1 00:00:01,910 --> 00:00:03,318 NARRATOR: Throughout the ancient world, 2 00:00:03,412 --> 00:00:05,412 there are tales of fire-breathing beasts 3 00:00:05,506 --> 00:00:07,748 descending from the sky. 4 00:00:07,842 --> 00:00:09,341 No matter where we go, 5 00:00:09,493 --> 00:00:11,902 we find legends of these beings. 6 00:00:11,995 --> 00:00:15,422 Throughout Asia, ancient cultures reported 7 00:00:15,574 --> 00:00:17,924 dragons descending from the sky. 8 00:00:18,077 --> 00:00:21,261 We have dragon stories in India, 9 00:00:21,413 --> 00:00:25,098 in Indonesia, in ancient Greece. 10 00:00:25,192 --> 00:00:27,918 NARRATOR: These winged creatures inspired both fear 11 00:00:27,936 --> 00:00:29,586 and veneration. 12 00:00:29,605 --> 00:00:30,678 KATHLEEN McGOWAN: The dragon represents 13 00:00:30,698 --> 00:00:33,365 something incredibly powerful 14 00:00:33,517 --> 00:00:34,867 but also incredibly noble. 15 00:00:35,094 --> 00:00:36,426 The dragons are here 16 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:40,021 to bring something to their people. 17 00:00:40,115 --> 00:00:43,375 NARRATOR: But could accounts of dragons be based on real events? 18 00:00:45,437 --> 00:00:48,605 And might the truth behind this mythical monster 19 00:00:48,624 --> 00:00:52,442 be more incredible than anyone has imagined? 20 00:00:52,536 --> 00:00:54,702 The dragon that came from the sky, 21 00:00:54,722 --> 00:00:57,872 the sons of Heaven that came from those dragons... 22 00:00:59,060 --> 00:01:02,478 are integral to the foundation of civilization. 23 00:01:06,809 --> 00:01:08,550 NARRATOR: There is a doorway 24 00:01:08,569 --> 00:01:11,461 in the universe. 25 00:01:11,555 --> 00:01:14,323 Beyond it is the promise of truth. 26 00:01:15,968 --> 00:01:18,135 It demands we question everything 27 00:01:18,153 --> 00:01:20,470 we have ever been taught. 28 00:01:20,564 --> 00:01:24,399 The evidence is all around us. 29 00:01:24,493 --> 00:01:28,145 The future is right before our eyes. 30 00:01:28,163 --> 00:01:30,831 We are not alone. 31 00:01:30,983 --> 00:01:34,176 We have never been alone. 32 00:01:42,919 --> 00:01:45,920 NARRATOR: Shaanxi Province, China. 33 00:01:45,940 --> 00:01:49,608 April 6, 2019. 34 00:01:51,186 --> 00:01:53,003 In the ceremonial courtyard 35 00:01:53,096 --> 00:01:55,689 of the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor, 36 00:01:55,783 --> 00:02:00,193 10,000 people gather to watch a traditional Dragon Dance. 37 00:02:01,347 --> 00:02:04,030 The dragon dance is an ancient ceremony 38 00:02:04,125 --> 00:02:06,441 which for thousands of years has been a representation 39 00:02:06,460 --> 00:02:08,185 of the dragons coming from the sky 40 00:02:08,203 --> 00:02:10,687 and returning to the sky. 41 00:02:10,706 --> 00:02:12,614 PAUL STONEHILL: This is part of the Chinese culture, 42 00:02:12,708 --> 00:02:15,208 of the Chinese civilization, 43 00:02:15,302 --> 00:02:20,046 so it's very important for the Chinese to have this dance. 44 00:02:20,141 --> 00:02:23,533 The Chinese people from the very little... from toddlers on 45 00:02:23,552 --> 00:02:26,553 know about the dragons. 46 00:02:26,647 --> 00:02:29,222 The dragons are ever present. 47 00:02:29,316 --> 00:02:31,375 Ancient China was a land 48 00:02:31,393 --> 00:02:34,636 where humans lived in tandem with the divine beings, 49 00:02:34,655 --> 00:02:36,046 with the gods. 50 00:02:36,064 --> 00:02:39,658 And the gods rode upon dragons. 51 00:02:39,885 --> 00:02:42,477 And so for this reason the dragon became revered 52 00:02:42,496 --> 00:02:44,830 as a sacred symbol throughout China. 53 00:02:45,982 --> 00:02:47,391 NARRATOR: Here in Shaanxi, 54 00:02:47,484 --> 00:02:50,727 in what is known as the Qingming Festival, 55 00:02:50,820 --> 00:02:52,838 the ceremony celebrates the deity 56 00:02:52,989 --> 00:02:55,799 considered to be the father of all Chinese people. 57 00:02:57,069 --> 00:02:58,084 The Yellow Emperor, 58 00:02:58,179 --> 00:03:00,179 also known as Huangdi, 59 00:03:00,406 --> 00:03:01,755 is a legendary ruler 60 00:03:01,849 --> 00:03:03,907 who founded Chinese civilization 61 00:03:03,926 --> 00:03:06,643 nearly 5,000 years ago. 62 00:03:08,355 --> 00:03:11,581 DOMINIC STEAVU: the Yellow Emperor Huangdi is this, uh, 63 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:14,676 semi-mythical figure in Chinese history. 64 00:03:14,770 --> 00:03:18,755 He's an originator of Chinese civilization and culture. 65 00:03:18,848 --> 00:03:21,775 And he is credited with numerous inventions 66 00:03:21,869 --> 00:03:25,019 that-that came to define Chinese civilization-- 67 00:03:25,113 --> 00:03:27,764 Anything from domesticating animals 68 00:03:27,783 --> 00:03:30,358 to the calendar 69 00:03:30,377 --> 00:03:33,861 and various astronomical sciences. 70 00:03:33,881 --> 00:03:37,607 The Yellow Emperor also crafted a magical caldron, 71 00:03:37,626 --> 00:03:39,551 and one version of the story 72 00:03:39,703 --> 00:03:43,296 has a dragon emerging from the caldron 73 00:03:43,449 --> 00:03:46,892 and then the Yellow Emperor jumps on the dragon's back, 74 00:03:47,119 --> 00:03:50,562 and the dragon ascends up to Heaven. 75 00:03:50,714 --> 00:03:52,456 JUDY CHUNGWA HO: The Chinese would say 76 00:03:52,474 --> 00:03:55,550 we're the descendants of the Yellow Emperor. 77 00:03:55,644 --> 00:03:58,795 That's one way of putting how Chinese believe him to be, 78 00:03:58,888 --> 00:04:03,149 the v-very founder of Chinese civilization. 79 00:04:03,244 --> 00:04:05,986 In fact, just about everything 80 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:09,897 that you would think as the basic elements of civilization 81 00:04:09,917 --> 00:04:13,827 is somehow associated with the Yellow Emperor. 82 00:04:13,921 --> 00:04:15,754 (speaking Chinese) 83 00:04:15,981 --> 00:04:17,923 TRANSLATOR: We Chinese people consider ourselves 84 00:04:18,074 --> 00:04:19,883 the descendants of the dragon. 85 00:04:21,911 --> 00:04:23,987 So there should be a certain connection 86 00:04:24,006 --> 00:04:26,506 between the identities of the Chinese people 87 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:29,250 both as the descendants of the Yellow Emperor 88 00:04:29,344 --> 00:04:31,603 and as the descendants of the dragon. 89 00:04:34,924 --> 00:04:36,758 NARRATOR: At the end of the Qingming Festival, 90 00:04:36,852 --> 00:04:39,761 the dragon is released into the sky, 91 00:04:39,780 --> 00:04:43,023 symbolizing Huangdi's departure from Earth 92 00:04:43,117 --> 00:04:44,599 to the heavenly realm. 93 00:04:44,618 --> 00:04:46,601 The Yellow Emperor is believed 94 00:04:46,695 --> 00:04:49,346 to have flown up to the sky, 95 00:04:49,439 --> 00:04:52,699 um, and dwell, um, in the Pole Star 96 00:04:52,793 --> 00:04:55,627 at the very center of the sky. 97 00:04:55,854 --> 00:04:59,873 And there he actually would live forever. 98 00:04:59,967 --> 00:05:01,949 The idea of a dragon, 99 00:05:01,969 --> 00:05:05,879 a metaphysical being who looked very real, 100 00:05:06,031 --> 00:05:08,122 had to come from somewhere. 101 00:05:08,216 --> 00:05:10,124 They could not just imagine 102 00:05:10,144 --> 00:05:13,219 a complicated being like Chinese dragons. 