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Originally Posted by HarryT
Drivel. Utter drivel. Preudo-science of the worst kind. Moreover, I actually find the idea that our ancestors were incapable of large-scale engineering projects without the assistance of "aliens" to be somewhat offensive. Their achievements were even more astounding when you consider that it was all done without the aid of sophisticated machines.
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There is definitely a strata of racism underlying many of the ancient astronaut theories, given that they revolve primarily around the ability of early non-Europeans to construct the architectural and engineering feats that still command awe. I mean, sure, they'll throw in Stone Henge, but mostly it's about how Egyptians could never construct Pyramids, Meso-Americans could never gather such an amount of astronomical knowledge, or the Dogon could never have learned about Sirius on their own. As for Flim-Flam, while the Cottingley Fairies account is interesting, Randi is neither a scientist nor a philosopher of science. The first time I read flim-flam, I loved it. After taking several classes in the Philosophy of Science I was less then impressed upon reading it again. Having studied parapsychology quite a bit, I do think there are some genuine cases of anomalous phenomena, including some effects that have been repeated in the lab (such as the "Sheep-Goat effect"). That said, by and large the "psychics" are con-artists and low-level magicians.
Luqman