Ancient Aliens (2009–…): Season 18, Episode 13 - Decoding the Alien Glyphs - full transcript

Prehistoric
rock art depicting astronauts.

Oh, look at that.

- The spaceman?
- The spaceman!

Exactly! Look at the helmet.

An ancient temple

covered
in otherworldly writings.

It's all here,
in this sanctuary,

the whole story of
humanity's place in the stars.

Incredible petroglyphs
of mysterious flying objects.

So this one here
looks like a UFO.

For more than a decade,



Ancient Aliens has examined

the oldest and most
mysterious carvings on Earth

up close and in person.

Now we take a look back

at some of
the most extraordinary glyphs.

Glyphs, that according to
ancient astronaut theorists,

tell a worldwide
story of alien visitation.

On Ancient Aliens, we have
traveled across the world

examining some of the most
mysterious stone carvings,

often referred to as glyphs.

Our ancestors spent countless
hours carving images and symbols

as a record
of what they thought were

the most important
pieces of their history.

Many glyphs depict strange,
humanoid figures,



and tell stories of visitors
coming down from the sky.

William Henry got to see
some of these incredible glyphs

up close in
the mountains of northern Italy.

Val Camonica, Italy.

June 13, 2019.

Ancient astronaut
theorist William Henry

has traveled to this
UNESCO world heritage site

to investigate what he believes

could be forensic evidence
that the early civilizations

of this region came into
contact with extraterrestrials.

Hi, I'm William.
Nice to meet you.

Joining him is Luca Giarelli,

the head
of the Val Camonica Historical

and Anthropological Society.

Luca has spent years
studying this mysterious region

of northern Italy and wants to
show William the rock carvings

for which this
alpine valley is famous.

This place is massive.

I'm ready, let's go.

I'm here at Val
Camonica because it is

a treasure trove of images
from the ancient world that have

been well-documented
and studied by scholars.

They don't agree on the meaning
of the images but some of them

are very open minded
to the ancient astronaut theory.

Footprints. Wow!

Look like deer.

Look at this, incredible.

Wow.

Oh, look at that.

The spaceman, exactly.
Look at the helmet!

Right. It's like he's glowing.

The Camunian Rose.

Wow.

19 Camunian Roses?

Archaeologists call this

mysterious symbol
the Camunian Rose

because of
its flower-like shape.

While its exact meaning
is lost to history,

some believe
it to be a religious symbol

or a representation of
the movement of the stars.

But ancient astronaut
theorists suggest it might

also depict something else...

the vessel
that brought these helmeted

figures to Val Camonica.

Look at that.
That looks like a spaceship.

It's like you'd look up
in the sky,

and you would see this kind of

twirling,
spinning ship in the sky.

It seems to me, just looking
at it, they are trying to talk

about beings coming from other
worlds, maybe to this place.

Tell me about
that five-pointed star.

Mm-hmm.

Sometimes
the-the stars mean energy,

like energy from the stars
would come to this place

or star beings
would come to this place.

- Yeah.
- Mm-hmm.

Okay, so this is
like a newspaper then.

It says, this was in
the sky above us

at some point,
and this spaceman came down

and maybe met
the Camunian people.

According
to the ancient stories,

the city of Turin, just
155 miles from Val Camonica,

was founded by a character
from Greek mythology called

Phaeton who came
to Earth from the stars.

Legend states that Turin
was founded by the god Phaeton,

who is a son of the sun god
Helios and in the myth

of Phaeton,
we learn the story of how

he descended
to Earth in a fiery chariot.

Perhaps crashing
into Mount Musinè.

This also led
to something fortuitous

because he brought gifts
to this place.

He had great skills,
was a metallurgist.

And taught this
to the local people.

When we look
at myths such as the myth of Phaeton,

here is
really the story of a UFO

landing on a mountain
and interacting with the locals.

Given the-the
connection with the spacemen

that are etched into the rock,
that we have to be open

to the possibility that what
the ancient artist is trying

to portray is something
that he actually saw in the sky,

something
coming out of the heavens.

