I used to get quite a kick out of this series because I enjoyed the guests, the variegated sites, and, yes, the cinematography (if it can be called that). However, in the last two seasons, the show has degenerated to a point beyond ridiculousness.
First, let me say I have firsthand knowledge (indeed, direct experience) with scientists who have contributed to the show--in fact, appeared on the show--only to later protest that their opinions were grossly misrepresented. For nearly every piece of "evidence," various alternative explanations are available but simply are not presented. This is not what one would call balanced reporting. If we wish to make incredible claims, we must provide incredible proof.
But more upsetting is the steadily increasing dose of pseudoscience, of which I will provide three examples: the first arguably weaker, the second and third extremely strong. Some scientist is quoted as declaring that such-and-such site in Bosnia is a pyramid. My friends, not every topographic feature that is narrow at the top, wide at the bottom, and _vaguely_ quadrangular is a pyramid. More proof is required. Far more distressing are abject _lies_ that are presented. We are told that "the Washington Monument aligns with the constellation Orion." I cannot for the life of me determine how a _single_ vertical structure can "align" with any complex pattern. If the monument aligns with Orion, then it also aligns with every other constellation. We are also told that the ancient inscriptions on such slab or other amazingly provide the latitude and longitude of the site--far before human beings understood such concepts. This is an abject lie. For, "latitude" has some absolute meaning: the equator is fixed and its position crystal-clear, and one can make a stab at identifying a latitude in an ancient petroglyph. But, since the position of the prime meridian is _purely_ _arbitrary_, how could ancient aliens have taught some tribe the longitude of a site? Wait: let me guess: the aliens had knowledge of where--some time in the future--a British astronomer would stab his cane into the ground in Greenwich and say, "Let's put the prime meridian _here_." And I will only just mention in passing the host of "researchers" who throw around terms such as "energy force field," clearly understanding neither energy, nor force, nor fields.
Sorry, editors of "Ancient Aliens," but you really must control the nonsense factor if you want to have any chance of convincing those who actually understand science and mathematics--rather than groupies who are wowed every time someone makes a glib claim that the evidence patently fails to support.
I just signed on today (30 October 2013) after viewing the first twelve minutes of the episode "The Satan Conspiracy" and concluding, "Enough is enough already!" Not only have the producers absolutely, totally, unmitigatedly run out of material--choosing to identify any millimeter-wide glitch in a painting or pebble that looks like it has a one percent chance of having been "engineered" as ironclad evidence that aliens have visited. To make matters worse, the pseudo-science has risen to a level where even a schoolchild recognizes that random non-experts are proffering random verbiage about utter nonsense.
I've been recording this series for years. After deleting this episode, I updated all three of my DVRs, no longer to record the series. I've simply had it!
First, let me say I have firsthand knowledge (indeed, direct experience) with scientists who have contributed to the show--in fact, appeared on the show--only to later protest that their opinions were grossly misrepresented. For nearly every piece of "evidence," various alternative explanations are available but simply are not presented. This is not what one would call balanced reporting. If we wish to make incredible claims, we must provide incredible proof.
But more upsetting is the steadily increasing dose of pseudoscience, of which I will provide three examples: the first arguably weaker, the second and third extremely strong. Some scientist is quoted as declaring that such-and-such site in Bosnia is a pyramid. My friends, not every topographic feature that is narrow at the top, wide at the bottom, and _vaguely_ quadrangular is a pyramid. More proof is required. Far more distressing are abject _lies_ that are presented. We are told that "the Washington Monument aligns with the constellation Orion." I cannot for the life of me determine how a _single_ vertical structure can "align" with any complex pattern. If the monument aligns with Orion, then it also aligns with every other constellation. We are also told that the ancient inscriptions on such slab or other amazingly provide the latitude and longitude of the site--far before human beings understood such concepts. This is an abject lie. For, "latitude" has some absolute meaning: the equator is fixed and its position crystal-clear, and one can make a stab at identifying a latitude in an ancient petroglyph. But, since the position of the prime meridian is _purely_ _arbitrary_, how could ancient aliens have taught some tribe the longitude of a site? Wait: let me guess: the aliens had knowledge of where--some time in the future--a British astronomer would stab his cane into the ground in Greenwich and say, "Let's put the prime meridian _here_." And I will only just mention in passing the host of "researchers" who throw around terms such as "energy force field," clearly understanding neither energy, nor force, nor fields.
Sorry, editors of "Ancient Aliens," but you really must control the nonsense factor if you want to have any chance of convincing those who actually understand science and mathematics--rather than groupies who are wowed every time someone makes a glib claim that the evidence patently fails to support.
I just signed on today (30 October 2013) after viewing the first twelve minutes of the episode "The Satan Conspiracy" and concluding, "Enough is enough already!" Not only have the producers absolutely, totally, unmitigatedly run out of material--choosing to identify any millimeter-wide glitch in a painting or pebble that looks like it has a one percent chance of having been "engineered" as ironclad evidence that aliens have visited. To make matters worse, the pseudo-science has risen to a level where even a schoolchild recognizes that random non-experts are proffering random verbiage about utter nonsense.
I've been recording this series for years. After deleting this episode, I updated all three of my DVRs, no longer to record the series. I've simply had it!