1 00:00:00,825 --> 00:00:06,129 A mighty empire ruled by the descendants of gods. 2 00:00:08,067 --> 00:00:13,070 A remote island where stone giants walked the Earth. 3 00:00:13,872 --> 00:00:18,139 And a fertile garden where modern man was born. 4 00:00:18,341 --> 00:00:23,580 Are the legends behind these ancient locations really based on fact? 5 00:00:24,182 --> 00:00:26,616 If so, why did they exist? 6 00:00:26,618 --> 00:00:30,019 And why have the answers been lost to history? 7 00:00:30,021 --> 00:00:31,854 GEORGE NOORY: How in the heck did they make these? 8 00:00:31,857 --> 00:00:33,390 How did they move them? 9 00:00:33,392 --> 00:00:35,559 Nobody has the answer. 10 00:00:36,561 --> 00:00:41,561 DAVID CHILDRESS: It may well be that the Garden of Eden today is underwater. 11 00:00:42,867 --> 00:00:46,200 GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: These cultures were connected by 12 00:00:46,201 --> 00:00:48,705 flying machines operated by 13 00:00:49,607 --> 00:00:51,608 extraterrestrials. 14 00:00:52,610 --> 00:00:55,410 NARRATOR: Millions of people around the world believe 15 00:00:55,414 --> 00:00:59,312 we have been visited in the past by extraterrestrial beings. 16 00:00:59,652 --> 00:01:02,919 What if it were true? 17 00:01:02,921 --> 00:01:07,188 Did ancient aliens really help to shape our history? 18 00:01:07,359 --> 00:01:09,592 And might we find proof by 19 00:01:09,629 --> 00:01:14,031 searching for our planet's mysterious lost worlds? 21 00:01:46,032 --> 00:01:47,732 Central America 22 00:01:48,133 --> 00:01:50,100 In a fertile valley between 23 00:01:50,102 --> 00:01:55,038 the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, in what is now Honduras, 24 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:59,943 lie the monumental ruins of Copan. 25 00:02:00,545 --> 00:02:04,481 This archaeological site is believed to have been the 26 00:02:04,483 --> 00:02:09,016 cultural and political center of the once mighty Maya civilization 27 00:02:09,155 --> 00:02:14,924 that thrived between 2000 BC and 800 AD. 28 00:02:15,727 --> 00:02:19,727 PAYSON SHEETS: People have called Copan the paradise of Mesoamerica 29 00:02:20,428 --> 00:02:25,828 because it was such a place for the arts and humanities 30 00:02:25,905 --> 00:02:29,441 The sculpture is beautiful. 31 00:02:29,643 --> 00:02:33,411 Architecture is just magnificent. 32 00:02:34,913 --> 00:02:38,348 NARRATOR: It is believed that, at one time, Copan was 33 00:02:38,450 --> 00:02:40,950 inhabited by as many as 20,000 people 34 00:02:41,052 --> 00:02:44,852 and covered an area of ten square miles. 35 00:02:45,557 --> 00:02:48,959 But in the ninth century, this incredible Mayan city 36 00:02:48,961 --> 00:02:52,131 was abandoned, and its people vanished. 37 00:02:54,933 --> 00:02:58,668 When Spanish conquistadors arrived in the 16th century, 38 00:02:59,370 --> 00:03:02,104 they found only a few farming hamlets. 39 00:03:02,106 --> 00:03:03,840 But why? 40 00:03:03,842 --> 00:03:05,308 DAVID CHEETHAM: They decimated their environment. 41 00:03:05,368 --> 00:03:06,868 Warfare became endemic. 42 00:03:08,161 --> 00:03:09,461 And it ended. 43 00:03:09,562 --> 00:03:10,662 And people left. 44 00:03:10,763 --> 00:03:12,263 They walked away. 45 00:03:13,064 --> 00:03:16,364 PHILIP COPPENS: To some extend, the idea that the Mayans became a lost culture 46 00:03:16,365 --> 00:03:17,665 is a yes and a no. 47 00:03:17,666 --> 00:03:20,066 We know that they stopped building. 48 00:03:20,067 --> 00:03:24,267 But at the very heart of the Mayan, it's a belief, it's a religion. 49 00:03:24,362 --> 00:03:26,662 which continues to beaten to this very day. 50 00:03:26,663 --> 00:03:31,463 saying, please pay attention to us because we have this vast body of knowledge 51 00:03:31,469 --> 00:03:32,838 "want to share with the world." 52 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:42,179 At Copan, the Mayan had built a complex of 53 00:03:42,181 --> 00:03:46,783 monuments, temples and plazas, as well as sculptured 54 00:03:46,785 --> 00:03:49,787 stone pillars depicting ancient kings. 55 00:03:51,189 --> 00:03:55,225 The Maya were also one of the earliest ancient civilizations 56 00:03:55,227 --> 00:03:57,494 to create a written language. 57 00:03:57,896 --> 00:04:03,435 ADRIAN GILBERT: In the last 20, 30 years, it's been a huge advance in 58 00:04:03,436 --> 00:04:05,136 the decoding of their hieroglyphs. 59 00:04:05,236 --> 00:04:08,336 This is obvious happened in our generation is still ongoing. 60 00:04:08,437 --> 00:04:11,574 NARRATOR: Might a closer look at the Mayan stone carvings 61 00:04:11,611 --> 00:04:15,677 and their hieroglyphs provide proof of contact with 62 00:04:15,678 --> 00:04:17,547 extraterrestrials at Copan? 63 00:04:17,649 --> 00:04:22,516 According to ancient astronaut theorists, the answer is yes. 64 00:04:23,621 --> 00:04:26,122 TSOUKALOS: Some of the large stautes at Copan 65 00:04:26,125 --> 00:04:31,525 are infantly fascinating to me the gear they are wearing 66 00:04:31,526 --> 00:04:35,726 is very reminiscent of something technological. 67 00:04:37,327 --> 00:04:41,227 One of the figures has a box with tubes coming out 68 00:04:41,306 --> 00:04:45,806 and buttons and just very weird things. 69 00:04:46,477 --> 00:04:49,711 These statues look like some type of a being 70 00:04:49,815 --> 00:04:51,815 wearing an astronaut suit. 71 00:04:52,917 --> 00:04:57,586 And, in my opinion, that means that we were visited by some 72 00:04:57,588 --> 00:04:59,488 type of extraterrestrials who 73 00:04:59,490 --> 00:05:03,926 were very similar in appearance to us, because according to the 74 00:05:03,997 --> 00:05:08,532 ancient texts, we were created in their image. 75 00:05:11,234 --> 00:05:15,871 NARRATOR: Researchers working in Copan have also found stone sculptures 76 00:05:15,873 --> 00:05:19,942 called stelae, which have provoked controversy since 77 00:05:19,944 --> 00:05:22,846 the site was discovered in 1576. 78 00:05:23,848 --> 00:05:28,182 And various interpretations of the carvings suggest the Maya 79 00:05:28,252 --> 00:05:33,852 may have had knowledge of a world far beyond their own continent. 80 00:05:33,959 --> 00:05:38,192 CHILDRESS: This is one of the curious dragon sculptures here at Copan, 81 00:05:38,401 --> 00:05:43,501 of which there are many. In fact, this very oriental statues 82 00:05:43,502 --> 00:05:48,702 would look right at place in China or some other Oriental country. 