Plausibility of ancient extraterrestrials

[Angrboda]

And they would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for those meddling kids!

[Anomalocaris]

The very same "gods" were described across multiple cultures all over the planet. You can find endless examples of gods that went by one name in one culture and by another name (in some cases an extremely similar name) in another culture.
I'm open to the idea that these beings helped advance human civilization.
Historical evidence suggests that multiple ancient cultures had advanced scientific knowledge rivaling (and in many cases exceeding) our modern scientific knowledge. I'm open to the idea that this was all thanks to these beings.
I'm open to the idea that these beings have been on our planet for thousands of years and have been documented by ancient cultures for as long as they've had a writing system.

I want to know what you guys think about the degree to which we can draw conclusions from the available historical records. I also want to know if it can be said that the historical evidence points to Hindu Atheism being a rational position to take.


The enormous collection of Vedic texts taken to be historical (as opposed to the purely mythological ones) seem to do a great job of telling the stories of these beings. These texts also do a great job of making highly quantitatively specific scientific claims that have been shown to be miraculously correct in modern times. 

Isn't there a vanishingly small probability of getting those measurements correct to such a fine level of precision by merely guessing?

Also, who prompted them to even make such guesses? 

Why were ancient people even talking about their home as a planet (by the way, Hindu scriptures correctly described Earth as a sphere) and talking about how old the planet is?

The flying machines that Hindu deities were said to have had are what really gets me. Sounds just like the UAPs we're seeing in recent years. The machines were described as being able to move in any direction while still facing in the same direction, like a helicopter. This is exactly like the UAPs that get described nowadays

Don't let your mind be so open that your brain falls out. A much more plausible explanation is that our ancestors weren't the dummies you think they were.

Boru

A much more plausible explanation is while our ancestors may not have all been dummies, but they were mostly as ignorant as you think they were, furthermore both our ancestors and many people who talking sensationalistically about our ancestors are far less honest then you think they are.

[Anomalocaris]

I often wonder why people include the Egyptian pyramids in this ‘ancient aliens’ rubbish. Pyramids are the easiest structures to build, they’re inherently stable, and they were built long before Issac Newton invented gravity so the stones would have been easy to move about. No aliens needed.

Boru

If it was built before Newton invented gravity, why was it built to be gravitationally stable?    Q.E.D Aliens.

[Sicnoo0]

I'm aware that von Däniken is a charlatan who made money off UFO enthusiasts and knowingly lied to make his case seem stronger. How do we feel about Billy Carson? Is he a grifter, too?

He's a con-man who has lied for money, and he changed his name to distance himself from felonies he committed in his past. 

That being said, I'm curious as to whether or not he believes what he says about ancient Earth and extraterrestrials. I'm also curious about specific examples of his arguments failing to hold water.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I don't keep track of those idiots. Van Dank stole money from the Boy Scouts. Real classy.

[The Grand Nudger]

It's always fun wondering where the fool ends and the charlatan begins.

[Anomalocaris]

It's always fun wondering where the fool ends and the charlatan begins.

And where there appear to be several fools all foolish in the same way, there is almost certainly at least one charlatan cackling amongst them.

[The Grand Nudger]

For sure. My personal opinion, I don't think George with the Hair is the cackling charlatan of the bunch. I think he really believes this stuff and it's just a bonus (probably a reinforcing bonus) that it's been so financially advantageous to him.

I think he's a mark with a communications degree from ithaca, and I can't imagine a better salesman, from the point of view of the cackling charlatan.

[Fake Messiah]

How do we feel about Billy Carson? Is he a grifter, too?

He's a con-man who has lied for money, and he changed his name to distance himself from felonies he committed in his past. 

That being said, I'm curious as to whether or not he believes what he says about ancient Earth and extraterrestrials. I'm also curious about specific examples of his arguments failing to hold water.

He is not an archeologist. There is not one archeologist who thinks that there is one piece of evidence for ancient aliens. So what more do you want?

The ideas of ancient advanced civilizations all have their roots in the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert E. Howard, who wrote tales of lost civilizations and underground races. Especially in Lovecraft, we can see ideas that the ancient people were a space-faring race that will return from the stars. Lovecraft's Mythos played an important role in the development of fringe history and ufology that were first taken by theosophists and then other cranks.

[The Grand Nudger]

The whole alien thing has been a wonderful natural experiment in culture creation. Culture doesn't have to make sense itself, it's job is to make sense of other things. I'd put ufology right alongside cargo cults as an example of the creation of a religion in modern times, with cameras rolling. Honestly, I think ufology is a cargo cult.