Downen 1

Amanda DownenDrake 207 – 022 April 2010

Did Aliens Build the Pyramids?

The documentary, “Did Aliens Build the Pyramids?” can be found through multiple internet

sources including YouTube and Encyclopedia.com. It discusses the theory that extraterrestrials, not the

Egyptians, built the pyramids. The main reasons which are argued by supporters of this theory are: 1)

There is not enough evidence to support the idea that the Egyptians built the pyramids. 2) The

Egyptians had neither the necessary technology nor the knowledge to have successfully built the

pyramids. 3) The pyramid complex at Giza has too many similarities with the Cydonia complex on

Mars to be coincidental. With all of these facts supporting the theory, the documentary attempts to

prove that aliens built the pyramids, or at least provided the knowledge to do so. However, after some

research and consideration of opposing arguments from experts in the field, this theory quickly breaks

down and becomes less viable.

Throughout the documentary, the largest form of persuasion that is employed is an appeal to

ethos. There are many people who are interviewed and who give their reasons for believing that aliens

made the pyramids. These people are comprised of archaeologists, science lecturers, authors, civil

engineers and architects – all titles with varying prestige and signs of accomplishment. For example, Dr

Barbara Mertz has her Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago and, although many of her

books are mystery novels, she has written two books on ancient Egypt which have been continuously in

publication (“Barbara Mertz”). Margaret Maitland is a D.Phil. candidate in Egyptology at the

University of Oxford where she also received her M.Phil (Maitland). She has participated in

excavations in both Jordan and Egypt and is respected by many renowned scholars and Egyptologists

(Maitland). Lastly, Dr Mark Lehner is “perhaps one of the most famous living experts on the study of

Downen 2

the pyramids” (Iffert). He is also the director of Ancient Egypt Research Associates with over 30 years

of experience excavating in Egypt and is a very qualified informant (Iffert).

  Nonetheless, these appeals to ethos are accompanied by the fallacy of appeals to authority.

Many of the interviewees possess their given titles, but are not experts in the field and are not reliable

sources. Anthony Hilder, for example, is introduced as an author and pyramid theorist. Not only does

he theorize about pyramids, but 9/11 conspiracies, the Illuminati, the New World Order and the

Oklahoma City bombing. Zecharia Sitchin, author of Stairway to Heaven, has a degree in Economics

from the London School of Economics (“Zecharia Sitchin”). His anthropological speculations,

however, are entirely discounted by professional scientists, historians and archaeologists who “have

many problems with his translations of ancient texts and with his understanding of physics, categorizing

his work as pseudoscience” (Carroll). A third example is the author, E. Randall Floyd. Floyd is a

motion picture screenwriter and bestselling author of multiple books (E Randall Floyd). Although Floyd

lectures on many topics from Civil War history to paranormal activities, he is in no way an expert in

ancient Egyptian research and is therefore not a reliable source for this topic. Finally, David Teuling is

introduced as author to A Sign and a Witness. One would think that since Teuling is seen lecturing on

the case of aliens building the pyramids, his book would cover the same topic. Interestingly enough, the

book is “a case for design in the universe” and discusses the possibility of a “Designer God” and the

field of Sacred Geometry (A Sign and a Witness). His quotations in the source have nothing to do with

the idea of aliens creating the pyramids, though they are made to appear to do so in the documentary in

order to further the argument.

Also, small and almost unnoticeable pathological appeals are used throughout the documentary.

The interviewees and host often use words such as “inconceivable,” “obviously,” “allegedly,” and

“defies imagination.” This occurs each time somebody asserts that the pyramids could not be replicated

today, even with modern technology. This says to the viewer that, if they believe that the Egyptians

Downen 3

built the pyramids, then they believe that a “quasi-stone-age” civilization was capable of feats that

today’s technologically advanced world cannot achieve. Accepting this fact says that our generation is

less intelligent in comparison – a hit to the ego which is never easily admitted.

One of the source’s main points is that there is proof which suggests that the historical belief of

the Egyptians building the pyramids is false. According to Todd Alexander, author of Ancient Wonder

Modern Mystery, “not one of the traditional concepts of the builders or the pyramids has been proven.”