83 00:05:51,475 --> 00:05:56,846 Some archeologists believe that they are elephants on either side 84 00:05:56,848 --> 00:05:59,249 of this Copan ruler. 85 00:06:00,251 --> 00:06:06,255 So why would there be, here at Copan, such Asian motifs as 86 00:06:06,257 --> 00:06:12,161 elephants and dragons in a place in Central America that is so 87 00:06:12,163 --> 00:06:15,764 far away from China and Southeast Asia? 88 00:06:16,467 --> 00:06:20,703 Is there some kind of extraterrestrial connection 89 00:06:20,705 --> 00:06:24,106 between the Mayans and the Chinese, 90 00:06:24,108 --> 00:06:28,045 and an origin for both that comes from the stars? 91 00:06:33,047 --> 00:06:35,886 How could the early Maya of Central America 92 00:06:35,888 --> 00:06:40,088 have had knowledge possessed by people living in Asia-- 93 00:06:40,590 --> 00:06:43,660 on the other side of the Pacific Ocean? 94 00:06:44,462 --> 00:06:47,428 TSOUKALOS: One of the basic premises of the ancient 95 00:06:47,430 --> 00:06:51,534 astronaut theory suggests that there was contact between 96 00:06:51,536 --> 00:06:56,471 ancient cultures way before we give them credit. 97 00:06:58,810 --> 00:07:03,410 These ancient cultures were, in fact, connected by flying machines, 98 00:07:04,112 --> 00:07:07,912 and those flying machines were usually operated 99 00:07:08,019 --> 00:07:10,755 by extraterrestrials. 100 00:07:12,457 --> 00:07:16,826 And especially in the Mayan carvings, we find many 101 00:07:16,828 --> 00:07:20,630 references of the gods descending from the sky 102 00:07:20,632 --> 00:07:22,766 in flying serpents. 103 00:07:23,868 --> 00:07:27,404 Now, do flying serpents actually exist? 104 00:07:27,406 --> 00:07:28,672 Of course not. 105 00:07:28,674 --> 00:07:32,675 But it is a beautiful and very 106 00:07:32,677 --> 00:07:39,645 poetic description of something that is rooted in technology. 107 00:07:44,185 --> 00:07:49,058 NARRATOR: Due to the many strange carvings found at Copan really 108 00:07:49,060 --> 00:07:54,096 provide proof of contact between the Maya and otherworldly beings? 109 00:07:55,867 --> 00:08:00,470 And if so, might that contact have produced offspring 110 00:08:00,472 --> 00:08:04,407 that could also be traced to an extraterrestrial source? 111 00:08:05,409 --> 00:08:10,679 On the west side of the main temple at Copan stands a 63-step 112 00:08:10,681 --> 00:08:13,517 structure known as the Hieroglyphic Stairway. 113 00:08:14,819 --> 00:08:20,256 It contains more than 1,200 stones carved with symbols that 114 00:08:20,258 --> 00:08:23,293 record the history of the kings of Copan. 115 00:08:23,295 --> 00:08:27,096 CHILDRESS: This Hieroglyphic Stairway is the longest Mayan 116 00:08:27,098 --> 00:08:28,732 inscription in the world. 117 00:08:28,834 --> 00:08:34,904 It emphasizes the divine right of the 16 rulers of the Copan 118 00:08:34,906 --> 00:08:37,540 dynasty to rule their subjects-- 119 00:08:37,542 --> 00:08:40,309 a power given to them by the gods. 120 00:08:43,650 --> 00:08:47,850 SHEETS: The Hieroglyphic Stairway mentions the various rulers of Copan. 121 00:08:49,854 --> 00:08:54,891 And talks about them in a semi divine sense. 122 00:08:57,993 --> 00:09:02,097 So, they are human, they're mortal, but they are much more than that. 123 00:09:02,099 --> 00:09:03,033 They are royal. 124 00:09:03,035 --> 00:09:07,234 They have a spirit in their blood, and Maya called it Xuit Lel. 125 00:09:08,836 --> 00:09:14,578 A Xuit Lel is in the blood and is the most powerful thing to 126 00:09:14,580 --> 00:09:16,881 get access to the supernatural. 127 00:09:17,883 --> 00:09:19,850 So a king's Xuit Lel, 128 00:09:19,852 --> 00:09:25,352 when shed in a bloodletting ceremony and burned with copal incense, 129 00:09:25,356 --> 00:09:29,656 goes up into the heavens and takes a message to the deities, 130 00:09:29,663 --> 00:09:32,729 and they did things for the Maya. 131 00:09:34,131 --> 00:09:39,468 NARRATOR: Could the Maya rulers really have been the descendants 132 00:09:39,470 --> 00:09:43,938 of extraterrestrials, as ancient astronaut theorists believe? 133 00:09:45,140 --> 00:09:50,010 Perhaps conclusive evidence can be found in what is widely believed 134 00:09:50,012 --> 00:09:54,648 to be the most advanced celestial calendar system of ancient times. 135 00:09:57,355 --> 00:10:00,188 VON DANIKEN: The Mayas had most the most precise calendar 136 00:10:00,193 --> 00:10:04,793 of all the people in antiquity, even the Babylonian, the Sumerian 137 00:10:04,794 --> 00:10:08,794 They did not only observed our planetary system 138 00:10:10,495 --> 00:10:11,995 They observed Orion, 139 00:10:13,396 --> 00:10:15,296 they observed Sirius 140 00:10:15,797 --> 00:10:18,197 and all the far away systems. 141 00:10:18,798 --> 00:10:20,598 JON LOHSE: One of the things that says about the Maya part 142 00:10:20,599 --> 00:10:23,799 it was the their ability to monitor the passage of astronomical 143 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:26,300 events and to track the movement of constellations, 144 00:10:26,301 --> 00:10:27,901 to predict eclipses 145 00:10:28,693 --> 00:10:31,393 They really developed some of this knowledge and skills 146 00:10:31,394 --> 00:10:32,794 to a pretty high degree. 147 00:10:33,595 --> 00:10:35,095 It's remarkable. 148 00:10:35,796 --> 00:10:39,696 No telescopes, no metal, 149 00:10:40,197 --> 00:10:44,197 yet the ability to predict time and advance in time 150 00:10:44,198 --> 00:10:46,898 in a way that it was really unprecedented in the world. 151 00:10:50,399 --> 00:10:55,301 NARRATOR: But why did the Maya create such precise maps of the Cosmos? 152 00:10:55,700 --> 00:11:00,800 According to ancient astronauts theorists, the Maya's knowledge of the stars, 153 00:11:00,801 --> 00:11:04,401 in fact, came to them, from the stars, 154 00:11:04,602 --> 00:11:07,502 brought by extraterrestrial beings. 155 00:11:09,003 --> 00:11:12,038 COPPENS: When it comes to the ancient Maya that creation mythology 156 00:11:12,074 --> 00:11:15,874 evokes these legends, which say somewhere, just south 157 00:11:15,875 --> 00:11:20,075 of Orion's belt is this place where life originated from 158 00:11:20,076 --> 00:11:23,276 and they came to planet Earth on 1,200 BC 159 00:11:23,277 --> 00:11:26,477 when the ancient Mayans said the gods came to Earth. 160 00:11:27,775 --> 00:11:29,844 VON DANIKEN: Their teachers were the gods, 161 00:11:29,846 --> 00:11:31,713 and the gods were the extraterrestrials. 