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Ancient astronauts have been addressed frequently inscience fiction andhorror fiction. Occurrences in the genres include:

• J.-H. Rosny aîné'sLes Xipehuz [The Shapes] from 1887 features geometric aliens encountered by primitive humans living a thousand years beforeBabylonian times.^[1]
• C. C. Dail's novelWillmoth the Wanderer (1890) is possibly one of the first stories where extraterrestrials visit prehistoric humans and guide their evolution.^[2]
• InFred T. Jane's novelTo Venus in Five Seconds (1897), ancient Egyptians accidentally visit Venus through matter transmitters from pyramids.^[3]
• Garrett P. Serviss'Edison's Conquest of Mars, published in 1898, is perhaps the first story to feature ancient astronauts who have a major influence on early human civilizations, predating Fort's book by over twenty years. In it, the narrator learns that theMartians fromThe War of the Worlds visited Earth around 7500 BC, enslaving the inhabitants of theFertile Crescent and bringing them toEgypt to make monuments of their conquest, including theGiza pyramid complex and theGreat Sphinx, which is actually the face of the leader of the Martian expedition. Afterwards, a plague caused them to leave, with the Martians taking several of their human slaves toMars to serve them there, until an expedition led byThomas Edison freed their descendants in the early 20th century.^[4]
• InJack London's short story "The Red One" (1916), a giant sphere of extraterrestrial origin is worshiped as a god by pacific islanders.^[5]
• H. P. Lovecraft has various works of the cosmic horror genre that deal with ancient aliens, including "The Call of Cthulhu" (1926) andAt the Mountains of Madness (1931).^[6]
• Robert E. Howard's short story "The Tower of the Elephant" (1933).^[7]
• Stanley G. Weinbaum's "Valley of Dreams" (1934) has an expedition to Mars discover that its bird-like natives, who refer to themselves asThoth, visited Egypt approximately 15,000 BCE and were the inspiration for the Egyptian god of the same name, as well as the start of Egyptian writing.^[8]
• Eando Binder's short fiction seriesVia (1937–1942), published later asPuzzle of the Space Pyramids (1971).^[9]
• Edgard Armond'sOs Exilados de Capela (1949), aspiritist book about beings coming from theCapella star to arrive onEarth inPrehistory; both the gods andAdam, the first man from theGenesis, would have origins in Capella.^[10]
• Arthur C. Clarke has written several stories utilizing the theme, most famously in his 1953 short story "Encounter in the Dawn", which became the basis for the first section of2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968.^[11] In his novelRendezvous with Rama, a religion called the "Fifth Church of Christ, Cosmonaut" is mentioned, whose central tenet is thatJesus was an alien visitor.^[12]
• Wilson Tucker'sThe Time Masters (1953) has a private detective who is revealed to beGilgamesh, who was a survivor of a starship crash thousands of years ago.
• Kurt Vonnegut'sThe Sirens of Titan (1959) depicts the whole of human development and civilization to be a medium used by aliens for relaying messages to an alien space-explorer stranded on one ofSaturn's moons.
• The March 1961 issue ofAnalog Science Fiction and Science Fact contains a piece by Arthur W. Orton entitledThe Four-Faced Visitors of Ezekiel. Although described in the magazine's Table of Contents as ashort story, it actually takes the form of a pseudo-factual essay presenting a verse-by-verse analysis of Ezekiel's vision and interpreting it in terms of an encounter with ancient astronauts.^[13] In this respect, the essay mirrors J. F. Blumrich's bookThe Spaceships of Ezekiel (1974), despite predating it by more than a decade.^[14]
• Carlos Rasch's novel The blue planet (Der blaue planet, 1963) is dedicated to the topic of ancient astronauts. It tells the story of a group of alien explorers (Heloids) whose spaceship must make a stopover in the middle of its voyage, and they land on the Earth circa 3,000 BC, in ancient Mesopotamia. Real places like Baalbek, Uruk and the Dead Sea appear in the story. The aliens must deal with such topics like slavery or whether they can intervene in the development of the local population.
• Günther Krupkat's novelWhen the Gods Died (Als die Götter starben, 1963) is a literary work combining the two topics ofxenoarchaeology and ancient astronauts. It tells the story of a future utopia society which finds different archaeologic traces of ancient aliens throughout the solar system, including accounts, telling the story of ancient aliens from the planetMeju visiting Earth during ancientMesopotamia. The novel is one of the best socialist sci-fi novels of the formerEast Germany.
• InLarry Niven'sKnown Space (1964–present), humanity is descended from aliens called thePak.^[15]
