Ancient Astronaut Hypothesis

WIKIPEDIA

The ancient astronaut or ancient alien hypothesis is a pseudoscientific hypothesis that posits that intelligent extraterrestrial beings have visited Earth and made contact with humans in antiquity and prehistory.^[1] Proponents suggest that this contact influenced the development of human cultures, technologies, and religions. A common claim is that deities from most, if not all, religions are actually extraterrestrial in nature, and that such visitors' advanced technologies were interpreted by early humans as evidence of divine status.^[2][3]
Proponents subscribing to the resultant paleocontact hypothesis proposal, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century, include Erich von Däniken, Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, Zecharia Sitchin, Robert K. G. Temple, David Icke, and Peter Kolosimo.^[4]
The idea that ancient astronauts actually existed is not taken seriously by academics, and has received little or no credible attention in peer reviewed studies.^[5] Ancient astronauts have been widely used as a plot device in science fiction.

Overview

Ancient astronauts proponents suggest that aliens came to Earth long ago, citing such evidence as this ancient Mesopotamian cylinder seal as proof of advanced technological influences

Proponents of the ancient astronaut hypotheses often maintain that humans are either descendants or creations of extraterrestrial beings who landed on Earth thousands of years ago. An associated idea is that humans evolved independently, but that much of human knowledge, religion, and culture came from extraterrestrial visitors in ancient times, in that ancient astronauts acted as a "mother culture". Ancient astronaut proponents also believe that travelers from outer space, referred to as "astronauts" (or "spacemen") built many of the structures on Earth (such as Egyptian pyramids and the Moai stone heads of Easter Island) or aided humans in building them.