He also asserts that no dead king or other corpse has ever been found in the Great Pyramid and Dr Ron

Charles, a civil engineer, states that there is “no hard evidence anywhere” that the pyramids were even

intended to be burial tombs for pharaohs. Dr Mark Lehner, a professor of Egyptian Archaeology, says

that there is graffiti on the ceiling of Khufu’s tomb which provides evidence of their purpose but which

was not recorded until 1837. Zecharia Sitchin takes this a step further with his assertion that the graffiti

was a forgery done in May of 1837 and that he received a letter from a man whose grandfather

witnessed another man painting hieroglyphics on the walls. Also, he claims that he found a typo after

close investigation. The hieroglyphics call the pharaoh “RaKhufu,” which would be like “taking the

name of God in vain” and would never have happened. Therefore, they are most certainly forged.

However, as stated above, Sitchin’s translations have been discredited by many professionals.

Another point of missing evidence is the lack of hieroglyphics depicting the pyramids’

construction. Giza Pyramid Researcher, August Tornquist, argues that there “is not one picture,

drawing, artifact, inventory or tally sheet which tells of the Great Pyramid’s construction.” He questions

that when there is 3000 years worth of history covering everything from babies being born to plowing

and harvesting, building, weaving, sacrificing, praying and embalming, “why is there absolutely

nothing recorded about the construction of the pyramids”?

The implicit reason behind this aspect of the argument is that if there is not enough proof for a

hypothesis, then the hypothesis must be false. As Todd Alexander states, “Everything else about this

Downen 4

ancient wonder remains a mystery to traditional thinkers, which leads us to believe that a higher power

was involved, whose purpose was much more significant than entombing a pharaoh”. Also, it is said

that there are hieroglyphics which are forged and therefore cannot be believed; yet there is no mention

of the rest of the hieroglyphics covering the remainder of the tomb and other pyramids. It seems to be

assumed that since there are some forgeries, all of them must be forgeries and are not viable evidence.

This assumption is a hasty generalization. Another fallacy of the documentary is misquotations, or

semantics. The quote from Todd Alexander is made to seem as if he is referring to aliens as the “higher

power,” when in fact, Mr. Alexander’s book discusses the idea that the pyramids are a message from

God, not aliens (Alexander). Basically, the entire implicit reason is an argument from ignorance – we

can’t prove that aliens didn’t build the pyramids, so they must have. However, simply because

something has not been proven true, does not mean that it cannot eventually be proven true or that it is

false.

Many disagree with the claim that there is not enough evidence to support the Egyptians being

the builders of the pyramids and there being too much evidence to refute it.. Margaret Maitland believes

that there is more than enough evidence which strongly indicates that the Egyptians themselves were

responsible for building the pyramids: remains of the quarries, roads, tools, records of the workers and

the towns in which the workers lived. We know why they built them and “we can even observe their

lengthy and imperfect evolution before they reached their architectural peak with the Great Pyramid”

(Maitland). Maitland agrees that the pyramids were much more than just a grave for ancient Egyptian

kings. They were “iconic symbols of the supreme power of the ruler” (Maitland). Above all, they were

“monuments to divine Egyptian kingship,” the place where the king would be transformed into a god

(Maitland).

There are also those who refute the assumptions made regarding the hieroglyphics. Jason

Colavito, an anthropologist and journalist who works to debunk archaeological myths, refutes the claim

Downen 5

that all of the hieroglyphics were faked and that even if they were, “that alone does not disprove Khufu's

ownership” (Colavito). As for the typos, Martin Stower, a British Researcher, showed that the

hieroglyphs' "misspellings" and errors were actually imperfections in 19th century knowledge of

hieroglyphs which were “projected” onto the correctly spelled hieroglyphs themselves (Colavito). In an

interview with renowned Egyptologist Mark Lehner, he tells of ancient graffiti in places which were

never meant to be seen and which depict workers and organizations of crews (Pyramids).

It seems that there is a counter argument made by reliable and credentialed people to every point

which is raised by the not-so-reliable or credentialed theorists. The argument of evidence is refuted by

anthropologists and Egyptologists which have participated in many firsthand excavations. The idea of

all of the hieroglyphics being faked is countered by people who have the proper training to perform

research on the writings and who have found that not all of the writings are forged. Without a doubt, the

fact that the implicit reason itself is a fallacy makes the argument less valid and believable.

The second argument behind aliens having been the builders of the pyramids is the claim that the

construction of a monument such as the Great Pyramid is something that is, according to Dr Ron

Charles, “totally impossible to duplicate in today’s modern construction field” and was therefore never

possible by human hands. Many scientists have long agreed that the Great Pyramid of Khufu “could not

have been build with the quasi-stone-age technology of 2900 B.C.” This is partially due to the colossol

dimensions of the Great Pyramid – it is 42 stories high, 100 football fields in length and made of stones

weighing 2.5-10 tons each. Basically, there is enough material in the Great Pyramid to build 35 Empire

State Buildings. The Greek Historian, Herodotus, was told by Egyptians when he first visited the

country that the pyramids were built by a continuous crew of 100,000 people, replaced every 3 months,

worked 20 years to build the Great Pyramid. Ron Charles argues that in order to have built the Great

Pyramid according to Herodotus, it would have meant setting one huge stone every 3.5 minutes, 24

hours a day; a schedule that is “totally impossible to duplicate in today’s modern construction field”.