103 00:05:13,372 --> 00:05:15,480 They had to see objects 104 00:05:15,707 --> 00:05:17,891 that were flying at incredible speeds 105 00:05:18,043 --> 00:05:20,736 and the superior beings riding on them. 106 00:05:22,639 --> 00:05:25,473 GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: Now, from the ancient astronaut perspective, 107 00:05:25,492 --> 00:05:28,142 the dragon was never a dragon. 108 00:05:28,162 --> 00:05:30,829 It was a flying craft. 109 00:05:32,333 --> 00:05:34,148 It is only natural 110 00:05:34,168 --> 00:05:37,577 that our ancestors would describe these things 111 00:05:37,729 --> 00:05:40,564 as living creatures with fire and smoke. 112 00:05:40,582 --> 00:05:43,917 They had never seen anything like it before. 113 00:05:44,069 --> 00:05:46,160 - (gong sounds) - One has to wonder 114 00:05:46,254 --> 00:05:48,996 if Huangdi himself was misinterpreted 115 00:05:49,091 --> 00:05:51,850 and that he was an extraterrestrial 116 00:05:52,077 --> 00:05:54,686 and he arrived in an extraterrestrial craft. 117 00:05:56,932 --> 00:05:58,915 SUN SHILI: In China, in UFO research, 118 00:05:59,008 --> 00:06:01,276 a dragon is the symbol of aircraft. 119 00:06:03,088 --> 00:06:05,179 There is a view that the Yellow Emperor 120 00:06:05,199 --> 00:06:07,032 arrived in the wonderful land of China 121 00:06:07,259 --> 00:06:09,868 through an aircraft, and he flew back afterwards. 122 00:06:12,689 --> 00:06:15,690 NARRATOR: Could the story of Huangdi traveling on a dragon 123 00:06:15,784 --> 00:06:17,784 be an account of an extraterrestrial 124 00:06:17,936 --> 00:06:19,544 traveling in a spaceship, 125 00:06:19,696 --> 00:06:22,714 as ancient astronaut theorists suggest? 126 00:06:22,941 --> 00:06:24,774 In the modern world, 127 00:06:24,868 --> 00:06:27,110 tales of dragons are widely considered 128 00:06:27,129 --> 00:06:29,946 to be strictly a product of the imagination. 129 00:06:29,965 --> 00:06:33,725 But some researchers believe physical evidence exists 130 00:06:33,877 --> 00:06:35,376 that suggests 131 00:06:35,396 --> 00:06:38,980 the ancient stories of dragons could be true. 132 00:06:41,402 --> 00:06:45,904 The Baian-Kara-Ula mountains, Qinghai Province, China. 133 00:06:47,633 --> 00:06:49,466 According to an article published in 1962 134 00:06:49,484 --> 00:06:53,078 in the German magazine Das Vegetarisches Universum, 135 00:06:53,305 --> 00:06:57,807 Beijing University archaeologist Dr. Tsum Um Nui 136 00:06:57,901 --> 00:07:01,569 was leading an expedition here in 1936 137 00:07:01,588 --> 00:07:03,313 when he and his team came upon 138 00:07:03,406 --> 00:07:06,591 neat rows of graves inside a cave. 139 00:07:06,818 --> 00:07:09,836 The archaeologists reported that the graves 140 00:07:09,930 --> 00:07:13,823 contained the corpses of small creatures resembling humans 141 00:07:13,842 --> 00:07:17,936 but with spindly arms and legs and huge skulls. 142 00:07:18,087 --> 00:07:22,590 And buried with them were hundreds of strange stone disks. 143 00:07:22,684 --> 00:07:25,185 There's a fascinating story in China 144 00:07:25,279 --> 00:07:27,779 where allegedly 145 00:07:27,931 --> 00:07:31,616 a cave was found with hundreds of disks 146 00:07:31,843 --> 00:07:35,028 and these disks were about this wide 147 00:07:35,122 --> 00:07:39,015 and it seemed that they had some type of a groove in them 148 00:07:39,108 --> 00:07:42,610 reminding of modern-day vinyl records. 149 00:07:42,629 --> 00:07:45,188 And what's interesting 150 00:07:45,207 --> 00:07:49,450 is that allegedly 151 00:07:49,470 --> 00:07:53,713 some of these grooves contained really tiny types of writing, 152 00:07:53,865 --> 00:07:55,623 hieroglyphics or something. 153 00:07:56,477 --> 00:07:58,793 WILLIAM HENRY: And when archeologists finally deciphered 154 00:07:58,887 --> 00:08:00,461 or translated this writing, 155 00:08:00,481 --> 00:08:03,540 it told this incredible story 156 00:08:03,558 --> 00:08:06,376 of extraterrestrial beings called the Dropas 157 00:08:06,469 --> 00:08:09,062 and how they had come from the stars, 158 00:08:09,156 --> 00:08:11,231 crash-landed on Earth 159 00:08:11,383 --> 00:08:13,399 and were unable to rebuild a spacecraft 160 00:08:13,552 --> 00:08:15,118 in order to return to their home. 161 00:08:16,404 --> 00:08:17,996 NARRATOR: Unfortunately, 162 00:08:18,147 --> 00:08:20,999 after the initial research in the early 1960s, 163 00:08:21,226 --> 00:08:24,503 the disks, known today as the Dropa stones, 164 00:08:24,730 --> 00:08:25,837 vanished. 165 00:08:25,989 --> 00:08:29,415 But mysteriously, in 1974, 166 00:08:29,568 --> 00:08:31,158 photographs surfaced 167 00:08:31,178 --> 00:08:34,012 of what were alleged to be two Dropa Stones 168 00:08:34,163 --> 00:08:39,592 on display at the Banpo Museum in Xian City, China. 169 00:08:39,686 --> 00:08:43,855 In 1994, a colleague of mine, Hartwig Hausdorf 170 00:08:44,082 --> 00:08:48,026 and his colleague Peter Krassa went to China 171 00:08:48,253 --> 00:08:51,029 to ask the whereabouts of these stone disks. 172 00:08:52,257 --> 00:08:55,425 During the '60s and '70s, 173 00:08:55,443 --> 00:08:58,686 there was a big cultural revolution in China, 174 00:08:58,705 --> 00:09:03,024 where lots of cultural relics were, uh, destroyed. 175 00:09:03,043 --> 00:09:05,118 And that's possibly the reason 176 00:09:05,270 --> 00:09:09,047 that two of the more than 700 stone disks 177 00:09:09,198 --> 00:09:11,550 could have found their way down to Xian 178 00:09:11,701 --> 00:09:13,385 and to this little museum. 179 00:09:14,555 --> 00:09:16,613 In spring of 1994, 180 00:09:16,706 --> 00:09:20,725 my way led me also into this little Banpo Museum, 181 00:09:20,952 --> 00:09:22,952 where I got to speak 182 00:09:23,046 --> 00:09:26,306 with the present curator of the museum. 183 00:09:26,458 --> 00:09:27,899 I showed him the photographs 184 00:09:28,126 --> 00:09:31,903 that were taken 20 years ago in his museum, 185 00:09:32,130 --> 00:09:37,483 and he told me the former manageress of the museum, 186 00:09:37,578 --> 00:09:40,820 along with the two stone disks that were on display, 187 00:09:40,972 --> 00:09:44,324 they have disappeared without any trace, 188 00:09:44,418 --> 00:09:46,901 and up to now, no one knows 189 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:50,880 where this lady and the two stone disks have gone. 190 00:09:51,925 --> 00:09:53,333 We can speculate 191 00:09:53,485 --> 00:09:55,409 that most of the stone disks 192 00:09:55,503 --> 00:09:57,745 are still inside those caves 193 00:09:57,839 --> 00:10:00,223 in Baian-Kara-Ula mountains. 194 00:10:01,676 --> 00:10:04,251 NARRATOR: Could there be additional Dropa stones 195 00:10:04,271 --> 00:10:07,772 still hidden somewhere in the Baian-Kara-Ula mountains? 196 00:10:07,999 --> 00:10:10,500 For ancient astronaut theorists, 197 00:10:10,593 --> 00:10:13,002 another intriguing aspect of the story 198 00:10:13,096 --> 00:10:14,929 is that the Qinghai Province, 199 00:10:15,023 --> 00:10:16,931 which is home to this mountain range 200 00:10:17,025 --> 00:10:20,193 has a connection to dragons. 