• InFrederik Pohl'sHeechee Saga (1972–2004), the Heechee are described as an ancient alien race that visited theSolar System thousands of years ago and left behind various futuristic technology, which creates many interesting opportunities for Earth.^[15]
• InAlexander Kazantsev's novel "The destruction of Faena" (1974), afterPhaeton is destroyed in a war between two aboriginal empires, its survivors bring civilization to Earth.
• André Norton's novelMerlin's Mirror (1975) portrays the wizardMerlin as a servant of benevolent "Sky People" who seek to elevate humanity and thwart the "Dark Ones" who wish to keep humanity ignorant.Nimue is described as a servant of the Dark Ones, sent to prevent Merlin from giving humanity a leader (Arthur) who would bring it to the heights of knowledge. The Sky People are implied to have once assumed the guises of already-worshipped gods, such asCernunnos, in order to communicate with humans, and sometimes are identified as divine by humans.Stonehenge is said to be their creation, with Merlin's reconstruction of it being a means of establishing a "beacon" for the Sky People to find their way to Earth, avoiding their own extinction and humanity's limitation.
• InWalter Ernsting'sThe Day the Gods Died (1976), an extraterrestrial civilization is said to have built the ruins of ancientPeru.
• James P. Hogan wrote of an alien race which inhabited a destroyed fifth planet between Mars and Jupiter and are discovered in the hulk of an abandoned spacecraft on Ganymede in his five-volumeGiants series (1977–2005).
• Ángel Arango's short story Un inesperado visitante (An unexpected visitor, 1979) portrays Jesus and the events of the New Testament from the perspective of an alien.
• Douglas Adams used a satirical version of the theory in hisHitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series (1979–1992).
• Doris Lessing'sCanopus in Argos series (1979–1983) describes the Earth from the view of two alien civilizations, responsible for bringing life to the planet.
• Philip José Farmer's novelJesus on Mars (1979) uses the ancient astronauts topic, depicting alien spaceship of the Krsh arriving on Earth in biblical time. The novel touches many ideas and concepts, including scientific explanation of Jesus, it's miracles and it'sSecond Coming.
• InDavid Brin'sUplift Universe series (1980-...), all known species were brought to sapience through the direct intervention of a known galactic "patron", except for the fabled first sentient species, the Progenitors, and humanity. While most humans take pride at achieving space travel without a patron, some humans (called Danikenites, after Erich von Däniken) and most Galactics believe otherwise.^[15]
• Philip K. Dick explores this theory in hisVALIS trilogy (1981), wherein race of ancient astronauts is thought to have placed an information-streaming satellite in orbit around Earth.
• InDavid Weber,Mutineers' Moon (1991), the Moon is a giant spaceship which arrived 50,000 years ago.
• Buzz Aldrin's andJohn Barnes' novelEncounter With Tiber (1996), deals with the discovery of ancient alien encounters on Earth and Mars, with humanity utilizing recovered alien technology to advance the space program.
• In theOutlanders novel series (1997-...) byMark Ellis, theAnunnaki are revealed to have been the culprits behind a devastating nuclear war as well as the Root Race of the so-called Gray aliens.
• David Wisniewski's bookThe Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups (1998) mentions in passing a hangar wherein employees of the United States Government "stack all the banged-up flying saucers", implying that the existence of aliens is well-known, but that the government attempts to conceal it.
• InJon Stewart'sNaked Pictures of Famous People (1998), the section "The Recipe" claims to be a translation of an ancientAztec text from 2000 BC depicting a celebrity awards ceremony. In the context of the book, Erich Von Daniken brought it to the world's attention in his bookWeird, Huh?, wondering if ancient alien visitors had brought knowledge of celebrity awards shows to the Aztecs.
• InWilliam H. Keith Jr.'sHeritage Trilogy (1998–2000), a war between the United States and a United Europe, and later between the United States and China, has its roots in the discovery that ancient astronauts visited Earth on several occasions. Ancient technology found onMars, theMoon, andEuropa change the balance of power on Earth.
• A series of short novels known as theOuternet series (2002-...) has, as one of its premises, the idea that Stonehenge was originally built as a means of communication with extraterrestrials.
• S. M. Stirling's novelsThe Sky People (2006) andIn the Courts of the Crimson Kings (2008) state that an ancient race of aliens populated Earth, Mars, and Venus with human and animal life. Additionally, the ancient astronaut theme is played in reverse, with the technologically advanced humans from Earth being seen as advanced gods by theBronze Age-level alien natives of Venus and Mars.

