Reviewing "Ancient Aliens Debunked"

9/29/2012

Yesterday filmmaker Chris White released his new, three-hour documentary Ancient Aliens Debunked, which will be of interest to my readers since it is an exceptionally thorough examination of the specious claims made on the History/H2 series Ancient Aliens in the light of actual facts. The documentary goes through such claims as "impossible" megalithic architecture, "alien" images in art, and "extraterrestrials" in ancient texts and demolishes each with surgical precision. It doesn't hurt that the movie quotes me extensively at various points.

First, a bit of disclosure: Chris White asked me to participate in the documentary back in the spring, but our schedules did not mesh when he was filming. Despite the extensive use of my material in the sections on Arthur Posnansky, ancient atom bombs, and vimana aircraft, I was not involved in the production in any way and have not received any compensation from it. I did not see the film until its release yesterday.

White has provided what is perhaps the clearest and most understandable discussion of the "mysteries" of Puma Punku I have ever come across, with a detailed explanation step by step of how the Tiwanaku culture built the site, and, more importantly, how ancient astronaut theorists like Giorgio Tsoukalos and David Childress systematically omit, distort, and lie about key evidence in order to construct a false narrative of alien construction. Tsoukalos calls Puma Punku the only site in the world actually built by aliens, but his complete and utter ignorance of every fact about the site (down to the very types of rock from which it was built) mark him as a huckster and a fraud.

However, White's documentary can be a bit confusing for anyone who has never watched or has not paid close attention to Ancient Aliens. White assumes a great deal of familiarity with the program's personalities, including Tsoukalos, Childress, and Erich von Däniken but fails to either introduce them or to provide enough background to understand who they are and what they believe. He presents Ancient Aliens as a coherent piece of propaganda and glosses over the wild discrepancies in the various talking heads' ideas.

White's purpose is to challenge the claims presented on Ancient Aliens, not the people, but a bit of sociology would be helpful in placing this in context. From a film perspective, a bit of background on the filmmaker--who narrates in the first person--would have been helpful. It isn't clear until near the end that he has something of a dog in this fight. White is a Christian (which I know because he told me so), and he has a Biblical perspective that leads him to propose, for example, that the flood of Noah really happened and that global myths are connected through one exceedingly ancient source (a la the Tower of Babel). This doesn't significantly impact the good work he does in his film (it's a very minor part of the story), but it would have been helpful to know two hours or so earlier.

Overall, Ancient Aliens Debunked is a thorough, carefully presented, and rigorous challenge to the sloppy thinking and cult of personality that passes for educational programming on Ancient Aliens.

115 Comments

Felipe

9/30/2012 06:36:22 pm

It was an excellent documentary, although I lost track when he started to talk about the Flood and the Giants. It would have been good if he had presented some good evidence for the existence of the Nephilim and all that.

Beau Davis

10/3/2013 12:51:35 pm

Sound like that we need to reinterpret what we believe in. First, how about we deal with the Flood myth. I know that we said that they were a worldwide flood, but what do we mean by the world. Do we mean that a flood covers the entire universe? Now, that idea is absolutely impossible since there is not enough to cover the entire universe. We can and will kiss that idea goodbye. Do we mean the planet. Maybe, but do we know that the ancient people saw the world and the planet being the same thing in their minds? Probably not, which leaves an alternate definition and one better for them. They may saw their world extending from mountain range to mountain range. Now, I am not talking about people that were around 5,000 years ago. I am talking about people that live ten of thousands of years ago. They probably saw the world being from mountain range to mountain range. Most people do not venture far from their food source back in those days. Also, there are a lot of archaeologists and geologists that have found evidence that a big flood did occured, but not one that covers the entire planet. Even the sci-fi author Issac Asimov had posited a theory that a large meteor could have crash into one of the oceans and created a flood that was massive. This flood is the possible origin for Noah's flood because people back then that have survive may have saw this as a big event, one worth remembering. Hence the flood myths. For the giants, I know that we think about giants being 30 foot or greater, but do they need to be. Let go to the medical definition. A giant is any person that is over 7 feet tall and there is pretty of examples of modern day people that fit that definition. There is also perspective that needs to be look at. In my own family, my sister law is five feet tall and all of the members of my family are over 5 feet 6 inches tall. She would see us as giants. This would also apply to other individuals. Both President Washington and Lincoln were over 6 feet tall and were be consider giants in their times. It is also possible that there were some people that were very strong or very muscular back in those days. I am not saying that there were bodybuilders back then. It is possible that one person may have a gene that allows that individual to have bigger muscles in comparison to other people at that time. I am a Christian and do believe in The Bible, but I do not believe in it very literally. This also apply to the origin of the universe and of humans. The first light that is mentioned would be the big bang, bringing the universe into existence. Also, it says that we are made out of dirt. That is true, but not like what is describe in The Bible. In the early earth, there were elements and simple molecules that were formed during the Earth's formation that became complex as time went on, eventually forming the cell membrane and the most excellent piece of molecular engineering: the DNA strand. I hope that this help your understanding of this.

rcarlquist

1/5/2018 02:59:13 am

he is still god my friend

bob

3/1/2014 03:26:03 am

all chris white is doing is the same thing the ancient aliens crew is doing using what they see as proof or facts and using them to prove whatever the point is they are trying to make.. anyone can do this by taking information on a subject and tweaking it in a way to make you look correct in your findings. good documentary well put together but it was a waste of time in my book.

Jay

9/8/2014 10:38:50 am

That's the stupidest thing I've ever read. You sir, are a complete moron.

Frost

9/8/2014 11:24:22 am

bob, this isn't directed at you. It's just for some reason there's no reply button under the comment I want to respond to...

@Jay,

How so? bob's point is a good one, when most of what's "known" is speculation on the part of the professionals, either party can manipulate "facts" into looking like the truth--on both sides.

Also, that you resort to name calling without listing what your problem is with the comment indicates that you are doing nothing more than trying to incite a fight.

Jack

10/13/2014 07:36:03 am

If you think everything is just opinion, nobody can say with any certainty about what is and was possible, then you have a point here. But everything isn't opinion.

Either there is no way for people to lift heavy objects using simple wooden structures or there is. Either there is no way for people to carve granite without titanium saws or there is.

What you are doing is trying to discredit statements of fact that can be backed by observable evidence by saying it's all opinion, so you can keep living in your make-believe world where nobody can prove you wrong because you won't take a second to evaluate your claims with reason and evidence.

It's dishonest, and you're being dishonest when you say this kind of shit.

Dave

4/22/2015 08:58:18 am

Much agreed...have been to many of these places and find it incredibly fascinating that huge megalithic structures, many now proven to be far older than previously thought, were built tens of thousands of years ago. If you take in the hundreds of flood histories and myths, as well as established dogma from most of the worlds religions, WE ALL CAN SEE a pattern of culture that flourished prior to a great cataclysmic event, such as say Charles Hapgoods' Crustal Displacement Theory, and perhaps many follow-on events of smaller scale over the ensuing millennia as the Ice Sheets melted, leading to additional localized flood mythologies. Then the possibility of several catastrophic impactor events. Take this and the evidence of ruined, sunken, and submerged cities World wide, and we have only the very tip of the ice berg as it were; Tsunami 500-2000m in height moving at jet-aircraft speed, hitting the coastal regions and pushing perhaps hundreds of miles inland.. COMPLETE AND UTTER DESTRUCTION, like a cricket on a train rail and along comes a 160 car freight train! I reckon most people don't give much thought to the horrific magnitude of events such as these, or other recent findings of the afore mentioned ruins and historical sites. History is much more interesting and far richer than most academics are willing to admit, not to mention perhaps stranger than we expect!

Tim Hanlon

3/31/2016 02:34:57 pm

Bob,
You are correct and here is why.

Discussions and shows created to explore ancient history and possible alien influence showing "unexplained structures" makes for good entertainment but fails to ask or explore the most basic question; WHY?

Science is a practice, not unlike the practice of Law. Some principles stand the test of time and others evolve but very few things appear to be absolute. Both studies are a reflection of human existence and endeavor to seek the truth. Both use evidence to reach conclusions but the evidence in the end is used to answer WHY?

In the case of worldwide structures, cultural rituals and other human endeavors with uncanny similarities despite the inability for collaboration, that defy purpose based on the amount of energy, resources and effort with no apparent life sustaining benefit to the societies, the question is WHY? The structures, the rituals and endeavors, in and of themselves are immaterial.

