1 00:00:01,875 --> 00:00:04,250 NARRATOR: A sophisticated device for tracking the stars 2 00:00:04,375 --> 00:00:07,583 recovered from a 2,000-year-old shipwreck. 3 00:00:07,792 --> 00:00:12,708 A mysterious energy source that powered ancient Egypt. 4 00:00:12,875 --> 00:00:18,333 And a magical ring used to summon otherworldly beings. 5 00:00:18,542 --> 00:00:22,917 For more than a decade, Ancient Aliens has traveled the globe 6 00:00:23,042 --> 00:00:25,875 and investigated extraordinary ancient technology 7 00:00:26,042 --> 00:00:28,333 found on every continent. 8 00:00:28,500 --> 00:00:33,583 Now, we're examining the Top Ten Mysterious Devices 9 00:00:33,750 --> 00:00:37,625 that just may hold the proof that Earth has been visited 10 00:00:37,792 --> 00:00:40,333 by extraterrestrials. 11 00:00:47,875 --> 00:00:49,750 People ask me all the time 12 00:00:49,958 --> 00:00:52,292 for proof that extraterrestrial beings 13 00:00:52,458 --> 00:00:55,333 visited Earth thousands of years ago. 14 00:00:55,542 --> 00:00:59,000 While we have countless stories and depictions of visitations, 15 00:00:59,167 --> 00:01:02,292 we also have evidence of mysterious devices 16 00:01:02,500 --> 00:01:05,750 that just may have been alien technology. 17 00:01:05,875 --> 00:01:10,000 One compelling example is a symbol of ancient Egypt 18 00:01:10,167 --> 00:01:13,542 that was said to represent a powerful energy source. 19 00:01:15,208 --> 00:01:16,542 Number ten on our countdown 20 00:01:16,708 --> 00:01:20,458 of the Top Ten Mysterious Devices: The Djed Pillar. 21 00:01:25,208 --> 00:01:27,292 NARRATOR: Abydos, Egypt. 22 00:01:29,333 --> 00:01:33,000 300 miles south of the Giza plateau stands 23 00:01:33,167 --> 00:01:35,208 the Temple of Seti the First. 24 00:01:35,375 --> 00:01:39,208 This monument is more than 3,000 years old, 25 00:01:39,375 --> 00:01:43,333 and is elaborately decorated with curious images, 26 00:01:43,542 --> 00:01:46,667 including one that is of particular interest 27 00:01:46,833 --> 00:01:48,833 to ancient astronaut theorists. 28 00:01:50,125 --> 00:01:53,333 It is a stone relief that depicts the god Osiris 29 00:01:53,500 --> 00:01:57,542 holding an object that is known as the "djed pillar." 30 00:01:57,667 --> 00:01:59,500 KATHLEEN McGOWAN: The djed pillar resembles a column, 31 00:01:59,583 --> 00:02:01,917 and it's meant to represent stability. 32 00:02:02,125 --> 00:02:04,625 Carrying the djed pillar was to keep you stable, 33 00:02:04,792 --> 00:02:06,708 and to protect you from chaos. 34 00:02:07,833 --> 00:02:11,375 RAMY ROMANY: The symbol of the djed pillar, uh, 35 00:02:11,542 --> 00:02:15,125 was very common in ancient Egyptian architecture. 36 00:02:15,250 --> 00:02:19,500 It is the symbol of stability for a king. 37 00:02:19,708 --> 00:02:23,083 But scholars are actually 38 00:02:23,250 --> 00:02:25,875 not completely in agreement about 39 00:02:26,042 --> 00:02:29,500 what the djed pillar actually is a symbol of. 40 00:02:29,708 --> 00:02:32,167 NARRATOR: Depictions of djed pillars 41 00:02:32,375 --> 00:02:34,625 can be found throughout ancient Egypt. 42 00:02:34,750 --> 00:02:38,417 But some researchers believe the djed pillar 43 00:02:38,583 --> 00:02:41,167 was more than just an important symbol. 44 00:02:41,333 --> 00:02:44,208 They suggest it actually represents 45 00:02:44,375 --> 00:02:47,625 a powerful technological device. 46 00:02:48,750 --> 00:02:50,875 What is curious about the djed pillar 47 00:02:51,042 --> 00:02:54,333 is its resemblance to a Tesla coil, 48 00:02:54,458 --> 00:02:57,708 or an electrical conductor. 49 00:02:57,875 --> 00:03:01,583 DAVID CHILDRESS: The djed pillar looks very much like an electrical device. 50 00:03:01,750 --> 00:03:05,250 Researchers now believe that the ancient Egyptians 51 00:03:05,417 --> 00:03:07,667 apparently had electricity. 52 00:03:07,833 --> 00:03:09,208 And so, therefore, 53 00:03:09,417 --> 00:03:12,375 it may be, then, that these djed pillars, 54 00:03:12,542 --> 00:03:15,167 which people would carry around as amulets 55 00:03:15,375 --> 00:03:20,917 and things like that, were actual electrical devices. 56 00:03:21,083 --> 00:03:23,375 TIM SWARTZ: If you look at the carvings 57 00:03:23,542 --> 00:03:25,625 and pictures that were painted 58 00:03:25,750 --> 00:03:28,625 inside some of these ancient tombs and temples, 59 00:03:28,750 --> 00:03:33,000 there's no evidence that torches were used in the process. 60 00:03:33,208 --> 00:03:36,292 So, we're left to wonder just 61 00:03:36,458 --> 00:03:38,917 how these areas were lit. 62 00:03:39,083 --> 00:03:41,667 So, there's a good possibility that, uh, 63 00:03:41,792 --> 00:03:45,167 that electricity was being used by the ancient Egyptians. 64 00:03:46,333 --> 00:03:48,667 NARRATOR: Is it possible that ancient Egyptians 65 00:03:48,875 --> 00:03:52,250 were able to harness the power of electricity? 66 00:03:52,375 --> 00:03:56,375 Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, and as evidence, 67 00:03:56,542 --> 00:04:00,375 they point to another remarkable carving in Egypt. 68 00:04:00,542 --> 00:04:03,667 TSOUKALOS: In Dendera, inside the Hathor Temple 69 00:04:03,875 --> 00:04:06,667 in a subterranean crypt underneath the temple, 70 00:04:06,833 --> 00:04:11,167 there is a carving that looks like a light bulb, 71 00:04:11,333 --> 00:04:12,958 and there's a cable 72 00:04:13,125 --> 00:04:15,917 at the bottom that culminates in a box. 73 00:04:16,083 --> 00:04:18,875 And the actual bulb 74 00:04:19,042 --> 00:04:22,167 rests on a djed pillar. 75 00:04:22,333 --> 00:04:25,208 And a djed pillar is always referred to as 76 00:04:25,375 --> 00:04:28,333 something to do with significant power. 77 00:04:28,542 --> 00:04:33,250 And so, in my opinion, the ancient Egyptians 78 00:04:33,458 --> 00:04:35,958 witnessed advanced technology 79 00:04:36,125 --> 00:04:40,500 that they then misinterpreted as magic, 80 00:04:40,625 --> 00:04:43,000 and therefore, the djed pillar 81 00:04:43,208 --> 00:04:46,000 were actual technological components 82 00:04:46,208 --> 00:04:49,333 that our ancestors clearly witnessed after 83 00:04:49,542 --> 00:04:53,000 the visit of the flesh and blood extraterrestrials. 84 00:04:54,375 --> 00:04:57,875 Ancient carvings of djed pillars are easy to find 85 00:04:58,042 --> 00:04:59,292 throughout Egypt. 86 00:04:59,458 --> 00:05:01,250 But not every device on our countdown 87 00:05:01,417 --> 00:05:03,000 can be seen by the public. 88 00:05:03,083 --> 00:05:06,500 In fact, some seem to have been deliberately hidden. 89 00:05:07,583 --> 00:05:11,333 Number nine: The Dropa Stones. 90 00:05:15,667 --> 00:05:18,333 NARRATOR: The Bayan-Kara-Ula Mountains. 91 00:05:18,542 --> 00:05:21,417 Qinghai Province, China. 