Ancient Gods

The History Channel's Ancient Aliens series is still moving along. In a recent installment, the show postulated that the gods of mythology-- Zeus, Apollo, Odin, etc.-- may in fact have been alien astronauts. That speculation, of course, is the logical extension of ancient astronaut theory. The question is just how much sense the theory makes.

Proponents of the theory argue there's more to the human past than we know. That's no doubt true; scholars regularly make new discoveries, some of which push the earliest human civilization back before Sumeria. Arguing humans were genetically engineered by aliens, however, is simply a bizarre assertion, resting on no facts at all. Arguing aliens guided humans into creating civilization simplifies a complex, extended evolution. Arguiing the gods of myths were in fact aliens confuses the likely origin. Such gods are similar across cultures, almost certainly, not because they're based on the same alien, but because they were created by human minds grappling with the same questions from similar viewpoints.

The show also suggested Jesus may have been an alien. That is in line with the theory and should give high marks for courage, at least. Again, though, it's a flyer, completely lacking in evidence.

Alien visitation of Earth in the distant past is a possibility, but throwing out notions is not the way to prove it.