201 00:10:20,345 --> 00:10:22,269 What's interesting about the Dropa stones 202 00:10:22,364 --> 00:10:25,865 is that the region they were discovered in is very close 203 00:10:25,959 --> 00:10:29,869 to the Qinghai Lake which has its patron as a dragon god. 204 00:10:29,963 --> 00:10:32,355 You have the fascinating story 205 00:10:32,448 --> 00:10:34,540 of the Dragon King of the West Sea, 206 00:10:34,635 --> 00:10:36,635 the Qinghai Lake. 207 00:10:36,862 --> 00:10:40,121 And Qinghai is also in the same area 208 00:10:40,140 --> 00:10:43,308 where the Dropa stones allegedly came from. 209 00:10:43,535 --> 00:10:45,960 Now, one of the fascinating connections here 210 00:10:45,979 --> 00:10:49,648 is that the Dragon Kings were also said to be cloud breathers. 211 00:10:50,876 --> 00:10:52,984 And one of the things that we see 212 00:10:53,211 --> 00:10:56,821 in the actual translation from the Dropa stones 213 00:10:56,973 --> 00:10:58,806 is that the Dropa people came forth 214 00:10:58,825 --> 00:11:01,642 in their clouds from the sky. 215 00:11:01,662 --> 00:11:04,554 So this idea of cloud breathers as dragons 216 00:11:04,647 --> 00:11:07,724 and the Dropa coming from these clouds 217 00:11:07,817 --> 00:11:09,668 seems to be potentially connected. 218 00:11:09,819 --> 00:11:13,505 Maybe the dragons and the Dropa are one and the same. 219 00:11:14,749 --> 00:11:17,158 NARRATOR: Could it be that the dragon, 220 00:11:17,177 --> 00:11:20,828 which remains sacred and iconic in China to this day, 221 00:11:20,847 --> 00:11:23,664 commemorates an extraterrestrial visitation 222 00:11:23,758 --> 00:11:26,576 that occurred thousands of years ago 223 00:11:26,669 --> 00:11:29,837 and was allegedly recorded on the Dropa stones? 224 00:11:29,856 --> 00:11:33,099 Perhaps further clues can be found 225 00:11:33,251 --> 00:11:37,086 by examining other ancient traditions all over the world 226 00:11:37,105 --> 00:11:39,030 of dragon gods. 227 00:11:46,189 --> 00:11:47,288 NARRATOR: Kyoto, Japan. 228 00:11:48,357 --> 00:11:50,875 An imposing statue of a dragon 229 00:11:51,102 --> 00:11:52,860 guards the west gate of the Buddhist temple 230 00:11:52,954 --> 00:11:54,379 known as Kiyomizu-dera. 231 00:11:55,623 --> 00:11:58,958 It is just one of the many dragons that adorn the shrine, 232 00:11:59,110 --> 00:12:01,052 and according to temple legends, 233 00:12:01,279 --> 00:12:04,113 every night a dragon descends from the sky 234 00:12:04,207 --> 00:12:06,725 to drink at the temple's waterfall. 235 00:12:06,876 --> 00:12:10,970 In Japan, dragons, sometimes known as naga, 236 00:12:11,122 --> 00:12:13,565 are not only revered as deities. 237 00:12:13,716 --> 00:12:15,124 They are also considered 238 00:12:15,218 --> 00:12:17,736 to be the founders of Japan's royal family. 239 00:12:20,632 --> 00:12:23,742 It was said in ancient Japan that the dragon god 240 00:12:23,893 --> 00:12:26,486 lived at the bottom of the ocean. 241 00:12:26,638 --> 00:12:27,895 His daughter had a daughter, 242 00:12:27,989 --> 00:12:33,810 and her child was Jimmu, the first Emperor of Japan. 243 00:12:33,903 --> 00:12:35,920 To be descended from a dragon 244 00:12:36,147 --> 00:12:40,500 is to be from the divine dimension of nature, 245 00:12:40,594 --> 00:12:43,261 but also from the stars. 246 00:12:45,098 --> 00:12:46,598 NARRATOR: According to legend, 247 00:12:46,825 --> 00:12:50,176 Jimmu, the great-grandson of the dragon god, 248 00:12:50,328 --> 00:12:54,347 received three divine items called the Imperial Regalia. 249 00:12:54,499 --> 00:12:56,666 WILLIAM HENRY: The Imperial Regalia of Japan 250 00:12:56,759 --> 00:12:58,501 was sent from the heavenly realms. 251 00:12:59,613 --> 00:13:03,264 This was composed of a jewel, a sword and a mirror 252 00:13:03,283 --> 00:13:06,359 that was utilized by all the Japanese emperors, 253 00:13:06,511 --> 00:13:08,953 and they're still believed to exist to this day. 254 00:13:10,773 --> 00:13:11,956 They're considered to be artifacts 255 00:13:12,108 --> 00:13:14,183 of such incredible power 256 00:13:14,202 --> 00:13:16,185 that ordinary people are not allowed 257 00:13:16,279 --> 00:13:17,462 to come into contact with them. 258 00:13:18,781 --> 00:13:21,800 TSOUKALOS: With this celestial mirror, 259 00:13:21,951 --> 00:13:24,969 it is said that he was able to see 260 00:13:25,121 --> 00:13:28,364 anything that goes on on planet Earth 261 00:13:28,457 --> 00:13:31,868 without having to go anywhere. 262 00:13:31,886 --> 00:13:33,978 What are we talking about here? 263 00:13:35,482 --> 00:13:39,300 Imagine that you show your laptop or your cell phone 264 00:13:39,394 --> 00:13:41,894 to your great-great-grandfather 265 00:13:42,047 --> 00:13:43,546 and all of a sudden 266 00:13:43,565 --> 00:13:46,658 you are showing him a magical mirror 267 00:13:46,885 --> 00:13:50,161 because you can see anything on a laptop. 268 00:13:50,388 --> 00:13:54,648 I think that the celestial regalia of Jimmu 269 00:13:54,668 --> 00:13:57,894 are extraterrestrial artifacts 270 00:13:57,987 --> 00:14:00,413 that were collected at the time 271 00:14:00,507 --> 00:14:04,734 when the celestial teachers referred to as dragons 272 00:14:04,752 --> 00:14:07,328 were here teaching mankind, 273 00:14:07,347 --> 00:14:09,848 in this case in the area of Japan. 274 00:14:11,076 --> 00:14:14,577 (speaking Japanese) 275 00:14:14,596 --> 00:14:16,929 TRANSLATOR: The ancestors of the Japanese emperor 276 00:14:17,082 --> 00:14:18,523 were gods... 277 00:14:20,509 --> 00:14:23,152 specifically gods in the sky. 278 00:14:25,256 --> 00:14:27,106 They landed on the Earth, 279 00:14:27,258 --> 00:14:30,034 and are linked to the current Japanese imperial family. 280 00:14:33,206 --> 00:14:37,208 Which means that their family is related to extraterrestrials. 281 00:14:41,456 --> 00:14:43,456 NARRATOR: While the dragon is a prominent figure 282 00:14:43,608 --> 00:14:45,291 in East Asian cultures, 283 00:14:45,385 --> 00:14:48,869 many ancient peoples who archaeologists believe 284 00:14:48,963 --> 00:14:50,963 had no history of contact 285 00:14:51,057 --> 00:14:55,635 also revered this supposedly mythical flying beast. 286 00:14:56,804 --> 00:15:01,641 Dragons are found throughout Africa and in ancient Egypt. 287 00:15:01,793 --> 00:15:04,293 They were featured in the earliest traditions 288 00:15:04,312 --> 00:15:07,797 of Persia, Greece and Rome. 289 00:15:07,815 --> 00:15:09,908 And North American folklore 290 00:15:10,059 --> 00:15:12,410 often spoke of dragon-like creatures. 291 00:15:13,655 --> 00:15:16,247 The dragon is worldwide 292 00:15:16,474 --> 00:15:18,157 because, again, in Central America 293 00:15:18,251 --> 00:15:20,326 in Villahermosa, 294 00:15:20,478 --> 00:15:24,088 there's a stone called the dragon monolith. 295 00:15:24,315 --> 00:15:27,316 You see a man sitting inside the dragon. 296 00:15:27,410 --> 00:15:29,260 You see the form of the dragon 297 00:15:29,412 --> 00:15:33,080 with this open mouth like a snake, 298 00:15:33,099 --> 00:15:35,174 and you see the man is sitting inside. 299 00:15:35,326 --> 00:15:37,268 He has a helmet on. 300 00:15:37,495 --> 00:15:40,271 He uses his hands to manipulate control. 301 00:15:41,516 --> 00:15:43,683 So the story of the dragon 302 00:15:43,835 --> 00:15:47,445 has come around the world from China to Central America. 