Volcanoes Connected to UFO Battles | Ancient Aliens

Video: "Volcanoes Connected to UFO Battles | Ancient Aliens" (History Channel)

Full auto-transcript: The Republic of Indonesia, Southeast Asia, this archipelago encompassing over 17,000 islands is home to 129 active volcanoes. Here in April 1815, the Mount Tambora volcano exploded in a cataclysm of fire, smoke, and ash. The amount of material discharged into the atmosphere estimated to have been 120 cubic tons makes the event the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. With a death toll of nearly 71,000 people, it was the world's deadliest eruption ROSALY LOPES: It had quite an effect worldwide. The year of 1816 was known as the year without the summer, and the reason is because very large volcanic eruptions inject a lot of ash and aerosols in the atmosphere and they can actually lower the global average temperature. MARK A. WILSON: A volcano on its own is not the disaster. But when it erupts and affects large groups of people, it certainly is. And volcanic eruptions have killed millions of people over time. NARRATOR: According to local religious traditions, volcanoes are considered sacred. And the Mount Tambora eruption is thought to have been the work of the gods, but why? Researchers claim answers can be found near the most volatile volcano in Indonesia today, Mount Merapi-- a site that in Javanese mysticism is believed to be the center of the world. Strangely, this revered volcano is located just 29 miles from a mysterious ancient Buddhist temple called Borobudur. PHILIP COPPENS: Whenever we are confronted with certain temple sites, some of them are obviously more interesting than others. But in this case, we have a very interesting location, because it is said that this mountain is the center of the universe. And you will always find that this is linked somehow in mythology with the ascent or the descent of a very important God. Sometimes it creates a deity for somebody else. NARRATOR: Built during the eighth and ninth centuries, the Borobudur Temple was designed in the form of a stepped pyramid and features a large round dome on top encircled by 72 statues of Buddha-- each seated in a bell-shaped enclosure called a stupa. Is it possible, as ancient astronaut theorist believed, that the temple and stupas were built to honor otherworldly beings and their spacecraft that arrived at Mount Merapi in the ancient past? GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: There is no question that Borobudur was a place of pilgrimage that was built only because something significant happened in the remote past in that specific area. The volcano was so huge for them, so incomprehensible that they over time built stupas all directed to the sky, because each stupa on that complex represents a chariot of the gods with which to actually reach outer space. PHILIP COPPENS: This is a very specific shape for a temple. It's almost as if it is a flat-topped pyramid with something sticking on top there as if something has landed. And then the question is why did they construct it so specifically. Was it something which was visually remembering as to what had happened there or what was still happening on a regular interval? DAVID CHILDRESS: All over the world volcanoes often have some God associated with them who's controlling the volcano, causing earthquakes, causing devastating eruptions. And in fact, in Indonesia, the people there believe that there's an entire city of gods inside Mount Merapi. GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: When I read stories of ancient volcano gods descending or ascending from and into volcanoes, then I think to myself are we really talking about something here that's a figment of our ancestors imagination or is there some truth behind these stories. And the answer is yes. It was not some type of spiritual event, but it was where extraterrestrials descended from the sky in nuts and bolts spaceships. NARRATOR: But what is it about volcanoes that seem to attract celestial visitors, and might they have had the power to trigger volcanic eruptions? Hawaii, here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean lies Mount Kilauea. Spewing lava almost continuously since 1983, it is the most active volcano in the world. According to ancient Hawaiian legends, the volcano is home to Pele, the goddess of lightning and fire. JONATHAN YOUNG: She lives in the enormous volcano on the Big Island in her crater, and they've been up there as a big crater. And you can imagine a powerful goddess could live there. She has come from a place of the clouds, a place in the sky. And that's mysterious. We don't know where that is. NARRATOR: Is it possible, as ancient astronaut theorists believe, that the origin of the Pele legend can be traced to contact with extraterrestrial beings? DAVID CHILDRESS: Just like the American military has hollowed out Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs to create a secret and virtually impenetrable military base inside of a mountain, we have, in a sense, similar stories of ancient gods or extraterrestrials doing this to volcanoes, using them as bases. And if there was some danger of people discovering it or people were building their homes or cities to close, these aliens could have their volcano erupt. GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: Is there something extraterrestrial behind those stories of volcano gods? Absolutely yes, because all around the world our ancestors worshipped nature. There was a god of thunder. There was a god of rain and even a god of a