92 00:05:22,458 --> 00:05:27,500 In 1936, archaeologist Dr. Chi Pu Tai was 93 00:05:27,667 --> 00:05:30,208 exploring a cave in this remote area 94 00:05:30,375 --> 00:05:32,292 when he made a peculiar discovery. 95 00:05:33,333 --> 00:05:36,333 He reported finding multiple ancient graves, 96 00:05:36,458 --> 00:05:41,500 and among them were hundreds of strange stone discs. 97 00:05:41,708 --> 00:05:44,250 TSOUKALOS: There's a fascinating story in China 98 00:05:44,417 --> 00:05:46,667 where, allegedly, 99 00:05:46,833 --> 00:05:50,500 a cave was found with hundreds of discs. 100 00:05:50,708 --> 00:05:54,042 And these discs were about this wide. 101 00:05:54,208 --> 00:05:56,125 And it seemed that they had 102 00:05:56,292 --> 00:05:58,292 some type of a groove in them 103 00:05:58,500 --> 00:06:01,708 reminding of modern-day vinyl records. 104 00:06:02,750 --> 00:06:08,167 And what's interesting is that, allegedly, 105 00:06:08,333 --> 00:06:12,917 some of these grooves contained really tiny types of writing. 106 00:06:13,875 --> 00:06:16,042 And when archaeologists finally deciphered 107 00:06:16,208 --> 00:06:17,458 or translated this writing, 108 00:06:17,583 --> 00:06:20,333 it told this incredible story 109 00:06:20,458 --> 00:06:23,583 of extraterrestrial beings called the Dropas. 110 00:06:23,792 --> 00:06:27,458 Those hieroglyphs told about the crash landing, 111 00:06:27,667 --> 00:06:29,750 in this remote mountain area, 112 00:06:29,875 --> 00:06:33,792 of some people that flew through the universe 113 00:06:33,917 --> 00:06:38,375 and came upon the third planet of our solar system. 114 00:06:41,042 --> 00:06:43,625 NARRATOR: Unfortunately, after the initial research, 115 00:06:43,708 --> 00:06:47,625 the discs, known today as the Dropa stones, 116 00:06:47,750 --> 00:06:50,375 were removed from public view. 117 00:06:50,542 --> 00:06:54,000 But mysteriously, in 1974, 118 00:06:54,167 --> 00:06:57,000 photographs surfaced of what were alleged to be 119 00:06:57,167 --> 00:06:58,625 two Dropa stones 120 00:06:58,750 --> 00:07:03,083 on display at the Banpo Museum in Xi'An City, China. 121 00:07:03,208 --> 00:07:07,750 In 1994, a colleague of mine, Hartwig Hausdorf, 122 00:07:07,917 --> 00:07:11,625 and his colleague Peter Crusa, went to China 123 00:07:11,792 --> 00:07:15,708 to ask the whereabouts of these stone discs. 124 00:07:15,833 --> 00:07:18,250 HAUSDORF: I got to speak with 125 00:07:18,417 --> 00:07:21,250 the present curator of the museum. 126 00:07:21,458 --> 00:07:24,375 I showed him the photographs that were taken 127 00:07:24,542 --> 00:07:26,833 20 years ago in his museum, 128 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:29,167 and he told me 129 00:07:29,375 --> 00:07:31,708 the two stone discs that were on display, 130 00:07:31,875 --> 00:07:35,167 they have disappeared without any trace. 131 00:07:35,333 --> 00:07:39,167 TSOUKALOS: I think the moment an archaeological artifact 132 00:07:39,333 --> 00:07:42,167 is hidden, there's something there. 133 00:07:42,375 --> 00:07:44,542 So, the fact that they used to be on display 134 00:07:44,708 --> 00:07:46,375 and now you can't find them anymore, 135 00:07:46,542 --> 00:07:48,083 leads me to think 136 00:07:48,208 --> 00:07:51,792 that part of that story is true. 137 00:07:51,917 --> 00:07:54,500 And I think it had something to do 138 00:07:54,667 --> 00:07:56,958 with an extraterrestrial craft. 139 00:07:57,125 --> 00:08:00,500 NARRATOR: Is it possible that the Dropa stones are 140 00:08:00,667 --> 00:08:04,833 a record of extraterrestrial visitation in the distant past? 141 00:08:06,542 --> 00:08:09,500 Whenever I am researching ancient legends, 142 00:08:09,708 --> 00:08:13,542 one word always piques my interest, and that's "magic." 143 00:08:13,708 --> 00:08:18,125 Because, more often than not, myths about magical objects are 144 00:08:18,292 --> 00:08:22,625 describing what I believe could be misunderstood technology. 145 00:08:22,833 --> 00:08:24,375 Like the next item on our list 146 00:08:24,542 --> 00:08:26,750 of the Top Ten Mysterious Devices. 147 00:08:26,917 --> 00:08:31,083 At number eight: Pachacuti's Mirror. 148 00:08:36,042 --> 00:08:38,667 NARRATOR: Cuzco, Peru. 149 00:08:38,875 --> 00:08:42,583 In the 15th century, this ancient city 150 00:08:42,750 --> 00:08:46,000 was home to perhaps the most influential Incan leader-- 151 00:08:46,125 --> 00:08:47,750 Pachacuti. 152 00:08:47,917 --> 00:08:51,125 Pachacuti rose to prominence 153 00:08:51,333 --> 00:08:52,833 after he defeated an invading army 154 00:08:53,042 --> 00:08:57,667 by using a mysterious mirror that had magical powers. 155 00:08:57,833 --> 00:09:00,292 ED BARNHART: Pachacuti decided to stay behind 156 00:09:00,417 --> 00:09:02,625 and die defending the city. 157 00:09:02,833 --> 00:09:05,250 Just before the battle, 158 00:09:05,417 --> 00:09:09,375 he's walking out in his territory by a lake, 159 00:09:09,542 --> 00:09:13,167 trying to figure out what to do to try to get some inspiration. 160 00:09:13,333 --> 00:09:14,833 And just at that moment, 161 00:09:14,958 --> 00:09:18,417 a mirrored disc fell from the sky, and it dropped 162 00:09:18,583 --> 00:09:19,833 into the lake. 163 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:23,833 And he wades in and he pulls it out. 164 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:28,917 In the reflection of this mirror was a young Indian boy. 165 00:09:29,042 --> 00:09:30,833 But he wasn't just any kind of boy. 166 00:09:30,958 --> 00:09:35,458 He had snake arms, and he had a puma face. 167 00:09:35,625 --> 00:09:38,000 And he had these rays coming off of his head. 168 00:09:38,208 --> 00:09:40,333 And he tells Pachacuti, 169 00:09:40,542 --> 00:09:43,375 "You are going to be a great ruler someday." 170 00:09:43,542 --> 00:09:46,500 NARRATOR: Aided by this mysterious object, 171 00:09:46,667 --> 00:09:49,458 Pachacuti grew his small kingdom into a vast empire 172 00:09:49,625 --> 00:09:53,833 that spanned more than 2,500 miles. 173 00:09:54,875 --> 00:09:58,125 Pachacuti always keeps that disc with him. 174 00:09:58,250 --> 00:10:01,875 And the myth is that he would always look to that disc 175 00:10:02,042 --> 00:10:06,250 to ask them how he was going to defeat his enemies or expand 176 00:10:06,458 --> 00:10:10,667 the empire, and that the disc was giving him this magical 177 00:10:10,833 --> 00:10:14,417 information and inspiration that created the Inca Empire. 178 00:10:14,583 --> 00:10:17,083 CHILDRESS: With this magic mirror, 179 00:10:17,292 --> 00:10:20,458 Pachacuti had special powers. 