162 00:11:32,918 --> 00:11:36,417 NARRATOR: If beings from another star system really came 163 00:11:36,421 --> 00:11:40,719 to Earth in the ancient past, did they create the foundations 164 00:11:40,790 --> 00:11:44,426 of Mayan civilization and breed with its rulers? 165 00:11:45,528 --> 00:11:49,730 Might they have also visited other areas of our planet? 166 00:11:50,368 --> 00:11:54,170 Perhaps further evidence can be found at a desolate mountain 167 00:11:54,172 --> 00:11:59,039 kingdom visited by ancient priests from the East as the Magi. 168 00:12:02,226 --> 00:12:04,059 Southeastern Turkey. 169 00:12:04,161 --> 00:12:10,099 7,000 feet high, atop a barren mountain called Nemrud Dagi, 170 00:12:10,501 --> 00:12:14,269 lie the ruins of the lost Kingdom of Commagene. 171 00:12:14,671 --> 00:12:20,876 Here, in 62 BC, a mysterious royal sanctuary was built by 172 00:12:20,878 --> 00:12:24,546 King Antiochus I. 173 00:12:24,548 --> 00:12:30,018 Colossal statues were created of lions and eagles, and Persian 174 00:12:30,020 --> 00:12:34,389 and Greek gods, as well as two 175 00:12:34,391 --> 00:12:37,758 massive sculptures of the king himself. 176 00:12:39,463 --> 00:12:42,631 GILBERT: Now, what Antiochus was trying to do was to produce 177 00:12:42,633 --> 00:12:47,603 a synthesis, a new version of the old religions. 178 00:12:47,805 --> 00:12:51,806 And what he basically did was to take the Persian gods and put 179 00:12:51,808 --> 00:12:53,609 them into Greek dress. 180 00:12:55,011 --> 00:12:58,978 So you've got a synthesis happening of the Persian gods 181 00:12:59,047 --> 00:13:00,715 with their Greek equivalents. 182 00:13:03,993 --> 00:13:06,793 DONALD SANDERS: The reason he build a colossal statue of himself 183 00:13:06,794 --> 00:13:10,094 among the gods was, I guess, a presumption on his part 184 00:13:10,095 --> 00:13:13,595 that he would indeed ascend to heaven and eventually be among them. 185 00:13:14,796 --> 00:13:17,631 NARRATOR: The conical peak was the highest point in the 186 00:13:17,633 --> 00:13:19,368 kingdom of King Antiochus. 187 00:13:19,470 --> 00:13:26,774 Measuring 150 feet high and 500 feet wide, it is man-made with 188 00:13:26,776 --> 00:13:29,211 countless small limestone rocks, 189 00:13:30,213 --> 00:13:34,349 and was said to be the location of the king's royal tomb. 190 00:13:34,751 --> 00:13:40,753 Researchers believe the memorial was originally built as two large plazas. 191 00:13:40,754 --> 00:13:44,291 The one on the east side was used to celebrate the birthday 192 00:13:44,293 --> 00:13:45,594 of King Antiochus. 193 00:13:45,595 --> 00:13:48,930 The one on the west side was used to commemorate the day in 194 00:13:48,932 --> 00:13:54,969 62 BC when Antiochus became the leader of a secret society. 195 00:13:54,971 --> 00:13:57,904 GILBERT: I think it's meant to symbolize Mount Olympus, 196 00:13:57,974 --> 00:14:00,208 the home of the gods. 197 00:14:03,210 --> 00:14:04,746 Because you've got the God seated round it and then you've 198 00:14:04,748 --> 00:14:07,081 got a peak above them. 199 00:14:07,083 --> 00:14:09,149 I think this is all very symbolic. 200 00:14:09,152 --> 00:14:13,552 It's a stage for carrying out certain rituals and performances. 201 00:14:15,024 --> 00:14:19,460 SANDERS: And he also shows himself in the relief stelae 202 00:14:19,462 --> 00:14:23,898 shaking hands to all the gods, as if the gods recognize him as 203 00:14:23,900 --> 00:14:26,802 one of their own and are welcoming him into Heaven. 204 00:14:28,804 --> 00:14:32,407 NARRATOR: Mysteriously, both the site and the kingdom were 205 00:14:32,409 --> 00:14:35,310 abandoned in the first century AD. 206 00:14:35,412 --> 00:14:41,014 And, so far, the king's legendary burial chamber has never been found. 207 00:14:42,786 --> 00:14:47,689 But another question still remains: just why did King 208 00:14:47,691 --> 00:14:53,193 Antiochus build this mysterious and massive monumental sanctuary? 209 00:14:57,597 --> 00:15:01,336 According to researchers, evidence found at Nemrud Dagi 210 00:15:01,338 --> 00:15:06,074 suggests the king had a profound interest in, and understanding 211 00:15:06,076 --> 00:15:08,710 of star sciences. 212 00:15:10,012 --> 00:15:12,312 GILBERT: One example of the advanced knowledge 213 00:15:12,314 --> 00:15:14,448 of astronomy that they had is actually the 214 00:15:14,450 --> 00:15:18,117 lion horoscope, which gives us a very precise date. 215 00:15:19,022 --> 00:15:22,521 We know that the position of the stars on the lion's body 216 00:15:22,527 --> 00:15:27,626 fits with the positions of stars of Leo given in a book 217 00:15:27,630 --> 00:15:30,731 of Eratosthenes, who was a Greek 218 00:15:30,733 --> 00:15:34,366 astronomer from Alexandria who wrote a book about the stars. 219 00:15:37,470 --> 00:15:40,141 The arrangement of stars on the lion horoscope 220 00:15:40,143 --> 00:15:47,376 represented the constellation of Leo as seen in the sky in July 62 BC, 221 00:15:47,382 --> 00:15:53,650 a configuration that wouldn't be visible again for 25,000 years. 222 00:15:55,725 --> 00:15:58,826 Further evidence of the exceptional knowledge of the 223 00:15:58,828 --> 00:16:02,262 stars was found in a nearby shaft 224 00:16:02,264 --> 00:16:05,332 that Antiochus built into the mountain. 225 00:16:07,437 --> 00:16:11,771 GILBERT: The shaft runs into the mountainside there, 226 00:16:11,775 --> 00:16:15,308 at an angle of 35 degrees to the horizontal, 227 00:16:15,310 --> 00:16:18,143 and it's about 150 meters long, 228 00:16:18,145 --> 00:16:20,246 and there's nothing at the bottom. 229 00:16:21,918 --> 00:16:25,653 NARRATOR: Computer analysis reveals that on two days of the 230 00:16:25,655 --> 00:16:29,123 year, the sun's rays would illuminate the bottom of the 231 00:16:29,125 --> 00:16:35,129 shaft-- once when in line with the constellation of Leo and 232 00:16:35,131 --> 00:16:38,465 once when in line with Orion. 233 00:16:38,467 --> 00:16:41,769 GILBERT: Now, that is a very interesting point in the sky, 234 00:16:41,771 --> 00:16:46,708 because it's the path where the sun crosses over the Milky Way, our galaxy. 235 00:16:47,310 --> 00:16:51,645 And that, to the ancient world, was known as the Gate of Heaven. 236 00:16:51,647 --> 00:16:54,148 And there were two of these-- one where they cross in the 237 00:16:54,150 --> 00:16:56,217 north and the other where they cross in the south. 