Downen 6

Other theorists disagree with the long accepted parameters of the build. David Teuling, argues

that there were not enough potential slaves within a 5000 mile radius to have supplied the necessary

workforce. He also states that the theory of using rollers to move the stone blocks is not correct,

because the only trees that are available in Egypt are date plums. These would not have been cut down

because they were a food source and importing logs would have required more shipping power than

Egypt has ever possessed. Even if they had used logs, he claims that it would be virtually impossible to

roll a log on stone chipped roads, as the weight of the massive stone would grind the log into pieces in a

short amount of time. Due to this suggestion, Alexander believes that there must have been another

method of lifting and moving the stones, though “we know of no capable device that was available in

ancient Egypt.” Finally, the fitting of the outer limestone casings, weighing about 10 tons each, were all

fitted to about 1/2000 of an inch – so tight that a razor blade can’t even fit between them. With all of

these technological points to consider, how can one believe that a stone age people could have built what

cannot be duplicated today?

This argument is based on the idea that if we cannot replicate something which was done

thousands of years ago, it must have been done by aliens or that the human race of today’s modern

world is smarter and more evolved. Even present day technology cannot duplicate the feat that the

ancient Egyptians accomplished. Therefore there is no man made technology that could have built them

and the only explanation is aliens. This reasoning is a non sequiter founded entirely on an affirming the

consequent fallacy.  Also, the basic idea is an argument from ignorance. Just because there is no known

technology that was present in ancient Egypt which would have made building the pyramids possible,

doesn’t mean that it didn’t exist. There are other places in the world where unexplainable monuments

stand. Take for example the Mayan and Aztec pyramids and Stonehenge. Even the origin of human

beings is a controversial subject whose answer nobody knows for sure. There are many things which are

Downen 7

unknown, but we don’t attribute every one of them to aliens. This brings to light a fallacy of exclusion

in the willingness to accept aliens for one instance and not others.

The other side of the debate disavows the claim that people 4000 years ago were too unskilled to

have built the pyramids. The fact is, after centuries of honing the art, ancient Egyptians had a certain

expertise in stone working that today’s people lack. Also, it’s not just the building of the pyramids that

couldn’t be replicated today; it’s hard to imagine ever being able to “pull together the resources, power,

money, skilled craftsmen, and architects needed to build one of the great gothic cathedrals in this day

and age” (Maitland). The pyramids were possible because the entire Egyptian economy, resources, and

population were under the control of a single ruler who was capable of mobilizing them all into a

monumental building project (Maitland). These mobilized workers were not slaves or foreigners as has

been promoted by Hollywood. In actuality, “excavated skeletons show that they were Egyptians who

lived in villages developed and overseen by the pharaoh's supervisors” (“Introduction to Pyramids”).

These people gathered at Giza, usually while the Nile was flooded and other work was put on hold, to

work for their “god kings…[ensuring] their own afterlife and [benefiting] the future and prosperity of

Egypt as a whole” (Pyramids: Who Built the Pyramids?).

Again, after consideration of both the argument and the rebuttal of professionals, the original

argument falls apart. Although there are some interesting points made by theorists, they do not fully

support the hypothesis that, since we are unable to build a pyramid today, the Egyptians couldn’t have

been capable of the feat decades ago. There is simply too much scientific evidence which is overlooked

in order to further the theory.

The third argument is the fact that much of the knowledge required to build the pyramids was not

discovered until many centuries after their construction. Without that knowledge, the ancient Egyptians

could not have built the pyramids. Gregory Pyros believes that it is “obvious that they didn’t have the

knowledge of modern geology which would prevent destruction through lack of foundation”. Therefore,

Downen 8

the construction by humans is “inconceivable.” This is based partially on the fact that normally, a

building sinks slowly. For example, the US capital has sunk five inches in 200 years, “but in 5000

years, the Great Pyramid, weighing 14 billion pounds, has settled less than one half of an inch”. Also,

According to Dr Charles, if modern builders can keep a wall within six inches of being a straight line, it

is a tremendous accomplishment. However, “the Great Pyramid is only off of straight alignment by

approximately one quarter of an inch”. Also, Anthony Hilder points out that the Great Pyramid’s sides

run almost exactly from north to south and east to west. It’s deviation from true north is within three arc

minutes, or ten degrees. He questions, “how could an ancient, quasi-stone-age culture have been able to

determine true north” without the technology that we deem necessary to do so?