180 00:10:20,625 --> 00:10:23,667 Supposedly he could communicate with the gods 181 00:10:23,833 --> 00:10:25,583 through this disc 182 00:10:25,750 --> 00:10:29,875 and presumably even receive instructions 183 00:10:30,042 --> 00:10:35,125 from the gods on how to expand his empire. 184 00:10:37,875 --> 00:10:41,167 NARRATOR: Pachacuti's mirror is depicted in Incan art 185 00:10:41,333 --> 00:10:43,500 and statues to this day. 186 00:10:43,708 --> 00:10:46,292 Historians have been unable to determine 187 00:10:46,500 --> 00:10:50,708 just what the mysterious disc was that Pachacuti possessed. 188 00:10:50,833 --> 00:10:53,000 But ancient astronaut theorists believe 189 00:10:53,167 --> 00:10:57,833 it was a device that came from another world. 190 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:00,792 CHILDRESS: You have to wonder, was it some kind of extraterrestrial 191 00:11:00,958 --> 00:11:03,875 object that Pachacuti was now carrying around 192 00:11:04,083 --> 00:11:06,333 with him that allowed him to communicate 193 00:11:06,500 --> 00:11:10,125 with these extraterrestrial gods that were guiding him? 194 00:11:16,917 --> 00:11:19,375 Every now and then, an artifact is discovered 195 00:11:19,375 --> 00:11:22,042 that completely defies conventional explanation. 196 00:11:22,208 --> 00:11:25,000 That's exactly what happened when scientists 197 00:11:25,125 --> 00:11:27,833 set out to study this next object. 198 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,250 They were so astonished by what they saw 199 00:11:31,458 --> 00:11:34,792 that they declared it simply should not exist. 200 00:11:34,875 --> 00:11:37,625 Number seven on our list of the Top Ten 201 00:11:37,792 --> 00:11:41,042 Mysterious Devices: The Mitchell-Hedges Skull. 202 00:11:41,042 --> 00:11:42,042 Mysterious Devices: The Mitchell-Hedges Skull. 203 00:11:44,125 --> 00:11:46,625 NARRATOR: Lubaantun, Belize. 204 00:11:46,792 --> 00:11:50,042 Here, in the jungles of the Yucatán Peninsula, 205 00:11:50,208 --> 00:11:53,208 lie the ruins of an ancient Mayan city. 206 00:11:53,333 --> 00:11:58,333 In 1924, explorer Frederick Albert Mitchell-Hedges 207 00:11:58,458 --> 00:12:01,042 and his daughter Anna discovered 208 00:12:01,208 --> 00:12:04,167 a human-sized skull made of clear crystal. 209 00:12:05,208 --> 00:12:09,208 The anatomically perfect object has a detachable jaw, 210 00:12:09,375 --> 00:12:11,958 weighs 11 pounds, seven ounces, 211 00:12:12,083 --> 00:12:15,750 and is carved out of a single piece of quartz. 212 00:12:16,708 --> 00:12:18,750 Mitchell-Hedges was told by the Mayans 213 00:12:18,875 --> 00:12:22,500 that his skull was over 3,600 years old. 214 00:12:22,625 --> 00:12:23,875 This is fascinating because 215 00:12:24,042 --> 00:12:26,458 this would predate Mayan civilization. 216 00:12:28,250 --> 00:12:31,667 CHRIS MORTON: According to the legend, crystal skulls are containers 217 00:12:31,833 --> 00:12:36,833 of great knowledge, great wisdom, information. 218 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:41,917 And are said to have been left behind by the earliest ancestors 219 00:12:42,083 --> 00:12:43,375 way back in the mists of time. 220 00:12:45,125 --> 00:12:48,833 NARRATOR: When Mitchell-Hedges passed away in 1959, 221 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:51,958 the skull was bestowed to his daughter Anna. 222 00:12:52,083 --> 00:12:55,042 She guarded the skull for more than a decade 223 00:12:55,208 --> 00:12:57,458 before allowing it to be studied. 224 00:12:58,542 --> 00:13:03,125 CHILDRESS: It was studied by a guy named Frank Dorland, and what he found 225 00:13:03,333 --> 00:13:06,500 was that the skull was completely baffling to him. 226 00:13:08,083 --> 00:13:10,417 He would come down at night to find the room 227 00:13:10,542 --> 00:13:13,625 completely glowing, and the crystal skull was 228 00:13:13,792 --> 00:13:16,500 literally lighting up, like it was a light. 229 00:13:18,042 --> 00:13:21,667 People would hear strange sounds in the room with no explanation 230 00:13:21,792 --> 00:13:24,000 but that it was coming from the skull. 231 00:13:24,083 --> 00:13:26,542 And so when you look at all that, 232 00:13:26,750 --> 00:13:29,125 you've just got to conclude 233 00:13:29,292 --> 00:13:33,792 at some point that there is something unusual going on. 234 00:13:34,958 --> 00:13:37,625 This skull has been subjected to a number of 235 00:13:37,750 --> 00:13:39,333 detailed scientific analyses. 236 00:13:39,500 --> 00:13:44,208 In all of those occasions, what was found was that it was 237 00:13:44,375 --> 00:13:49,083 almost impossible for a human being to make this. 238 00:13:49,250 --> 00:13:50,625 TSOUKALOS: Why did they say that? 239 00:13:50,708 --> 00:13:55,292 Because it was milled or worked in a way 240 00:13:55,458 --> 00:14:00,292 that went counterclockwise to the creation of the crystal. 241 00:14:00,458 --> 00:14:03,125 Crystal grows in a certain direction. 242 00:14:03,250 --> 00:14:06,667 And if you don't mill or work the crystal in 243 00:14:06,875 --> 00:14:09,542 that particular direction, it'll shatter. 244 00:14:09,750 --> 00:14:11,042 So, how was it done? 245 00:14:11,208 --> 00:14:12,667 MORTON: One of the scientists 246 00:14:12,792 --> 00:14:13,958 that examined the skull actually said, 247 00:14:14,042 --> 00:14:15,542 "This skull shouldn't even exist." 248 00:14:15,708 --> 00:14:19,875 And that is really what led to the idea that perhaps 249 00:14:20,042 --> 00:14:23,000 these crystal skulls were not made by humans at all. 250 00:14:23,208 --> 00:14:25,667 If you look at the Mayan civilization, 251 00:14:25,875 --> 00:14:29,667 their entire mythology is based 252 00:14:29,833 --> 00:14:34,000 on extraterrestrial encounters in the past. 253 00:14:34,167 --> 00:14:36,000 Mitchell-Hedges was told by 254 00:14:36,208 --> 00:14:40,208 the locals that their ancestors 255 00:14:40,375 --> 00:14:43,167 gave that skull to them. 256 00:14:43,292 --> 00:14:46,833 My question is, who were those ancestors, 257 00:14:47,042 --> 00:14:51,000 and is their origin out there? 258 00:14:51,167 --> 00:14:54,500 And the answer to that, in my opinion, is a resounding yes. 259 00:14:56,875 --> 00:15:00,875 Next on our list of mysterious devices is a group 260 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,750 of objects so sacred, they have been kept hidden from 261 00:15:04,875 --> 00:15:07,667 public view for hundreds of years. 262 00:15:07,833 --> 00:15:12,250 Number six: The Royal Regalia of Japan. 263 00:15:15,208 --> 00:15:20,333 NARRATOR: Tokyo, Japan. May 1, 2019. 264 00:15:20,458 --> 00:15:24,333 Hundreds of dignitaries from around the world have descended 265 00:15:24,500 --> 00:15:28,083 upon the Imperial Palace for a historic occasion. 