Is there a connection
between the stone carvings found

at Val Camonica and the story of
Phaeton's descent from the sky?

And do other clues exist here

that point
to ancient alien contact?

Were there any other cultures

that were
connected with the valley?

- What sort of engravings?
- Uh...

Mm-hmm. Oh, the horned god,
yeah. Right.

That means the Celts were here.

So is the only location
where we see the spaceman?

- Even deeper into the woods?
- Yeah.

I'd love to go. All right.

Luca guides William
up a steep portion of the valley

for a rare look
at another carving

hidden from public view.

I'm all right, thanks.

Wow.

We're-we're like on
the edge of a cliff here.

Wait a minute, that-that's one
of them, isn't it right there?

Yeah. How cool!

Wow!

- Like the other one.
- Yeah, these are just like the other guys.

Exactly.

- The detail is amazing.
- Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

There's clearly
some kind of an exchange

that's happening here.

It's like they're
making a photograph

of what happened at this place.

They're trying to say,
"At this spot,

this is what we saw here."

Of-of all places
to find a rock like this.

This is a very secretive,
almost initiatory place

where select people would be
brought here to be told

- this story about these extraterrestrials.
- Yeah.

Do the so-called "spacemen"

of Val Camonica commemorate
an extraterrestrial visitation,

as ancient astronaut theorists
suggest?

Perhaps
further clues can be found

by examining an Egyptian
temple covered in hieroglyphs...

that tell the story
of the creation of humankind.

Of all the mysterious
glyphs we've examined

on Ancient Aliens,
some of the most astounding

can be found in Egypt, where
they're known as hieroglyphs.

One the most extensive
collections of hieroglyphs

is at the Temple of Edfu,
and in 2018,

Ramy Romany gave us
a rare opportunity

to see them for ourselves.

Edfu, Egypt. April 2018.

Egyptologist Ramy Romany has
invited author and researcher

Andrew Collins
to join him on a visit

to one of the most impressive
and best-preserved shrines

in Egypt, the Temple of Edfu,
located on the west bank

of the Nile,
465 miles south of Cairo.

Look at this temple.

This is, like,
my most favorite façade

in all of
the temples of ancient Egypt.

According to mainstream
archaeologists, Edfu is believed

to have been built
sometime between 237 and 57 BC.

It is dedicated to
the falcon-headed god, Horus...

The son of Osiris and Isis.

This temple was one of
the last temples that was ever

built in ancient Egypt,
during the Roman times.

When they built
that temple, they were like,

"We want
to preserve the stories.

"So let's
gather all the mythology

of ancient Egypt and
try to put it in one temple."

It took 150 years
to make this happen.

And then finally,
we have the book

of ancient Egyptian mythology.

It's right in front of us
on all these walls.

Every wall
is absolutely covered,

uh, in hieroglyphs and images,
not only of the foundation

of ancient Egypt
and the first temple,

but also how
the world came into being.

How Egypt came into being,
how the universe

was essentially
founded in the first place.

I mean,
there's just so much here.

The most sacred
part of Edfu is its inner sanctum,

featuring a 12-foot-tall
granite stone.

This is it, right here.

This is how it all began.

Every symbol, every text,
every little drawing in here

represents the most sacred thing
for ancient Egyptians.

The question that humans now

still ask themselves,
"How did it all began?

What created us?"
Every religion talks about it.

Scientist tries to figure out.

Ancient Egyptians had an answer,
and it was right there.

Right on top
of this is the pyramidion.

That pyramidion is
the primeval mound

that appeared in the middle of
marshes where all the gods came

and landed on for the first
time to start creating humanity.

This is
the beginning of humanity.

And the pyramidion is
almost like a miniature

of what we see at Giza,
with the Great Pyramid,

uh, which is so fascinating,
because what we have here is

a focus of all of
these chapels finishing

with this incredible structure
pointing towards the stars.

It's actually pointing towards

the origins
of the gods themselves.

There's another piece
of evidence here

that you might like.

This is the boat

or a symbol of the boat

that they believed
the gods came on to the first

primeval stone.

- Oh, that's quite extraordinary.
- The first primeval mound.