238 00:16:56,219 --> 00:16:57,753 There were two Gates to Heaven. 239 00:16:59,155 --> 00:17:04,658 So we can understand that that gateway would be where the soul 240 00:17:04,660 --> 00:17:09,498 of the king is going back to heaven through Heaven's Gate. 241 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:14,134 NARRATOR: Given the fact that neither Antiochus's tomb or 242 00:17:14,136 --> 00:17:18,839 remains have been found, is it possible that the king actually 243 00:17:18,841 --> 00:17:20,674 journeyed to the stars through 244 00:17:20,676 --> 00:17:25,743 a heavenly gate, as ancient astronaut theorists contend? 245 00:17:31,347 --> 00:17:35,756 During his life, researchers believe Antiochus studied with 246 00:17:35,758 --> 00:17:40,362 a priestly sect of Eastern astrologers called the Magi, 247 00:17:40,664 --> 00:17:43,964 who were thought to be able to predict and even manipulate 248 00:17:43,966 --> 00:17:47,166 events based on their knowledge of the stars. 249 00:17:50,787 --> 00:17:54,287 JASON MARTELL: The Magi were renown priests from the far near east. 250 00:17:54,288 --> 00:17:56,688 who had advanced astronomical knowledge 251 00:17:56,689 --> 00:18:01,389 and it's well known that most of the astronomers from the near east 252 00:18:01,390 --> 00:18:03,290 specifically ancient Irak, Sumer, 253 00:18:03,291 --> 00:18:06,591 recorded series of events happening in the heavens 254 00:18:06,592 --> 00:18:08,492 over hundreds of thousands of years. 255 00:18:08,588 --> 00:18:12,426 This information was kept on stone tablets, held very 256 00:18:12,428 --> 00:18:16,097 sacredly and only passed down to the high priests. 257 00:18:17,199 --> 00:18:20,433 NARRATOR: According to the Gospel of Matthew 258 00:18:20,470 --> 00:18:24,471 in the New Testament, it was three of these magi who followed 259 00:18:24,473 --> 00:18:28,475 celestial signs and stars to the birthplace of Jesus 260 00:18:28,477 --> 00:18:30,344 in Bethlehem. 261 00:18:30,546 --> 00:18:31,980 A coincidence? 262 00:18:32,682 --> 00:18:35,883 MARTELL: What's interesting about this story is that the 263 00:18:35,885 --> 00:18:38,686 Star of Bethlehem wasn't used as a navigation point. 264 00:18:38,688 --> 00:18:44,023 It is clearly stated as it guided the wise men to the place of Christ. 265 00:18:45,427 --> 00:18:47,360 A star cannot guide someone. 266 00:18:47,362 --> 00:18:49,328 It can only be used as a navigation point. 267 00:18:49,329 --> 00:18:53,464 So this brings up the idea that the star was possibly a UFO. 268 00:18:55,819 --> 00:18:59,819 TSOUKALOS: Today we think that the Magi were magicians 269 00:18:59,820 --> 00:19:04,120 and that is actually why we have the word magic today. 270 00:19:04,121 --> 00:19:09,521 But when I hear about magical powers, that raises a flag 271 00:19:09,522 --> 00:19:14,622 because magic as such does not exist. 272 00:19:15,324 --> 00:19:22,062 So were these Magi, in fact, in possession of some type of an 273 00:19:22,064 --> 00:19:24,565 extraterrestrial technology? 274 00:19:25,467 --> 00:19:29,036 Because, according to the ancient texts, it was the 275 00:19:29,038 --> 00:19:34,108 initiates of each culture who were in touch with extraterrestrials. 276 00:19:34,210 --> 00:19:39,981 And it was the initiates who later became priests or magi. 277 00:19:40,883 --> 00:19:46,687 NARRATOR: Is it possible that Antiochus was, in fact, a magi, 278 00:19:46,689 --> 00:19:51,694 one who learned celestial knowledge from extraterrestrial sources? 279 00:19:53,496 --> 00:19:58,532 If so, might the monumental sanctuary at Nemrud Dagi have 280 00:19:58,534 --> 00:20:02,970 been built as a place to contact star travelers? 281 00:20:04,072 --> 00:20:09,042 The answer may have been found among the ruins of Nemrud Dagi. 282 00:20:09,944 --> 00:20:12,713 GILBERT: The head of Antiochus is placed on the 283 00:20:12,715 --> 00:20:15,449 statue which is appropriate for Mercury, and that's because 284 00:20:15,451 --> 00:20:19,586 Mercury is the planet of initiation for priests. 285 00:20:19,588 --> 00:20:23,524 And he's one himself, so he models it on himself. 286 00:20:23,526 --> 00:20:26,926 And people think this is him being boastful-- sitting among the gods. 287 00:20:26,928 --> 00:20:27,728 It's not. 288 00:20:27,731 --> 00:20:30,831 It's actually a code to say that he's one with the priests. 289 00:20:33,702 --> 00:20:37,171 NARRATOR: Eventually annexed by the Romans in the first 290 00:20:37,173 --> 00:20:41,708 century AD, King Antiochus and his court became scattered 291 00:20:41,710 --> 00:20:43,610 throughout the region. 292 00:20:43,612 --> 00:20:45,279 Or were they? 293 00:20:45,281 --> 00:20:49,616 According to ancient astronaut theorists, they may have instead 294 00:20:49,618 --> 00:20:55,523 used a heavenly gate to depart through--- to a distant realm. 295 00:20:55,825 --> 00:20:57,791 An audacious idea? 296 00:20:57,793 --> 00:20:59,460 Perhaps. 297 00:20:59,462 --> 00:21:04,364 And there are those who believe further evidence can be found in 298 00:21:04,366 --> 00:21:09,800 one of the driest areas of the world-- in South America. 299 00:21:14,398 --> 00:21:17,836 Peru, South America. 300 00:21:17,838 --> 00:21:23,241 250 miles south of the capital of Lima lies one of the driest 301 00:21:23,243 --> 00:21:28,846 places on Earth-- a wasteland that once was home to an ancient 302 00:21:28,848 --> 00:21:31,217 civilization called Nazca. 303 00:21:31,619 --> 00:21:37,822 Thriving between the 15th century BC and 500 AD, 304 00:21:37,824 --> 00:21:42,327 the Nazca were a deeply religious and spiritual people who built 305 00:21:42,329 --> 00:21:47,329 their ceremonial center in the temple city of Cahuachi. 306 00:21:51,406 --> 00:21:55,806 GIUSEPPE OREFICI: Cahuachi is the largest adobe ceremonial center in the world 307 00:21:55,807 --> 00:21:59,507 Therefore, we find groups of temples and pyramids 308 00:21:59,508 --> 00:22:04,808 of immense size. Spirituality was the most important thing in Cahuachi 309 00:22:06,709 --> 00:22:10,909 The people of Nazca used the sacred spaces to elevate themselves 310 00:22:10,910 --> 00:22:13,310 in order to communicate with the deities. 311 00:22:15,411 --> 00:22:17,811 BRIEN FOERSTER: The Nazca were predominantly were farming people 312 00:22:18,012 --> 00:22:23,212 So Cahuachi was built at the prime when they had all the food they needed 313 00:22:23,213 --> 00:22:26,913 and they had enough resources to be able to develop 314 00:22:26,914 --> 00:22:29,714 a highly evolved religious system. 