Giorgio A. Tsoukalos talks about Ancient Aliens and the existence of life outside Earth

Giorgio, a little birdy (the internet) tells us you started out as a sports promoter. Can you tell us a bit more about you and how your path pivoted from that to the study of ancient aliens and ufology?

I've always had two loves in my life and that was professional bodybuilding and the ancient astronaut theory. In 1998, I graduated from college with a degree in Sports Information and Communication, and also co-founded the Archaeology, Astronautics and SETI Research Association (A.A.S.R.A) with Eric Von Däniken, a Swiss author famously known for his bestseller, Chariots of the Gods. After we cemented the partnership, I began publishing Legendary Times Magazine which is the official publication on the topic of ancient aliens and mysteries. At the time, I was also running professional bodybuilding contests, which paid the bills, but whenever I was deep in bodybuilding promotion, the magazine suffered and I couldn’t do both at the same time.

After my boss and mentor had been fired after 30 years in the promotional business, I had to decide whether to stick with the people who fired my boss or dedicate myself to the ancient astronauts.

So, I decided to do Legendary Times full time and then in 2008 there was a call from a production company called Prometheus Entertainment where I met director and producer Kevin Burns. A few months after working together on a documentary called Indiana Jones and The Ultimate Quest, Kevin rang me up and asked if I’d ever heard of Eric Von Daniken! He told me how he’d been inspired by the 1970s documentary film Chariots of the Gods and that he wanted to write a love letter to it, essentially 40 years later, to explain what happened with the ancient astronaut theory. And so it was a one-off 2-hour documentary that Kevin produced called Chariots, Gods and Beyond which was a huge hit on The History Channel. And as they say, the rest is history…channel!

You mentioned the Ancient Astronaut Theory. Would you mind explaining what this is exactly?

The Ancient Astronaut Theory tries to prove whether or not Earth has been visited in the ancient past by physical extraterrestrials, who imparted knowledge to our ancestors. Nothing is born out of a vacuum; you have to have some sort of an evolution in technology, an evolution in knowledge. For anyone that's serious about the topic, or even about archaeology, they should consider how, for example, ancient structures were built with huge stone blocks, some weighing over 1,750 metric tonnes. Even today, it can be done, but we use highly advanced technology like cranes and flatbed trucks to help us. And, as far as we know, our ancestors didn't have access to such machinery. And so the idea is that the very first structures were built by humans, but with the assistance and the engineering knowledge that was imparted to our ancestors worldwide by the so-called gods.

I’d also like to make it clear that the show has never stated these ancient structures were built by aliens. That’s just what the critics say!

In your opinion, what do you think the most compelling evidence is for the presence of ancient aliens?

Well clearly we don't have a crashed spaceship or a ray gun that's been found somewhere in a cave or anything like that! But it’s a combination of looking at ancient oral and written traditions and then realising that these origin stories of humanity not only happened on one continent or in one culture, but are the same worldwide. What the academics are saying is that these are just coincidences and our ancestors needed to do this in order to explain their place in nature which is why they came up with these stories. I personally think that’s insulting to the intelligence of our ancestors because they lived in nature; they knew what a rainstorm or a thunderstorm or fire was all about. They were very clear in stating that what they were witnessing was not nature. This is why they wrote it down and that's why they made sure to talk about it because it didn’t fit into the natural order of the world. And so here we are today, and to those who believe that the stories were made up, you have to consider where that initial spark of inspiration came from. I am searching for that spark from all these stories. Of course, stories and mythologies get embellished over time because we are great storytellers but I am after the core of truth.

Do you think they came to Earth in physical form?

Yes, however, there are multiple theories suggesting unmanned probes have been sent from different solar systems. For example, you have the idea of panspermia which suggests that the building blocks of life flowed through the universe, but then wherever these microorganisms landed, the conditions were not always favourable to the progression of life. But, for example, it worked on Earth and that would be a so-called panspermia.

Before 1996, we've always speculated about this idea that there might be earth-like planets outside of our solar system but now know we have at least over 5000 of these earth-like planets in existence. In my opinion, there are millions of Earth-like planets out there, and so if we want to evolve our DNA, we should send these probes to those earth-like planets where we could potentially survive and progress as a species.

Well Giorgio, in true Freesat style, we like to wrap up with a TV-related question. So please tell us, what would you say is one of your favourite things to watch?

Oh there’s too many! But I would recommend that everyone watch Resident Alien with Alan Tudyk and Sara Tomko. If you're into sci-fi and comedy, you'll laugh hysterically. It's one of the best produced shows out there.

UFO Week kickstarts from 8pm on Monday 25^th March until Sunday 31^st March on BLAZE (Freesat 162) where you can expect a whole host of otherworldly telly including Ancient Aliens which premieres on Thursday 28^th March at 9pm.