303 00:15:48,448 --> 00:15:50,949 HUGH NEWMAN: So dragons are found 304 00:15:51,176 --> 00:15:54,010 all over the world in ancient traditions, 305 00:15:54,028 --> 00:15:57,530 and there's always an element of extreme power. 306 00:15:57,682 --> 00:15:59,106 They could destroy, 307 00:15:59,125 --> 00:16:00,683 but they could also become allies. 308 00:16:01,795 --> 00:16:06,038 And they were great teachers, of very high wisdom, 309 00:16:06,132 --> 00:16:09,375 and have extreme intelligence as well in some cases. 310 00:16:09,469 --> 00:16:13,137 And yet this became a symbol of different cultures 311 00:16:13,364 --> 00:16:15,473 and different leaders around the world, 312 00:16:15,624 --> 00:16:19,293 but was this because they'd witnessed something 313 00:16:19,312 --> 00:16:24,298 emerging from clouds, from a fiery kind of sky 314 00:16:24,392 --> 00:16:25,984 and actually this is where 315 00:16:26,211 --> 00:16:29,061 the whole dragon mythos really came from? 316 00:16:29,214 --> 00:16:30,880 Who were the original dragons? 317 00:16:30,898 --> 00:16:34,283 And why are they always depicted as flying? 318 00:16:36,221 --> 00:16:38,145 NARRATOR: For researchers of mythology, 319 00:16:38,164 --> 00:16:40,164 an equally intriguing question 320 00:16:40,391 --> 00:16:43,226 is why so many separate cultures ended up 321 00:16:43,244 --> 00:16:46,579 calling these flying entities by the same name. 322 00:16:46,673 --> 00:16:50,491 Many languages use exactly the same word for dragon, 323 00:16:50,510 --> 00:16:52,918 or something very similar, at least. 324 00:16:53,071 --> 00:16:55,847 You have got in the Middle East, 325 00:16:55,998 --> 00:16:58,499 the Philistine god 326 00:16:58,593 --> 00:17:01,427 who looks like a dragon 327 00:17:01,521 --> 00:17:04,430 was called Dagon. 328 00:17:04,582 --> 00:17:07,683 In England you've got Dragon. 329 00:17:08,695 --> 00:17:12,196 In parts of Finland you've got Dragon. 330 00:17:13,941 --> 00:17:18,594 And in Eastern Europe you've got Dracul. 331 00:17:19,764 --> 00:17:23,041 And then a bit further south, you've got Dracu. 332 00:17:24,878 --> 00:17:26,527 NARRATOR: In Basque, 333 00:17:26,546 --> 00:17:28,788 which is unconnected to any other language, 334 00:17:28,940 --> 00:17:30,531 the word is Dragoi. 335 00:17:30,550 --> 00:17:32,625 In India, it's Dregan. 336 00:17:32,777 --> 00:17:34,701 In Swahili, Dragoni. 337 00:17:34,721 --> 00:17:37,613 And in ancient Greek, Drakon. 338 00:17:37,632 --> 00:17:39,891 GRAHAM PHILLIPS: They all have similar names. 339 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:44,136 How can this be? What's behind all this? 340 00:17:44,289 --> 00:17:46,122 These people were not in touch with each other. 341 00:17:46,215 --> 00:17:48,399 So, how does this come about? 342 00:17:49,718 --> 00:17:52,311 It's very curious that, no matter where we go, 343 00:17:52,405 --> 00:17:55,481 we find legends of dragons with the exact same word 344 00:17:55,575 --> 00:17:58,576 used to describe this creature or these beings. 345 00:17:58,727 --> 00:18:02,246 It must be that there was a common source. 346 00:18:02,473 --> 00:18:04,323 And it makes you wonder if it's possible 347 00:18:04,417 --> 00:18:07,493 that these beings originally introduced themselves 348 00:18:07,645 --> 00:18:11,589 with this name that is something like "dragon." 349 00:18:13,668 --> 00:18:15,151 NARRATOR: What can account 350 00:18:15,244 --> 00:18:17,077 for this supposedly mythical creature 351 00:18:17,097 --> 00:18:19,413 appearing in dozens of distinct traditions 352 00:18:19,432 --> 00:18:22,082 throughout the ancient world? 353 00:18:22,102 --> 00:18:25,328 As far as ancient astronaut theorists are concerned, 354 00:18:25,421 --> 00:18:27,496 the ubiquity of dragon legends 355 00:18:27,515 --> 00:18:29,849 lends further support to the notion 356 00:18:30,001 --> 00:18:32,777 that our ancestors encountered alien vehicles 357 00:18:32,928 --> 00:18:34,946 descending from the sky. 358 00:18:36,116 --> 00:18:38,841 The reason why countless ancient cultures 359 00:18:38,860 --> 00:18:41,101 have references to dragons 360 00:18:41,121 --> 00:18:44,847 is because many of these ancient cultures 361 00:18:44,940 --> 00:18:47,774 were visited by the same beings 362 00:18:47,794 --> 00:18:49,919 flying the same craft. 363 00:18:51,706 --> 00:18:55,967 They're seeing the same thing in all these different places, 364 00:18:56,118 --> 00:18:59,211 and what they're seeing is of airships 365 00:18:59,364 --> 00:19:03,641 with fire and thunder and smoke and huge wings, 366 00:19:03,792 --> 00:19:07,294 and so they're describing them in-in similar ways 367 00:19:07,313 --> 00:19:08,888 in different parts of the world. 368 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:10,706 NARRATOR: Could the ubiquity 369 00:19:10,725 --> 00:19:12,892 of dragon worship throughout the world, 370 00:19:13,044 --> 00:19:15,895 along with the curious linguistic connection, 371 00:19:15,989 --> 00:19:18,990 provide further evidence that our ancestors witnessed 372 00:19:19,217 --> 00:19:22,660 something very real coming down from the sky? 373 00:19:22,811 --> 00:19:24,996 Perhaps further clues can be found 374 00:19:25,147 --> 00:19:29,333 by examining ancient stone sculptures from North America 375 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,745 that depict a legendary flying serpent god 376 00:19:32,897 --> 00:19:34,505 in a humanoid form. 377 00:19:40,496 --> 00:19:43,181 NARRATOR: Teotihuacan, Mexico. 378 00:19:43,332 --> 00:19:46,759 Dating back to at least the first century AD, 379 00:19:46,853 --> 00:19:49,336 this ancient complex was once 380 00:19:49,355 --> 00:19:51,931 the largest city in Mesoamerica 381 00:19:52,025 --> 00:19:55,526 with a population of 125,000. 382 00:19:57,197 --> 00:19:59,755 One of the most sacred temples at the site 383 00:19:59,848 --> 00:20:02,274 is the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, 384 00:20:02,368 --> 00:20:04,593 an enormous step pyramid 385 00:20:04,687 --> 00:20:07,288 dedicated to the god Quetzalcoatl. 386 00:20:08,933 --> 00:20:11,191 Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, 387 00:20:11,285 --> 00:20:13,118 goes all the way back to Olmec times, 388 00:20:13,213 --> 00:20:15,104 to the BCE period. 389 00:20:15,122 --> 00:20:18,290 But the first place that we really see Quetzalcoatl 390 00:20:18,384 --> 00:20:20,367 is in Teotihuacan, 391 00:20:20,386 --> 00:20:24,630 the city just north of modern Mexico City. 392 00:20:24,724 --> 00:20:29,227 They build a actual pyramid, a temple of Quetzalcoatl, 393 00:20:29,454 --> 00:20:32,471 right around 250 AD. 394 00:20:32,565 --> 00:20:35,474 So, it's probably Teotihuacan 395 00:20:35,568 --> 00:20:38,402 who really put forward 396 00:20:38,554 --> 00:20:42,723 the idea and the identity of Quetzalcoatl as a deity 397 00:20:42,817 --> 00:20:44,891 for the rest of Mesoamerica. 398 00:20:44,911 --> 00:20:47,303 Quetzalcoatl was a creator god. 399 00:20:47,321 --> 00:20:49,638 He was associated with the planet Venus. 400 00:20:49,732 --> 00:20:52,475 He brought the rain. He brought water. 