1 00:00:01,835 --> 00:00:05,130 NARRATOR: The fruit of a tree that forever alters humanity. 2 00:00:05,130 --> 00:00:09,130 DAVID CHILDRESS: This serpent being offers them some special food to eat, 3 00:00:08,967 --> 00:00:11,845 and suddenly we have a fundamental change. 4 00:00:11,845 --> 00:00:15,766 NARRATOR: A drink that grants everlasting life. 5 00:00:15,766 --> 00:00:19,061 JOSHUA CUTCHIN: This liquid could convey immortality upon 6 00:00:19,061 --> 00:00:20,562 those who consumed it. 7 00:00:20,562 --> 00:00:22,898 NARRATOR: And a nourishing substance 8 00:00:22,898 --> 00:00:25,025 that rains down from the sky. 9 00:00:25,025 --> 00:00:28,946 GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: This machine was given to the Israelites 10 00:00:28,946 --> 00:00:30,530 by extraterrestrials. 11 00:00:30,530 --> 00:00:33,408 NARRATOR: In every religious tradition, 12 00:00:33,408 --> 00:00:37,079 there are foods believed to possess extraordinary power, 13 00:00:37,079 --> 00:00:40,123 and some that are even consumed 14 00:00:40,123 --> 00:00:42,084 by the gods themselves. 15 00:00:42,084 --> 00:00:44,920 The gods ate, the gods drank, 16 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:46,920 and this is what kept them divine. 17 00:00:46,547 --> 00:00:48,590 NARRATOR: But is it possible that what 18 00:00:48,590 --> 00:00:50,551 our ancestors described as gods 19 00:00:50,551 --> 00:00:54,596 were, in fact, visitors from another world? 20 00:00:54,596 --> 00:00:57,596 And if so, might the food of these gods 21 00:00:57,474 --> 00:00:59,643 reveal a powerful link 22 00:00:59,643 --> 00:01:03,522 to mankind's extraterrestrial origins? 23 00:01:03,522 --> 00:01:06,400 WILLIAM HENRY: These foods were directly introduced into 24 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:09,695 the human experience in order to awaken us 25 00:01:09,695 --> 00:01:12,155 and to bring us closer to the gods. 26 00:01:14,741 --> 00:01:17,035 NARRATOR: There is a doorway 27 00:01:17,035 --> 00:01:19,788 in the universe. 28 00:01:19,788 --> 00:01:22,833 Beyond it is the promise of truth. 29 00:01:24,167 --> 00:01:26,545 It demands we question everything 30 00:01:26,545 --> 00:01:28,839 we have ever been taught. 31 00:01:28,839 --> 00:01:32,759 The evidence is all around us. 32 00:01:32,759 --> 00:01:36,597 The future is right before our eyes. 33 00:01:36,597 --> 00:01:39,266 We are not alone. 34 00:01:39,266 --> 00:01:42,603 We have never been alone. 35 00:01:50,777 --> 00:01:54,197 NARRATOR: As humanity prepares to travel to other worlds, 36 00:01:54,197 --> 00:01:57,492 one of the biggest challenges facing scientists 37 00:01:57,492 --> 00:01:59,578 is how to provide sustenance 38 00:01:59,578 --> 00:02:02,789 beyond that found on planet Earth. 39 00:02:02,789 --> 00:02:05,500 When we think of the early pioneers, uh, 40 00:02:05,500 --> 00:02:08,128 we think of "living off the land." 41 00:02:08,128 --> 00:02:10,589 You can't do that in outer space. 42 00:02:10,589 --> 00:02:14,134 There's no soil, there's no oxygen, 43 00:02:14,134 --> 00:02:16,637 there's very little of the basic ingredients 44 00:02:16,637 --> 00:02:19,637 that we take for granted on the planet Earth. 45 00:02:19,514 --> 00:02:21,141 So living in outer space 46 00:02:21,141 --> 00:02:24,686 presents a whole new set of challenges. 47 00:02:24,686 --> 00:02:27,397 NARRATOR: Currently, NASA researchers 48 00:02:27,397 --> 00:02:30,942 are experimenting with various possible solutions 49 00:02:30,942 --> 00:02:34,988 to the problem of keeping humans fed during long‐term missions. 50 00:02:34,988 --> 00:02:38,200 BILL BIRNES: For long expeditions in space, 51 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:41,200 there are really three things we have to do. 52 00:02:41,078 --> 00:02:44,122 One, either bring our food with us, 53 00:02:44,122 --> 00:02:47,709 wherever we go, take the food, wagon train. 54 00:02:47,709 --> 00:02:51,880 Two, terraform a planet, 55 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:54,925 or find a planet where we can already grow food 56 00:02:54,925 --> 00:02:56,468 that can sustain us. 57 00:02:56,468 --> 00:02:58,720 Or three, 58 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:02,891 change our own metabolism, so that we can exist 59 00:03:02,891 --> 00:03:04,891 on a whole different kind of food. 60 00:03:04,810 --> 00:03:09,022 NARRATOR: But is it even possible to sustain life 61 00:03:09,022 --> 00:03:10,857 in the vacuum of space? 62 00:03:10,857 --> 00:03:15,696 In recent years, biologists have discovered organisms 63 00:03:15,696 --> 00:03:19,241 on our planet that can thrive in extreme conditions, 64 00:03:19,241 --> 00:03:23,412 like those found in the deepest depths of Earth's oceans. 65 00:03:23,412 --> 00:03:27,412 KIRSTEN FISHER: The prevailing assumption was that there wasn't much life 66 00:03:26,373 --> 00:03:28,373 at the bottom of the ocean. 67 00:03:27,749 --> 00:03:31,086 So this idea that, um, the deep sea, 68 00:03:31,086 --> 00:03:33,797 um, could actually contain life 69 00:03:33,797 --> 00:03:36,797 was pretty phenomenal because I think we had assumed that, 70 00:03:36,550 --> 00:03:38,550 without light, we couldn't have life. 71 00:03:38,260 --> 00:03:41,930 So the existence of whole ecosystems 72 00:03:41,930 --> 00:03:44,474 that are supported by chemical reactions 73 00:03:44,474 --> 00:03:45,725 that don't need light 74 00:03:45,725 --> 00:03:48,228 to generate biomolecules and energy, 75 00:03:48,228 --> 00:03:51,106 I think, was really revolutionary. 76 00:03:51,106 --> 00:03:55,735 NARRATOR: But could the key to mankind's survival on other worlds 77 00:03:55,735 --> 00:03:58,071 be found not in a laboratory 78 00:03:58,071 --> 00:04:02,659 but by studying past accounts of extraterrestrial encounters? 79 00:04:04,703 --> 00:04:07,747 Eagle River, Wisconsin. 80 00:04:07,747 --> 00:04:11,126 April 18, 1961. 81 00:04:11,126 --> 00:04:13,336 Plumber Joe Simonton 82 00:04:13,336 --> 00:04:15,589 is finishing his lunch when he notices 83 00:04:15,589 --> 00:04:17,591 a metallic saucer‐shaped craft 84 00:04:17,591 --> 00:04:21,386 landing just outside his kitchen window. 85 00:04:22,929 --> 00:04:26,929 I raced out to see what it was, and by that time 86 00:04:26,016 --> 00:04:29,016 there was a hatchway opening up in the top of it, 87 00:04:28,477 --> 00:04:30,520 just like the trunk of your car, 88 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:32,689 and in there there stood a little man‐‐ 89 00:04:32,689 --> 00:04:35,689 I'd say a little man about five foot tall‐‐ 90 00:04:35,275 --> 00:04:38,570 holding up a jug, and he motioned he wanted a drink, 91 00:04:38,570 --> 00:04:41,740 he motioned for water, so I walked up to him 92 00:04:41,740 --> 00:04:45,786 to get this jug and, uh, I looked at his eyes, 93 00:04:45,786 --> 00:04:48,786 and they were so penetrating that I had to look away. 94 00:04:48,580 --> 00:04:53,293 NARRATOR: Simonton took the container and filled it with water. 95 00:04:53,293 --> 00:04:56,463 When he returned to the flying saucer, 96 00:04:56,463 --> 00:04:58,131 he noticed a second being 97 00:04:58,131 --> 00:05:01,802 with what appeared to be food‐like wafers. 