315 00:22:31,907 --> 00:22:34,144 NARRATOR: But the Nazca people and their culture 316 00:22:34,181 --> 00:22:39,183 mysteriously vanished some 1,200 years ago, though not 317 00:22:39,185 --> 00:22:41,887 before etching a series of enormous geoglyphs-- 318 00:22:41,889 --> 00:22:45,755 or ground drawings-- into the nearby desert floor. 319 00:22:52,027 --> 00:22:53,365 OREFICI: The Nazca Lines were an important 320 00:22:53,367 --> 00:22:57,536 element of their religious worship and their ceremonies. 321 00:22:57,538 --> 00:23:01,907 They would walk through these lines during their ceremonies, 322 00:23:01,909 --> 00:23:04,243 breaking ceramics and offering 323 00:23:04,245 --> 00:23:07,911 important elements to the deities from their own culture. 324 00:23:13,750 --> 00:23:16,822 The great geoglyphs are composed of dozens of 325 00:23:16,824 --> 00:23:24,397 spirals, triangles and trapezoids, as well as miles of zigzagging lines. 326 00:23:26,299 --> 00:23:28,800 FOERSTER: This whole flat area, which covers several 327 00:23:28,802 --> 00:23:33,105 square miles, is covered in stones made of iron oxide, 328 00:23:33,107 --> 00:23:37,209 either red or black, and that's what gives it the darkish, 329 00:23:37,211 --> 00:23:39,111 brownish red appearance. 330 00:23:39,113 --> 00:23:41,179 But right underneath the surface 331 00:23:41,181 --> 00:23:46,716 is clay, which is white, and all I have to do--- 332 00:23:51,553 --> 00:23:53,153 is that. 333 00:23:53,654 --> 00:23:55,394 The contrast between the clay 334 00:23:55,396 --> 00:24:00,063 and the iron oxide gives a Nazca Line. 335 00:24:00,467 --> 00:24:06,838 Acre size drawings depict a hummingbird, a spider, 336 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:13,245 a killer whale and a human figure with owl-like eyes. 337 00:24:14,247 --> 00:24:16,648 FOERSTER: They would have had to have had observation from the 338 00:24:16,650 --> 00:24:20,385 sky in order to guide the workforce the ground 339 00:24:20,387 --> 00:24:26,190 as to how to draw complicated figures such as the spider and 340 00:24:26,192 --> 00:24:27,559 the hummingbird. 341 00:24:28,061 --> 00:24:31,329 NARRATOR: Preserved for centuries by the lack of wind 342 00:24:31,331 --> 00:24:35,967 and rain, the lines are best seen from the air, and were 343 00:24:35,969 --> 00:24:40,138 first spotted by aviators in the 1930s. 344 00:24:40,140 --> 00:24:44,242 But why did the Nazca create patterns that could only 345 00:24:44,244 --> 00:24:46,978 be properly seen from a great height? 346 00:24:47,748 --> 00:24:50,282 JORGE LUIS DELGADO MAMANI: The obvious answer is because 347 00:24:50,284 --> 00:24:53,285 you can see only from the sky. 348 00:24:53,287 --> 00:24:58,288 Many of our ancestors would talk about the star people. 349 00:24:58,437 --> 00:25:04,437 All these sacred sites we consider it is for whom? For the star people 350 00:25:04,738 --> 00:25:08,838 CHILDRESS: At Nazca and other areas in Peru 351 00:25:08,938 --> 00:25:15,507 there are legends of sky people and gods coming down from the sky. 352 00:25:18,409 --> 00:25:21,512 NARRATOR: But might the so-called star people referred 353 00:25:21,514 --> 00:25:25,350 to in the Nazca legends really have been extraterrestrial 354 00:25:25,352 --> 00:25:29,785 beings, as ancient astronaut theorists believe? 355 00:25:31,523 --> 00:25:33,789 VON DANIKEN : In the beginning there was just one line 356 00:25:33,790 --> 00:25:38,390 made by some robot or some extraterrestrial spaceship 357 00:25:38,491 --> 00:25:42,991 or space shuttle because they were looking for raw material for energy. 358 00:25:44,092 --> 00:25:49,492 TSOUKALOS: After a while the local population would see all those tracks 359 00:25:49,493 --> 00:25:50,493 on the ground. 360 00:25:51,495 --> 00:25:56,195 And they would say, that these tracks were just left behind 361 00:25:56,196 --> 00:26:00,396 by these divine beings, by the gods. 362 00:26:01,397 --> 00:26:08,297 And then they would wonder and "what can we do for those gods to return?" 363 00:26:10,195 --> 00:26:12,931 According to ancient astronaut theory, 364 00:26:12,933 --> 00:26:16,935 the earliest of the Nazca Lines were made in imitation of the 365 00:26:16,937 --> 00:26:20,170 trails left by the first space visitors. 366 00:26:21,007 --> 00:26:24,409 Later generations added more elaborate lines, and then 367 00:26:24,411 --> 00:26:26,678 shapes and figures, all in an 368 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:31,080 attempt to signal the star gods to return. 369 00:26:31,451 --> 00:26:33,251 But they never did. 370 00:26:36,253 --> 00:26:42,661 OREFICI: And this caused the population to doubt the deities, because it 371 00:26:42,663 --> 00:26:45,831 was mainly a psychological problem they had with their 372 00:26:45,833 --> 00:26:49,501 deities that brought about the 373 00:26:49,503 --> 00:26:52,703 abandonment and collapse of the Nazca culture. 374 00:26:57,007 --> 00:26:59,945 NARRATOR: But could there be other evidence of alien contact 375 00:26:59,947 --> 00:27:03,949 with the ancient people of Peru that is even more astounding 376 00:27:03,951 --> 00:27:06,119 than the Nazca Lines? 377 00:27:07,421 --> 00:27:09,955 CHILDRESS: Some of the skulls that we find today, because it's 378 00:27:09,957 --> 00:27:12,858 a very dry desert and they're well preserved, are some of the 379 00:27:12,860 --> 00:27:16,661 most astonishing, elongated skulls that you'll ever see. 380 00:27:16,663 --> 00:27:19,396 And they look like extraterrestrials. 381 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:21,032 NARRATOR: According to Nazca 382 00:27:21,034 --> 00:27:24,802 legends, the gods had elongated heads, 383 00:27:24,804 --> 00:27:28,207 much like the distended skulls of the controversial 384 00:27:28,208 --> 00:27:34,075 Egyptian pharaoh King Tutankhamen and his sister Meretaten. 385 00:27:35,215 --> 00:27:37,449 FOERSTER: I honestly believe that the largest of the 386 00:27:37,451 --> 00:27:41,987 elongated skulls represent hybrid human beings dating 387 00:27:41,989 --> 00:27:47,058 back thousands of years, who lived here very peacefully 388 00:27:47,060 --> 00:27:50,896 and could very well be the ancestors of the lnca. 389 00:27:50,998 --> 00:27:55,267 And that could be the reason why the Inca suddenly were these 390 00:27:55,269 --> 00:27:58,904 people of incredible sophistication who came from 391 00:27:58,906 --> 00:28:01,573 seemingly nowhere. 