There have long been theories that conflict with the official academic explanation about the origin and construction of the pyramids at the Giza complex in Egypt. Many of these "alternate" theories have a good deal going for them. The more refined date testing becomes the further into the past their construction seems to have been. Their massive size and astonishing degree of structural integrity and cosmic alignments seem too precise to have been constructed by a simple agrarian culture. Now, even one of the academics has hinted there may truly be an alien connection.

During a conference on ancient Egyptian architecture held November 29, 2010, Dr. Ala Shaheen, head of the Archeology Department at Cairo University made the statement that "there might be truth to the theory that aliens helped the ancient Egyptians build the oldest of pyramids, the Pyramids of Giza". It is unlikely Dr. Shaheen was expecting the shock this statement stirred among his audience. As the questions about his comment poured forth, he became more vague in his replies and finally left with only the reply, "I can not confirm or deny this, but there is something inside the pyramid that is "not of this world".

There are several facts that lend themselves to the theory that the pyramids were not built by the Egyptians. Egyptian art tended to depict a full spectrum of their daily life, work, and rituals. Everything from agriculture to childcare to dealing with their enemies is represented and yet nowhere is there a single painting of the building of one of the most monumental structures to grace our planet. They buried their royalty in the Valley of the Kings, not in great stone buildings. Even that most commonplace of tomb paraphernalia, the painted pictures and text of the Book of the Dead, is blatantly absent inside the pyramids at Giza.

There are details of the actual structure that tend to make it unlikely a primitive culture could have accomplished this task alone. The alignment to the cardinal points is almost perfect, a feat even our modern engineers can have trouble obtaining. While a settle rate of six inches over a hundred years is normal and acceptable for large modern buildings, the 6,000 million ton weight of the Great Pyramid at Giza has settled less than an inch and a half over the last 5,000 years. Also compare the straightness of the sides. Modern office buildings are considered quite well constructed if the walls are within 6 inches of being squared, yet the Great Pyramid, forty-two stories tall and covering the area of over a dozen football fields, is squared to within a quarter of an inch of true.

Then we can go a bit East and study the accounts of the Annunaki as chronicled by the ancient Sumerian civilization, which pre-dated that of Egypt. Their writings tell us the Annunaki built this massive stone structure for use as a triangulation beacon to help guide their spaceships in from orbit to the spaceport in the Sinai. It was not until the end of the Second Pyramid War (approximately 8670 B.C.E.) when the structure was overtaken by Ninurta that it was decommissioned for this purpose. Translated from the epic poem Lugal-e: ".... Escorted by the Chief Mineralmaster, Ninurta inspected the array of "stones" and instruments. As he stopped by each one of them, he determined its destiny - to be smashed up and destroyed, to be taken away for display, or to be installed as instruments elsewhere."

Even in some of the monumental writings by the Pharaohs who are academically credited with their construction are references to the pyramids of Giza being ancient even in their time. It should not come as too great a surprise that any still undiscovered artifacts inside the pyramids at the Giza complex would be alien in origin. According to our most ancient historical texts these aliens constructed the entire structure for their own alien purpose in the colonization and exploitation of planet Earth.

There has been much interest over the centuries about the "prophecies" made by the 16th century almanac writer Nostradamus (born Michel de Notredame.) Popularly believed to be a doctor, he in fact failed and dropped out of the medical school of his day. He also refused to accept the title of "prophet" even during his life. This was mostly to save himself from persecution by the Inquisition and the Catholic Church, which held a great deal of both spiritual and secular power at the time. According to the pre-eminent Nostradamus expert, Peter Lemesurier, the most likely method Nostradamus used in formulating his oblique and rambling "quatrains" was bibliomancy and knowledge of history.