98 00:05:01,802 --> 00:05:04,802 SIMONTON: He didn't say a word, he just reached forward 99 00:05:04,054 --> 00:05:07,054 and he got a handful of 'em, four of 'em, 100 00:05:05,806 --> 00:05:09,806 and he handed down to me, which I have one here yet. 101 00:05:09,643 --> 00:05:13,939 NARRATOR: According to Simonton, the two aliens promptly closed the hatch 102 00:05:13,939 --> 00:05:15,565 and took off. 103 00:05:15,565 --> 00:05:17,565 SIMONTON: Within, uh, two or three seconds, 104 00:05:17,359 --> 00:05:18,652 it was out of sight. 105 00:05:18,652 --> 00:05:20,652 Well, there I stood in the driveway, 106 00:05:20,403 --> 00:05:23,403 wondering what the heck I'd saw, what had happened. 107 00:05:22,989 --> 00:05:26,201 And, uh, if that was their food, 108 00:05:26,201 --> 00:05:30,201 God help them because I took a bite of one of 'em 109 00:05:28,703 --> 00:05:31,164 and it tasted like a piece of cardboard. 110 00:05:34,459 --> 00:05:37,087 NARRATOR: The case immediately garnered the attention 111 00:05:37,087 --> 00:05:41,341 of U. S. government agencies looking into the UFO phenomenon, 112 00:05:41,341 --> 00:05:44,094 including Project Blue Book 113 00:05:44,094 --> 00:05:48,849 and its science advisor, astronomer J. Allen Hynek. 114 00:05:48,849 --> 00:05:52,352 CUTCHIN: Joe Simonton‐‐ this is an interesting case because it has 115 00:05:52,352 --> 00:05:55,856 a level of physical evidence that we don't often see 116 00:05:55,856 --> 00:05:57,856 with a lot of these cases. 117 00:05:57,232 --> 00:05:59,276 LINDA MOULTON HOWE: NICAP, 118 00:05:59,276 --> 00:06:02,779 the National Investigations Committee for Aerial Phenomena, 119 00:06:02,779 --> 00:06:06,616 which was largely CIA back in that period of time, 120 00:06:06,616 --> 00:06:08,201 wants to investigate. 121 00:06:08,201 --> 00:06:10,787 And J. Allen Hynek, who was doing investigations 122 00:06:10,787 --> 00:06:13,790 for the Air Force, he wanted to investigate. 123 00:06:13,790 --> 00:06:17,210 NARRATOR: Hynek obtained samples of the wafers 124 00:06:17,210 --> 00:06:19,504 and requested a full analysis by the 125 00:06:19,504 --> 00:06:22,632 U.S. Department of Health's Food and Drug Laboratory. 126 00:06:22,632 --> 00:06:25,886 The report stated that the wafers consisted 127 00:06:25,886 --> 00:06:28,638 of chemically modified terrestrial plants, 128 00:06:28,638 --> 00:06:32,017 including buckwheat, soybeans, and bran. 129 00:06:32,017 --> 00:06:34,769 But curiously, 130 00:06:34,769 --> 00:06:37,230 not even the tiniest trace amount of salt 131 00:06:37,230 --> 00:06:39,482 was detected in the sample. 132 00:06:41,401 --> 00:06:43,904 HOWE: There was no salt at all 133 00:06:43,904 --> 00:06:46,781 found in this analysis 134 00:06:46,781 --> 00:06:51,119 by NICAP and J. Allen Hynek, and it's puzzling. 135 00:06:51,119 --> 00:06:55,119 MICHAEL DENNIN: One of the interesting things about life on this planet 136 00:06:54,497 --> 00:06:58,497 is it did start in the oceans, and the ocean is salt water. 137 00:06:57,417 --> 00:06:59,919 And so, fundamentally, the water in our bodies, 138 00:06:59,919 --> 00:07:02,922 in our cells, and in‐in pretty much every living thing 139 00:07:02,922 --> 00:07:05,342 has a certain amount of salt concentration 140 00:07:05,342 --> 00:07:06,926 and is ubiquitous everywhere. 141 00:07:06,926 --> 00:07:09,429 NARRATOR: According to scientists, 142 00:07:09,429 --> 00:07:12,891 every cell of every living organism on Earth 143 00:07:12,891 --> 00:07:16,936 contains a trace amount of sodium chloride, or salt. 144 00:07:16,936 --> 00:07:19,648 So could the complete lack of salt 145 00:07:19,648 --> 00:07:22,692 in Joe Simonton's so‐called "alien wafer" 146 00:07:22,692 --> 00:07:27,864 really be proof that it came from an extraterrestrial source? 147 00:07:27,864 --> 00:07:30,617 We see in outer space 148 00:07:30,617 --> 00:07:33,912 thousands of planets with different kinds of chemistries, 149 00:07:33,912 --> 00:07:37,912 so it's definitely possible that you can have an entire planet 150 00:07:37,624 --> 00:07:39,709 with very little salt on it. 151 00:07:39,709 --> 00:07:44,297 BIRNES: What if salt is as poisonous 152 00:07:44,297 --> 00:07:48,718 to those aliens as cyanide is to us? 153 00:07:48,718 --> 00:07:51,554 That's what that alien contact could presuppose, 154 00:07:51,554 --> 00:07:55,975 that we've learned something about what's poisonous to them. 155 00:07:55,975 --> 00:07:59,896 NARRATOR: Ancient astronaut theorists suggest that support 156 00:07:59,896 --> 00:08:03,066 for the Joe Simonton story and the notion that salt 157 00:08:03,066 --> 00:08:05,610 might be poisonous to some extraterrestrials 158 00:08:05,610 --> 00:08:07,278 that have visited Earth 159 00:08:07,278 --> 00:08:10,907 can be found in ancient tales from around the world, 160 00:08:10,907 --> 00:08:15,412 in which salt is used to ward off alien entities. 161 00:08:15,412 --> 00:08:19,499 The salt connection to the Simonton story 162 00:08:19,499 --> 00:08:22,585 is‐is very interesting because it connects to other mythologies 163 00:08:22,585 --> 00:08:26,506 involving demonic beings or fairy beings. 164 00:08:26,506 --> 00:08:30,468 They say that if you pour salt on the ground 165 00:08:30,468 --> 00:08:33,468 in front of a fairy, it has to stop automatically. 166 00:08:32,512 --> 00:08:35,512 Or that you can throw salt over your shoulder 167 00:08:34,389 --> 00:08:36,391 and this will ward off evil spirits. 168 00:08:36,391 --> 00:08:40,562 The Shinto religion uses salt as a protective mechanism. 169 00:08:40,562 --> 00:08:44,774 So for salt to be lacking in these pancakes 170 00:08:44,774 --> 00:08:46,234 is‐is extraordinary 171 00:08:46,234 --> 00:08:49,404 because it‐it links us to these ancient stories 172 00:08:49,404 --> 00:08:54,075 and it actually confirms these ancient stories. 173 00:08:54,075 --> 00:08:58,538 NARRATOR: But if the stories of both the past and present are true 174 00:08:58,538 --> 00:09:02,542 and these alien visitors cannot consume salt, 175 00:09:02,542 --> 00:09:04,753 how have they been able to sustain themselves 176 00:09:04,753 --> 00:09:07,881 in a place where salt is abundant? 177 00:09:07,881 --> 00:09:11,760 Ancient astronaut theorists believe that the answer 178 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:14,554 to this one simple question may reveal 179 00:09:14,554 --> 00:09:18,141 both an alien agenda on Earth and perhaps 180 00:09:18,141 --> 00:09:22,187 even the purpose behind the creation of humankind. 181 00:09:29,027 --> 00:09:32,697 NARRATOR: The 14th century BC. 182 00:09:32,697 --> 00:09:36,451 According to the Hebrew Bible's Book of Exodus, 183 00:09:36,451 --> 00:09:39,746 the prophet Moses helps the Jewish slaves to escape 184 00:09:39,746 --> 00:09:41,790 the tyranny of the pharaoh, 185 00:09:41,790 --> 00:09:46,211 leading them across the Red Sea and into the Sinai Desert. 186 00:09:46,211 --> 00:09:48,880 During the exodus phase, you know, 187 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:51,880 you're wandering in the desert for almost 40 years. 188 00:09:51,424 --> 00:09:52,634 What do you eat? 189 00:09:52,634 --> 00:09:56,554 Well, God provides this substance, 190 00:09:56,554 --> 00:09:59,766 this magical substance. 