392 00:28:01,975 --> 00:28:06,511 It's possible that they're descendants from star beings. 393 00:28:06,713 --> 00:28:10,112 CHILDRESS: Were they trying to imitate people they had 394 00:28:10,116 --> 00:28:13,517 already seen, gods from outer space? 395 00:28:15,855 --> 00:28:18,857 NARRATOR: Is it possible the ancient Nazca altered their 396 00:28:18,859 --> 00:28:23,862 bodies and their lands in order to communicate with or emulate 397 00:28:23,864 --> 00:28:25,964 something their ancestors may 398 00:28:25,966 --> 00:28:30,367 have witnessed, something out of this world? 399 00:28:30,971 --> 00:28:34,239 Perhaps further clues to mankind's extraterrestrial 400 00:28:34,241 --> 00:28:36,408 connection can be found in the 401 00:28:36,410 --> 00:28:41,810 most remote place on planet Earth: in the South Pacific. 402 00:28:47,815 --> 00:28:49,983 The South Pacific Ocean. 403 00:28:52,085 --> 00:28:56,454 2,300 miles west of South America, in one of the most 404 00:28:56,456 --> 00:28:59,357 remote places on Earth, giant 405 00:28:59,359 --> 00:29:02,659 stone figures stand with their backs to the sea. 406 00:29:05,596 --> 00:29:09,167 Called moai by the native inhabitants, they are the silent 407 00:29:09,169 --> 00:29:11,671 sentinels of Easter Island. 408 00:29:13,173 --> 00:29:15,607 STEVENSON: The moais are scattered throughout the island, 409 00:29:15,609 --> 00:29:19,377 and they're positioned on top of platforms, for the most part. 410 00:29:19,379 --> 00:29:25,181 A moai is a stone sculpture of a deceased ancestor 411 00:29:25,249 --> 00:29:27,284 They were once living individuals 412 00:29:27,288 --> 00:29:29,887 who ruled the society or led the society. 413 00:29:29,889 --> 00:29:31,289 They were chiefs. 414 00:29:31,291 --> 00:29:33,424 And then, upon their death, we 415 00:29:33,426 --> 00:29:36,526 believe that they've become represented in stone. 416 00:29:39,364 --> 00:29:44,367 Nearly 900 moai were carved between the 12th and 18th centuries. 417 00:29:44,904 --> 00:29:49,374 Hewn with stone tools from volcanic rock, the tallest 418 00:29:49,376 --> 00:29:56,210 stands a towering 33 feet high and weighs a staggering 75 tons. 419 00:29:58,483 --> 00:30:02,386 They were even more unique-looking in the past. 420 00:30:02,388 --> 00:30:03,554 They may have been painted. 421 00:30:03,556 --> 00:30:08,259 And they also had large white coral eyes with obsidian pupils. 422 00:30:08,261 --> 00:30:12,130 So it's a very effective way of kind of telling people, not 423 00:30:12,132 --> 00:30:15,933 verbally but symbolically, that someone's watching you and you 424 00:30:15,935 --> 00:30:17,035 should toe the line. 425 00:30:17,037 --> 00:30:19,202 You should do what you're supposed to do. 426 00:30:21,207 --> 00:30:24,175 NARRATOR: The people who created the moai called 427 00:30:24,177 --> 00:30:28,046 themselves the Rapa Nui, and mainstream historians 428 00:30:28,048 --> 00:30:32,016 believe their Polynesian ancestors came to the island in 429 00:30:32,018 --> 00:30:34,018 canoes from across the vast 430 00:30:34,020 --> 00:30:38,854 Pacific Ocean between 700 and 1100 AD. 431 00:30:39,826 --> 00:30:44,462 But over several centuries, for reasons that are still unclear, 432 00:30:44,464 --> 00:30:49,300 what was once an island paradise withered into a treeless desert, 433 00:30:49,302 --> 00:30:54,870 stalked by famine, violence and some say cannibalism. 434 00:30:57,074 --> 00:31:02,113 When the first europeans arrived in 1722, the Rapa Nui culture 435 00:31:02,215 --> 00:31:04,648 had already been nearly wiped out... 436 00:31:05,318 --> 00:31:08,853 and few could imagine how such primitive people could have 437 00:31:08,855 --> 00:31:10,856 created the moai. 438 00:31:11,958 --> 00:31:14,225 NOORY: How in the heck did they make these? 439 00:31:14,227 --> 00:31:16,494 Where did they come from? 440 00:31:16,496 --> 00:31:18,163 and how did they move them? 441 00:31:18,697 --> 00:31:21,099 Nobody has the answer. 442 00:31:22,901 --> 00:31:27,337 Modern scientists have tried, and so far have failed 443 00:31:27,339 --> 00:31:31,106 to duplicate the feats of the ancient Rapa Nui. 444 00:31:31,845 --> 00:31:37,682 In 1987, anthropologist Charles Love used rollers to move a 445 00:31:37,684 --> 00:31:41,953 nine-ton moai replica at Western Wyoming Community College. 446 00:31:41,955 --> 00:31:42,720 Ready? 447 00:31:42,722 --> 00:31:44,455 On three. 448 00:31:44,457 --> 00:31:47,592 One, two, three. 449 00:31:47,594 --> 00:31:48,259 Come on, Rick. 450 00:31:48,261 --> 00:31:49,761 - Come on. - Get it 451 00:31:49,763 --> 00:31:51,662 Good. 452 00:31:51,664 --> 00:31:52,397 Thank you. 453 00:31:52,399 --> 00:31:53,731 Whoa. 454 00:31:53,733 --> 00:31:55,867 Only able to budge it about half an inch. 455 00:31:56,669 --> 00:32:01,137 NARRATOR: Other researchers have tried pulling moai with sleds. 456 00:32:01,408 --> 00:32:05,676 But there is a unique problem with the idea of moving moai 457 00:32:05,678 --> 00:32:07,980 with sleds or rollers. 458 00:32:08,882 --> 00:32:11,516 LOVE: When you go to Easter Island, you don't get the 459 00:32:11,518 --> 00:32:14,585 impression they had enough wood to have rollers. 460 00:32:14,587 --> 00:32:20,057 And in fact, in the 1700s, the first four expeditions to Easter 461 00:32:20,059 --> 00:32:22,394 Island never really saw a tree. 462 00:32:23,296 --> 00:32:26,029 And so that's the real mystery of Easter Island 463 00:32:26,102 --> 00:32:31,336 how can you move a multi-ton statue if you have no trees for rollers? 464 00:32:32,238 --> 00:32:38,576 NARRATOR: According to the oral history of the Rapa Nui, 465 00:32:38,578 --> 00:32:42,545 the moai were moved in a very unusual way. 466 00:32:44,250 --> 00:32:46,949 LOVE: They all reply basically the same thing. 467 00:32:46,953 --> 00:32:52,454 The moai walked to the ahu, and that's the only explanation that they give. 468 00:32:52,892 --> 00:32:57,595 NARRATOR: But who or what had the power to make multi-ton moai 469 00:32:57,597 --> 00:33:02,335 appear to walk to their ahu, or stone platforms? 470 00:33:04,037 --> 00:33:09,807 In 1919, British archaeologist Katherine Routledge, who lived 471 00:33:09,809 --> 00:33:13,611 on Easter Island for a year, recorded the legends and 472 00:33:13,613 --> 00:33:18,349 testimony of an old woman who said the moai were moved with 473 00:33:18,351 --> 00:33:21,886 a mystical energy called mana. 474 00:33:21,888 --> 00:33:25,591 And according to the oral histories of the Rapa Nui, 475 00:33:25,593 --> 00:33:28,761 mana came from the gods. 476 00:33:30,363 --> 00:33:37,330 TSOUKALOS: Mana was a direct gift of the gods given to the Easter lslanders 477 00:33:37,434 --> 00:33:41,938 Was this mana really a type of magical force? 