# Ancient Astronaut Theory. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 22, 2015, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862 "2015-07-22T08:06:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/21 "2015-07-22T17:14:55Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > One of the problems with Ancient Astronaut theories is there is a subtle racism in them. It’s only the accomplishments of African and South and Central Americans that get credited to aliens. “Everyone knows Europeans could do amazing feats of engineering but obviously Aliens helped them build that Pyramid.” If you’re seeing racism there, it’s because you want to. It took 4000 years for Europeans to build something as tall as a pyramid and, by then, written records described exactly how it was done. I’m not sure the Europeans ever built something as heavy as a pyramid. If we look at things Europeans built around the same time as the pyramids, you’ll see aliens being credited with that as well. For example, Stonehenge. Aliens are always credited with impressive feats of engineering whenever written records were either not kept or at all or were not detailed enough to rule out the aliens. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/22 "2015-07-22T17:41:11Z")
If I were on a vessel capable of traversing interstellar distances, and my crew and I discovered a planet inhabited by primitive hominids waving stone tools around – or even bronze ones – the LAST thing I’d wanna do is go down there and MESS with them. Ghod knows what they might decide to do, and I’m assuming my X-56 Atomic Zapulator can’t kill ALL of them before they get to me and smash my brains out with their primitive weapons. I could see putting in observation posts or recording devices, but I’d be damn sure to pull 'em up and take 'em with me when I left. And no way is any of the crew allowed to play God. That never ends well. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/23 "2015-07-22T17:42:15Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > And Fermi’s Paradox wonders aloud where they are. My favorite explanation for the Fermi Paradox is that we’re simply not interesting enough for aliens to visit (or at least to stay). I recall someone comparing it to Pizarro ignoring an anthill by the side path on his way to find the Inca Empire. For any civilization advanced enough to have interstellar travel, we’re just one of many hopelessly backward primitives. They may have been here, but didn’t find a reason to come back. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/24 "2015-07-22T18:11:13Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Yes, but if evolution is too head-scratching to believe, where did the first ‘seeder’ come from? Oh, fair enough from a galactic perspective, but I was just referring to the “how did we get here” question. Did we evolve here or somewhere else, or were somehow engineered, or all of the above and somewhere in between? ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/25 "2015-07-22T18:27:00Z")
Could microscopic life on Earth have been seeded by microscopic life from another planet, like Mars? Perhaps, although there’s no evidence for it. Did ancient sentient beings visit Earth? Doubt it, and there’s no evidence for it. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/26 "2015-07-22T18:32:18Z")
> [@tullsterx](#): > > Oh, fair enough from a galactic perspective, but I was just referring to the “how did we get here” question. Did we evolve here or somewhere else, or were somehow engineered, or all of the above and somewhere in between? If you find a tree, the parsimonious explanation is that the tree grew where you found it. While it is possible that it grew elsewhere and was transplanted, or was somehow built at that location and made to look as if it had grown, Ockham’s Razor indicates the alternative “theories” need a lot more evidence than the obvious answer. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/27 "2015-07-22T22:09:03Z")
[The matter is settled. (Obligatory XKCD reference.)](https://xkcd.com/1235/) ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/28 "2015-07-23T00:27:25Z")
> [@MostlyUseless](#): > > The few times anymore I pause on the “History” (read, Hitler and aliens) channel, I am always amazed that anyone would give 1 second of credence to the idiot with the goofy hair. That guy sees aliens EVERYWHERE. I imagine he pours his morning bowl of corn flakes and sees alien influence in the shape of the flakes, of which he, too, is one. > > 😕 I don’t care what you say. I think Giorgio A. Tsoukalos is _ **HOT** _. (Oh, come on. You don’t think everyone just tunes in to hear what he has to say;).) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/29 "2015-07-23T05:23:48Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Yes, but if evolution is too head-scratching to believe, where did the first ‘seeder’ come from? It’s aliens all the way down. ---
**Author:** ![dudonarrival](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@dudonarrival](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dudonarrival)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/30 "2015-07-27T23:04:55Z")
Time is but an abstraction on the tapestry of eternity-Jerome k Jerome Thousands of years either way even millions either way would place an e.t. culture unbelievably close in development to our own. An e.t response to Earth contact activities would be potentially disastrous we would be inviting forces utterly beyond our comprehension keeping in mind that any life form that reaches high technological development is inherently highly aggressive…like us ---