191 00:09:59,766 --> 00:10:03,311 HENRY: Moses appealed to Yahweh, the Old Testament God, 192 00:10:03,311 --> 00:10:08,108 and Yahweh caused manna, this food of the heavens, 193 00:10:08,108 --> 00:10:11,194 to rain down upon the Israelites. 194 00:10:11,194 --> 00:10:15,323 NARRATOR: But according to ancient astronaut theorists, 195 00:10:15,323 --> 00:10:17,117 the story of the Israelites 196 00:10:17,117 --> 00:10:21,496 receiving manna from heaven is not a story about a magical food 197 00:10:21,496 --> 00:10:23,873 being sent by almighty God, 198 00:10:23,873 --> 00:10:28,294 but one of extraterrestrials using their advanced technology 199 00:10:28,294 --> 00:10:32,632 in order to prevent a group of migrating humans from starving. 200 00:10:32,632 --> 00:10:36,886 We assumed that we were looking at gods in the past. 201 00:10:36,886 --> 00:10:41,099 We didn't know we might be looking at aliens. 202 00:10:41,099 --> 00:10:43,017 (thunder cracks) 203 00:10:45,061 --> 00:10:48,857 NARRATOR: In 1978, linguist George Sassoon 204 00:10:48,857 --> 00:10:51,568 and electrical engineer Rodney Dale 205 00:10:51,568 --> 00:10:54,779 released their book, The Manna Machine. 206 00:10:54,779 --> 00:10:58,324 In it, they propose that the supplementary Hebrew texts 207 00:10:58,324 --> 00:11:01,369 of the Zohar provide surprisingly detailed 208 00:11:01,369 --> 00:11:04,664 descriptions that point to manna being supplied 209 00:11:04,664 --> 00:11:07,041 by a mechanical device. 210 00:11:07,041 --> 00:11:11,629 TSOUKALOS: We have a concise description of it in the ancient Jewish texts 211 00:11:11,629 --> 00:11:15,675 of the Zohar, where they describe the transportable one 212 00:11:15,675 --> 00:11:18,511 with the tanks. 213 00:11:18,511 --> 00:11:21,264 Dale and Sassoon looked at these stories, 214 00:11:21,264 --> 00:11:24,434 and they came out with the idea that this is not 215 00:11:24,434 --> 00:11:26,811 a description of God at all; 216 00:11:26,811 --> 00:11:28,811 it's a description of a machine. 217 00:11:28,771 --> 00:11:33,193 The manna machine was this tower‐like structure, 218 00:11:33,193 --> 00:11:37,071 and it had these two giant tanks and a dispenser. 219 00:11:37,071 --> 00:11:41,075 Manna is the product of that machine, 220 00:11:41,075 --> 00:11:44,621 and it is based on algae cultures. 221 00:11:44,621 --> 00:11:50,335 This manna machine had to be taken apart every Saturday. 222 00:11:50,335 --> 00:11:55,548 And this was the one day that the tribe did not have any food. 223 00:11:55,548 --> 00:11:59,010 The basic proposition by Dale and Sassoon 224 00:11:59,010 --> 00:12:03,181 is that this machine was given to the Israelites 225 00:12:03,181 --> 00:12:05,892 by extraterrestrials. 226 00:12:08,311 --> 00:12:10,311 NARRATOR: Could it be that extraterrestrials 227 00:12:09,729 --> 00:12:13,566 provided technology to the Israelites to sustain them 228 00:12:13,566 --> 00:12:16,694 during their long journey through the desert? 229 00:12:16,694 --> 00:12:19,864 For the answer, ancient astronaut theorists point 230 00:12:19,864 --> 00:12:24,285 to passages describing a pillar of cloud during the day 231 00:12:24,285 --> 00:12:27,538 and a pillar of fire guiding them at night. 232 00:12:29,290 --> 00:12:32,669 CHILDRESS: They're following a light that's guiding them 233 00:12:32,669 --> 00:12:35,922 as they wander for 40 years through these deserts 234 00:12:35,922 --> 00:12:39,217 of‐of the Sinai and Northern Saudi Arabia. 235 00:12:40,635 --> 00:12:43,721 So you have to ask yourself, is it possible 236 00:12:43,721 --> 00:12:47,558 that this pillar of fire is a UFO 237 00:12:47,558 --> 00:12:51,020 that was working with Moses to bring the Israelites 238 00:12:51,020 --> 00:12:52,855 to the promised land? 239 00:12:52,855 --> 00:12:56,526 NARRATOR: If extraterrestrials provided the Israelites 240 00:12:56,526 --> 00:12:58,695 with a food‐dispensing machine, 241 00:12:58,695 --> 00:13:01,695 is it possible that they had been using this, 242 00:13:00,989 --> 00:13:05,410 or a similar technology, to sustain themselves? 243 00:13:05,410 --> 00:13:09,789 Perhaps the same technology as the one that produced 244 00:13:09,789 --> 00:13:13,501 the mysterious salt‐free wafer that Joe Simonton claimed 245 00:13:13,501 --> 00:13:17,338 was given to him by aliens in 1961. 246 00:13:19,215 --> 00:13:22,552 As far as ancient astronaut theorists are concerned, 247 00:13:22,552 --> 00:13:25,054 the answer lies not in the further study 248 00:13:25,054 --> 00:13:26,973 of the so‐called manna machine, 249 00:13:26,973 --> 00:13:29,267 but by looking into other possible 250 00:13:29,267 --> 00:13:32,270 extraterrestrial food sources. 251 00:13:33,604 --> 00:13:36,604 I think there's a definite connection to be drawn 252 00:13:35,982 --> 00:13:39,610 between a lot of the food preparation practice 253 00:13:39,610 --> 00:13:42,780 that we see associated with all sorts of major religions 254 00:13:42,780 --> 00:13:45,658 and the modern UFO phenomena. 255 00:13:45,658 --> 00:13:49,454 If we look back into ancient religions, 256 00:13:49,454 --> 00:13:52,454 one of the things that we find time and again, 257 00:13:51,581 --> 00:13:54,581 no matter which part of the world it is, 258 00:13:54,125 --> 00:13:56,836 is the issue of sacrifice of animals. 259 00:13:59,213 --> 00:14:02,717 Now, the big question is: why was this being done? 260 00:14:02,717 --> 00:14:07,013 Well, I think we could make an interesting scenario if, 261 00:14:07,013 --> 00:14:12,727 for example, the aliens required specific food and liquid items. 262 00:14:12,727 --> 00:14:15,855 HUSSAIN: There are all sorts of religions that have food restrictions. 263 00:14:15,855 --> 00:14:18,855 In the Jewish tradition we have the word "kosher." 264 00:14:18,149 --> 00:14:19,942 What is acceptable food? 265 00:14:19,942 --> 00:14:22,942 In the Islamic tradition, halal‐‐ exactly the same thing. 266 00:14:22,278 --> 00:14:24,572 What food is allowed, what food is acceptable? 267 00:14:24,572 --> 00:14:27,572 And so, for example, when you kill an animal, 268 00:14:27,366 --> 00:14:29,702 you cut the throat, you drain the blood. 269 00:14:29,702 --> 00:14:32,580 You want as little blood there as possible. 270 00:14:32,580 --> 00:14:36,250 CUTCHIN: The handling and management of blood 271 00:14:36,250 --> 00:14:40,088 in kosher and halal practice is especially important 272 00:14:40,088 --> 00:14:43,132 because it is generally considered reserved for God. 273 00:14:43,132 --> 00:14:47,132 STRIEBER: I wouldn't be surprised at all if blood did not play 274 00:14:46,302 --> 00:14:48,302 a big role in their food. 275 00:14:48,096 --> 00:14:52,850 And if people in the past had seen them consuming blood, 276 00:14:52,850 --> 00:14:57,021 it might have become that higher beings had the right 277 00:14:57,021 --> 00:14:59,857 to consume the blood, not human beings. 278 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:03,653 NARRATOR: Malheur National Forest. 279 00:15:03,653 --> 00:15:05,321 Harney County, Oregon. 280 00:15:05,321 --> 00:15:08,783 July 30, 2019. 281 00:15:08,783 --> 00:15:12,495 A rancher discovers the mutilated carcasses 282 00:15:12,495 --> 00:15:15,248 of five of his prized bulls. 