Ancient Aliens s11e06 Episode Script
Decoding the Cosmic Egg
ERICH VON DANIKEN: The symbol of the egg is a worldwide symbol.
JONATHAN YOUNG: It is more widespread than the cross.
It was something that contained great power, that could conceivably be released.
WILLIAM HENRY: It seems to point to our source of origin.
DAVID CHILDRESS: You have to wonder now, if we're coming to much the same conclusion as was already reached thousands of years ago.
Where are they getting this information? Is it coming from extraterrestrials? NARRATOR: Since the dawn of civilization, mankind has credited its origins to gods and other visitors from the stars.
What if it were true? Did extraterrestrial beings really help to shape our history? And if so, might the truth be found once we decode the Cosmic Egg? NARRATOR: An ancient painting on a cave wall in Africa.
Ceremonial clay objects discovered in Sweden.
A mysterious sculpture found in China.
Throughout the ancient world, there is a symbol that is more pervasive than any other: the symbol of the egg.
YOUNG: The egg is one of the most universal sacred images.
It is more widespread than the cross, or the star, or the wheel.
It appeals to people in all corners of the Earth, and all times, and traditions.
VON DANIKEN: We found stone eggs all over the world.
For example, stone eggs were found in Egypt.
And even on Easter Island, a stone egg was found.
So the symbol of egg is a worldwide symbol.
RIC RADER: What's amazing is that the egg, what we call the egg cosmogony, is a feature of several cosmogonies.
We have it in the Nordic tradition.
We have it in the Mediterranean tradition, not only Greco-Roman, but Egyptian and also the Phoenician mythologies.
We also have it in some Middle Eastern, and even Vedic mythologies.
So these are radically different cultures.
Is it possible that there's a common origin for South American, Native American, Norse, and Vedic mythology? We have no evidence.
So it would be hard to say where they come from, and why they all use this image.
NARRATOR: Why is it that so many ancient cultures, separated by thousands of miles, all use the symbol of the egg? For one thing, obviously, it is associated with birth.
Well, birth is a great mystery, so it's the worship of life.
It is also taken as a symbol of rebirth.
We use it at the Easter time, in the spring.
RADER: The cultures that birthed these stories recognized something in the story of birth, of creation, of fertility, of reproduction, that was meaningful for their stories.
NARRATOR: While the most obvious interpretation of the egg is that it symbolizes fertility and the natural creation of life, some researchers question why there are so many depictions of eggs found throughout the ancient world that depict humans emerging from them.
CHILDRESS: We have these many stories from around the world of how life starts in the form of an egg, including human life, too, starting with a sperm and an egg.
But how would ancient people realize that humans also have these eggs? NARRATOR: Could ancient people have somehow had the knowledge that humans emerge from eggs? Or might this symbol have held a less literal, and more profound, meaning for them one that reveals an extraterrestrial connection? Ancient astronaut theorists suggest that the stories connected to the egg provide undeniable evidence that this was not simply a representation of fertility.
Nearly as widespread as the symbol of the egg is a concept commonly known as "The Cosmic Egg.
" While the name varies from culture to culture, the story is always nearly identical: that the entire Universe originated from an Egg.
They're called cosmic eggs, they're called silver eggs, they're called magic eggs, they're called enchanted eggs, they're-they're called the-the eggs of the gods.
I mean, all around the world, there are these creation stories of the egg breaking open and the water of life coming out.
In Chinese mythology, there is, uh, this notion that the-the universe emerges out of a primordial chaos.
And this primordial chaos, in many accounts, is self-contained.
It's like a cosmic egg.
And from this primordial chaos, which contains everything, the universe is generated.
And first, it divides into two principles: Yin and Yang, and then three, and then 10,000, basically, ad infinitum.
Hindus have thought about the expansion of the universe in the shape of an egg.
"Brahmanda" is a Sanskrit term composed of two words: "Brahma" and "Anda.
" And "Brahma" means "creator god," "Anda" means "egg.
" So it is actually "cosmic egg.
" Many different ancient cultures describe a creation myth in which the universe actually hatches out of an egg.
It is incredible to look at the sheer diversity of different teachings, that all point back to the idea that the universe originated from some sort of primordial centrality.
NARRATOR: The story found, in numerous cultures, of the cosmic egg, representing a central point from which the universe exploded, has led some to ask if this might actually be a description of what scientists today call "The Big Bang.
" TSOUKALOS: In 1931, Belgian astronomer George Lemaitre proposed that the entire universe originated in one single point.
He called it the "primeval atom.
" This primeval atom, he also referred to it as a cosmic egg, that was at the beginning of all of creation.
The question is: how did our ancestors know about this? Was it just a hunch or was it that they were told? If somebody told them that means we're not alone in the universe.
End of story.
CHILDRESS: You have to wonder now, if we're coming to much the same conclusion as was already reached thousands of years ago, in the Sanskrit texts.
Where are they getting this information? Is it coming from extraterrestrials? NARRATOR: Might the symbol of the Cosmic Egg, and the creation stories that go along with it, reveal that our ancestors had scientific knowledge of how the Earth and, in fact, our entire universe, was created? And if so, is it possible that this was taught to them by extraterrestrial visitors? Ancient astronaut theorists suggest that, while this is one possibility, there may be a more tangible explanation for the concept of the Cosmic Egg-- one that is connected directly to the arrival of extraterrestrial visitors.
Coming up TSOUKALOS: They said specifically, these eggs they came from out there.
HENRY: It suggests that extraterrestrials influenced their civilization.
NARRATOR: Mali, West Africa.
Here, hidden within the Cliff of Bandiagara, lie hundreds of villages occupied by the Dogon people.
Believed to be the descendants of the Egyptians, archaeologists say the ancient nomadic tribe settled in this region around 1000 AD.
Like many other ancient cultures, the creation story of the Dogon involves a Cosmic Egg.
YOUNG: In West Africa, the Dogon creation myth is that the earliest divinity, Amma, the god of all things, took the form of an egg, and this is what unfolded to become creation.
When the egg opened, it became a whirlwind and scattered its contents in all directions.
This ultimately formed all of the galaxies and planets.
NARRATOR: The Dogon say that their gods, called the Nommo, came down to Earth in Cosmic Eggs and when descending from the sky, they made the ground tremble.
