Burning Man Artist Plans Ancient Aliens Sculpture Tribute

I don’t really have much analysis to add to this article on sculpture artist Matthew Welter, but it certainly goes a long way toward explaining some of the reasons I think it’s important to advocate for truth. Welter is selling two sculptures of the Sphinx and an Easter Island head for a combined $30,000 in order to raise money for a sculpture of Thomas Jefferson, whom Welter believes knew the truth about Zecharia Sitchin’s alien Anunnaki since Jefferson is the only president depicted on Mount Rushmore as “looking at the sky.”

Welter plans to display his statues at the Burning Man festival this year in order to promote discussion about ancient astronauts. He told the Nevada Appeal what he thinks really happened in ancient times:

Ancient aliens visited Earth thousands of years ago, establishing colonies all over the globe. They genetically modified our DNA, taught us to build pyramids and megalithic structures, gave us art, agriculture, astronomy, mathematics and the concept of liberty — all before returning to the skies, leaving their indelible mark. They liberated us from ignorance by lighting a fire inside of humanity — that (sic) Annunaki (sic). 

Surely you recognize all of these claims. They are the bread and butter of Ancient Aliens, which I believe has covered each and every one of these topics. The last of them, that the aliens gave us “liberty,” is particularly rich. I’m sure Welter is thinking of the Ancient Aliens episode “Aliens and the Founding Fathers,” but consider for a moment exactly what this means.

Remember, Zecharia Sitchin proposed that the “Anunnaki,” primeval Sumerian deities, were actually a race of aliens that (a) genetically engineered humanity and (b) created us to be slaves. But don’t take my word for it. In The Wars of Gods and Men (1985), Sitchin describes Homo sapiens as the “Primitive Worker,” genetically engineered by the Anunnaki and birthed by fourteen aliens, seven to birth boys and seven to birth girls: “As soon as they grew up, the Workers were put to work in the mines […] The armed clash between Enlil and Enki that was soon to take place, however, was over these same slave laborers” (p. 105).

How exactly does one square the idea of human creation as an inferior slave race with the concept of liberty except through some transitive property whereby ancient aliens become the beneficent gods from whom all boons emerge? It’s almost as though Welter has adopted the “Christian nation” theology, whereby Jesus directly inspired the U.S. constitution, and substituted aliens for angels. Slavery is freedom! Welter, incidentally, also makes sculptures of U.S. patriotic images, such as the Liberty Bell, suggesting that he has a specific reason for trying to tie Jefferson and American liberty back to the aliens. Sean Hannity calls America a gift from God; Welter prefers the Greys.

Welter admits to being less than familiar with the Anunnaki, claiming to be a new convert to the ancient astronaut theory, probably thanks to Ancient Aliens. He says that the Anunnaki lifted primitives into conscious humans: “They gave us a reason to watch the skies and dream.”

And therein is your answer: A romantic sees the aliens as a tangible replacement for angels.

Welter wants his sculptures to inspire future generations to contemplate aliens, and this is yet another reason that no matter how stupid most people think Ancient Aliens is, it’s still a dangerous program with real and tangible effects.