It might not seem like a big deal to believe that aliens helped build the pyramids, or that there was some lost advanced civilization wiped out by a cataclysm thousands of years ago, but under these miraculous claims lies a theoretical framework of anti-intellectualism and racism. Shows like Ancient Aliens and people like Graham Hancock present these ideas as “just asking questions,” or as alternatives to what they call “mainstream” archaeology. But these aren’t innocent theories. This kind of pseudoarchaeology pushes people to stop trusting scholars and scientists. It suggests that experts are lying, hiding the truth, or part of some conspiracy to control what we know. That kind of thinking doesn’t stay limited to history or archaeology, it spreads. When people start thinking that academics are untrustworthy or part of some elite agenda, it becomes easier to believe in other conspiracies, too. Pseudoarchaeology is often one of the first steps on a path toward more dangerous forms of anti-intellectualism. It’s important to understand how that happens, and why it matters.
Ancient Aliens first aired as a weekly television show on the History Channel in 2009. Classified as a docuseries, the show now airs on streaming platform Netflix, where the newly released twenty-first season is streaming now. The show discusses hundreds of theories about the ancient world, and the possibility of extraterrestrials’ involvement in shaping it. From the origins of gods associated with the sky, to the Easter Island Moai, and ancient people’s supposed misinterpretation of technology, Ancient Aliens makes claims about nearly every major archeological discovery and theory. Throughout this decade and a half of television Giorgio A. Tsoukalos has been the face of the show, speaking about nearly every featured theory.
A frequent guest on Ancient Aliens, Graham Hancock never claims to be an archeologist in his own Netflix show Ancient Apocalypse, instead referring to himself as a journalist set to uncover the hidden truths of “mainstream archeologists.”[1] His series hinges on the idea that there was an advanced, ancient civilization, capable of great feats of technology, sophisticated society and government and worldwide travel and trade, wiped out by a cataclysmic event. Hancock travels around the world visiting famous archeological sites, as well as a few suggested sites of mythical places like Atlantis, where his lost civilization may have resided.[2] He leaves out important evidence and alludes to mystery, even in the most studied fields of archeology and science. Hancock misleads his audience and misrepresents acknowledged facts and theories from the scientific and archeological communities – all while suggesting to the viewer that scientists and archeologists are hiding information about ancient civilizations and aliens from the public, and that he is singlehandedly bringing the truth to his viewers.
It is important to distinguish between independent researchers, those without formal credentials but who engage with scholarly discourse in good faith, and pseudoscientific figures who actively reject academic standards and deliberately undermine institutional knowledge. The former can make meaningful contributions and often approach inquiry with genuine curiosity. The latter, however, present themselves as persecuted visionaries, positioning the academic community as a monolithic, conspiratorial enemy. This distinction matters; criticism of pseudoarchaeologists is not a condemnation of lay research, but of the intentional erosion of public trust in expertise through disinformation and sensationalism. To challenge pseudoarchaeology is not to gatekeep knowledge, but to defend the integrity of the methods by which knowledge is responsibly produced and shared. Pseudoarchaeology functions as an entry point into conspiratorial thinking that undermines trust in scientific and academic institutions, with real-world political and social consequences.
Pseudoarcheologists make interpretations or claims about the human past that are presented as being based on archaeological evidence but do not follow accepted scientific or scholarly methods. These ideas often rely on sensationalism, ignore or distort real data, and reject peer review or critical scrutiny. Archeologists investigate past human life and societies by digging up historical sites and examining tools, structures, and other physical evidence left behind, use facts and findings to formulate their theories and hypotheses.[3] Understanding the differences between these two fields is integral for understanding how pseudoarcheological thinking works differently, and how it is able to draw others into conspiratorial thinking. Additionally, the differences in how pseudoarcheologists and archeologists communicate with the public are also key reasons for the success of pseudoarcheological conspiracy theories.