The gods would have arrived
on this ship.

So it's all here, in this
sanctuary, the whole story

of humanity's beginning,
you know, its place

in the stars,
and how it arrived here

in the first place. This to me

strongly suggests
that they were aware

that our origins are
found amongst the stars.

Or could it just simply be

humans trying to make religions

explain what
science can't explain?

But I don't think
it's about religion.

This is about cosmology.

An ancient cosmology
that we're now beginning

to understand for the first
time, within science.

We can now essentially
say that the idea that

life came from the stars
is almost certainly a reality.

Whether it came here
on a meteorite, or whatever,

somehow
the ancient Egyptians knew this.

Are the ancient
hieroglyphs carefully inscribed

on the granite
stone at the Temple of Edfu

merely the fanciful notions
of ancient Egyptian priests,

or could they be based
on actual historical events?

Perhaps the answers
can be found

by examining an ancient glyph
that can only be seen

from the sky.

On Ancient Aliens,
we have traveled

around the world investigating
incredible glyphs that,

for me, prove we are
not alone in the universe.

Some of the most dramatic
examples of this are geoglyphs...

Enormous symbols
that have been carved

into the Earth and can
only be seen from the sky.

In 2018, David Childress
got a bird's-eye view of one

of the most amazing
geoglyphs we've ever examined.

Located in the
desert just west of the Arizona border,

an estimated
300 gigantic figures

can be seen
etched in the arid ground.

Known as the Blythe Intaglios,

these ancient carvings
depict animals, spirals,

and perhaps most significantly,
gigantic humanoid figures.

These intaglios are unique

in that they're always found on
the shorelines of ancient lakes

that existed
12,500 years ago and prior.

In April 2018,
ancient astronaut theorist

David Childress
traveled to Blythe to meet

with historian Patricia Robles
and Alfredo Figueroa,

an elder of
the local Chemehuevi tribe.

He is also known
to many in the region as

"The Guardian of the Glyphs."

David was eager to see

firsthand whether
the legends surrounding

these unique
geoglyphs could be true.

They can only be seen
from the air, really, right?

Well, they can be
seen from the ground

but you can see it all intact.

If you're walking on it,
you really don't know what

- you're walking on.
- Exactly. Yeah, right.

We'll be able to see it
with the drone, I think.

Oh, that's excellent,
you got a drone?

- Excellent, excellent.
- Yes, we got... Let me get...

- Oh, that's wonderful.
- It's the best way.

- Okay, let me get it.
- Thank you.

Who builds this and-and why?

The original tribes
here were the Aztecas.

- The Aztecs.
- Right.

- Okay.
- How about...

There he goes.

Wow, that's pretty interesting.

With the drone
camera, David, Patricia and Alfredo

are able to see the Blythe
Intaglios from a vantage point

that their creators
never could have...

At least, not without the
aid of some form of aircraft.

But if this is true,
then why were they created?

And for whom?

- All right, this is...
- Is Omecihuatl.

"Cihuatl" means "woman."

And she is pregnant,
right here, see.

She's like having a baby then.

- Aw, okay.
- And right next to her,

is the Ocelot.

Ocelot is the jaguar.

Okay, so you can see it's a cat
because it has a very long tail.

- Uh, is that...?
- Well, the tail is supposed to be

- like a "U."
- A loop.

And in the cosmos, it represents
the-the Big Dipper.

Here in this place,
they came down.

And because they descended from
the cosmos,

our ancestors created
these images

and aligned them
with the constellations.

So that we would
understand that story.

But of all the Blythe Intaglios,

the ones Alfredo is
most eager to show David are

those that are the largest
and arguably the most dramatic.

This is big. This thing is huge.

That's right.

They are the ones
representing the Aztec gods Kokopelli...

Better known as Quetzalcoatl...

And Cicimitl,
the Aztec star god.

Which glyph is this one?

What we're seeing here
is Kokopelli.

And he represents Quetzalcoatl.

The Aztec,
uh, god of Quetzalcoatl.

- So this one is...
- Cicimitl.

Cicimitl.

His face there.
You see his nose.