283 00:15:17,250 --> 00:15:21,629 At a loss to explain the deaths, authorities note that 284 00:15:21,629 --> 00:15:24,549 the animals have been entirely drained of blood. 285 00:15:24,549 --> 00:15:27,385 This is in keeping with many similar mutilations 286 00:15:27,385 --> 00:15:29,262 reported around the world. 287 00:15:31,222 --> 00:15:34,809 HOWE: Animals of every type you can think of, 288 00:15:34,809 --> 00:15:39,105 large and small, have been bloodlessly mutilated. 289 00:15:41,357 --> 00:15:45,862 Wild animals, deer, elk, marmots, reindeer, 290 00:15:45,862 --> 00:15:51,617 kangaroos, snakes, all found bloodlessly mutilated. 291 00:15:53,244 --> 00:15:55,538 BIRNES: When cows are mutilated, 292 00:15:55,538 --> 00:15:58,538 one of the things we notice is that they're 293 00:15:57,623 --> 00:16:00,918 completely drained of blood, exsanguinated. 294 00:16:00,918 --> 00:16:04,714 What could that possibly mean? 295 00:16:04,714 --> 00:16:08,926 NARRATOR: According to FBI statistics, the agency has documented 296 00:16:08,926 --> 00:16:12,972 over 10,000 official reports of similar animal mutilations 297 00:16:12,972 --> 00:16:15,516 over the past half‐century. 298 00:16:15,516 --> 00:16:19,353 Investigative journalist Linda Moulton Howe began 299 00:16:19,353 --> 00:16:23,232 researching cattle mutilations in the late 1970s. 300 00:16:23,232 --> 00:16:25,232 When I produced A Strange Harvest, 301 00:16:25,067 --> 00:16:26,986 about the animal mutilations, 302 00:16:26,986 --> 00:16:30,823 all of it was a brand‐new landscape for me 303 00:16:30,823 --> 00:16:33,492 as an investigative reporter and TV producer. 304 00:16:33,492 --> 00:16:37,955 And it led me to people who were saying 305 00:16:37,955 --> 00:16:41,125 the perpetrators are creatures from outer space. 306 00:16:41,125 --> 00:16:45,630 And the whole issue of: what are they? 307 00:16:45,630 --> 00:16:49,008 Do they eat? Do they drink? 308 00:16:49,008 --> 00:16:51,302 Are they like us? What? 309 00:16:51,302 --> 00:16:53,846 NARRATOR: During her investigation, 310 00:16:53,846 --> 00:16:57,846 Linda met with a woman from the Las Cruces, New Mexico area 311 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:00,600 who claimed to have been abducted from the scene 312 00:17:00,019 --> 00:17:02,897 and taken aboard a craft. 313 00:17:02,897 --> 00:17:04,899 Once inside the craft, 314 00:17:04,899 --> 00:17:08,027 the woman encountered extraterrestrial beings. 315 00:17:08,027 --> 00:17:11,989 They led her to a large vat containing dark liquid 316 00:17:11,989 --> 00:17:15,034 with body parts floating in it. 317 00:17:15,034 --> 00:17:19,121 They're all floating in this round container, 318 00:17:19,121 --> 00:17:22,708 and something puts in her head, telepathically, 319 00:17:22,708 --> 00:17:26,045 that it has something to do with sustenance. 320 00:17:26,045 --> 00:17:29,966 NARRATOR: Is there something in both animal and human blood 321 00:17:29,966 --> 00:17:32,966 that is necessary in order to sustain the life 322 00:17:32,718 --> 00:17:36,681 of extraterrestrials visiting planet Earth? 323 00:17:36,681 --> 00:17:41,269 And if so, could finding the answer provide an important key, 324 00:17:41,269 --> 00:17:44,480 not only in our understanding of alien life 325 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:49,068 but in our search for a means of survival on other worlds? 326 00:17:49,068 --> 00:17:53,030 As far as ancient astronaut theorists are concerned, 327 00:17:53,030 --> 00:17:55,950 the answer might be found by examining 328 00:17:55,950 --> 00:17:59,328 the strange connection between human blood... 329 00:17:59,328 --> 00:18:01,956 and immortality. 330 00:18:09,046 --> 00:18:11,674 NARRATOR: For the ancient Greeks, 331 00:18:11,674 --> 00:18:13,674 this was the home of the gods. 332 00:18:13,467 --> 00:18:16,512 Gods that were very much like humans, 333 00:18:16,512 --> 00:18:18,931 except that they could live forever, 334 00:18:18,931 --> 00:18:23,477 courtesy of a mysterious drink called ambrosia. 335 00:18:23,477 --> 00:18:27,440 HUSSAIN: Ambrosia was literally the food of immortality. 336 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:30,440 In the ancient world, the gods ate, the gods drank. 337 00:18:30,067 --> 00:18:32,778 And this is what kept them divine. 338 00:18:32,778 --> 00:18:34,778 This is what kept them alive forever, 339 00:18:34,697 --> 00:18:36,697 which is one of the crucial differences between 340 00:18:36,365 --> 00:18:37,783 the divine and the human. 341 00:18:39,243 --> 00:18:42,121 NARRATOR: While ambrosia was reserved for the gods, 342 00:18:42,121 --> 00:18:44,957 the ancient Greek texts also contain stories 343 00:18:44,957 --> 00:18:48,794 of this divine food being shared with select humans 344 00:18:48,794 --> 00:18:53,132 and extending their life spans indefinitely. 345 00:18:53,132 --> 00:18:57,637 We might imagine that it is some sort of a liquid 346 00:18:57,637 --> 00:19:00,931 or, or paste or ointment 347 00:19:00,931 --> 00:19:05,102 that has special properties. 348 00:19:05,102 --> 00:19:10,441 By drinking it, you are extending your life, 349 00:19:10,441 --> 00:19:15,279 and if you drank this ambrosia over many, many years, 350 00:19:15,279 --> 00:19:19,367 you could have a certain sense of immortality, in a way. 351 00:19:19,367 --> 00:19:22,745 NARRATOR: Substances like ambrosia can be found 352 00:19:22,745 --> 00:19:25,081 in numerous ancient traditions. 353 00:19:25,081 --> 00:19:29,669 In China there were stories of the Peaches of Immortality. 354 00:19:29,669 --> 00:19:32,797 The Norse spoke of I unn's apples. 355 00:19:32,797 --> 00:19:36,050 But as far as ancient astronaut theorists are concerned, 356 00:19:36,050 --> 00:19:40,012 the ubiquity of this story also provides further evidence 357 00:19:40,012 --> 00:19:42,390 that ancient peoples came into contact 358 00:19:42,390 --> 00:19:45,351 with the same otherworldly beings. 359 00:19:45,351 --> 00:19:48,437 HENRY: Ancient astronaut theorists look at the gods 360 00:19:48,437 --> 00:19:52,066 as extraterrestrial beings, as aliens. 361 00:19:52,066 --> 00:19:54,985 If you're talking about beings that are 362 00:19:54,985 --> 00:19:57,863 traveling the stars for generations, 363 00:19:57,863 --> 00:20:00,863 they're going to need some kind of sustenance 364 00:20:00,491 --> 00:20:03,411 that will sustain them during these voyages. 365 00:20:03,411 --> 00:20:06,664 And that appears to be what ambrosia was. 366 00:20:06,664 --> 00:20:11,585 NARRATOR: Could it be that the ancient stories about ambrosia 367 00:20:11,585 --> 00:20:14,672 and similar elixirs were actually descriptions 368 00:20:14,672 --> 00:20:17,466 of a substance that extraterrestrials used 369 00:20:17,466 --> 00:20:20,219 to facilitate long voyages through space? 370 00:20:20,219 --> 00:20:24,932 And, if so, was it seen as a source of immortality, 371 00:20:24,932 --> 00:20:28,144 not only because of its ability to prolong life 372 00:20:28,144 --> 00:20:31,814 but also because it sustained alien travelers 373 00:20:31,814 --> 00:20:34,692 during thousands of years in space? 374 00:20:34,692 --> 00:20:38,112 Perhaps further clues to the answers can be found 375 00:20:38,112 --> 00:20:41,991 by examining the many accounts of ancient people 376 00:20:41,991 --> 00:20:45,995 living far longer than the average life expectancy today. 