401 00:20:52,493 --> 00:20:55,311 He brought civilization. He brought the arts. 402 00:20:55,329 --> 00:20:59,406 This was the creator divinity for the Aztec culture. 403 00:20:59,500 --> 00:21:02,985 It was a flying serpent. It was a dragon. 404 00:21:03,004 --> 00:21:08,081 Quetzalcoatl brought peace, harmony and high wisdom 405 00:21:08,175 --> 00:21:10,676 and very high level of intelligence 406 00:21:10,828 --> 00:21:13,271 and teaching to this particular land. 407 00:21:13,498 --> 00:21:16,332 He was often depicted as a human being as well, 408 00:21:16,425 --> 00:21:19,259 that he arrived on a raft of serpents 409 00:21:19,353 --> 00:21:21,837 and settled on these lands. 410 00:21:21,930 --> 00:21:24,673 ED BARNHART: Quetzalcoatl also shows up 411 00:21:24,767 --> 00:21:29,269 in the post-classic Maya city of Chichen Itza. 412 00:21:29,363 --> 00:21:31,772 But they give him a Mayan name. 413 00:21:31,791 --> 00:21:35,442 They call him Kukulkan, which is basically 414 00:21:35,536 --> 00:21:38,854 "The holy feathered serpent" in Maya. 415 00:21:38,873 --> 00:21:41,948 NARRATOR: The ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza 416 00:21:41,968 --> 00:21:46,211 lies roughly 900 miles east of Teotihuacan, 417 00:21:46,306 --> 00:21:50,641 and at its center stands another massive step pyramid, 418 00:21:50,793 --> 00:21:52,701 this one dedicated 419 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:56,722 to the Mayan version of the flying serpent Kukulkan. 420 00:21:56,816 --> 00:22:00,133 In Chichen Itza, there we have the pyramid of Kukulkan, 421 00:22:00,227 --> 00:22:03,212 and every year on the 23rd of March, 422 00:22:03,305 --> 00:22:07,066 you see, when the sun is going up, 423 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:09,568 some lights and shadows, 424 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,404 lights and shadows like triangles 425 00:22:12,557 --> 00:22:15,315 climbing down the stairway, 426 00:22:15,335 --> 00:22:19,319 exactly the stairway where his head is on. 427 00:22:19,339 --> 00:22:22,840 And on the 21st of September you see the opposite. 428 00:22:23,067 --> 00:22:24,917 Kukulkan disappears, 429 00:22:25,011 --> 00:22:28,662 and it's only made by light and shadow of the natural sun. 430 00:22:28,756 --> 00:22:31,073 So still today the message is clear-- 431 00:22:31,092 --> 00:22:33,909 God Kukulkan has descended to the humans. 432 00:22:34,002 --> 00:22:36,687 He teached them for a certain period, 433 00:22:36,839 --> 00:22:39,748 and then he disappeared again. 434 00:22:39,842 --> 00:22:43,419 So right there we have living mythology 435 00:22:43,437 --> 00:22:47,698 in a structure that shows this deity 436 00:22:47,850 --> 00:22:50,868 descending from the sky in stone. 437 00:22:52,113 --> 00:22:54,521 You wonder if perhaps a craft landed here 438 00:22:54,615 --> 00:22:56,615 and this light-shadow effect 439 00:22:56,709 --> 00:23:00,269 of a serpent making its way descending down the staircase, 440 00:23:00,287 --> 00:23:02,028 and then emerging through a serpent head 441 00:23:02,048 --> 00:23:05,532 is a recollection of that original event. 442 00:23:05,626 --> 00:23:06,867 NARRATOR: Is it possible 443 00:23:06,961 --> 00:23:08,552 that the Pyramid of Kukulkan 444 00:23:08,779 --> 00:23:11,705 was not built to honor a mythical dragon god 445 00:23:11,724 --> 00:23:13,616 but to commemorate the arrival 446 00:23:13,709 --> 00:23:16,452 of an extraterrestrial spacecraft? 447 00:23:16,545 --> 00:23:19,304 Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, 448 00:23:19,399 --> 00:23:23,125 and suggest this isn't the only dragon-themed structure 449 00:23:23,144 --> 00:23:25,986 that marks a location of alien contact. 450 00:23:32,303 --> 00:23:34,637 The landscape of this small Greek island 451 00:23:34,655 --> 00:23:38,824 is spotted with 25 mysterious megalithic structures 452 00:23:38,918 --> 00:23:41,085 called dragon houses. 453 00:23:41,236 --> 00:23:44,496 TSOUKALOS: The main dragon house is at the very top 454 00:23:44,590 --> 00:23:48,000 of one of the tallest mountains on the island 455 00:23:48,094 --> 00:23:50,577 called Mount Ochi. 456 00:23:50,671 --> 00:23:55,491 Mount Ochi comes from the word "Ochevare" 457 00:23:55,584 --> 00:23:59,437 which means to descend and to drive. 458 00:23:59,664 --> 00:24:04,424 And so this is interesting because, according to legend, 459 00:24:04,444 --> 00:24:06,593 the reason why the dragon house 460 00:24:06,687 --> 00:24:09,947 exists at the top of Mount Ochi 461 00:24:10,098 --> 00:24:15,694 is because Zeus allegedly descended from the heavens 462 00:24:15,788 --> 00:24:17,621 on top of that mountain. 463 00:24:19,366 --> 00:24:21,459 NARRATOR: According to local legend, 464 00:24:21,610 --> 00:24:24,703 these stone structures were built by a giant dragon 465 00:24:24,855 --> 00:24:27,706 to venerate the god Zeus. 466 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:31,451 In ancient Greece, the word "dragon" was not only used 467 00:24:31,545 --> 00:24:33,453 to describe a flying monster 468 00:24:33,547 --> 00:24:35,455 but also gods and other figures 469 00:24:35,475 --> 00:24:37,199 that had human-like form 470 00:24:37,292 --> 00:24:40,961 but possessed superhuman powers. 471 00:24:40,980 --> 00:24:42,871 Now, when you put all this together, 472 00:24:42,890 --> 00:24:44,873 this sounds like the dragon house 473 00:24:44,967 --> 00:24:46,650 is a meeting place of Heaven and Earth. 474 00:24:46,877 --> 00:24:50,303 In UFO vernacular, that would be a landing spot. 475 00:24:50,397 --> 00:24:52,231 TSOUKALOS: In my opinion, 476 00:24:52,383 --> 00:24:56,476 the dragon was the craft out of which, then, 477 00:24:56,496 --> 00:25:00,723 the creator people, or the teachers, emerged. 478 00:25:00,741 --> 00:25:03,000 Our ancestors, basically, 479 00:25:03,227 --> 00:25:07,421 they saw a crew coming out of an airplane. 480 00:25:09,342 --> 00:25:12,343 NARRATOR: According to ancient astronaut theorists, 481 00:25:12,494 --> 00:25:15,679 some of the structures themselves serve as evidence 482 00:25:15,831 --> 00:25:18,933 that this was a place of extraterrestrial contact. 483 00:25:20,077 --> 00:25:23,003 The dragon house on top of Mt. Ochi 484 00:25:23,022 --> 00:25:26,673 contains megalithic blocks weighing up to ten tons 485 00:25:26,692 --> 00:25:30,110 and sits at an elevation of almost 5,000 feet. 486 00:25:32,014 --> 00:25:33,756 TSOUKALOS: Archaeologists have a hard time 487 00:25:33,849 --> 00:25:37,609 explaining why it was even built there 488 00:25:37,703 --> 00:25:39,686 because we are talking 489 00:25:39,780 --> 00:25:42,931 of this gigantic megalithic structure 490 00:25:43,025 --> 00:25:46,451 with a ceiling that contains blocks 491 00:25:46,546 --> 00:25:48,771 that are up to ten feet long, 492 00:25:48,789 --> 00:25:51,456 two feet thick, 493 00:25:51,551 --> 00:25:54,385 at an altitude of 5,000 feet. 494 00:25:54,536 --> 00:25:56,387 How was that done? 495 00:25:56,538 --> 00:26:00,373 In my opinion, this was an extraterrestrial visitation 496 00:26:00,393 --> 00:26:03,635 where Zeus may have descended in his craft 497 00:26:03,729 --> 00:26:05,813 and built a day camp. 498 00:26:07,792 --> 00:26:09,049 NARRATOR: Could the stone structures 499 00:26:09,143 --> 00:26:11,402 found in Greece and Mesoamerica 500 00:26:11,553 --> 00:26:12,961 mark the locations 501 00:26:13,055 --> 00:26:16,056 where otherworldly beings landed on Earth 502 00:26:16,150 --> 00:26:19,201 and ultimately returned to the stars? 