NARRATOR:
Incredible strength. RICHARD RADER:
You had the creation of a superhuman that was
indestructible, invincible. NARRATOR:
Superior intelligence. MARK DICE: The ultimate goal
is to become an immortal god. NARRATOR:
And the ability to reproduce. DAVID WILCOCK:
You have a robotic consciousness that has become something
we would think of as a person. NARRATOR: But is this obsession
with creating counterfeit humans really pointing the way to mankind's future or to its past? GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS:
Another civilization has done the same thing hundreds of thousands of years before us. NICK POPE:
We may be living in a universe where the real
intelligences out there are robots. NARRATOR:
Since the dawn of civilization, mankind has credited
its origins to gods and other visitors
from the stars. What if it were true? Did extraterrestrial beings really help
to shape our history? And if so,
could there be a connection between aliens and robots? Kansai Science City, Japan. At the
Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute, Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro
and his team are developing
a series of robots. Artificial humans
that are incredibly lifelike, both in their appearance
and in their facial gestures. NARRATOR: This robot--
part of the Geminoid series-- is designed to look
identical to its maker. But what separates it
from other robots of its type is the number of miniature
motors, called actuators, used to mimic human expression. While most use ten to 12, the latest Geminoids
use over 50. NARRATOR:
The robot is programmed to mimic as closely as possible
the movements a human makes while at rest. It responds spontaneously to being touched
or when asked a question. It can also
be remotely operated. NARRATOR: While the Geminoid
robots focus primarily on replicating
facial expression, engineers at
the University of Texas Human Centered Robotics Lab have developed a robot
named Dreamer that can perform
an equally impressive series of sophisticated body movements. We made Dreamer more humanlike
through, uh, features and-and shapes and
kind of dimensions of a human. And at the same time making the
movements much more humanlike by understanding
and learning from the human. So one thing that makes unique
the movement of Dreamers is what we call
the whole body control. NARRATOR: Although Dreamer's
torso rests on a wheeled base, a bipedal set of robotic legs are currently being developed which will make Dreamer
fully mobile within two years. SENTIS: Ultimately,
we want these machines to live 100 years unassisted. Without any supervision
whatsoever. NARRATOR: By combining
the lifelike characteristics of androids like those developed by Hiroshi Ishiguro with the mobility
of robots like Dreamer, scientists believe
we might soon see a time when artificial humans
will be virtually identical to the real thing. SENTIS: We're gonna be able to
actually create very humanlike robotic systems
to the point that they are nearly
indistinguishable, both in movement
and in morphology. STEVE FULLER:
You look at something like the sort of entities
that were dealt with in the movie<i> Blade Runner,</i>
the kinds of Turing tests that were done there
to try to spot the androids. I think that in principle, we could have androids passing a sophisticated version
of the Turing test that would force the machine
to think reflectively about its own consciousness,
about its own past, about its own feelings, and I think that this should not be impossible
to do, and in which case we should count
these beings as human. NARRATOR:
In the 21st century, robots are being programmed
to do everything from performing surgery to driving a car. And humanoid robots are rapidly reaching a level
of sophistication that was thought to exist only in science fiction. But what are the implications
of creating robots that are increasingly
intelligent and independent? In March of 2015, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak
was quoted as saying "Computers are going
to take over from humans... the future is scary." Even Stephen Hawking and Tesla Motors founder
Elon Musk have predicted
that machines may soon surpass and ultimately replace humans. Many scientists
and thinkers have postulated that ultimately machines are gonna take over the world. Computers are getting faster
and more powerful. Ultimately, we will
design machines that themselves design even better machines. If it gets smarter than us,
we'd better watch out. NARRATOR: But while
conventional scientists ponder whether or not robots are destined
to take over the earth, ancient astronaut theorists
are asking themselves quite a different question: Did this all happen before, perhaps thousands of years ago? Abydos, Egypt. Seven miles west of the Nile. Within this expansive
archaeological site lies the ruins
of the Osiris Hall, where thousands
would gather to worship the god of the underworld. TSOUKALOS: In comparison