Ancient Aliens use many conspiratorial tactics. Chiefly, they omit and exaggerate facts. For example, in season twelve episode sixteen of the series they discuss one of the most compelling recent archeological discoveries: Göbekli Tepe. This site predates Mesopotemia by nearly five-thousand years, pushing back the advent of agriculture and suggesting a new cradle of civilization in modern day Türkiye.[4] The Ancient Alien “experts” correctly identify that there is no conclusive evidence as to what the site was used for, except that, according to German archeologist Klaus Schmidt, it was absolutely not a domestic dwelling.[5] Schmidt does argue that Göbekli Tepe is a ritual site and that temples and sites of worship predate villages and settlements.[6] However, other archeologists argue that there are signs of Göbekli Tepe being both a domestic dwelling and a highly symbolic site.[7]
There is overwhelming archaeological evidence to support both theories. The show sidesteps these debates and presents Göbekli Tepe as a great mystery, baffling “mainstream archeologists.” Additionally, the show fails to acknowledge that the discovery of Göbekli Tepe presents evidence that the society who built it did have sustainable agriculture and had moved past the hunter-gatherer stage of human development. Instead, it presents the audience with the idea that first, “primitive” hunter-gatherers were unable to build monolithic structures like Göbekli Tepe, and second, the site was instead built by the survivors of a lost and advanced civilization.[8] There is strong evidence for the cultivation of cereal grains around Göbekli Tepe, as well as plant food processing tools that suggest the people who built Göbekli Tepe were practicing agriculture and were not hunter-gatherers.[9]
Both Ancient Aliens and Graham Hancock’s Ancient Apocalypse imply that an advanced civilization was wiped out by a great cataclysmic flood during the end of the last Ice Age. Referred to by scientists as the Younger Dryas (a name derived from the Arctic flower Dryas octopetala, whose remains mark the cold snap in late‑glacial sediment[10]) both shows present this event as mysterious, intensely world‑changing, and ignored by scientists and archaeologists.However, according to a 2010 research study which synthesizes most research on the Younger Dryas and contextualizes it with current climatic events: “No event in the climate record has received more attention than the Younger Dryas.”[11] This climactic period is presented by psuedo-archeologists to have culminated in a catastrophic flood, wiping out civilizations and setting humanity back hundreds of years. Scientific studies report that about 11,500 years ago, the immense glacial lakes that massive continent spanning glaciers had been draining into poured into the oceans. This fresh cool water caused global temperatures to drop dramatically and global oceanic circulatory systems to slow or even stop. For most of this period sea levels were rising about 7 millimetres per year and at its peak, about 40 millimetres per year[12]. This is not enough of a change in sea levels to cause the kind of cataclysmic flood Hancock claims it did, and which his show’s hypothesis relies on heavily. While the world would have been going through turbulent weather patterns, and climatic changes during this period, to present this event as a great mystery, when in reality scientists have studied and scrutinized it heavily, and have immense amounts of data about the climatic shifts during that time, is misrepresenting scientific facts.
Hyperdiffusionism is a pseudoarchaeological theory that posits all major cultural innovations and societies originated from a single, usually lost, ancient civilization. Emerging in the early 20th century, Grafton Elliot Smith, among others,[13] were vocal advocates of this theory, attributing a wide array of cultural phenomena, from megalithic constructions to sun worship, with ancient Egypt posited as the epicenter of this cultural wave.[14] This is what Hancock picks up in his later work, and especially in Ancient Apocalypse. In fact, Hyperdiffusion has its roots in Eugenics, a highly racist study of “desirable” and “undesirable” human characteristics. The theory, and its proponents, make the assumption that ancient civilizations – particularly those in the Global South, such as the Inca or the Habesha in Ethiopia – could not have been as advanced as they were in architecture, governance and other fields, without being helped or given technology to make their accomplishments possible.[15]
These theories, and pseudoarcheology as a whole, come from a place of racism and ignorance, where people cannot imagine that those they see as “lesser” than themselves could be capable of sophisticated and advanced civilizations.[16] Eugenics led the first pseudoscientific and pseudoarcheological theories, [1] and as such left an impossible to remove imprint of racism on the fundamentals of pseudoarcheological thinking. Notably, the Nazi Party in Germany engaged in pseudoarcheology in the fabrication of the lost Aryan race, combining eugenics and anti-semitism with pseudoscience to create the story of a lost and once powerful race[17], a common theme in other pseudoarchaeological theories like Hancock’s Ancient Apocalypse. This is paramount when discussing and criticizing pseudoarcheology. It is not harmless; shows, social media accounts, and news sources which promote and share pseudoarcheological theories are participating in and endorsing racist ways of thinking. This way of thinking leads to broader conspiratorial worldviews.