266 00:15:28,250 --> 00:15:31,417 In an elaborate series of rituals, crown prince 267 00:15:31,625 --> 00:15:36,083 Hironomiya Naruhito, ascends the Chrysanthemum Throne 268 00:15:36,250 --> 00:15:40,292 and becomes the 126th emperor of the island nation. 269 00:15:41,667 --> 00:15:45,667 As part of the ceremony, Naruhito is presented with 270 00:15:45,750 --> 00:15:49,042 several boxes that are filled with treasures so secret, 271 00:15:49,250 --> 00:15:51,958 they've never been seen in public. 272 00:15:52,125 --> 00:15:55,583 They contain Japan's royal regalia. 273 00:15:56,875 --> 00:15:59,042 HENRY: The imperial regalia of Japan 274 00:15:59,208 --> 00:16:00,833 was composed of a sword, 275 00:16:01,042 --> 00:16:04,083 of a mirror and a jewel that was utilized 276 00:16:04,208 --> 00:16:07,417 by all the Japanese emperors, and exists to this day. 277 00:16:09,083 --> 00:16:11,375 DOMINIC STEAVU: According to tradition, the divine mirror 278 00:16:11,542 --> 00:16:14,375 is a symbol of wisdom. 279 00:16:14,583 --> 00:16:18,708 The sword represents valor, or courage. 280 00:16:18,875 --> 00:16:22,000 And the third one is the curved jewel, 281 00:16:22,083 --> 00:16:25,667 or curved bead, which represents benevolence. 282 00:16:25,792 --> 00:16:31,167 Now, these three sacred imperial regalia of Japan 283 00:16:31,333 --> 00:16:34,083 have never been shown to anyone 284 00:16:34,250 --> 00:16:36,417 outside of the imperial lineage, 285 00:16:36,542 --> 00:16:41,208 with the exception, of course, of high-ranking Shinto priests. 286 00:16:41,375 --> 00:16:44,750 NARRATOR: The imperial regalia can be traced back 287 00:16:44,917 --> 00:16:47,250 to Japan's first emperor Jimmu, 288 00:16:47,375 --> 00:16:52,125 who ruled almost 2,700 years ago. 289 00:16:52,208 --> 00:16:56,458 Emperor Jimmu was born in 771 BCE, 290 00:16:56,625 --> 00:16:58,083 according to tradition. 291 00:16:59,042 --> 00:17:02,125 And he was a descendant-- actually 292 00:17:02,292 --> 00:17:06,750 the great, great grandson-- of Amaterasu, the sun goddess. 293 00:17:06,917 --> 00:17:09,292 All emperors in the history of Japan have 294 00:17:09,458 --> 00:17:12,833 claimed descent from Emperor Jimmu 295 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:16,667 and indirectly, then, from Amaterasu as well. 296 00:17:16,833 --> 00:17:19,500 TSOUKALOS: The most interesting part of the story is that Jimmu 297 00:17:19,625 --> 00:17:23,875 is a descendant of Amaterasu, this celestial being. 298 00:17:24,083 --> 00:17:27,333 And for nearly 2,000 years after that, 299 00:17:27,417 --> 00:17:32,083 all who ruled Japan claimed the same lineage. 300 00:17:32,250 --> 00:17:37,042 So the imperial family of Japan, allegedly, 301 00:17:37,208 --> 00:17:40,000 is a direct descendant of celestial beings 302 00:17:40,125 --> 00:17:43,917 that visited Japan in ancient times. 303 00:17:44,958 --> 00:17:47,667 NARRATOR: It is said that Jimmu received the three 304 00:17:47,792 --> 00:17:51,167 pieces of regalia from the sun goddess Amaterasu 305 00:17:51,375 --> 00:17:56,042 before uniting the islands of Japan under his rule. 306 00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:58,583 Ancient astronaut theorists believe 307 00:17:58,708 --> 00:18:03,458 these artifacts might be extraterrestrial technology. 308 00:18:04,458 --> 00:18:07,417 TSOUKALOS: Jimmu got a celestial mirror 309 00:18:07,542 --> 00:18:12,167 with which the emperor could see anything that they desired. 310 00:18:12,333 --> 00:18:15,208 Well, what does that mean, a magical mirror? 311 00:18:15,333 --> 00:18:18,000 If you don't have the terminology for it, 312 00:18:18,167 --> 00:18:20,500 isn't a computer screen 313 00:18:20,708 --> 00:18:25,000 a magical mirror with which you can see everything? 314 00:18:25,125 --> 00:18:29,125 See, the point is that our ancestors didn't have 315 00:18:29,292 --> 00:18:33,583 the terminology for these objects, but they used 316 00:18:33,750 --> 00:18:37,583 the terminology that they had with which they could best 317 00:18:37,708 --> 00:18:41,833 describe what they saw or had in their possession. 318 00:18:42,042 --> 00:18:45,458 I think that there are sacred objects 319 00:18:45,625 --> 00:18:49,167 in Japan, in Tokyo's Imperial Palace, 320 00:18:49,333 --> 00:18:52,250 that were directly given 321 00:18:52,375 --> 00:18:55,625 by the celestial beings to humans. 322 00:19:02,708 --> 00:19:05,292 We're coming up on the halfway mark in our countdown of the Top 323 00:19:05,417 --> 00:19:10,583 Ten Mysterious Devices, and this next one is truly extraordinary. 324 00:19:10,750 --> 00:19:13,500 According to the accounts of the ancient Greeks, 325 00:19:13,625 --> 00:19:17,500 thousands of years ago, there was a giant robot 326 00:19:17,708 --> 00:19:19,000 built by a god. 327 00:19:19,208 --> 00:19:22,917 At number five: Talos. 328 00:19:22,917 --> 00:19:23,500 At number five: Talos. 329 00:19:25,708 --> 00:19:28,917 NARRATOR: Crete, the most populous of the Greek islands. 330 00:19:29,125 --> 00:19:32,333 It is home to more than 600,000 people. 331 00:19:32,500 --> 00:19:35,500 And according to Greek mythology, 332 00:19:35,667 --> 00:19:39,292 it has been a place of great significance since antiquity, 333 00:19:39,458 --> 00:19:41,625 when it was protected by an enormous 334 00:19:41,833 --> 00:19:44,750 bronze guardian called Talos. 335 00:19:45,833 --> 00:19:49,583 The legend of Talos is quite fascinating, 336 00:19:49,708 --> 00:19:55,042 for not only was he a giant, some 30 meters tall, 337 00:19:55,208 --> 00:19:59,125 but he appears to have been made of bronze 338 00:19:59,333 --> 00:20:03,542 for the purpose of protecting the island of Crete. 339 00:20:04,625 --> 00:20:06,167 COLLINS: It was said that he would 340 00:20:06,333 --> 00:20:09,458 go around the island three times a day, 341 00:20:09,542 --> 00:20:12,875 and that if anybody tried to attack the island, 342 00:20:13,042 --> 00:20:17,000 he had, like, this fiery breath that he would shoot out 343 00:20:17,208 --> 00:20:20,542 and destroy any ships or individuals. 344 00:20:21,458 --> 00:20:23,833 So, what was Talos? 345 00:20:25,500 --> 00:20:27,792 NARRATOR: Mainstream scholars consider Talos 346 00:20:27,958 --> 00:20:32,333 to be a creation of fiction, but some researchers point out 347 00:20:32,542 --> 00:20:36,083 that the descriptions of how this bronze humanoid functioned 348 00:20:36,208 --> 00:20:39,458 are eerily reminiscent of modern technology. 349 00:20:51,333 --> 00:20:54,875 Talos had, effectively, an Achilles heel, 350 00:20:55,083 --> 00:20:56,667 and that is he had a vein 351 00:20:56,875 --> 00:21:01,292 that ran from his neck down to his ankle, and it had one nail 352 00:21:01,375 --> 00:21:04,292 that, if that nail was removed, he would be switched off. 353 00:21:04,458 --> 00:21:07,833 And sure enough, a sorceress convinced him that if she could 354 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,167 remove that nail, then he would have immortality. 