[[UPDATE: Talk about good timing! I guess the person who wrote this article, dated today, does need Columbo; –MSH]]
I’m hoping my reference to the venerable TV detective doesn’t date me too much here!
Way back in 2009 I wrote the only post on this blog about the so-called “Sirius Mystery.” This mystery has to do with how a primitive African tribe, the Dogon, had advanced knowledge of a system of stars that make up what we see with the naked eye as one star — Sirius. My post was brief, directing readers’ attention to another brief, but well done, post on the Bad Archaeology website devoted to the subject, as well as two articles on how the Dogon could have visually seen “beyond” the single star Sirius. (After all, that is the issue — how did they know that naked eye Sirius is actually a cluster of stars?) It doesn’t take much imagination to discern that this is serious (pardon the pun) fodder for ancient astronaut believers.
It’s time to revisit the “Sirius Mystery” in a bit more detail. There has been some additional recent work on the subject by anthropologists to which I want to draw your attention. But to make it easier to follow, let’s start at the beginning.
The Dogon and Sirius
The Bad Archaeology page on the Sirius Mystery has summarize the basic details well:
In 1976, Robert K G Temple (born 1945), an American living in the UK, published what was to become a seminal work of Bad Archaeology, The Sirius Mystery. A revised edition was published in 1998 with the new subtitle New scientific evidence of alien contact 5,000 years ago…. Temple begins with the work of Marcel Griaule (1898-1956) and Germaine Dieterlen (1903-1999), a pair of French anthropologists who worked in what is now Mali from 1931 to 1956. They reported an apparently anomalous knowledge of astronomy that formed part of the traditional lore of the Dogon, a people of the central plateau of Mali. This knowledge is alleged to include accounts of the rings of Saturn, the presence of four moons orbiting Jupiter and, most surprisingly of all, an account of two companions of the star Sirius. Griaule first published this data in Dieu d’eau (‘God of Water’, 1948), in which he records his conversations with a blind hunter, Ogotemmêli, who claimed to have extensive knowledge of Dogon lore, much of which was restricted to certain tribal elders. Griaule and Dieterlen were able to synthesise the cosmogony from Ogotemmêli’s statements. Temple was most impressed by the Dogon belief in a complex system of stars making up what we see as the single star, Sirius. This is the brightest star in our skies and, according to the Dogon, as reported by Griaule and Dieterlen, is actually a bright star with several smaller (even ‘invisible’) companions. Focusing especially on a representation of the system drawn by Ogotemmêli (who, it must be remembered, was blind), Temple recognised the highly elliptical orbit of Sirius B, a white dwarf first photographed in 1970, around the principal star of the system, Sirius A. Moreover, Temple found reference to a third component of the system, dubbed Sirius C by the astronomers who accepted its existence (its existence had been suggested but never observed). According to the Dogon, this knowledge had been imparted by the Nommo, fish-like water spirits, in the distant past.
From this information, Temple goes on to theorize that the “fish-like water spirits” were extraterrestrials. He finds proof for his notion from the Babylonian writer Berosssus who wrote of a hybrid fish-man who “emerged from the Persian Gulf to teach humanity various arts of civilisation. This creature is thought to be the Uan (or Uanna) of Babylonian myth, sometimes identified with Adapa, the equally mythical first king of Eridu, also identified by some with Atrahasis, the hero of the Babylonian version of the flood legend.” (Bad Archaeology)
While this string of non-sequiturs on the ancient Mesopotamian material is interesting enough, I want to stick to the item that started Temple down this rabbit hole: the Dogon knowledge of Sirius.
Recent Work on the Dogon and Sirius: 1980s and 1990s
In my earlier post on this subject, I linked readers to two essays from the book Blacks in Science: Ancient & Modern (Journal of African Civilizations), by Ivan Van Sertima (Transaction Publishers, 1983). The first essay speculated about whether the Dogon may have had a primitive optical instrument and, more importantly, how early Chinese records indicated that astronomers had been able to make naked eye observations of one of Jupiter’s moons. Another example came from an 1852 letter from a missionary who documented the same observation. Further, under optimal conditions, people in contemporary times with good visual acuity can see two galaxies (M31, the Andromeda) and M33 (a spiral galaxy in the constellation Triangulum) with the naked eye. These examples are concrete, secure parallels to the Dogon knowledge of the Sirius cluster. No aliens needed. The article went on to discuss techniques used by ancients for making such observations (called “dark eye” techniques). The second essay discusses how the Dogon may have been able to see Sirius B, a star in the cluster that, due to its high magnitude, should not be viewable to the naked eye. Collectively, these essays show there is no reason to suspect that a member of the ancient Dogon tribe, or others at any other place on the globe, thousands of years ago, could not see these things. This undermines the entire premise of Temple and his Sirius Mystery.
