It would be very hard to quantify the exact number of theories which have been presented regarding the nature of man’s origins. Of the many ideas is that of “exogenesis” ("genesis" referring to the origin and "exo" for outside). Proponents of the theory hold that life did not originate on Earth, but was instead transported here via meteor or some other pan-galactic projectile.
Evidence for at least the physical possibility of exogenesis may be found in one of a handful of meteorites found on Earth which are thought to be of Martian origin. According to NASA, the meteorite affectionately named ALH84001, discovered in Antarctica in 1984 and which is thought to have been here for about 13 000 years, contains possible evidence of fossilized bacteria, as well as of by-products of bacterial activity and the kinds of chemical markers that we use to indicate the breakdown of organisms.
Anomalous features on the meteorite merely suggest that life may exist outside of planet Earth, but some theorists go further and suggest that our own life was planted here in one way or another, from elsewhere. The simpler version of this theory, referred to as “panspermia”, suggests that the seeds of life are somehow transported through space and when they come upon favourable conditions like those on our planet, they “sprout”, so to speak.
Many in the UFO field, however, contend that rather than randomly scattered, humans or perhaps all animals are the deliberate creations of extraterrestrials or are in fact their descendents. Believe it or not, stories from a variety of religions in one way or another allude to such scenarios. The Book of Genesis, for example, says that “There were giants in the Earth in those days... and the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them” (6:4). In the Hebrew Bible these giants are referred to as “Nephilim”, which according to author Ronald Story is sometimes translated as “those who came down” (1), bearing a striking resemblance to claims of alien visitation.
The epic ancient Indian poem the Mahabharata describes a great war involving alien invaders in flying devices, a war supposedly triggered because of extra-terrestrial meddling in Earthly political affairs(2). This would constitute alien interference in our cultural, if not biological evolution and would arguably be a form of creation.
For the open-minded there is a wealth of evidence, including video footage that has passed the test of the experts that indicates an alien presence visiting the planet. Amazing though this may be it is not to be confused with evidence, solid or otherwise regarding the truth of our origins. In seeking the truth we must keep in mind that evidence that a thing might be true, while exciting, is not proof; it is merely food for thought.
Looking at the idea of an alien twist to the story of humanity’s origins from a philosophical perspective, a theory of humankind that seeks the truth elsewhere which cannot be found here, simply begs the question. If life originated somewhere else, then where did that life originate? We have just swept the question under the rug, so to speak, or in this case, shipped it off to another galaxy. We have not answered the question; we have merely put it somewhere we don’t have to think about it.
There is a fossil record that shows a fairly clear line back through the primate lineage into the earlier, simpler mammals and further to what we refer to as the Primordial Soup, a complex sea of amino acids and other basic building blocks from which all life on the planet is thought to have originated (3). Modern humans, Homo sapiens, appeared around 200 thousand years ago and left Africa to populate the globe around 80 thousand years ago (4). There is a mountain of scientific data strongly suggesting that we are primates, similar in genetics and appearance to the others, who began to take on the upright characteristics of the hominid anywhere between two and six million years ago (5). The scientific concept of parsimony, that all other things being equal, the simplest explanation is the correct one, tells us that it is most likely that people came down the same line as apes as the dominant paradigm dictates.
It has also been discovered that like us, our fellow humanoids the Neanderthals, who disappeared somewhere around 20 to 35 thousand years ago, used tools and fire (6) and performed rituals for their dead (7), further indicating that these traits, too, may be the products of evolution. While it is not out of the question that our departed brothers and sisters were also of alien origin, or that the otherworldly intervention took place before our split from Neanderthal, in lieu of proof it makes more sense to believe that like biology, technical and cultural sophistication also evolve over time, with fits and starts related to the interplay of advancements in communication, the use of tools and agriculture.
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1, 2 UFO Files: Ancient Aliens, documentary, dir. Kevin Burns, 2009.
3 Peter Russell, in The Awakening Earth: The Global Brain, (London: ARK, 1984; recently republished by Floris Books under the name The Global Brain: The Awakening Earth in a New Century), provides an interesting and very compelling description of the processes that led ourselves to become conscious beings, a description of our possible purpose and predictions of what is to come. Many of the predictions in the earlier edition have already come true!
4 Guy Gugliotta, “The Great Human Migration: Why humans left their African homeland 80, 000 years ago to colonize the world,” Smithsonian.com.
5 White, Tim D. et al., “Ardipithecus ramidus and the Paleobiology of Early Hominids,” summarized in Science 2 October 2009, with a link to the full article.
6 K. Kris Hirst, “Neanderthal,” Study Guide: Important Facts about Neanderthals (sic).
7 “History & Society: death rite,” Encyclopaedia Britannica online.