by Bill Nugent
Article #239
The History Channel has recently aired and re-aired a series of shows called “Ancient Aliens.” In this TV series, Erich Von Daniken, David Childress, Georgio Tsoukalos and others present their claims that ancient space travelers influenced early civilizations. To be fair, the series does present at least some dissenting voices such as that of archaeologist Todd Disotell, who rejects the ancient astronaut view.
The ancient astronaut concept has become something of a cult. It has quite a following and I believe these people are being deceived and being led away from God. It is particularly dangerous because ancient astronaut theorists have claimed that ancient astronauts influenced the events of the Bible in Exodus, Joshua and Ezekiel. This is a direct attack on the Bible. People are looking to space aliens rather than to God as the author and sovereign of history. One of the ancient astronaut theorists on the TV show even blasphemously claimed that the God of the Bible was an ancient astronaut and not divine.
UFO researchers are divided into two different viewpoints in explaining UFOs. These viewpoints are the extraterrestrial hypothesis and the interdimensional hypothesis. The extraterrestial hypothesis is the claim that UFOs are spaceships with astronauts from planets in star systems within our own physical universe. The interdimensional view is that UFOs are entities that travel from different dimensions and enter our universe from a parallel universe.
The interdimensional hypothesis is more consistent with the Bible and the Christian worldview because it can be inferred that at least some of the other dimensions of the parallel universe are the same as the realm of spirit. The Bible certainly acknowledges the existence of the spirit world.
Most, if not all, Christian researchers and some secular researchers reject the extraterrestial hypothesis and maintain the interdimensional view. In studying UFOs, I’ve come to believe that we’re dealing with intelligent life not from another planet but from another dimension. It’s not astronauts from outer space but spirit beings from the realm of spirit.
I regard UFOs as generally of the same category as poltergeists, hauntings, occultism and other manifestations of the demonic realm. I hold this view because of the deceptive, antibiblical teachings that are transmitted from UFOs such as the teachings of Scientology and the teachings that UFO “abductees” claim to receive. Also the bizarre animal mutilations attributed to UFOs in which animals have their blood drained and have organs removed with surgical precision is further evidence of the demonic origin of UFOs.
Let’s examine and debunk the claim that ancient astronauts (space travelers from other planets) assisted ancient civilizations in building the pyramids and other intricate megalithic structures. The TV series presented other phenomena to make the ancient astronaut case but for this article I’ll discuss megalithic (large stone) structures.
The Ancient Aliens TV series spends much time discussing the pyramids of Egypt and also the ruins of a temple complex in Bolivia called Puma Punku. It goes into great detail on Puma Punku and shows close ups of very precise cuts in an extremely hard form of granite called diorite. Experts maintain that the builders must have had diamond tipped tools but no such tools have ever been found there.
Ancient astronaut theorists hold the extraterrestial viewpoint and claim that flesh and blood aliens in spaceships came from other planets to earth many centuries ago. They seem to ignore or reject the interdimensional view. They claim that the alien astronauts didn’t build the megaliths but gave the ancient builders tools and technical help.
If this is true why did the aliens help them build temples and tombs? Where are the skyscrapers, apartment buildings and other structures more suited for the general welfare of people? Where’s the sophisticated sewer systems and waterworks? Where’s the electrical grid? Where’s the glass, plastics and other materials common in a high tech city? Why did the aliens teach them stone masonry and not much (if anything) else in construction technology?
There are two ways to account for the amazing stone work of ancient ruins. The first is that the ancient stone masons were just plain good. The building trades were very highly esteemed in many ancient societies. In ancient Greece the building trades were looked upon as fine art. The best and the brightest went into construction work and they had legions of slaves to do the heavy lifting. They had ambitious, authoritarian kings who wanted to build magnificent edifices to leave as their posterity.
They took decades to complete their work. It’s hard to imagine how Puma Punku was built but then again it’s hard even for a technician to reverse engineer anything. Engineers and lay people alike are amazed by the Puma Punku temple complex and there is no written record of how it was built.
The ancient Romans built fabulous edifices during recorded history. No one claims that the Romans relied on extraterrestials. Even the cathedral builders of medieval times spent centuries on their projects and did stone work that would be extremely difficult to replicate today with power tools.
The other way to account for the stone work at Puma Punku and elsewhere is to acknowledge that perhaps they did have some help from the paranormal. By paranormal I mean demons coming from the realm of spirit, not space ships from Andromeda. After all, the ancients were building temples to false gods and this would seem to invite demons.
I mentioned earlier that UFOs have been linked to animal mutilations. There are precise surgical cuts made in the many examples of animal mutilation. This could cause one to think that perhaps the demons behind UFO phenomena could also have precisely cut stones for ancient pagan temples. If demons can cut animals couldn’t they cut stones?
Clifford Wilson wrote a book called Crash Go the Chariots that refutes Von Daniken point by point. The ancient astronauts theory crumbles under close scholarly analysis. It is a needless distraction and a stumbling block to many.
The Bible teaches that God is spirit (John 4:24). The Bible also tells us about the activities of angels and demons who travel to and from the realm of spirit.
The Bible is inspired by God and is the accurate record of ancient history. The Bible is confirmed by sound archaeology. The Bible is also attested by the supernatural witness of over two thousand prophecies and their fulfillments down through history. No other sacred writing of any other faith can come close to the Bible’s record of prophecy and fulfillment of prophecy.
Jesus Christ came in fulfillment of over 300 prophecies written in the Old Testament hundreds of years before His birth. No other religious leader in all of history can make anything like this claim.
We must not be distracted by theories of ancient astronauts but rather look to God who created all things and sent Jesus, the promised Messiah, to die in our place and take the penalty for our sins. We receive forgiveness and salvation through Christ..