The Ancient Aliens program has presented evidence about the hypothesis that extraterrestrials visited Earth in ancient times. Chris White, ancient astronaut skeptic and director of Ancient Aliens Debunked, thinks otherwise. He joined Dave Schrader (email) to discuss evidence that such apparent anomalies as Puma Punku, the Pyramids, the Nazca lines, and the crystal skulls, all have earthly explanations. Puma Punku, a temple complex in the highlands of Bolivia, has been claimed to be built directly by ETs because it would be impossible for ancient humans to carve stones like granite. But the stones are actually red sandstone that can be carved with basic stone working tools, and making 90 degree angles was not an impossible task for the ancients, White argued.

The heaviest stone at Puma Punku is 131 tons and was definitely able to be moved by ropes-- no levitation necessary, he continued. Further, all the stones at the complex have "drag marks" –evidence of how they were moved, he added. The Baalbeck site in Lebanon, rather than an ancient ET landing pad, was rebuilt by the Romans, over a 200-year period and required huge stones for a massive retaining wall, similar to what was built in Jerusalem, said White, noting that the Romans had the technology for moving massive blocks, such as they'd done by transporting obelisks out of Egypt.

According to White, the idea that a group of the crystal skulls were made by ancient Mayans has never had any scientific validity, and the famed Mitchell Hedges skull was a scam. He also suggested that Byzantine crucifixion paintings that appear to show mysterious flying craft are actually depictions of the sun and the moon. Regarding the Nazca lines in Peru, he believes the huge ancient geoglyphs weren't required to be seen aerially, as they could be observed from foothills, and depictions like the so-called "astronaut" (seen above) was actually that of a fisherman.

The Haunted Idol

First hour guests, paranormal adventurers Greg Newkirk and Dana Matthews shared an update on a scary object they received from a male C2C listener. The object was found in a crawl space of a former house he lived in-- a strange African idol wrapped in a burlap sack and twine. When the man discovered the object, the family members began to have terrible nightmares about the statue and a "tiny man," and experiences of odd shadows and sounds in the house. Newkirk and Matthews, who run a Traveling Museum of the Paranormal and Occult, displayed the idol in their truck, and for the first time they had car trouble. Shortly afterward, Newkirk started having recurring nightmares about a "tiny man," though they eventually subsided after they wrapped the idol back up and put it in a chest.