So, to Mr. White I say, you're wasting your time "debunking" someone else's theories. That practice is generally born out of some type of fear, not out of a desire to seek the truth. What are you afraid of?? If you spent your energies asking why to the basic question, instead of being a nay-sayer to some one else's work, you may have been able to accomplish your actual goal of disproving the ancient alien theory (which you did not). Ahhh... but there's the rub. You may find an alternate explanation or even give credence to that which you say is untrue. Stop creating more speculative entertainment for the History Channel and make real history. Tell the story of WHY.

Stephen

4/9/2015 10:46:38 pm

I once watched a debate on wether god was real or not involving a atheist and a cardinal from the church. Which let me start off by saying I am not religious but that doesn't mean I'm not spiritual. Back to the debate, it didn't take long to see in the cardinals answers that even he is unsure of his own beliefs after admitting that we "probably" evolved from monkeys and that also the story of Adam and Eve is a story meant for religious purposes and not to be considered fact more so to just give example. This is the original sin and yet it is merely story in his mind, it is clear that being religious even the highest up like a cardinal rely heavily on faith which is hard wired from earliest learnings in god and religion. If he is willing to admit the story of original sin is a story for religious purposes how can any other parts of the bible be looked at as more than the same when the line between facts and faith are so blurred. While I enjoy ancient aliens and do believe that they do not give enough credit to earlier humans I also believe there is evidence that much happened that is hard to understand and could have origins of other worldly beings. But to say that believing in aliens in an immense and old universe is crazy then I would say it's no crazier than believing that Noah built a boat that carried 2 of each animal

marco

4/20/2016 03:46:07 am

Since a few years i got interested in the old Testament literal translations from the original aramaic text done by Mauro Biglino an italian translator for Bible editions.He claims with sharp lucidity that if you translate the bible literally ,you will realize that the very concept of God is something that has been added at convenience later on:in the Bible's Old Testament the aramaic word Elohim has been translated as God.iBut literally Elohim is a plural word that means something like the enlightened as to describe their brightness.the point s that according to some unofficial history the concept of God didnt exist at the time the Bible was written.Even the jewish people can not really name their God.Following the Biglino's literal translation of the Bible we come to understand better the episode of Adam and Eve which is not really a religious invention but a historic description of the creation of Homo Sapiens .so if these Elohim instead of being God as a singular they could be translated as the aliens as brightened enlightened people who with their most advanced knoledge and technology use their DNA to add to the DNA of an earthly beeing like a primate to create Adam who literally means terrestrial.Now as far as the creation of Eve the could have done the same by using Adam''s DNA taken from the marrow of Adams rib and engineered with the DNA of a primate.the bible claims that those facts are about 10000 years old.but we know scientifically that the human being is millions of years old.How about both claims are true the scientific one and partly the biblical one,at least the one derived from the literal translation of the Bible.If we think about it we can easily imagine a primate like man which has some form of survival intelligence lastin between 3 and 5 millions years that evolved very slowly and suddenly only 10000 years ago the very same primate becomes intelligent and articulate and capable of not being an eartly natural creature but a distroyer of his own specie and the environment but neverthe less gifted with this extraordinary intelligence that sets him million light years away from any other eartly creature.why this exclusivity?why are we so much more intelligent that any other animal on earth.why are we troubled?why do we make wars?why do we destroy the environment?why do we have money and power?all these are not eartly natural features.why only in the last 10000 years we became really human compared to the neanderthal or a cimpanze.So according to the true Bibles version of Old testament Elohim which is not God but different aliens of which Jeovah is one of them but not a very important one.So like humans aliens also have their defects and selfishness and capriciousness and Jeovah wasnt too important between the Elohim thats why he got assigned a very deserted part of the conquered world such as mdern day Israel.his capriciousness is largely described in the Bible in many episodes,his selfishness same same!But evidently this Alien Jeovah which i remind you is not really God but a capricious alien named jeovah was smart and shrewd and by making this covenance pact with some israelites and impressing them with some scary technology,managed to make his chosen people become the world power leaders.All of this is in the Bible literally tranlated from the aramaic text.So even the Bible and God can be reinterpreted if all church and sinagogue filters are removed from its very content.God is not a spiritual being ,is not unique !after all monotheism. a form of excercizing power,is the top of the pyramid.God doent love us he needs us to reaffirm his power and made us his slaves

Darkrider

8/5/2016 08:35:49 pm

No one is saying aliens don't exist. Chris White is simply stating that there's no concrete evidence that aliens have actually visited earth in the past.

Jessica

9/30/2012 09:41:40 pm

I watched the documentary yesterday and I thought it was very well done. I like how White actually used clips from AA to debunk its claims. I think this approach will have a stronger impact on people who watch the series and are taken in by its lies. I also really appreciate that White referenced everything on his website and has provided links to the original ancient texts so people can check for themselves. i look forward to seeing how he will develop the site in the coming months. Hopefully this will be a very large nail in AA's coffin.

Ted

7/26/2015 05:50:43 pm

Jessica,
Obviously you have a one sided opinion about the AA. The documentary is well put but everything can't be debunked! That's the problem, AA stretched the truth about a lot of things to make its point but there is just some things that White doesn't properly debunk. I know why he's doing it but he fails to debunk how the giant structures were moved. AA states 1200 tons at Balbek but White states 800 tons. Wow what a big difference!!! Does it really matter. They are still heavy as shit. Now there was something in the past that had advanced technology and we have to come to grips with that. Now I would like hear Whites take if we are the only advanced spieces in the universe.

Chelnok

7/30/2015 04:30:17 pm

Here's the thing, AA states 1200 tons yes, however that monolith was newer moved, probably because it was too heavy. Now, White is talking about monolith that was actually moved, and that one was 800 tons.

More info about ancient architectural records:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ancient_architectural_records#Monoliths

Jerry

2/25/2016 12:27:13 pm

Ted-But nothing proves that "aliens" did this movement, is the point. Check out "Coral Castle" in Florida. Huge stones of enormous weight were moved by a little guy who probably had an "antigravity" method. same probably held true for these mega stones. we just can't say the power was from "out of this world". Like the ufo stuff-there has never been any hardcore evidence. Something to think about for Ancient Aliens followers...where's the proof???

Tunamn

1/6/2018 01:13:37 pm

Um...for starters, big stones could have been moved by an antigravity sequence. This "force" is not necessarily from "somewhere out there", so to speak. AA right away tries to support their belief"aliens did it" all the time challenging moving vs our present methods. Just because some monumental task was done in historical times doesn't PROVE it was done by aliens. By what or whom, who knows. BTW show me one ounce of proof aliens ever even have visited. One would think that with all these supposed abductions somebody by this time would have grabbed a small artifact from the "ship" or with all our cell phones a pic or two....show me one case like this, AA. "Proof" and AA's constant speculations are two vastly polar entities.

Tunaman

2/18/2020 01:13:57 pm

Point is that just because these blocks or structures “weighed a ton” -and more!, doesn’t mean they were necessarily moved by aliens OR their technology. I believe that a more plausible belief might be this: Earth being about 4 billion years old could have easily been inhabited by other human civilizations in the past and destroyed by perhaps some catastrophic or man-made event. Perhaps these civilizations had some type of anti-gravity technology superior to what we have today... a much more feasible explanation, in my perspective.

James

9/13/2016 10:37:13 pm

I agree with Jessica and with Jason Colavito. Chris White's personal ideological platform is not an issue to me nearly so much as the fact that he has done an excellent job of dismantling the very fraudulent "science" behind an enormously popular History Channel show. They should use their profits from the show to buy the SyFy Channel and then transfer Ancient Aliens there, where it belongs. One more point. Had Chris White revealed his personal ideological perspective at the beginning, a lot of people would have turned the movie off as soon as he announced it and missed a lot of great science in the process. He has done an awesome job of exposing intellectual fraud for what it is.

MissAnnThrope

10/1/2012 10:45:03 pm

I found your site from watching that documentary. I have to say, from the folklore perspective, I love Ancient Aliens. I also find it to be a comedy. I enjoyed the documentary, but I did have a problem when he started with his personal beliefs on Noah's Ark. I was disappointed to see Creation Magazine listed in the footnotes, as I don't consider them a credible source for science. Other than that, I did enjoy the documentary and I am glad I watched it. I'm looking forward to White's updates to the site, too.

Cris Putnam link

10/6/2012 04:24:51 pm

MissAnnThrope your criticism concerning Creation magazine seems misplaced since he cited them as a source concerning world flood legends not science.

Corey

3/24/2019 04:48:45 am

For posterity. Anthropology and Archeology.

Tim Kilkenny link

10/6/2012 07:53:04 pm

I think that it is interesting that you wish that Chris White would have explained that he was a Christian at the beginning of the film. How is his being a Christian relevant to his systematic discrediting of the "facts" put forth by Ancient Aliens?