TSOUKALOS: They said specifically-- these eggs, they came from out there.
They came from the vastness of the dark, the vastness of the cold.
Well, what a more poetic way to describe space? HENRY: The Dogon said that they originated from the star Sirius B.
What's interesting about that is that we didn't even discover Sirius B until 40 years after the Dogon published originally, this story, which is, of course, much more ancient.
It suggests that the Cosmic Egg is a symbol for the craft of these extraterrestrials, who the Dogon said came to Earth from Sirius and influenced their civilization.
NARRATOR: Could the Dogon have been given knowledge of Sirius B by extraterrestrials that came to Earth in egg-shaped crafts? Might the Cosmic Egg not only represent knowledge of how the universe was formed, but the actual vehicles primitive people witnessed descending from the sky? Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, and suggest there is evidence that similar craft have even been witnessed in modern times.
April 24, 1964.
6:00 p.
m.
Socorro, New Mexico.
While chasing a speeding car, police sergeant Lonnie Zamora hears a loud roar, and sees a flame in the sky, to the southwest.
Thinking a local dynamite shack might have exploded, Zamora breaks off the chase to investigate.
NICK REDFERN: He headed off to where he thought the explosion had come from.
As he got to the site, he saw an egg-shaped object, standing on a tripod leg formation with two small creatures outside of it, in white overalls.
NARRATOR: According to his account, as Zamora began to approach on foot, the creatures quickly jumped inside the egg-shaped vehicle, and it lifted off into the sky, in a column of fire.
Of course, by the time backup arrived, the object had gone.
But fortunately, the landing marks, where the craft had come down were still visible, clearly demonstrating that something had touched to the ground and had left the ground again and took to the skies.
NARRATOR: Within days, a team of investigators from the FBI, the Air Force and the nearby White Sands Missile Range examined the site.
As soon as the media picked up the story, more witnesses came forward with similar descriptions.
It made headlines around the world, because J.
Allen Hynek, who was then head of The Center for UFO Studies, and who had been working for the Air Force on the study of UFO investigations he got in touch with Lonnie Zamora, and arranged to come to the ground.
REDFERN: Dr.
J.
Allen Hynek was very much a skeptic of the UFO phenomenon and arguably, in some cases, even a debunker of the phenomenon.
To a great degree, that changed when he looked into the Zamora case and, ironically, he ultimately swung around and became a full-on believer in the UFO phenomenon.
NARRATOR: The incident immediately became a part of Project Blue Book, a special Air Force operation that began in 1952, to catalogue and investigate the sightings of unidentified flying objects.
Although publicly, Project Blue Book downplayed the entire UFO phenomenon, and certainly the Zamora case in particular, behind the scenes, something very, very different was going on.
Major Hector Quintanilla, the boss of Project Blue Book at the time, prepared a secret memo for the attention of the CIA, and essentially, the memo said there was no doubt that Zamora had seen something unusual; something from somewhere else had touched down on our planet.
WILCOCK: We have a shiny metallic object in the shape of an egg.
There are multiple eyewitnesses that actually say they saw this and there are hundreds of witnesses who heard this roaring sound.
We have landing traces.
There's so much evidence, it's unbelievable.
NARRATOR: Could Sergeant Zamora have had a similar encounter to what the Dogon say their ancestors witnessed, thousands of years ago? And if so, might this mean that the symbol of the Cosmic Egg was used to represent not just the beginning of the universe, but also the craft used by the beings that gave our ancestors this knowledge? Ancient astronaut theorists suggest there is even more to the meaning of this universal symbol, and that additional clues can be found by examining a stone egg that bears another mysterious symbol.
NARRATOR: Coming up SABINA MAGLIOCCO: If you looked through the hole in these stones, you would be able to see supernatural creatures.
TSOUKALOS: What if this Druid stone was an extraterrestrial type of device? NARRATOR: Silves, Portugal.
Farmers digging a well for agriculture, on land overlooking the ancient harbor, come across a mysterious object 15 feet beneath the Earth-- a six-foot-long limestone egg with a mysterious design, protruding from its surface in three places.
The egg has been dated to at least 3,500 BC, and scientists conclude it could be even older.
Today, the Algarve Egg is on display in the Lagos Museum, 19 miles from where it was discovered.
Author Peter Daughtrey has studied the egg meticulously, in an attempt to discover the story behind this mysterious stone artifact.
How does this museum classify this stone? They classify it as a menhir, a standing stone, which there are many all the way up the west coast of Portugal; France, Brittany and into the Gaelic countries, Ireland, Wales, Scotland.
Most of them are just big lumps of stone that have been dug up and-and erected with a little bit of shaping.
As you can see, this is a lot more than just a simple stone that's been dug up.
It's-it's really a piece of sculpture, or was a piece of sculpture.
TSOUKALOS: Which is very interesting to see these different eggs or these navels or omphalos, from all around the world-- Symbols of creation.
Mm-hmm.
Exactly.
Everybody, every race has one.
There is there's an interesting, old legend, a Slavic legend, from areas like Bosnia and Yugoslavia, which says that they originally came from a, a land in the western ocean, which sank.
TSOUKALOS: Interesting.
DAUGHTREY: And the center of their religion on the island was a large white egg; stone egg.
This was white.
You can see it's been buried, it's got the earth discoloring it, but it's sand-- white sandstone.
We're talking of something that's-that's incredibly old.
And this thing, up the middle here, all the, uh, resemble the rod, which throughout history, has been a symbol of power and of creation.
Moses had a rod.
And in Mesopotamia, the rod was regarded as the symbol of the power of the gods.
TSOUKALOS: If you look at this, this could be referred to as the origin of that staff that is used in medicine with the snake around it.
NARRATOR: In Greek mythology, Asclepius, the god of medicine, is always depicted with a serpent-entwined rod.
And the Greek caduceus, a staff carried by the messenger god Hermes, consists of two serpents intertwined, closely resembling the design on the Algarve Egg.
While the snake and egg are both considered fertility symbols, Ancient astronaut theorists suggest that the combination of the two may hold another meaning.
They believe it may represent extraterrestrial technology and as evidence, point to the Druid's Egg, or "snake stone.