355 00:21:11,333 --> 00:21:14,708 And when she removed it, he bled to death. 356 00:21:14,875 --> 00:21:18,333 TSOUKALOS: In the Argonautica, Talos "bled to death" by 357 00:21:18,500 --> 00:21:21,667 releasing this black liquid. 358 00:21:21,750 --> 00:21:26,458 And one could argue that if this thing was a mechanical device, 359 00:21:26,625 --> 00:21:31,292 then perhaps the synthetic oil or the hydraulic fuel 360 00:21:31,458 --> 00:21:35,792 seeped out, and thus rendered the machine inoperable. 361 00:21:37,042 --> 00:21:39,000 HENRY: As we look at it today, that is very clearly 362 00:21:39,208 --> 00:21:42,292 a description of a robot, 363 00:21:42,375 --> 00:21:44,917 maybe even an artificially intelligent being, 364 00:21:45,083 --> 00:21:49,333 leading to this idea that some extraterrestrial engineer 365 00:21:49,542 --> 00:21:53,250 or robotics developer created this extraordinary being. 366 00:21:54,792 --> 00:21:56,833 NARRATOR: According to Greek mythology, 367 00:21:57,042 --> 00:22:00,292 the engineer who created Talos was a god named 368 00:22:00,500 --> 00:22:05,625 Hephaestus, who lived among humans on the island of Lemnos. 369 00:22:05,750 --> 00:22:08,333 Hephaestus was the Greek god of smithcraft, 370 00:22:08,500 --> 00:22:10,333 alchemy and technology. 371 00:22:10,542 --> 00:22:13,917 He was most known for creating the first human-- Pandora-- 372 00:22:14,083 --> 00:22:18,208 but also for developing magical weapons, the flying 373 00:22:18,375 --> 00:22:23,208 chariot of Helios, the breastplate of Athena, 374 00:22:23,375 --> 00:22:25,833 the thunderbolts of Zeus. 375 00:22:26,042 --> 00:22:30,208 Hephaestus was a blacksmith god, and when we meet him late in 376 00:22:30,375 --> 00:22:32,792 the story of the Iliad, 377 00:22:32,958 --> 00:22:34,583 the goddess Thetis has come 378 00:22:34,750 --> 00:22:37,500 to him and asked him to make some armor for her son Achilles, 379 00:22:37,708 --> 00:22:40,208 because he's about to go back into battle. 380 00:22:40,375 --> 00:22:43,042 And when she comes to see him in his workshop, 381 00:22:43,208 --> 00:22:48,167 what she discovers is that a lot of the work is being done by 382 00:22:48,375 --> 00:22:52,167 automated machines that Hephaestus has created-- 383 00:22:52,333 --> 00:22:55,042 tripods which can move around themselves, 384 00:22:55,208 --> 00:22:59,333 bellows and pincers and things doing their own work. 385 00:22:59,542 --> 00:23:03,167 The suggestion here is that these are 386 00:23:03,333 --> 00:23:06,333 fully thinking, fully automated 387 00:23:06,542 --> 00:23:08,958 artificial intelligences, as it were. 388 00:23:09,125 --> 00:23:12,333 TSOUKALOS: The basic premise of the ancient astronaut theory 389 00:23:12,542 --> 00:23:16,042 is that the Greek pantheon of gods existed 390 00:23:16,167 --> 00:23:19,542 in real life, made of physical beings. 391 00:23:19,708 --> 00:23:22,667 So, one has to wonder, was Hephaestus one of 392 00:23:22,833 --> 00:23:26,667 the extraterrestrials, or did he receive the engineering 393 00:23:26,833 --> 00:23:29,458 knowledge with which to build these 394 00:23:29,625 --> 00:23:33,083 synthetic creatures by the extraterrestrials? 395 00:23:34,292 --> 00:23:39,125 NARRATOR: Could it be that Talos was a highly advanced machine 396 00:23:39,292 --> 00:23:42,208 developed by extraterrestrials? 397 00:23:42,375 --> 00:23:46,792 For ancient astronaut theorists, it is a distinct possibility, 398 00:23:46,958 --> 00:23:51,000 and one that becomes even more compelling when considering 399 00:23:51,208 --> 00:23:54,667 the fact that similar stories of humanlike machines 400 00:23:54,833 --> 00:23:58,167 can be found in other ancient cultures around the world... 401 00:23:59,375 --> 00:24:01,833 ...like the Jewish tale of a clay figure called 402 00:24:02,042 --> 00:24:04,500 the Golem, that could be brought to life 403 00:24:04,708 --> 00:24:07,042 by inserting a spell into its mouth... 404 00:24:08,917 --> 00:24:11,333 ...descriptions of "spirit movement machines" 405 00:24:11,500 --> 00:24:14,708 in the ancient Sanskrit texts of India, 406 00:24:14,875 --> 00:24:17,542 and the Chinese story of a humanoid robot 407 00:24:17,708 --> 00:24:21,833 being presented to King Mu 3,000 years ago. 408 00:24:22,917 --> 00:24:24,667 There are stories from many cultures, 409 00:24:24,875 --> 00:24:27,875 from all over the planet, of people who have either created 410 00:24:28,042 --> 00:24:32,750 other humans, or machines that were very much like humans. 411 00:24:32,917 --> 00:24:34,750 HENRY: When we look at the story of Talos, 412 00:24:34,917 --> 00:24:37,833 and we match him up to other figures in human history, 413 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:39,958 the common denominator, the thread running through all 414 00:24:40,083 --> 00:24:42,958 their stories is that there was a technology transfer. 415 00:24:43,083 --> 00:24:46,375 Beings came from elsewhere, brought this technology 416 00:24:46,542 --> 00:24:48,833 to Earth, and taught humans to utilize it. 417 00:24:49,917 --> 00:24:52,125 NARRATOR: As far as ancient astronaut theorists are concerned, 418 00:24:52,333 --> 00:24:55,333 the story of Talos provides 419 00:24:55,542 --> 00:24:58,333 strong evidence that our ancestors were 420 00:24:58,458 --> 00:25:01,958 in possession of extraterrestrial technology. 421 00:25:02,125 --> 00:25:06,667 And they say an even more powerful technology can be found 422 00:25:06,875 --> 00:25:10,833 in an ancient story involving the biblical King Solomon 423 00:25:11,042 --> 00:25:15,083 and a device given to him by an angel. 424 00:25:19,792 --> 00:25:22,125 On Ancient Aliens, we have investigated many accounts of 425 00:25:22,292 --> 00:25:26,625 technology being given to humans by the so-called "gods." 426 00:25:26,792 --> 00:25:29,583 One powerful object was described as being 427 00:25:29,708 --> 00:25:33,917 able to actually summon otherworldly beings. 428 00:25:34,083 --> 00:25:36,625 Number four on our countdown of the Top 429 00:25:36,708 --> 00:25:40,917 Ten Mysterious Devices: King Solomon's Ring. 430 00:25:43,583 --> 00:25:45,542 NARRATOR: Jerusalem. 431 00:25:45,667 --> 00:25:49,125 In the tenth century BC, this city was ruled by one of 432 00:25:49,292 --> 00:25:53,833 the ancient world's most famous leaders: King Solomon. 433 00:25:54,042 --> 00:25:59,042 According to the ancient Israelite accounts, King Solomon 434 00:25:59,208 --> 00:26:03,625 was tasked by Almighty God with building a spectacular temple-- 435 00:26:03,750 --> 00:26:06,958 one that could not be built by man alone. 