478 00:33:41,975 --> 00:33:43,975 Of course not. 479 00:33:43,977 --> 00:33:47,212 It was some type of misunderstood technology, 480 00:33:47,214 --> 00:33:52,783 some type of a device, an extraterrestrial tool with which 481 00:33:52,785 --> 00:33:58,455 you could move those massive Easter Island heads rather easily. 482 00:34:00,727 --> 00:34:03,794 NARRATOR: Did early inhabitants of Easter Island 483 00:34:03,796 --> 00:34:07,733 really know how to unlock the secrets of gravity using mana? 484 00:34:08,435 --> 00:34:14,871 And if so, where might such power over the physical world have come from? 485 00:34:14,975 --> 00:34:19,644 Researchers believe there are clues hidden within mysterious 486 00:34:19,646 --> 00:34:24,649 written texts called rongorongo, inscribed on pieces 487 00:34:24,651 --> 00:34:28,854 of wood, discovered on the island in the 19th century. 488 00:34:29,656 --> 00:34:31,756 LOVE: This is a rongorongo board. 489 00:34:31,758 --> 00:34:34,759 And it's a replica of ones of old. 490 00:34:34,761 --> 00:34:36,894 About 25 of them are known. 491 00:34:36,896 --> 00:34:39,830 We have had about six or eight different attempts at 492 00:34:39,832 --> 00:34:43,935 translating these things, with six or eight different results. 493 00:34:43,937 --> 00:34:48,411 CHILDRESS: You have to ask yourself, how could the Easter islanders 494 00:34:48,412 --> 00:34:55,412 have invented their own writing without some other cultural 495 00:34:55,712 --> 00:34:58,012 influence coming there. 496 00:34:58,013 --> 00:35:01,685 Would it have been ancient seafarers coming to Easter Island 497 00:35:01,687 --> 00:35:04,621 or perhaps even space visitors? 498 00:35:08,623 --> 00:35:12,796 NARRATOR: Further evidence of early contact with otherworldly beings 499 00:35:12,798 --> 00:35:16,901 can be found in numerous strange stone carvings-- 500 00:35:17,003 --> 00:35:19,103 called petroglyphs. 501 00:35:19,905 --> 00:35:23,407 LOVE: What we see in the petroglyph art of the island are 502 00:35:23,409 --> 00:35:27,211 these figures of bird men, these tangata manus, carved in bas 503 00:35:27,213 --> 00:35:32,783 relief on the rocks on the very edge of the precipice. 504 00:35:32,785 --> 00:35:35,920 NARRATOR: In the myths of Easter Island's Rapa Nui, the 505 00:35:35,922 --> 00:35:42,524 bird man represents Makemake, the chief god and creator of humanity. 506 00:35:42,695 --> 00:35:45,027 COPPENS: Did at some point in the past a creature come, 507 00:35:45,029 --> 00:35:47,929 which was Bird man who flew in from somewhere? 508 00:35:47,930 --> 00:35:50,501 Did he arrive on this island and did he indeed 509 00:35:50,503 --> 00:35:52,670 live very much like a pariah? 510 00:35:52,672 --> 00:35:56,407 Did he die or did he take off again, and is this what the 511 00:35:56,409 --> 00:36:00,244 locals keep this legend of this creature who came to them alive 512 00:36:00,246 --> 00:36:03,546 through myth, legend and ritual. 513 00:36:07,684 --> 00:36:09,523 Walking stone giants, 514 00:36:10,925 --> 00:36:13,592 petroglyphs of flying beings--- 515 00:36:14,394 --> 00:36:17,862 might the ancient inhabitants of Easter Island have been 516 00:36:17,864 --> 00:36:22,333 familiar with antigravity levitation and spaceflight? 517 00:36:22,335 --> 00:36:27,505 If so, might these astounding abilities-- forever lost to 518 00:36:27,507 --> 00:36:33,411 time, have been made possible by extraterrestrial visitors? 519 00:36:33,413 --> 00:36:36,580 Perhaps more evidence can be found in the most famous and 520 00:36:36,582 --> 00:36:42,918 alluring of all lost worlds-- the Garden of Eden. 521 00:36:46,609 --> 00:36:48,092 The Middle East 522 00:36:48,293 --> 00:36:51,693 For centuries, archaeologists, 523 00:36:51,694 --> 00:36:56,530 theologians and scholars have debated the location-- and even 524 00:36:56,532 --> 00:37:02,136 the existence of the ultimate of all lost worlds-- 525 00:37:02,138 --> 00:37:04,706 the biblical "Garden of Eden." 526 00:37:05,908 --> 00:37:10,844 It was here, according to the Hebrew Book of Genesis, that 527 00:37:10,846 --> 00:37:13,080 a paradise once existed-- 528 00:37:13,582 --> 00:37:18,285 a paradise where the first human beings, Adam and Eve, were 529 00:37:18,287 --> 00:37:20,688 actually created by God. 530 00:37:21,190 --> 00:37:26,627 But could such a paradise, now shrouded in myth and legend, 531 00:37:26,629 --> 00:37:29,397 have actually been a real place? 532 00:37:30,399 --> 00:37:32,332 COPPENS: When we're looking at the Garden of Eden 533 00:37:32,386 --> 00:37:38,786 we know there is actually a physical description as to where it was. 534 00:37:38,787 --> 00:37:43,487 It is set at four very specific rivers, came from it, over near it 535 00:37:43,488 --> 00:37:45,888 So we can actually go in search of this. 536 00:37:46,689 --> 00:37:49,789 ROBERT MULLINS: Two of these rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, 537 00:37:49,790 --> 00:37:53,490 are well known and actually run through what is Irak today. 538 00:37:53,686 --> 00:37:58,826 The other two rivers that are described are not very clear. 539 00:37:59,628 --> 00:38:03,931 NARRATOR: Researchers now believe the third river, known 540 00:38:03,933 --> 00:38:08,635 as the Karun River, runs through Iran and joins the Euphrates 541 00:38:08,637 --> 00:38:10,972 just north of the Persian Gulf. 542 00:38:12,374 --> 00:38:18,645 Then, in 2010, satellite imagery revealed a fossil river, or dry 543 00:38:18,647 --> 00:38:23,150 riverbed, called the Wadi Baton, that once flowed through 544 00:38:23,152 --> 00:38:26,422 northern Arabia and also joined with the Euphrates. 