At least in mythology, at least the lore is claiming
there are planets there
that could be inhabited by creatures like us.
All those stars. What is out there?
What is our relationship to that?
If it would only be one culture
of ancient times describing this, fine.
But if you have all ancient cultures,
especially the origin stories,
that talk about the same thing, then the answer is clear.
Something else went on.
So, if we have these ancient structures
that were built in the form of Orion,
or the Pleiades, for example,
then what if it's an illustration
to suggest where these extraterrestrials came from?
NARRATOR: Is it possible
that the origin stories of ancient cultures
are not merely based on imagination,
but were inspired by actual historical events?
And, if so, does this mean
that aliens from more than one star system came to Earth
in the distant past?
As far as ancient astronaut theorists are concerned,
the answer is a resounding "yes."
And they not only point to ancient stories as proof,
but to the various descriptions of different types of beings
being reported by eyewitnesses, even today.
There's a wide variety of beings out there
that are said to have come to Earth.
You have the Greys, you have the Reptilians and the Pleiadeans.
The Pleiadeans then fit in as a part of a whole roster
of different types of beings
that are visiting Earth in the ancient world,
mating with humans, creating hybrid offspring...
and influencing human civilization.
NARRATOR: If the Pleiadeans were one of a number
of extraterrestrial factions that visited Earth
from different star systems, have they left, never to return?
Or could they still be living amongst us...
even as we speak?
They all fled into the stars seeking protection, and there
were transformed into stars.
FENTON: Some kind of conflict between beings from the Orion system
and another group of beings from this Pleiades system.
2020.
Here, in what was once home to a mysterious group
of mound builders known as the Adena culture,
is arguably one of the most extraordinary ancient sites
in North America: Serpent Mound.
NEWMAN: Serpent Mound is a massive 1,400-feet-long
and three-foot-tall effigy of a serpent.
It is the largest in the world,
and you can only really see it from above.
Scientists can't agree when it was originally built
or why it was built.
It really is one of the big mysteries
of the ancient world.
NARRATOR: While archeologists still debate the true purpose
of the Serpent Mound, ancient astronaut theorists
believe the answer may be found
in the traditional stories of the native people of the region.
A people whose legends tell of a great battle
waged between a serpent and visitors from the Pleiades.
According to the legend,
there were two entities involved in this great battle:
a water serpent and the thunderbird,
which represented star people from the Pleiades culture.
So we may have had two extraterrestrial races
battling at Serpent Mound.
Some significant things about Serpent Mound
that gives credibility to this story.
Core samples have revealed there's striated crystal,
and also deposits of iridium found in Serpent Mound.
And according to lore,
this battle involved high-tech weapons
that may have caused this striated crystal
or this deposit of iridium.
POPE: Not only is iridium one of the rarest metals on Earth,
it's also one of the most corrosion resistant.
And it can withstand incredible heat,
which is why it's used in a lot of high technology,
including space probes.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that the iridium found at Serpent Mound
came from some sort of extraterrestrial craft
that was engaged in battle,
as ancient astronaut theorists suggest?
And if so, could its presence at the site
reveal the battle's outcome?
Ancient astronaut theorists often think
that there were several kinds of extraterrestrials
who were coming to the planet;
and one type of extraterrestrial was a reptilian,
serpent-type of humanoid entity.
And some people think that they were fighting wars
over domination of planet Earth.
And it seems the reptilians won the battle.
NARRATOR: While alien factions battling for control of the planet
may sound like the stuff of science fiction fantasy,
ancient astronaut theorists suggest
that strikingly similar stories
can be found in cultures throughout the world
that also support this notion.
Dating back more than 20,000 years,
the rock art at Walinynga, also known as Cave Hill,
is considered some of the most significant
on the continent, and contains the oldest depictions
of the Pleiades.
The art represents the so-called "Seven Sisters"
being chased by star beings
associated with the constellation of Orion.
According to legend, they were forced to flee
into the night sky, where they became the Pleiades.
There is one dreaming story
that runs through the whole of this country,
and that's the Seven Sisters of Pleiades.
It is the same narrative that barely changes
from place to place.