• Uncle Scrooge #34 (1961) features theCarl Barks story "Mythtic Mystery", whereScrooge McDuck's family discover a small planetoid hovering in Earth's lower atmosphere, inhabited by beings who were the basis for the Roman and Norse gods.
• TheMandarin's rings, a set of fictional weapons appearing inMarvel Comics, were created by theMakluans, a dragon-like alien species. They were introduced inTales of Suspense #50 (February 1964), where the supervillain Mandarin found them hidden inside the wreckage of a spaceship.
• TheKree alien species visited Earth in ancient times and conducted experiments on several humans, granting them superhuman abilities and turning them intoInhumans.^[16]
• The Adventures of Tintin comicFlight 714 to Sydney byHergé (1968) features a temple built to honor ancient astronauts and a scientist who acts as Earth's ambassador to them.^[16]
• TheMarvel comic seriesThe Eternals deals with theCelestials, advanced aliens who had experimented on early hominids, creating two sister races, theEternals and theDeviants, who resembled "gods" and "demons" respectively. It is also noted that their advanced test eventually led to the X-gene inmutants.^[16]
• TheThorgal series byGrzegorz Rosiński andVan Hamme (29 albums) where the main protagonist Thorgal Aegirsson is in fact the son of ancient astronauts.
• A Japanese/American comic book series,Jason and the Argobots, portrayed the Egyptian Gods as extraterrestrials who became "teachers" to the people of ancient Egypt and who return to protect the Earth from a war between alien races.
• The plot of theKarmatrón y los Transformables sci-fi and fantasy comic series byOscar González Loyo relies heavily on the ancient astronaut theory.
• The deities of ancient religions are usually depicted as beings with superpowers who live in other dimensions and visited Earth on the past, being worshipped as gods. The most usual cases areThor and theAsgardians, andHercules and theOlympians.Bast andKhonshu from ancient Egyptian mythology are also frequent characters, but as supporting characters ofBlack Panther andMoon Knight.