" Druid eggs are oval or roundish stones, often made of a calcinatious material, like this.
According to Pliny the Elder, these druid eggs were used to cure illness, and if you looked through the hole in these stones, you would be able to see supernatural creatures.
Are we really just talking about a magical stone with magical properties? Or were these magical properties actually rooted in reality? What if this Druid stone was not necessarily just a ritual object, but that originally it was an extraterrestrial type of device? NARRATOR: Might the Druid's Egg have actually held otherworldly powers? Ancient astronaut theorists suggest further clues can be found by examining another egg-shaped object that was said to connect humans directly to the gods.
NARRATOR: Delphi, Greece.
Standing in the center of this archaeological complex is a stone artifact known as an omphalos.
The omphalos is carved with a pattern not unlike that found on the Algarve Egg, only these lines criss-cross the entire stone.
It is thought to be an ancient reproduction of the original omphalos that, according to the Greeks, marked the "navel of the Earth.
" This here is a small-scale replica of the omphalos of the oracle in Delphi.
It has these bizarre strands on them, intertwining, and, in fact, the plaque at the place where this thing is located-- it actually says that this object fell from the sky, and afterwards, because of Zeus, life began on Earth.
NARRATOR: According to Greek mythology, the celestial stone enabled direct communication with the gods.
The Delphic tradition was something like channeling.
An oracle, a human being, a high priest, but still, a person, could receive the wisdom directly from a god.
And at the center of this strange tradition was the omphalos egg.
CHILDRESS: So you have to ask, what was going on here? Why was the cosmic egg so important to these priestesses? And were they able to somehow use it as some technological device to stimulate their, their brains to, to make these predictions? NARRATOR: Could the omphalos, like the Druid's Egg, have been a technological device that connected humans with otherworldly beings? And might these ancient stories associated with the Cosmic Egg still hold a message today-- that within us lies a connection to greater powers in the universe? Perhaps further clues can be found by taking another look at the symbol on the Algarve Egg, and how it might be connected to a biological structure that lies within the human body.
NARRATOR: Coming up CHILDRESS: Here's something that's supposedly 5,000 years old, and it has a double helix on it.
TSOUKALOS: That can be translated into one single word: seeding.
The seeding of a planet.
NARRATOR: Almaty, Kazakhstan.
May, 2013.
Writing in the journal Icarus, scientists Vladimir Shcherbak and Maxim Makukov make a shocking proposal: that there is an intelligent code that can be found in our own DNA.
CHILDRESS: They concluded that there was a certain amount of mathematical precision and and what's known as digital checking built into our DNA, like computer codes have-- checking codes to make sure that all the other codes are right.
NARRATOR: We now know that DNA's genetic code is an elegant language composed of billions of characters, perfectly ordered, much like computer machine language.
But it is so complex, and so precise, that geneticists still don't know where DNA came from.
The two scientists claim their research supports a controversial theory about the origin of DNA that was first suggested by Francis Crick, one of the two men responsible for discovering the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953.
HENRY: In the article, they went on to propose that our DNA didn't come from Earth.
Their theory is cited as evidence of Panspermia, or the idea that we were, in fact, seeded from the stars.
NARRATOR: The basic premise of Directed Panspermia is that the building blocks of life were sent to Earth by an advanced civilization in the distant past.
And ancient astronaut theorists suggest this may be part of the message contained within the stories of the Cosmic Egg.
All around the world, there are stories of glowing eggs descending from the sky, and out of which life began.
And that can be translated into one single word: seeding.
The seeding of a planet.
When we look at the Algarve egg, these intertwined snakes can also be interpreted as DNA strands.
CHILDRESS: Here's something that's supposedly 5,000 years old, and it has a double helix on it.
It seems to be symbolizing, somehow, this cosmic egg, this cosmic creation that, that is where all life and, and humanity all started.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that the design found on the Algarve Egg represents the structure of DNA? Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, and suggest that this genetic symbol can be found throughout the ancient world.
VON DANIKEN: The DNA spiral is shown on different antique rocks and stelaes.
Just, for example, look at the Sumerian cylinder seals.
There you see DNA spirals between the gods, the same as some Sumerian stelaes.
There you see so-called flying geniuses or winged geniuses.
Between these winged geniuses is something which archeology calls the tree of life.
But if you look at the tree of life it's in reality a DNA spiral.
The two winged geniuses are working.
They are changing out information of the DNA, and replace it by another information.
The situation is absolutely clear, you just have to look at it with today's eyes.
CHILDRESS: It would seem that this serpent and egg energy have to do with our sperm and eggs, and the DNA helix which is intertwined serpents.
So how would ancient people know about this? Did it come from extraterrestrials? HENRY: The Cosmic Egg, the entwined serpents, DNA, are all ultimately representative of the symbols of humanity itself, and the creation of humanity by extraterrestrial beings.
One place where we can see this in action is with the Archangel Gabriel, who wields a caduceus wand at the Annunciation scenes in which Gabriel appears to the Virgin Mary and announces that she will bear the Christ Child.
This is suggestive of genetic manipulation with the caduceus being the symbol of a group of god beings, angelic beings who had a hand in manipulating human affairs.
NARRATOR: Could the mysterious symbol found on the Algarve Egg have been left as a clue that we are the product of genetic manipulation by extraterrestrials? Might this explain why there are historical depictions of humans hatching from eggs? Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, but propose that the story of the Cosmic Egg has yet another chapter, one that can only be understood by examining a biological structure that may play the most important role in what it means to be human.
Coming up HENRY: You wonder was it in fact a gift from extraterrestrial beings that awakened us? CHILDRESS: Our creators have designed a tool to help us become greater than we are today.
NARRATOR: Throughout the world, there are ancient traditions that identify the center of the head as being synonymous with the center of the Earth the center of the universe and the very center of creation itself.
This center is often depicted as egg-shaped, and is identified in some cultures as the third eye.
There are multiple cultures that point us in this same direction.
The Hindus have it as the third eye, or the bindi.
The Buddhists have the third eye on Buddha's forehead.
We see symbology in Mesoamerica which seems to symbolize the ability to contact and communicate with the higher spiritual realms, using this secret symbol that is consistent throughout all the major world religions.