to many of the gods, Osiris is actually
thought to have lived physically on Earth as one of Egypt's Pharaohs. He is often depicted with a winged disc of the sun. And while many scholars
have suggested that this is nothing else but, uh, to worship the sun, that sun, as far as
the Egyptians were concerned, also had wings
and it descended from the sky. So in my opinion,
something else was depicted: an extraterrestrial event that in fact
took place in real life. NARRATOR: Although most ancient
astronaut theorists believe that the Egyptian gods were,
in reality, extraterrestrial visitors, there are many
who wonder if Osiris was even made
of flesh and blood. One of the most famous stories that go hand in hand with Osiris was that he was dismembered by his jealous brother, Seth. JONATHAN YOUNG:
Seth went into a fury and tore his brother's dead body to shreds, tore it
into 14 pieces, had it scattered far and wide
all over the kingdom. But Isis, the loyal wife,
searched far and wide and found the pieces
and pulled it together. TSOUKALOS:
Isis succeeded in resurrecting him. Now, when I hear
a story like that, that a being is dismembered and then somebody
puts together those pieces and then they are able
to magically resurrect him, I have to ask the question: is it possible
that Osiris was not some type of biological entity, but perhaps he was some type of a machine or a robot? NARRATOR:
For ancient astronaut theorists, perhaps the strongest evidence
that Osiris may have been a robot
can be found in the ancient Pyramid Texts, which describe the symbol
of the Djed Pillar as Osiris' spine. WILLIAM HENRY:
Osiris in his resurrected form was portrayed as a pillar that clearly resembles a modern-day Tesla coil. The Djed Pillar
was considered a power pillar. TSOUKALOS:
In this one carving at Abydos, it is as if Isis has her hand inserted into Osiris's back. And so perhaps it illustrates how she was manipulating Osiris. Could it be that
the story of Osiris is something
completely different than what we have thought? NARRATOR: Is it possible
that our ancestors encountered highly sophisticated
extraterrestrial robots in the ancient past? And if so, might there be some
tangible evidence? Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes and believe the evidence
was recovered deep beneath the sea and dates back more than 2,000 years. NARRATOR:
The Aegean Sea. April, 1900. Just 230 feet off the coast of the small island
of Antikythera, sponge divers discover
an ancient shipwreck 150 feet beneath the surface. Over the next two years, artifacts are recovered
from the wreckage and among them are the remains of a coral-encrusted metal box that dates back
to the second century BC. It is the oldest
mechanical computer ever found, predating artifacts
of similar complexity by 1,500 years. So you have
this small little box with dozens of cogwheels on the inside,
and it has been determined that that analog computer was used to predict astronomical events. And so it was the first computer that has ever been created
by mankind. CHILDRESS:
The American scientists who were studying
the Antikythera device actually said that discovering
the Antikythera device was like finding a jet plane in the tomb of King Tut. It was so amazing to them. They had never, ever conceived that the ancient Greeks,
at 200 BC, would have had the knowledge
of mechanical devices like this. That's completely changed the
way we perceive ancient history. NARRATOR:
While excavation teams have still not determined for
certain the origin of the ship on which the Antikythera
mechanism was found, the leading candidate
is the island of Rhodes. According to some
contemporary accounts, Rhodes was once home to what,
by today's standards, would be considered
high technology. In the fifth century BC, the poet Pindar
wrote that Rhodes was once adorned with statues
that came to life like living, moving creatures. TSOUKALOS:
He wrote that they all of a sudden became alive, and so the question then arises: well, if you have
a lifeless object first and then
all of a sudden somebody breathes life into something, could it be that
we have references to some type of machines? Where did the people of Rhodes get the knowledge
of how to create these moving statues
2,500 years ago? I believe that it is just what Pindar said, which is, they got it
from the gods. Well, who are these gods? The gods are real people,
they're extraterrestrials who had this technology,
shared it with humanity. And now when we see
the Antikythera mechanism, there's something
you can put your hands on that shows that
they had the capability to do advanced machine work. It's 1,500 years
too early, at least. The point is,
that technology really exists, and from a technology like that, going to robotics
is not too much further. And extraterrestrials
would very well have had that capability for the time. If you believe what this legend
says on face value. NARRATOR: Could the Antikythera
mechanism be proof that the ancient Greeks