• Nigel Kneale's miniseriesQuatermass and the Pit (1958–1959) and the1967 film adaptation used a version of the idea.
• Prehistoric comedyThe Flintstones (1960–1966) featured a recurring character calledThe Great Gazoo, a Martian that interacts with the protagonists.
• TheStar Trek franchise has dozens of examples of extraterrestrials visiting Earth in past centuries, many having an influence on pre-modern humans. These are just a few prime examples:
  • The 1967Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Who Mourns for Adonais?" uses the idea that theGreek gods were extraterrestrials, although the Sun godApollo is the only mythological character to appear. In the same series, "Plato's Stepchildren" features powerful aliens who allude to having lived on Earth and met ancient Greek people, but do not identify as gods or any specific characters from mythology.
  • The 1993Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Chase" reveals that the predominance of humanoid species in modern times is the result of a progenitor humanoid species "seeding" various planets with their DNA in order to influence the development of sentient life into forms similar to themselves.
  • In the 1995Star Trek: Voyager episode "Tattoo", it is revealed that the human characterChakotay is descended from the Rubber Tree People, a group of Native Americans who were visited by the Sky Spirits 45,000 years ago. The Sky Spirits, who are actually advanced, space-faring aliens, granted these primitive humans a genetic alteration which influenced their development.
  • By contrast, in several otherStar Trek projects, such as theNext Generation episode "Who Watches the Watchers", humans come to be regarded as gods by lesser advanced aliens. TheUnited Federation of Planets andStarfleet have aPrime Directive of noninterference to discourage this, but it happens often because of carelessness or malicious disobedience.
• TheBBC,Doctor Who serialPyramids of Mars (1975) featured a conflict on Earth between aliens of a race named the Osirans forming the basis of Egyptian mythology, with various otherDoctor Who serials using similar ideas.
• In the television seriesSpace: 1999 (1975–1977), many alien species have controlled or visited Earth in the past, such as theSanskrit-speaking Arkadians from "The Testament of Arkadia", that escaped from their planet and populated Earth, evolving into humans, and the Tritonian space probes from "Ring Around the Moon", known duringancient history by the inhabitants of theAncient Kingdom of Egypt. However, it is unclear if there are Tritonians on their probes or if the probes are speaking intelligent beings.
• The originalBattlestar Galactica and the2003 remake depicts humans as having originated on the planet Kobol and later settled thirteen colony planets,Earth being the last and most distant. The plots of both concern a group of humans attempting to find Earth. The original 1978 series is more closely linked to the ancient astronaut theory, using modernized versions of ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Middle Ages costumes, as well as mixing ancient myths and religious materials into the storylines. In contrast, SyFy's 2003 remake deals little with ancient myths and legends and depicts an American-like culture, and in a twist, it is revealed that the "human" and Cylon protagonists are in fact the ancient astronauts themselves.
• In theRed Dwarf episode "Waiting for God" (1988),Rimmer states his belief in aliens having visited Earth in ancient times, askingLister how else the pyramids could have been built. Lister replies, "They had massive whips, Rimmer. Massive, massive whips."
• In theBabylon 5 (1993–1998) universe, many of the First Ones, in particular theVorlons andShadows, visited Earth and the homeworlds of other races at various times in history.
• The television seriesThe X-Files (1993–2002, 2016–2018) has borrowed the theory.
• In the television seriesEarth: Final Conflict (1997–2002), the Atavus species traveled to Earth in the distant past and ruled over it, usingNeanderthal men as slaves and a food source. The Atavus were present in Ancient Egypt as well. The Taelons (the series' main aliens) also visited Earth many times before initiating first contact in the mid-21st century.
• In the television seriesSpace Island One (1998), the crew of the Unity encounter a Babylonian space probe, theTower of Babel having been a rocket rather than a literal tower to reach the heavens.
• NTV, a television station inNewfoundland and Labrador, regularly shows programming centering around Captain Atlantis, an ancient astronaut espousingNew Age philosophy, and his protégé, the humanCaptain Canada. Captain Atlantis is said to be part of a godlike race of ancient aliens from the far edges of the universe who settled in the city ofAtlantis, which in the context of the story was located on theGrand Banks of Newfoundland; the rest of his race deliberately hid themselves and Atlantis from mankind to prevent humanity from using it for evil. By adopting New Age philosophies, Captain Atlantis claims humans can gain supernatural powers and eventually use them to achieve world peace. Captain Atlantis and Captain Canada stories are also featured in comic strip form in theNewfoundland Herald.

Anime and manga

• The Japanese anime television seriesThe Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982) featured an ancient, long extinct and very advanced humanoid alien civilization called theProtoculture, who dominated the Milky Way Galaxy by founding a Stellar Republic and who also created the human race on Earth.
• One of theSpriggan chapters depictsTezcatlipoca as an ancient astronaut during a mission in Mexico.
• Yoshiki Takaya's manga seriesBio Booster Armor Guyver, later adapted several times into animated form and twice into a pair of Americanized films, featured the idea that all life on Earth was created by an organization of various alien beings as biological weapons intended for use in interstellar war, which were later abandoned for reasons unknown, and thus were never taken into space. According to the series, human beings are actually a 'first stage' organism that can be further mutated into monstrous creatures calledZoanoids, which supposedly account for many modern-daymyths ofvampires and werewolves. The comic features an alien armor supposedly used by the aliens themselves which remains on Earth and is possessed by a high-school student. One of the main characters, the most highly advanced living weapon, fears the aliens' return and plans to take mankind into space to find a means to confront the aliens on their own terms.
• Lilith and Adam in the manga/anime seriesNeon Genesis Evangelion were two extraterrestrial beings that landed on Earth and gave birth to humanity.