**Author:** ![DrForrester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@DrForrester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrForrester)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/31 "2015-07-28T00:04:31Z")
This rather reminds me of the conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy Assassination or 9/11, etc. On one hand, we have an event that is “larger than life”, to use an idiom. An event well outside the bounds of a typical person’s experience. To balance that event against someone as small as Oswald or Osama or Timothy McVeigh … Well, it just doesn’t seem enough. We need there to be more. We need there to be vast armies of Ghost Soldiers, Gov’ment Conspiracies, and Aliens to even out the scales. The huge event had a huge cause. For scientists to shrug and say, “Well, we just do not yet know exactly how life happened.” or “We just don’t know exactly how the universe began.” … Well, that’s just not good enough for someone who wants to fill that cubbyhole in his / her world view. It’s the same as leaving the balance pan empty. And, so, that person invents some grandiose crackpot nonsense and sticks it in there. Aliens, Gods, Atlantis… whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/32 "2015-07-28T00:19:06Z")
**DrForrester** : good point and good post. This makes me think, a little, of the phrase “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” I’ve never actually agreed with that idea. To me, all claims require adequate evidence. An extraordinary claim can be supported by sufficient, working, testable evidence. It might be valid that the more unlikely a claim is, the more evidence we require for confirmation. But I’m not really comfortable with this, as it implies an a priori judgement of the claim, rather than a neutral, evidence-based assessment. Another way to put this: we have some collection of evidence that indicates there might be a “bigfoot” creature in the U.S. NW. But we also have evidence against that claim, in the specific absence of things that would be predicted if bigfoot were real. No carcass, no pelt, no droppings. The overall balance of the evidence must be sufficient, and when there are huge arguments against the claim, that must be overcome with an additional increment of evidence for it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/33 "2015-07-28T02:04:31Z")
Stonehenge and other early European structures are part of the AA mythos _now_ but the early tellers of the AA storyline stuck exclusively with African, South American and Polynesian structures (Sitchen,Von Daniken). There was a huge gap and that racism criticism was leveled for almost two decade until Graham Hancock picked up the AA idiot ball and welded on some Stonehenge bits. Keep in mind a lot of the more recent ‘Ancient Aliens’ types also don’t promote aliens as the builders of these structures, but rather some ancient super culture that existed around 10,000 BC. Also remember that the earliest ‘Egyptians didn’t build that!’ were 19th century Europeans who tried to figure out when _their_ ancestors came over to build the things. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/34 "2015-07-28T02:38:44Z")
A couple of nights ago I forced myself to watch an hour’s worth of garbage relating to “crystal skulls” only because I spent years working with quartz in the frequency control industry. I saw and heard nothing I couldn’t debunk off the top of my head. I don’t understand how those people get away with the crap they hand out. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/35 "2015-07-28T03:29:14Z")
Why couldn’t we be the most advanced civilization in the universe? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/36 "2015-07-28T04:05:24Z")
Far as we can tell…we are! (As has been asked before, which is scarier? That there are others out there with technology vastly in advance of our own…or that there aren’t?) ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/37 "2015-07-28T09:11:01Z")
Imagine what the sky was like 1,000 years ago well before any lights. It would have been brilliant and massive staring at all those stars without any smoke or lights to obscure it. Then think what our ancestors thought when they saw meteors and falling stars. They must have made up some fantastic stories and then drew some odd pictures on the walls of their temples. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/38 "2015-07-28T09:42:39Z")
They looked up at the stars and realized we are so big and right here, while the stars are so small and far away. They are pretty but that’s not going to keep the pigs fed. ---
**Author:** ![DrForrester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@DrForrester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrForrester)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/39 "2015-07-28T11:14:25Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Imagine what the sky was like 1,000 years ago well before any lights. > > It would have been brilliant and massive staring at all those stars without any smoke or lights to obscure it. > > Then think what our ancestors thought when they saw meteors and falling stars. There is a huge difference between awe or wonder - both of which are perfectly reasonable responses to nature and… > [@Urbanredneck](#): > > They must have made up some fantastic stories and then drew some odd pictures on the walls of their temples. playing a game of “Wouldn’t it be great if…” Nature is pretty staggeringly cool as it is. There’s no need to invent any crazy stories or mythology or Gods or Alien Conspiracies or whatever else to spice it up. Just because we are not capable of building worlds or sun doesn’t mean that there has to be a human-analog out there who is capable of doing so. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862/40 "2015-07-28T11:38:39Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > A couple of nights ago I forced myself to watch an hour’s worth of garbage relating to “crystal skulls” only because I spent years working with quartz in the frequency control industry. I feel for you, Pal. I did too. My excuse was that Harrison Ford is Never in a bad movie, Cate Blanchett is a Serious actress who’d never trade her sterling reputation for crap, Shia LaBeouf is supposed to be new “up and coming” Hollywood Royalty, and Gee, that Karen Allen Still Looks Cute!!! Except for the latter, I Got Hosed… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-theory/725862.md?page=3)