had technology far in advance of the times
in which they lived? And might this be evidence
that there really were functioning robots
on the island of Rhodes? Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes and claim there is also evidence that advanced robots existed 300 miles to the north on another Greek island: Lemnos. Here lie the ruins
of Hephaistia, one of the most important
cities in Greece. It is named for the Greek god
of metallurgy, Hephaestus, who was said
to have fallen here from the sky
and actually existed on Earth alongside humans. RADER: He's described
in his workshop as being surrounded by automated robots. He flips on the machines and they bustle around,
doing all the sort of... the hard busywork for him. NARRATOR:
One of Hephaestus' most famous and amazing creations was Talos, a giant man made of bronze who protected
the island of Crete. Talos was able to observe all of the ships
approaching Crete and hurl stones at those ships. And he was able
to release this heat, and thus incinerating any boat or anything that would
come close to him. So is it possible that Talos was
some type of a machine or a robot? NARRATOR: Greece isn't the only
place where ancient stories can be found
about inanimate objects that appear to come to life. The Jewish Talmud
describes a clay figure called the Golem
that could be brought to life by inserting a spell
into its mouth. In India,
an ancient Sanskrit text called the<i> Lokapannatti</i> tells of spirit
movement machines as far back
as the fifth century BC. And the Chinese text the<i> Liezi</i> describes a humanoid robot
being presented to King Mu as far back as 3,000 years ago. YOUNG: There are stories
from many cultures from all over the planet
of people who have either created other humans or machines that were very much like humans. NARRATOR: But if sophisticated
robots really did exist in the ancient world,
what function did they serve? Who built them? And perhaps more importantly, what happened to them? On March 24, 2015, the Mars rover
called<i> Opportunity</i> reaches the west rim of the
14-mile wide Endeavor crater. It is searching for minerals
and other evidence that might prove
that life once existed here. It is one of several
remote-controlled robots that, for more than a decade, have provided NASA
with invaluable information about our closest alien planet. Well, NASA has successfully
controlled robots over, you know, crazy distances. They would execute the plan
here on the ground, then they would upload those instructions
to the robot on Mars. NARRATOR: Another NASA robot--
the humanoid Robonaut 2-- works on the International
Space Station. And in development
is the so-called super robot, Valkyrie, which is designed
to set up habitats and pave the way
for humans on other planets. When humans go out
into space, uh, it's very difficult and
dangerous and time-consuming. It's far easier to send robots, and if that's what we do, that's sure as heck
what extraterrestrials are gonna be doing. NARRATOR: But just as we
are employing robots today to gather information
and minimize risk to human life, could similar
cybernetic technologies have existed
in the ancient past? Could stories
like that of Osiris, Talos, and the Golem be true? Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes and believe that the proof
can not only be found in the past, but right here
in the present. NARRATOR:
Norway. November, 2014. Scientists from
the University of Oslo work on a new breakthrough
in robotics, creating robots
that are able to adapt and continue functioning even after losing a limb. The robots also know
how to create new limbs with the use of a 3-D printer and reapply them, effectively repairing themselves without the aid
of a human being. This new technology
is the first step in achieving what Hungarian scientist
John von Neumann envisioned back in the 1940s: self-replicating robots. John von Neumann
was, uh, a mathematician that had an idea about
self-replicating machines, where you send out
a seed machine and that machine
will seek out raw materials to construct a copy of itself, and then that will then
send that machine out to replicate itself. POPE:
So one become two, two become four,
and eventually these things would be able to explore
the entire cosmos. Now, one theory is that
extraterrestrial civilizations would build space probes
like that, and that would be
the quickest way to explore the entire universe. FULLER:
The interesting question is going to be the extent
to which part of that
self-replicationing includes the memories and the learning that the first generation
of robots engage with. So you'd want to make the robots as open to new experiences
as we are but at the same time
be able also to pass on the experiences
from any given generation to the next generation
through self-replication. So I think that this could be
a very important way, in terms of space travel, to go. I mean, I think