436 00:26:07,083 --> 00:26:11,250 Solomon prays to God, and instantly the Archangel Michael 437 00:26:11,458 --> 00:26:14,333 manifests, as if out of thin air. 438 00:26:14,500 --> 00:26:18,958 And Michael says that he's going to give Solomon a power that has 439 00:26:19,083 --> 00:26:22,333 never before been seen on Earth and never again shall be. 440 00:26:23,375 --> 00:26:28,792 And he produces for him a golden ring with a signet seal. 441 00:26:30,417 --> 00:26:31,667 There are different descriptions 442 00:26:31,833 --> 00:26:34,167 of what Solomon's magical ring looked like. 443 00:26:35,167 --> 00:26:37,292 One description of the ring talks about it 444 00:26:37,458 --> 00:26:39,125 as the seal of Solomon. 445 00:26:39,208 --> 00:26:41,167 What we think of today as the Star of David, 446 00:26:41,333 --> 00:26:44,125 as the two intersecting triangles. 447 00:26:44,250 --> 00:26:46,667 Another story around the ring is that the ring 448 00:26:46,875 --> 00:26:49,875 contained four special stones, 449 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,792 and each of these stones had a type of power. 450 00:26:52,917 --> 00:26:56,667 And it is said that this ring had the name of God 451 00:26:56,833 --> 00:27:00,042 engraved upon it in a very secret and cryptic way. 452 00:27:00,250 --> 00:27:03,333 The ring was representative of the authority 453 00:27:03,500 --> 00:27:04,833 from beyond this world. 454 00:27:05,875 --> 00:27:10,000 The wielder of that ring would be able to compel 455 00:27:10,208 --> 00:27:13,000 any and all who recognized that source 456 00:27:13,208 --> 00:27:16,875 of extraterrestrial power to do whatever he wished. 457 00:27:19,250 --> 00:27:23,125 NARRATOR: According to the Talmud, King Solomon used the ring to 458 00:27:23,292 --> 00:27:28,458 control a group of otherworldly beings known as demons. 459 00:27:29,417 --> 00:27:32,167 Today in modern times we tend to think of demons as 460 00:27:32,333 --> 00:27:34,792 something related to the devil, something satanic. 461 00:27:35,958 --> 00:27:37,750 But the way that demons were looked at 462 00:27:37,875 --> 00:27:39,375 in the time of Solomon, 463 00:27:39,542 --> 00:27:42,917 based on the literature, is very different. 464 00:27:43,083 --> 00:27:46,750 Demons in the ancient world were a different kind of being. 465 00:27:46,875 --> 00:27:48,667 They were mischievous. Sometimes they were 466 00:27:48,875 --> 00:27:51,875 industrious, but they weren't necessarily evil. 467 00:27:52,917 --> 00:27:57,833 It is said that with this ring Solomon entrapped these demons 468 00:27:58,042 --> 00:28:00,958 and used them to help him build the temple. 469 00:28:02,875 --> 00:28:05,000 TZADOK: Solomon, like any other human being, 470 00:28:05,167 --> 00:28:07,917 would not have had access to this power. 471 00:28:08,917 --> 00:28:10,708 The only way Solomon could have had a ring like this is, 472 00:28:10,875 --> 00:28:15,667 it was given to him from an extraterrestrial source. 473 00:28:18,125 --> 00:28:21,500 King Solomon's ring is a compelling example 474 00:28:21,708 --> 00:28:24,667 of extraterrestrials providing our ancestors 475 00:28:24,875 --> 00:28:26,708 with advanced technology. 476 00:28:26,875 --> 00:28:28,958 But, curiously, he was also given a device 477 00:28:29,167 --> 00:28:33,417 that was described as "a magic worm." 478 00:28:33,583 --> 00:28:35,458 And that brings us to number three 479 00:28:35,542 --> 00:28:38,333 on our countdown: The Shamir. 480 00:28:40,333 --> 00:28:43,917 NARRATOR: The Temple Mount, Jerusalem. 481 00:28:44,083 --> 00:28:47,042 It was here that King Solomon constructed 482 00:28:47,208 --> 00:28:50,500 a temple to house the holiest of Jewish relics. 483 00:28:50,708 --> 00:28:54,208 Today, nothing of the temple remains. 484 00:28:54,375 --> 00:28:58,792 But according to mystical Hebrew texts, when it was constructed 485 00:28:58,958 --> 00:29:03,875 in the tenth century BC, it wasn't built with human hands. 486 00:29:05,167 --> 00:29:07,500 God commanded Solomon to build a temple. 487 00:29:07,625 --> 00:29:10,875 But the laws of the Torah 488 00:29:11,042 --> 00:29:15,167 required that the building of the temple 489 00:29:15,292 --> 00:29:17,042 did not use any kind 490 00:29:17,208 --> 00:29:21,750 of hammer or chisel to cut and grind stone. 491 00:29:22,917 --> 00:29:25,583 Solomon was in need of a higher technology 492 00:29:25,792 --> 00:29:28,625 in order to build his temple. 493 00:29:28,833 --> 00:29:33,833 He knew that he had to contact Ashmodai, 494 00:29:34,042 --> 00:29:38,250 the king of the demons, who had this technology. 495 00:29:39,333 --> 00:29:43,583 NARRATOR: Using the power of his ring, King Solomon compelled Ashmodai 496 00:29:43,708 --> 00:29:47,500 to give him a device that would help him build the temple. 497 00:29:47,625 --> 00:29:52,000 A mysterious object called a Shamir. 498 00:29:52,917 --> 00:29:54,333 Now, the Shamir is described in traditional 499 00:29:54,458 --> 00:29:57,083 literature as this little worm that you put 500 00:29:57,250 --> 00:30:00,583 on the stone and it would cut it precisely. 501 00:30:00,750 --> 00:30:04,667 TSOUKALOS: The Shamir was barely bigger than the size of a barleycorn, 502 00:30:04,833 --> 00:30:07,667 which is about a third of an inch. 503 00:30:07,875 --> 00:30:11,292 Apparently, Solomon was in complete control 504 00:30:11,458 --> 00:30:15,792 of this worm and obeyed each and every one of its commands. 505 00:30:17,250 --> 00:30:21,042 NARRATOR: To ancient astronaut theorists, the Shamir is yet another 506 00:30:21,208 --> 00:30:24,167 example of misunderstood technology. 507 00:30:25,208 --> 00:30:29,875 The Shamir was a "worm" that could cut and drill 508 00:30:30,042 --> 00:30:34,333 through even the hardest of stones rather with ease. 509 00:30:34,458 --> 00:30:39,208 What if the Shamir was some type of laser-cutting device? 510 00:30:40,208 --> 00:30:42,792 Ancient man did not understand things like 511 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:45,125 lasers or a high-energy beam. 512 00:30:45,292 --> 00:30:48,167 To them, the idea that it was a magical worm 513 00:30:48,333 --> 00:30:51,708 cutting the stone is a very interesting description. 514 00:30:52,750 --> 00:30:55,167 What if this was actually extraterrestrials somehow 515 00:30:55,292 --> 00:30:56,250 getting involved and using advanced technology 516 00:30:56,500 --> 00:30:57,750 getting involved and using advanced technology 517 00:30:57,875 --> 00:30:59,125 to assist in the building? 