The reasoning behind this argument is that it is not possible that the Egyptians had the

mathematical and geological knowledge which was required for the construction of the pyramids,

because they could not have had some knowledge that we, as a more evolved and technological race, do

not have. Therefore, they must have received insight from an otherworldly source – aliens. The

argument is based along the following lines: The ancient Egyptians had unknown knowledge. Aliens

have unknown knowledge. Therefore, aliens visited Earth and shared their knowledge with the ancient

Egyptians. Not only is this is an affirming the consequent fallacy, but this hypothesis fails Occam ’s

razor as well. The simpler and more likely hypothesis is that the Egyptians did have the necessary

knowledge; it was just lost in the centuries between then and now.

However, some argue that is possible that the Egyptians had discovered the necessary

information. The perfect right angles of the pyramid “were likely achieved using either a set square…or

using a ‘Pythagorean’ triangle, which was known to the Egyptians before the Greeks” (Maitland). There

are ancient specimens of surveying tools such as the ‘merkhet’ and “a sighting tool made from the

central rib of a palm leaf” which would have made the right angles of the pyramids entirely possible

(Maitland). Additionally, there is documentation which shows that

Downen 9

“Architects achieved an accurate pyramid shape by running ropes from the outer corners up to

the planned summit, to make sure the stones were positioned correctly. And priests-astronomers

helped choose the pyramids' sites and orientations, so that they would be on the appropriate axis

in relation to sacred constellations.” (“Introduction to Pyramids”)

This shows planning on the part of the Egyptians. Furthermore, it is proof that the location and

relationships with both earthly and astronomical landmarks is not simply happenstance, but is the result

of careful consideration and hard work.

In regards to attacks on the intelligence of the ancient Egyptians, Maitland argues that while we

may have accumulated knowledge over the centuries, “our species’ brains haven’t changed at all in the

past few thousand years and ancient people were just as intelligent as we are today”. Examples of the

Egyptians’ intelligence include that fact that they had developed “agriculture, writing, religion,

astronomy, mathematics, metal-working…sophisticated artwork and monumental stone architecture, and

had managed to unite the various people throughout the country under the rule of one king,” before the

pyramids were even built (Maitland).

At first, it makes sense that if the required information had not yet been discovered, it could not

have been utilized and the pyramids could not have been built. However, they were built. The ancient

Egyptians had extensive knowledge of many sciences, so it is possible that they did have the knowledge

before western civilization. And if so, it would be in their best interest to keep the knowledge hidden –

much like keeping new technologies hidden from competing companies or countries in the present day.

The final argument which is proposed by the documentary is the great similarity which exists

between the pyramids and the Cydonia complex on Mars. Many think that the pyramids “transcend

earthly measurements” and are “paranormal in nature.” One theory is that the Giza pyramids were built

as beacons by extraterrestrials as a landing corridor ending at the space port in the Cyanide Desert. This

is due in part to the supposed mile long human face on the surface of Mars. What’s more, there are

Downen 10

massive pyramidal structures located in close proximity to this “face,” together forming the famous

Cydonia complex. Richard Hoagland, author of Monuments of Mars, argues that the “fundamental

mathematic relationships” that are present at Cydonia are “eerily replicated” in the Giza complex on

Earth. Hoagland and other theorists, have found that along with containing “amazing visual and

symbolic similarities,” the “very placement of the Sphinx, even the key latitude of Giza” is directly

linked with” the pyramids at Cydonia. Also, his team has taken pictures of the complex with results

showing that the structures show clear evidence of being highly geometric. Providing support for the

conjecture that this signifies intelligent design is Erol Torun, a Physical Scientist who states that only

advanced civilizations build things with repeating geometric patterns and “the entire Cydonia complex is

simply [filled] with this elegant, geometric structure.” The documentary closes with a final analysis of

its arguments and asks the question, “Is the City of Cairo related to Giza as the face and pyramids

complex is related to Cydonia?” The final sentence from the host is one which seems to push the point

home. He says, “Incidentally, Cairo is a Seleucid Arab word that means Mars”. How could all of this

be coincidence?

The answer lies in the implicit reason. Basically, if there is a likeness between the pyramids on

Earth and the Cydonia complex on Mars, they must have both been created by the same race – aliens.