the more interesting question, from the standpoint of ourselves
as human beings, is the extent to which
we remain part of that process. NARRATOR:
Is it possible that we could create
self-aware robots that are completely autonomous and send them off to explore
the universe unassisted? And might these robots be able
to self-replicate endlessly, using materials found
on distant planets? Ancient astronaut theorists
propose that extraterrestrial beings may have already achieved
this technology. It is entirely possible
that an advanced civilization-- I'm saying far more advanced
than we are on Earth-- could actually develop
this technology of self-replicating machines and then could send
artificially intelligent robots out into space as sentinels that scan a much vaster area than that civilization itself
could go to with manned probes. It's something that probably
is already very widely in use by a variety of
extraterrestrial civilizations. HENRY:
The von Neumann machines are an awesome idea that is
reflected in ancient stories of extraterrestrials
coming to Earth. In the ancient Egyptian
tradition, we learn
of these formless light beings that emerged
from what they describe as the Island of the Egg and create civilization. It suggests
that they're utilizing some kind
of self-replicating robot that has the ability
to utilize genetic forms, perhaps imported
from the home planet, that can then be manifested
on a new planet, in our case, Earth. NARRATOR:
Is it possible that evidence of self-replicating robots
can be found in ancient historical
and religious texts, such as those concerning
ancient Egypt? And, if so, is mankind today merely tapping into knowledge
that was available on Earth thousands of years ago, knowledge that might have been
brought here by extraterrestrial
space travelers? According to some
ancient astronaut theorists, the concept
that extraterrestrial life-forms may have first visited the earth
as machines or robots is not only likely but logical and can even help to explain
a series of alien encounters that have been reported
as recently as the 20th century, encounters with robot visitors that might otherwise
be referred to as the Greys. NARRATOR:
May 9, 2001. The National Press Club,
Washington, D.C. During a media conference
for the Disclosure Project, former Army Sergeant
Clifford Stone makes a stunning announcement: he claims that for more
than two decades he was part of a top secret
military operations unit tasked with recovering
extraterrestrial technology for the United States
government. I was involved in situations
where we actually did recoveries of cra... of crashed saucers, for lack of a better term,
debris thereof. There were bodies
that were involved with some of these crashes. Also, some were alive. While we were doing all this, we were telling the American
public there was nothing to it. We were telling the world
there was nothing to it. One of the things
that Clifford Stone talked about was a program
called Project Moon Dust. Now, Project Moon Dust was
a legitimate military program, and it was designed
to recover things like Soviet space satellites. The small number of documents
on Moon Dust that have surfaced through
the Freedom of Information Act talk about how it wasn't
just Soviet spacecraft-- it was also UFOs. Actually uses the term "UFOs"
in the document. NARRATOR:
According to Stone, he was the first to respond
to 12 UFO crashes. But it wasn't until the day
after the press conference, during a closed session with
Stone and members of Congress, that he revealed something
even more shocking about his firsthand accounts
with alien entities. I met him the very next day,
on May 10, in the closed executive/VIP
summary briefing for members of Congress. One of the things
that Sergeant Stone talked about was the nature of the so-called
Grey extraterrestrials. He said that there were
some very strange biological anomalies about them that make them look almost
as if they are some sort of biological robot. They seem to have very few, if
any, organ systems in the body. And yet these beings appear
to be able to walk around and think and function. Sergeant Clifford Stone
got so emotional about what he was talking about
in front of these congressmen that he literally broke down in
tears and walked off the stage. LINDA MOULTON HOWE: I spent
several different times with him at his home, looking at documents
and listening to him tell his own extraordinary experience of having some sort
of an encounter with something that would fall
in the category, from his point of view, of being in the android or hybrid area. NARRATOR:
Is it possible that the so-called Greys reported
by alleged alien abductees are really robots
being controlled from beyond our planet? In 2014, the online magazine
Motherboard posted an article in which a handful
of philosophers and astronomers speculated that the dominant
life-form in the cosmos is probably
superintelligent robots. And according
to ancient astronaut theorists, the notion is not as far-fetched