377 00:20:45,995 --> 00:20:47,995 HUSSAIN: The biblical life spans are extraordinary. 378 00:20:47,955 --> 00:20:51,125 So the Bible says that Adam lived for 930 years, 379 00:20:51,125 --> 00:20:53,252 that Noah lived for 950 years. 380 00:20:53,252 --> 00:20:57,089 That Methuselah lived for 969 years. 381 00:20:58,924 --> 00:21:02,924 It seems like an odd concept, but you have many records of‐‐ 382 00:21:02,344 --> 00:21:05,344 not just in the Bible but all throughout history‐‐ 383 00:21:04,430 --> 00:21:07,430 all these other cultures also talk about this, you know. 384 00:21:07,266 --> 00:21:09,101 The Sumerian Kings List, 385 00:21:09,101 --> 00:21:13,105 Chinese masters living to 300 years old into the 1700s. 386 00:21:13,105 --> 00:21:17,526 Even ancient Philippine records talk about these kings 387 00:21:17,526 --> 00:21:19,695 that lived long lives. 388 00:21:19,695 --> 00:21:23,532 It's found all around the world. 389 00:21:23,532 --> 00:21:27,661 Some of the stories that we hear about this drink, ambrosia, 390 00:21:27,661 --> 00:21:31,499 connect to these journeys to the celestial realm. 391 00:21:31,499 --> 00:21:35,336 In fact, Enoch actually describes that before 392 00:21:35,336 --> 00:21:38,547 he was able to go up to the heavens, 393 00:21:38,547 --> 00:21:41,383 he is actually anointed, 394 00:21:41,383 --> 00:21:44,136 and he says it smelled like ambrosia. 395 00:21:44,136 --> 00:21:48,307 But the question is, was he really anointed? 396 00:21:48,307 --> 00:21:52,561 What if ambrosia was something that you had to take in 397 00:21:52,561 --> 00:21:55,981 in order to prepare for a journey to outer space, 398 00:21:55,981 --> 00:21:58,818 and it gave you immortality? 399 00:22:01,070 --> 00:22:03,572 NARRATOR: If ambrosia was an alien substance 400 00:22:03,572 --> 00:22:07,159 that could both extend life and facilitate space travel, 401 00:22:07,159 --> 00:22:08,786 just what was it? 402 00:22:08,786 --> 00:22:10,996 Something that could only be found 403 00:22:10,996 --> 00:22:13,374 or concocted on alien worlds? 404 00:22:13,374 --> 00:22:16,377 Or something that could be found in abundance 405 00:22:16,377 --> 00:22:18,796 right here on Earth? 406 00:22:23,676 --> 00:22:27,137 Santa Clara, California. 407 00:22:28,180 --> 00:22:30,683 June 2016. 408 00:22:33,102 --> 00:22:36,522 Silicon Valley start‐up Ambrosia LLC 409 00:22:36,522 --> 00:22:39,358 obtains approval to begin clinical trials 410 00:22:39,358 --> 00:22:42,528 on an experimental treatment to reverse aging. 411 00:22:42,528 --> 00:22:45,823 Medical researchers inject older test subjects 412 00:22:45,823 --> 00:22:48,617 with blood plasma from young donors 413 00:22:48,617 --> 00:22:50,870 in an effort to improve their health 414 00:22:50,870 --> 00:22:53,372 and extend their life span. 415 00:22:53,372 --> 00:22:56,250 Hundreds of patients sign up to participate, 416 00:22:56,250 --> 00:23:01,839 paying $8,000 for each liter of blood plasma they receive. 417 00:23:03,465 --> 00:23:07,386 The theory is, whether it's true or not, 418 00:23:07,386 --> 00:23:10,347 is that by infusing yourself 419 00:23:10,347 --> 00:23:12,347 with the blood of younger people, 420 00:23:12,224 --> 00:23:16,687 you will gain a longer life, because you won't have, 421 00:23:16,687 --> 00:23:20,858 as the commercial used to say, tired blood or old blood. 422 00:23:20,858 --> 00:23:24,778 You're literally giving yourself a new lease on life. 423 00:23:24,778 --> 00:23:28,157 NARRATOR: Ancient Greek texts connect ambrosia 424 00:23:28,157 --> 00:23:32,411 with divine blood called ichor. 425 00:23:32,411 --> 00:23:34,330 And the concept that blood 426 00:23:34,330 --> 00:23:37,416 can impart immortality is widespread, 427 00:23:37,416 --> 00:23:40,419 found in legends of vampires 428 00:23:40,419 --> 00:23:45,424 and even historical accounts of human blood sacrifice. 429 00:23:45,424 --> 00:23:49,970 Is it possible that blood, and particularly human blood, 430 00:23:49,970 --> 00:23:52,681 has life‐sustaining properties far beyond 431 00:23:52,681 --> 00:23:55,100 our current understanding? 432 00:23:55,100 --> 00:23:57,100 REDFERN: When it comes to the issue 433 00:23:56,769 --> 00:24:00,147 of extraterrestrials and blood, there's one scenario, 434 00:24:00,147 --> 00:24:04,944 the idea that the aliens may actually take blood. 435 00:24:04,944 --> 00:24:08,864 Now, that's not completely out of the question. 436 00:24:08,864 --> 00:24:11,158 The main reason being 437 00:24:11,158 --> 00:24:15,788 it contains iron, proteins, nutrients. 438 00:24:15,788 --> 00:24:20,376 In other words, it'd be the classic important item 439 00:24:20,376 --> 00:24:23,629 for aliens to dine upon. 440 00:24:23,629 --> 00:24:28,175 But we cannot do that without causing extreme damage, 441 00:24:28,175 --> 00:24:31,053 possibly even death, to ourselves. 442 00:24:31,053 --> 00:24:34,473 That sort of suggests, possibly, also, 443 00:24:34,473 --> 00:24:39,603 that blood is an item of the extraterrestrials and not of us. 444 00:24:39,603 --> 00:24:43,482 NARRATOR: Does human blood possess life‐sustaining properties 445 00:24:43,482 --> 00:24:46,902 far beyond its function inside the body? 446 00:24:46,902 --> 00:24:50,656 And, if so, could the substance known as ambrosia 447 00:24:50,656 --> 00:24:53,659 be flowing through the veins of every human? 448 00:24:53,659 --> 00:24:57,830 As far as many ancient astronaut theorists are concerned, 449 00:24:57,830 --> 00:25:00,499 the answer is yes, 450 00:25:00,499 --> 00:25:03,335 and they suggest that this profound notion 451 00:25:03,335 --> 00:25:08,090 was first conveyed to humankind more than 2,000 years ago 452 00:25:08,090 --> 00:25:11,677 by a man named Jesus. 453 00:25:15,139 --> 00:25:18,267 NARRATOR: Vatican City. 454 00:25:19,518 --> 00:25:21,979 2019. 455 00:25:21,979 --> 00:25:26,233 Thousands of pilgrims bow their heads as Pope Francis performs 456 00:25:26,233 --> 00:25:28,110 the Liturgy of the Eucharist 457 00:25:28,110 --> 00:25:32,448 and consecrates the offerings of bread and wine. 458 00:25:32,448 --> 00:25:34,575 According to Church historians, 459 00:25:34,575 --> 00:25:38,203 the ceremony's roots lie in the Last Supper Jesus shared 460 00:25:38,203 --> 00:25:39,872 with his disciples 461 00:25:39,872 --> 00:25:43,876 shortly before he sacrificed his life on the cross. 462 00:25:47,087 --> 00:25:51,087 As he passed the bread, Jesus said, "Take this and eat it, 463 00:25:50,174 --> 00:25:51,759 it is my body." 464 00:25:51,759 --> 00:25:55,512 And as he passed the wine, he said, "Drink this, 465 00:25:55,512 --> 00:25:58,265 it is the blood of the covenant." 466 00:25:58,265 --> 00:26:02,853 And out of that moment at a meal grew a great ritual, a ceremony, 467 00:26:02,853 --> 00:26:05,606 a sacrament that is repeated to this day 468 00:26:05,606 --> 00:26:08,275 around the world by millions of people. 469 00:26:08,275 --> 00:26:10,652 NARRATOR: In the Roman Catholic tradition, 470 00:26:10,652 --> 00:26:14,448 during the Mass, the priest is empowered by the prayers 471 00:26:14,448 --> 00:26:16,617 that energize the bread and the wine 472 00:26:16,617 --> 00:26:18,994 such that they become transformed, 473 00:26:18,994 --> 00:26:20,913 or transubstantiated, 474 00:26:20,913 --> 00:26:23,582 into the living presence of the body 475 00:26:23,582 --> 00:26:25,751 and the blood of Christ. 