History Main / AncientAstronauts

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' trope is implied, with [[ The Goddess Sothis, whose consciousness inhabits protagonist's body, being in legends said to have descended from the celestial body known as The Blue Sea Star. While Sothis herself does not talk much about her past, due to having a form of amnesia, and has immense powers bordering on divine, and is incredibly long lived, she is also a biological, physical entity capable of both dying and reproducing, who possessed knowledge of advanced technology, and was considered ''False God'' by some of her enemies, lending credibility to interpretation that she is ''merely'' a very powerful and ancient alien.]]

* Used in ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'', when early hominins discovers TheMonolith. See the "Literature" section.

* Features rather prominently by the end of ''Series/{{Tracker}}''. Cirronians visited Earth, hid the Vardian DoomsdayDevice to keep it safe, and interbred with humanity to create a guardian line. Cole also mentions things like Stonehenge and the Pyramids when he explains things to Mel. Most Migar folk belive it's a myth by the time of the series, but Mel and Cole find [[AllMythsAreTrue it's all true.]]

** The upcoming ''First Contact'' story pack will focus heavily on interactions with pre-spaceflight aliens, which can veer into this if the aliens are sufficiently primitive (i.e. the Iron Age or earlier).

** It should be noted that the Nazca lines translate to something like "For a good time, call..."

This theory is often crossed over with {{Atlantis}}. Essentially runs on GodGuise. May result in BoldlyComing. If the unknown ancestors sport special abilities which aren't derived from technology, compare OurAncestorsAreSuperheroes. Usually overlaps with NeglectfulPrecursors, as the aliens are generally implied to have lost interest in humans and/or concluded we're [[HumansAreFlawed unworthy]] [[HumansAreMorons successors]], ages ago. SubTrope of AllTheoriesAreTrue. See also BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy, for individuals rather than entire societies.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' reveals [[spoiler:that the Biblical creation story is apparently more true than anyone would have guessed. Some manner of older and "original" apex race evolved on Earth long before man, and manipulated evolution to create the human race "in [their] image" to serve as slave labor, and used the so-called [[AppliedPhlebotinum "Pieces of Eden"]] to control them. Two humans (funnily enough named Adam and Eve) stole one of the Pieces (referred to as the "Apple of Eden" or "the Apple") and fled the city with it. This led to a war between the humans and the precursors that waged until a global extinction event wiped out most life on Earth. The surviving humans rebuilt and "truth became myth" (i.e. the memories of the First Civilization became the various religious mythologies of the world). It's also implied that the Assassins are descendants of a union between a human and a member of the First Civilization, which would explain their nigh-supernatural abilities and immunity to the Pieces of Eden. The Templars are revealed to have been forging skeletons of evolutionary links between humans and other simians, including the famous "Lucy"]].

* [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter Before Däniken there was]] Italian [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Peter_Kolosimo Peter Kolosimo]] (1922–1984), whose best-selling books such as ''Terra senza tempo'' ("Timeless Earth") were the first ones to present these kinds of ideas. In fact, Kolosimo was ''the'' major influencer of Däniken (read: [[{{UsefulNotes/Plagiarism}} Däniken ripped off Kolosimo]]). He was also a {{Dirty Communist|s}} who quoted heavily from Soviet "authorities" -- which plays into who heavily promoted this in the first place. After his death, he went into obscurity and his books are no longer published, but due to Däniken and later Tsoukalos, his ideas will be in pop culture and pseudoscience/conspiracy-circle currency for a long, long time. Besides Kolosimo, Däniken ripped off a lot of other people too. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Charroux Robert Charroux,]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Morning_of_the_Magicians Louis Pauwels & Jacques Bergier,]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brinsley_Le_Poer_Trench,_8th_Earl_of_Clancarty Brinsley Le Poer Trench]] all wrote pre-''Chariots of the Gods?'' books touting the theory that Däniken pretty clearly borrowed from as well. One supposes that's what you get when a convicted embezzler and fraudster (prior to writing this or later books, he served multiple terms in prison for different thefts) writes something.