He's not like
a normal person, is he?

No, he looks just like a...
an E.T.

He looks like an
extraterrestrial, uh-huh, yeah.

An extraterrestrial?

Is it possible that these
incredible geoglyphs represent

not just mythological gods,
but actual alien beings

whose arrival on Earth was
witnessed by the Azteca people?

Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes,

and Alfredo Figueroa is
convinced that it was here,

the location of
the Aztecs' legendary home

of Aztlan where extraterrestrial
visitors came down from the sky.

Aztlan is very
important in Aztec mythology.

It was a place
where the gods came down

to give them
the information and prophecies

that the Aztecs had.

I mean, you're maintaining
that this whole area here,

around Blythe
and the Colorado River

is an ancient homeland
of-of the Aztecs

- and-and the gods, too?
- Yes.

The geoglyphs were made by...

the Nahuatl people.

The Nahuatl are the origin

of the Aztecas and the Mexicas.

So, they're the ones
that made 'em at-at first.

And then the Nahuatl
people made these geoglyphs

to-to honor...
the-the creator gods.

Right, and to not
forget where we came from.

Where we came from,
that's right.

Could it
be that Blythe, California

really was the ancestral
home of the Aztec people,

and that more
than 1,000 years ago

the area was visited
by extraterrestrial beings?

Ancient astronaut theorists
suggest that the answers may be

found by examining the most
mysterious glyphs of all.

Incredible images of visitors

from the sky.

Any discussion ofd
mysterious glyphs has to include

the incredible ancient rock
art of the Native Americans.

In 2013,
I got the rare opportunity

to examine
a remarkable collection

of petroglyphs in the Zuni
territory of New Mexico

with tribal elder,
Clifford Mahooty.

Located at an
elevation of over 6,000 feet,

this barren desert land
has been home to the Zuni

for at least 1,300 years.

Stretching
roughly 700 square miles,

it contains literally
thousands of ancient carvings

that most outsiders
have never laid eyes on.

And the Zuni
claim that some of these

petroglyphs depict
visitations from star beings.

To the Zuni people and other tribes,

there's a spiritual
connection with the star beings.

They're the ones that actually
rule the-the universe

or the world that we're on.

If you look at the petroglyphs,
there's a lot of references

to those type of, uh, entities.

There's definitely
evidence that aliens visited

North America
in the distant past.

And there are petroglyphs
throughout this part

of the country carved
by ancient Americans

that depict just that.

In 2013,
ancient astronaut theorist

Giorgio Tsoukalos,
traveled to New Mexico

to meet with Zuni elder
Clifford Mahooty,

and get an exclusive look
at this mysterious rock art.

What can you tell me about
this petroglyph right here?

Well, you know, if you can
see on top of that

where maybe a head would be,
it's kind of eroded off.

But on the next part of it
there's four compartments

look like extension
of something sticking out.

Yeah, almost like legs.

It could be something
that they saw in the air.

Isn't there a legend that beings
visited on top of this mountain?

Oh, yes.
Uh, on all of the mesas.

Look at that triangle up there.

And you've got the
dots around it that have been carved

into the rock that remind me
of, like, stars.

In conjunction with all
the stories of star people

descending from the sky in fiery
shields and things like this,

when I see a pattern like that,

I always think, what if this
is something that they saw,

and then
they carved onto a rock?

For something like this
that they saw maybe in the sky

or had an encounter,
they would come over here

and say, "Well, it, um,
it looked like this."

So they were put on there
and say, "Well, the best

of my-my recollection,
here's what it looked like."

So they would put it on there.
So this is a permanent record.

- Right. Oh, no. That is why stone was used.
- Yeah. Yeah.

- It is the only permanent record that we have.
- Mm-hmm.

Yes. And-and
the thing about it is that...

how does
it connect to present day?

I mean, there
are certain things out here

where you can look at it.

Okay, for example, the UFO.

We didn't know anything about
UFOs until the last century.

But all those years,
they knew about them.

They saw them,
and somebody says, "Okay,

I'm going to put this
down here for longevity."

