Review of Ancient Aliens S20E14 “The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence”

​As has been my refrain in this new batch of episodes, Ancient Aliens seems intent on remaking old episodes, like an ouroboros consuming its own tail. This episode, which discusses the scientific (and quasi-scientific) search for extraterrestrial life is quite similar to 2017’s episode about “Alien Hunters,”  2018’s exploration of “The Alien Protocols,” and of course 2022’s clip show on the scientific search for ET, “Evidence of Alien Life.” You will, I trust, forgive me if Avi Loeb’s probe for phantom aliens isn’t really of much interest to me anymore. Given how far afield his episode is from the ancient astronaut topic—after all, if you’ve already met and been in contact with culture-dispensing cosmic being here on Earth, who needs to search for radio signals from the stars?—I’ll only summarize the highlights. 

​Segment 1
The first segment discusses the James Webb Telescope and its use in searching for earthlike planets that might support intelligent alien life. Various organizations and agencies seeking evidence of ET life are listed. The show then compares this to (highly disputed) correlations between ancient pyramids and the shapes of constellations, with the thin rationale that they somehow were communications with aliens. The Nazca lines are again alleged to be signposts signaling to aliens, and a confused series of illogical assertions move quickly from suggesting the James Webb telescope could find such lines on other planets to telling us that level of resolution is impossible and then talking about the composition of atmospheres. Whoever wrote this seemed to be riffing in a stream of consciousness without bothering to revise for clarity or consistency. 

​Segment 2
The second segment recycles material about crop circles as alien messages from a 2023 episode, itself recycling the same material from a 2014 episode. Before getting to the so-called “Arecibo Reply,” the segment starts with a rehash of material about Nikola Tesla’s claim to have received an alien signal, material covered in a 2014 episode. This leads to a rehash of the history of SETI from the “Alien Hunters” episode.
 
Segment 3
Th third segment describes the discovery of a periodic radio pulse, reported in 2023, that some believe is due to an alien signal, though there is no evidence of this. A 2016 paper claiming a dimming planet’s odd shifts in light could be due to an alien Dyson Sphere megastructure surrounding it. It turned out to be dust, not that this show will tell you that. Far from demonstrating a “paradigm shift” in taking aliens seriously, the incident showed instead how quickly humans apply science fiction to gaps in knowledge.

​Segment 4
In the fourth segment, we finally get to the rehash of Avi Loeb’s hunt for a crashed chunk of an interstellar object in the Pacific Ocean. The show blathers on about Loeb’s claim to have recovered microscopic bits of metal from what he believes could be an interstellar alien probe, but regular readers of my newsletter will recall that Loeb’s peers concluded that he actually found industrial waste and natural objects. The show ignores this to instead celebrate the Ancient Aliens stars, regulars, and frequent subjects of discussion who are affiliated with Loeb’s quixotic Galileo Project.

​Segment 5
The fifth segment rehashes material about the discovery of exoplanets and NASA’s search for earthlike planets. The show focuses on the discovery in September 2023 of dimethyl sulfide on planet K2-18B, a chemical only known to be produced by life, suggesting life exists on that planet. The various talking heads express hope that proof of intelligent alien life will be discovered in the next few years—though no on acknowledges that this undercuts the show’s whole schtick about the U.S. government covering up proof of collaboration with colonizing aliens.

​Segment 6
The final segment discusses recent efforts to use A.I. to find signals that might suggest alien activity on other planets. Giorgio Tsoukalos says that the hunt for alien signals is “validation” of the ancient astronaut theory and is a ruse to “prepare the masses” for alien contact. Nick Pope agrees and says that when “we” (meaning the Galileo Project) find proof of aliens, then the government will be forced to admit it’s been hiding the truth for eight decades. The bizarre logic involved amazes me—we have to find proof of aliens on other planets in order to get one over on the government? But it isn’t really about aliens. It’s about “validation” of belief systems and opposition to government and academic elites.