volcano. However, there was a fine line between worshiping nature and worshipping something else. And that something else was extraterrestrials. They were space travelers that came here from another planetary system. NARRATOR: Iceland, April 2010-- one of the country's largest volcanoes erupts for the first time in nearly two centuries. In the aftermath of the blast, Sky News captured footage of an unusual V-shaped flying object amongst the plume of smoke and ash. An awful lot of video material was taken of this volcanic eruption, and some of it clearly shows an anomalous object hovering roughly around the volcano. This object is clearly under intelligent control, and from what we see on the video it's also apparent that this isn't birds, as some skeptics have been trying to argue. NARRATOR: According to scientists, volcanic eruptions are natural events that occur when rocks deep within the Earth become so hot they melt and form magma. Basically, you build up a lot of pressure in the magma, in the location where the volcano is, and it has a point where it can release. And then that magma and the hot gases and the hot lava all kind of erupt out through the top. NARRATOR: Still some researchers believe there is a high correlation between catastrophic events and the appearance of UFOs. The fact that we have UFOs before and sometimes during these events, whether tsunami or earthquakes, clearly shows that something is present. Now, the question is, are they just monitoring it, or are they actually somehow involved with it? Are they causing it? Is there a way that you can trigger a volcano? For example, let's say it's sort of on the verge anyway. Is there something you can do technologically to either trigger it or to make it worse? We don't know. We just see this apparent foreknowledge of an event like that happening. The UFO shows up, the event happens. NARRATOR: According to ancient astronaut theorists, alien spacecraft have been spotted at or near the sites of so-called natural catastrophes since ancient times. But why? Is it possible extraterrestrials are merely curious about geologic events on Earth? Or could there be another perhaps more sinister motive for their interest? April 14, 1561-- Nuremberg, Germany. Citizens awoke at dawn to the spectacle of cylindrical objects appearing in the sky, from which red, black, orange, and blue disks emerged. According to eyewitness accounts reported in the Nuremberg Gazette, tubes resembling cannon barrels also appeared, and the objects began to fight one another. After about an hour of battle, the entities seemed to catch fire and fell to Earth, where they turned to steam. Five years later, Austrian architect Hans Glaser created a woodcut detailing what he observed during the famous event. In that woodcut and in the eyewitness reports, we actually see UFOs in battle. They were reported actually fighting each other, shooting each other down. If you look at the bottom right hand corner of the woodcut, you'll actually see a couple of circles in the ground, giving off smoke. They've obviously crashed. They've been shot down. That is very interesting, because it shows that the pattern of aggression amongst the UFOs has been going on for a long time. NARRATOR: To some ancient astronaut theorists, the 540-year-old woodcut is evidence of an alien cosmic war. And in fact, they claim similar hostile events have occurred in human history for millennia. The evidence from the record, from eyewitness testimony, shows a connection between the UFO and a thinning effort, where there's apparently a wanton intention to wipe out or thin out the human race. For example, during the plague years, there were a lot of UFO reports about bright lights in the sky that were spreading gas. And people were reporting that these gases were actually the cause of the plague. [music playing] Tenerife, Canary Islands. Reaching a height of over 24,000 feet from its base under the ocean, Mount Teide is the third largest volcano in the world. The surrounding region was once home to the mysterious Guanche people, thought to live on the islands as far back as 200 BC. After the Spanish invaded in the 15th century, the Native culture and traditions quickly disappeared. But some ancient astronaut theorists believe a series of pyramids found near Mount Teide were built by the Guanche and may provide more clues about this ancient civilization. KATHLEEN MCGOWAN COPPENS: The Guanche people are fascinating because there is so much that we don't know about them. The Guanche people are a real mystery. They mummified their dead, so we're able to attain what information we do have about them through looking at some of these mummies. The Guanche were also pyramid builders, and the pyramids that they are building resemble the earliest step pyramids in Egypt, but also the step pyramids that we see throughout the Mayan culture. ANDREW COLLINS: Quite close to Mount Teide, there are a series of pyramids that seem to have some relationship to the mountain or volcano. And they may have even been representations of that mountain itself, but they also were places of communication with the gods. But who those gods were is lost today. [music playing] NARRATOR: But for what purpose were the Mount Teide pyramids built? Were they meant to be places of worship? Or could it be, as ancient astronaut theorists suggest, that they were constructed to welcome otherworldly visitors? Perhaps the answers may be found in the mythology of the Guanche people. DAVID CHILDRESS: The Guanche also believed that Mount Teide was a huge pyramid put there by