** In Creator/GrantMorrison's ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers'' and ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', the ComicBook/NewGods are revealed to have visited Earth during the prehistoric era, influencing human culture and providing humans with technology.

* ''WebOriginal/OrionsArm'': The [[https://orionsarm.com/eg-topic/45bd5c0041e98 Muuh]] had supposedly come to out solar system a very long time ago, leaving artifacts on Titan. Given how unsuited Earth is for them, though (Muuh can only survive in ultra-cold temperatures like those on Titan), they probably didn't come down here.

%%* ''TabletopGame/D20Modern'': Used fairly often, especially the ''TabletopGame/DarkMatter'' setting.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E3DeathToTheDaleks "Death to the Daleks"]]: The Doctor suggests the Exxilons might have traveled to Earth and taught the Peruvian Incas how to build their pyramids, as they were too "primitive" to do it themselves.

* The Wandjina deities of [[Myth/AboriginalAustralianMyths Western Australian Dreaming]] are often touted as evidence of ancient astronauts by all manner of western, mostly white bitches. This is due to the admitely peculiar nature of their depictions: circular objects surrounding their faces, which look like astronaut helmets, but are actually supposed to be [[HolyHalo haloes]] of feathers and lightning. Thankfully, Aboriginal activist groups have put the crazies in their place with legal copyright claims that have successfully eradicated most of this nonsense.

** ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder'' reveals that multiple "Gods" (including Zeus) are actually aliens, presumably they too visited Earth and influencedearly cultures.

* The 1997 Australian animated film ''WesternAnimation/GoToHell!'' has an alien called G.D. (aka God) leading a ColonyShip to Earth, where his rebellious son Red (aka Satan) attempts to foil his plan to rule the world.

* The Australian satire ''Go to Hell!'' (1997) by Ray Nowland has a lot of fun with this trope: CorruptCorporateExecutive G.D. builds a space ark to escape the destruction of his planet, planning to set himself up on an InsignificantLittleBluePlanet in a GodGuise. But he's opposed by his rebellious teenage son Red (who bears an unusual resemblance to {{Satan}}) who gives humanity a helping hand.

* Spoofed in ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'' when the prehistoric main characters pass a giant FlyingSaucer frozen in an ice cave. Bonus points are awarded for having the Neanderthal baby flash the [[Franchise/StarTrek Vulcan salute]] at it.

* The ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' story ''Flight 714'' takes place on an island regularly visited by Ancient Astronauts and their "initiates" right up to the present day.

** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' reveals that the protheans took a very hands-on approach to [[spoiler:the asari. Bring Javik to Thessia with you and he'll reveal that much of one of the older asari religions is based on their actions. They deflected meteor strikes, kept hostile races away, gave them gifts of technology...Liara is staggered by the implications. It's not entirely clear how much of this is true; while a lot of it fits the evidence, Javik also has a habit of lying about his time for his own amusement]].

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' reveals [[spoiler:that the Biblical creation story is apparently more true than anyone would have guessed. Some manner of SufficientlyAdvancedAlien [[note]]Technically, they are an older and "original" apex race evolved on Earth long before they engineered humans in their image, thus not being technically aliens[[/note]] species manipulated evolution to create the human race "in [their] image" to serve as slave labor, and used the so-called [[AppliedPhlebotinum "Pieces of Eden"]] to control them. Two humans (funnily enough named Adam and Eve) stole one of the Pieces (referred to as the "Apple of Eden" or "the Apple") and fled the city with it. This led to a war between the humans and the godlike aliens that waged until a global extinction event wiped out most life on Earth. The surviving humans rebuilt and "truth became myth" (i.e. the memories of the First Civilization became the various religious mythologies of the world). It's also implied that the Assassins are descendants of a union between a human and a member of the First Civilization, which would explain their nigh-supernatural abilities and immunity to the Pieces of Eden. The Templars are revealed to have been forging skeletons of evolutionary links between humans and other simians, including the famous "Lucy"]].

