Ancient Aliens, Yes or No?

[Franklin]

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.

This guy presenting this is a little wordy. The stuff about the "face" begins at about 3:30, and the 3-D flyover is right at the end. Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSTb16AGj7I

 

[lennier1]

Having the idea spearheaded by publicity-hungry crackpots like Erich von Däniken doesn't exactly help the idea.

But these "documentaries" often help to highlight that ancient societies had a lot more knowledge than we give them credit for. Knowledge which had been lost and then rediscovered centuries later (astronomy, mathematics, structural analysis, ...). Just look at a concrete structure and you have a prime example for an area where this happened.
That recent Discovery Channel show highlighted one idea: To our knowledge the wheel has been known for at least over eleven thousand years. Is it that unlikely that some of those old societies put two and two together and came up with things we'd usually consider modern achievements, like a primitive circular saw?

But then again I'm one of those who also believe there's some truth behind the myth of Atlantis (after all, Troy was nothing but a myth for centuries as well). It's not that unlikely that it was a coastal or island city state which had prospered far beyond its peers, thanks to knowledge and derived technology. Compare a modern "first world" nation to your garden-variety banana republic in Central Africa and you'll see a similar gap in development.

 

[Deckerd]

There were an awful lot more references to Troy (Ilium) than the one mention of Atlantis. Moreover, many towns were swallowed up by the Med at various times in history. There's nothing mystical about it. Nothing magical.

 

[marillion]

I've seen a few of the shows currently running and I do think they are pretty entertaining. I scoff at the idea of modern day "UFO" stories so I have to scoff at these as well.

Possible? sure.. Probable? In my mind, no...

I do believe there is intelligent life out there somewhere and I do believe we may very well meet up with it.

I think these ancient drawing and sculptures can be just as easily interpreted as depictions of their gods, as much as they could be about aliens.. Of course the argument could be made that these aliens were seen as gods by those peoples.

As for the comments above about angels, aliens and God.. I believe that if God exists as I believe Him to exist, we're not his only creation.. I think that any alien species out there also probably has some kind of religeous belief system.. Who is to say they don't believe in the same God that a majority of this planet believes in?

 

[lennier1]

My favorite "proof" of astronauts are those figurines with their "helmets". Do people really think pharaohs and African tribes were the only people who used ceremonial/decorative headwear?

 

[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

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.

I think its sad that people want to take the hard earned accomplishments (even if many are lost) of human civilization(s) and credit them to species from another planet. What's more it was popularized for money by its various proponents and created a large group of "believers" who are sadly deluded by fake and spurious evidence.

http://ziddufacts.blogspot.com/2009/04/ancient-astronauts-debunked-idea.html

Daniken's Pottery Deception
Where is the proof for von Däniken's claims? Some of it was fraudulent. For example, he produced photographs of pottery that he claimed had been found in an archaeological dig. The pottery depicts flying saucers and was said to have been dated from Biblical times. However, investigators from Nova (the fine public-television science program) found the potter who had made the allegedly ancient pots. They confronted von Däniken with evidence of his fraud. His reply was that his deception was justified because some people would only believe if they saw proof ("The Case of the Ancient Astronauts," first aired 3/8/78, done in conjunction with BBC's Horizon and Peter Spry-Leverton)!

http://ziddufacts.blogspot.com/2009/04/aliens-from-space-where-did-this-idea_28.html

 

[sojourner]

I lament for what we have lost from the society that could build the Antikythera device.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism

 

[RJDiogenes]

In addition to the pottery fraud noted by RAMA, von Daniken also doctored the photographic evidence of genuine ancient art and artifacts.

 

[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.

I think its sad that people want to take the hard earned accomplishments (even if many are lost) of human civilization(s) and credit them to species from another planet. What's more it was popularized for money by its various proponents and created a large group of "believers" who are sadly deluded by fake and spurious evidence.

Honestly, I couldn't care either way. If humans did it, awesome. Go humans! If aliens did it, then I find that just as awesome because it changes everything we know about the universe. Personally, I have no preference about either outcome. I just wish we had more evidence and could learn how humans managed to accomplish some of the things they did.

But really, if you plop down a pyramid in front of me and ask me who built it, I'd be forced to say humans. Humans exist. I have proof of humans. I don't have proof of aliens, so saying aliens did it is being incredibly presumptuous.

 

[KJbushway]

I have seen the show and I actually watch it when it comes on new, not as a source of information though. Do I believe Rosewell is a cover-up, most of me would like to believe that aliens visited, but it could have been a weather balloon.

I do see sense in the theory that other life out there exists, I don't necessarily believe that Earth was just some random event. However, I believe that we can't get evidence at our current level of knowledge. Any planet we see isn't the way we see it, light takes a long time to get to Earth depending on what your looking at, so if you see a planet that could be another Earth, by the time we develop a warp drive or wormhole drive, it could be at the end of its life. As for why wouldn't they meet us, well there is some Character flaws in humans that could make us dangerous to them. We may not meet their first contact protocols.

As for the comments above about angels, aliens and God.. I believe that if God exists as I believe Him to exist, we're not his only creation.. I think that any alien species out there also probably has some kind of religeous belief system.. Who is to say they don't believe in the same God that a majority of this planet believes in?

though I don't believe in god myself, I can see another intelligent race having a believe system. Our intelligence is both our friend and enemy. The believe in a god and afterlife is possible becuase humans fear the end. We are scared that out life work will be for nothing, that we can't see if our legacies go on through our family. But I also believe that if an alien race visits us they would likely not have a religion system any more. As intelligence and rational thinking increases doubts about some magical beings disipate. Example: as intelligence increased believe in Zeus, athena, went to the waste side. Roman Catholic took its place.
I through my own self-ish thoughts hope that one day that goes to the waste side as well, with nothing taking its place.