Bibliomancy was very popular in the 16th century. One found the ideas for their work by opening a book at random and using the first word or sentence to begin. And as any student of history knows, new political leaders will arise and be compared to past leaders and some of them will be assassinated. Predicting new wars is easy since warfare has always been a popular human pastime. What goes around comes around and just a quick calculation of where the astrological elements are when one event happens will give a distant future time when "everything repeats itself again."

Then there is the method of writing that Nostradamus used. It was a combination of archaic, even in his day, French, Spanish, Latin, and Hebrew, along with coded references, and mystic sounding sensationalism to appeal to the readers of his almanacs, most notably the French Royal Court. Then can be added the problems caused by typesetters that were sometimes careless in their setting and did not follow the copy given them.

An example from the most likely candidate for a prophecy of alien invasion, Verse 72 of the Tenth Century is the phrase "Du ciel" usually translated as "from the sky" when the same phrase is used frequently by Nostradamus to mean "from the region." In the same Verse, the corrected word "deffraieur," meaning "provider" was initially replaced by a typesetter with the word "d’effrayeur," which means "of terror." Finally, Nostradamus did not give the dates in his writings based on the traditional calendar years but dated them from the time of the first Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. So the year 1999 in the Verse would actually figure out to 2324 A.D.

Translation can also add to the confusion of trying to determine what the supposed prophecy said. In its original form Verse 72, Century Ten says:

L'an mil neuf cens nonante neuf sept mois,
Du ciel viendra un grand Roy d'effrayeur,
Resusciter le grand Roy d'Angolmois,
Avant apres, Mars regner par bon heur.

In the book "The Complete Prophecies of Nostradamus" by Henry C. Roberts it is translated thusly:

In the year 1999 and seven months
From the skies shall come an alarmingly powerful king,
To raise again the great King of the Jacquerie,
Before and after, Mars shall reign at will.

Peter Lemesurier translated the Verse as:

When 1999 is seven months o'er
From thereabouts shall a great hosting King
Restore the King from Angoumois once more,
Who'll reign propitiously once come the spring.

And Google Translate gives us this version:

The year one thousand nine hundred ninety nine seven months
From the sky will come a great King of Terror,
Life the great King of Angolmois,
Before after Mars to reign by good luck.

There are numerous other translations and just as many varying interpretations. Many believe this prophecy denotes the return of the Annunaki and the subsequent restoration of their rule on Earth, complete with the restarting of the wars they were so frequently party to among themselves as chronicled in many of the ancient Sumerian cuneiform texts. It didn't seem to happen in 1999 A.D. although the faithful may look for it to occur in 2324 A.D.

People love puzzles and it is quite likely that much of Nostradamus' writings were for the entertainment of his readership as they sought their own interpretations of his oblique words. No one has been able to point to any of these predicted happenings before they occurred. It has always been through the process of looking for some clue in the Verses that correlates to a past event that any supposed meaning is determined. It is much like the process of pattern recognition the brain uses to see images in the clouds.

Did Nostradamus predict UFO's and extraterrestrial alien invaders? We will most likely have to wait until they make a public landing or re-establish their rule over us humans before someone can look through the prophecies and find the one that sounds most fitting for the event, then they can say with self-assurance that he did indeed predict it.

Our clearest record of a long-term alien presence on our planet is contained in the thousands of cuneiform clay tablets written by the ancient Sumerians. These records tell not only of their alien-inspired culture but also contain information about the "gods" who created them and lived among them for thousands of years before moving off-planet to let the human species develop on their own. Zechariah Sitchin is not the only person who can translate these texts. There are a handful of other people who have also done so. It is in the interpretation that these men differ.

The academic mythologists read these matter-of-fact tablets and say the Annunaki were just ancient "fairy tales." Joseph Campbell considers them tales of Jungian archetypes while Julian Jaynes labeled them as schizophrenic hallucinations. Only Sitchin has interpreted them as a straightforward documentation of what these ancient people saw and knew and lived with on a daily basis.