Furthermore, how many people do you think would have turned off the film in the first 5 minutes, if Chris had announced that he was a Christian?

By the way, I am a Christian. ;-)

Jamie

10/15/2012 02:29:26 am

Because it now feels like you were lured into a 'christian trap' meaning he's using the AAT topic as a way to evangelize and promote his believes. It would have been more honest if he told the viewer in advance.

Brian F

10/7/2013 12:51:39 am

A Christian trap?
I am sorry but I believe that to be an oxymoron. Sure, he could have started by saying that he is a Christian but what would his religion and/or his personal belief system have to do with the science and logic he has given us.
Chris White was not intending to change your beliefs; just to bring to your attention the falsifications of Ancient Alien Theorists.

The more you think that it was a speech about religion being triumphant over science, the more you think religion is the "bad guy".

Frost

8/26/2014 08:13:08 pm

I find it interesting that you are claiming that the people featured on Ancient Aliens put forth their theories--which were always clearly labeled as theories--as "facts."

I say this because I don't know if you have paid attention to their wording or not, but they have always listed what they are talking about as theory, possibilities, or simply posed questions on what could have happened in the ancient past.

I personally would not have automatically turned off the film if White had said he was Christian, I myself being pagan. But it certainly does explain why he felt the need to "debunk" a theory-based show to begin with.

I myself hope they don't take AA off the air anytime soon--it's far too entertaining. The theories make me think, and in a world where we are expected to mindlessly follow the crowd, I find this refreshing. I also find amusement in some of the wilder theories presented, some so far out I really do have to roll my eyes. Being an aspiring writer of fiction, this is quite a feat.

I do wonder now, though. Why do you feel the need to tell us you are Christian? None of this is about you, after all.

Curtis

10/13/2014 08:01:45 am

I'm sorry, but when someone tells you "it's either God did it, or aliens did it," they are not just presenting a theory. They are presenting it as a matter of fact, that there is no way to NOT believe it if you know the facts.

And it's a pretty terrible theory, based on misinformation and ignorance, at that. You could even say these guys are being deceitful when they say some of the shit they do.

But you're right. There's no reason to give these guys the time of day to begin with. They're authors, not historians, not archaeologists. They know nothing of the stuff they're talking about. They're quoting hearsay from other authors misquoting/lying about ancient documents that you can actually go read. One of them called a fucking plateau a "mountain that had had its peak shaved off."

I think the real question is, "how stupid do you have to be to get the History channel to make an opinion piece on your historically inaccurate, scientifically unverified hypothesis?" Find out next week when they devote an entire 2 hour block to MERMAIDS.

Jay

10/15/2017 11:20:46 am

Of course religion is the bad guy. It's always been the bad guy. Religions are man made stories to help explain the the unknown. Most world conflicts have a religious root cause. I am not defending the AA theory nor do I adhere fully to it. But I must admit that it's more logical than religious stories. I believe that the world ended a few times before our current era. I believe that mankind once master science and maths way more than we do today. I believe that humans once mastered the force of gravity, acoustic levitation and laser technology. As well as magnetic and nuclear power. I believe that Darwin theory is true to some degree and that we are not the most intelligent life form in the universe.

Curtis

10/13/2014 07:42:35 am

Anyone saying him being Christian somehow puts the information he presents in the documentary on less solid foundations than the idiots who made Ancient Aliens is being dishonest. I haven't watched all 3 hours, but I'm about halfway through, and all he has presented is archaeological, historical, and cultural information on the subjects in question that debunk the previous claims made about them.

Either there wasn't "years of accumulation of black soot on the pyramid ceiling," or there was. Being a Christian isn't gonna change that matter of historical fact. Etc...

PS: I'm an atheist.

Ted

7/26/2015 06:00:18 pm

Curtis,
I agree that him being Christian shouldn't change what he is trying to debunk. It just tells us why. My question is how did the Egyptians light up the Pyramid when there wasn't enough oxygen for a torch? There will be questions that will not have factual or definite answers. I like how he is debunking but everything can't be debunked. He try's but he fails. We have to realize that everything will not have an answer so we will make educated guesses. AA just makes opinions and theories but there is nothing wrong with that. If

Sid

7/28/2015 05:40:59 am

I detest Giorgio Tsouk and wish he would go away and remove AA from H2 and the History channel. I don't want to talk about AA or other such (fictional) shows. The history channel can do much better then this crap. Of course some of their other shows leave a lot to be desired as well (almost as bad as kim kardash., housewives of east bumfuck, basketball wives, jersy shore etc. etc.). I'll stick with my thinking that the earth is rare and unvisited....no ufos punching wormholes in the universe like folded cardboard to get from A to B. No noahs arc flood stories or other miracles....Just put some REAL history stuff on your channel! P.S.... get rid of that alligator crap

Robert

10/15/2014 01:19:35 pm

Good question; because as an evangelical Christian he has his own view of what some of these phenomena are--namely demonic activity. I think he is, to a certain extent correct. But White is a coward and a hackumentarian as he gives totatlly bogus explanations about how these megalithic structures were built and by whom. He is the Gerald Posner/Vincent Bugliosi of the Ancient Civilizations/Esoteric History study. In other words, White explanations are on the level of the magic bullet theory.

Darkrider

8/5/2016 08:57:02 pm

White is not a coward. He's presenting rationale, logical arguments that challenge the AA theory. However these structures were built they were done through human ingenuity. Maybe you should pay closer attention to what he says. Maybe then you'll realize it's not White's explanations that are lacking but your own thick headedness that keeps you from seeing the logic presented.

John

2/20/2015 01:57:07 pm

Chris White and others have a Christian agenda, to push their religion and beliefs on others. This documentary, although very subtle compared to other tactics, is a way of doing that. They believe that by debunking, discrediting, and disproving other people's ideas, beliefs, or hypotheses, it somehow makes their beliefs more valid and makes them more of an athority on our existence. The point is that they will say that aliens don't exist because no one has ever presented any real evidence, but when you say that the same argument can be made against the existence of God, they will insist that it's different when it comes to God.

Darkrider

8/5/2016 09:28:19 pm

Sweet balls you are thick! White isn't trying to push some Christian agenda on you. He's presenting a balanced and logical counter argument to the AA nonsense. Like any mainstream archeologist would. I suppose if he was an atheist you would be more inclined to listen to him because apparently someone can't be schooled in archeology and have a belief system at the same time can they? No, cuz religion is obviously for morons right? An educated person isn't allowed to believe in God. The same problem idiots like you never seem to understand is that there's a difference between faith proving the tangible existence of corporeal things like aliens. Faith is something that supersedes the physical world. It can't be proven with DNA or footprints. It's personal belief. Did you actually watch the video genius? White isn't saying aliens don't exist. He's simply stating that AA hasn't provided valid evidence that they've visited earth. But oh no, as soon you hear the word Christian suddenly everything he says becomes invalid. Wake up

Malkiyahu

10/8/2012 12:58:38 pm

"It isn't clear until near the end that he has something of a dog in this fight." Really? Based on the fact that he made a 3-hour documentary about it, how could you not assume he had a dog in the fight? Doesn't everyone who teaches on the subject (like you) have a dog in the fight? I hope you're not implying that there is a certain class of people (yourself included) capable of teaching something without any kind of bias, without your own beliefs determining how you approach it. Based on this website, it looks like you definitely have your own dog in the fight.

"...he has a Biblical perspective that leads him to propose, for example, that the flood of Noah really happened and that global myths are connected through one exceedingly ancient source (a la the Tower of Babel)." I'm not sure what you're saying Chris White said about global myths and the Tower of Babel, but it doesn't seem right, because I don't remember him mentioning the Tower of Babel, so if he did it must have been in passing. Also this wording makes it sound like he said that all (or most) global myths are connected, but of course he was only talking about flood myths.

"...it would have been helpful to know two hours or so earlier." Why?

Sorry I'm focusing on these little things in an otherwise good review. I just find it strange that you dedicated 1 of 6 paragraphs (it looks like the longest) of your review to "a very minor part of the story" that "doesn't significantly impact the good work he does in his film."

Jason Colavito link

10/8/2012 02:00:20 pm

As noted by the parenthetical and the use of the phrase "a la" (meaning "in the manner of"), I was using the Tower of Babel as a literary reference to a time when all people shared the same culture and langauge--it was a poetic way of referencing White's suggestion that there was an ancient ur-myth. I did not mean he literally spoke of the Tower of Babel. This is one of the problems with the decline of shared literary references: Literary flourishes are too often mistaken for literal statements of fact.

Obviously White, like me, has a skeptical perspective on ancient astronauts, but White has an additional level of belief, his Christian mythos, which leads to statements like the Flood discussion, that are not supported by science. As you yourself note everyone has some sort of perspective and/or bias; I thought that knowing White's would have helped the viewer in understanding his perspective and evaluating his work.