Throughout Ancient Aliens, the producers, writers, and guests work to make the show look like a real history documentary. Robert Clotworthy is a prolific voice actor and narrates the show, adding a layer of authenticity to the audience’s experience; he has an authoritative voice that is usual to hear during any kind of History Channel show. There is a seductive simplicity of these explanations – pseudoarchaeology gives people a feeling of being “in the know.”[18] The show attempts to shape the viewer’s thought process and way of thinking, to become more open to the show’s proposed theories and question established archeological findings. Egyptian author Robert Bauval[19] comes on the show to make one of these priming statements: “I haven’t been convinced that there is evidence that supports an ancient visitation but there is no reason why not. And I think to shut oneself to that possibility is a mistake.”[20] While Bauval doesn’t fully endorse these theories, he approaches them with an open mind – much like a curious first-time viewer. However, a key distinction the audience will subconsciously register is that he’s being framed as an expert, someone with greater knowledge of archaeology and history[21]. Quotes like this one – and several others placed strategically in the first few episodes – are designed to prime the audience to accept increasingly outlandish claims.
Bauval has authored several books, most notably The Orion Mystery, which does not challenge any established archaeological theories, but posits a different approach to understanding ancient Egyptian religion. Similarly to his aforementioned quote, Bauval’s books and theories are at the entry level to pseudoscience and archaeology. As one Amazon review of The Orion Mystery states, Bauval “[provides] the reader with a very laid back, almost down-to-Earth kind of feel to the writing. There is no bombardment of scientific facts, instead sticking to simple and easy to follow explanations for his theory.”[22]
This reader’s experience clearly shows why and how people gravitate towards and become engrossed in pseudoarchaeology. These books and television shows frame archeologists as part of a closed, elitist cabal, which breeds distrust and fosters anti-intellectualism. Pseudoscience as defined by Fleming and Flaggin is aimed at the non-expert; it is not a criticism of popularization, which is by definition aimed at the non-expert. Popularization sets out to convey and make clear and understandable what is already a shared understanding with experts. Good popularization does not lack expertise. However, books by fantasists like Graham Hancock, proposing flying saucers and lost civilizations and of evidently dubious content, sell fast to the general public even though they are reviewed and rejected by specialists and the scientific community as a whole.[23]
It becomes a slippery slope when one begins thinking about the world, and science, in a conspiratorial and anti-intellectual way. It opens up the possibility that, if one set of intellectuals are lying, then the other could be as well. In this way, all conspiracies are connected. In Naomi Klein’s Dopplganger: A Trip into the Mirror World, she delineates the Mirror World as a warped place where conspiracies run rampant and unchecked. Klein discusses how unsupported conspiratorial claims are different from investigative journalism or research. While what she calls “responsible investigators” double and triple-check sources, and are transparent about uncertainties in their theories, conspiracy influencers practice a doppelganger of journalism, where they imitate common stylistic characteristics but sidestep accuracy.[24] This is the category that Graham Hancock falls into. Hancock’s and others’ simplistic theories about the past lend themselves to easy communication and understanding by the general public. The science community consistently lacks in its ability to easily convey new findings through dense research papers – those that include the double and triple-checking of sources that Klein cites as integral to responsible research. Whereas Ancient Aliens, an easily accessible Netflix show, meets the audience with layman’s terms. This is how people get sucked into conspiratorial thinking. Science can feel unwelcoming if one does not have the education required to understand the materials, which leads to frustration with oneself and the institution of academia. Pseudoscience and pseudoarcheology offer an appealing alternative, where the fault does not lie with the individual but with untrustworthy academics, who they claim try to hide the truth from the public.[25]
This growing sense of alienation from academic and scientific institutions is what makes pseudoarchaeology so effective as a recruitment tool. When people feel excluded or talked down to by experts, they become more willing to believe that those experts are hiding something. Pseudoarchaeologists position themselves as the approachable alternative: people who are “just asking questions” and offering knowledge that anyone can understand. But this approach doesn’t just simplify information; it flattens it, stripping away nuance and replacing it with certainty. That certainty feels good. It’s easier to believe in a grand secret than to wade through ambiguity and complex data. [2] And once someone accepts the idea that they’ve been lied to by historians, it’s not much of a leap to think they’ve been lied to by climate scientists, public health experts, or election officials. The jump from “aliens built the pyramids” to “vaccines are dangerous” is shorter than we like to admit, because the mechanism behind both beliefs is the same: distrust in expertise and a hunger for explanations that feel accessible, even if that information is incorrect.