Western Animation

• In the animated seriesThe Flintstones (1960–1966), leading characterFred Flintstone is sometimes accompanied byGazoo, a little green "space man" who exhibits many amazing powers.
• The French animated seriesIl était une fois... l'Espace (1982) (English:Once Upon a Time... Space) featured far-future humans taking on the role of superior aliens to an inca-like culture. The spaceships of the human civilization also used decorative iconography derived from theNazca lines as a wink to the theory – the ship of the main characters using a hummingbird design.
• A 1984 episode ofThe New Scooby-Doo Mysteries is titled "Ghosts of the Ancient Astronauts," and revolves around alien artifacts discovered at an ancient South American temple.
• The animated seriesThe Transformers (1984–1987) depicts theAutobots andDecepticons as ancient astronauts who crash-landed on Earth four million years ago. The Maximals and Predacons from the sequel seriesBeast Wars (1996–1999) take this theme one step further by time traveling to prehistoric Earth from the future (their present). They discover that another alien species called the Vok had already visited Earth, using it as an experiment which the Beast Wars had contaminated. Further examples are found in themovie adaptations of this series.
• The episode "Sentinel" from the animated seriesGargoyles (1994–1997) involves an ancient alien living in a hidden spaceship underEaster Island. In the episode, it is concluded that this alien came to Earth long ago and inspired theMoai statues that Easter Island is famous for.
• Prometheus and Bob (1996–2000) is a recurring segment about an alien visiting Earth 900,000 years ago, assigned with a mission to educate a caveman called "Bob", and recording his failed attempts with a remote-controlled camera.
• Godzilla: The Series (1998–2000) featured grotesque ancient astronauts who had come to Earth during the lateJurassic period or earlyCretaceous period and remained on Earth, under the ocean, ever since.
• In the animated seriesDilbert (1999–2000), Dilbert and Dogbert visit a museum with an exhibit supporting the theory of aliens assisting the Egyptians in the construction of the Pyramid. When Dilbert asks what happened to the aliens after the pyramids were constructed, they move to the next exhibit, which depicts the Egyptians feasting on the aliens.
• TheFuturama episode "A Pharaoh to Remember" (2002) features an alien culture that claims to have been taught space travel,mummification for the purpose ofscaring Abbott and Costello, and pyramid building by the ancient Egyptians, instead of the other way around.
• In an episode ofMartin Mystery (2003–2006), Martin, his stepsister, and his father are captured by a Synth, a creature synthesized with human and alien genes who was giving birth at the time. After looking at the cave paintings in the Synth's cave which seemingly depict a UFO dropping off a strange creature on Earth, Martin states it was abandoned by its "creators" some thousand years ago, living in secrecy until loggers arrived in its forest. In another episode, Martin, Java, and Diana are sent to investigate paranormal activity at a summer camp, and discover the culprit to be Sauros, a reptilian god who demands the life force of young people every thousand years. It is then discovered that Sauros is not a god, but an extraterrestrial who has a thousand-year life cycle.