The Bad Archaeology site notes:
… by the time Temple had published the second edition of The Sirius Mystery in 1998, the whole question of the Dogon’s apparently inexplicable knowledge of Sirius had been blown apart. No-one had questioned Griaule and Dieterlen’s findings until the early 1990s. And this is where the problems for the hypothesis began. In 1991, the anthropologist Walter van Beek undertook fieldwork among the Dogon, hoping to find evidence for their knowledge of Sirius. As the earlier authors had indicated that aorund 15% of the adult males were initiated into the Sirius lore, this ought to have been a relatively easy task. However, van Beek was unable to find anyone who knew about Sirius B. As ought to have been obvious from the outset, Griaule and Dieterlen’s reliance on a single informant – Ogotemmêli – severely compromises the validity of their data. But it gets worse. The Dogon themselves do not agree that Sigu tolo is Sirius: it is the bright star that appears to announce the beginning of a festival (sigu), which some identify with Venus, while others claim it is invisible. To polo is not Sirius B, as it sometimes approaches Sigu tolo, making it brighter, while it is sometimes more distant, when it appears as a group of twinkling stars (which sounds like a description of the Pleiades). All in all, the ‘inexplicable’ astronomical knowledge turns out to be too confused to bear the interpretation put on it by Griaule and Dieterlen.
The research of van Beek (and co-authors) alluded to above can be found in this 1991 article:
Walter E. A. van Beek, R. M. A. Bedaux, Suzanne Preston Blier, Jacky Bouju, PeterIan Crawford, Mary Douglas, Paul Lane, Claude Meillassoux, “The Dogon Restudied: A Field Evaluation of the Work of Marcel Griaule [and Comments and Replies],” Current Anthropology Vol. 32, No. 2 (Apr., 1991), pp. 139-167
The abstract of the article notes:
“This restudy of the Dogon of Mali asks whether the texts produced by Marcel Griaule depict a society that is recognizable to the re- searcher and to the Dogon today and answers the question more or less in the negative. The picture of Dogon religion presented in Dieu d’eau and Le renard pale proved impossible to replicate in the field, even as the shadowy remnant of a largely forgotten past. The reasons for this, it is suggested, lie in the particular field situation of Griaule’s research, including features of the ethnographer’s approach, the political setting, the experience and predilections of the informants, and the values of Dogon culture.”
Note: In what follows, van Beek uses the following abbreviations for books written by Griaule on the Dogon:
DE = In Dieu d’eau: Entretiens avec Ogotemmeli [“God of Water: Conversations with Ogotemmeli”] (Griaule 1948, hereafter DE); this is the book that made Griaule world-famous. It was published before his collaboration with Dieterlen — the next book:
RP = Le renard pale [“The Pale Fox”] (Griaule and Dieterlen I965, hereafter RP); this book is the one referred to by Bad Archaeology. It is the one that contains most of the material about Sirius and the Dogon.
I recommend the article to readers, as it has a very good summary of Dogon cosmology (pp. 140-141, 148-151), drawing on DE and RP, and the fact that the cosmological recounting of the single informant of Griaule and Dieterlen (Ogotemmêli) differs from all other Dogon accounts. This means that, among other issues, the source upon which Robert Temple based his ancient astronaut speculations are quite idiosyncratic, as the Bad Archaeology site noted. Van Beek goes even further than that, though. Quoting from his re-study, Van Beek notes that the views of Ogotemmêli are simply not recognizable to those leaders he talked to (p. 148) and “that Sirius is a double star is unknown; astronomy is of very little importance in religion. Dogon society has no initiatory secrets beyond the complete mastery of publicly known texts . . . The water spirit Nommo is not a central figure in Dogon thought and has none of the characteristics of a creator or a redeemer … Cosmological symbolism is not the basis of any Dogon cultural institutions . . . Confronted with parts of the stories provided by Ogotemmeli or given in the Renard pale, my informants emphatically state that they have never heard of them.” (p. 148)
On page 149 van Beek adds:
Is Sirius a double star? The ethnographic facts are quite straightforward. The Dogon, of course, know Sirius as a star (it is after all the brightest in the sky), calling it dana tolo, the hunter’s star (the game and the dogs are represented by Orion’s belt). Knowledge of the stars is not important either in daily life or in ritual. The position of the sun and the phases of the moon are more pertinent for Dogon reckoning. No Dogon outside the circle of Griaule’s informants had ever heard of sigu tolo or p6 tolo, nor had any Dogon even heard of eme ya tolo (according to Griaule in RP Dogon names for Sirius and its star companions). Most important, no one, even within the circle of Griaule informants, had ever heard or understood that Sirius was a double star (or, according to RP, even a triple one, with B and C orbiting A). Consequently, the purported knowledge of the mass of Sirius B or the orbiting time was absent. The scheduling of the sigu ritual is done in several ways in Yugo Doguru, none of which has to do with the stars.” (pp. 149-150)
In a nutshell, the foundation of Robert Temple’s Sirius Mystery (and the nonsense that has accrued to it since its publication) consists of three conversations with one Dogon tribesman, whose ideas differ from all subsequent Dogon elders interviewed to date. (And then there are the flaws in what Temple does with this idiosyncratic musings). Nice. A word like “flimsy” doesn’t begin to tell the story.