These records of the "gods" were right alongside the daily inventory lists, marriage and deed records, and other daily life documents a civilized culture needs to keep up with itself. Then there are the tablets that contain accurate astronomical data on the movement and composition of our solar system that includes information about the outer planets that can only be seen with telescopic equipment. Increased research in archeology and other scientific disciplines is slowly disproving the mythology and giving clues as to the fact of the alien reality from our past.

Astronomically it is known now that the wobble and variations in the orbits of Pluto and Charon can only be caused by an as yet undiscovered outer planet. Recently another object, larger than Pluto, was discovered in the Kuiper Belt around the major planets' orbital area. Eris proves that there is still much to be discovered on the far edges of our solar system. Even further out is the debris field called the Oort Cloud of material. It is from this distant area most of the comets originate from. It is also speculated that a search for the Annunaki's homeworld should start here and most likely already has.

Since the finding of the IRAS, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, from the mid 1980's found what could be considered a tenth planet, facts have been harder to find. It is known that the Naval Observatory was constructed at great cost in Antarctica. In 1992 Harrington and van Flandern of that Observatory published their opinions that what they were observing was indeed another planet and that it could well be an "intruder" planet from outside our own solar system. What makes this discovery so important is that Harrington had originally invited Sitchin to help him go through the ancient Sumerian information so he would know where he needed to look to locate this planet!

On a technological level the proof of an ancient advanced technology existing on our planet can be found through the growing catalog of ooparts (Out Of Place Artifacts in Relation to Time and Space) that have been unearthed. Everything from human footprints criss-crossing dinosaur tracks in Texas to the nearly 5,000 year old electrical batteries discovered in Iraq point to a presence on the planet that far precedes human existence. One can include the exacting stone architecture of ancient monuments that we cannot match even with our modern building techniques. And there is the 1889 discovery by Sir Flinders Petrie of the ancient gold processing plant at Mt. Horeb in Africa, which showed that monoatomic gold superconductors were known and created many thousands of years ago.

And there is the growing genetic evidence that points to the elusive "missing link" between proto-humans and Cro-Magnon homo sapiens as possibly existing only in the laboratories of the Annunaki. The Sumerian texts place the location of the genetic laboratories of Enki and Ninhursag in Africa, coincidentally in the same area and within the same time frame as our discovery of the origins of the mitochondrial DNA that runs through the entire human population.

This location, incidentally, is right near the ancient African gold mines of the Annunaki, adding to the proof of the tale that they originally created us as a slave/worker class to do the mining that had grown so wearisome to the Annunaki themselves. There is as well the evidence that evolution often takes millions of years to create major change in a species. Homo sapiens sapiens went from origin to our modern level of social and mental development in a mere quarter of a million years, much too quickly for natural selection and mutation to have worked.

It may be humbling to some and an outrage to others to think that we are not necessarily the greatest beings in the galaxy. It may be more comforting to some to have originated in some mythical "creation" than to have been the result of a genetic breeding program of an unknown alien race of beings. But a hard truth should always be better than a comfortable lie and as evidence piles upon evidence, it is up to all humans to contemplate the possible alien connection surrounding our very existence.

Despite the assurances from government and military leaders that UFO's pose no danger, military aircraft are routinely sent to intercept and investigate unknown craft invading their airspace. What is less well known is that many of these pilots have died as a result of these encounters. While often officially listed as "training accidents" or "pilot error", a number of these deaths have been chronicled as the direct result of UFO activity. The first, and one of the most well known deaths of a military pilot in pursuit of a UFO, was the encounter by Captain Thomas Mantell of the Kentucky Air National Guard on January the 7th, 1948.

On that day, around 1:30 in the afternoon, reports began to flood in to police departments about a large circular object in the sky. First Mansville, then Irvington and finally Owensboro citizens spotted the object. Soon even personnel at Godman Air Force Base spotted what they described as "extremely large, round, whitish in color, with a red light toward its bottom side." Others described it as looking like an inverted ice cream cone that was slowly spinning.