There is no other explanation for the “coincidence”. However, the argument of an obvious similarity to

the Cydonia complex is simply an emotional appeal. As Sigmund Freud would say, it appeals to the

human need to feel connected to something larger. By claiming that the pyramids were built by aliens

and that the aliens shared their knowledge with humans, a connection between humans and the unknown

universe is created. Regarding the assertion that “Cairo” means “Mars” in Arabic, it is true that “Al-

Qahira” means “Mars” (Al-Qahira: Cairo). Then again, although Cairo is also commonly called “Al-

Qahira”, the official Arabic name for Cairo is “Medinat Al-Qahira”, meaning “triumphant” or

“victorious” city (Al-Qahira: Cairo). This is an easy misrepresentation of facts.

Downen 11

Carl Sagan argues that it is natural for humans to find similarities in unrelated things. We are

“programmed” for facial recognition from infancy and it is no wonder that we see a face in a bunch of

shadows (Sagan 51). Furthermore, considering the fact that the surface area of Mars is estimated at

about 150 million square kilometers, there is bound to be something familiar in the landscape (Sagan

55). The fact that there are pyramids on Mars is not surprising, as there are naturally occurring pyramids

on Earth too. According to Sagan, “they are, in fact, generated by wind erosion—the splatter of fine

particles picked up by strong winds blowing mainly in the same direction and, over the years, sculpting

what once were irregular hummocks into nicely symmetrical pyramids” (52). When the fallacies and

rebuttals are taken into account, the coincidence is shown not to be naturally occurring, but rather a

coincidence contrived by man.

In conclusion, the documentary attempts to convince its audience that due to a lack of proof,

technology, knowledge, and because of multiple unexplained aspects of the pyramids, they cannot be

manmade and are therefore the work of aliens. This claim is itself fallacious – it is a hypothesis which

cannot be tested when the very definition of a hypothesis is something that is testable. Moreover, it

hinges entirely on the belief that aliens do exist. If the audience does not already believe in the existence

of extraterrestrials, they are probably not going to be persuaded by the argument. It seems that most of

the argument is fanciful and has a disregard for scientific proof and the opinions of experts in the field.

In the end, according to Dr Mertz, “the only mystery is that people still consider [the pyramids] a

mystery”.

Downen 12

Works Cited

A Sign and a Witness. Schvoong Summaries and Short Reviews, 12 July 2005. 12 Mar. 2010. <http://www.shvoong.com/books/2047-sign-witness/>

Al-Qahira: Cairo. University of Texas. 22 Mar. 2010. <http://menic.utexas.edu/cairo/history/qahira/qahira.html>

Alexander, Todd. The Great Pyramid: Ancient Wonder Modern Mystery. Herald Magazine, 17 Mar. 2010. <http://www.heraldmag.org/olb/Contents/doctrine/gpawmm.htm>

Carroll, Robert T. The Skeptic's Dictionary. 11 Jan. 2010. 14 Mar. 2010. <http://skepdic.com/sitchin.html>

Colavito, Jason. "Who Built the Great Pyramids?" Lost Civilizations Uncovered. Ed. Jason Colavito. 21 Mar. 2010. <http://jcolavito.tripod.com/lostcivilizations/id10.html>

"E. Randall Floyd." Harbor House Books. Harbor House, 13 Mar. 2010. <http://www.harborhousebooks.com/authors/efloyd.shtml>

Freud, Sigmund. Civilization and Its Discontents. Standard ed. London: W.W. Norton, 1930.

Iffert, Matt. "Mark Lehner." EMuseum. Ed. David Gardner. Minnesota State University, 2002. 17 Mar. 2010. <http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/klmno/lehner_mark.html>

"Introduction to Pyramids." Egypt: Secrets of an Ancient World. National Geographic, 2009. 20 Mar. 2010. <http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pyramids/pyramids.html>

Maitland, Margaret. "Why the Aliens Did NOT Build the Pyramids." The Eloquent Peasant: An Egyptologyst's Blog About Everything Ancient Egyptian. Ed. Margaret Maitland. 24 Aug. 2007. 20 Mar. 2010. <http://www.eloquentpeasant.com/2007/08/24/why-the-aliens-did-not-build-the-pyramids/>

Pyramids: Who Built the Pyramids? Nova, 1997. 29 Mar. 2010. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/explore/builders.html>

“Zecharia Sitchin”, Mark Pilkington, Fortean Times, August 2003. <http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/199/zechariah_sitchin.html>