When you talk about the third eye, it's about enlightenment.
It's about this connection to the great unknown or the force of the universe.
We think that we are separated from the world, when in reality, we are all connected to every single object in the universe and that inherently means that we are directly connected to every extraterrestrial being throughout the entire universe.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that the Cosmic Egg isn't only a symbol for the universe, or how the universe was formed, but represents a connection that exists within each and every human to the cosmos? And possibly to extraterrestrial beings that came to Earth in the distant past? Ancient astronaut theorists point out that, while the third eye has historically been considered a metaphor, there is an egg-shaped structure within the brain that is critical in defining what it means to be human: the thalamus.
Shaped like two identical eggs, the thalamus lies at the center of the brain and is the hub responsible for relaying information from most of the sensory receptors.
Scientists studying the effects of thalamic stimulation on comatose patients have recently suggested the thalamus might be the most important factor in human consciousness.
HEATHER BERLIN: The thalamus is like a relay station in the brain, so you have all the primary sensory information coming in, like information coming in your eyes through your retina and through your ears and all these sensations.
The first place they go, after the primary sense organs, is they get funneled to the thalamus.
And then the thalamus sorts out this information and relays it to the various parts in the cortex that process that primary sensory information.
If the thalamus is damaged, usually it will knock out consciousness.
It's a very critical point where all the information comes to, and then it's distributed in the cortex.
HENRY: The thalamus is called the Lamp, the Open Eye, even the Third Eye.
And when you look at this, you wonder: was it in fact a gift from extraterrestrial beings that awakened us? That enabled us to become connected to the diviner, extraterrestrial realm? Perhaps the extraterrestrials that had a hand in fashioning the human body and in tweaking the human brain, placed the thalamus there, in its egg shape, as a connecting link to the greater civilization, out of which we originally emerged.
NARRATOR: Could the thalamus be the physical representation of what ancient cultures referred to as the third eye? And if so, might this brain structure act as a connection to greater forces in the universe? As incredible as this notion may seem, Ancient astronaut theorists suggest that the thalamus can also be found represented in one of the most prominent symbols of ancient Egypt-- the Eye of Horus.
CHILDRESS: The Eye of Horus, also known as the Eye of Ra, was a symbol of protection, royal power and good health.
But it was also known as the Eye of Providence, the all-seeing eye of God.
Now what is incredible is if you look at the thalamus, and all of the structures surrounding that, it looks like the Eye of Horus.
The similarity is really pretty astonishing.
NARRATOR: According to scientists and historians, the Ancient Egyptians were likely aware of the shape of these brain structures.
Well, we have to remember that the ancient people were pretty conversant with cutting animals open of all kinds.
And humans were cleaved open, broken open.
There would've been any number of ways for early humans to start looking at brain structure.
It's clear that thinking comes from the brain, but what was the part of the thalamus for this? How would the ancient Egyptians have known about how all of these parts of the brain function together? Is it possible that they got this knowledge from extraterrestrials? NARRATOR: Could the Eye of Horus help solve the puzzle of the Cosmic Egg? And might the symbol of the Cosmic Egg, with intertwined serpents, represent both the thalamus and DNA, the two biological traits that are most important in defining what it means to be human? Scientists estimate that 98.
8% of our DNA goes unused.
And so, it would seem that our creators, possibly extraterrestrials, have designed a tool to help us ultimately unlock all the potential that we have already in our DNA and bodies, and become greater than we are today.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that the simple design of the Cosmic Egg is a message handed down from extraterrestrials to humanity, telling us not only where we come from, but where we are going? Or does it symbolize our connection to the cosmos? According to ancient astronaut theorists, there may be an even more profound explanation.
NARRATOR: In the tradition of the Kabbalah, the ancient Jewish mystical philosophy that arose in the sixth century BC, an egg-shaped bubble of iridescence surrounds every human body.
Indian texts dating back 5,000 years refer to this life energy as "pram.
" And Chinese writings from roughly the same period contain a similar concept known as "chi.
" Today, there are some scientists who propose that there is, in fact, such an energy that surrounds us and connects us to all things in the universe, a notion that is represented in a theory called the Holographic Universe.
This scientific discovery, which is mathematically proven, tells us that we have an illusion of a physical universe, when, in fact, it is all emanating from a geometric seed or an egg; a singularity.
All of space and all of time, and all of the universe itself is simultaneously in a singular point, or a seed, like an egg, and is telling us that, in fact, there is a geometry, that it's possible that these egg-shaped energy fields exist, and they are, in fact, the true essence of what it means to be alive in this universe.
NARRATOR: Curiously, in 2006, Italian scientists, using data gathered by NASA'S Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe announced that the universe might actually be in the shape of an egg.
Seven years later, in 2013, NASA scientists announced that while it looks circular to the naked eye, the Earth, too, is in the shape of an egg.
Is it possible that the ancient symbol of the Cosmic Egg represents this notion that all things in the universe are connected? WILCOCK: When we ask, does the Cosmic Egg represent the Big Bang? Does it represent the human thalamus? Many of these ancient cultures were very consistent in the use of symbolism as a multidimensional function, and all these different aspects of the universe are ultimately emanations of this one central identity, or the Cosmic Egg itself.
In looking at the shape of the Cosmic Egg across all various dimensions, whether it be at a macro level-- the shape of the universe; the micro level-- the shape of the thalamus; they all seem to be interconnected, explaining that this shape seems to connect us with a higher state of existence, possibly even with higher states of beings: what we might call extraterrestrials.
HENRY: Like the Christian Cross, like the Star of David, like the Hindu Mandala the Cosmic Egg is a symbol that connects.
But it goes beyond just connecting.
It seems to point to our source of origin.
And ultimately, as we embrace the symbol of the Cosmic Egg, it causes us to recognize the unity of all of creation and this fundamental, very simple idea that we all came from the same original point, seed, or Cosmic Egg, that broke up, dispersed and will one day reunify.
NARRATOR: Might the Cosmic Egg be an important clue for what connects us to other entities in the universe-- entities that may even be our creators? If so, is it their intention that as we discover more about not just the mysteries of the universe, but the mysteries within each and every one of us, we will arrive at this conclusion? Perhaps one day soon, we will discover that within the symbol of the Cosmic Egg lies the key to ascending beyond Earth, to join our alien ancestors in the stars.