518 00:31:04,583 --> 00:31:06,333 Many of the devices featured on our countdown 519 00:31:06,542 --> 00:31:08,417 have been lost to time. 520 00:31:08,583 --> 00:31:09,833 Which is why the discovery 521 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:13,167 of our next object is so fascinating. 522 00:31:13,375 --> 00:31:15,792 When it was examined, archaeologists called it 523 00:31:15,917 --> 00:31:19,000 "an ancient Greek computer." 524 00:31:19,167 --> 00:31:23,208 Number two: The Antikythera Mechanism. 525 00:31:23,208 --> 00:31:23,542 Number two: The Antikythera Mechanism. 526 00:31:28,125 --> 00:31:32,875 NARRATOR: The Aegean Sea. April 1900. 527 00:31:34,125 --> 00:31:37,417 Off the coast of the small Greek island of Antikythera, 528 00:31:37,625 --> 00:31:41,542 divers discover the remains of a 2,000-year-old shipwreck. 529 00:31:42,875 --> 00:31:45,500 Inside, they find something extraordinary-- 530 00:31:45,667 --> 00:31:51,667 a bronze box containing the workings of a complex device. 531 00:31:51,792 --> 00:31:54,792 The Antikythera device is 532 00:31:54,875 --> 00:31:59,125 what looks to be a complex machine 533 00:31:59,292 --> 00:32:03,667 of gears, cranks and levers. 534 00:32:03,875 --> 00:32:05,292 That's the best way to describe what it is. 535 00:32:05,417 --> 00:32:08,167 If you were to look at it, it looks like a box. 536 00:32:08,333 --> 00:32:10,292 Wooden on the outside, with a crank. 537 00:32:10,458 --> 00:32:13,375 And what the crank would have done was moved 538 00:32:13,542 --> 00:32:18,333 a series of levers and gears around on the inside. 539 00:32:19,875 --> 00:32:22,167 So it was a really amazing device. 540 00:32:23,208 --> 00:32:25,708 NARRATOR: Archaeologists dated this contraption 541 00:32:25,875 --> 00:32:28,042 to the second century BC 542 00:32:28,208 --> 00:32:31,542 but were unable to determine what it was 543 00:32:31,708 --> 00:32:33,667 or what purpose it served. 544 00:32:33,833 --> 00:32:37,375 That is, until 1959, 545 00:32:37,542 --> 00:32:40,750 when physicist Derek John de Solla Price 546 00:32:40,917 --> 00:32:42,458 published an article in the journal 547 00:32:42,625 --> 00:32:46,333 Scientific American that made an astonishing claim. 548 00:32:46,500 --> 00:32:49,250 He described the Antikythera mechanism 549 00:32:49,417 --> 00:32:51,958 as "an ancient Greek computer." 550 00:32:52,125 --> 00:32:54,917 He realized that it was a sophisticated 551 00:32:55,083 --> 00:33:00,083 computer that could dial up astronomical configurations. 552 00:33:00,250 --> 00:33:02,333 And at the time the American scientists 553 00:33:02,500 --> 00:33:05,917 were so shocked at how advanced this device was. 554 00:33:06,042 --> 00:33:07,167 And they actually said 555 00:33:07,375 --> 00:33:09,458 that discovering the Antikythera device 556 00:33:09,625 --> 00:33:13,542 was like finding a jet plane in the tomb of King Tut. 557 00:33:14,583 --> 00:33:18,333 NARRATOR: To operate the device, a user would enter information into 558 00:33:18,458 --> 00:33:22,542 the mechanism using the complex system of gears and levers, 559 00:33:22,708 --> 00:33:27,417 and turn the crank to determine specific astronomical positions. 560 00:33:29,708 --> 00:33:32,917 RADER: What we can tell from the inscriptions on it 561 00:33:33,083 --> 00:33:37,500 and what we can tell from the way the device works 562 00:33:37,667 --> 00:33:41,167 is that it was a very mathematically sophisticated 563 00:33:41,250 --> 00:33:45,208 machine for showing, even predicting, 564 00:33:45,375 --> 00:33:49,667 where the stars, the Sun, the planets and the Moon were 565 00:33:49,833 --> 00:33:55,500 all going to be on a particular date that you were looking for. 566 00:33:55,625 --> 00:33:59,750 Really, for several thousand years ago, this is a remarkably 567 00:33:59,875 --> 00:34:05,167 Promethean invention, to put together this machine in order 568 00:34:05,375 --> 00:34:10,167 to give the user of the box, in a sense, a vision of the future. 569 00:34:12,875 --> 00:34:14,750 It was so amazing to them. 570 00:34:14,958 --> 00:34:18,333 They had never, ever conceived 571 00:34:18,500 --> 00:34:21,833 that the ancient Greeks, at 200 BC, 572 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:26,167 would have had the knowledge of mechanical devices like this. 573 00:34:26,375 --> 00:34:27,750 That's completely changed 574 00:34:27,875 --> 00:34:29,333 the way we perceive ancient history. 575 00:34:30,875 --> 00:34:33,417 NARRATOR: Archaeologists have still not determined 576 00:34:33,583 --> 00:34:35,667 who built the Antikythera mechanism. 577 00:34:35,792 --> 00:34:39,667 But some researchers believe its origins might 578 00:34:39,833 --> 00:34:42,417 actually predate ancient Greece. 579 00:34:43,542 --> 00:34:46,500 COPPENS: There's widespread speculation as to who made this. 580 00:34:46,667 --> 00:34:49,833 Some people pinpoint towards the Greeks because obviously 581 00:34:50,042 --> 00:34:51,875 it was found off the coast of Greece. 582 00:34:52,042 --> 00:34:54,833 But other people highlighted the possibility that actually 583 00:34:55,042 --> 00:34:59,333 we need to go further back in time, back to ancient Babylon. 584 00:34:59,417 --> 00:35:03,458 And so it might actually be that the Greeks are just one in 585 00:35:03,625 --> 00:35:06,750 a longer tradition of people who were building these devices. 586 00:35:08,500 --> 00:35:12,333 NARRATOR: Could the Antikythera device be proof that the ancient Greeks 587 00:35:12,542 --> 00:35:17,458 had technology far in advance of the times in which they lived? 588 00:35:17,625 --> 00:35:20,792 And if so, where did this knowledge come from? 589 00:35:20,958 --> 00:35:25,500 Ancient astronaut theorists suggest the advanced mechanism 590 00:35:25,667 --> 00:35:30,667 is yet another example of extraterrestrial visitation. 591 00:35:32,417 --> 00:35:35,250 Clearly our ancestors understood that knowledge 592 00:35:35,375 --> 00:35:38,583 of the cosmos, knowledge of our solar system 593 00:35:38,750 --> 00:35:42,042 was linked with the gods. 594 00:35:42,208 --> 00:35:44,167 Our ancestors actually told us that there 595 00:35:44,292 --> 00:35:47,917 were entities, gods, which actually informed us 596 00:35:48,083 --> 00:35:51,667 about astronomy, about our solar system. 597 00:35:51,833 --> 00:35:53,958 And so there are two possibilities when 598 00:35:54,083 --> 00:35:55,667 it comes to the Antikythera device. 599 00:35:55,833 --> 00:35:58,083 One is that our ancestors incorporated 600 00:35:58,250 --> 00:36:01,333 the knowledge of the gods into creating this device. 