Ancient Skies

History

The Ancient Astronaut Society was founded in 1973 by Gene M. Phillips in Highland Park, Illinois. Phillips, an attorney by profession, was inspired by the work of Erich von Daniken, whose 1968 bestseller Chariots of the Gods? had introduced millions of readers to the hypothesis that extraterrestrial beings visited Earth in antiquity and influenced early human civilisations. Phillips wanted to create a serious scholarly society that could investigate these claims systematically, and he recruited researchers from archaeology, astronomy, history, and linguistics to the effort.

The society's bimonthly newsletter, Ancient Skies, launched in 1974 and ran for 25 years across 147 issues. It served simultaneously as a scholarly journal, a conference bulletin, and an organisational newsletter. Each issue typically contained research papers analysing specific archaeological sites or artefacts, field expedition reports, conference proceedings, and book reviews.

The research published in Ancient Skies ranged widely. Some contributors focused on the monumental architecture of the ancient world: the precision engineering of the Great Pyramid, the 800-ton stones at Baalbek, the geometrically perfect Nazca lines visible only from the air. Others worked on textual analysis, arguing that mythological and religious texts from Sumeria, India, and Mesoamerica described encounters with technologically advanced beings. Still others investigated anomalous artefacts: the Antikythera mechanism, the Piri Reis map, the so-called "out-of-place artefacts" that appeared to demonstrate knowledge or capability beyond their era.

The Ancient Astronaut Society rebranded as the Archaeology, Astronautics and SETI Research Association (AAS RA) in 1998 and continues in a reduced capacity. Gene Phillips died in 2001. The 147-issue newsletter archive represents the most complete record of organised ancient astronaut research during the hypothesis's peak decades of influence.