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• The idea of paleocontact appears in numerousscience fiction stories and films, most notably in the first act of the movie2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).^[17]
• In the filmHorror Express (1972), an extraterrestrial is found frozen for millions of years.
• In the filmGod Told Me To (1976), a character cites Jesus andMoses as alien visitors.
• While not specifically usingEarth as an example, the fictionalStar Wars universe has many references to aliens giving primitive races technology, or humans de-advancing into a moreprimitive society as time passes.
• Monty Python'sLife of Brian (1979) includes a chase sequence where Brian briefly escapes fromRoman legionaries by accidentally falling into an alien spaceship.
• TheAlien (1979-...) franchise features some examples. ThePredator race from the movieAlien vs. Predator (2004) is described in the film as having traveled to Earth at a prehistoric time and having a human culture serve them as Gods. The filmPrometheus (2012) is themed around a group of scientists who set out to discover the origins of human life, which was seeded on Earth and influenced by an ancient race of aliens.
• The filmHangar 18 (1980) involves a UFO whose symbols are found to match those used in ancient cultures.
• InThe Thing (1982), an alien spacecraft crashes in Antarctica in 100,000 BCE. A character later mentionsChariots of the Gods? and the belief that theIncan civilization was developed by aliens.
• InKiller Klowns from Outer Space (1988) a character speculates that the titular monsters may have been ancient astronauts that came to Earth centuries earlier and inspired mankind to create theclown figure.
• InMoontrap (1989), the protagonists find a prehistoric base on the Moon, built by a human-looking species 14,000 years before.
• The movieStargate (1994) featured Ra, a member of the alien speciesGoa'uld that came to Earth around 8000 BC and enslaved the ancient Egyptians, adopting their culture and religion and posing as their God, before eventually transporting thousands of them through the Stargate to offworld mining colonies. Spin-off television seriesStargate SG-1 (1997–2007),Stargate Atlantis (2004–2009), andStargate Universe (2009–2011) featured aliens calledthe Ancients, alternativelyAlterans, Lanteans, or Anquietas, who are found to have traveled to Earth millions of years ago to start and influence human evolution. Also featured are the sinisterGoa'uld, who pose as gods to enslave the humans, as well as the benevolent Asgard, who pose as gods to protect various groups of less advanced humans throughout the galaxy. TheStargate: Ultimate Edition: Director's Cut DVD includes a featurette interview withErich von Däniken entitledIs there a Stargate? (2003).^{[citation needed]}
• The filmThe Fifth Element (1997) features an ancient Egyptian temple containing a weapon that a group of aliens called the Mondoshawans come to take and safeguard in 1914 at the beginning of the film. The weapon is meant to defend Earth from a giant spherical evil entity that arrives from space every five thousand years.
• Mission to Mars (2000) is another movie with an "alien seeding" theme.
• The animated filmIce Age (2002) briefly shows an alien spacecraft trapped in ice during theice age. InIce Age: Collision Course (2016), the fifth film of the series, Scrat accidentally activates a spacecraft similar to the one from the first film and Buck discovers a building built by an advanced civilization that observed Sid inIce Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) and knowastrophysics.
• The filmOutlander (2008) is based on an advanced man from space crashing on Earth in the year 709 AD, during the Viking era, and remaining with the Vikings as their king.
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) links, albeit by coincidence, the existence ofcrystal skulls to beings that were perceived as gods by theMaya civilization, though these visitors were from another dimension rather than outer space.
• TheMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) features numerous depictions of ancient astronauts, which have appeared before in the source material. (SeeComics section above)
• The American independent filmA Genesis Found (2009) features characters who use the theory to explain an anomalous skeleton discovered at theMoundville Archaeological Site in centralAlabama.
• The filmThe Fourth Kind (2009) mentions the idea that aliens contacted the ancientSumerians and apparently features aliens speaking theSumerian language.
• The filmBeyond the Sky (2018) features an ancient astronaut.
• The65 (film) (2023)

• Chariots of the Gods (1970)
• In Search of Ancient Astronauts (1973)
• In Search of Ancient Mysteries (1974)
• The Outer Space Connection (1975)

• Lynsey De Paul'sJust Visiting speculates that spacemen visited prehistoric man and gave continued guidance in mankind's development, and that we might find ourselves in the same position some day.
• Chris de Burgh'sA Spaceman Came Travelling deals with the concept of an ancient astronaut, in this case pertaining to the Christ story.
• Frank Zappa's "Inca Roads" (from the albumOne Size Fits All) deals with Ancient Astronaut Theory. The primary lyric is "Did a vehicle come from somewhere out there just to land in theAndes? Was it round, and did it have a motor, or was it something different? Did a vehicle fly along the mountain and find a place to park itself, or did someone build a place to leave a space for such a thing to land?"
• Several songs byPhiladelphia-basedrap groupThe Lost Children of Babylon deal with ancient astronaut theory, explicitly stating that "Jesus Christ was really an ancient astronaut". The debut album,The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological & Electro-Magnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness by the hip hop groupJedi Mind Tricks, features the Lost Children of Babylon and also promotes ancient astronaut theories.
• The name of thepost-rock musical groupGod Is an Astronaut fromIreland exploits the theory.
• Most of theAyreon albums are about ancient astronauts, that go by the name Forever, who traveled from theAndromeda Galaxy to earth long ago and influenced the development of science and technology.