And before you accuse me of hypocrisy, know that I put my own views and history on record in the introduction to my Cult of Alien Gods, which is also online on my website. It's how my readers judge where I am coming from, and I only suggested that knowing something about White would have been just as helpful.

Diego

9/20/2015 09:40:25 pm

Good clarifying Jason!

I watched it without knowing he was a fundamentalist christian, and something seemed biased. The particulars of the ark, the almost acceptation of the Nephilim as something that may have happened (just because it is in the bible), not equaling it with other myths; the Ezequiel chapter, all of it.
It was good. But there should be another one, maybe with less snark and more pure neutral approach.
Good job, thanks.

Dave

10/14/2012 09:04:37 am

I'm afraid as soon as Mr White said that something remarkable could have happened in the past and that ancient mythologies shared consistent themes (0:02:26) I was immediately on my guard. I don't think that the subsequent analysis suffers much because of this (apart from using Wikipedia as an information source - doh!) but it leaves him open to legitimate attack. Refuting one crazy theory to implicitly further another bizarre one is not good practice. As for those who are commenting that Mr Colavito also has a dog in the fight, they miss an unsubtle point. There is a huge difference between sceptical enquiry and attacking an opponent. Seeking the truth is not agenda driven.

I am also mystified by the duplicity of American TV. Von Daniken was outed in Europe as a huckster and convicted con man DECADES ago. To use him in a TV program shows that there is no attempt at truthfulness on the part of the "History" channel. Entertainment should be labelled as entertainment not passed off as a documentary.

Malkiyahu

10/15/2012 06:35:37 am

By "attacking an opponent," you obviously mean arguing against what they believe. You seem to be missing an unsubtle point: that's what Mr. Colavito does. There is a huge difference between skeptical inquiry (like reading books that argue against Ancient Astronaut ideas) and attacking an opponent (like writing those books). Seeking the truth is not agenda-driven. Writing books about it is. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with doing that (in fact, there is something right), but confusing those two things like that is not very skeptical.

Jason Colavito link

10/15/2012 06:39:37 am

I'm not sure what you are saying here, Malkiyahu. It sounds as though you are saying that any attempt to assert the truth ("writing those books") is an attack and therefore not an inquiry into truth. But if truth-seekers can't make their ideas known, or even assert which ideas are right or wrong, then how does the truth come out?

Malkiyahu

10/15/2012 06:53:55 am

Sorry for the lack of clarity. I did NOT mean that "writing those books" is an attack "and therefore not an inquiry into truth." Those are not even the terms I would have chosen to use, but I was pointing out that in the dichotomy Dave created ("sceptical enquiry" vs. "attacking an opponent"), he had falsely implied that you, Mr. Colavito, do not attack opponents and are therefore not agenda driven. I was simply trying to point out that your books ARE arguments against other people's arguments, and they are therefore agenda-driven. I just wanted to clear that up, as he seemed confused. I also pointed out that there is absolutely nothing wrong with "writing those books." Any inquiry into truth involving attacking lies is a very good thing. I recommend people read your books. I also recommend that they don't believe your books are 100% unbiased and agenda-free, as you've already pointed out yet Dave seemed to miss.

Jason Colavito link

10/15/2012 07:01:38 am

I see your point now, but I would suggest that any book, by virtue of having a thesis, therefore has an "agenda" (which is to prove its thesis). Without this, the book would have no point in existing. The question is whether the thesis was arrived at through a fair examination of the evidence or whether it was chosen first with evidence forced to fit the preconceived idea.

Frost

8/26/2014 08:28:31 pm

1. This is American TV, and I will not deny that most people expect to be entertained above all else when it comes to TV, even when they're watching the History Channel. I don't know why, myself preferring to read, but they do.

2. Did not von Daniken himself say, in the episode Chariot of the Gods (Season 1, Episode 0, named after his first book) that he made it exceedingly clear what was proven scientific fact and the questions he himself posed? I have not read the book--it's on my list, but got bumped down in favor of Life Things. But I do remember it being said that at least 20 German publishers rejected the book because it was not "professional." I do not know why. It could have been because there wasn't any one definitive theory, or they thought aliens weren't a good basis for a theory, or they could have been leery of someone drawing parallels between science and religion, which often makes people uncomfortable.

In the end, I would rather read the book and decide for myself if he is a con man or not.

M1d

12/11/2022 09:16:13 pm

As it's now 8 years later, I am not sure if you are even going to read this. However, based on singular research from myself... It seems as he fabricated some evidence in his book. This is also admitted by him. I hope this also was a way for you to maybe reconnect with your 2014 year old self lol. Was the Life of Things a good book by the way?

LeezaG

12/16/2015 10:05:08 pm

Good point :-)) ANY one willing to consider the AA theory should also first keep in mind that the one making $$$ on it all is a convicted Fraud/Embezzler/Their . True Fact.. NOT theory . :-||

Larian1983

5/23/2013 11:09:27 am

Well, first of all, I want say I still believed in Ancient Alien theory. Because as I was always wondering if the so called Gods are actually more advanced intellectual beings, I turned on TV one day, and saw ancient aliens. It made me believe in god instead of wondering what is god. For those of you only want to accept the fact that God is just a spiritual being, well, I think Gods are physical being. God didn't creat us just so he can guide us to a perfect world. Gods create us in their own image, so we can follow their will and do their deeds.

Beau Davis

10/3/2013 12:56:54 pm

I am not going to deny it. The last part of the documentary did mention the giants and gods coming to Earth to mate with human women. It is in every myth and story on Earth. If you do not believe in gods and want a real explanation beside the fact that It is just a story, saying that aliens did it might explain it. This is the only thing where this theory might have a foothold.

Bruce

12/30/2018 03:35:28 pm

@Beau Davis, I find the idea of "aliens" mating successfully with humans in the normal way to be ridiculous on several levels. Most importantly, the possibility that alien DNA would be compatible with ours is vanishingly small, assuming that their genetic material was even DNA in the first place. Even if it were DNA, their codons might code for different proteins, or be a different size from ours, or the genes might be arranged differently (either on different numbers of chromosomes, different orders within the chromosomes, etc, etc). Some of this is currently unknown (Are other genetic materials even possible, for example); some is known to be an arbitrary result of our unique evolutionary history (the number of chromosomes and the placements of our genes on them), but we do know enough that we can be pretty confident that aliens from another planet with a different history would not have compatible genetics. The bottom line is that if such a mating were actually successful and could produce offspring, then for all practical purposes these "aliens" actually ARE humans, but perhaps a bit more "advanced" in some way.

This, of course, does not preclude a number of other possibilities: These were actually beings created from humans by the real aliens, or that the aliens were actually from an earlier civilization with advanced technology with whom we have lost contact in some way, or that the "mating" was more metaphorical than actual, being perhaps more like editing the human genetic code in some way. This is probably not a complete list.

I do agree that the legends for this kind of thing happening seem to be the "best" evidence for something out of the ordinary happening in our distant prehistory, but while they are certainly suggestive I find them to be unconvincing. Very many human cultures also have legends of the "wee folk" (fairies, leprechauns, elves, pixies, etc) as well, but there seems to be less of a tendency to ascribe them to alien visitations. I suspect rather that both these "giants" and the "wee folk" are the results of basic human needs, and as such have no objective existence outside the space between our ears. But I will readily admit that this is a suspicion, not something that can be objectively proven.

Brian

8/17/2013 03:26:14 am

I watched the documentary twice. It is so well written and discussed that I have to give Chris White an amazing award for doing this because I would love to blast those AA guys.

I was once a "starter" to the whole ancient astronaut theory (I didn't believe in it exclusively; the theory just gave me the possibility of being true). However, once Ancient Aliens starting delving into the Bible and other religious texts, I knew that their lies could never infect me. Once they started bringing in religion, they have lost all credibility.
Yes, there are fundamentalists out there about individual religions. Creationists are out there and they have a human right to believe in what they want to believe in; it is their choice.
Religion and science have never gotten along. The moment they tried to apply modern science to the Bible, I was furious. Yes, I am a Christian but I am also a science and history geek. FYI, a quarter of the books in the Old Testament is genealogy.

The ancient astronaut theory is one of the worst theories in existence about many of our artifacts and ancient buildings. However, instead of one or two pieces of evidence, I need fifteen pieces of evidence in order for me to even consider the AAT (metaphorically speaking, of course). Evidence is important when you discover something. You need to analyze it until there is an undeniable fact that this device or monument has an otherworldly origin and give credence to the AAT.

