Ancient Aliens, Yes or No?

[TrickyDickie]

High resolution Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of the "Face on Mars". Taken using the onboard HiRISE camera.

No face. It was an artefact of low-resolution image and the propensity of human brain to see faces everywhere (paraeidolia).

As for mathematical relations, if you look hard enough (and squint a little), there are funny mathematical relationship between everything.

If NASA had been able to offer more angles, different times of day, etc, it would have been more evidentiary. Not faulting them for not having the time, resources, etc, to do it on that mission, but multiple angles/lighting conditions, etc, would have gone farther to make their case. If they have the opportunity to do that in future missions, then I will be convinced they're right.

 

[Arrqh]

If NASA had been able to offer more angles, different times of day, etc, it would have been more evidentiary. Not faulting them for not having the time, resources, etc, to do it on that mission, but multiple angles/lighting conditions, etc, would have gone farther to make their case. If they have the opportunity to do that in future missions, then I will be convinced they're right.

So there's a low res, high contrast image that looks like a face and a high res, medium contrast image of the same structure that does not... and you put more weight into the low res one? The high res one should be all the evidence you need.

Out of curiosity, I took that image that iguana posted, heavily increased the contrast and downsampled/reupscaled to reduce the detail... and it starts looking like a face again. To claim that you need more "evidence" to be convinced is to ignore what is right in front of you.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

What I am interested in is who built the Spinx? I have heard it was thousands of years older than the Pyramids determined by the water erosion. The Pyramids have vertical water erosion whereas the Spinx has horizontal water erosion as if it was sitting in water of a long period of time and from what I understand that area of the world had sitting water 5000 years before the Pyramids were built.

It's disputed. Some have suggested that it could only have come from prolonged rainfall (not sitting water, btw). Others disagree completely with this speculation. Even if it were true, they'd have to find the last time there was prolonged rainfall in Egypt, which is also disputed. Then there are those who believe that the body was much older and some Pharaoh added the head later, so there might be two questions (who built the body, who built the head?).

The mainstream theory is that it was built a few generations after Khufu, fwiw.

 

[TrickyDickie]

What I am interested in is who built the Spinx? I have heard it was thousands of years older than the Pyramids determined by the water erosion. The Pyramids have vertical water erosion whereas the Spinx has horizontal water erosion as if it was sitting in water of a long period of time and from what I understand that area of the world had sitting water 5000 years before the Pyramids were built.

It's disputed. Some have suggested that it could only have come from prolonged rainfall (not sitting water, btw). Others disagree completely with this speculation. Even if it were true, they'd have to find the last time there was prolonged rainfall in Egypt, which is also disputed. Then there are those who believe that the body was much older and some Pharaoh added the head later, so there might be two questions (who built the body, who built the head?).

The mainstream theory is that it was built a few generations after Khufu, fwiw.

I remember reading somewhere about a theory that the overall appearance was originally of Anubis and that the head was changed later.

 

[Noname Given]

Is it possible? Yes. That said, I do think Erik von Daniken and some of the others who expouse the idea go a bit overboard.

Do I believe one way or the other? Honestly, no. Like I said, I do think it's possible; but my honest question would be:

If hummanity was geneticly manipulated by such beings and ctreated as a slave race; and Earth held raw materials that they would travel such a distnce for, etc. After doing all this over countless Millenia (some of these folks claim it was started 450 thousand years ago, and the Sumerian tablets that contain stories about all this approx. 6 or so thousand years ago); why would they suddenly stop, leave and not return?

 

[Alidar Jarok]

What I am interested in is who built the Spinx? I have heard it was thousands of years older than the Pyramids determined by the water erosion. The Pyramids have vertical water erosion whereas the Spinx has horizontal water erosion as if it was sitting in water of a long period of time and from what I understand that area of the world had sitting water 5000 years before the Pyramids were built.

It's disputed. Some have suggested that it could only have come from prolonged rainfall (not sitting water, btw). Others disagree completely with this speculation. Even if it were true, they'd have to find the last time there was prolonged rainfall in Egypt, which is also disputed. Then there are those who believe that the body was much older and some Pharaoh added the head later, so there might be two questions (who built the body, who built the head?).

The mainstream theory is that it was built a few generations after Khufu, fwiw.

I remember reading somewhere about a theory that the overall appearance was originally of Anubis and that the head was changed later.

Doesn't Anubis have a human body? It wouldn't make much sense to be the exact opposite of what it looks like now. I'd say more likely to be a cat or lion, personally. Or maybe it was a Sphynx, but a different head and the Pharaoh wanted his own head instead. Or maybe they didn't care that the head and body were out of proportion and that is the head that was already there. Keep in mind the body was buried in sand for centuries, so it's difficult to use erosion as evidence of age here.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Hasn't the Sphinx been vandalized a few times over the years? Isn't that what happened to the nose, for example?

 

[TrickyDickie]

It's disputed. Some have suggested that it could only have come from prolonged rainfall (not sitting water, btw). Others disagree completely with this speculation. Even if it were true, they'd have to find the last time there was prolonged rainfall in Egypt, which is also disputed. Then there are those who believe that the body was much older and some Pharaoh added the head later, so there might be two questions (who built the body, who built the head?).

The mainstream theory is that it was built a few generations after Khufu, fwiw.

I remember reading somewhere about a theory that the overall appearance was originally of Anubis and that the head was changed later.

Doesn't Anubis have a human body?

I should have said that the theory was that the Sphinx was originally the Egyptian jackal god. Anubis is the joining of the jackal god with a human.

 

[RAMA]

This was a big thing in the 70s, debunked in the 80s and 90s, and now its back in the limelight again for some bizarre reason.

RAMA

 

[RoJoHen]

This was a big thing in the 70s, debunked in the 80s and 90s, and now its back in the limelight again for some bizarre reason.