476 00:26:27,628 --> 00:26:30,047 Transubstantiation is one of the Catholic Church's 477 00:26:30,047 --> 00:26:32,257 most exalted mysteries. 478 00:26:32,257 --> 00:26:35,094 Catholics are encouraged to believe 479 00:26:35,094 --> 00:26:39,598 that through this miracle, somehow these ordinary wafers 480 00:26:39,598 --> 00:26:41,683 and ordinary wine 481 00:26:41,683 --> 00:26:45,395 become the blood and body of Jesus. 482 00:26:45,395 --> 00:26:48,607 NARRATOR: Could this rite of turning bread and wine 483 00:26:48,607 --> 00:26:50,651 into the body and blood of Jesus 484 00:26:50,651 --> 00:26:54,029 really have otherworldly origins? 485 00:26:54,029 --> 00:26:56,406 BIRNES: Isn't it interesting 486 00:26:56,406 --> 00:26:58,826 that we have numerous traditions around the globe 487 00:26:58,826 --> 00:27:03,622 telling us that blood is the substance reserved for the gods? 488 00:27:03,622 --> 00:27:07,622 Now we have to ask, is there a connection between the ritual 489 00:27:07,292 --> 00:27:11,713 of the Catholic Mass and extraterrestrials? 490 00:27:13,632 --> 00:27:17,970 Maybe it's possible, by imbibing certain bloods, 491 00:27:17,970 --> 00:27:20,556 the extraterrestrials are actually able 492 00:27:20,556 --> 00:27:25,227 to extend their life spans to incredible degrees. 493 00:27:25,227 --> 00:27:29,690 So, when Jesus talked about the "blood of the covenant," 494 00:27:29,690 --> 00:27:33,485 just maybe Jesus was talking in a symbolic fashion 495 00:27:33,485 --> 00:27:38,282 when he talked about how wine and bread sustains us 496 00:27:38,282 --> 00:27:42,536 but something very, very different sustained him. 497 00:27:42,536 --> 00:27:45,539 That the wine that sustains us 498 00:27:45,539 --> 00:27:49,334 is the parallel of the blood for Jesus. 499 00:27:49,334 --> 00:27:54,172 NARRATOR: If alien beings have been coming to Earth for thousands of years, 500 00:27:54,172 --> 00:27:57,175 is it possible that they have evolved to a point 501 00:27:57,175 --> 00:27:59,175 where they do not physically consume food 502 00:27:58,927 --> 00:28:03,390 in the way that humans do, but are able to draw sustenance 503 00:28:03,390 --> 00:28:07,060 from certain energetic substances, like blood? 504 00:28:07,060 --> 00:28:10,105 And does the ritual of Communion provide a clue 505 00:28:10,105 --> 00:28:12,858 as to how humankind must evolve 506 00:28:12,858 --> 00:28:16,945 in order to become like the gods? 507 00:28:16,945 --> 00:28:19,945 When we think of food, we immediately have that image 508 00:28:19,406 --> 00:28:20,824 of a hamburger, french fries, 509 00:28:20,824 --> 00:28:22,824 and there you are, munching away. 510 00:28:22,784 --> 00:28:25,245 But I'm a physicist. 511 00:28:25,245 --> 00:28:28,749 We realize that the essence of food is energy, 512 00:28:28,749 --> 00:28:31,376 and energy can exist in many, many forms. 513 00:28:31,376 --> 00:28:34,713 So, think of widening your possibilities. 514 00:28:34,713 --> 00:28:36,715 Any time there's a source of energy, 515 00:28:36,715 --> 00:28:39,051 there's a possibility of using it 516 00:28:39,051 --> 00:28:42,137 for food for an alien species. 517 00:28:42,137 --> 00:28:44,640 Myself, I think these things are really possible, 518 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:48,310 and maybe there is something there. 519 00:28:48,310 --> 00:28:51,647 But at the same time, the story of the Eucharist 520 00:28:51,647 --> 00:28:53,647 being created in the Upper Room 521 00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:57,069 is one of the most profound and beautiful stories I know. 522 00:28:57,069 --> 00:29:00,069 And I prefer to think of it that way, personally. 523 00:28:59,947 --> 00:29:02,783 NARRATOR: For centuries, theologists have debated 524 00:29:02,783 --> 00:29:05,160 the origin and meaning of the Eucharist, 525 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:08,246 but it is not an entirely unique ritual. 526 00:29:08,246 --> 00:29:12,292 And ancient astronaut theorists suggest that a similar ceremony 527 00:29:12,292 --> 00:29:14,252 established in ancient India 528 00:29:14,252 --> 00:29:18,882 provides further clues as to the nature of alien sustenance. 529 00:29:18,882 --> 00:29:22,882 Soma is this huge thing in the, in the early Indian tradition, 530 00:29:22,219 --> 00:29:23,637 the Rigveda. 531 00:29:23,637 --> 00:29:26,014 The earliest Hindu texts talk about this. 532 00:29:26,014 --> 00:29:30,014 So soma is this drink that gives the people who consume it, 533 00:29:29,977 --> 00:29:32,270 you know, the powers of this god 534 00:29:32,270 --> 00:29:35,270 or the thoughts of this god, the abilities there. 535 00:29:35,232 --> 00:29:38,360 VIEIRA: Soma was brought to humans by Agni the fire god. 536 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:42,360 The same story you have with the holy wine or the Eucharist. 537 00:29:41,863 --> 00:29:45,863 And it's like somehow we are being helped by‐by these beings 538 00:29:45,784 --> 00:29:47,661 through these different substances. 539 00:29:47,661 --> 00:29:49,496 I find that really fascinating. 540 00:29:49,496 --> 00:29:51,496 HENRY: They have a saying in the Rigveda 541 00:29:50,998 --> 00:29:53,667 that if you drink soma, 542 00:29:53,667 --> 00:29:56,253 you see God and you connect with God. 543 00:29:56,253 --> 00:29:58,964 But they also said it promoted immortality 544 00:29:58,964 --> 00:30:00,799 and longevity as well. 545 00:30:02,926 --> 00:30:07,097 CHILDRESS: Ancient people are drinking this special drink of soma, 546 00:30:07,097 --> 00:30:11,101 and they're drinking the blood of the gods. 547 00:30:11,101 --> 00:30:15,313 And so we look, too, at the Catholic concept 548 00:30:15,313 --> 00:30:17,566 of transubstantiation, 549 00:30:17,566 --> 00:30:21,319 where the body and the blood of Christ 550 00:30:21,319 --> 00:30:27,325 are then in these‐these wafers and‐and wine that we drink. 551 00:30:27,325 --> 00:30:32,122 And you have to wonder if even that is an, is an old relic 552 00:30:32,122 --> 00:30:36,501 of the early soma rituals. 553 00:30:36,501 --> 00:30:40,297 NARRATOR: Is there an extraterrestrial inspiration 554 00:30:40,297 --> 00:30:42,424 behind both the rites of Communion 555 00:30:42,424 --> 00:30:45,427 and the ancient rites of soma? 556 00:30:45,427 --> 00:30:49,181 Were they intended to teach us vital lessons about longevity, 557 00:30:49,181 --> 00:30:52,181 and perhaps point the way to our own future 558 00:30:51,892 --> 00:30:54,144 as a spacefaring people? 559 00:30:54,144 --> 00:30:58,273 And if so, might there be other stories, 560 00:30:58,273 --> 00:31:02,194 of other food substances humans were given to eat or drink 561 00:31:02,194 --> 00:31:05,864 that point to an alien agenda for mankind? 562 00:31:17,542 --> 00:31:20,629 NARRATOR: During an international book tour for Communion, 563 00:31:20,629 --> 00:31:23,799 his best‐selling account of his own alien abduction, 564 00:31:23,799 --> 00:31:25,634 author Whitley Strieber 565 00:31:25,634 --> 00:31:30,222 receives a visit at his hotel room from a mysterious being. 