545 00:38:28,124 --> 00:38:33,127 Could these two rivers have been the location of the Pishon 546 00:38:33,129 --> 00:38:36,196 and Gihon rivers-- the lost rivers mentioned in the Bible-- 547 00:38:36,198 --> 00:38:40,734 that point to the actual location of the Garden of Eden? 548 00:38:41,036 --> 00:38:43,969 JURIS ZARINS: When you read the account in the Genesis 549 00:38:44,089 --> 00:38:47,889 it says that the four rivers form one river 550 00:38:47,890 --> 00:38:50,490 So very careful reading indicates that the two rivers 551 00:38:50,491 --> 00:38:54,691 which are today in Irak, Tigris and Euphrates, and the one which 552 00:38:54,692 --> 00:38:59,192 is in Iran, the Karun and a false river, in Arabia, and then when you join them up 553 00:38:59,193 --> 00:39:03,593 to form one river that is the approximate location of northern Persian Gulf. 554 00:39:03,690 --> 00:39:07,294 NARRATOR: And according to the Bible, that one river flowed 555 00:39:07,296 --> 00:39:09,329 through the Garden of Eden. 556 00:39:09,331 --> 00:39:11,532 ZARINS: And so, based upon Landsat images and a close 557 00:39:11,534 --> 00:39:15,302 reading of the Hebrew text, I think that the location of the 558 00:39:15,304 --> 00:39:16,770 Garden of Eden is under the 559 00:39:16,772 --> 00:39:18,938 waters of the Persian Gulf and not on land. 560 00:39:22,809 --> 00:39:26,380 NARRATOR: Scientists believe that during the last ice age, 561 00:39:26,382 --> 00:39:30,050 the polar ice caps were two miles high and ocean levels were 562 00:39:30,052 --> 00:39:33,786 170 feet lower than they are today. 563 00:39:34,690 --> 00:39:38,692 Recent studies suggest the area of the Persian Gulf would have 564 00:39:38,694 --> 00:39:42,963 been a dry, fertile plain the size of Great Britain, providing 565 00:39:42,965 --> 00:39:47,434 an ideal refuge to some of the earliest humans outside Africa 566 00:39:47,436 --> 00:39:51,705 nearly 75,000 years ago. 567 00:39:51,707 --> 00:39:56,710 But as the ice caps melted over the course of thousands of 568 00:39:56,712 --> 00:40:00,881 years, the waters of what is now the Indian Ocean flooded the 569 00:40:00,883 --> 00:40:04,183 land and formed the Persian Gulf. 570 00:40:04,954 --> 00:40:07,153 GRAHAM HANCOCK: During that long period, there were at least 571 00:40:07,154 --> 00:40:10,234 three episodes of very very major flooding. 572 00:40:10,333 --> 00:40:13,933 When you would be looking at 30 or 40 ft rises in sea level 573 00:40:13,934 --> 00:40:16,134 virtually over night. 574 00:40:17,935 --> 00:40:20,801 NARRATOR: Might a great flood-- perhaps the one 575 00:40:20,803 --> 00:40:25,405 described in the biblical story of Noah's Ark, really be 576 00:40:25,407 --> 00:40:29,808 responsible for the disappearance of the so-called "Garden of Eden"? 577 00:40:30,879 --> 00:40:35,082 Ancient astronaut theorists believe it is not only possible, 578 00:40:35,084 --> 00:40:39,719 but that the proof can be found by studying ancient Sumerian texts. 579 00:40:42,657 --> 00:40:48,462 The earliest known civilization of Sumer dates to 5,000 BC, 580 00:40:48,464 --> 00:40:49,997 and their first settlement in 581 00:40:49,999 --> 00:40:53,399 southern Mesopotamia was called Eridu. 582 00:40:54,203 --> 00:40:56,570 ZARINS: The ancient Sumerians have a wonderful story. 583 00:40:57,172 --> 00:41:00,374 They believe that they had lived in an area that was probably to 584 00:41:00,376 --> 00:41:03,509 the south of what is today Sumer. 585 00:41:04,380 --> 00:41:07,246 And the reason we know that is because they said they came out of the sea. 586 00:41:08,350 --> 00:41:11,785 NARRATOR: Ancient cuneiform writings that have survived on 587 00:41:11,787 --> 00:41:15,422 clay tablets suggest the Sumerians had been brought to 588 00:41:15,424 --> 00:41:17,959 Eridu by their god Enki. 589 00:41:19,061 --> 00:41:24,364 The cuneiform texts also describe an alien race named 590 00:41:24,366 --> 00:41:27,134 the Anunnaki who came to Earth and 591 00:41:27,136 --> 00:41:30,302 created the first modern human beings. 592 00:41:34,340 --> 00:41:38,278 ZARINS: Adam in sumerian or a very early form of 593 00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:40,613 Sumerian, means "a small rural settlement." 594 00:41:41,984 --> 00:41:44,351 "Eve," however, isn't Sumerian. 595 00:41:44,353 --> 00:41:45,886 "Eve" in Arabic and the Semitic 596 00:41:45,888 --> 00:41:48,654 languages means "one who gives birth." 597 00:41:49,158 --> 00:41:53,092 The word "Eden" is a pre-Sumerian word and it means "plain." 598 00:41:53,595 --> 00:41:56,630 NARRATOR: But, according to ancient astronaut theory, the 599 00:41:56,632 --> 00:42:01,468 Sumerian accounts may actually refer to a more ancient time, 600 00:42:01,470 --> 00:42:07,873 and to a distant fertile plain now lost under the waters of the Persian Gulf. 601 00:42:10,278 --> 00:42:12,413 COPPENS: Now the question is this, was the Garden of Eden 602 00:42:12,415 --> 00:42:14,982 really some kind of laboratory where certain things were 603 00:42:14,984 --> 00:42:18,620 created by the ancient scientists of their day? 604 00:42:19,822 --> 00:42:24,524 Well, if mankind was created in a Garden of Eden, then clearly 605 00:42:24,526 --> 00:42:27,361 whoever was creating this wasn't a human being, 606 00:42:27,363 --> 00:42:28,530 it was somebody else. 607 00:42:30,032 --> 00:42:33,499 TSOUKALOS: So is it possible that the Garden of Eden 608 00:42:33,500 --> 00:42:36,367 was located here on planet Earth? 609 00:42:36,368 --> 00:42:41,841 Yes, but was it a specific geographic location? 610 00:42:41,943 --> 00:42:43,377 I'm not sure. 611 00:42:43,479 --> 00:42:47,948 Personally, I'm leaning more towards the idea that the Garden 612 00:42:47,950 --> 00:42:52,986 of Eden was some type of a closed environment somewhere 613 00:42:52,988 --> 00:42:56,390 in nature, but it definitely was 614 00:42:56,392 --> 00:43:02,625 some type of a laboratory from where modern man originated. 615 00:43:06,498 --> 00:43:09,302 NARRATOR: Is it really possible that the first humans 616 00:43:09,304 --> 00:43:13,006 were created by extraterrestrial beings in what is referred to 617 00:43:13,008 --> 00:43:16,210 in the Bible as a "Garden of Eden"? 618 00:43:16,912 --> 00:43:22,649 If so, has the evidence existed all along, on the cuneiform 619 00:43:22,651 --> 00:43:25,086 tablets of the ancient Sumerians? 620 00:43:26,188 --> 00:43:29,456 Ancient astronaut theorists believe the answer is a 621 00:43:29,458 --> 00:43:32,093 definite yes. 622 00:43:32,895 --> 00:43:36,530 And there are those who believe that such an incredible notion 623 00:43:36,532 --> 00:43:40,867 is not only possible, but that the proof lies in the further 624 00:43:40,869 --> 00:43:45,371 investigation of lost civilizations and ancient worlds-- 625 00:43:45,973 --> 00:43:50,140 an investigation that will not only uncover our past, 626 00:43:50,142 --> 00:43:53,543 but reveal our future. 627 00:43:54,045 --> 00:43:57,112 sync and corrections by Bellows www.addic7ed.com