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JONATHAN YOUNG: It is more widespread than the cross.
It was something that contained great power, that could conceivably be released.
WILLIAM HENRY: It seems to point to our source of origin.
DAVID CHILDRESS: You have to wonder now, if we're coming to much the same conclusion as was already reached thousands of years ago.
Where are they getting this information? Is it coming from extraterrestrials? NARRATOR: Since the dawn of civilization, mankind has credited its origins to gods and other visitors from the stars.
What if it were true? Did extraterrestrial beings really help to shape our history? And if so, might the truth be found once we decode the Cosmic Egg? NARRATOR: An ancient painting on a cave wall in Africa.
Ceremonial clay objects discovered in Sweden.
A mysterious sculpture found in China.
Throughout the ancient world, there is a symbol that is more pervasive than any other: the symbol of the egg.
YOUNG: The egg is one of the most universal sacred images.
It is more widespread than the cross, or the star, or the wheel.
It appeals to people in all corners of the Earth, and all times, and traditions.
VON DANIKEN: We found stone eggs all over the world.
For example, stone eggs were found in Egypt.
And even on Easter Island, a stone egg was found.
So the symbol of egg is a worldwide symbol.
RIC RADER: What's amazing is that the egg, what we call the egg cosmogony, is a feature of several cosmogonies.
We have it in the Nordic tradition.
We have it in the Mediterranean tradition, not only Greco-Roman, but Egyptian and also the Phoenician mythologies.
We also have it in some Middle Eastern, and even Vedic mythologies.
So these are radically different cultures.
Is it possible that there's a common origin for South American, Native American, Norse, and Vedic mythology? We have no evidence.
So it would be hard to say where they come from, and why they all use this image.
NARRATOR: Why is it that so many ancient cultures, separated by thousands of miles, all use the symbol of the egg? For one thing, obviously, it is associated with birth.
Well, birth is a great mystery, so it's the worship of life.
It is also taken as a symbol of rebirth.
We use it at the Easter time, in the spring.
RADER: The cultures that birthed these stories recognized something in the story of birth, of creation, of fertility, of reproduction, that was meaningful for their stories.
NARRATOR: While the most obvious interpretation of the egg is that it symbolizes fertility and the natural creation of life, some researchers question why there are so many depictions of eggs found throughout the ancient world that depict humans emerging from them.
CHILDRESS: We have these many stories from around the world of how life starts in the form of an egg, including human life, too, starting with a sperm and an egg.
But how would ancient people realize that humans also have these eggs? NARRATOR: Could ancient people have somehow had the knowledge that humans emerge from eggs? Or might this symbol have held a less literal, and more profound, meaning for them one that reveals an extraterrestrial connection? Ancient astronaut theorists suggest that the stories connected to the egg provide undeniable evidence that this was not simply a representation of fertility.
Nearly as widespread as the symbol of the egg is a concept commonly known as "The Cosmic Egg.
" While the name varies from culture to culture, the story is always nearly identical: that the entire Universe originated from an Egg.
They're called cosmic eggs, they're called silver eggs, they're called magic eggs, they're called enchanted eggs, they're-they're called the-the eggs of the gods.
I mean, all around the world, there are these creation stories of the egg breaking open and the water of life coming out.
In Chinese mythology, there is, uh, this notion that the-the universe emerges out of a primordial chaos.
And this primordial chaos, in many accounts, is self-contained.
It's like a cosmic egg.
And from this primordial chaos, which contains everything, the universe is generated.
And first, it divides into two principles: Yin and Yang, and then three, and then 10,000, basically, ad infinitum.
Hindus have thought about the expansion of the universe in the shape of an egg.
"Brahmanda" is a Sanskrit term composed of two words: "Brahma" and "Anda.
" And "Brahma" means "creator god," "Anda" means "egg.
" So it is actually "cosmic egg.
" Many different ancient cultures describe a creation myth in which the universe actually hatches out of an egg.
It is incredible to look at the sheer diversity of different teachings, that all point back to the idea that the universe originated from some sort of primordial centrality.
NARRATOR: The story found, in numerous cultures, of the cosmic egg, representing a central point from which the universe exploded, has led some to ask if this might actually be a description of what scientists today call "The Big Bang.
" TSOUKALOS: In 1931, Belgian astronomer George Lemaitre proposed that the entire universe originated in one single point.
He called it the "primeval atom.
" This primeval atom, he also referred to it as a cosmic egg, that was at the beginning of all of creation.
The question is: how did our ancestors know about this? Was it just a hunch or was it that they were told? If somebody told them that means we're not alone in the universe.
End of story.
CHILDRESS: You have to wonder now, if we're coming to much the same conclusion as was already reached thousands of years ago, in the Sanskrit texts.
Where are they getting this information? Is it coming from extraterrestrials? NARRATOR: Might the symbol of the Cosmic Egg, and the creation stories that go along with it, reveal that our ancestors had scientific knowledge of how the Earth and, in fact, our entire universe, was created? And if so, is it possible that this was taught to them by extraterrestrial visitors? Ancient astronaut theorists suggest that, while this is one possibility, there may be a more tangible explanation for the concept of the Cosmic Egg-- one that is connected directly to the arrival of extraterrestrial visitors.
Coming up TSOUKALOS: They said specifically, these eggs they came from out there.
HENRY: It suggests that extraterrestrials influenced their civilization.
NARRATOR: Mali, West Africa.
Here, hidden within the Cliff of Bandiagara, lie hundreds of villages occupied by the Dogon people.
Believed to be the descendants of the Egyptians, archaeologists say the ancient nomadic tribe settled in this region around 1000 AD.
Like many other ancient cultures, the creation story of the Dogon involves a Cosmic Egg.
YOUNG: In West Africa, the Dogon creation myth is that the earliest divinity, Amma, the god of all things, took the form of an egg, and this is what unfolded to become creation.
When the egg opened, it became a whirlwind and scattered its contents in all directions.
This ultimately formed all of the galaxies and planets.
NARRATOR: The Dogon say that their gods, called the Nommo, came down to Earth in Cosmic Eggs and when descending from the sky, they made the ground tremble.
