Wiktionary
n. (plural of ancient astronaut English)
Wikipedia
Ancient astronauts (or ancient aliens) is a pseudoscientific concept based on the belief that intelligent extraterrestrial beings visited Earth and made contact with humans in antiquity and prehistoric times. Proponents suggest that this contact influenced the development of modern cultures, technologies, and religions. A common claim is that deities from most, if not all, religions are actually extraterrestrial in origin, and that advanced technologies brought to Earth by ancient astronauts were interpreted as evidence of divine status by early humans.
Proponents in the latter half of the 20th century include Erich von Däniken, Giorgio Tsoukalos, Zecharia Sitchin, Robert Temple, David Icke, Peter Kolosimo, and Robert Charroux.
The idea that ancient astronauts actually existed is not taken seriously by academics, and has received no credible attention in peer reviewed studies. Ancient astronauts have been widely used as a plot device in science fiction.
Usage examples of "ancient astronauts".
That the ancient astronauts wore this symbol on their wrists adds credence to this view.
Likewise, the idea expressed by von Danniken and others that ancient astronauts erected airfields, employed rockets, and exploded nuclear weapons on Earth is implausible in the extreme, precisely because we ourselves have just developed this technology.
Archaeologists have ancient astronauts, forged runes and spurious statuary.
Or might it be, despite all the pretensions about UFOs and ancient astronauts, that our civilization has not yet been discovered?
Despite all the talk of unidentified flying objects and ancient astronauts, there is no serious evidence that we have been or are being visited.
There was even a theory that they had been visited by beings from outer space - ancient astronauts who brought them all for a ride they never returned from.
Although some would like to believe the lines represent prehistoric runways for ancient astronauts, we now know them to be astronomically aligned, marking the positions of the winter solstice, the equinox, the constellation Orion, and perhaps other heavenly bodies as yet unbeknownst to us.
She was not, as some people assumed, some nut come to dig up the graves of imaginary ancient astronauts from Atlantis or from beyond the stars or something.
The same with that ancient astronauts stuff back in the sixties and seventies, remember?
I've always been fascinated by matters paranormal, from ghosts and mummy's curses to ancient astronauts, telekinesis, and spirit photography, but I've never entertained any real belief in these things, and most sf readers and writers I've known have taken a similarly skeptical view.