Tsoukalos and that Coppens guy (may he rest in peace) are force feeding their beliefs onto other people. I personally believe that the guys featured on AA including Erich von Daniken (who I first heard of because of the move Stargate) do not have any confidence in human ingenuity and reasoning capabilities. Puma Punku, Baalbek, the Moai of Easter Island, and the Pyramids are the result of human handiwork; not aliens. If more evidence comes up and gives credence to the AAT, it better be good evidence and not fabricated stuff.

Furthermore, it is easier to be pro-alien (sit back and say "Oh, aliens did this" without any effort or drive to investigate). I am pro-human because I am sincere believer of the famous logic; in order to build the things they want to build, they have to make the tools to build them.

Beau Davis

10/3/2013 12:15:32 pm

I agree with you on that. I do not like it since it make us look stupid. Not to mention, how do we know that there is a better planet for the needs of the aliens beside Earth. Also, we need to look at their perspective. As far as their are concern, these aliens think that they are the only forms of intelligent life in the universe and our existence is mere conjecture to them.

Frost

8/26/2014 08:40:14 pm

*coughs* Sorry, but I would like to disagree about science and religion never getting along.

First, I will illustrate this with one belief of mine. I do not know if there is one god, or many, but I do believe there is something out there. There has to be (in my opinion). A God (or Gods) could have even created the earth, or set the whole thing in motion--but no one ever said that They (or Him, or Her, however the case may be) measures time the same way we do. To assume so is arrogant.

Further more, I do not believe Tsoukalos or anyone else on that show is "force feeding" us their beliefs. They have always called their beliefs just that, or theories, or opinions. I don't think they are liars so much as mere humans, just like the rest of us. Imperfect living beings, not the Devil incarnate.

And you can also get off your high horse about mixing science and religion, because you have to admit, that if one of our ancestors tried to describe modern technology, a lot of it would sound similar to what's spoken of in ancient texts. I am not saying it is, by the way; it is far more likely that it isn't. But it is more likely (to me) than someone turning into a pillar of salt because they looked back at a burning city.

Wantnot

7/5/2015 01:32:58 am

"You did not build that!"

Mixter

10/7/2013 10:31:57 am

Just because they were able to find the evidence of people making tools, or tracks on rocks does not disprove the ancient astronaut theory. Those architectural evidence made further clear by this Debunked documentary further lets me know that, somebody back then in those ancient times, was an "out-of-this-world" master mind with a crazy, skillfull masonry. I do not think all that was being said on AA is correct; they are guessing based on their theories. White is guessing based on his theories. While White may have been successful in showing how/where the AA theorists were wrong, he is still NOT CAPABLE of disproving the actual theory.

I want him to show me the proof of ark of noah and break it down like he dissected the pyramids.

Mixter

10/7/2013 10:50:33 am

Oh yeah, somebody pleaaaase tell me who Cain's wife is. Thanks.

busty

1/23/2014 03:21:01 pm

I watch aa and am sceptical but I have actually seen things in the sky that cannot be a modern craft that we have or are capable of producing here on earth, I AM A CHRISTIAN but lets open our minds to possibilities, And look up in the sky like i did, i haven't seen space crafts or flying saucers, but have seen balls of light making movements that would make any normal person, freak out. And I don't do drugs, and never would are you so called CHRISTIANS just trying to protect your faith or actually serious about debunking the alien theory?

IConflicted

7/2/2015 01:19:36 pm

http://www.icr.org/article/cains-wife-it-really-does-matter/
Mixer.. Try this for starters.

Bruce

12/30/2018 03:57:38 pm

Naturally it is extremely difficult or even impossible to prove a negative, ie that aliens have visited the Earth at some point in the distant or even the not-so-distant past.

But that does not mean that the Ancient Astronauts thesis carries the same weight as does White's, or that of the skeptics in general. The plain fact is that NONE of the crucial pieces of "evidence" as presented by the AA adherents stands up to critical analysis. That doesn't mean that tomorrow somebody won't find something that's absolutely convincing that proves the hypothesis, but it does mean that AS IT STANDS NOW, the whole thesis is built on a house of cards.

You will note that I am deliberately not imputing the word "theory" to the Ancient Astronaut hypothesis, because in scientific terminology a "theory" is a well-established hypothesis that has been well supported by the evidence. But the AA hypothesis is very poorly or not at all supported by convincing evidence, so in spite of their attempts to improperly appropriate that word to lend their ideas greater credibility, this is instead yet another example of their intellectual dishonesty. Sorry, but that's just how it is.

Bruce

12/30/2018 03:59:38 pm

Oops, I meant to say that "it is extremely difficult or even impossible to prove a negative, ie that aliens have NOT visited the Earth at some point in the distant or even the not-so-distant past."

In context I think it should be clear that that's what I meant.

busty

1/23/2014 03:33:51 pm

And further more if you can't take what these astronaut thereorists are saying as truth then explore them on your own, and come up with a conclusion of possibility not an attack on christianity, because all faiths would be in jeopardy. And how wierd is that, that almost or all cultures have same views about "god" and "angels"? Are you people from a tiny backwoods part of the U.S.A.?

Gabriel Darke

6/5/2014 10:20:07 am

AA as a theory might earn instant credibility if it was possible to point to a single ancient artifact and be able to claim, without a doubt, 'aliens made that'. There has not ever been such an object found. Bombastic claims and expressions of wonderment shouldn't have the power to convince anyone.

Why should it be so hard to believe that ancient peoples invented tools and strategies that enabled them to create wonders, and that these wonders endure to the present day?

As to the flood myth, at the end of the last ice age there must have been many ice dams then in existence that for a time held back devastating flood waters. The dams failed, as they were destined to, and there were floods, a great many floods. You don't need to read some fairy tale to know this must have been so..

As to the flood myth,

Frost

8/26/2014 08:51:55 pm

I am with you in that I think our ancestors were entirely capable of such amazing feats and creating the tools to get the job done. It's very, very likely to me that they had to have made them. In fact, I believe their attention to detail was superior to modern humans, who usually focus on surface things.

Now, with that said, there's a few questions I want to ask. Such as, "bird" figurines. More over, the ones with upright tail fins that make them look, on the surface, like planes. Now, there could have been a bird at one point in history that had such a tail, but I doubt it, or it would have been brought up when it was discovered.

Or maybe they started to come up with early gliders and then their society was destroyed, I don't know...

dlmoses

6/8/2014 03:30:07 pm

even if you believe in God, he/she would still technically be extraterrestrial aka not of this earth

Darkrider

8/5/2016 09:29:36 pm

God is a spirit. Not an alien.

Edward Colelli link

6/28/2014 04:41:59 pm

Pyramid Code by Dr Carmen Boulter

debunker DEBUNKED in one very well written article link

8/21/2014 12:12:09 am

Debunking Ancient Aliens Debunked

Philip Coppens

“Ancient Aliens Debunked” is a YouTube released, 190 minutes long documentary by Chris White. In the documentary, he tackles 16 topics that in his opinion form the backbone of the Ancient Alien Hypothesis, which White claims he conclusively refutes, which in his opinion conclusively proves that the evidence presented in the series Ancient Aliens is factually incorrect and worse, he claims, sets out to deceive.
He concludes: “The main thing I want to stress is that I’m not trying to suggest that, while Ancient Aliens got a few claims wrong, there’s room for truth in their main theory. That, in light of this information, is not a tenable position. You have just witnessed the unmistakable symptoms of the entire theory being wrong.”

This is a heavy claim to make! In short, he argues that in his opinion the series has failed to show we were visited by ancient aliens and implies we should therefore forget all about it! So it is now up to television series to prove or disprove scientific theories? Wow! It’s a heavy burden to place on any television series! Far more importantly, it would leave the likes of Carl Sagan flabbergasted, as he felt there was good evidence to look into a number of ancient contact scenarios, especially the story of Oannes – which for some reason, White does not include in this documentary. Why?

White continues: “I would ask you also to take a long, hard look at the authors, speakers and charismatic personalities that led you to believe some of the things that I hope you can now see are wrong. I hope that this helps you realize they are not as smart as they have led you to believe, and to consider what other untruths they may have taught you.”

I am one of those people, I assume, seeing I feature in the documentary. So I took this rather personally. White has accused the makers and contributors of this show of a number of things: first, even though he claims we are not that smart as we apparently have told the world we are (where did we say that?), we also are apparently, according to White, very smart, but use our intelligence to knowingly deceive the audience. (Which one is it, Mr. White?)

He claims that we create false dichotomies.

So how does White go to work?