601 00:36:01,500 --> 00:36:04,333 Or that this device is a piece of technology 602 00:36:04,500 --> 00:36:07,167 given to us by the gods. 603 00:36:09,792 --> 00:36:13,208 There is only one device left on our countdown, 604 00:36:13,375 --> 00:36:15,000 and you will not want to miss it. 605 00:36:15,208 --> 00:36:17,208 Because as far as I'm concerned, 606 00:36:17,375 --> 00:36:21,708 it provides undeniable evidence that our ancestors 607 00:36:21,875 --> 00:36:24,833 had access to extraterrestrial technology. 608 00:36:29,417 --> 00:36:31,042 We've finally reached the end of our countdown 609 00:36:31,208 --> 00:36:32,875 of the Top Ten Mysterious Devices, 610 00:36:33,042 --> 00:36:37,208 and for me this one always gives me goose bumps. 611 00:36:37,375 --> 00:36:42,042 It is a wooden box that could part rivers, destroy armies, 612 00:36:42,208 --> 00:36:45,167 and communicate with otherworldly beings. 613 00:36:45,375 --> 00:36:50,417 Our number one alien device: The Ark of the Covenant. 614 00:36:55,542 --> 00:36:58,333 NARRATOR: Mount Sinai, Egypt. 615 00:36:58,458 --> 00:37:01,708 According to the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible, 616 00:37:01,917 --> 00:37:06,417 it was here that Moses was instructed by God to build one 617 00:37:06,583 --> 00:37:10,500 of the most important artifacts in Judeo-Christian tradition. 618 00:37:11,417 --> 00:37:13,500 The Ark of the Covenant. 619 00:37:13,667 --> 00:37:17,292 According to the Bible, it's a wooden box, 620 00:37:17,458 --> 00:37:21,708 made of acacia wood, that is overlaid in gold. 621 00:37:21,875 --> 00:37:27,333 And then it has a cover, a top, and on that cover are two 622 00:37:27,542 --> 00:37:32,583 cherubim, and they're humanlike figures that have wings. 623 00:37:33,875 --> 00:37:40,250 TZADOK: God commands Moses to build this chest, in which the original 624 00:37:40,375 --> 00:37:45,125 Ten Commandments was to be placed, and the presence 625 00:37:45,292 --> 00:37:48,250 of God would then be seen. 626 00:37:49,375 --> 00:37:52,458 Sounds very simple, but yet there were properties 627 00:37:52,667 --> 00:37:56,000 to the Ark that made it far more 628 00:37:56,125 --> 00:37:58,333 than just a symbolic representation 629 00:37:58,542 --> 00:38:00,417 of something religious. 630 00:38:01,875 --> 00:38:05,500 NARRATOR: Biblical accounts of the Ark portray it as possessing 631 00:38:05,667 --> 00:38:08,500 mysterious powers that aided the Israelites 632 00:38:08,708 --> 00:38:11,083 during their journey to the Promised Land. 633 00:38:11,292 --> 00:38:15,833 Parting rivers, leveling mountains, 634 00:38:16,042 --> 00:38:18,083 and destroying armies. 635 00:38:19,292 --> 00:38:23,292 COLLINS: The most important thing about trying to understand 636 00:38:23,458 --> 00:38:26,042 how the Ark of the Covenant functioned 637 00:38:26,208 --> 00:38:30,708 is the fact that specific instructions were given by God 638 00:38:30,875 --> 00:38:35,167 to Moses about how it was to be manufactured. 639 00:38:35,333 --> 00:38:37,167 The exact size. 640 00:38:37,375 --> 00:38:39,500 How it is to be raised off the ground, 641 00:38:39,667 --> 00:38:41,625 how it is to be carried. 642 00:38:41,792 --> 00:38:44,667 And this tells us almost certainly 643 00:38:44,833 --> 00:38:47,125 that we are dealing with technology. 644 00:38:48,667 --> 00:38:50,958 NARRATOR: Is it possible that the baffling powers 645 00:38:51,167 --> 00:38:55,125 ascribed to the Ark provide evidence that it contained 646 00:38:55,250 --> 00:38:59,458 highly advanced and perhaps extraterrestrial technology? 647 00:39:00,458 --> 00:39:03,458 Ancient astronaut theorists say yes 648 00:39:03,583 --> 00:39:08,042 and suggest clues can be found in rabbinical texts 649 00:39:08,208 --> 00:39:10,083 that describe how the high priest 650 00:39:10,250 --> 00:39:12,917 would interact with the Ark. 651 00:39:13,083 --> 00:39:15,500 TZADOK: We know that the only one who could approach 652 00:39:15,708 --> 00:39:19,833 the Ark was the high priest of Israel. 653 00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:23,333 The high priest was required by biblical law 654 00:39:23,542 --> 00:39:26,833 to wear a special type of a breastplate 655 00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:30,542 which had special types of gemstones on it, 656 00:39:30,708 --> 00:39:34,875 and through the recitation of certain holy names, 657 00:39:35,042 --> 00:39:38,833 the stones upon the breastplate would start to move, 658 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:42,125 vibrate and light up. 659 00:39:42,250 --> 00:39:44,708 And this is the way that some 660 00:39:44,917 --> 00:39:48,333 type of actual communication was made 661 00:39:48,542 --> 00:39:50,792 between the high priest 662 00:39:50,917 --> 00:39:53,667 and whatever power was connected to, 663 00:39:53,833 --> 00:39:56,833 connecting with, through the Ark. 664 00:39:58,208 --> 00:40:02,792 TSOUKALOS: The Ark of the Covenant is one of the greatest pieces 665 00:40:02,917 --> 00:40:06,625 in the ancient astronaut theory because there was an actual 666 00:40:06,792 --> 00:40:11,333 physical object that had a connection to 667 00:40:11,542 --> 00:40:14,083 the so-called celestial realm. 668 00:40:14,208 --> 00:40:15,875 So, I mean, the Ark of the Covenant 669 00:40:16,042 --> 00:40:20,333 is one of the most enduring ancient mysteries of all time. 670 00:40:20,500 --> 00:40:24,750 NARRATOR: According to religious texts, the Ark of the Covenant 671 00:40:24,958 --> 00:40:27,708 was placed inside Solomon's Temple. 672 00:40:28,708 --> 00:40:32,208 And then it simply vanished. 673 00:40:32,375 --> 00:40:36,458 But ancient astronaut theorists believe that if the Ark is 674 00:40:36,625 --> 00:40:40,792 ever found, it will have a profound effect on humanity. 675 00:40:42,042 --> 00:40:46,500 TZADOK: The Ark might actually be the proof that we have 676 00:40:46,708 --> 00:40:48,708 been seeking throughout human history 677 00:40:48,875 --> 00:40:52,042 of contact with the greater universe and world. 678 00:40:52,208 --> 00:40:57,958 Indeed, if we could have the Ark and operate it 679 00:40:58,167 --> 00:41:03,125 and make contact, who would we be talking to? 680 00:41:03,292 --> 00:41:05,167 What would we be opening up? 681 00:41:07,708 --> 00:41:10,917 The discovery of the Ark of the Covenant would force 682 00:41:11,083 --> 00:41:14,500 even the biggest skeptics to reconsider 683 00:41:14,625 --> 00:41:17,208 the accepted history of this planet. 684 00:41:17,375 --> 00:41:20,667 And as far as I'm concerned, each of the devices on 685 00:41:20,875 --> 00:41:25,042 our countdown deserves to be investigated with an open mind, 686 00:41:25,208 --> 00:41:29,417 and could offer potential proof of alien visitation 687 00:41:29,583 --> 00:41:31,292 in the remote past. 688 00:41:31,500 --> 00:41:33,875 CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY A+E NETWORKS