Our planet hosts spectacular remains of the past, works that seem to challenge the technological skills of their time because they are too large, too heavy or too complex.
For this reason, there are those who hypothesize that those who built the Egyptian pyramids, traced the lines of Nazca and made other similar works, were following an extraterrestrial instruction manual. Could the hands that have shaped these places really weren’t of this world?
Of course, it can be fun to wonder if aliens ever made it to Earth. After all, we humans are on the verge of getting where we didn’t think was possible, like on Mars for example. But the truth is, we have no proof that the aliens were here. And to go in search of a supernatural explanation for some of the most impressive human exploits means not dwelling on the marvelous ways in which prehistoric civilizations managed to bring to life some of the greatest and most enigmatic works on Earth.
Sacsayhuamán
The ancient fortress of Sacsayhuamán, in stark contrast to the modernity of the buildings of Cuzco.
The Sacsayhuamán fortress is located in the Peruvian Andes, just outside the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco. Built with huge stone boulders carved and stuck like a puzzle, according to some it could be the work of an ancient civilization that would have built it with a little help from friends from outer space.
The walls of the fortress, all connected to each other, date back to a thousand years ago and were made with boulders that could weigh up to 360 tons each and that had to be transported for over 30 kilometers before being lifted and placed with millimeter precision.
How an ancient civilization could have accomplished such an engineering feat is a mystery. Apparently the Incas were not only experts in observing the sky and designing calendars, but also in the construction of houses and fortified complexes. So much so that Sacsayhuamán is not the only example of this complex construction: similar wall structures are found throughout the Inca Empire. In Cuzco, for example, there is a wall in which a stone with 12 corners has been perfectly embedded between the others.
Recently, archaeologists have uncovered traces of the pulley system that the Incas used to transport stones from quarries to cities, a method that certainly relied more on strength and ingenuity than on phantom alien architects.
The Nazca Lines
An airplane flies over an ancient geoglyph depicting a spider in the Peruvian desert.
In the Peruvian desert, on an arid plateau about 320 kilometers southeast of Lima, over 800 long, white and straight lines have been drawn, apparently without logic. But precisely with the union of these lines, 300 geometric figures and 70 drawings of animals are obtained, including a spider, a monkey and a hummingbird.
The longest line stretches for miles, straight as an arrow. The largest figures measure almost 370 meters and are clearly visible from above. Scientists speculate that Nazca’s drawings date back to about 2,000 years ago, and due to their size, visibility from above, and most importantly, their mysterious nature, they are often cited as one of the best examples of alien artifacts on Earth. If not, how could an ancient civilization have made drawings of this size in the middle of the desert without being able to fly? And why?
In reality, understanding how they were made is quite simple. The geoglyphs, this is the name of the mysterious drawings, were made by removing the surface layer of rust-colored pebbles from the ground, thus highlighting the white sand below.
Understanding why, on the other hand, is a little more complicated. When the first studies were conducted in the early 1900s, the designs were thought to be aligned with constellations or solstices. However, more recent studies hypothesize that the Nazca lines indicate the places where the rituals related to fertility and the cult of water took place. Furthermore, the figures are not only visible from the sky, but also from the top of the surrounding hills. A vision within human reach.
The Egyptian pyramids
The sun sets over the Giza necropolis on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt.
In the desert just outside Cairo, in Giza, the most famous pyramids of Egypt were built more than 4500 years ago. Monumental tombs, burial places of Egyptian pharaohs and queens: the Pyramids of Giza.
But how did the ancient Egyptians make these mammoth works? The Great Pyramid is made up of millions of stone blocks that weigh two tons each. Even with modern equipment, building a pyramid as large as that of Pharaoh Khufu would be an immense challenge.
Then there would be the astronomical configuration of the pyramids, which some say are aligned with the stars that form the Orion Belt. Furthermore, proponents of the alien theory point out that these three pyramids have been better preserved than others built centuries later (without, however, considering all the work done in recent centuries to preserve them).
So the Egyptian pyramids are the work of aliens? While it is true that scientists are not entirely sure how the ancient Egyptians built them – and especially how they managed to do it so quickly – there is solid evidence that these tombs are the result of the work of thousands of ” human hands “.
Stonehenge
The sky of Stonehenge streaked with pink and purple at dawn.
A huge circle of stones, some weighing around 50 tons, stands in the English countryside on the outskirts of Salisbury. Known as Stonehenge, the Neolithic monument prompted the Swiss writer Erich von Däniken to theorize a model of the solar system even used as a landing area by aliens. After all, how would huge boulders end up hundreds of miles away from their original quarry?
Nobody knows exactly why it was made. However, as with all other archaeological sites of this type, the explanation for Stonehenge is not in the aliens. Scientists have in fact shown that it is quite possible to build a similar structure using technologies of about 5000 years ago, the time to which the first constructions in this area date back.
And apparently, the stone boulders would be aligned with solstices and eclipses: even if they weren’t from space, the builders of Stonehenge had high regard for the subject.
Teotihuacán
Teotihuacán’s Pyramid of the Sun stands out against the cobalt sky of Mexico City.
Teotihuacán, which means “city of the gods”, is a large and ancient city in Mexico famous for its pyramid temples and astronomical alignments. Built more than 2,000 years ago, Teotihuacán may seem like an otherworldly city in its antiquity, complexity and size. In reality it is only the result of man’s work.
Scientists speculate that this city, which could accommodate over 100,000 people, was built over the centuries by a “mix of civilizations”, including the Maya, Zapotecs and Mixtecs. For its murals, tools, transportation systems, and evidence of cutting-edge agricultural practices, Teotihuacán is often considered to be far more technologically advanced than was possible in pre-Aztec Mexico.
Teotihuacán’s most famous building is the massive Pyramid of the Sun. One of the largest buildings of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, the structure has a curious orientation likely based on calendar cycles.
Easter Island
Moais stand out on the grassy hills of Easter Island, a Chilean territory in the southeastern Pacific.
The mystery surrounding the moai , the large monolithic statues of Easter Island, is similar to the others just described: how did the Rapa Nui manage to create these works more than 1000 years ago, and how did the moai arrive on Easter Island?
Carved out of stone, the nearly 900 human figures are scattered around the island on the flanks of extinct volcanoes. They have an average height of 4 meters, a weight of 14 tons and seem to have been carved into the soft volcanic tuff of the Rano Raraku quarry. Here there are still more than 400 statues, some unfinished and others ready to be transported to the place chosen to house them.
Why the moai were made is a mystery, although it is likely that the reasons are of religious or ritual origin. It is also not entirely clear what happened to the stonecutters of Rapa Nui: according to the most accredited theory, their civilization would have been wiped out by a natural disaster caused by themselves … which probably would not have happened if the ancient aliens had donated. their infinite wisdom to that civilization.
The Face on Mars
NASA’s Viking 1 spacecraft took this photograph of Mars in 1976. The play of shadows on the rock formation creates the illusion of the presence of a human face.
Spotted by the Viking 1 spacecraft in 1976, the so-called “Face on Mars” is approximately 3 kilometers long and is located in a region called Cydonia, which separates the smooth northern plains of the planet from the crater-strewn terrain in the south. While scientists in those days dismissed the issue of the face as a simple game of shadows, in the following decades it became the favorite example among those who argue that some particularly creative aliens visited the solar system.
In 2006, ESA (the European Space Agency), thanks to the spectacular images obtained with the Mars Express probe, confirmed what emerged from the previous analyzes: what seemed to be a face imprinted on the Martian surface, is nothing more than a game of lights and shadows due to the particular shooting perspective of the Viking 1.