the gods. They also believed that they are seeing gods coming and going from this mountain. But perhaps what they're really seeing is extraterrestrial vehicles coming and going from the mountain. The ancient Egyptians called their step pyramids the "stairway to heaven" and maintained that the gods themselves taught them how to build these structures. It's possible that the Guanche step pyramids were built based on instructions from the same gods and that they, too, are portals or gateways to heaven. NARRATOR: Is it possible that the Guanche people built these pyramids not for mythical gods, but as launching pads for actual beings that visited them in the distant past? Ancient astronaut theorists say yes and point to strange sightings that continue around Mount Teide even to this day. RICHARD DOLAN: That region has had more than its share of interesting UFO sightings. Not just of UFO sightings, but really dramatic-- I mean, off the charts dramatic UFO sightings. In June of 1976, people on the ground saw this glowing large three-story high almost like a globe that at times was transparent. And in fact, the Spanish military investigated this particular case, and they were left with something that was truly unknown, truly extraordinary. NARRATOR: Did the Guanche people witness extraterrestrials coming and going from Mount Teide in the distant past? Many ancient astronaut theorists believe that not only have aliens landed on mountains, but that they may even have created elaborate bases deep inside of them. Hawaii. To visitors and tourists, it is a paradise on Earth, a land of cascading waterfalls, breathtaking scenery, and captivating volcanoes. But this tropical island chain is not merely a beautiful and romantic travel destination. To the people that have inhabited this land for centuries, and who carry with them the traditions of their ancestors, Hawaii is something very different. For them, it is the place where beings from the sky came to Earth centuries ago. And a place where many, like tribal elder Kimokeo Kapahulehua, believe these so-called sky people are destined to return. NARRATOR: Is it possible that the ancient stories of the native Hawaiians are, in fact, evidence of early human contact with extraterrestrials? As far as ancient astronaut theorists are concerned, the answer is yes. And they believe one of the reasons that extraterrestrial visitors chose the Hawaiian Islands as a destination is the fact that the islands were then, as now, largely remote and, in some cases, relatively uninhabited. If I were an extraterrestrial in-in the remote past and I was looking for the perfect laboratory to engineer a new species of mankind, I would look no further than the most remote place on the Earth, which is the Hawaiian Islands. Before the arrival of Europeans, there were no reptiles, no mosquitoes, no rats. It was as pure a place as any on our planet. And in many ways, it was the perfect spot for a terrestrial laboratory. NARRATOR: In addition to being one of the most remote places on the planet, Hawaii is also one of the most volatile. It is home to literally hundreds of volcanoes, and three of them are still very active. WILLIAM HENRY: She was embodied as a beautiful woman, Hawaiian mythology says, who also had a wrathful nature, and if you didn't respect her wishes, it was not gonna be a very good day. FELICIA BEARDSLEY: Pele is an angry goddess, in many ways. But she's also seen as a creator, because she creates land. There's a belief and-and a full-on respect of Pele. NARRATOR: For Hawaiian natives, Pele is but one of many beings they call "star people," and all things that happen on Earth are connected to the stars. Each autumn, when the Pleiades star system appears on the horizon, practitioners of the old native Hawaiian faith gather to celebrate the harvest and honor the otherworldly visitors whose direct descendants also serve as the tribal elites. NARRATOR: In ancient times, the largest harvest season celebrations occurred at the foot of Hawaii's tallest mountain, which, according to legend, was the central geological feature of a lost continent called Lemuria. There are countless stories about a lost continent that was swallowed up by the sea, and that continent was called Lemuria. Lemuria is said to have been the home of the planet's tallest mountain. So in order to determine Lemuria's possible location in a region that-that could fit our mythology, we have to change our perspective a little bit. When considering mountains that rise directly from the floor of a tectonic plate-- which Mount Everest doesn't do-- and the distance from the actual base to the actual summit, Mauna Kea is by far the tallest mountain in the world and it's nearly a mile taller than Mount Everest. It is the most massive land mass on the planet, and it is a critical place when it comes to the traditions of the Hawaiian Islanders welcoming back the star visitors. It's also the time of the rising of the Pleiades, and what it signals is this time of great joy and festivities. The people gather to celebrate prosperity or coming prosperity. NARRATOR: For native Hawaiians, the Pleiades is much more than just a constellation. This cluster of stars, 444.2 light-years away, are the stars from which the native Hawaiians trace their very origins. The Pleiades plays an absolutely central role in the mythology of people spread right across the Pacific. All the way to Australia, Japan, we hear these stories that, once upon a time, beings from the Pleiades arrived here. And that they in some way involved themselves in human evolution.