566 00:31:30,222 --> 00:31:33,183 I had a 45‐minute conversation with him. 567 00:31:33,183 --> 00:31:37,896 Then he gave me a glass of liquid to drink. 568 00:31:39,898 --> 00:31:41,858 It was white 569 00:31:41,858 --> 00:31:45,237 and I didn't want to drink it, 570 00:31:45,237 --> 00:31:48,240 but he insisted that I do it. 571 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:50,575 Somehow or another, I did it. 572 00:31:50,575 --> 00:31:52,577 It was extremely bitter, 573 00:31:52,577 --> 00:31:56,577 and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in the morning. 574 00:31:55,872 --> 00:31:59,000 I thought maybe it's some kind of alien potion, 575 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:02,546 but recently I did some more research on it 576 00:32:02,546 --> 00:32:06,546 and I found that it's, it was in the past called 577 00:32:05,590 --> 00:32:07,217 the milk of nepenthe. 578 00:32:07,217 --> 00:32:10,053 It was first mentioned 579 00:32:10,053 --> 00:32:13,598 in the poet Homer's writings, 580 00:32:13,598 --> 00:32:16,893 then it was known throughout the ancient world. 581 00:32:16,893 --> 00:32:18,893 No one was really sure what it is, 582 00:32:18,770 --> 00:32:23,441 but the symptoms described are just like what I experienced. 583 00:32:23,441 --> 00:32:28,655 Nepenthe is something that makes people forget, as it did me. 584 00:32:28,655 --> 00:32:33,451 NARRATOR: Homer, the legendary eighth century BC Greek poet, 585 00:32:33,451 --> 00:32:38,582 mentions nepenthe in his epic poem The Odyssey. 586 00:32:38,582 --> 00:32:41,126 Plato writes about a similar substance 587 00:32:41,126 --> 00:32:44,212 in his Book X of The Republic. 588 00:32:44,212 --> 00:32:46,256 The drink was said to help humans 589 00:32:46,256 --> 00:32:48,133 fall into profound amnesia 590 00:32:48,133 --> 00:32:51,511 and forget the trauma of their encounters with the gods, 591 00:32:51,511 --> 00:32:55,390 encounters that today we might call alien abductions. 592 00:32:58,727 --> 00:33:02,727 STRIEBER: It was also given to people who had gone to Mount Olympus 593 00:33:02,022 --> 00:33:03,773 and been with the gods, 594 00:33:03,773 --> 00:33:08,069 on their way down, so that they would forget what they had seen 595 00:33:08,069 --> 00:33:13,491 and they would not want to commit suicide. 596 00:33:13,491 --> 00:33:17,829 TSOUKALOS: In Greek mythology, every time it was given to someone 597 00:33:17,829 --> 00:33:20,665 they would forget anything that happened to them 598 00:33:20,665 --> 00:33:23,376 in the last 48 hours. 599 00:33:23,376 --> 00:33:27,797 Now, what's interesting is that modern‐day abductees 600 00:33:27,797 --> 00:33:30,133 talk about the same thing. 601 00:33:30,133 --> 00:33:35,180 So my question is: is it possible that extraterrestrials 602 00:33:35,180 --> 00:33:39,142 are giving substances to people 603 00:33:39,142 --> 00:33:42,142 in order to forget what has happened to them? 604 00:33:41,645 --> 00:33:45,690 NARRATOR: If extraterrestrials have been using some type of drink 605 00:33:45,690 --> 00:33:49,361 to cloud the memories of humans they come into contact with, 606 00:33:49,361 --> 00:33:51,279 what is the purpose? 607 00:33:51,279 --> 00:33:55,533 Is it simply to spare them the trauma of an alien encounter? 608 00:33:55,533 --> 00:34:00,789 Or could it be to hide the fact that they are extracting blood? 609 00:34:00,789 --> 00:34:04,876 Some ancient astronaut theorists believe the answer can be found 610 00:34:04,876 --> 00:34:07,212 by examining the most important moment 611 00:34:07,212 --> 00:34:11,258 of extraterrestrial intervention in human history. 612 00:34:13,343 --> 00:34:16,721 New York City, 1976. 613 00:34:16,721 --> 00:34:19,683 After spending 30 years deciphering 614 00:34:19,683 --> 00:34:21,393 the Sumerian language, 615 00:34:21,393 --> 00:34:24,604 researcher Zecharia Sitchin publishes his book 616 00:34:24,604 --> 00:34:27,065 The 12th Planet. 617 00:34:27,065 --> 00:34:28,775 In it, he proposes 618 00:34:28,775 --> 00:34:32,404 that a race of extraterrestrials known as the Anunnaki 619 00:34:32,404 --> 00:34:36,241 genetically modified ancient primates in the distant past, 620 00:34:36,241 --> 00:34:38,910 turning them into modern humans. 621 00:34:38,910 --> 00:34:42,580 In his books, Zecharia Sitchin dealt at length 622 00:34:42,580 --> 00:34:44,207 with the Sumerian creation stories, 623 00:34:44,207 --> 00:34:46,207 the Atrahasis and others that tell 624 00:34:46,001 --> 00:34:51,214 of these beings, the Anunnaki, putting their image on humanity. 625 00:34:53,258 --> 00:34:56,553 That they genetically altered a proto‐human 626 00:34:56,553 --> 00:34:59,723 to create a new race of beings, Homo sapien. 627 00:35:01,433 --> 00:35:03,433 NARRATOR: According to Sitchin's translation 628 00:35:03,268 --> 00:35:05,437 of the Sumerian cuneiform writings, 629 00:35:05,437 --> 00:35:09,065 the Anunnaki produced the first successful Homo sapiens 630 00:35:09,065 --> 00:35:12,652 around 250,000 BC. 631 00:35:12,652 --> 00:35:16,406 While scholars in the 1970s 632 00:35:16,406 --> 00:35:18,783 dismissed Sitchin's theory, 633 00:35:18,783 --> 00:35:22,954 in the 1980s anthropologists traced the mitochondrial DNA 634 00:35:22,954 --> 00:35:26,291 of all modern humans to a common female ancestor 635 00:35:26,291 --> 00:35:30,587 living in Africa roughly 250,000 years ago. 636 00:35:30,587 --> 00:35:33,882 Geneticists call her Mitochondrial Eve. 637 00:35:36,217 --> 00:35:39,217 TSOUKALOS: We were wise, but now we're even wiser. 638 00:35:38,136 --> 00:35:39,763 Just like that. 639 00:35:39,763 --> 00:35:43,308 And geneticists, to this day, cannot quite figure out, 640 00:35:43,308 --> 00:35:47,937 well, what was that ping, that‐that‐that change 641 00:35:47,937 --> 00:35:50,523 that virtually happened overnight? 642 00:35:50,523 --> 00:35:54,319 So when you have these weird examples 643 00:35:54,319 --> 00:35:57,781 where stuff essentially happens overnight, 644 00:35:57,781 --> 00:36:02,202 I'm suggesting this was done due to an artificial mutation. 645 00:36:05,497 --> 00:36:08,333 NARRATOR: Researchers following in Sitchin's footsteps 646 00:36:08,333 --> 00:36:10,794 have noted a largely overlooked aspect 647 00:36:10,794 --> 00:36:14,214 of the Sumerian cylindrical seal depicting the celebration 648 00:36:14,214 --> 00:36:17,384 of the first successful human experiment. 649 00:36:17,384 --> 00:36:20,470 The scene features a figure stirring a jar 650 00:36:20,470 --> 00:36:22,889 and another holding a flask directed 651 00:36:22,889 --> 00:36:25,350 at their original creation. 652 00:36:25,350 --> 00:36:29,020 Many associate the scene with the biblical account 653 00:36:29,020 --> 00:36:32,941 of the temptation of Adam and Eve. 654 00:36:32,941 --> 00:36:34,359 HENRY: Adam and Eve, 655 00:36:34,359 --> 00:36:37,987 before their encounter with this bright snake, 656 00:36:37,987 --> 00:36:39,531 this talking serpent, 657 00:36:39,531 --> 00:36:43,451 who is equated with Enki in the Sumerian tradition, 658 00:36:43,451 --> 00:36:46,413 this genetic engineer that came from another world 659 00:36:46,413 --> 00:36:48,665 and altered our human DNA, 660 00:36:48,665 --> 00:36:51,665 that before this event, Adam and Eve pretty much lived 661 00:36:51,376 --> 00:36:55,255 like primitive or a primate‐type beings. 