TSOUKALOS: They said specifically-- these eggs, they came from out there.
They came from the vastness of the dark, the vastness of the cold.
Well, what a more poetic way to describe space? HENRY: The Dogon said that they originated from the star Sirius B.
What's interesting about that is that we didn't even discover Sirius B until 40 years after the Dogon published originally, this story, which is, of course, much more ancient.
It suggests that the Cosmic Egg is a symbol for the craft of these extraterrestrials, who the Dogon said came to Earth from Sirius and influenced their civilization.
NARRATOR: Could the Dogon have been given knowledge of Sirius B by extraterrestrials that came to Earth in egg-shaped crafts? Might the Cosmic Egg not only represent knowledge of how the universe was formed, but the actual vehicles primitive people witnessed descending from the sky? Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, and suggest there is evidence that similar craft have even been witnessed in modern times.
April 24, 1964.
6:00 p.
m.
Socorro, New Mexico.
While chasing a speeding car, police sergeant Lonnie Zamora hears a loud roar, and sees a flame in the sky, to the southwest.
Thinking a local dynamite shack might have exploded, Zamora breaks off the chase to investigate.
NICK REDFERN: He headed off to where he thought the explosion had come from.
As he got to the site, he saw an egg-shaped object, standing on a tripod leg formation with two small creatures outside of it, in white overalls.
NARRATOR: According to his account, as Zamora began to approach on foot, the creatures quickly jumped inside the egg-shaped vehicle, and it lifted off into the sky, in a column of fire.
Of course, by the time backup arrived, the object had gone.
But fortunately, the landing marks, where the craft had come down were still visible, clearly demonstrating that something had touched to the ground and had left the ground again and took to the skies.
NARRATOR: Within days, a team of investigators from the FBI, the Air Force and the nearby White Sands Missile Range examined the site.
As soon as the media picked up the story, more witnesses came forward with similar descriptions.
It made headlines around the world, because J.
Allen Hynek, who was then head of The Center for UFO Studies, and who had been working for the Air Force on the study of UFO investigations he got in touch with Lonnie Zamora, and arranged to come to the ground.
REDFERN: Dr.
J.
Allen Hynek was very much a skeptic of the UFO phenomenon and arguably, in some cases, even a debunker of the phenomenon.
To a great degree, that changed when he looked into the Zamora case and, ironically, he ultimately swung around and became a full-on believer in the UFO phenomenon.
NARRATOR: The incident immediately became a part of Project Blue Book, a special Air Force operation that began in 1952, to catalogue and investigate the sightings of unidentified flying objects.
Although publicly, Project Blue Book downplayed the entire UFO phenomenon, and certainly the Zamora case in particular, behind the scenes, something very, very different was going on.
Major Hector Quintanilla, the boss of Project Blue Book at the time, prepared a secret memo for the attention of the CIA, and essentially, the memo said there was no doubt that Zamora had seen something unusual; something from somewhere else had touched down on our planet.
WILCOCK: We have a shiny metallic object in the shape of an egg.
There are multiple eyewitnesses that actually say they saw this and there are hundreds of witnesses who heard this roaring sound.
We have landing traces.
There's so much evidence, it's unbelievable.
NARRATOR: Could Sergeant Zamora have had a similar encounter to what the Dogon say their ancestors witnessed, thousands of years ago? And if so, might this mean that the symbol of the Cosmic Egg was used to represent not just the beginning of the universe, but also the craft used by the beings that gave our ancestors this knowledge? Ancient astronaut theorists suggest there is even more to the meaning of this universal symbol, and that additional clues can be found by examining a stone egg that bears another mysterious symbol.
NARRATOR: Coming up SABINA MAGLIOCCO: If you looked through the hole in these stones, you would be able to see supernatural creatures.
TSOUKALOS: What if this Druid stone was an extraterrestrial type of device? NARRATOR: Silves, Portugal.
Farmers digging a well for agriculture, on land overlooking the ancient harbor, come across a mysterious object 15 feet beneath the Earth-- a six-foot-long limestone egg with a mysterious design, protruding from its surface in three places.
The egg has been dated to at least 3,500 BC, and scientists conclude it could be even older.
Today, the Algarve Egg is on display in the Lagos Museum, 19 miles from where it was discovered.
Author Peter Daughtrey has studied the egg meticulously, in an attempt to discover the story behind this mysterious stone artifact.
How does this museum classify this stone? They classify it as a menhir, a standing stone, which there are many all the way up the west coast of Portugal; France, Brittany and into the Gaelic countries, Ireland, Wales, Scotland.
Most of them are just big lumps of stone that have been dug up and-and erected with a little bit of shaping.
As you can see, this is a lot more than just a simple stone that's been dug up.
It's-it's really a piece of sculpture, or was a piece of sculpture.
TSOUKALOS: Which is very interesting to see these different eggs or these navels or omphalos, from all around the world-- Symbols of creation.
Mm-hmm.
Exactly.
Everybody, every race has one.
There is there's an interesting, old legend, a Slavic legend, from areas like Bosnia and Yugoslavia, which says that they originally came from a, a land in the western ocean, which sank.
TSOUKALOS: Interesting.
DAUGHTREY: And the center of their religion on the island was a large white egg; stone egg.
This was white.
You can see it's been buried, it's got the earth discoloring it, but it's sand-- white sandstone.
We're talking of something that's-that's incredibly old.
And this thing, up the middle here, all the, uh, resemble the rod, which throughout history, has been a symbol of power and of creation.
Moses had a rod.
And in Mesopotamia, the rod was regarded as the symbol of the power of the gods.
TSOUKALOS: If you look at this, this could be referred to as the origin of that staff that is used in medicine with the snake around it.
NARRATOR: In Greek mythology, Asclepius, the god of medicine, is always depicted with a serpent-entwined rod.
And the Greek caduceus, a staff carried by the messenger god Hermes, consists of two serpents intertwined, closely resembling the design on the Algarve Egg.
While the snake and egg are both considered fertility symbols, Ancient astronaut theorists suggest that the combination of the two may hold another meaning.
They believe it may represent extraterrestrial technology and as evidence, point to the Druid's Egg, or "snake stone.
" Druid eggs are oval or roundish stones, often made of a calcinatious material, like this.