RAMA

I'm not sure it can ever really be "debunked." So much has been lost over the ages that it's probably impossible to know for sure one way or the other.

 

[Amaris]

The general consensus is that it was built sometime around the reign of Khufu. Other than at, it's just too difficult to pin down. I've no doubt future generations will discover more about it, but until then, we just don't know for certain exactly when.

 

[stj]

There is no evidence at all of the existence of alien life elsewhere in the universe, at present. But evidence shows that that if there is life, there is a one hundred percent probability of intelligent life. This just shows you there's more to science than a narrow-minded, positivistic view of evidence. (Especially the fixation on laboratory experiments.)

In a wider view, the probability of life is quite high, but the incidence of intelligent life could be negligible. Worse, there is no indication that any civilization will expend the enormous resourced needed for any sort of interstellar travel. But if they could, what would arrive here would almost certainly not resemble any biology or technology we know.

On the other hand, so far as I know not one argument for ancient astronauts stands up to critical scrutiny. The assumption that ancient men could not do this or that is the key to all the arguments. This is not an argument based on physical impossibility per se, or on self-contradiction in the hypothesis, or on a generalization from experience and experiment. It's just a prejudice.

In short, the idea is not to be taken seriously.

 

[sojourner]

Is it just me or does a statement like this:

Worse, there is no indication that any civilization will expend the enormous resourced needed for any sort of interstellar travel.

Read like a contradiction to a statement like this:

But if they could, what would arrive here would almost certainly not resemble any biology or technology we know.

Though no, I don't believe in ancient aliens. The idea only belittles the accomplishments of our ancestors.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

What I am interested in is who built the Spinx? I have heard it was thousands of years older than the Pyramids determined by the water erosion. The Pyramids have vertical water erosion whereas the Spinx has horizontal water erosion as if it was sitting in water of a long period of time and from what I understand that area of the world had sitting water 5000 years before the Pyramids were built.

I what to know what is supposedly in the secret chamber under the Sphinx?

 

[RoJoHen]

Though no, I don't believe in ancient aliens. The idea only belittles the accomplishments of our ancestors.

Unless aliens really did it, in which case your giving our idiot ancestors way too much credit.

 

[ThankQ]

I don't believe in aliens, but I do believe in angels and demons. I believe ancient man got help from the offspring of demons and human women. In the Bible it says the "Sons of God" hooked up with human women and produced offspring who were mighty men of renown. I think they are referred to as "Nephilium".

I think these offspring were far more intelligent and stronger than your average human and helped their "brother man" do the things they did. I also think this is one of the reason God brought about the flood because these half human/half demon folks were messing up God's plan and diluting what He wanted Humans to know and understand.

I just don't buy aliens with technology to span billions of miles of space, plopping down here on earth to help a couple of dumb humans stack stones on top of one another. If an alien race really was going to interfere with the human race it would make more sense to actually give them stuff important like cures for diseases or easier and quicker ways to grow food than to build a pyramid.

If an alien race were to find Earth they would do one of three things.

1. Look at what we have done to the planet and move on.
2. Enslave us
3. Help us either overtly or covertly.

Don't you understand that the Bible isn't describing real events? The stories are allegorical and meant for a society that is two millennia out of date.

What I find fascinating are folks who actually have a book from God telling them "Hey, I exist and here is how things are" yet they refuse to believe, but have no proof of aliens existing, but will believe in them instead.

I just don't believe in aliens because the Bible states God made us "a little lower than the angels". Angels are powerful beings who don't need space ships and if we are just a little lower than they are I don't believe He created something else that is in between us.
...
Even if the aliens got lucky and flew by us and decided to stop in and have a look, I still don't see them caring much about us and if they did, like I asked in an earlier post, why didn't they give us something that matters like cures for cancer or better food production?

Why would aliens have to be "between" us and angles?

Assuming the Bible is literal truth, I don't see how that precludes the idea that God could have several little planets going.

And why didn't the aliens offer us cures and geometry and chemistry and biology?

I don't know. Why didn't GOD?

I imagine this means nothing to you at all, but scientifically speaking, the probability of another planet with life is far greater than the probability that any of the Bronze Age cultures' tribal deities, including Yahweh, actually exist.

What I find fascinating are folks who actually have a book from God telling them "Hey, I exist and here is how things are" yet they refuse to believe, but have no proof of aliens existing, but will believe in them instead.

As for this bit, I can write a book, call myself a god and set down rules and tell people to worship me. I can do that. YOU can do that. Anyone can do that. Oh, and in my book, I'm going to include the fact that the existance of the book proves that everything in it is true.

Now, would you worship me, or would you call the guys with the straight jackets?

 

[Deckerd]

There is no evidence at all of the existence of alien life elsewhere in the universe, at present. But evidence shows that that if there is life, there is a one hundred percent probability of intelligent life.

What evidence? What probability? In calculating the probability of life in the universe you should discount the Earth. One of the statisticians will tell you why.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

There is no evidence at all of the existence of alien life elsewhere in the universe, at present. But evidence shows that that if there is life, there is a one hundred percent probability of intelligent life.

What evidence? What probability? In calculating the probability of life in the universe you should discount the Earth. One of the statisticians will tell you why.

I'm not a statistician but it sounds like selection bias based on a sample of one. If a sapient species had not evolved on the Earth, I wouldn't be typing this.

 

[Deckerd]

If a sapient species had not evolved on the Earth, I wouldn't be typing this.

Oh I don't know.

[snigger]

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

If a sapient species had not evolved on the Earth, I wouldn't be typing this.

Oh I don't know.

[snigger]

Damn, you sussed me out. Ook, ook. Anyway, I'd better get back to this script for Hamlet I've been working on.