Jason Colavito just posted a review of the Ancient Aliens episode "Alien Operations." As usual, the review is informed and insightful, while the episode was disturbingly dumb --another ode to incoherence. My favorite paragraph: Tsoukalos adopts Thomas Aquinas’s...
Ancient Astronauts
Ancient Astronauts, Esotericism, and Utopian Politics
Jason Colavito has a short post on the relationship of these three areas of study that's a good interest-piquing piece if such connections are new to you. I can recommend it since it links ancient astronaut myths to utopian thinking on both sides of the political...
Lengthy Series on Vallee and Aubeck’s Evidence for UFOs in Antiquity
Jason Colavito recently produced a series of posts exposing the poor use of data (and perhaps deliberate deception in that regard) on the part of Jacques Vallee and Chris Aubeck in their book, Wonders in the Sky: Unexplained Aerial Objects from Antiquity to Modern...
Alien Dentists
Who will be the first ancient alien drone to claim that this report of a dental filling from 6,500 years ago speaks of alien influence? I wonder. Maybe the History Channel can start a new spin-off series. Giorgio! Giorgio! Wherefore art thou, Giorgio? More to the...
The Peruvian "Alien Skull"
If you've surfed the web at all in the last day or two you have probably heard about this "discovery." One piece I saw on Yahoo News described the skeletal remains in the picture below as those of a "giant-headed mummy" with a "triangular skull." It must be alien --...
Ancient Aliens: Keeping the Fantasy Channel Afloat One Inane Episode at a Time
Fans of critical thinking are bound to enjoy this post over at the Bad Archaeology blog entitled, "I remember why I’ve never wanted satellite television." It's a "review" of the Fantasy Channel's Ancient Aliens show. As funny as parts of it are, I especially liked the...
Another Blow to Fundamentalist Ancient Alien Theorists
As if they had any sort of coherent ammunition anyway! Here's a bit of commentary regarding the growth of scientific knowledge with respect to so-called "junk-DNA." It's becoming increasingly apparent that it isn't junk. Ancient alien theorists, as readers know, have...
Ancient Astronauts as a Belief System: An Academic Overview
I found this rare gem recently -- and academic journal article (2006) on ancient astronaut beliefs ("paleo-SETI"). It's unusual that this would get any attention within academia, so I share it with all of you. From the conclusion (emphasis mine): We in academia, are...
Guide to Ancient Astronaut PaleoBabble
I'll be on Coast to Coast AM this evening. This time I decided to do something that will help listeners follow the discussion more easily. I've created a sort of quick guide to my basic responses to a range of ancient astronaut paleobabble. It's a one-stop reference...
Another Aaarrrggghhh! Award Candidate: UFOs Influencing DaVinci!
It's so hard for me to believe that any thinking person who claims to be doing research still trots this craptastic stuff out to the public. We have yet again another PaleoBabbler claiming there are UFOs in Renaissance art. Not content to just have them there, now...
The Crystal Skulls: Not Alien Relics (What a Shocker)
It just kills me how, when certain people find an impressive work of craftsmanship or art that appears old they conclude it must be alien. "I couldn't have made anything like that, and no one I know could have, either. They must have an extraterrestrial origin!" ...
Some Chips in the Lolladoff Plate
Most readers have probably not heard of the Lolladoff Plate. It's for serving paleobabble (note the image of the alien on it). Supposedly it's 1200 years old. Here's a picture: I recently came across a couple of good critique of the plate that succeeds in sending it...
A Brief History of the Raelian Movement and Its Beliefs
I've had some recent email about the Raelians, so I thought this link might help any readers who haven't read about their UFO religion.
Seriously: The Dogon and Sirius?
You don't have to watch too many Fantasy Channel (formerly known as the History Channel) specials on ancient astronauts before you'll be told about the primitive African Dogon of Mali and their "advanced astronomical knowledge" -- bestowed, of course, by...
An Astronaut in the Carvings of a 12th Century Cathedral?
Well, not quite, as this link explains. (Editor's note: content of the link reproduced below.) Here are some pictures: First off, the example errs a bit in identifying the astronaut carving as adorning the wall of a cathedral built in 1102. The city of Salamanca in...