According to Pliny the Elder, these druid eggs were used to cure illness, and if you looked through the hole in these stones, you would be able to see supernatural creatures.
Are we really just talking about a magical stone with magical properties? Or were these magical properties actually rooted in reality? What if this Druid stone was not necessarily just a ritual object, but that originally it was an extraterrestrial type of device? NARRATOR: Might the Druid's Egg have actually held otherworldly powers? Ancient astronaut theorists suggest further clues can be found by examining another egg-shaped object that was said to connect humans directly to the gods.
NARRATOR: Delphi, Greece.
Standing in the center of this archaeological complex is a stone artifact known as an omphalos.
The omphalos is carved with a pattern not unlike that found on the Algarve Egg, only these lines criss-cross the entire stone.
It is thought to be an ancient reproduction of the original omphalos that, according to the Greeks, marked the "navel of the Earth.
" This here is a small-scale replica of the omphalos of the oracle in Delphi.
It has these bizarre strands on them, intertwining, and, in fact, the plaque at the place where this thing is located-- it actually says that this object fell from the sky, and afterwards, because of Zeus, life began on Earth.
NARRATOR: According to Greek mythology, the celestial stone enabled direct communication with the gods.
The Delphic tradition was something like channeling.
An oracle, a human being, a high priest, but still, a person, could receive the wisdom directly from a god.
And at the center of this strange tradition was the omphalos egg.
CHILDRESS: So you have to ask, what was going on here? Why was the cosmic egg so important to these priestesses? And were they able to somehow use it as some technological device to stimulate their, their brains to, to make these predictions? NARRATOR: Could the omphalos, like the Druid's Egg, have been a technological device that connected humans with otherworldly beings? And might these ancient stories associated with the Cosmic Egg still hold a message today-- that within us lies a connection to greater powers in the universe? Perhaps further clues can be found by taking another look at the symbol on the Algarve Egg, and how it might be connected to a biological structure that lies within the human body.
NARRATOR: Coming up CHILDRESS: Here's something that's supposedly 5,000 years old, and it has a double helix on it.
TSOUKALOS: That can be translated into one single word: seeding.
The seeding of a planet.
NARRATOR: Almaty, Kazakhstan.
May, 2013.
Writing in the journal Icarus, scientists Vladimir Shcherbak and Maxim Makukov make a shocking proposal: that there is an intelligent code that can be found in our own DNA.
CHILDRESS: They concluded that there was a certain amount of mathematical precision and and what's known as digital checking built into our DNA, like computer codes have-- checking codes to make sure that all the other codes are right.
NARRATOR: We now know that DNA's genetic code is an elegant language composed of billions of characters, perfectly ordered, much like computer machine language.
But it is so complex, and so precise, that geneticists still don't know where DNA came from.
The two scientists claim their research supports a controversial theory about the origin of DNA that was first suggested by Francis Crick, one of the two men responsible for discovering the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953.
HENRY: In the article, they went on to propose that our DNA didn't come from Earth.
Their theory is cited as evidence of Panspermia, or the idea that we were, in fact, seeded from the stars.
NARRATOR: The basic premise of Directed Panspermia is that the building blocks of life were sent to Earth by an advanced civilization in the distant past.
And ancient astronaut theorists suggest this may be part of the message contained within the stories of the Cosmic Egg.
All around the world, there are stories of glowing eggs descending from the sky, and out of which life began.
And that can be translated into one single word: seeding.
The seeding of a planet.
When we look at the Algarve egg, these intertwined snakes can also be interpreted as DNA strands.
CHILDRESS: Here's something that's supposedly 5,000 years old, and it has a double helix on it.
It seems to be symbolizing, somehow, this cosmic egg, this cosmic creation that, that is where all life and, and humanity all started.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that the design found on the Algarve Egg represents the structure of DNA? Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, and suggest that this genetic symbol can be found throughout the ancient world.
VON DANIKEN: The DNA spiral is shown on different antique rocks and stelaes.
Just, for example, look at the Sumerian cylinder seals.
There you see DNA spirals between the gods, the same as some Sumerian stelaes.
There you see so-called flying geniuses or winged geniuses.
Between these winged geniuses is something which archeology calls the tree of life.
But if you look at the tree of life it's in reality a DNA spiral.
The two winged geniuses are working.
They are changing out information of the DNA, and replace it by another information.
The situation is absolutely clear, you just have to look at it with today's eyes.
CHILDRESS: It would seem that this serpent and egg energy have to do with our sperm and eggs, and the DNA helix which is intertwined serpents.
So how would ancient people know about this? Did it come from extraterrestrials? HENRY: The Cosmic Egg, the entwined serpents, DNA, are all ultimately representative of the symbols of humanity itself, and the creation of humanity by extraterrestrial beings.
One place where we can see this in action is with the Archangel Gabriel, who wields a caduceus wand at the Annunciation scenes in which Gabriel appears to the Virgin Mary and announces that she will bear the Christ Child.
This is suggestive of genetic manipulation with the caduceus being the symbol of a group of god beings, angelic beings who had a hand in manipulating human affairs.
NARRATOR: Could the mysterious symbol found on the Algarve Egg have been left as a clue that we are the product of genetic manipulation by extraterrestrials? Might this explain why there are historical depictions of humans hatching from eggs? Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, but propose that the story of the Cosmic Egg has yet another chapter, one that can only be understood by examining a biological structure that may play the most important role in what it means to be human.
Coming up HENRY: You wonder was it in fact a gift from extraterrestrial beings that awakened us? CHILDRESS: Our creators have designed a tool to help us become greater than we are today.
NARRATOR: Throughout the world, there are ancient traditions that identify the center of the head as being synonymous with the center of the Earth the center of the universe and the very center of creation itself.
This center is often depicted as egg-shaped, and is identified in some cultures as the third eye.
There are multiple cultures that point us in this same direction.
The Hindus have it as the third eye, or the bindi.
The Buddhists have the third eye on Buddha's forehead.
We see symbology in Mesoamerica which seems to symbolize the ability to contact and communicate with the higher spiritual realms, using this secret symbol that is consistent throughout all the major world religions.
When you talk about the third eye, it's about enlightenment.
It's about this connection to the great unknown or the force of the universe.