Pseudoarchaeology is more than just speculative entertainment; it plays a significant role in shaping how people understand truth, knowledge, and authority. Figures like Graham Hancock and shows like Ancient Aliens present themselves as accessible alternatives to academic research, offering simplified, dramatic explanations that appeal to audiences who may feel alienated by the complexity and inaccessibility of traditional scholarship. When people feel excluded from academic spaces, either due to jargon, paywalled research, or institutional elitism, they are more likely to seek knowledge from sources that feel more relatable, even if those sources are misleading. Pseudoarchaeology capitalizes on that gap, promoting not only misinformation but also deep skepticism of academic and scientific institutions. This creates a gateway effect: once a person begins to distrust archaeologists or historians, it becomes easier to extend that distrust to scientists, doctors, and journalists. The consequences of this are not abstract. They manifest in vaccine skepticism, climate change denial, and support for conspiratorial political ideologies. To address the influence of pseudoarchaeology and disrupt the conspiracy pipeline it feeds into, science communication needs to be more effective and inclusive, and a renewed effort to make credible knowledge both accessible and trustworthy.
Eleanor Paterson is a recent graduate of Ithaca College, where she earned her B.A. in Sociology and History. Her research focuses on media, politics, and fringe knowledge communities, including pseudo‑archaeology and the digital cultures that sustain it.
Bibliography
Anderson, David S., and Jeb J. Card. Lost City, Found Pyramid: Understanding Alternative Archaeologies and Pseudoscientific Practices. 1st ed. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2016.
Atakuman, Ciğdem. “Architectural Discourse and Social Transformation During the Early Neolithic of Southeast Anatolia.” Journal of World Prehistory 27, no. 1 (2014): 1–42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10963-014-9070-4.
Banning, E. B. “So Fair a House: Göbekli Tepe and the Identification of Temples in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of the Near East.” Current Anthropology 52, no. 5 (2011): 619–60. https://doi.org/10.1086/661207.
Broecker, W. S., et al. “Putting the Younger Dryas Cold Event into Context.” Quaternary Science Reviews 29 (2010): 1078–1081. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.02.019.
Bruce Kennedy (Executive Producer). (2022). Ancient Apocalypse [Television Series]. United Kingdom: ITN Productions.
Eren, Metin I. Hunter-Gatherer Behavior: Human Response during the Younger Dryas. 1st ed. London: Routledge, 2016. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315427133.
Fagan, Garrett G. Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public. London: Routledge, 2006.
“Graham Hancock Official Website.” Accessed May 11, 2025. https://grahamhancock.com/.
Kevin Burns, Kim Sheerin, David Silver, Max Thompson (Executive Producers). (2018). Ancient Aliens [Television Series]. Los Angeles, CA: Prometheus Entertainment.
Laycock, Joseph. “Religious Aspects of Pseudoarchaeology.” Nova Religio 22, no. 4 (2019): 89–95. https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2019.22.4.89.
Mangerud, Jan. 2021. “The Discovery of the Younger Dryas, and Comments on the Current Meaning and Usage of the Term.” Boreas 50: 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12481.
Schein, Seth. “Pseudoarchaeology and Racism.” Sapiens, December 16, 2020. https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/pseudoarchaeology-racism/.
Smith, Craig B. How the Great Pyramid Was Built. Washington: Smithsonian Books, 2004.
Smith, Grafton Elliot. The Migrations of Early Culture: A Study of the Significance of the Geographical Distribution of the Practice of Mummification as Evidence of the Migrations of Peoples and the Spread of Certain Customs and Beliefs. Salt Lake City, UT: Project Gutenberg, n.d.
Strum, Philippa. When the Nazis Came to Skokie: Freedom for Speech We Hate. University Press of Kansas, 1999. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.10405486.
“Summary of SAA Concerns Regarding Ancient Apocalypse.” Society for American Archaeology. Accessed May 11, 2025. https://documents.saa.org/container/docs/default-source/doc-governmentaffairs/saa-letter-ancient-apocalypse.pdf.
Vandersluis, Rylan. ““I’m Just Asking Questions.” An analysis of White supremacist pseudo-archaeology.” PhD diss., University of Victoria, 2024.
References
[1] Graham Hancock holds a degree in sociology from Durham University. He has published several pseudoarcheology books including Fingerprints of the Gods (1995). Before 1990, his journalistic works dealt mainly with problems of economic and social development. Lords of Poverty: The Power, Prestige, And Corruption of the International Aid Business (1980) was based on his experience writing about international aid for The Economist, a paper for which he was the East Africa correspondent.
[2] Bruce Kennedy (Executive Producer). (2022). Ancient Apocalypse [Television Series]. United Kingdom: ITN Productions.
