Have UFOs Influenced Human History?

Term: Ancient astronaut theory: the idea that beings from the sky directly shaped ancient human civilization, technology, or religion.

Term: Divine kingship: the ancient practice of rulers claiming descent from gods or sky beings to justify their authority.

Have UFOs Influenced Human History?

Some researchers argue that beings from the sky shaped major moments in ancient human history, including religion, kingship, and mythology. Ancient rulers in Egypt, Mesoamerica, and elsewhere claimed descent from sky gods. The Bible's account of the sons of God in Genesis 6, discussed in an earlier post, describes exactly this kind of influence. The evidence for a shaping influence on early religion and kingship is stronger than the evidence for direct influence on technology.

Kings who claimed the sky

Ancient Mesoamerican rulers, including Aztec and Mayan kings, claimed descent from gods associated with the sky. Egyptian pharaohs held a similar status, connected to the sun god Ra. Babylon, one of the ancient world's most powerful civilizations, built towering ziggurats where people believed their gods lived, and the biblical Tower of Babel account describes humanity's attempt to reach the heavens directly.

The biblical account

Genesis 6:1 to 4 describes the sons of God taking human wives and fathering the Nephilim before the Flood, an event many scholars read as describing angelic beings intervening directly in human affairs. I cover the textual case for that reading in an earlier post. If that reading is correct, it describes influence on human history in the most direct way possible.

The technology question

A separate and more speculative claim holds that ancient sky beings gave early civilizations technology, from pyramid construction to metallurgy. That claim runs into a problem the influence-on-religion claim does not: it requires physical evidence of transferred technology, and archaeologists have not found artifacts that require an outside explanation. Ordinary human ingenuity, given enough time and labor, accounts for the ancient world's major structures.

Why I distinguish the two claims

The case for spiritual and religious influence rests on texts, myths, and Scripture that describe the influence directly. The case for technological influence rests mostly on speculation about how ancient people built certain structures, and mainstream archaeology has ordinary explanations for most of it. I find the first case much stronger than the second, and I want readers to see the difference rather than treat both claims as equally supported.

What is solid and what is not

That many ancient cultures connected their rulers and their religion to sky beings is well documented across many separate societies. That those beings gave ancient people technology is not supported by physical evidence. In my book Disclosure: They Are Not Extraterrestrials, I focus on the religious and spiritual influence, not on ancient astronaut claims about technology. Disclosure is available on Amazon. You can find more of my work at ckqbooks.com.

Sources

C. K. Quarterman, Disclosure: They Are Not Extraterrestrials, chapters on Babylon and Genesis 6. Genesis 6:1 to 4, Genesis 11:1 to 9 (King James Version). Earlier post on this site, What Does Genesis 6 Say About the Sons of God?