Buzz
A mysterious statue emerges in New England, adorned with hieroglyphs and featuring an unmistakably non-human figure. The inscriptions don’t correspond to any known language, yet this isn’t the first such artifact discovered. Decades ago, a similar statue was presented at the American Archaeological Society’s annual meeting, baffling experts who couldn’t pinpoint its origin or artistic style. When a third statue surfaces near an Australian island, scientists determine the stone isn’t terrestrial. Their findings lead to an inevitable conclusion: These artifacts were brought to Earth by extraterrestrials in the distant past.
While the above narrative is entirely fictional, it may sound familiar to fans of the History Channel. The storyline closely mirrors the themes explored in Ancient Aliens, a series that presents itself as a documentary investigating the theory that extraterrestrials have influenced human history for thousands of years, leaving behind enigmatic structures like pyramids and stone circles. However, this isn’t a summary of Ancient Aliens—it’s the plot of H.P. Lovecraft’s 1928 short story, “The Call of Cthulhu.” The parallels between Lovecraft’s imaginative tales and the theories promoted by Ancient Aliens are far from coincidental.
A 2018 survey revealed that 41 percent of Americans believe extraterrestrials visited Earth in ancient times, which may explain the enduring popularity of Ancient Aliens. The show has aired for over a decade, captivating audiences since Erich von Däniken’s 1968 book, Chariots of the Gods?, first introduced the ancient alien theory to mainstream culture. The notion that prehistoric relics might hold clues to extraterrestrial contact has deeply embedded itself in modern thought. From memes comparing Egyptian and Mesoamerican pyramids to sci-fi films suggesting the Maya calendar predicts apocalyptic events, these ideas persist. However, as Jason Colavito, author of The Cult of Alien Gods: H.P. Lovecraft And Extraterrestrial Pop Culture, points out, these theories owe their origins to Lovecraft’s imaginative works.
Extraterrestrial Influence
While Erich von Däniken is often credited with popularizing the modern fascination with ancient aliens through his bestselling books and role as a consulting producer on Ancient Aliens, he wasn’t the originator of the concept. Von Däniken drew significant inspiration from earlier writers Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier, who allegedly accused him of plagiarism. As Jason Colavito notes in
Lovecraft’s tales of extraterrestrial deities visiting Earth are purely fictional, crafted as part of his elaborate mythos. Despite his meticulous world-building, he never intended for readers to believe his stories were real. In a 1934 letter to a friend, he wrote, “We never try to pass it off as a genuine hoax; we always clarify to anyone asking that it’s entirely fictional.” He even expressed guilt when hearing about people searching libraries for his fictional Necronomicon, knowing they were wasting their time.
Pauwels and Bergier, though aware of Lovecraft’s work, seemed to overlook his disclaimers. In their 1960 book, The Morning of the Magicians, they presented Lovecraft’s themes as factual, speculating about topics like the true origins of the Egyptian pyramids, ancient maps seemingly drawn from space, and advanced technology in antiquity. Bergier even suggested in Extraterrestrial Visitations from Prehistoric Times to the Present that Lovecraft’s myths might hold some truth, especially once unexplored regions like the Empty Quarter were fully investigated.
Von Däniken and the History Channel brought these ideas to a broader audience, with many Ancient Aliens episodes echoing Lovecraft’s fiction. For instance, Lovecraft’s story “Imprisoned with the Pharaohs” suggests the Sphinx represents an alien creature, a claim repeated in the Ancient Aliens episode “Mysteries of the Sphinx.” Similarly, Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness” depicts ancient alien ruins in Antarctica, a theme mirrored in the episodes “Pyramids of Antarctica” and “Return to Antarctica.” Lovecraft’s recurring idea that ancient gods were extraterrestrials, seen in works like “Dagon” and “The Call of Cthulhu,” is a staple of nearly every Ancient Aliens episode.
Lovecraft and the Concept of 'The Other'
Lovecraft is renowned not only for his Cthulhu mythos but also for his extreme racism, which deeply influenced his worldview and writing. In “The Call of Cthulhu,” for instance, he describes Cthulhu’s followers as “mixed-blooded, mentally aberrant hybrids” and labels others as “foreign mongrels” and “swarthy cult-fiends,” portraying them as inherently vile and deserving of destruction.
Many of Lovecraft’s stories follow a recurring theme: a white Anglo-Saxon protagonist is undone by encountering the Other—an entity defined by its alien and terrifying difference. In “The Horror at Red Hook,” the Other is represented by “dark religions predating Aryan civilization.” In “The Shadow Over Innsmouth,” the narrative metaphorically critiques interracial relationships through a tale of half-human, half-fish creatures. Even in “The Colour Out of Space,” the Other manifests as an unnatural, otherworldly hue, described as a “diseased, alien tone” defying earthly color spectrums.
Regardless of its form, the Other in Lovecraft’s work is always an external, corrupting force threatening white civilization. His stories reframe xenophobia as science fiction, portraying difference as inherently dangerous.
The Eurocentric Bias of Ancient Aliens
When von Däniken, Pauwels, and Bergier drew from Lovecraft’s ideas, they inadvertently perpetuated a Eurocentric bias. Ancient alien theorists seldom highlight European achievements like Gothic cathedrals or the Colosseum. Archaeologist Kenneth Feder’s analysis revealed that only 4 percent of von Däniken’s examples in Chariots of the Gods? were European. This implies that, according to ancient alien theories, non-white civilizations were incapable of monumental achievements without extraterrestrial intervention. As Julien Benoit of the University of Witwatersrand notes in The Conversation, these theories reinforce the racist assumption that only white Europeans could accomplish such feats as building the pyramids.
Fortunately, there’s growing awareness about the racist underpinnings of Ancient Aliens. Critics have dissected the show episode by episode, and the hashtag CancelAncientAliens has gained traction on Twitter as archaeologists, writers, and others highlight the show’s inaccuracies. The truth is, there’s no mystery to unravel. Archaeological evidence clearly shows that Black and brown civilizations were fully capable of constructing the pyramids, Machu Picchu, and developing the Maya calendar without extraterrestrial help.
The ancient aliens theory hinges on the flawed assumption that early humans were too primitive or incapable of such accomplishments, leading to the belief that aliens must have been involved. This narrative consistently undermines the ingenuity and capabilities of our ancestors, and it’s time to reject the idea that their achievements required otherworldly intervention.
To explore the connection between H.P. Lovecraft and Ancient Aliens, read Jason Colavito’s book, The Cult of Alien Gods: H.P. Lovecraft And Extraterrestrial Pop Culture, and visit his website, JasonColavito.com.
