Ancient Alien Theory

Ancient Alien Theory
Family	Modern / Alternative history and UFO-related worldview
Origin region	Modern popular culture, publishing, and television
Founding period	20th and 21st centuries CE
Estimated adherents	Unknown; usually discussed as a belief system, pseudohistory, or popular-culture worldview rather than an organized church.

Ancient Alien Theory is a modern pseudohistorical belief system claiming that extraterrestrial visitors influenced ancient human religions, monuments, technologies, myths, or civilizations.

Overview

Ancient Alien Theory, also called ancient astronaut theory or paleocontact theory, claims that ancient humans encountered extraterrestrials and later remembered them as gods, culture heroes, angels, or divine beings. It is not a single organized religion, but it can function religiously for some believers by offering an origin story, reinterpretation of sacred texts, and cosmic meaning. Scholars and archaeologists generally reject its claims as pseudoscientific and unsupported by peer-reviewed evidence.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Key beliefs

• Ancient gods or divine messengers may be interpreted as extraterrestrials
• Ancient monuments are sometimes claimed to show alien influence
• Human religious stories are reread as misunderstood technology or contact events
• Some forms predict a future return of the ancient visitors
• Critics argue that the theory misreads ancient cultures and often underestimates human achievement

Practices

• Study of alternative-history books and media
• Reinterpretation of myths, scriptures, and archaeology
• UFO and ancient-civilization conferences
• Online discussion and documentary viewing
• Speculative comparison of religions and ancient sites

Places of worship

• No standard place of worship
• Online communities
• Conventions or lecture settings
• Private study groups

Sacred texts

• Chariots of the Gods?
• Ancient Aliens media materials
• Alternative archaeology books
• UFO religion and ancient astronaut writings

Holidays and observances

• No universal observances
• Media release anniversaries
• Conference dates or UFO-related observances

Branches and related traditions

• UFO religion - Some organized UFO religions incorporate ancient-alien ideas.
• Raelism - Raelism uses ancient astronaut themes in its religious narrative.
• Ancient Astronaut Theory - A common synonym for this page's subject.

See also

• Religion
• Theology
• Philosophy of religion
• New Religious Movements

References

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