We think that we are separated from the world, when in reality, we are all connected to every single object in the universe and that inherently means that we are directly connected to every extraterrestrial being throughout the entire universe.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that the Cosmic Egg isn't only a symbol for the universe, or how the universe was formed, but represents a connection that exists within each and every human to the cosmos? And possibly to extraterrestrial beings that came to Earth in the distant past? Ancient astronaut theorists point out that, while the third eye has historically been considered a metaphor, there is an egg-shaped structure within the brain that is critical in defining what it means to be human: the thalamus.
Shaped like two identical eggs, the thalamus lies at the center of the brain and is the hub responsible for relaying information from most of the sensory receptors.
Scientists studying the effects of thalamic stimulation on comatose patients have recently suggested the thalamus might be the most important factor in human consciousness.
HEATHER BERLIN: The thalamus is like a relay station in the brain, so you have all the primary sensory information coming in, like information coming in your eyes through your retina and through your ears and all these sensations.
The first place they go, after the primary sense organs, is they get funneled to the thalamus.
And then the thalamus sorts out this information and relays it to the various parts in the cortex that process that primary sensory information.
If the thalamus is damaged, usually it will knock out consciousness.
It's a very critical point where all the information comes to, and then it's distributed in the cortex.
HENRY: The thalamus is called the Lamp, the Open Eye, even the Third Eye.
And when you look at this, you wonder: was it in fact a gift from extraterrestrial beings that awakened us? That enabled us to become connected to the diviner, extraterrestrial realm? Perhaps the extraterrestrials that had a hand in fashioning the human body and in tweaking the human brain, placed the thalamus there, in its egg shape, as a connecting link to the greater civilization, out of which we originally emerged.
NARRATOR: Could the thalamus be the physical representation of what ancient cultures referred to as the third eye? And if so, might this brain structure act as a connection to greater forces in the universe? As incredible as this notion may seem, Ancient astronaut theorists suggest that the thalamus can also be found represented in one of the most prominent symbols of ancient Egypt-- the Eye of Horus.
CHILDRESS: The Eye of Horus, also known as the Eye of Ra, was a symbol of protection, royal power and good health.
But it was also known as the Eye of Providence, the all-seeing eye of God.
Now what is incredible is if you look at the thalamus, and all of the structures surrounding that, it looks like the Eye of Horus.
The similarity is really pretty astonishing.
NARRATOR: According to scientists and historians, the Ancient Egyptians were likely aware of the shape of these brain structures.
Well, we have to remember that the ancient people were pretty conversant with cutting animals open of all kinds.
And humans were cleaved open, broken open.
There would've been any number of ways for early humans to start looking at brain structure.
It's clear that thinking comes from the brain, but what was the part of the thalamus for this? How would the ancient Egyptians have known about how all of these parts of the brain function together? Is it possible that they got this knowledge from extraterrestrials? NARRATOR: Could the Eye of Horus help solve the puzzle of the Cosmic Egg? And might the symbol of the Cosmic Egg, with intertwined serpents, represent both the thalamus and DNA, the two biological traits that are most important in defining what it means to be human? Scientists estimate that 98.
8% of our DNA goes unused.
And so, it would seem that our creators, possibly extraterrestrials, have designed a tool to help us ultimately unlock all the potential that we have already in our DNA and bodies, and become greater than we are today.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that the simple design of the Cosmic Egg is a message handed down from extraterrestrials to humanity, telling us not only where we come from, but where we are going? Or does it symbolize our connection to the cosmos? According to ancient astronaut theorists, there may be an even more profound explanation.
NARRATOR: In the tradition of the Kabbalah, the ancient Jewish mystical philosophy that arose in the sixth century BC, an egg-shaped bubble of iridescence surrounds every human body.
Indian texts dating back 5,000 years refer to this life energy as "pram.
" And Chinese writings from roughly the same period contain a similar concept known as "chi.
" Today, there are some scientists who propose that there is, in fact, such an energy that surrounds us and connects us to all things in the universe, a notion that is represented in a theory called the Holographic Universe.
This scientific discovery, which is mathematically proven, tells us that we have an illusion of a physical universe, when, in fact, it is all emanating from a geometric seed or an egg; a singularity.
All of space and all of time, and all of the universe itself is simultaneously in a singular point, or a seed, like an egg, and is telling us that, in fact, there is a geometry, that it's possible that these egg-shaped energy fields exist, and they are, in fact, the true essence of what it means to be alive in this universe.
NARRATOR: Curiously, in 2006, Italian scientists, using data gathered by NASA'S Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe announced that the universe might actually be in the shape of an egg.
Seven years later, in 2013, NASA scientists announced that while it looks circular to the naked eye, the Earth, too, is in the shape of an egg.
Is it possible that the ancient symbol of the Cosmic Egg represents this notion that all things in the universe are connected? WILCOCK: When we ask, does the Cosmic Egg represent the Big Bang? Does it represent the human thalamus? Many of these ancient cultures were very consistent in the use of symbolism as a multidimensional function, and all these different aspects of the universe are ultimately emanations of this one central identity, or the Cosmic Egg itself.
In looking at the shape of the Cosmic Egg across all various dimensions, whether it be at a macro level-- the shape of the universe; the micro level-- the shape of the thalamus; they all seem to be interconnected, explaining that this shape seems to connect us with a higher state of existence, possibly even with higher states of beings: what we might call extraterrestrials.
HENRY: Like the Christian Cross, like the Star of David, like the Hindu Mandala the Cosmic Egg is a symbol that connects.
But it goes beyond just connecting.
It seems to point to our source of origin.
And ultimately, as we embrace the symbol of the Cosmic Egg, it causes us to recognize the unity of all of creation and this fundamental, very simple idea that we all came from the same original point, seed, or Cosmic Egg, that broke up, dispersed and will one day reunify.
NARRATOR: Might the Cosmic Egg be an important clue for what connects us to other entities in the universe-- entities that may even be our creators? If so, is it their intention that as we discover more about not just the mysteries of the universe, but the mysteries within each and every one of us, we will arrive at this conclusion? Perhaps one day soon, we will discover that within the symbol of the Cosmic Egg lies the key to ascending beyond Earth, to join our alien ancestors in the stars.
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