662 00:36:55,255 --> 00:36:59,551 NARRATOR: Could the story of Adam and Eve's transformation be a memory 663 00:36:59,551 --> 00:37:01,636 of the moment our genome was altered 664 00:37:01,636 --> 00:37:05,390 by an extraterrestrial race, as proposed by Sitchin? 665 00:37:05,390 --> 00:37:10,395 And, if so, was that alteration done by mechanical gene splicing 666 00:37:10,395 --> 00:37:15,358 in a laboratory, as 21st century technology might do it today? 667 00:37:15,358 --> 00:37:17,736 Or could it have been accomplished 668 00:37:17,736 --> 00:37:20,739 in a far more sophisticated way, 669 00:37:20,739 --> 00:37:22,949 by simply giving our ancestors 670 00:37:22,949 --> 00:37:25,702 some highly advanced alien substance, 671 00:37:25,702 --> 00:37:28,913 designed to transform primates into people? 672 00:37:28,913 --> 00:37:31,913 CHILDRESS: Here's the story of Adam and Eve 673 00:37:31,666 --> 00:37:35,545 living, uh, sort of blissfully in this Edenic garden 674 00:37:35,545 --> 00:37:38,381 and just watching the sunset and having sex 675 00:37:38,381 --> 00:37:40,381 and not doing a whole lot. 676 00:37:40,091 --> 00:37:43,303 And then suddenly this serpent‐being comes to them 677 00:37:43,303 --> 00:37:47,182 and offers them some special food to eat. 678 00:37:47,182 --> 00:37:50,182 And they completely change into what we would call 679 00:37:49,267 --> 00:37:50,810 modern people. 680 00:37:50,810 --> 00:37:54,773 And here we have, through the intake of food, 681 00:37:54,773 --> 00:37:57,773 we have a fundamental change and, in a sense, 682 00:37:57,567 --> 00:37:59,944 an evolutionary leap 683 00:37:59,944 --> 00:38:04,574 from primitive humans to more modern humans 684 00:38:04,574 --> 00:38:08,578 who are more aware of themselves and their surroundings. 685 00:38:08,578 --> 00:38:12,123 NARRATOR: Did extraterrestrials alter life on Earth 686 00:38:12,123 --> 00:38:13,958 to create sentient beings 687 00:38:13,958 --> 00:38:16,753 and then use amnesia‐inducing substances 688 00:38:16,753 --> 00:38:19,753 in order to keep them from knowing the facts 689 00:38:19,088 --> 00:38:20,965 behind their alien origins? 690 00:38:20,965 --> 00:38:25,804 Ancient astronaut theorists say yes and suggest 691 00:38:25,804 --> 00:38:29,307 that as humans begin to take their next evolutionary step 692 00:38:29,307 --> 00:38:30,975 into space, 693 00:38:30,975 --> 00:38:32,977 the veil of ignorance will soon 694 00:38:32,977 --> 00:38:35,480 be removed. 695 00:38:41,694 --> 00:38:44,781 NARRATOR: 220 miles above the Earth. 696 00:38:44,781 --> 00:38:48,159 Researchers on the International Space Station 697 00:38:48,159 --> 00:38:50,995 are currently testing an advanced hydroponic system 698 00:38:50,995 --> 00:38:52,831 to make food. 699 00:38:52,831 --> 00:38:57,126 Utilizing artificial light and a water‐based nutrient solution, 700 00:38:57,126 --> 00:39:00,255 the microalgae contained within the unit 701 00:39:00,255 --> 00:39:04,384 takes in carbon dioxide breathed out by the astronauts. 702 00:39:04,384 --> 00:39:07,512 The process allows the microalgae 703 00:39:07,512 --> 00:39:11,057 to quickly multiply and produces a continuous supply 704 00:39:11,057 --> 00:39:13,057 of nourishment on board the craft. 705 00:39:14,686 --> 00:39:19,190 We breathe in oxygen and we get out carbon dioxide, 706 00:39:19,190 --> 00:39:21,192 but in a hydroponic farm, 707 00:39:21,192 --> 00:39:23,695 you have plants growing in liquid 708 00:39:23,695 --> 00:39:27,156 and it takes in the waste products 709 00:39:27,156 --> 00:39:31,744 of human combustion and expels oxygen as a consequence. 710 00:39:31,744 --> 00:39:35,248 That would give you a self‐sustaining ecosystem 711 00:39:35,248 --> 00:39:37,792 to maintain the human body. 712 00:39:37,792 --> 00:39:42,422 NASA is experimenting with hydroponic machines 713 00:39:42,422 --> 00:39:44,507 that enable the astronauts to grow 714 00:39:44,507 --> 00:39:47,302 a kind of microbiological algae 715 00:39:47,302 --> 00:39:51,347 that is reminiscent of the manna from the Old Testament. 716 00:39:51,347 --> 00:39:55,518 Could it be that's our own manna machine? 717 00:39:55,518 --> 00:40:00,273 NARRATOR: As manned missions to Mars are within our grasp, 718 00:40:00,273 --> 00:40:03,359 logistical obstacles, like how to sustain the crew, 719 00:40:03,359 --> 00:40:05,945 must first be overcome. 720 00:40:05,945 --> 00:40:09,949 Could the solution be found not only by altering the substances 721 00:40:09,949 --> 00:40:11,949 we bring with us into space, 722 00:40:11,784 --> 00:40:14,746 but by altering ourselves? 723 00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:19,834 We can conceive of entirely new kinds of life‐forms 724 00:40:19,834 --> 00:40:21,836 based on energy. 725 00:40:21,836 --> 00:40:25,548 So food is the energy that fuels us, 726 00:40:25,548 --> 00:40:28,301 but it's a real possibility that, 727 00:40:28,301 --> 00:40:31,054 as we start to explore outer space, 728 00:40:31,054 --> 00:40:34,057 we may have to genetically modify ourselves 729 00:40:34,057 --> 00:40:36,935 to alter our diet so that we ingest 730 00:40:36,935 --> 00:40:39,103 different forms of energy. 731 00:40:39,103 --> 00:40:42,941 When we look back at these unusual foods of the gods, 732 00:40:42,941 --> 00:40:46,819 you have to wonder if that is not a direction 733 00:40:46,819 --> 00:40:49,072 that we have been meant to go in, 734 00:40:49,072 --> 00:40:52,742 to become a spacefaring race ourselves. 735 00:40:52,742 --> 00:40:54,742 So everything has come full circle here 736 00:40:54,619 --> 00:40:57,872 from ancient times and these unusual foods 737 00:40:57,872 --> 00:41:02,168 of the gods to what we're doing today. 738 00:41:02,168 --> 00:41:06,506 REDFERN: I think this entire phenomenon of aliens, 739 00:41:06,506 --> 00:41:10,802 of food, of mysterious drinks is one of the most important 740 00:41:10,802 --> 00:41:14,681 when it comes to us engaging with them. 741 00:41:14,681 --> 00:41:18,893 And it may well be the case that that is the primary way 742 00:41:18,893 --> 00:41:20,893 in which we can actually have 743 00:41:20,812 --> 00:41:22,812 some sort of communion with them. 744 00:41:22,689 --> 00:41:27,402 NARRATOR: As we evolve into a spacefaring species, 745 00:41:27,402 --> 00:41:30,238 will the concept and function of food 746 00:41:30,238 --> 00:41:33,533 take on a new meaning for humanity? 747 00:41:33,533 --> 00:41:37,161 Perhaps the intriguing evidence of how aliens may have survived 748 00:41:37,161 --> 00:41:41,165 on Earth will provide a road map to our own future. 749 00:41:41,165 --> 00:41:44,377 It will open up new possibilities 750 00:41:44,377 --> 00:41:46,504 and new ways to sustain ourselves 751 00:41:46,504 --> 00:41:48,715 for much longer time spans. 752 00:41:48,715 --> 00:41:52,260 It will allow us to venture deeper into space, 753 00:41:52,260 --> 00:41:54,929 colonize new worlds, 754 00:41:54,929 --> 00:41:57,598 and create new versions of ourselves 755 00:41:57,598 --> 00:42:00,268 as we continue to follow in the footsteps 756 00:42:00,268 --> 00:42:03,187 of our alien ancestors.