And they say,
"Grandson, I want to show you

what I saw
when I was a young man."

And they'll come over
and show you,

that's exactly what I saw
and here's what it looked like.

Is it possible
that these ancient rock carvings

in remote areas
of the Zuni territory

provide a historical record
of extraterrestrial contact?

You can find petroglyphs
that are similar to those

in the Zuni territory all
throughout North America.

And surprisingly,
nearly identical drawings

can be found on
the other side of the planet.

New South Wales, Australia.

The Bulgandry preservation site

is one of numerous
sacred Indigenous locations

where ancient rock art
and engravings can be found.

Many are believed to
date back thousands of years.

Wow.

In February 2016, researcher

and publisher Giorgio Tsoukalos

traveled to Australia to meet

with Aboriginal Elder
Kevin Gavi Duncan

to learn about one of the oldest
carvings that can be found here.

So what are we looking at here?

So this image is
an actual image of what we say

is our Godfather
creator being, Baiame.

- That's what our people believe.
- Okay.

Baiame came from a place
that we call the Morning Star

- within the Mirrabooka.
- Mm-hmm.

"Mirra" means "stars"
and "book a" means "river."

That is the Milky Way
that flows across the night sky.

- No kidding? Okay.
- Yes.

And so he is one
of those Sky-Heroes

that has descended
from the Milky Way?

Yes.

He's a Sky-Hero.

And Baiame is carved

in the manner that you see,
he has his arms out.

And he holds
the Moon in one hand...

...and the Morning Star
in the other...

which is a bit like
what we call planet Earth.

And these are the two moons

which exist
around the Morning Star

and the Mirrabooka
that Baiame came from.

Mm-hmm.

And this is the canoe.

He sailed
through the river of life,

um, in the Mirrabooka across
the sky world.

So he sailed
through the Milky Way?

Yes, he sailed
through the Milky Way.

And this was his vessel

that he sailed,
and he landed, to the Earth.

And he crushed the top
of the mountain which is

the sacred mountain of
Mount Yengo not far from here.

And when he landed,
they said the fire

came from his feet and it burnt
the mount... the top

of the mountain and all
around it every time he landed.

So the landings
were always associated

- with a lot of noise, smoke and fire?
- Yes!

The fire trail that was

left when Baiame was
leaving the top of the mountain

into the sky world, when
Baiame had left was so bright...

people interpret
that as a spaceship

- of some kind as coming and going.
- Yeah.

But this is the way we simply
interpret Baiame's spaceship.

Right. But it's
because the vocabulary

didn't exist at the time.

- Yes.
- So, to me, those are all

wonderfully poetic ways to
describe eyewitness accounts

of things that were incredible.

Yes. This site is considered

around 8,000
to 10,000 years old.

Wow!

These carvings. These rock
paintings, these are our books.

They are considered to be

basically our truth.

Do the petroglyphs
found in Australia and North America

tell the same
story of alien visitation?

Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes,

and suggest that another series
of rock carvings

found in Australia

may reveal the truth about
how these otherworldly visitors

arrived on planet Earth.

On Ancient Aliens,
we've examined glyphs all over

the world and we find strikingly
similar imagery again and again.

But what
was completely unexpected

was the discovery of
what are clearly Egyptian

hieroglyphs not in Egypt,
but in Australia.

Central Coast,
New South Wales, Australia.

Deep in
the Brisbane Water National Park

is a mysterious site
known as the Gosford Glyphs.

The site consists of two
massive, eight-foot-high walls

engraved with
over 300 ancient carvings.

Carvings that experts say do
not resemble Indigenous artwork,

but Egyptian hieroglyphs.

After deciphering the texts,

21st century
Egyptologist Ray Johnson

believed them to
reveal the burial site

of Lord Nefer-Ti-Ru,

a member of the Egyptian
royal family

who died while visiting
the area with his brother

sometime
between 2637 and 2614 BC.

Absolutely beautiful out here.

Oh, I know.

While visiting the area in 2016,

Giorgio Tsoukalos

met with local
ancient astronaut theorist

Evan Strong
to get a firsthand look

at these enigmatic carvings.

