9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Narrator: "Ancient Aliens" is an American 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 television series which premiered on April 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 20th, 2010 on the History Channel. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The program presents the so-called 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "ancient astronaut" theory which is 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the idea that extraterrestrials 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 visited the Earth in the ancient past 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and that historical texts, archaeological 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 records, and various legends contain 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 evidence of this contact. I used to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 believe that the ancient astronaut theory 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 was true. I spent years learning about it 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 from the popular authors, from video 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 presentations and radio shows. I was an 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 enthusiastic promoter of this idea to my 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 friends and family. Although I no longer 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 feel that way, I want you to know that I 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 have no personal reasons to reject 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this theory. My current worldview could 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 easily accommodate the existence 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of extraterrestrials. I hope you will come 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 away from this film, even if you disagree 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with it, saying that I fairly reviewed the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 claims of "Ancient Aliens" without bias 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and with respect. I hope to show you that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this is not a matter of "Ancient Aliens" 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 getting a few details wrong here and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 there, and their main premise remaining 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 true. That is not an option in my opinion. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I hope to demonstrate to you, that they 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 are wrong not on some, but on every single 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 point where they assert an ancient 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 astronaut theory to explain evidence and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that often, they are using deceptive means 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to do this and sometimes even fabricating 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 evidence to make their points, as we will 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 see. I would also like the viewer to know 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that unlike many skeptics of the ancient 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 astronaut theory, I actually concede that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 something out of the ordinary could have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 occurred in the ancient past, and that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 there are certain consistent themes in 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 ancient mythologies and the like that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 require good explanations, but I think 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that you will quickly see that the ancient 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 astronaut theories do not explain this 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 evidence. You will notice a number that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 appears periodically on the bottom right- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 hand corner of the screen throughout this 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 film. This number will appear when I am 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 making a claim that requires a reference 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in order to back it up, and it will 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 correspond to a number on the companion 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 website, AncientAliensDebunked.com. This 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 film is divided into three main sections, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and each topic can be viewed independently 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 at the website, if you choose. I will 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 occasionally be joined by commentary from 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Dr. Michael Heiser, one of the few actual 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 scholars who has been willing to interact 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with the ancient astronaut theory. Dr. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Heiser has been one of the most articulate 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 proponents of the skeptical viewpoint of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this theory, and has written papers and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 books, as well as almost a dozen websites 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 on the issues we will be covering in this 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 film. We are happy to have him as part of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this film, and we are happy to have you, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the viewer, here as well. I encourage you 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to have an open mind, and enjoy the film. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Brien Foerster: Pumapunku is so unique, in 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the way that it was constructed and shaped 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and positioned, that it is the most 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 intriguing ancient site on the planet. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Giorgio Tsoukalos: While the pyramids at 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Giza are incredible feat of achievement, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 compared to Pumapunku, the pyramids are 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 childplay. In my opinion, the most 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 significant piece of evidence that we have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in this entire ancient astronaut puzzle, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is Pumapunku in the highland of Bolivia. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Narrator: Well, if Pumapunku is considered 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 such good evidence for the ancient 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 astronaut theory, we should probably 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 start off by looking at it. After all, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it's the one that they say was built 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 directly by extraterrestrials. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tsoukalos: Pumapunku is the only site on 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 planet Earth that, in my opinion, was 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 built directly by extraterrestrials. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Narrator: "Ancient Aliens" starts off with 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the false dilemma, by making people think 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that it was absolutely impossible for 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 ancient people to construct Pumapunku, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 even to the point of making outright false 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 claims. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tsoukalos: One of the most intriguing 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 things there is that the stones that were 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 used there aren't sandstone. They are 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 granite and diorite. The only stone that's 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 harder than diorite is diamond so the only 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 way that this could have been achieved is 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 if the tools were tipped with diamonds. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Narrator: This is funny because it's totally 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 wrong. The stones are not granite or 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 diorite at Pumapunku. They are red 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 sandstone and andesite. But this is also 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 funny because of the way that he says it. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tsoukalos: The stones that were used there 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 aren't sandstone. They are granite and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 diorite. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Narrator: Well, actually it is sandstone. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 You can't blame him, though. It becomes 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 obvious that throughout the series, he 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 often just repeats things he's heard in 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Erich von Däniken's books. Von Däniken's 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 books are what the Ancient Aliens series 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is based on. Later, we see Erich von 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Däniken himself make the exact same 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 totally wrong claim. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Erich von Däniken: Of course made of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 stones found on Earth because you don't 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 transport granite or diorite from another 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 solar system. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Narrator: Von Däniken continues building 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 up this false dilemma. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Däniken: One of these platforms is 800 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 tons. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Narrator: This is very incorrect. The 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 heaviest block at Pumapunku is 130 tons 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and most of the stones are much smaller 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 than that so he's off by a whopping 670 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 tons! Unfortunately, we will come to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 expect this kind of thing from von Däniken 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 as we progress. "Ancient Aliens" spends 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 quite a lot of time pointing out the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 various features in the stonemasonry at 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Pumapunku and then declaring it impossible 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to do without power tools. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 David Hatcher Childress: Each of these 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 small drill holes are basically evenly 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 spaced along this routered groove. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 To me it's clear power tools have been 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 used on this unusual block of stone here. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Foerster: Well exactly. This surface is as 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 smooth as a table top, like in your 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 kitchen. There's no wave to it or 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 anything. This was machined. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Narrator: The sandstone and andesite 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 stones at Pumapunku would have been easily 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 worked with the most basis stoneworking 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 tools. The idea that diamond-tipped power 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 saws were needed is ridiculous. The red 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 sandstone was relatively soft and easy to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 work with and even though andesite is 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 pretty hard, because of the way it cooled, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it could easily be flaked-off using stones 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 as soft as 5.5 on the Mohs scale. Such 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 pounding stones where found all over the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 andesite quarries in the area. Contrary to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "Ancient Aliens" claims that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 archaeologists are baffled by Pumapunku, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 archaeologists know the basics about how 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Pumapunku's stones were cut and shaped. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 This is partly because there is evidence 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for this all over the site itself. They 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 actually used a method that almost all 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 ancient stoneworkers used. They used hard 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 pounding stones to pound-out troughs-like 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 depressions. Later on, they used flat 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 stones and sand to grind the stone to make 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a polished surface. We will see later on 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that this also how the Egyptians thousands 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of years before this made their flat 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 surfaced granite monuments like obelisks. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Sand, as we will see later when we look at 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Egypt, has extremely hard particles in it 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and if placed between a flat surface and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a rock, can polish even the hardest stones 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 known to man. In fact, the harder the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 stone is, the better it can be polished 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 using sand. We will also see how sand can 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 turn a piece of copper into a very 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 efficient granite saw or granite drill, a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 method which the Egyptians utilized quite 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 well. Some stones as Pumapunku that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "Ancient Aliens" would never show the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 cameras are the ones that are in the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 middle of this process. They show that at 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 same time a stone was being pounded with 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 stone hammers, which created these trough- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 like depressions, the grinding and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 polishing was taking place on the other 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 end of the stone. Unfinished stones like 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this one clearly show how they were shaped 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and it wasn't with lasers. There is also 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 unmistakable evidence of stone hammers 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 having been used in places that were never 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 meant to be visible, like where certain 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 stones would be connected with one another 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And because of that, it's hard for me to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 believe Erich von Däniken in this next 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 clip because it would mean that the alien 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 toolbox had a laser gun right next to a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 stone hammer. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Däniken: Extraterrestrials arrive, the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 spaceship stands in orbit. Only a smaller 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 space vehicle comes down like a space 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 shuttle. So, just to protect the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 instruments, they make overnight, with 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 their technology, what we call a "base 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 camp." Of course made out of stones found 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 on Earth, because you don't transport 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 granite or diorite from another solar 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 system. And then they disappeared, but the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 wall of their base camp is still there. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Narrator: It is true that stone tools 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 would not be enough to construct Pumapunku 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 especially for some of the finer points. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 For that, they would need metal chisels 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and the equivalent of a carpenter's square 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Entire studies have been done detailing 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 how these cuts were made, and nothing 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 spectacular is required except some metal 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 tools like chisels. The arguments against 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this are usually either that a particular 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 culture did not yet know how to cast 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 metals, or that copper chisels would have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 been too weak. On the first point, we know 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that the pre-Incan Andean culture was very 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 skilled at fashioning metals and creating 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 metal alloys. In fact, the people who 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 built Pumapunku were even pouring copper 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 alloys into molds right on site, showing 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that they had more than enough capability 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to form all kinds of metal tools. But the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 question is, what about the tools' 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 strength? Well, even if they were pouring 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 pure copper into a mold, it would still 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 work, but it would need sharpening often. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But because archaeologists actually found 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a few of these metal cramps used by them 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 on site, we now know they were using a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 very strong copper-arsenic-nickel alloy, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 which made a much stronger final product. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Arsenic acts as a deoxidant, preventing 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the metal from becoming too brittle, and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 nickel was used in copper alloys, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 specifically to make strong chisels. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Once you understand that they had the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 ability to make strong metal tools in a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 huge variety of shapes, there is no part 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of Pumapunku's stonework that would have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 been too difficult for them. Well, what 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 about these 90 degree right angles that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "Ancient Aliens" makes so much about? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Childress: One of the amazing things here 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 at Pumapunku is the precision of the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 blocks. You can see with this block of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 granite, that it's really been cut at very 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 accurate right angles. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Narrator: To make flat surfaces with right 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 angles, you don't need alien technology. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 You only need a square or a simple 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 equivalent. It's important to keep in mind 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that Pumapunku would have been built 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 thousands of years after the Egyptians, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who had all kinds of squares and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 plumb-bobs and levels and so on. It's a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 pretty basic stoneworking tool. That being 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 said, despite what "Ancient Aliens" says, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Pumapunku is not all perfect right angles. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 You can even see this, ironically enough, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 as the "Ancient Aliens" crew goes around 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with carpenter's squares. You can see that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 some of them are simply not square. Also, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they make claims like "all the H-blocks 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 are the same dimensions," which they say 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 suggests that they were made by a big 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 machine. But not only would that not be 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the only conclusion if it were true. It's 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 not even true. The dimensions of the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 H-blocks are not all the same, though they 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 are close. It's probably the case that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they were made using the same plans. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Speaking of plans, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tsoukalos: Mainstream archaeologists say 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that Pumapunku was built by the Aymara 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Indians, and we would all have to agree 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that in order to build something like 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Pumapunku, you need writing, you need 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 planning, and you need some sort of a idea 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 where which piece goes and how it 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 ultimately all fits together. But there is 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 one thing that all the mainstream 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 archaeologists agree upon, that the Aymara 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 didn't have any writing. So how is it 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 possible that they built all of this 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 without plans? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Narrator: The builders of Pumapunku may 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 not have had an alphabet, but they did use 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the common iconography or artwork of their 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 culture called "Yaya-Mama." All the icons 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 on the site are Yaya-Mama, not secret 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 alien code, and this is but one of the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 many indications of the culture and time 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that it was built. But my point is, that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 like many cultures, they used pictures 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 instead of an alphabet and most building 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 plans are done through pictures like 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 blueprints, for example. So saying that no 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 alphabet means no planning is pretty 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 ridiculous in my opinion. Well, what about 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 moving the stones and lifting them into 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 place? Surely that would have required 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 levitation. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Childress: How these massive blocks of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 granite were moved from their quarries 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and brought here to Pumapunku would have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 required some kind of super technology: 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 levitation and anti-gravity, huge lifting 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 vehicles, something that ancient aliens 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 would have had. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Narrator: If they did know how to levitate 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 these stones, then they put far too much 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 effort into creating places in the stones 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to attach ropes to. Many stones at 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Pumapunku have grooves several 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 centimeters in width and depth on two 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 adjacent faces for holding ropes. They 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 even had special places cut into the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 stones that Pumapunku scholars call 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "hoisting grips," all very strange things 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to do if they could simply levitate these 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 blocks. And to make matters worse for the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 ancient astronaut theory here, according 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to archaeologist Jean-Pierre Protzen, who 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is an expert on Pumapunku, there is almost 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 no stone at the Pumapunku site that does 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 not have what he calls "drag marks" on 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 one of its faces where it has been, well, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 dragged to the site. "Ancient Aliens" 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 throws up another false dilemma here. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tsoukalos: What nobody talks about here 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is the irrefutable fact that we are at an 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 altitude of 12,800 feet which means we are 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 above the natural tree line. No trees ever 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 grew in that area, meaning no trees were 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 cut down in order to use wooden rollers. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The wooden roller theory falls by the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 wayside. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Narrator: This is like saying that there 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is not way the Egyptians used wood because 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 trees didn't grow in Egypt, which is true. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The difference is is that while the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Egyptians had to import wood from places 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 like Lebanon, it would have been far 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 easier for those at Pumapunku to solve 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this problem. All they would have had to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 do is simply walk down the hill a little 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 bit. OK, well what about this claim: 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tsoukalos: Logic does not exist at 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Pumapunku because there, we have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 megalithic structures which just lie about 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this entire site as if ripped apart by 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 some sort of a great force. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Narrator: I propose that logic still 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 exists at Pumapunku and that the scattered 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 state of the complex can easily be 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 explained. Quoting from archaeologist 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Alexei Vranich "the high quality of the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 stones made it attractive building 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 material for houses, churches, plazas, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 bridges, even railways." In other words, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the stones were pulled down and hauled off 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 by locals for building material. In fact, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we have the 400 year old writings of a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 visitor to Pumapunku who said that the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 looting was in full swing even back then. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He wrote that if the site was closer to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 town, he didn't think that there would 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 have been any stones left at all. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "Ancient Aliens" says that Pumapunku is 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 17,000 years old. This is what Vranich 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 said of this claim: "The idea that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tiwanaku is 14,000 years old is based on 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a rather faulty study done in 1926. Since 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 then, there has been a huge quantity of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 work both on the archaeology and geology 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of the area and all data indicates that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tiwanaku existed from around A.D. 300 to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 500." For more information on the faulty 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 study he is referring to here, I will 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 quote at length from Jason Colavito, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who has been debunking ancient astronaut 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 theories for years in his books and blogs. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He said the following about this claim: 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "Tiwanaku is not 17,000 years old. This 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 date derives from the work of Arthur 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Posnansky, who tried to apply 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 archaeolastronomy to the site but did so 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in ways that modern scholars do not 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 recognize as legitimate. Posnansky 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 proposed a date of 15,000 B.P. (before 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 present, i.e. 13,000 BCE), which the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 geniuses on "Ancient Aliens" misread as 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 15,000 BCE, adding an extra 2,000 years 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 onto Posnansky's already flawed dates. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Here's what he did wrong. Posnansky 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 assumed that the Kalasasaya temple at 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tiwanaku was laid out with perfect 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 accuracy to align to the equinoxes and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 solstices that he felt (but could not 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 prove) were important to the Tiwanaku 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 people. Thus, on a certain day the sun was 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 supposed to rise above one rock at the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 temple and set behind another. (Ah, but 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 which rock should we choose?) Since the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 current ruins do not align with these 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 celestial events accurately, he concluded 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that the ruins must have been built at a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 time when they would have aligned with 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that event. Since the sun and sky change 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 positions at a predictable rate due to the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 gradual changes in the angle of the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Earth's axis, he concluded that the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Kalasasaya temple was built in 13,000 BCE 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 as a solar observatory, despite no other 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 evidence of solar astronomy at the site. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The long and the short of it is that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Posnansky assumed celestial alignments and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 assumed flawless construction and then 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 used his assumptions to "prove" that his 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 assumptions were correct." Colavito also 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 has this picture of the site with the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 caption, "Pick a rock, any rock. One of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 them must align with something." This 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 site has been dated using a huge variety 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of methods, things like carbon dating, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the type of metals they used, the debris 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 found in certain places, the type of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 iconography they used. Literally every 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 kind of dating method applied comes to the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 same conclusion. It was constructed in the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 early Middle Ages. Before we conclude this 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 section on Pumapunku, there are two other 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 claims I wanted to address. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Däniken: The Spanish conqueror asked the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Inca, the people living there, including 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the king of the Inca, 'What is this 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Pumapunku?' And they all said 'It's not 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 us. Its not our forefather who make this. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 This were made by the gods in one single 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 night.' Usually a king is proud about 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 what his people did, about the precision 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and so on. In that case, the chief of the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 people said 'No, it was not us. It was 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the gods who made it.' 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Narrator: If you understand a little about 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the Incan imperial system and religion, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you will understand why the Incans didn't 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 claim the site, and even why they claimed 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that it had a supernatural origin. Part 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of the Incan state religion was that the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Incan empire was the first civilization 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and it was created by God Himself. It was 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a very convenient idea for bolstering the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Incan case for the right to rule everyone 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 else. When the Incans arrived at 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Pumapunku, the site had already been 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 abandoned for at least a hundred years. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Admitting that there was a pre-Incan 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 culture at all, let alone one with more 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 skill than them, would have been 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 detrimental to the whole scheme. So they 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 slightly modified their already existing 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 mythology to include Pumapunku. So instead 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of Viracocha creating the Incan capital, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 he also created Pumapunku. And just like 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that, the Incans were still the oldest and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 greatest civilization, even though 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 everyone probably knew it wasn't true. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And finally, "Ancient Aliens" says the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 following about what the ancient local 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 people believed regarding who constructed 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Pumapunku: 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "Ancient Aliens" Narrator: Local legends 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 suggest that Tiwanaku was built as a site 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of religious pilgrimage to celebrate the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 arrival of sky gods. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Narrator: But this is a total lie. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Viracocha came from the sea, not from the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 sky. This is a very sneaky move by 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "Ancient Aliens" in my opinion. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So in conclusion, the stones are not made 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of granite and diorite, the stones were 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 easily workable with the tools available 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to the Andean culture, tools which we 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 know included high-quality metal alloy 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 chisels. These tools would have been more 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 than sufficient to make the angles seen at 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Pumapunku. The faces of the rocks have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 been finished using a polishing technique 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 after being rough cut using stone hammers 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 evidenced by the unfinished stones and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 hidden areas of the finished stones. The 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 moving of the stones was not as difficult 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 as "Ancient Aliens" makes it seem, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 especially when you take into account that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they are telling people that the stones 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 weigh 600 tons more that they actually do. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The stones have telltale drag marks and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 hoisting holes for ropes, all showing that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they were not levitated as "Ancient Aliens 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 would have us believe. We know the culture 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 which built this monument and all the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 iconography and sculptures are consistent 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with that culture. And the various methods 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of dating that scientists use all point 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to the same time period. The idea that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Pumapunku was from Atlantean times we 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 now know is based on a very transparently 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 flawed presupposition. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 AA Narrator: Perhaps the most familiar 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and most mysterious megalithic structure 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in all the world is the Great Pyramid of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Giza. The enormous size and weight of the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 stones, multiplied by the sheer number of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 them, makes one thing certain: the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 construction of the Great Pyramid remains 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 one of the greatest marvels and mysteries 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of architectural engineering. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Narrator: The Pyramids at Giza are marvels 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of engineering, and there are many 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 theories about how they were constructed, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 from the mundane to the fantastic. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 George Noory: There are all kinds of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 theories on how the Great Pyramid of Giza 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 was built. So many theories, you just sit 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 back and shake your head. And that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 includes E.T. visitations, levitating the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 blocks with some kind of sound system. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Narrator: One place we can learn a lot 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 about Egyptian stone cutting methods is 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 from the so-called "unfinished obelisk." 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Here we have a 1,000 ton obelisk made of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 granite, which was abandoned midway 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 through the project because of a crack 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that developed. This stone, because it is 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 unfinished, gives us direct insight into 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 how they cut and shaped granite, as well 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 as other stones. On the sides we can see 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 how these stones were separated from the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 quarry. A team of workers would line up 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 side-by-side and pound their sections 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with a diorite pounding stone. Such 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 pounding stones can be found all over this 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and other quarries in Egypt. This pounding 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 only broke off millimeters of granite at a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 time, but eventually these trough-like 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 sections emerged at each worker's station. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 After that, they would do the same thing 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 on the bottom of the block, until it was 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 supported only by a thin spine in the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 middle. Then it would be snapped off using 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 levers. The people who created the Moai 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 statues at Easter Island used very similar 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 methods for quarrying stone, as did many 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 other groups around the world, as we will 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 see. After the stones had been roughly 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 shaped using pounding stones, they would 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 then begin to polish them with grinders. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There have been many types of stone 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 grinders or polishers found in ancient 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Egypt. They usually had a handle with a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 flat surface, which they would use to rub 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 against the stone with sand as the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 abrasive. They were, well, sanding the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 stone. The various mineral particles found 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in sand are hard enough not only to polish 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 hard stones like granite, but also to do 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 what "Ancient Aliens" tries to make people 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 think is utterly impossible. That is, to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 cut granite. The Egyptians had a variety 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of ways to cut granite, mostly involving 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 copper and sand. There are plenty of saw 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 marks on granite stones in Egypt. At the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 granite quarries, of course, as well as 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 certain notable ones like the famous 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 granite sarcophagus in the Great Pyramid. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The person who is doing the sawing on the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 sarcophagus sawed for a while at the wrong 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 angle before realizing his mistake and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 going in the right direction, which left 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a pretty big mark for us to study. These 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 copper saws came in three basic styles. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 One was a two-person saw, like an old-time 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 lumber saw. Another type was a small hand- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 held saw with a wooden handle. And finally 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 there was a tubular saw for making holes 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in granite and other stones. These saws 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 are depicted in several Egyptian reliefs. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Interestingly, they didn't require saw 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 teeth to work. They only required sand to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 be placed between the saw and the stones. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The sand was what did the cutting. This 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 particular method of stone cutting has 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 been tested by ancient Egyptian tool 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 experts, and not only was it done, but it 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 was apparently quite easy to do. However, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 sawing granite with copper was expensive 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 because the copper would wear out somewhat 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 quickly. Therefore, you mostly see granite 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in ancient Egypt being worked with 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 pounding stones, finished with grinders 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and chisels. The saw work was reserved 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 primarily for royal projects like that of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the sarcophagus. All of this really makes 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "Ancient Aliens" lose credibility because 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 all throughout the series, they make it 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 sound like working with granite was only 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 possible using diamond-tipped alien power 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 tools. But, as all this related to the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Great Pyramid's construction, it's 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 important to remember that almost none of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the pyramid is made from granite, except 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for a few things like the roof supports 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for the King's Chamber. Most of the stone 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 was sandstone and limestone. About 85% 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of the stone used in the construction of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the pyramids was relatively soft sandstone 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 which was quarried right on site. That's 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 right, the Great Pyramid was built right 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in the middle of a massive sandstone 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 quarry, which was no doubt at least one 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 factor in choosing the location to build 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it. The other 15% of the stones, like that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of limestone and granite, would have to be 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 brought in from a slightly further away 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 location. So, this raises another question 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 What about moving these stones? Surely, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the only way is by levitation, as "Ancient 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Aliens" claims. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Childress: In order to really move massive 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 amounts of stone like that, they would 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 have had to been levitated. Somehow made 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 weightless and then just moved through the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 air by some kind of device, perhaps even a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 hand-held kind of device, like some beam 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 weapon. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Narrator: If levitation was the way that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the ancient Egyptians moved stones, they 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 had a funny way of showing it because 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 there are plenty of depictions of them 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 using wooden sleds to move everything from 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 blocks the size and shape of the ones used 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for the pyramid, to massive 1,000 ton 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 monuments and obelisks, all using wooden 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 sleds. They even had a hieroglyph for the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 word "sled," which they used often. In 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 fact, three such sleds have been found 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 intact by archaeologists and they have all 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 kinds of places to attach ropes to. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Speaking of ropes, ropes made out of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 papyrus and other materials have been 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 found in Egypt, some of them with a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 massive circumference, suggesting they 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 were used for extremely heavy objects. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Boats were used for stones that needed 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to be imported. In fact, a channel was 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 dug from the Nile to the construction site 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 so no stone had to be dragged very far 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 anyway. So, what about the construction 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of the pyramids, how exactly was it done? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Part of the reason the "Ancient Aliens" 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 perspective is attractive is because some 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of the other popular theories concerning 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the pyramid's construction have problems, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 such as the single ramp theory, which 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 would have had to extend out more than a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 mile and would have had to have more 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 stones in it than the pyramid itself. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Another one is the spiral ramp theory. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 This one is problematic because some of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the ledges only had about 2 feet or less 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to work with, certainly not enough to hold 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a ledge that would carry workers and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 stones the size of the ones used. Also, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a structure like the pyramid would have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 had to have been constantly monitored for 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 geometric accuracy as it progressed 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 upwards, because being even a few inches 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 off on a lower level could cause the top 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to be off by a huge amount, and a spiral 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 ramp would have made it impossible to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 survey the geometric accuracy of the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 pyramid as it progressed. Add to this that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 there is no actual evidence for either of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 those theories, and you can see why people 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 are looking for alternative. While doing 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 research for this documentary, I came 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 across a new theory about the pyramid's 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 construction that I had not heard before. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 At first I planned to mention it only 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 briefly, but the more I heard of this 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 theory, the more convinced I became of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 its validity. It was proposed not by an 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Egyptologist, but by an eccentric French 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 architect named Jean-Pierre Houdin, and if 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Jean-Pierre is correct, knowing how the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 blocks were raised in the pyramid also 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 happens to explain some of the other 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 mysteries, like the purpose for the odd 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 shaped Grand Gallery, as well as the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 purpose of the granite blocks above the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 King's Chamber, and why there were 3 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 burial chambers cut at different levels 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in the pyramid, 2 of which were unused. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I will very briefly explain this theory 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but I highly encourage you to visit the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 links at the website on your screen 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 because the specifics of this theory are 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 something that any pyramid enthusiast 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 should be very familiar with, in my 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 opinion. The basic idea is that there was 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 an internal ramp in the Great Pyramid and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 workers dragged the blocks through it 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 until they reached the corners, at which 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 point the the block was repositioned for 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 another team to pull it up the next ramp. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Also, the exterior limestone blocks with 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the polished finish would have been 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 positioned and aligned first to ensure 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 geometric accuracy and then the sandstone 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 blocks would have been positioned behind 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 them as filler. This would mean that all 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the internal chambers like the Queen and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 King's Chamber were built as the pyramid 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 progressed upward in the light of day. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 This internal ramp theory, unlike some of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the others, is actually supported quite a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 lot of physical evidence. For example, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in the 1980's, a French team looking for 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 hidden chambers conducted a full-scale 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 gravimetric survey of the Great Pyramid, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 kind of like a giant x-ray map of the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 entire pyramid. They actually found 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 evidence of this internal ramp through 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 their study, but they had no idea what to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 think of the spiral pattern they saw at 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the time, so they