• The gameSpore has many elements of ancient astronauts, even giving player the ability to manipulate other less developed species as a space travelling species.
• InFinal Fantasy VII, two thousand years prior to the game's events, the alien lifeformJenova crash-landed on the Planet and nearly wiped out the Cetra with a virus before being sealed away in a tomb by the surviving Cetra. In the present, Jenova is unearthed by Shinra, who mistake her for being a Cetra, and her cells are used in the experiments that createdSephiroth and SOLDIER.
• The American computer gameSPY Fox: Some Assembly Required playfully showed aflying saucer buried beneath theworld's fair.
• In theHalo series,^{[citation needed]} ancient humanity was a spacefaring society technologically superior to modern humanity, who colonized many worlds and established contact with several alien species. After losing a large-scale war with the Forerunners, a more technologically advanced and widespread species, humanity was stripped of their technologies and quarantined to Earth, their home planet. For millennia, the Forerunners exercised influence over humanity's behavior, evolution, and memories. When an invasive parasitic species threatened all sentient life, the Forerunners eventually decided that their only option was to sterilize the galaxy. Though they established automated preservation and "reseeding" technologies in order to reestablish humans and many other species across the galaxy after the sterilization, the Forerunners sacrificed themselves in order to see the plan through. Later, some alien species discovered remnants of Forerunner technology; while they derived many technological innovations from the artifacts, they also misinterpreted much of what they found and worshipped the extinct Forerunners as gods. Eventually regaining spacefaring technology, humans studied the Forerunner artifacts with a more scientific approach, with both them and aliens discovering that the Forerunners granted humanity alone stewardship over the technology they had been left behind. The reasons for this were only made clear in the most recent novels andHalo 4. The Forerunners themselves were created by aliens far more ancient than them, of which the Forerunners had only a mythological understanding of.
• Dark Void features a race of humanoid shape-shifters called Watchers, who ruled over ancient humans as gods, bringing technology and civilization to Earth. Their human subjects rebelled and exiled them to the titular Dark Void, an alternate dimension that exists between Earth and the original Watcher homeworld.
• In theMass Effect series, humanity discovers a cache of alien technology buried onMars, built by an alien species known as the Protheans. The Protheans had apparently maintained a vast interstellar empire encompassing the entirety of theMilky Way until the empire collapsed suddenly and mysteriously 50,000 years ago, leaving almost no traces of its existence. It is revealed later in the game that the Protheans, along with numerous interstellar civilizations before them, had been systematically exterminated by a race of artificially intelligent machines called Reapers.
• The arcade shoot-em-upXevious (fromNamco 1983, designed byMasanobu Endō) was inspired by ancient astronaut theories.
• In theAssassin's Creed franchise, it is gradually revealed thathumanity was originally created as a slave race by the then-ruling people tentatively known as the "First Civilization" thousands of years prior to the games' events. Humanity eventually revolted against their "gods" and full-scale war erupted, with both groups forced to compromise a truce to ensure their survival after nearly being wiped out by asolar flare. The First Civilization have since, as a distinct species, become extinct, though hybrid bloodlines of the two species still exist; their presence in history has been erased, leaving behind only remnants of their technology known as "Pieces of Eden", which became powerful weapons and religious artifacts and the reason behind theTemplars' and theAssassins' ongoing war. However, the First Civilization did not originate from outer space, having resided on the Earth and evolved over time. In later games, the true name of the race that the First Civilization belongs to is revealed to be "Isu", and several Isu are shown to still be alive in modern times, either in digital form, such asJuno andMinerva, or byreincarnating themselves as humans, as is the case withAita, who, at various points in history, has been reincarnated asJacques de Molay,Bartholomew Roberts, andFrançois-Thomas Germain, among others. These humans are known as "Sages" and possess a higher concentration of Isu DNA than other hybrids, as well as memories of their past lives, which often come in the form of visions or the Isu directly speaking to them in their minds.
• The Cuotl inRise of Nations: Rise of Legends is a nation of Mesoamerica-inspired tribes subjugated by four extraterrestrial beings who install themselves as deities.
• Catherine: in the Rin ending of the game, it is revealed that Rin is an extraterrestrial from a different planet.

• Ancient Aliens in Science Fiction Movies - Part One
• Ancient Aliens in Science Fiction Movies - Part Two

• Fiction about ancient astronauts
• Extraterrestrial life in popular culture
• Prehistoric life in popular culture

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