Sometimes it's Orion, sometimes it's Southern Cross
chasing them. But it is something
that permeates through the whole of their religion.
NARRATOR: The details of the stories of the original people
of Australia are eerily similar to one found
over 8,000 miles away in Greece.
According to the mythology,
the Seven Sisters were fleeing an earthly pursuer,
called Orion.
In the Greco-Roman tradition,
the Pleiades are the daughters of Atlas
and a goddess, Pleione.
And they are seven daughters.
Orion is also a demigod, as it were, a hero,
and he was chasing after them.
And as a result of it,
they all fled into the stars
seeking protection, and there were transformed into stars.
NARRATOR: 6,000 miles from Greece,
the native Kiowa tribe in Wyoming tells the story
that Devil's Tower was clawed by a great bear
that was in pursuit of seven maidens.
The Pleiades. The bright stars that can be seen clearly
by the eye are important in the ancient lore.
Kiowa tradition tells us that the maidens
knelt to pray for help, calling upon the gods.
The ground was raised into the sky.
The bear tried to follow in vain and clawed the side of the rock.
To protect the maidens,
the Great Spirit allowed them to remain in the sky
as the Seven Sisters.
The Pleiades.
How can it be that cultures
separated by such vast distances,
and indeed, time, have an identical story?
Could it be that they're recording real events,
that there was some kind of conflict
between beings that originated from the Orion system
and another group of beings from this Pleiades system?
Could it be that these Pleiadeans
returned to their home in the stars?
NARRATOR: Do these similar ancient traditions provide
a historical record that extraterrestrials
from the Pleiades were forced to flee the Earth?
Based on the legend of the Native Hawaiians,
some ancient astronaut theorists believe
there could be another, even more incredible possibility.
SALLA: Part of Hawaiian legend is that Lemurians used lava tubes
for safe harbor from invasion.
And I think that was a legend that is established on a war
that occurred prior to the last great flood.
So, this was the Lemurians being driven underground.
Many of them remained
and some of them returned to the Pleiades.
CHILDRESS: Throughout the Pacific, there are also stories
that Lemuria or Mu
is now basically underneath the ocean.
So if Lemuria was actually some kind of a craft,
we have to wonder if it is capable of going underwater.
And it's quite possible as well that these extraterrestrials
are under the oceans.
NARRATOR: If the events chronicled in numerous ancient traditions
really occurred, is it possible that the Pleiadeans
did not retreat to their home planet thousands of years ago,
but are still here and can be found
somewhere deep beneath the ocean?
POPE: The indigenous elders
say this is where they go to commune
with their otherworldly ancestors.
SALLA: He began having experiences
with these Pleiadian star visitors.
NARR population,
distinctive rock formations in the Blue Mountains
called the Three Sisters are what remains
of seven stone spires that once stood here.
Locals associate them
with the seven visible stars of the Pleiades.
To this day, the elders believe this area contains
a cosmic cord, a sacred link to these stars
that allows them to make contact with their ancestors.
And some believe it is the site of their return.
STRONG: There are definitely stories
of Pleiadians in contact through the whole of that region,
Blue Mountains and Gosford.
It is where they've come down and worked with them.
I've been with elders who swear to this day
they have spoken to tall blue beings,
and they've given information to them.
POPE: In the paranormal investigation community,
the Blue Mountains
are considered a hot spot for extraterrestrial activity.
Since the 1950s, there have been hundreds of UFO sightings.
This corroborates the views of the indigenous elders
who say this is a location where they go to commune
with their otherworldly ancestors.
So could this mean that these beings
they call "the ancestors" have returned?
NARRATOR: But if extraterrestrials from the Pleiades
have returned to Earth after a long absence, why now?
Perhaps further clues can be found by examining details
from an alleged alien abduction event half a world away.
Engineer Enrique Castillo Rincón
is at home when a strange voice invades his mind.
According to Rincón, this telepathic communication
is from a cosmic being whose origin
lies 400 light-years away, in the Pleiades.
Rincón is instructed to visit a specific lake
where physical contact would be made.
NARRATOR: Once there, he claims to have been taken aboard
a Pleiadean spacecraft.