- And here we are.
- Wow!

That's incredible.

I had no idea.
I mean, this looks totally

different than on pictures.

So what do
these hieroglyphs say?

Well, at least one
panel talks about two brothers,

two princes,
coming here from Egypt.

They were shipwrecked.

One of 'em ended up getting
bitten by a snake. He then died.

The theory is
then he was interred here

and that's why you've
got hieroglyphs here.

- Mm-hmm.
- Because he died here.

But there's these other
walls with a mixture of symbols.

This one over here,
it's more of a philosophical

astrophysics style
thing with symbols meaning

all sorts
of esoteric stuff so...

Now, have-have
these symbols at all been

interpreted by Egyptologists?

- There've been a few actually.
- Mm-hmm.

A few different
people have done that.

- And what was their reaction?
- Well, Raymond Johnson was one

of the first people
to come here and-and translate.

He actually sent some
of his translations off

to the Cairo library
and Dr. Abu Dhia Ghazi,

ended up saying, "Yep,
you're on the right track."

It's something
called pro to-Egyptian.

And how old
do you reckon these are?

We're thinking
because of the prevalence,

at least in one
panel of pro to-Egyptian,

that it's about 4,600 years old.

Wow. Are there any hieroglyphs

that stand out to you?

Yeah, definitely.
Follow me down here,

and I'll show you
this other one.

So this one here, um, we call

the UFO glyph and people have
called it that since they've

been coming here because
it kind of looks like a UFO.

Yeah, it definitely
has the classic UFO shape.

It's got the-the rays

or whatever you want to call it.

What would you suggest
if anyone says, "Well,

"this is not a UFO.
It's some other symbol,

but certainly not that"?

I think someone
suggested that it's jewelry

but it's a completely
different symbol that's

upside down and
it really doesn't quite fit in.

It's one of
those symbols here that,

that doesn't fit into the canon.

In your opinion,
why do you think the Egyptians

made it all the way
to Australia?

I think they were looking
for esoteric wisdom, definitely.

- From the Aboriginals?
- Yes.

The ancient Egyptians,
we have stories, and Aboriginal stories,

about their arrival,
and about their visits

long before
Europeans had arrived here.

Naturally we would
have shared ceremony

with these people, because they
have the same similar beliefs

as our people.

Egyptians have that same

spiritual connection
to the sky world.

Hieroglyphs found in Australia?

Might the continent
have actually served

as a pilgrimage site
for visitors seeking

a direct connection
to the so-called gods?

Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes,

and suggest further evidence
of this otherworldly link can be

found in one of the most
remote places in the world.

What's fascinating
about many of the glyphs

we've examined on Ancient Aliens
is that they depict

the natural world of our
ancestors with extreme accuracy.

But every now and then
we find a bird that looks

more like an airplane
or a serpent with wings...

or even a turtle
descending from the sky.

And this is exactly
what I found at one

of the most remote locations
in the world,

the Marquesas Islands.

Ancient astronaut theorists

Giorgio Tsoukalos
and David Childress

set out to explore
the remote Marquesas Islands,

in search of evidence
that extraterrestrial contact

took place here
in the remote past.

- Hello. I'm Giorgio.
- Hello.

- Pleasure to meet you.
- I'm Aniata.

Hi, I'm David.

Arriving on
the island of Nuku Hiva,

they are met by local guide,
Aniata Kimitete.

- Let's go explore.
- Great.

All right.

She has
brought them to an area known

as Kamuihei,

a sacred place
believed to be rich

in what the natives call
"mana" or "spiritual power."

So we are arriving at
this spot where I really

- wanted to show you about this site.
- Oh, look at this.

What we see here,
it's what we call petroglyphs.

Yeah.

So you have three turtles.
So one,

two, three.

Here.

And also on the rock
you can see a canoe.

- Okay.
- So you have the head of the canoe here

that looks
a little bit like a bird.

Their canoes had
a bird head at the front.

You see the beak.

- Yeah, that looks like a bird head.
- Yeah.

And what is the significance
of the turtles?

The turtle is actually

the messenger from the gods.
He was a very sacred animal.

