Ancient Aliens season 12
release year: 2017
genre: TV documentary (16 episodes)
viewing setting: home streaming 3/8-__/23
synopsis: Aliens might have been involved in our world's history, as can be seen if you look at all the various potential evidence.
impressions: After a few months off, we're back into this show. As before, its creators have taken a simple concept (aliens visiting Earth in the past) and devised a seemingly-endless number of episodes tying that idea to damn near everything they could think of. An example quote from one of the show's masterminds: "Both possibilities, in my opinion, are possible."
This is mostly interesting material, although they often present it in a rapid-fire way that gives the viewer little to no time to consider what they just heard before the narrator zooms forward. One example this season involved the authenticity of a supposed secret government document: the expert doing the talking basically said "well here's the same logo that the government department used back then, so this is clearly real"...that's the logic of a child. That's like me holding up a counterfeit $100 bill and saying "this looks just like a real $100 bill, so therefore we know it's real." Uh, no, that's not the way it works. Another time, the crux of proving something contained the phrase "...in theory, must be..." which is inherently flawed. One more example - because I can't help but notice them - is what I call "the 12,000 year old trick" which simply means that some huge standing stones were dated to 12,000 years old, and then they immediately express their wonder that humans could have carved/moved/erected such stones 12,000 years ago. That didn't necessarily happen - all we've proven is that the STONES are that old. They could have been put there much more recently. The logic used is faulty. So I can see how this approach - unsubstantiated claims delivered at an overwhelmingly fast pace - could overwhelm weaker minds and make believers out of them. This method of bombarding the viewer faster than they can think about what they're hearing is blatant and often-used. And yet, a portion of what's said here really could be true, if you look at the evidence and think about it rationally. I would almost posit that the material could sometimes be more convincing if the talking heads presented it simply and rationally and let it speak for itself. Anyway...this 12th season had the following topics (the boldfaced ones were my favorites) :
episode 1: The Alien Hunters (this one episode is not on the streaming service that has the rest of them)
episode 2: dealt with various metallic objects that may have extraterrestrial origins
episode 3: dealt with various UFO encounters and cover-ups in England
episode 4: dealt with various ancient structures and their commonalities, and some valid mysteries about the location and dimensions of the Great Pyramid, and also revisits the previous topic of a possible series of ley lines and a power grid
episode 5: dealt with the mysteries of King Tut's tomb, and whether they might be related to the Knights Templar, the Ark of the Covenant, and Oak Island
episode 6: dealt with the idea that modern scientists and archaeologists should take more time to come to conclusions, and be more open-minded
episode 7: dealt with mercury, mica, electromagnetic fields, and the possibility that they could be examples of modern technology used in the ancient world
episode 8: dealt with the fact that there's no good explanation for how gigantic stones were used in ancient construction all over the world, and theorizes that sound waves might have been involved
episode 9: dealt with the MJ-12 files and other supposed UFO secrets, and their possible relation to various cover-ups and assassinations
episode 10: dealt with ways in which there might be a more universal "cloud" for our thoughts and knowledge
episode 11: dealt with various myths and legends fromm India that suggest advanced science thousands of years ago
episode 12: dealt with the importance of animals in mythology, and how they could be sent or used by aliens, or even be aliens themselves
episode 13: dealt with various concepts and theories of reincarnation
episode 14: dealt with monolithic stones and other oddities in Japan, and their possible link to aliens
episode 15: dealt with various disks presumed to have been made and left by aliens, and how they may be sources of data from elsewhere
episode 16: dealt with the Turkish site of stone pillars known as Gobekli Tepe
acting: The narration is strong and consistent, and the interviews are usually interesting and entertaining.
final word: Interesting finds and ideas, some of which could be true, depending on how one applies logic.
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