* According to the backstory of ''Videogame/DestroyAllHumans'', the [[TheGreys Furons]] visited Earth long ago and [[BoldlyComing interbred with the locals]], meaning that every human has trace Furon DNA, a necessity for a race that's now reliant on cloning to reproduce and thus your reason to wreak havok upon them.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E8TheLieOfTheLand "The Lie of the Land"]] lampshades this trope as the Monks [[Brainwashed brainwash]] almost the whole of humanity and, in order to justify their new rule over Earth, pose as aliens who have arrived in primeval times and guided humanity's development ever since.

* Music/Jorge Ben Jor's "Errare Humanum Est" questions if humanity's urge to explore the stars wasn't because "were the gods astronauts".
* Music/GammaRay's "Valley of the Kings" and its intro track "The Landing" on the album ''Somewhere out in Space'' are about aliens arriving on Earth in ancient times and being seen as gods by early humans.

* In ''Film/SaveTheGreenPlanet'', the executive gives a speech claiming humans were created by the aliens based on their DNA. This narrative includes many classic features of the trope, including the creation of [[OneMillionBC cavemen]] and a ShoutOut to the beginning of ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''. [[spoiler:It turns out that he was correct, and the alien precursors actually look like people from ancient Chinese/Buddhist art.]]

** In "Corner of the Eye", the aliens tell Father Anton Jonascu that their people visited Earth millennia ago and their teachings shaped the development of every human religion. However, like everything else they tell him, this turns out to be a lie.
** In "Sarcophagus", while searching for evidence of an advanced Neolithic culture in the Wrangell Mountains in UsefulNotes/{{Alaska}}, a team of archaeologists discovers an amber-like cocoon in a burial chamber which has been undisturbed for 10,000 years. They initially believe that the skeleton in the cocoon belonged to someone with deformities but they later come to the conclusion that he was an alien. After Curtis Grainger touches the amber, he begins to receive psychic images of the alien being attacked and killed by Neolithic tribesmen. From these images, he determines that the cocoon was placed in the burial chamber as the tribesmen thought that he was a god.
** {{Discussed|Trope}} in "Joyride". Lil Vaughn refers to the theory that aliens seeded Earth with their DNA millions of years earlier and humanity evolved as a result. This is similar to the storyline of the earlier episodes "Double Helix" and "The Origin of Species", though those episodes involved {{Ultraterrestrials}} as opposed to true aliens.

* ''Series/{{Star Trek|The Original Series}}'' has had a few of these, most notably Apollo (and by reference the other Olympians) and [[WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries Kukulkan]].

** Humans also are Ancient Astronauts in the TOS episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E17APieceOfTheAction A Piece Of The Action]]": a text on Chicago gangs of the 1920's was accidentally left on Sigma Iotia II a century earlier. It subsequently became regarded as a holy book, and the inhabitants built their entire civilization around its depiction of gangland culture. At the end of the episode they realize that one of their communicators got left behind, and Kirk suspects they'll be able to [[HereWeGoAgain reverse engineer it]]...

** Then there are the Voth, who are descended from dinosaurs, having evolved on Earth millions of years ago and leaving during a cataclysm. After traveling for who knows how long, they settled in the Delta Quadrant and forgot their origins, with their official doctrine claiming that they are the first sentient beings to evolve in that part of space. To say otherwise is heresy. While they are undoubtedly more advanced than the Federation, they are not "millions of years" more advanced.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth". The alien being Kukulcan visited Earth in the distant past and was the basis for the Mayan god of the same name, the Toltec god Quetzalcoatl, and the Chinese dragons.

Proponents of this theory also espouse that ancient construction projects like the pyramids and Stonehenge are clearly too advanced and [[RealityIsUnrealistic a little too fantastic]] for ancient man to have constructed without help from a more advanced civilization. Or that since there are pyramids in the Americas, Egypt, and China... you guessed it, they all got their idea from aliens. Other popular sites include the [[EenieMeenieMinyMoai Moai of Easter Island]] and the Nazca Lines.

[[folder:Other Sites]]
* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': [[http://scp-wiki.net/scp-875 SCP-875 ("War Criminals")]]. The pictures inside the SCP-875 pyramid indicate that the SCP-875-3 InsectoidAliens taught the ancient Egyptians how to build the Pyramids.
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