as it seems, especially when one considers that Hiroshi Ishiguro's
Geminoid robots are designed
to transmit a human presence from thousands of miles away. Similarly designed to operate
from a remote distance is the Dreamer robot created
by the University of Texas and also NASA's latest robotic
space traveler, Valkyrie. RADFORD:
What we envision in the future is more
of a supervised autonomy, where you're giving the robot
high-level instructions and the robot's
autonomous enough to interpret
those high-level instructions and then carry out
a portion of its mission. HOWE:
If you have androids, something else
with great intelligence has to have made them to come here
to work on this planet. NARRATOR: But while some ancient
astronaut theorists believe the Greys could be surrogates controlled by alien entities
from far, far away, others suggest the truth
is even more incredible. People often describe the Greys as featureless,
emotionless creatures. Could it be that they're all
effectively from the same mold? Maybe they are von Neumann self-replicating
machines themselves. The interesting thing
about this theory is that people often say that
the purpose of the abductions is to harvest genetic material. Well, if these Greys are actually
self-replicating robots, what they might be doing is actually getting
genetic material from humans to construct more copies
of themselves. NARRATOR: When Clifford Stone
made the statement that Grey aliens might not be
entirely biological entities, as part of his argument,
he cited the fact that they have
a cookie-cutter quality to them. Does his testimony suggest that
the extraterrestrial entities that are visiting the earth
are not only part mechanical and synthetic
but also part biological? Or do they really represent
alien creatures that are part machine
and part human? NARRATOR:
September 2003. Clemson University,
South Carolina. Dr. Thomas Boland files
the first patent for inkjet 3-D printing
of viable cells. Already a multibillion dollar
industry, this process involves
placing biological materials into modified ink cartridges and printing onto bio paper made of soy and collagen. What we see
is little petri dishes with a culture medium
like agar in them. And then you have
a little nozzle that comes over and spray-paints these
little hexagons onto the agar. And within only a few minutes,
they start growing cells, and they become
these brown spots, which are the beginnings
of human livers. RADFORD: Dr. Boland has
some very interesting research looking at printing cell tissue. I think that opens up
some very interesting ideas, um, about how
to bio-manufacture things. At some point,
it'll have application in the field of robotics, especially
as we start combining devices, uh, with the human body. NARRATOR: Many believe
this is the first step in constructing
engineered human organs. Ultimately,
the goal is to do the same for every other part
of the human body. But there is a movement
to go much further in merging biology
with technology. It is called transhumanism. The ultimate goal
of the transhumanists is to become an immortal god. And, literally,
these people believe that they will merge with
technology and become cyborgs. They believe that they will
unlock the immortality anti-aging systems encoded
into the human race and that that will be
the supposed final evolution of human beings
as they ascend into godhood. Transhumanists
generally acknowledge that human beings are the
products of biological evolution but we've now reached a stage
in our development where there's an open question
about where we should go. On the one hand,
our biological background could be taken as a kind
of platform to go forward, manipulating genes
in various ways. But on the other hand,
we might think about ourselves merging more directly
with silicon-based technologies. DICE: We see the rollout
of these head-mounted displays like Google Glass, where people are now wearing
a computer on their head. The Apple Watch now is sort of
merging man with machine, and, instead of sitting down
at a computer now, people are just wearing
their computer. Uh, we see artificial hearts,
we see, uh, pacemakers. These are sort of
the early precursors to this transhumanist
transformation. There certainly is a merging between technology and biology, and we are experiencing it
right now. NARRATOR: Some experts believe
that by the year 2050, scientists and engineers
will have unlocked the secrets of immortality through the production
of artificial organs and silicone-based structures. Ancient astronaut theorists
suggest that considering the fact
that we are experimenting with transhumanism today, it is very possible a more
advanced extraterrestrial race has already achieved similar
technological advancements. A civilization millions of years
older than us could have actually evolved
much beyond the baby steps that we're taking right now. TSOUKALOS:
If we are doing this, is it possible