Guess…

I will use the subject of the crystal skulls as the first example. The conclusion of this section is, for White, the following: “In conclusion, all of the proposed crystal skulls have now been conclusively proven to be hoaxes. The last holdout (the MHS [The Mitchell Hedges skull]) was only still a candidate because it was not allowed to be examined until recently. Its history is full of greed and lies, and it genuineness could only be accepted by the most dedicated devotee given the facts we now know.”

This is simply not true. For one, the “MHS” was studied by the likes of Hewlett-Packard and the British Museum more than three decades ago. When Anna Mitchell-Hedges came to Britain to have the latter tests performed, there were reports and footage of the event. The Hewlett-Packard testing was reported by the organization themselves and I have copies of it – as have hundreds of other people, no doubt. But White either is not aware of this, or as it does not fit his agenda, disregards it. White instead opts for or – to use the type of wording he prefers to use on the documentary in making accusations – “leads us to believe” that in 2007, when Bill Homann took the skull to the Smithsonian, it was finally revealed to be a fake. That is once again not the case. That the skull is a modern reproduction is indeed the opinion of Jane Walsh, who was present at this test. But she arrived at that belief many years before ever meeting this skull. Though I was not present, I do have in my possession the complete video footage of the 2007 Smithsonian session, and I can assure anyone, and will make available if needed, sections of this tape (it is many hours long) that will show a radically different nature of this session than what White pretends the meeting was all about. Let me note that White was not present and has never seen this footage.

As mentioned, it is absolutely false that Anna Mitchell-Hedges never allowed for any testing. Nor is it true that “Anna spent her entire life trying to sell the skull.” Some of the other claims he makes in this section, that Mitchell-Hedges lied about the origins of how he acquired the skull, are true. But let it be clear that the likes of White were not the ones who discovered this, even though he implies quite cunningly that he somehow seems to have been involved in finding these documents, by making claims he has seen letters and the like. So have thousands of others, as these letters are in the public record. I personally wrote that the story was an invention, and that there are good reasons why Mitchell-

debunker DEBUNKED link

8/21/2014 12:23:55 am

.... cont'd here ... and despite reply essentially shuts Chris White up.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=288_1365389081

debunker DEBUNKED link

8/21/2014 12:24:07 am

.... cont'd here ... and despite reply essentially shuts Chris White up.

www.liveleak.com/view?i=288_1365389081

8/21/2014 12:20:23 am

.... cont'd here ... and despite reply essentially shuts Chris White up.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=288_1365389081

debunker DEBUNKED in one very well written article

8/21/2014 12:21:27 am

.... cont'd here ... and despite reply essentially shuts Chris White up.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=288_1365389081

debunker DEBUNKED

8/21/2014 12:27:05 am

.... cont'd here ... and despite reply PC essentially shuts Chris White up.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=288_1365389081

debunker DEBUNKED

8/21/2014 12:28:07 am

.... google to continue the article - to long for here ..... ... and despite reply PC essentially shuts Chris White up.

debunker DEBUNKED

8/21/2014 12:29:21 am

.... google to continue the article - too long for here ..... ... and despite reply PC essentially shuts Chris White (AAD filmmaker) up.

Spencer

9/22/2014 11:00:38 am

Wow dip-shit, that article sucked.

Jerry Kuna

9/9/2014 09:29:38 am

To all you Ancient Alien fans: Show me some proof-it's all speculation that it COULD have happened, but no proof, no real point. That's where the "debunkers" have a step ahead on you...

dan deangelis

6/6/2015 05:42:33 am

finally someone knows what the hell's going on

frank drake

9/23/2014 07:49:33 am

Have you even heard of the drake equation? Ya, I didn't think so.

Mary

10/13/2014 08:00:54 am

Reading most of these comments just reinforces my belief that Christians are complete morons. I am constantly reading arguments that have no proper explanations or believable reasons for them. You cannot debunk 7 seasons of a TV series in 3 hours. If anyone actually watched the series with an open mind and not one biased towards religion, you would realize they never state anything as fact! They only purpose theories based on the information presented to them. If you actually look at the information without religious tinted glasses, you wouldn't be blind to some information that is just common sense to believe. Not everything they present is believable, but to say that 7 years of shows are 100% bull is just ignorant. I think that people continue to ridicule those who are brave enough to purpose radical ideas because the idea of different concepts scares them. You cannot use an argument of just because it wasn't written down by man, it doesn't exist. Who wrote the cuneiform tablets then? If you believe in god, who could be just a flying spaghetti monster for all you know, why can't others things written in mythological sources be possible? Stranger things have proven to be true throughout history.

I seriously don't understand how so many people can still have their head up their own ass in this ever changing world. Closed mindedness is exactly why our progression as a human species is slow and halted.

Dave

4/22/2015 09:41:16 am

AGREED!!! As I have stated in agreement with "Bob" I will offer this; I AM A CHRISTIAN, not a God fearing bible-thumper, but a general believer in good-old Irish Catholicism. I have studied many cultures and World History, Geology and several other sciences. I ALSO BELIEVE IN WHAT I and many thousands of our well traveled/deployed military vets have seen, the places I have visited first hand, and the experiences I've had with all of the incredible cultures I've had the honor and opportunity to interact with (on every continent except Antarctica); I accept the possibility that Jesus was a sort of Human-Alien hybrid, as well as other possibilities put forth by von Daniken, Sitchin, Tsoukolos, and the rest of the crew! Granted, some of the theories (like the Hollow Head...I mean hollow earth theory) are pretty rediculous and WAY OUT THERE! Everyone needs to SACK-UP, quit the name calling and mud-slinging (yes I won't use the term Hollow Head anymore), and put our little hard noggins together and push for the real truth of US...who the heck are US humans REALLY, and what have we REALLY been dong on this rock for the last few hundred thousand years? Truth is far stranger than fiction, so W-T-F???

Darkrider

8/5/2016 09:46:43 pm

The only moron I see here is you. Attacking all Christians simply because they refute the laughable AA theory. Many religions would not agree with the AA theory as it clashes with their own beliefs. Are they all morons too? I don't care if the shows been on 7 years or 70 years. AA is pseudo science and faulty research at it's best. There is a difference between faith and Tangible proof of aliens. Faith is the belief in the unseen but aliens should be something real and tangible that we can find actual proof. Instead all we get teasing about lights in the sky and abductions

Bruce

12/30/2018 04:32:21 pm

While you can't debunk 7 years worth of shows in 3 hours, you can show that many of their central claims are spurious at best. The Ancient Aliens show is also extremely repetitive; out of those 7 years I doubt that there have been more than 1 or at most 2 years worth of unique "evidence" presented. That might total at most 30-60 hours worth of material, so the discrepancy is not as great as might appear at first glance.

And unfortunately, on the AA show they DO state various things as "fact" that are not facts at all, such as the types of stone used in early megalithic structures and whether those were ever subjected to melting, what kind of tools (or lack thereof) that ancient humans might have used to create them or move them, and on and on. None of their assertions stand up to critical analysis; this is not a matter of religious opinion, but of simple fact. It is not reasonable for someone to present, as these people do, a stream of half-baked bogus claims and expect their opponents to play "whack-a-mole" to refute them, and then to claim "victory" if there wasn't time to refute every last one of them. If the AA proponents can't even come up with one clear and convincing example requiring alien technology, then their ideas are nothing more than special pleading and really no better than what any other religion does - because it IS a religion, at least as it is now being presented.

I am certainly open to any clear and convincing evidence of ancient aliens, but unfortunately fail to see anything that even remotely comes up to that standard.

Nick

10/20/2014 09:11:32 pm

The most egregious error with this show (and there a LOT that come close joint second!) is their use of the word theory (and sadly, how everyone then uses theory when defending the show). In everyday parlance, it's fine to say 'I have a theory about...' when discussing non-scientific things. But like it or not, this show IS talking about scientific things. As such, it needs to abide by use of the word theory in that context. Gravity is a theory, eveolution is a theory, the ancient alien stuff is merely a spit-balling of disjointed ideas. For it to be a theory, it needs to have been proven once, and then backed up with repeated, independent tests. Given these guys can't even identify that a block isn't carved at a right angle when one of their chief proponents is holding a set square next to it, the chances they'll prove anything beyond reasonable doubt is slim to none. Unfortunately, they then fall back behind the defence of 'Oh, but these are just theories'. If that's the case, they should stop stating things as fact (which they do all the time), or devise a way to prove their 'theory'. At the moment, this is barely even a hypothesis.

Jason

11/18/2014 08:25:21 am

1. I did not agree with everything AA said, in the series. For example, ancient aliens did not help America win the War of 1812. The British won that event.

2. White's documentary-style production was not also free, from error. The approximate 21 minute-long promo, for instance, began, by getting something wrong. It started by citing AA's Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, when he said: "The term Anunnaki means: "those who from heaven came""

In reply, White insisted: "This is entirely wrong!"