People were
not allowed to eat them.

You know, I think
this is really interesting what you said

that the turtle is regarded
here as messenger of the gods,

because
this is not something new.

It's not something
native to this area.

There are other
parts of the world where...

the turtle is described by
having descended from the sky.

And the idea that this
is here too considered

a messenger of the gods,
that to me is a connection

to potential extraterrestrials.

Throughout the planet,

numerous ancient cultures
have origin stories

that involve some sort
of divine or cosmic turtle.

Followers of Japanese Shinto
venerate the Kame-ishi.

A stone turtle that portends
the end of the world.

In Guatemala, there are
legends of giant flying turtles

and even artifacts that feature
the image of a man wearing what

appears to be a helmet
lying inside a turtle shell.

In North America,
the Iroquois Indians tell tales

of a "sky goddess" who falls
to Earth from the heavens,

whereupon a giant turtle rises
up from the ocean to catch her.

I think it's interesting
here this canoe which would

have been very large,
has the bird head on it.

And you have the bird men

of Easter Island that are
so famous.

One of Easter Island's
ancient traditions

involves Tangata manu,
or the Bird man cult.

According to legend,
the creator god Make-Make

was looking in a mirror and
saw a bird land on his shoulder.

Seeing his image
combined with the bird,

he decided to make a son
who was half man, half bird.

In turn, the Rapa Nui
people of Easter Island

worshiped the bird man as
the predecessor of all humans.

One of the central
focuses of the rituals,

the annual
rituals at Easter Island...

...was that of Tangata manu,
the bird man.

And the bird man is
a universal symbol that we find

in many parts of the globe
that relates to ancestry

associated with figures,

characters in
feather coats who were seen

to be able to go between
this world and the next.

And here we have
the same ideas on Easter Island.

Is there
more to see on the island?

- We have a lot more to see on the island.
- Okay.

- So let's go.
- Okay.

After showing Giorgio

and David
the ancient petroglyphs,

Aniata takes them
to a site that has

some of the most striking
statuary in the Marquesas.

Right now we are
at the Tohua of Temehea.

So the Tohua
is the gathering place.

And so this sculpture
here is a modern sculpture.

But, is this
based on something old?

Yes. Because the
site that we are on was rebuilt.

Even though it's modern,
it's really based

on the original statue.

Oh, wow.
Okay. Is this considered a Tiki?

Yes, this Tiki
represents the population.

So to the Marquesan
people, what is a Tiki?

A Tiki at first
was the representation

of our god of magic and sorcery.

He was one of
the only god in French Polynesia

that has the face of a man.

He became our protector,
because when you have a Tiki

by your side, then you are
protected from your enemy.

In the Marquesas,
the word "Tiki" can be used to refer

both to an ancestral figure

that came
to the islands in ancient times,

as well as the statues
that represent him.

They are variously
carved in both wood and stone,

and often depict a being
with large, goggle-like eyes.

And this is what Tiki looks
like... as a god?

Yes, because they say
in the legend that when Tiki

left the Earth,
they made the sculpture

of how he looked like, just...

to have something
to remember from Tiki.

So that's how
he looked like actually.

It looks very strange to me.

If this is
a representation of what

your ancestors thought
this figure looked like,

it doesn't look like a man,
it looks weird.

Yeah. I mean, he-he sort
of looks like a man,

but with these big goggle eyes
and the elongated head

and everything, he looks
like an extraterrestrial.

Is it possible that
glyphs found on nearly

every continent reveal

that ancient people
all over the world

encountered
extraterrestrial visitors?

Ancient astronaut theorists
suggest that some

rock art provides a record

not only of alien contact,
but even

of how they got here.

Could these
mysterious petroglyphs

provide the best evidence
yet of ancient alien contact?

To me, the ultimate proof
lies in the fact that

all over the world,
cultures that were separated

by thousands of miles

carved the same strange figures
and symbols again and again,

leaving us with
a record of extraterrestrial

intervention on Earth.

Our alien origins are in
plain sight for anyone to see.

You only need to read
the writing on the wall.

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