SALLA: Enrique Castillo Rincón
began having experiences with these Pleiadian star visitors.
He says that he was chosen by the Pleiadians
to be an ambassador, where he would actually
be given a lot of information:
the history of, uh, Pleiadian interaction with humanity
and our true history as a species.
And how the Pleiadians have been interacting with us
for-for many millennia.
Some of the messages Rincón receives
talk of great changes coming in the near future
including an imminent Third World War.
You can imagine that this sort of information
would be of great concern to the authorities.
Indeed, after one of his public appearances, Rincón claims
that government agents took him to Washington, D.C.,
where top-level officials interrogated him.
What made Rincón's case fascinating
was that documentation subsequently has come out
substantiating that the CIA did actually
bring him to the United States for a debriefing.
NARRATOR: Since 1973,
other contactees have come forward,
professing to have been given similar information
by beings from the Pleiades.
Ancient astronaut theorists speculate
that this increase in contact,
and the recent appearance of 'Oumuamua, may indicate
that they are preparing humanity for their return.
We know from many different sources
that the Pleiadians have been interacting with humanity
and are connected to us.
So if that is the case, 'Oumuamua could be part
of humanity's awakening to the greater cosmic reality.
TSOUKALOS: 'Oumuamua, the first visitor from outside the solar system.
It's almost like a calling card,
a business card of where the extraterrestrials came from.
They came down from the Pleiades.
NARRATOR: Are we entering a new era of alien visitation,
as ancient astronaut theorists suggest?
One where we will see the return of the Pleiadians
and other extraterrestrial races?
Perhaps further evidence can be found
by examining a second interstellar object
that recently entered our solar system.
NARRATOR: At the MARGO Observatory,
amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov
detects a strange object traveling through the sky.
It is dubbed the Borisov comet,
and becomes the second interstellar object
ever discovered in our solar system,
nearly two years after 'Oumuamua
traveled from the Pleiades star cluster.
TEITEL: The Borisov comet is the second known object we found
that has interstellar origins.
It was traveling way too fast
to have come from our own outer solar system,
which means it has to have come from another solar system.
Whether we are just getting better at detecting
these objects or whether we're seeing this new kind of thing
swinging by our Sun, it's a really exciting time
to be looking for things
that are coming from outside our solar system.
HENRY: This is kind of alarming to some astronomers
because we wonder, are these cosmic messengers coming here
bringing us warnings?
Are they signaling something?
Is this just the start of more interstellar objects
entering into our solar system?
And if so, how many more of these objects
are we going to start seeing?
MEECH: In 2017, a paper was published
trying to estimate the number of interstellar objects
that we might have.
One estimate suggests that at any one moment, we might have
one 'Oumuamua-like object inside the orbit of Earth at any time
that shows us new possibilities of what's out there.
We've had a piece of something
from another solar system delivered to us.
I think this is inching us closer
to the discovery of life elsewhere.
My personal belief is there is life out there.
NARRATOR: Now, after the historic discovery
of two interstellar objects that were delivered
to our solar system, could a new age be upon us?
One that will soon see the arrival of intelligent beings
from another world?
HENRY: If 'Oumuamua is an interstellar probe,
we know now that it comes from the Pleiades.
Is the Borisov object also
some form of intelligently directed interstellar object?
And are there other species out there that are also
sending probes that we soon will discover?
TSOUKALOS: In the earliest of oral traditions
and the earliest of texts,
everybody is waiting for someone to return.
I hope that we will make official contact
within our lifetime, meaning in the next 50 or so years.
I've always said that the big secret will be
when the hatch opens and they walk down the ramp,
that we'll look at each other in the mirror,
'cause they will look like you and me.
NARRATOR: Throughout human history,
we have looked to the stars to guide our ships,
to align our most sacred monuments,
and to search for our place in the universe.
But could we have a far more profound connection
with these distant suns?
And if so, are we on the verge
of recovering this lost knowledge?
Perhaps now that we are able to detect the visitors
coming to our solar system from the far reaches of space,
we will soon discover that humanity's origins
lie not on Earth, but light-years away.
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