Humanity has achieved a lot in the course of its development in the field of technology, art and science. But can all these discoveries and inventions be attributed exclusively to the human mind? Or is there some other reason why the person has achieved such incredible success? Take a look, for example, at ancient structures built thousands of years ago. Could an ancient man have created all these architectural wonders that have not collapsed for many centuries?
Special opinion
Archaeologists and historians are trying to answer this question by studying ancient relics and other archaeological finds and analyzing ancient texts. But among them there are those who have a dissenting opinion. They believe that the real explanation for these advances is getting a little help "from other worlds." That is, from some distant alien friends.
One of the most famous proponents of this theory is the Swiss writer Erich von Daniken. It was he who was partially responsible for the origin of the so-called "theory of ancient astronauts." They are also sometimes called ancient aliens. This hypothesis is firmly entrenched in the mass consciousness of people. In his 1968 book Chariots of the Gods, Von Deniken suggested that thousands of years ago, representatives of civilization from another planet visited Earth. They gave earthlings knowledge that is very useful for the development of civilization.
The writer claims that many religious texts refer to divine spirits coming from heaven above. And this, in his opinion, is clear evidence that some creatures came down to Earth and taught people. They taught people how to build their way of life and develop religion, as well as gave many other knowledge. Von Daniken's book became a bestseller, and he subsequently published many other works written in the same spirit. Later von Daniken provided "evidence" for the existence of "ancient pottery" with UFO-style artwork. Which, as it turned out later, were fake. This "evidence" was fabricated to support the writer's claims and boost the sales of his books.
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Von Daniken's claims are not unique theories. There was another enthusiast of similar ideas. This is Zakeria Sitchen, famous for his idea of the mysterious planet Nibiru. In his opinion, there is a planet in the solar system whose inhabitants visited the Earth in ancient times. They mined gold on our planet. This happened many hundreds of thousands of years ago. Aliens taught primitive people manual labor, as a result of which modern people appeared.
Two more authoritative authors, Karl Sagan and I. S. Shklovsky, in his 1966 book Intelligent Life in the Universe, devoted a chapter to the idea that perhaps alien life has visited Earth in the past. However, at the same time, they emphasize that this idea is only a guess and has not been confirmed by anything. Many science fiction novels and films have also used this theme. You can recall a short story published in 1918 by Jack London. It tells about an ancient civilization worshiping some kind of alien UFO. Films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey also take advantage of the idea that primitive man was influenced by some extraterrestrial find.
Many supporters of the theory of ancient astronauts nod to the architectural masterpieces of antiquity as a support for their ideas. For example, the pyramids in Giza. They argue that they cannot be built without modern technology. The ancient Egyptian pyramids are, of course, impressive structures. The largest of them - the Cheops pyramid - has a height of 138 meters.
But before building such colossal structures, the Egyptians also built quite a lot of other structures. This trial and error is supported by the many much smaller pyramids discovered.
The ancient pharaohs had a large workforce. Thousands of skilled workers were busy building the pyramid at Giza. And, as they say, patience and work will grind everything.
Moai statues
There are other interesting structures, the origin of which is controversial. These are, for example, the heads of moai on Easter Island. Presumably they date back to 1000-1200. AD Some enthusiasts believe that aliens from outer space were also involved.
The Polynesians were the first to settle on Easter Island. This happened many years before the arrival of Europeans there. It is interesting that many statues are located along the coast and, as it were, guard the island. Perhaps this was done on purpose to instill fear in the invaders. The tallest statues are about 10 m tall. The basalt stone from which they are made is quite hard. And ancient astronaut theorists argue that humans could not possibly have processed it. However, large statues do not have small details that would be difficult to make using only a stone chisel.
The faces of the statues have simple carved features, and they have no hands at all. They are durable and very heavy, so many questions arise about how they were able to be installed on high pedestals. However, there is one reliable fact. In 1868, the English frigate HMS Topaz arrived on Easter Island. Locals carried a four-ton statue called Hoa Hakananai'a (hidden friend) to the beach and lowered it on a raft to the ship. It was a gift for Queen Victoria. If a person was able to move these statues several hundred years ago, then undoubtedly he could have done it before.