503 00:26:20,896 --> 00:26:23,080 Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, 504 00:26:23,307 --> 00:26:24,973 and suggest 505 00:26:24,992 --> 00:26:28,234 these alien visitors may still be here today, 506 00:26:28,254 --> 00:26:30,646 pointing to legends of dragons 507 00:26:30,739 --> 00:26:32,548 that come not from the sky... 508 00:26:33,742 --> 00:26:35,759 but from under the sea. 509 00:26:41,583 --> 00:26:44,843 NARRATOR: Nineveh, 1849. 510 00:26:44,995 --> 00:26:48,013 British archaeologist Austen Henry Layard 511 00:26:48,107 --> 00:26:52,184 and his team uncover a cache of ancient clay tablets 512 00:26:52,336 --> 00:26:55,946 dating back to at least the seventh century BC. 513 00:26:57,174 --> 00:26:58,765 The pieces contain some 514 00:26:58,784 --> 00:27:01,176 of the earliest writings of humankind, 515 00:27:01,269 --> 00:27:03,770 including the Epic of Gilgamesh 516 00:27:03,864 --> 00:27:06,031 and the Enuma Elis, 517 00:27:06,125 --> 00:27:10,127 the Sumerian creation story centered around a sea dragon. 518 00:27:11,446 --> 00:27:14,465 Ancient Sumeria is generally considered 519 00:27:14,616 --> 00:27:16,800 the earliest civilization on Earth, 520 00:27:17,027 --> 00:27:20,137 and their early mythology involves the Tiamat. 521 00:27:21,548 --> 00:27:23,307 Tiamat comes from the sea. 522 00:27:23,458 --> 00:27:26,101 She's a sea serpent. She is chaos. 523 00:27:28,222 --> 00:27:31,540 HENRY: Dragons are most often seen flying through the sky. 524 00:27:31,633 --> 00:27:33,709 However, there are also examples 525 00:27:33,727 --> 00:27:37,062 of dragons that lived in the water. 526 00:27:37,214 --> 00:27:40,883 For example, in the Babylonian myth of Tiamat 527 00:27:40,901 --> 00:27:42,901 and then in the Greek myth we learn of Hydra, 528 00:27:42,995 --> 00:27:47,055 which is referred to as a dragon that lives in the sea. 529 00:27:48,726 --> 00:27:52,318 NARRATOR: Serpents from the sea can also be found in Norse mythology, 530 00:27:52,338 --> 00:27:55,321 in the ancient Canaanite tradition, 531 00:27:55,341 --> 00:27:58,509 as well as the Maori tales of New Zealand. 532 00:28:00,495 --> 00:28:01,845 But of all the stories 533 00:28:02,072 --> 00:28:04,515 of sea dragons from across the globe, 534 00:28:04,666 --> 00:28:06,684 perhaps there is none more well-known 535 00:28:06,835 --> 00:28:09,687 than the Leviathan of the Hebrew Bible. 536 00:28:09,838 --> 00:28:13,582 Often described as a gigantic sea creature, 537 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:17,177 the Leviathan wreaks chaos on the world. 538 00:28:17,196 --> 00:28:20,513 Leviathan, in Biblical terms, 539 00:28:20,607 --> 00:28:26,686 is considered this sea monster of behemoth proportions. Huge. 540 00:28:26,706 --> 00:28:29,448 Now, in the Book of Job, 541 00:28:29,542 --> 00:28:33,377 the behemoth all of a sudden is seen and witnessed. 542 00:28:33,528 --> 00:28:39,441 And the way Job describes it, it's not a biological entity 543 00:28:39,534 --> 00:28:41,719 that we are familiar with today. 544 00:28:41,870 --> 00:28:46,372 It is described that it has skin of metal 545 00:28:46,392 --> 00:28:50,786 and ribs made out of gleaming bronze, 546 00:28:50,804 --> 00:28:54,565 its limbs like bars of iron. 547 00:28:54,716 --> 00:28:58,961 Its back is made of shields in rows 548 00:28:59,054 --> 00:29:03,315 shut up closely as with a seal. 549 00:29:03,467 --> 00:29:05,909 And then Job even describes 550 00:29:06,136 --> 00:29:11,064 that it is like some type of an animal, 551 00:29:11,158 --> 00:29:16,086 but what animal breathes smoke and fire and has glowing eyes? 552 00:29:18,090 --> 00:29:20,591 NARRATOR: Might the eyewitness account of the Leviathan 553 00:29:20,742 --> 00:29:22,742 found in the Book of Job 554 00:29:22,836 --> 00:29:24,503 actually be a description 555 00:29:24,655 --> 00:29:26,488 not of an underwater creature 556 00:29:26,581 --> 00:29:29,249 but of misunderstood technology, 557 00:29:29,268 --> 00:29:32,752 as ancient astronaut theorists suggest? 558 00:29:32,772 --> 00:29:36,089 In the Book of Job we have a text line 559 00:29:36,108 --> 00:29:40,093 that says that this creature's outer skin 560 00:29:40,112 --> 00:29:42,687 consists of two hulls. 561 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:46,784 So, this description in ancient biblical times 562 00:29:47,011 --> 00:29:52,197 that we have a double-hull object is interesting 563 00:29:52,291 --> 00:29:57,686 because we know today that submarines have two hulls. 564 00:29:57,704 --> 00:30:00,539 And the reason why they have two hulls is 565 00:30:00,691 --> 00:30:04,301 in order to dive and resurface. 566 00:30:04,452 --> 00:30:08,788 And what happens is you fill and empty the ballast tanks. 567 00:30:09,975 --> 00:30:14,311 Now, what happens when you empty the ballast tanks? 568 00:30:14,538 --> 00:30:19,316 The submarine ejects a whole bunch of air 569 00:30:19,543 --> 00:30:22,544 that makes the whole surrounding area look 570 00:30:22,563 --> 00:30:25,564 as if the ocean is boiling. 571 00:30:26,717 --> 00:30:31,236 And we have exactly this reference point in Job 572 00:30:31,388 --> 00:30:34,498 that all of a sudden, the wake of the Leviathan, 573 00:30:34,725 --> 00:30:37,576 it looked as if the sea was boiling. 574 00:30:37,670 --> 00:30:42,822 Job describes having seen this thing also on land. 575 00:30:42,842 --> 00:30:46,751 It begs the question if what we have here is an example 576 00:30:46,846 --> 00:30:49,329 of a trans-medium craft, 577 00:30:49,348 --> 00:30:51,740 a craft that operates 578 00:30:51,833 --> 00:30:54,977 both on land and in the water. 579 00:30:56,338 --> 00:30:59,005 HENRY: Today we have videos of UFOs or UAPs 580 00:30:59,024 --> 00:31:01,766 that are coming and going from the ocean. 581 00:31:01,919 --> 00:31:04,361 We call them trans-medium craft. 582 00:31:04,512 --> 00:31:06,254 Well, this is exactly what we see 583 00:31:06,273 --> 00:31:08,106 in these ancient myths about the dragons. 584 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:10,033 These are supposed to be 585 00:31:10,185 --> 00:31:12,035 dragons or mythological creatures, 586 00:31:12,262 --> 00:31:14,037 winged creatures that fly in the air, 587 00:31:14,189 --> 00:31:16,522 but then they also go into the ocean. 588 00:31:16,542 --> 00:31:18,876 And it makes you wonder, are these in fact UFOs 589 00:31:19,027 --> 00:31:20,711 that were seen in the ancient world 590 00:31:20,862 --> 00:31:24,106 that were interpreted or mythologized as dragons? 591 00:31:24,199 --> 00:31:25,698 I was in the Navy for nine years, 592 00:31:25,718 --> 00:31:27,609 and we always talked with each other 593 00:31:27,702 --> 00:31:30,112 about unidentified submersible objects 594 00:31:30,130 --> 00:31:32,538 that are UFOs that stay in the water 595 00:31:32,558 --> 00:31:35,041 and then bust out of the top of the ocean 596 00:31:35,060 --> 00:31:37,728 and off they go. It's very widespread. 