Ancient Alien Alternative History
Jaimie Gunderson interprets Ancient Astronaut theory differently than I do. I highly recommend you read her thoughtful article appearing in Theology and Science, “UFOs in Christian History: The Pleasure of Alternative Histories.” Now, let’s parse Gunderson’s take on the crucifixion of Jesus along with its ancient alien alternative history.
Ancient Alien Alternative History
I wrote the first edition of UFOs—God’s Chariots? in 1976 largely to critique and dismantle Eric von Däniken’s Chariots of the Gods? Von Däniken sold 70 million books. And now his Ancient Alien television series has been running nearly two decades. With a glass of wine in hand, my wife Karen and I watch Ancient Aliens with considerable regularity.
The problem with this ancient alien alternative history — I thought in 1976 and even now — is not merely that it purveys pseudo-archaeology. Rather, it is cheap propaganda. The distinctively theological problem is that this alternative history is attempting to replace the spiritual dimension of reality with a flat materialism. Extraterrestrial materialism, to be sure. But boring materialism just the same. By offering technological explanations for archaic religious symbols, the ancient alien alternative history de-spiritualizes all archaic religions, Christianity included.
In my take, I fold in two nuances. First, I fold in the religious sensibility of the beyond. Actually, it is the tension between the beyond and the intimate. What is beyond perception and beyond conception stirs the inner soul. The near infinity of outer space triggers within the human soul a sense of awe, wonder, divinity. What the ancient alien alternative history is capitalizing on is this powerful spiritual sensibility while reducing it to scientific and technological advance. Our spiritual sensibilities are invited to dine on the mysteries of unfathomable outer space and then served only a plate of rusty nails.
My second nuance is to note the implicit reverence the ancient alien alternative history gives to science and scientists. It is scientific genius that is responsible for the amazing achievements of our ancestors here on Earth, we are told. Terrestrials were too stupid to build pyramids. It took extraterrestrial science to make it happen.
At a more sublte level, a scientific soteriology lurks beneath ancient alien alternative history. We find this soteriology lurking also in astrobiology and ufology. Accordingly, science is salvific. If terrestrial scientists cannot save humanity from extinction from thermo-nuclear war or from ecological self-destruction, then perhaps those extraterrestrial scientists can. I’ve dubbed this the ETI Myth. According to this myth, science is our savior. Salvation comes from earthly science. Or, if that fails, then from heavenly science.
What I find fascinating about Jaime Gunderson is that she offers an alternative to my explanation that is new to me. She hypothesizes that the 5 decade history of von Däniken’s de-spiritualizing of religion can be explained this way: the ancient astronaut alternative history gives humans epistemological pleasure. Didja get that? Epistemological pleasure? What is that all about?
Were Alien Spacecraft Present at Jesus’ Crucifixion?
Jaimie Gunderson, a religious studies professor at George Mason University, opens her sophisticated article with an analysis of an eleventh century fresco of the crucifixion of Jesus from the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta, Georgia. Do you see the two flying saucers hovering? Were aliens observing this historic event?
Within the orbit of ancient alien alternative history, Sean Martin suggests that aliens in spacecraft are watching this momentous event. “In the top left and right corners are what appear to be flying crafts or some form of advanced technology which humans clearly would not have had 2000 years ago.”
At this point I’d like to shout the word, “Stupnagel!” But, I will refrain. Pretend you did not read it. Instead, let’s say soberly: what this alternative history calls “flying crafts” are the sun and the moon in the stylized form common to iconography during this era. The era of this icon is a thousand years after the crucifixiion of Jesus. In short, this icon provides no evidence that space aliens were watching Jesus die.
One need not be percipient to see how this ancient alien alternative history is a kind of pseudo-history. Such pseudo-history prompts apoplexy in scholars, art historians, and theologians.
Ancient Alien Alternative History gives us Epistemological Pleasure
Could there be any value at all to the ancient alien hypothesis? No. None. The level of stupidity here rivals that of Chicken Little who cried out, “the sky is falling.”
What, then, could explain the popularity of the Ancient Alien television series along with social media platforms and book sales? Epistemological “pleasure” is the answer offered by Jaime Gunderson.
Pleasure is anchored in the narrative’s potential—an orientation that something is coming together or that something is in motion….It doesn’t matter if the narrative is historically “authentic” or “inauthentic” (“right” or “wrong”); rather, it’s that the alternative epistemology offers a click that other epistemologies do not (Gunderson 2024, 73).
In short, it’s the feeling you and I get when hearing the “could it be aliens?” question that gives epistemological pleasure. Just as a great idea seems like a bright light bulb glowing in one’s brain, so also the ancient alien alternative history gives us the feeling that a new truth might be dawning.
The way knowledge feels is important. If we move beyond the normative binary of vociferous denial or enthusiastic embrace, we can ask more interesting and complex questions of UFO narratives and the knowledge-making processes that sustain them (Gunderson 2024, 76).
Conclusion
I recommend that you go to Theology and Science to read Jaimie Gunderson’s thought-provoking article. See if it gives you epistemological pleasure.
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Ted Peters directs traffic at the intersection of science, religion, and ethics. Peters is an emeritus professor at the Graduate Theological Union, where he co-edits the journal, Theology and Science, with Robert John Russell on behalf of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, in Berkeley, California, USA. Along with Martinez Hewlett, Joshua Moritz, and Robert John Russell, he co-edited, Astrotheology: Science and Theology Meet Extraterrestrial Intelligence (2018). Along with Octavio Chon Torres, Joseph Seckbach, and Russell Gordon, he co-edited, Astrobiology: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy (Scrivener 2021). Along with Arvin Gouw and Brian Patrick Green, he co-edited Religious Transhumanism and Its Critics (Lexington 2022).
Ted is former Louisiana State Director of MUFON investigations. He is also author of UFOs: God’s Chariots? Spirituality, Ancient Aliens, and Religious Yearnings in the Age of Extraterrestrials (Career Press New Page Books, 2014). See his website: TedsTimelyTake.com.
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References
Däniken, Eric von. 1972. Chariots of the Gods? 1st. New York: Bantam.
Gunderson, Jaimie. 2024. “UFOs in Christian History: The Pleasures of Alternative Histories.” Theology and Science 22:1 66-79; https://doi.org/10.1080/14746700.2023.2292927.
Peters, Ted. 2014. UFOs–God’s Chariots? Spiritualiy, Ancient Aliens, and Religious Yearnings in the Age of Extraterrestrials. 2nd. Pompton Plains NJ: New Page Books.
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