Over the years I've read a few books, and watched more than a few History Channel programs, pertaining to the often controversial theory that mankind was initially introduced to our planet Earth not by God or some other natural forces of creation, but by alien visitors long ago in our pasts.
That's the basic idea. From there, theorists' ideas have grown and expanded all over the place. Some suggest these alien astronauts planted humans here intentionally, perhaps as part of an experiment or maybe as a way to re-seed their own race which had died out on its own original home planet. Others suggest perhaps the seeding of Earth by aliens was an accident, possibly caused by an experiment gone wrong or by the crash of a spacecraft on our planet.
And the ideas grow even more and more. Did alien visitors help to build the pyramids in Egypt? Are these aliens still among us today? Are we possibly remnants of some ancient alien race? The questions could go on and on, each one more speculative than the one before.
I'll admit, I have my doubts about all of this. Sometimes it even seems a little loony. First of all, I think we far underestimate ancient mankind when we search for extraterrestrial reasons for many of our ancient wonders. People living 6,000 years ago weren't stupid, they just didn't have the levels of technology we have today. It might have taken ancient peoples a hundred years or longer to build all those statues on Easter Island, for example, but I don't see why they couldn't have had the skills and the patience to do so. The world didn't suddenly begin with the Industrial Revolution.
But there's also a big common sense reason why I don't buy into these alien astronaut theories about creation. Here it is: Even if it were possible humanity was brought to Earth by aliens, how were the aliens created? Sometime, somewhere in the past, the alien race would have had to come into existence somehow. Now whether you want to call that experience a creation of God (or some other being) or a form of scientific evolution is sort of besides the point, at least for my argument. Were the aliens founded by another race aliens? If so, where did those aliens come from?
See where I'm going here? Aliens beget aliens beget aliens, and so on and so on. It can't go back forever. At some point there would have had to have been an original alien race on some planet somewhere that came about its being by some natural process.
So why couldn't it be us? Why couldn't we be that original alien race?
What is the appeal to the human race having been descended from aliens?
I just don't get that. Not that it would actually matter to me. I mean, if science could prove tomorrow we were all originally descended from pod people of Neptune, it would be interesting and I'd want to learn more, but I don't think it would shake me to my very core. Though, admittedly, I'd be pretty skeptical of the whole idea.
A parting thought
There is one more element, a rare one, of the alien astronaut theories I'd like to touch upon. Some theorists point to the possibility that historical alien visitors to Earth might not have been alien in the sense they were another species from another planet. Perhaps these aliens were other beings from another dimension, or even another time. Perhaps these aliens were what we might consider angels of God, or messengers or servants of some sort from God.
To me, this seems a little more plausible (though only a little), but that's probably my Protestant upbringing raising its head.
Still, I believe we are underestimating the mental capacities and physical possibilities of our ancient ancestors. Sure, they built some things which we still don't understand to this day. I think that's understandable considering how much time has passed and how much knowledge has been lost over the centuries.
In other words, we're not aliens. And if we were aliens, it wouldn't make us any better or worse than we already are. We're mankind. Each and every one of us. Regardless of where we're from.
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