597 00:31:37,955 --> 00:31:40,305 As a matter of fact, there've been reports 598 00:31:40,399 --> 00:31:43,883 of lights down in the water following our Navy ships 599 00:31:43,903 --> 00:31:45,402 and then all of a sudden 600 00:31:45,553 --> 00:31:47,295 they bust through the top of the ocean 601 00:31:47,314 --> 00:31:49,555 and they take off. They're out there. 602 00:31:49,650 --> 00:31:51,557 And it's entirely possible 603 00:31:51,577 --> 00:31:54,653 that people who witnessed these things a long time ago 604 00:31:54,805 --> 00:31:58,564 confused them with creatures or real dragons. 605 00:31:59,826 --> 00:32:03,812 Could the accounts of dragons emerging from the sea 606 00:32:03,830 --> 00:32:06,481 found in mythologies around the world 607 00:32:06,500 --> 00:32:10,594 be descriptions of an advanced technology capable of traveling 608 00:32:10,745 --> 00:32:15,157 not only through the sky but also through water? 609 00:32:15,175 --> 00:32:16,675 And if so, 610 00:32:16,827 --> 00:32:18,584 might the misinterpreted craft 611 00:32:18,679 --> 00:32:20,771 our ancestors witnessed 612 00:32:20,922 --> 00:32:24,499 be the same UFOs reportedly seen today? 613 00:32:24,592 --> 00:32:27,686 Ancient astronaut theorists suggest 614 00:32:27,780 --> 00:32:30,930 the answers may be found by examining the alignment 615 00:32:30,950 --> 00:32:33,358 of an ancient structure to a dragon... 616 00:32:33,452 --> 00:32:35,410 in the stars. 617 00:32:41,609 --> 00:32:43,627 NARRATOR: Northwest Cambodia. 618 00:32:44,797 --> 00:32:47,205 Just outside the city of Siem Reap 619 00:32:47,357 --> 00:32:51,468 lies Angkor Wat, the world's largest religious structure, 620 00:32:51,695 --> 00:32:54,638 with each side measuring nearly a mile long. 621 00:32:56,049 --> 00:32:59,884 Mainstream archaeologists believe the temple complex 622 00:32:59,979 --> 00:33:03,629 was likely constructed around the 12th century AD, 623 00:33:03,649 --> 00:33:05,540 but according to Cambodian legend, 624 00:33:05,559 --> 00:33:08,043 it is far older-- 625 00:33:08,061 --> 00:33:10,470 Built in 600 BC 626 00:33:10,489 --> 00:33:13,548 by a half-human half-divine architect 627 00:33:13,567 --> 00:33:17,385 who traveled between Earth and the realm of the gods. 628 00:33:17,479 --> 00:33:19,812 TSOUKALOS: Angkor Wat was built 629 00:33:19,832 --> 00:33:23,058 by none other than Preah Pisnokar. 630 00:33:23,076 --> 00:33:26,003 His mother is not of this world. 631 00:33:26,230 --> 00:33:29,840 She wants to bring him to where she comes from. 632 00:33:31,176 --> 00:33:34,069 And so she takes her son 633 00:33:34,162 --> 00:33:37,330 to what's called Indra's Heaven. 634 00:33:37,424 --> 00:33:39,741 According to mythologies, 635 00:33:39,834 --> 00:33:42,502 the center part of Angkor Wat 636 00:33:42,596 --> 00:33:45,505 is a one-to-one replica 637 00:33:45,524 --> 00:33:48,984 of whatever was seen out there. 638 00:33:51,104 --> 00:33:52,937 NARRATOR: According to some experts, 639 00:33:53,090 --> 00:33:55,365 the layout of Angkor Wat reveals 640 00:33:55,592 --> 00:33:58,035 another intriguing connection to the cosmos. 641 00:33:59,263 --> 00:34:01,204 In 1996, 642 00:34:01,356 --> 00:34:03,856 author and researcher John Grigsby 643 00:34:03,876 --> 00:34:06,192 discovered that the temple complex 644 00:34:06,211 --> 00:34:10,380 appears to align with certain stars in the night sky. 645 00:34:10,607 --> 00:34:13,291 John Grigsby made a brilliant discovery. 646 00:34:13,443 --> 00:34:16,611 He noticed that the entire Angkor Wat complex 647 00:34:16,630 --> 00:34:19,556 is a mirror image of the Draco constellation. 648 00:34:20,801 --> 00:34:24,394 In Latin, the word Draco means dragon. 649 00:34:26,214 --> 00:34:27,806 TSOUKALOS: If you were to take 650 00:34:27,958 --> 00:34:30,567 a constellation map of Draco 651 00:34:30,794 --> 00:34:34,387 and superimpose it onto a map of Angkor Wat, 652 00:34:34,481 --> 00:34:39,317 there are multiple structures at Angkor Wat that line up 653 00:34:39,469 --> 00:34:43,914 exactly to the main stars of the constellation of Draco. 654 00:34:45,309 --> 00:34:49,068 So you have to wonder what the connection is. 655 00:34:49,088 --> 00:34:51,588 And the answer to that, in my opinion, 656 00:34:51,739 --> 00:34:56,409 is that if you would like to show a local population 657 00:34:56,428 --> 00:34:59,412 where you are from... 658 00:34:59,431 --> 00:35:02,173 you have them build something 659 00:35:02,326 --> 00:35:04,917 in the constellation of where you are from. 660 00:35:04,937 --> 00:35:07,420 To me, those are calling cards 661 00:35:07,439 --> 00:35:10,565 where our teachers long ago came from. 662 00:35:12,352 --> 00:35:14,260 NARRATOR: Is it possible that the story 663 00:35:14,279 --> 00:35:17,597 of Angkor Wat's celestial origins is true 664 00:35:17,616 --> 00:35:20,450 and that it was purposely designed 665 00:35:20,602 --> 00:35:23,102 to line up with the stars of Draco 666 00:35:23,122 --> 00:35:27,515 because this was the ancestral home of Preah Pisnokar? 667 00:35:27,609 --> 00:35:29,942 Ancient astronaut theorists point 668 00:35:29,962 --> 00:35:32,629 to the temple's many depictions of dragon-like creatures 669 00:35:32,780 --> 00:35:34,297 as further evidence 670 00:35:34,449 --> 00:35:36,524 that it has a profound connection 671 00:35:36,543 --> 00:35:38,468 to the Draco constellation. 672 00:35:40,639 --> 00:35:42,380 DOMINIC STEAVU: In south Asian traditions, 673 00:35:42,532 --> 00:35:44,975 nagas occupy an important place. 674 00:35:45,126 --> 00:35:48,812 They are considered to be very powerful creatures. 675 00:35:48,963 --> 00:35:51,039 They are shape shifters. 676 00:35:51,057 --> 00:35:54,651 And nagas share a number of interesting similarities 677 00:35:54,802 --> 00:35:56,987 with Chinese dragons more specifically, 678 00:35:57,138 --> 00:36:01,158 so both of them are givers of knowledge and of wisdom. 679 00:36:03,053 --> 00:36:04,903 HENRY: In the same way that Kukulkan seems 680 00:36:05,055 --> 00:36:07,664 to represent some sort of a craft to the Mayans, 681 00:36:07,815 --> 00:36:11,501 we find the same thing with the naga at Angkor Wat. 682 00:36:11,728 --> 00:36:14,229 They could represent a craft that is utilized 683 00:36:14,247 --> 00:36:16,673 to transport people from Earth to Draco. 684 00:36:18,235 --> 00:36:19,676 NARRATOR: Is it possible 685 00:36:19,903 --> 00:36:22,570 that dragon traditions throughout the globe 686 00:36:22,589 --> 00:36:25,240 originated with visitors coming to Earth 687 00:36:25,258 --> 00:36:28,310 from a planet somewhere within the Draco constellation? 688 00:36:30,096 --> 00:36:32,747 Curiously, Angkor Wat is not 689 00:36:32,766 --> 00:36:35,859 the only ancient site that aligns with Draco. 690 00:36:36,086 --> 00:36:39,604 On the other side of the world, in Ohio, 691 00:36:39,756 --> 00:36:43,591 a Native American serpent effigy known as Serpent Mound 692 00:36:43,685 --> 00:36:46,369 was positioned to point to Draco. 