When the base's Operations and Intelligence officers, as well as the Commanding Officer, were unable to identify the strange object floating slowly over the base it was decided a pursuit was required to try and identify what it was. The Tower was aware that a training flight of four P-51 Mustangs were heading back to their base at Standiford Field in Louisville. The flight was under the command of a Distinguished Flying Cross recipient, Captain Thomas Mantell, a veteran WWII pilot who had only recently left the Air Force and transferred to the Kentucky Air National Guard. They requested the pilots to alter course to investigate.

One of the four planes was low on fuel and was allowed to continue to base while Mantell and his two companions changed course to intercept the object. Shortly thereafter one of the remaining pilots asked permission to return to base as he was becoming disorientated. Mantell sent him home with the other pilot flying escort. He continued the pursuit alone.

As he reached 15,000 feet, Captain Mantell reported visual sighting of the unknown object. He reported back to Godman tower. "The object is directly ahead of and above me now, moving at about half my speed...It appears to be a metallic object or possibly reflection of Sun from a metallic object, and it is of tremendous size. . . . I’m still climbing. . . . I’m trying to close in for a better look." This was the last "official" communication from Captain Mantell before tragedy struck. It is also at this point that the official version and other witness reports diverge and leave a mystery.

Richard Miller, present in the Operations Room of Belleville, Illinois' Scott Air Force Base had been monitoring the conversation between Mantell and Godman Tower. He stated that before contact was lost with Captain Mantell, he had also given this report of his observations. "My God, I see people in this thing!" The following morning their investigators reported that Mantell had perished, "pursuing an intelligently controlled unidentified flying object." However, by the end of the day, Intelligence Center officers from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base showed up and confiscated all materials relating to their investigation of the crash of Mantell's P-51 as they stated they had already concluded their own investigation.

The cover stories began as quickly as public interest grew. What is known is that at 30,000 feet Captain Mantell's aircraft leveled out then went into a spin and fell back towards the Earth. Officially it was presented that he must have blacked out from lack of oxygen, as he was too high for the P-51 to operate. However, specifications show that even the first P-51's manufactured had an operational ceiling of over 31,000 feet and Captain Mantell was piloting a P-51D, the fourth improvement on the model, which had an operational ceiling of 45,000 feet.

There are divergent stories on the fate of the aircraft as it plummeted from the sky. Officially the plane crashed into a field near Franklin. The wreckage was described by official reports as the plane "belly-flopping" on the ground and the wings breaking off on impact. There are two discrepancies to this report. For one, the engine of the P-51 is heavy and would have pulled the aircraft into a dive, which would have impacted the ground nose first. Secondly, had the plane landed on its undercarriage, it could only have done so under a controlled glide. This would have created a swath of torn trees and soil from contact until the plane stopped. This is not likely as it was reported that all the bones in Captain Mantell's body were in a "pulverized" condition even though there were no external wounds.

Also, there were numerous eyewitnesses that reported the aircraft having exploded halfway through its fall from 30,000 feet and that wreckage was strewn over a large area of ground. One of the witnesses was Mrs. Joe Phillips whose farm the P-51 crashed on. She said she heard an explosion and looking out a window witnessed the debris falling into a wooded area only a few hundred yards from her house. Another witness, University student Barbara Mayes, also stated she saw the plane explode as it fell.

The Air Force gave the official reason for Mantell's death as passing out from lack of oxygen while pursuing the planet Venus. This quick lie was easily debunked, not only by the fact that even at its brightest, Venus would have been unlikely to have been visible in broad, afternoon daylight, would not have concerned military officers enough to desire an investigation. Astronomically, Venus was only 30 degrees above the horizon at the time and nowhere near the area of sky even the Commanding Officer of Godman Air Force Base saw the object.