Yet, shortly after, he explained Sumerian text pointed out that: "The Anunnaki being direct creations of Anu, in heaven.

A few examples of this would be:

...The Anunna, the (gods), who An conceived in the sky...."

So, from a perspective, the term Anunnaki might mean: "those who from heaven came"".

Sure sounded like it!

So, AA's/Giorgio's statement was not "entirely wrong".

The early blunder, however, does not make me want to invest hours into seeing the rest of the film.

- j

Jason

11/18/2014 08:30:01 am

I guess I should have pointed out, in my post, above, that I am not Jason Colavito.

- j

Melinda

11/20/2014 09:27:46 am

I've haven't actually seen the documentary yet, but I'll certainly be interested.

In my view, no story is complete until you've heard both sides of it (i.e. Ancient Aliens being one, and the debunking as another). Even then, there are always more perspectives - for example, Jason Colavito undoubtedly has different views from Chris White. As pointed out in this thread, a Christian might have different views than someone who is an atheist.

My point is: Every opinion is valid and deserves respect! They are all worth listening to, especially if the subject is of interest to you. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I wouldn't think less of anyone who didn't agree with me.

What I don't like in particular, is when people say "the nail in the coffin". It effectively states that "from here on in, I am right and you are wrong." How egotistical.

Guess what? Science has been wrong. Seemingly crazy people have turned out to have amazing foresight. "Truth" is a myth and constantly changing. I think we should all keep our minds open. I'm not saying that Ancient Aliens is right and a debunking is wrong. I'm saying everyone deserves credit, just for their thoughts.

At least it's a lot more constructive and insightful than worrying about gaining 5lb over winter and whatever other silly things that seem to consume society these days.

Melinda

11/20/2014 10:11:05 am

That said, I don't think that when we look at ancient ruins and megaliths that we should constrain ourselves to only two possibilities. Saying "humans did it" or "humans can't have done it, therefore, aliens did"...is rather boxy.

Maybe there are other explanations that haven't been considered yet?

For example, can we really assume that we know every detail of human evolution? Archaeologists and anthropologists can only track the preservation record accurately for the last few thousand years. Beyond that, everything becomes a lot more sketchy.

Who is to say that humans have not been around for hundreds of thousands or even millions of years? Perhaps they evolved and developed a high level of technology, but were almost wiped out by some global catastrophe. Then, there was a slow process of rebuilding, but as we had become a savage, primitive society again, all former knowledge and technology was lost. The process of discovery is a random one, and would not necessarily have been the same, second time around.

It's just an idea. I'm sure there are other possibilities.

Roger

12/11/2014 03:28:10 am

It was definitely Aliens.

Any time a Christian zealot puts this much time and money into debunking, what is essentially an entertainment TV show; you know something is fishy.

There are some things that can be explained. But many, can not be explained as simply human-based works. Alien genetics and Alien descent is part of our species. It is our history. We didn't start here.

Bruce

12/30/2018 04:44:22 pm

What evidence do you have that we have ANY alien genetics? With DNA sequencing technology, we are now able to construct much more accurate relationships between the species, and humans appear to be an intrinsic part of Earthly life, not some alien or part-alien life form.

Of course, it is not possible to exclude the possibility that aliens somehow "tweaked" or "improved" our genetics, but you're claiming that we can prove it somehow. Can you elaborate?

david

1/10/2015 08:11:49 am

Truth be told, everyone has a right to an opinion! Who's to say whats right, and whats wrong?! Its no different when a detective, and forensics do an investigation on a crime scene, and interview/interrogate witnesses/family members, etc...they formulate based off evidence a story of what happened. There are 3 sides to every story,

gabriel

6/28/2015 06:26:05 am

You've a right to your opinion, but must agree some opinions have more value than others, especially those which are right.

There may be multiple sides to a story, except ultimately only one is correct. AATs are not unbiased when they present crackpot ideas. To be unbiased is a necessary requirement for true and honest scholarship. Their purpose is to accumulate fortune, fame and ( gullible ) adherents.

Bandot

1/11/2015 12:21:11 pm

Fact is neither good nor bad, it is simply so. AA does not deal with facts. The hosts of the show have no scientific education in the fields they are discussing. If you don't understand how something works then anything is possible.

While I can agree aliens may have visited this planet in the past , it's Does not make much sense, that they came as a group of Engineers to build various monuments on earth. Why use rock when you can use cement? I am fairly certain if you can travel across the universe you would know what cement is and how to make it as it's not difficult and far easier than moving large stones.

I also find AA a bit racist as they think that people in the ancient world were too stupid to engineer the monuments they built.

Ancient man was brilliant. In my opinion they are eventually going to find that man had world wide trade for thousands of years. The oceans did not keep people apart, it brought them together. The ancients traveled far further and more often then we are currently taught. You don't need aliens to fly you around, wooden ships work well even if It does take a lot longer on a ocean voyage.

If your theory contradicts itself then it is probably untrue. In the meantime if I have a mechanical problem with my car I am going to a mechanic and not ask cashire at Safeway on how to fix it.

Homie1

1/18/2015 11:27:27 am

This is a top notch documentary, up until the end when he starts talking about the veracity of the Flood myth. It's jarring to go through three hours of logical thinking and analysis, only to be slapped with that nonsense.

The only other thing that would've made it better would be to briefly scroll through the sources at the end, so that the sources are contained in the video itself.

I've watched this documentary three times though, and I'll watch it again.

Vicktor

1/31/2015 06:06:09 am

There was no mention of the Sphinx, let alone the weathered grooves on the sides of the Sphinx which would have taken over ten thousand years to wear away. No mention was made as to HOW stone blocks weighting so many tons were moved; just a general, flippant 'observation' of a few seconds that weights were used to move even heavier weights. No details there. I would describe "AAD" and Jason Covalito's support of it as highly selective pro-establishment nonsense. No, it doesn't have to be aliens; I'll settle for a high civilisation many thousands of years ago. Like everything else, civilisations are cyclical. Read this short explanation of a few pages: http://www.google.pl/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCYQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.minsobooks.com%2FDownloads%2FYuga_Theory_Of_Sri_Yukteswar_in_The_Holy_Science.pdf&ei=XCbNVKD6OY3lavHWgIAJ&usg=AFQjCNGos13NuAgOA2Va1jKj9lTsNGJPPw&sig2=JP3bfkKdy0Ci_qcyx3n2jg&bvm=bv.85076809,d.d2s

Martha

2/17/2015 04:38:15 am

I agree with Vicktor!

Martha

2/17/2015 04:36:31 am

Do you work for the SMITHSONIAN!! They are hiding many facts and artifacts about the real history!

Anthony

3/2/2015 03:47:58 pm

As a born and raised Christian I was always weary about believing all the stories I was being told were just true "because it's in the bible".
I wonder what evidence this guy has for anything in the bible is true.
At least with AA theories we have physical evidence of stuff that just seems strange to anyone looking on. This documentary fails to answer why these people went through so much trouble and why nobody has even bothered to try something similar.

I would appreciate his careful analysis of the bible and how it's facts are so sound they need no evidence to trust.

KOYOASS

3/7/2015 03:02:07 am

I used to believe in AA and all of its claims. After watching this Video i came to the conclusion that i was mislead big time by AA. The guys in ancient aleins are just trying to promote their books, period. All it was is just plain old hard work and simple mechanics to engineer many of the awesome ancient structures, not to mention a couple thousand slaves. People back then didnt have all the jobs we have now. Their unemployment rate was probably very high, lol. As for the great flood, it probably happend but not as the bible had written. You cannot fit every animal into the desgin of the ark. And it were true then each human today stems from Noah, i think not.
I was born a Hindu but I do not beleive in any of claims in any religion in including Hinduism. Kings, Emperors, call them what you want, all humans can amass anthing if they put their mind to it.
Do I believe in God( supreme being) : YES.
Religion is just a control over societies to help organize them.

Barry K. Hershey

5/1/2015 09:48:38 am

Explain this - Back in 1961, my oldest brother (then about 10), who was a tough guy who wasn't afraid of anybody or anything, was walking home from playing ball one night in the tiny village of Edenville PA., which is still today mostly farm fields and orchards, and seeing his shadow cast from a light from what he initially thought was a car coming up behind him, without turning around to look he just moved to the side of the road to let it by, but never heard any engine or tire noise yet the light was still there his shadow bobbing up and down and side to side he then thought it was a friend on a bike with a headlight messing with him. So he turned around to look and about broke the door down out of breath in a terror stricken panic trying to get in the house. He said he was chased home by what he described as a flying fireball about the size of a bowling or basket ball and was always on a nervous edge ever since. With the reports of the spheres or more commonly called feu fighters, the little orbs of about the same size people report being emitted from the larger crafts they believe are probes ... my question is, if it wasn't that, then what else could it be as swamp gas and meteors don't chase people to my knowledge ?

allan

12/9/2017 02:57:45 pm

"foo fighters"
see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter

An early 1950's book on Unidentified Flying Objects [sorry. I can't provide reference] stated that 'foo' is from 'FO' in 'UFO', i.e. Flying Object.