693 00:36:48,189 --> 00:36:50,098 And in ancient Egypt, 694 00:36:50,116 --> 00:36:52,617 all pyramids were positioned 695 00:36:52,711 --> 00:36:55,603 to have an entrance passage geometrically aligned 696 00:36:55,622 --> 00:36:59,216 so that Draco's primary star, Alpha Draconis... 697 00:36:59,367 --> 00:37:02,385 would be visible at night. 698 00:37:04,038 --> 00:37:07,799 It's interesting to think that the constellation Draco 699 00:37:07,951 --> 00:37:10,952 may have something to do with these dragon myths, 700 00:37:11,045 --> 00:37:13,304 with all of these separate cultures 701 00:37:13,457 --> 00:37:16,566 around the world that are seemingly unconnected. 702 00:37:16,718 --> 00:37:20,886 Whatever these flying dragons are, 703 00:37:20,981 --> 00:37:24,299 perhaps they came from a planet 704 00:37:24,317 --> 00:37:26,409 that was from the star system Draco. 705 00:37:28,154 --> 00:37:30,747 HENRY: Virtually every culture has a legend about dragons 706 00:37:30,974 --> 00:37:33,308 or dragon beings that came from the sky. 707 00:37:33,326 --> 00:37:35,493 And what we're uncovering now is the revelation 708 00:37:35,645 --> 00:37:37,328 that these beings came from the sky 709 00:37:37,481 --> 00:37:40,331 because they're of extraterrestrial origins. 710 00:37:40,484 --> 00:37:42,500 Is it possible that today 711 00:37:42,594 --> 00:37:45,762 we're subconsciously tapping into hidden knowledge, 712 00:37:45,913 --> 00:37:47,839 something that has always been there 713 00:37:47,933 --> 00:37:50,725 and is part of, like, the thought sphere of humanity? 714 00:37:52,012 --> 00:37:54,012 NARRATOR: Could it be 715 00:37:54,106 --> 00:37:56,664 that humankind's long-held fascination with dragons 716 00:37:56,683 --> 00:37:59,684 has a direct link to the cosmos 717 00:37:59,778 --> 00:38:01,669 and possibly visitors 718 00:38:01,763 --> 00:38:04,096 from the constellation of Draco? 719 00:38:04,116 --> 00:38:06,599 Have stories and imagery of dragons 720 00:38:06,693 --> 00:38:08,359 persisted in modern times 721 00:38:08,512 --> 00:38:10,695 because of a deep-seated desire 722 00:38:10,847 --> 00:38:14,291 to reconnect with our extraterrestrial past? 723 00:38:14,442 --> 00:38:17,276 Perhaps further clues can be found 724 00:38:17,296 --> 00:38:21,947 by examining humanity's latest endeavors beyond Earth 725 00:38:21,967 --> 00:38:25,969 and the recent launch of a spacecraft called Dragon. 726 00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:27,470 MAN: And liftoff. 727 00:38:37,983 --> 00:38:40,800 NARRATOR: Just off the coast of Panama, Florida, 728 00:38:40,894 --> 00:38:46,990 the latest SpaceX cargo shuttle, called Dragon, splashes down. 729 00:38:47,141 --> 00:38:49,067 It's really fascinating what's happening right now 730 00:38:49,219 --> 00:38:53,830 because SpaceX just named their rocket Dragon. 731 00:38:55,225 --> 00:38:59,002 The Chinese named their entire rocket fleet 732 00:38:59,229 --> 00:39:03,989 based on ancient Chinese celestial mythology. 733 00:39:04,009 --> 00:39:06,325 It's called the Shengzou program, 734 00:39:06,345 --> 00:39:08,736 and Shengzou means "heavenly chariot." 735 00:39:08,755 --> 00:39:12,090 So, to have all of a sudden 736 00:39:12,184 --> 00:39:16,411 modern cultures refer to their celestial vehicles 737 00:39:16,504 --> 00:39:19,097 as dragons or heavenly chariot 738 00:39:19,191 --> 00:39:23,526 to me is nothing else but a repetition of history, 739 00:39:23,753 --> 00:39:28,365 meaning we are not the first to do this. 740 00:39:28,516 --> 00:39:32,035 JONATHAN YOUNG: The image of the dragon still excites our imagination. 741 00:39:32,262 --> 00:39:34,854 When Elon Musk decides to build a spaceship 742 00:39:34,873 --> 00:39:36,114 to lift up to the stars, 743 00:39:36,208 --> 00:39:38,116 he names it Dragon. 744 00:39:38,268 --> 00:39:41,269 So, it's almost like we're acting out mythology. 745 00:39:41,362 --> 00:39:43,529 We're riding on or in a dragon 746 00:39:43,548 --> 00:39:45,048 back up to the stars. 747 00:39:47,386 --> 00:39:50,720 TSOUKALOS: Clearly, humankind has had a love affair, 748 00:39:50,947 --> 00:39:54,349 an eternal fascination with dragons. 749 00:39:55,042 --> 00:39:56,968 And in my opinion, 750 00:39:57,062 --> 00:40:01,398 dragons did not really exist in a biological form, 751 00:40:01,549 --> 00:40:04,901 but perhaps they were the result 752 00:40:05,052 --> 00:40:07,553 of an incredible event 753 00:40:07,572 --> 00:40:10,148 that happened a long, long time ago 754 00:40:10,300 --> 00:40:12,409 in our collective unconscious. 755 00:40:13,820 --> 00:40:15,745 It may surprise a lot of people 756 00:40:15,972 --> 00:40:18,489 to know that, throughout the world, 757 00:40:18,642 --> 00:40:21,976 the dragon is not a symbol of evil. 758 00:40:21,995 --> 00:40:26,589 It's certainly not in China. 759 00:40:26,741 --> 00:40:29,000 It's a symbol of good luck and fortune. 760 00:40:29,152 --> 00:40:31,428 In the Middle East, 761 00:40:31,579 --> 00:40:35,673 the serpent brings knowledge and understanding. 762 00:40:35,825 --> 00:40:41,179 Even today, we have the symbol of a serpent, a winged snake, 763 00:40:41,331 --> 00:40:44,941 associated with knowledge on the medical badge. 764 00:40:46,260 --> 00:40:49,595 Virtually every culture in the known ancient world 765 00:40:49,614 --> 00:40:52,431 has some kind of dragon legend, every single one of them. 766 00:40:52,525 --> 00:40:54,951 The dragon represents something 767 00:40:55,102 --> 00:40:58,913 incredibly powerful but also incredibly noble. 768 00:41:00,459 --> 00:41:03,851 HENRY: Dragons are something that people are obsessed with. 769 00:41:03,945 --> 00:41:06,854 Even today people still get tattoos 770 00:41:06,873 --> 00:41:08,131 of dragons on their bodies. 771 00:41:08,282 --> 00:41:09,632 And you wonder, why is it? 772 00:41:09,859 --> 00:41:11,876 What is the attraction with dragons? 773 00:41:12,028 --> 00:41:13,528 Well, for one thing, 774 00:41:13,546 --> 00:41:15,972 dragons symbolize divine and heavenly power. 775 00:41:16,123 --> 00:41:18,049 But behind that is the realization 776 00:41:18,143 --> 00:41:21,293 that the dragons ultimately represent our origins. 777 00:41:21,387 --> 00:41:23,646 They were the great civilizers. 778 00:41:23,798 --> 00:41:25,890 They were the founders of civilization. 779 00:41:26,042 --> 00:41:28,392 So by connecting ourselves with the dragons, 780 00:41:28,487 --> 00:41:31,729 we're actually trying to tap into the original power 781 00:41:31,881 --> 00:41:33,323 of those divine beings. 782 00:41:36,219 --> 00:41:38,477 NARRATOR: Could it be that traditions of dragons 783 00:41:38,497 --> 00:41:40,163 found all over the world 784 00:41:40,390 --> 00:41:43,666 tell the story of humankind's true origins? 785 00:41:44,836 --> 00:41:46,503 Is it possible 786 00:41:46,730 --> 00:41:48,579 that our celebration of these winged beasts 787 00:41:48,732 --> 00:41:50,507 is actually commemorating 788 00:41:50,734 --> 00:41:54,085 ancient contact with extraterrestrials? 789 00:41:54,237 --> 00:41:55,995 Perhaps we will find the answer 790 00:41:56,014 --> 00:42:00,575 as we send our own dragons into the sky 791 00:42:00,593 --> 00:42:04,670 and reconnect with our alien ancestors. 792 00:42:04,689 --> 00:42:07,690 CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY A+E NETWORKS