that another civilization has done the same thing but perhaps thousands,
if not hundreds of thousands, of years before us? When we look at some of these
ancient texts that we have, we're always talking
about ancient astronauts that came to visit us. But what if we were visited
by machines? And so the idea then arises: will we ourselves be able
to become cyborgs? WILCOCK: It's possible
that other civilizations may have decided they would be
able to essentially live indefinitely this way. And the more that we look
at the way in which technology and biology are fusing together, the more
that we can confront the notion that, with the advancements
of computer power, we could have sentient beings that are
significantly more advanced. NARRATOR:
Is it possible that extraterrestrials have not
merely sent intelligent robots to Earth in their place but that they themselves
have actually evolved beyond biological bodies? And, if so, what might this mean for
the future of the human race? NARRATOR:
February 8, 1957. Washington, D.C. At Walter Reed General Hospital, Hungarian scientist
John von Neumann, the man
who came up with the idea for self-replicating robots, dies at the age of 53. At the time of his death, he was working on a manuscript titled<i>
The Computer and the Brain.</i> At only 82 pages, the text was far from finished, but some have proposed that von Neumann was exploring
the possibility of reproducing a human mind
entirely on a computer. For transhumanists,
this opens the door for what many consider one
of the most radical innovations, mind uploading. DICE:
Companies have actually built what are called
neural interfaces, where they have wired computers
into people's brains. They believe that they can map
the entire human brain and all of the data
that's stored in it and then replicate it into an artificial intelligent
silicone-based system, where it can then be stored
and essentially never die. NARRATOR:
Is it possible that an entirely nonbiological
being could have sentience? And if extraterrestrials
have been visiting Earth for thousands of years, might it be more likely that they are
actually fully robotic beings? POPE:
Biological entities may actually be a rarity
in the cosmos. We may be largely living
in a universe where the real intelligences
out there-- and perhaps coming down here--
are robots. WILCOCK:
There are some who believe that machines may have already
achieved a level of intelligence vastly in excess of our own and that they may be giving us
a trail of bread crumbs to help us rebuild
the technology that would get us
to become enough like them that we could eventually
be merged into their society in some fashion. NARRATOR:
Could extraterrestrials who have been observing mankind
for thousands of years have led us to this point because they desire not just that we achieve
advanced technology but that we actually become
the technology? And if humans are the creation
of extraterrestrials, as ancient astronaut theorists
suggest, might they have
initially created us as biological entities in order
to limit our lifespan until we are ready
to become like them? There are
very interesting things about how similar to a machine
the body is. If you injure certain parts
of the brain, the body breaks down,
like a machine. You can injure a tendon
or a joint, and then that part
of the machine doesn't function anymore. So we have to look
at the possibility that life is not necessarily
what we've considered it to be. There is a possibility
that if we create computers with enough complexity that consciousness
could actually breathe life into that inanimate substance and you have
a robotic consciousness that has become something
we would think of as a person. HENRY: In ancient story
after ancient story, we see references
of extraterrestrials seeking to influence the human body, to augment it,
especially with technology. With today's transhuman
movement, you have to ask, is this possibly part
of an extraterrestrial agenda to influence humankind through
the implantation of technology with the human body? And, if so, what is the purpose? Is it to accelerate
our abilities or is it an effort
to control humanity? Ultimately, time will tell
the answer to those questions. NARRATOR:
Is it possible that otherworldly beings
are leading mankind not only to evolve on Earth but ultimately to a destiny
of joining them in the stars as nonbiological entities? And could it be that our
increased reliance on computers, cell phones, the Internet, and even synthetic body parts is part
of a vast extraterrestrial plan, one that will see humans become
more and more assimilated into the very technology
we have grown so dependent upon? Perhaps mankind's destiny is not to have a close encounter
with its ancestor but with our future selves. And perhaps when that day comes, human beings as we now know them will be thought of
as little more than obsolete operating systems. CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY
A+E NETWORKS
