Is There a Conspiracy to Suppress the Ancient Astronaut Theory?

Over the past few days, there have been some interesting tweets from Ancient Aliens star Giorgio Tsoukalos about the ancient astronaut theory. Twitter users asked Tsoukalos about what they perceived to be a conspiracy to suppress knowledge of extraterrestrials, a perfectly logical conclusion from Ancient Aliens' frequent refrain that mainstream archaeologists and the American government are purposefully ignoring the ancient astronaut theory. Tsoukalos, though, took exception:

[The ancient astronaut theory] was NEVER suppressed. We have chosen (!) not to look at stuff that's been in front of our very eyes for millennia. NO conspiracy there. But a whole lot of blindness.‏ Remaining blind to the obvious is NOT a conspiracy. (Feb. 27 tweet)

SINCE WHEN are governments obliged to tell us ANYTHING?‏ I stand by what I said. Just because stuff is not being discussed does NOT mean it's not there for the public to see. People (!) CHOOSE to remain ignorant. IT IS UP TO THE PEOPLE to get educated and informed. NOT the government. (Feb. 27 tweet)

But this is not the tune that ancient astronaut theorists traditionally have played. Take Erich von Daniken, who in Chariots of the Gods makes explicit his belief that an all-powerful scientific establishment is working to marginalize or suppress his theory:

"Because [my book's] theories and proofs do not fit into the mosaic of traditional archaeology, constructed so laboriously and firmly cemented down, scholars will call it nonsense and put it on the Index of those books which are better left unmentioned."

Sirius Mystery author Robert Temple took it a step further, asserting that the American government targeted him for his claims that flying space frogs from Sirius bequeathed humans their civilization because he had revealed too much. In 1998, Temple explained the program of persecution:

"[T]he sad part of the aftermath of The Sirius Mystery was the extreme and virulent hostility towards me by certain security agencies, most notably the American ones. . . On several occasions I was targeted in ways so extreme that they seemed to me hysterical beyond all belief. I am certain that false information was entered into my security files to blacken my reputation."

What is the intelligent reader to conclude? Yes, it is true that these authors do not explicitly state that scientists and the government are trying to suppress knowledge of ancient astronauts, but what else are we to conclude from references to the Catholic Index of banned books or claims that government agencies targeted ancient astronaut authors? In fact, a decade ago I compiled an entire essay of alternative authors' claims of a conspiracy against them.

Tsoukalos is right that it is up to individuals to educate themselves, especially in an era when the institutions once trusted to do that job are failing us, especially cable television networks like H2. People do "choose to remain ignorant." Giorgio Tsoukalos is the leading example.