This in not the same tale as per Wikipedia article. Since one of the adjectives pertaining to the origin was not likely permit wide publication [in the 1950's] I suspect sanitization by alteration.

HOWEVER, since the orbs are described as fireballs, use of 'feu' [French for 'fire'] seems appropriate. I like it.

I suppose this might be construed as a "flying object lesson," to quote B. Bunny.

allan

Scott M

7/29/2015 08:26:29 am

"White assumes a great deal of familiarity with the program's personalities" ...

I just finished watching the documentary, and, while this statement is accurate, I think it misses the point of Ancient Aliens Debunked. Ancient Aliens is not a show that is concerned with its on-air personalities so much as it is with cobbling testimony together to make outrageous claims. I believe the AAD documentary is concerned exclusively with debunking those outrageous claims.

In fact, from a rational standpoint the identity and beliefs of the people making the claims are irrelevant to the claims themselves. Whether it's von Däniken or the hillbillies from deliverance, the claim itself is the only thing that matters. I would even go so far as to commend Mr. White for not getting bogged down in who has a history of what. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, and I would like to know if the clock is right about this.

Darklord

9/2/2015 12:50:09 pm

I love the AA series... it is interesting to see how people neglect things they haven't witnessed. How evolution works and is still working. Telsa for instance, his brilliance his ability to not only have the awareness of electricity but the ability to build things to harness it. Imagination or facts... he claims he is in contact with Alien beings. Telsa's enginuity is being used long after his death, this is facts; exaggerated or outrageous.. This is still facts... or maybe he really was light years ahead of our thinking in being brilliant. Wifi.. etc... he dreamed this up with the help of ....who knows... he was labeled insane and crazy to some people... until AC current started to be used by everyone. They still removed his comments about Aliens in statements. We still haven reached the Utopia Telsa dreamed of, and we might be 1000 years away from the goal.. but Mr. White ... in all honesty... you can not debunk what you yourself can not even understand without Telsa's drawings and guidance. Remember they start off each episode with ... what if it were true

Diego

9/20/2015 09:55:18 pm

"neglect things they haven't witnessed " Alien interacting Tesla?"

This section is just cannon fodder in some cases.

If you never witnessed animal bones being turned into jello, then you neglect that fact?

I love Tesla's work and story. The fact he did not have offspring is something I always quote when relatives and friens ask me when I'm planning to become a father. But, let's be real: you must know that he caused an earthquake, and much like other brilliant minds work, his experiments did not benefit the structure of the world (according to them); he's a personal hero, but as the saying goes "never meet your idols", he may have been out of his time. And just like the fable of Atlantis, as today people think they are ready for an Utopia, it is called that for something.

Stacy

10/2/2015 04:24:06 pm

It continues to baffle me the extent the religious go to disprove other peoples beliefs without extending that same level of critique to their own.

John

11/9/2015 03:30:03 pm

I believe the biggest fact of any of the episodes or debunked reviews is simple. Regardless of what the theories are of how each site came to be the question of HOW still has yet to be answered let alone the WHY! If you take into account the many religious factions and governments around the world is harder to believe written history where none of us were there to see what really happened but are suppose to believe it happened the way they say. For instance the book of Daniel was written 100 years before Christ was born yet his writing are in the bible. My point is this, believe what you want to believe if you question any fact of the matter figure it out for yourself! Don't be fooled into believing something just because a figure head on a little screen says its so. That also goes hand n hand with another fact of rather it was aliens or really strong people who knows, but I believe this about every account. We, humans, as individuals are smarter then we let ourselves believe and common sense should always prevail. How can we believe we are alone and if anyone believes in any religion then you believe in aliens in doing so. Every religious based book known to man was written and edited by man. Through out our entire history we have always asked how we got here and who made us so we the minds of the ages I believe fill that void and like any good business constantly improve the product they have to offer! Religion has been fought over since the beginning of time and that alone is why most of the unanswered questions about every historical site on this earth will never be answered because every time some new shred of evidence comes to light its finders end up dead or missing and the artifacts end up the same. So debunking theories is laughable to me only because the answers are out there but to find the real answers you must question the churches and to do that puts your life in danger.

Randal Rains

5/5/2016 03:45:24 pm

You guys do know that the Ancient Aliens documentary was meant to not be taken literally? Just like the mermaid documentary and the megladon documentary. Its all just for ratings. To sucker you in so you waste your life eating ice cream for 3 hours. This show was the start of when the history channel, discovery and all those guys decided to include fiction into their broadcasting. I guess non-fiction material doesn't bring in the ratings anymore. Doesn't surprise me in this day and age. :P

Barry K. Hershey

5/7/2016 03:37:35 pm

Are you sure ? ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRuxw-nZoJw

Larry A. Singleton

3/12/2017 06:22:16 am

This is very generous of Mr. Colavito to give the credit to these guys when you see so much mercenary greed going around. I get the feeling that Mr. Colavito is "regular folk" and the "real deal" as I call people who are basic decent human beings. And like most basic human beings he has common sense you don't see with, well, liberals.

I've got the two "Forbidden Archaeology" books on my shelf but they're mostly for reference. I really don't believe in this "alien" stuff. Unless you include those coming across out southern border.

I have to say that when I was about fifteen I saw something as a kid I still can't explain. I was "camping out" on the front lawn of a friends house in Devore CA. my hometown. And I saw this.....the only way I can explain it is as a circle of light floating across the field. I remember it glowed not outward but inward. It looked like it could have been about twenty feet in diameter. It was real weird. It was floating across a field about 12 o'clock at night. I tried to rouse my friend but he wouldn't wake up. I got up and ran as it disappeared behind the church. It was about an eighth of a mile away. By the time I got to the other side of the church it had disappeared.

I keep wondering if was a weather balloon or something. But where did it go. This thing was almost in the middle of a mile wide field. I sometimes wish I could get hypnotized and bring back the memory that has faded over these forty plus years.

When I was in the Navy a buddy of mine saw a light shooting all over the place from the "Big Eyes" binoculars we had on the ship. I didn't see it but you could tell he did. And this was a guy who didn't have a lot of imagination.

There are strange things out there, but I'll stick with God for when it comes to explaining most things.

William Priebe

7/26/2017 11:15:22 pm

For God's sake check out The Sign of Jonah at; www.pmary65.wordpress.com

William Priebe link

7/26/2017 11:10:34 pm

Love everybodie's reasoning here...

Kal

9/3/2017 04:41:08 pm

If you cannot tell a story in less than 15 minutes, and need to ramble on for 3 hours, there is something flawed in your story, and you need to edit it! Generally, a 20 minute essay vlog is good. Any supplements can be added later. A 45 minute one is fine also, if you like to ramble.

From a gist of all the comments, Ancient Alient theory is not actually a theory in the scientific sense. Although lots of theory i testable hypothesis, unless it's some exotic science where you can't know the outcome. (Testing to find out the Fermi paradox will not be done until we actually have proof of aliens).

As for mythology, such as the flood mythis of ancient times, that is too broad and is not testable. We have never found evidence of a 'global flood' only flooding in some places.

Like the analogy of the grasshopper on the tracks, that grasshopper can never know what lies beyond the mountain. His world is so limited.

Humanity did build monuments, not aliens. We know humans built them. It is possible because there is evidence. The stuff is still there.

GT and his AA guys are just making speculative fiction, reality TV with a scifi twist, not some religious implication. They should call it ancient alien mythology' to be more accurate. It is not 'theory' because you cannot know if there are alien monument builders.

Barry K. Hershey

9/8/2017 10:14:19 am

Some people don't have the luxury of disbelief ... Scroll up a few and read my posts of 2015/16 and explain those to me please as notice no one else has and what few attempts by debunkers are pathetic at best.

Vicktor

10/16/2017 08:47:20 am

Yes Jay, what you say is very logical. Only I'd describe Darwin as an Innuminati puppet clown!

Mike Hogan

2/2/2018 01:32:00 pm

I like watching AA, but, just for entertainment. It's a show that you know is just silly so you don't have to think. You can relax.
To me AA is very similar to Fox News. It's all for entertainment. You can only hope that no one really believes that stuff.