[narrator]
This ancient site,
located deep in the jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula.
Served as one of the most important city centers
of the Mayan Empire.
The Maya thrived between 2,000 BC
and 900 AD.
And they're celebrated
for having a vast knowledge of astronomy,
mathematics, writing, and architecture.
The Maya were one of the longest lasting
and most expansive civilizations
that our planet has ever known.
[Ed]
from the top of the Yucatan Peninsula in the Caribbean,
all the way down
to the Pacific coast of Guatemala,
it bled into what's now today Mexico,
and Honduras.
It was thought that the great city of Copan at one time,
covered an area like 10 square miles,
something like 20,000 people.
[Jonathan]
this incredible Mayan city was abandoned,
its people vanished.
And it was swallowed
by the jungle overgrowth.
[foreboding music playing]
[narrator]
include dozens of elaborately carved stone statues,
or stelae,
depicting Copan's semi-divine rulers.
These larger-than-life figures,
covered with hieroglyphic writings,
provide an intriguing account
of how ancient cultures revered the heavens.
[Giorgio]
where even the archaeologists agree
that the celestial realm was built on Earth.
In order to show, "as above, so below."
And in Copan, we have the in-between level
right there, laid out,
in this amazing archaeological structure.
[narrator]
Ancient astronaut theorist, Giorgio Tsuokalos
travels to Copan
to meet up with renowned Mayan archaeologist,
David Sedat,
who has been involved in the excavation of the site
for more than three decades.
[Giorgio] David.
Great pleasure to meet you.
[David] Looking forward to this.
I'm sure you have things you want to see.
[Giorgio] Yes, I do.
So, David, what are we looking at here?
Wel, this is the Great Plaza,
it's over a hundred meters,
a bit larger than a football field.
[David]
where the majority of the great standing stone giants
that you come to see are located.
[narrator]
are 15 of what are called stelae.
The most well-known of this
were built during the 36-year reign
of ruler Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil,
better known by the nickname 18 Rabbit.
[Giorgio]
I'm standing next to one of these.
Absolutely incredible.
[Giorgio]
about this particular statue or stelae here?
[David]
of the 13th ruler
whom we have nicknamed 18 Rabbit,
and they show him taking on the persona
of the high god of Copan, Chante Ajaw,
uh, who was a sky god,
uh, the supreme being.
The motifs on his headdress
and other attributes
show that he is a sky deity.
This is amazing to me,
because here, we have, not only...
a statue depicting something which is a picture,
a carved picture,
but on the sides, we have writing.
Glyphs carved, that speak of a sky deity.
Now, when I look at something like this,
I'm immediately reminded of misunderstood technology.
Because imagine...
if a people who are intelligent,
yet, their technological frame of reference
from a thousand, or 2,000 years ago
we have to admit, was primitive.
Not their intelligence.
Their technological frame of reference.
Of course, let me just add to that,
that everything shows
his connectedness, uh, of the cosmos
and this living space of mankind in all of its senses.
And by the way, I have seen that headdress right there
elsewhere on planet Earth.
[Giorgio]
where you have Enki...
and the goddess Ishtar,
with the exact or similar-type headdress.
And by the way,
Enki and Ishtar too, were sky gods.
So, you have these references of sky gods
not just here, not just in Mesopotamia,
but in each and every ancient culture,
regardless of continent.
[Giorgio]
leads me to think that it was
a flesh and blood extraterrestrial
whom our ancestors misinterpreted as being god.
Why? Because they came from the sky.
Arthur C. Clarke said it best when he said,
"Any sufficiently advanced technology
is indistinguishable from magic."
Imagine showing your great, great grandfather
your smartphone.
That's right. [chuckles]
All of a sudden, you've become
a magician, a wizard.
When we, uh...
uh, talk about technology,
I imagine someday in the future,
that the technology will be such,
that we'll be able to scan this stelae here.
[David]
that are inside the crystalline structure of the stone.
In other words, that these were great, uh,
memory chip banks.