[3] Fagan, Garrett G. Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public. London ; Routledge, 2006.
[4] Banning, E. B. (2011). “So Fair a House: Göbekli Tepe and the Identification of Temples in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of the Near East”. Current Anthropology, 52(5), 619–660. https://doi.org/10.1086/661207
[5] Kevin Burns, Kim Sheerin, David Silver, Max Thompson (Executive Producers). (2017). Ancient Aliens [Television Series]. Los Angeles, CA: Prometheus Entertainment.
[6] Beile-Bohn, M., C. Gerber, M. Morsch, and K. Schmidt. 1998. “Neolithische Forschungen in Obermesopotamien: Gürcütepe und Göbekli Tepe.” Istanbuler Mitteilungen 48:5–78.
[7] Banning, E. B. (2011). “So Fair a House: Göbekli Tepe and the Identification of Temples in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of the Near East.” Current Anthropology 52(5), 619–660. https://doi.org/10.1086/661207
[8] Kevin Burns, Kim Sheerin, David Silver, Max Thompson (Executive Producers). (2017). Ancient Aliens [Television Series]. Los Angeles, CA: Prometheus Entertainment.
[9] Dietrich, L. (2021). Plant food processing tools at early Neolithic Göbekli Tepe. Archaeopress Publishing.
[10] Mangerud, Jan. 2021. “The Discovery of the Younger Dryas, and Comments on the Current Meaning and Usage of the Term.” Boreas 50: 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12481.
[11] W. S. Broecker et al. “Putting the Younger Dryas Cold Event into Context.” Quaternary Science Reviews, 29 (2010) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.02.019.
[12] Eren, Metin I. Hunter-Gatherer. Behavior : Human Response during the Younger Dryas. 1st ed. London: Routledge, 2016. doi:10.4324/9781315427133.
[13] An initial supporter of Hyperdiffusion and prolific author of works including Atlantis in Wisconsin: New Revelations About the Lost Sunken City, Frank Joseph Collin was a Midwest coordinator with the American Nazi Party, later known as the National Socialist White People’s Party. He was convicted of child molestation in 1979. (Strum, Philippa. When the Nazis Came to Skokie: Freedom for Speech We Hate. University Press of Kansas, 1999. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.10405486.)
[14] Smith, Grafton Elliot. The Migrations of Early Culture : A Study of the Significance of the Geographical Distribution of the Practice of Mummification as Evidence of the Migrations of Peoples and the Spread of Certain Customs and Beliefs. Salt Lake City, UT: Project Gutenberg, n.d.
[15] Bruce Kennedy (Executive Producer). (2022). Ancient Apocalypse [Television Series]. United Kingdom: ITN Productions.
[16] Fagan, Garrett G. Archaeological Fantasies : How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public. London: Routledge, 2006.
[17] Vandersluis, Rylan. ““I’m Just Asking Questions.” An analysis of White supremacist pseudo-archaeology.” PhD diss., University of Victoria, 2024.
[18] Anderson, David S, and Jeb J Card. Lost City, Found Pyramid : Understanding Alternative Archaeologies and Pseudoscientific Practices. 1st ed. (Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University Alabama Press, 2016.)
[19] Bauval has co-authored several books with Graham Hancock, and has supported Hyperdiffusionism amongst other pseudoarcheological theories in his works.
[20] Kevin Burns, Kim Sheerin, David Silver, Max Thompson (Executive Producers). (2018). Ancient Aliens [Television Series]. Los Angeles, CA: Prometheus Entertainment. (Ancient Aliens, Season 8, Episode 1, 7:37-7:58, Robert Bauval)
[21] Laycock, Joseph. “Religious Aspects of Pseudoarchaeology.” Nova Religio 22, no. 4 (2019): 89–95. doi:10.1525/nr.2019.22.4.89.
[22] Jason, review of The Orion Mystery: Unlocking the Secrets of the Pyramids, by Robert Bauval and Adrian Gilbert, Amazon, May 16, 2011, https://www.amazon.com/Orion-Mystery-Unlocking-Secrets-Pyramids/dp/0517884542.
[23] Fagan, Garrett G. Archaeological Fantasies : How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public. London: Routledge, 2006.
[24] Klein, Naomi. Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023.
[25] Anderson, David S, and Jeb J Card. Lost City, Found Pyramid : Understanding Alternative Archaeologies and Pseudoscientific Practices. 1st ed. (Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University Alabama Press, 2016.)