The Air Force then backpedaled and said it was a "Skyhook" weather balloon released by the Navy that everyone saw. Contacting the Navy, reporters were assured they had not launched a Skyhook for over a month. The UFO continued to be seen slowly heading Southward with reports coming in from as far away as Tennessee before night fell and the object was lost to view from the ground.

The Air Force still claims that Captain Mantell's death was in no way caused by the UFO. They can no more prove this statement than they can offer proof of what the object was that was moving along at several hundred miles an hour. It is known that Captain Mantell lost his life that day, leaving behind a wife and two young children. He was the first pilot we know of to have died as a result of a UFO encounter. Sadly there have been many more.

People have been seeing and reporting strange and unexplainable sightings of flying objects for thousands of years. Despite these uncountable eyewitness accounts there has yet to be irrefutable proof of what these objects are or where they come from. Like a forensic scientist piecing together the clues from a crime scene, ufologists must collate many bits and pieces of information in order to more firmly establish the existence and characteristics of UFO's in order to get a closer idea of what the reality of this phenomena is.

Visual evidence is intriguing, but not always a strong element of proof. For a multitude of reasons, from attention seeking to malicious mischief, people can fabricate stories about seeing UFO's. Witness reports have to be filtered for truth. Dr. J. Allen Hynek, consultant for the United States Air Force and founder of the Center for UFO Studies insisted on two primary criteria to determine useful information about UFO sightings. Credibility of the witness was very important to him. Among the highest level of credibility are astronauts, military and civilian pilots, radar operators, and law enforcement officers; all people with much to lose by making their reports known. Strangeness, the degree of variation from the behavior patterns of known objects, was Dr. Hynek's second criteria for filtering factual information from the lies and hoaxes that also abound in UFO research.

Photographic evidence can be very strong proof of the existence of UFO's. Older emulsion-based photographic and movie film, as well as video tape, are much harder to fake than the more modern digital media. Any clear photographic images of UFO's need to be examined by professional analysis to prove there has been no manipulation or faking of the image shown. Still, digital imagery is not totally useless as evidence of UFO's. There are complex professional methods to investigate even digital images to see if there is evidence of tampering. Along with the visual report of the photographer, coupled with a proven true image, much greater weight can be given to such evidence.

Radar contact coupled with a visual report, especially from a pilot in the air, can be compelling evidence that a UFO is real even if we don't yet know just what it is. While there are certain atmospheric phenomena that can give a false-positive reading, when a hard contact radar reading is matched to a visual sighting there can be little doubt that something is there. Photographic evidence of this same object provides a three-point proof of the existence of the object that is incredibly hard for even the most outrageous debunker to deny.

On the rare occurrences when a UFO has landed and left some trace of itself behind, proof of its existence can be very compelling. Among the traces left can be depressions in the ground where the landing struts have been, burned ground and vegetation, and occasionally a bit of metal or other anomalous piece of debris.

It is still the soil and plant matter that bears the greatest witness to a UFO landing. Samples analyzed in a professional, non-biased laboratory can provide proof of extreme radiation and uncharacteristic biochemical and electromagnetic readings that can provide clues as to what powered the craft that altered the soil it sat upon.

Professional and official ongoing research can also play a great part in providing the evidence to conclude the reality of UFO existence. One such research facility, Project Hessdalen in Norway, gets technical assistance not only from the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment, but the Universities of Oslo and Bergen as well. Using such devices as infrared, lasers, and radar, the Project has recorded a high number of unidentified objects in their viewing area. Two such events, dubbed the Hessdalen phenomena, have undergone more intense field research in hopes of discovering the nature of the lights observed and recorded.

The more solid and reputable proof that can be amassed and cross-referenced concerning the UFO phenomena, the stronger and harder to debunk the phenomena becomes. Combining all the evidence together can give us a better picture of how the craft operate and provide clues on how better to investigate them. By gathering the proof, rather than just hearsay, an answer to the UFO question is much more likely to be discovered.