Contemporary Work on the Dogon: 2004
In 2004 Dr. van Beek published an essay in a scholarly journal that is, in essence, a retrospect of his work on Griaule of 1991 and the Sirius silliness:
Walter E. A. van Beek, “Haunting Griaule: Experiences from the Restudy of the Dogon,” History in Africa 31 (2004), pp. 43-68
Van Beek begins the article whimsically:
“It really was a chance occasion, just before Christmas 2003. On my way to the Dogon area I had greeted my friends in Sangha, and was speaking with a Dutch friend, when a French tourist lady suddenly barged into the hall of the hotel and asked me: “There should be a cav- ern with a mural depicting Sirius and the position of all the planets. I saw it in a book. Where is it?”. My friend smiled wrily, amused by the irony of situation: by chance the lady had fallen upon the one who had spent decennia to disprove this kind of “information”. “In what book?” I asked, and named a few. It was none of these, and she could not tell me. Cautiously (maybe she had planned her whole trip around this Sirius “experience”) I explained to her that though there was a lot to see, this particular mural did not exist. She left immediately, proba- bly convinced she stumbled on a real ignoramus.”
I wonder what book the lady had read (!)
Van Beek’s essay tells the reader how his decades-long interest in the Dogon began (it had nothing to do with Griaule) and how that interest drew him into pop (cult, fringe) archeology and anthropology. It’s an interesting, light read for the most part. Some excerpts are worth citing for our purposes here:
But at the time-we are writing 1979 for the start of my own field- work-the Griaule ethnography had already come under criticism. The most severe came from a Belgian dissertation by Dirk Lettens, defended at Nijmegen University under Albert Trouwborst (Lettens 1971). Later, after the publication of my Current Anthropology article, Trouwborst-with whom I shared many interuniversity committees, as well as the board of the Dutch Africanist Association-confided me that at the time he thought Lettens overly critical: surely it could not have been that bad. But Lettens was right on target. His title, Mythagogie et Mystification, still is unsurpassed as a characterization of Griaule’s post-1948 writings. Although criticism was given in many countries, (Saccone 1984), the discussion through David Tait (1950), Mary Douglas (1967, 1968) and eventually James Clifford (1983) was to be much more influential. (p. 48)
One wonders why Robert Temple’s work on the “Sirius Mystery” fails to interact with these criticisms of Griaule. Simply put, that isn’t how scholarship is done.
Van Beek continues:
All these discussions, however, were based on secondary sources. It was astonishing how little genuine fieldwork had been done after Griaule’s untimely death in 1956. The publication of Le Renard pale was clearly the outcome of his own work, finished by Germaine Dieterlen. She was still publishing, wholly within his tradition. The same holds for the only other major publication based on field data, the work of Genevieve Calame-Griaule, his daughter. She published a major study on Dogon language cum culture, in which she combined her father’s approach with the results of her own linguistic research. . . . The problem started with what is still the best known publication of Griaule, his small book describing his talks with a blind Dogon elder Ogotemmelli, under the title Dieu d’eau (Griaule 1948) (=DE above), translated in English under its French subtitle: Conversations with Ogotemmelli. . . . The book was a tremendous success and was translated into over twenty languages. (p. 49)
Griaule’s ethnography proved to be incoherent. Griaule’s later publications, which incidentally never could match his first success nor receive the wide circulation and renown of Ogotemmelli, depicted yet another Dogon culture. The posthumously published Le Renard pale (Griaule/Dieterlen 1956) and the articles leading up to it (Griaule 1954, Griaule/Dieterlen 1950) came up with even “deeper” myths, systems of classification, and a totally different creation story, at least with a totally different construction of the myth. These two sets of creation myths, of 1948 and 1956, are totally incon- sistent with each other … (p. 50)
Renard pale (= RP above) picked up one major following, somewhat to the embarrassment of Dieterlen. One of its spectacular “findings” had to do with astronomy. The Dogon ritual calendar allegedly was dominat- ed by a star system, that of Sirius, the main star in the constellation of Canis Major. The message of the book was that Sirius had a small white dwarf companion, Sirius B, whose revolving time punctuated the long-term rhythm of Dogon ritual life, such as the famous sigi cycle. An even smaller companion (the presumed Sirius C) then circled Sirius B. The notion of Sirius as a double star is an astronomical fact (though Sirius C is not known and has never been observed). But then, how did the Dogon know this? The naked eye cannot detect the white dwarf. The most extended treatment of this problem was given by Robert Temple in a book that has long haunted popular astronomy, The Sirius Mystery, published in 1976, (reprinted in 1999). Temple took the Dogon data as unvarnished truth and questioned how this knowledge arrived at the Bandiagara cliff. He found the answers in Egypt, and thus became a kind of trailblazer for a whole generation of authors who were even less restrained. For those convinced of extra-terrestrial visits to the planet Earth, an idea very much in vogue during the late seventies … “Cosmonautologists” like von Diniken [sic], Guerrier (1975) and many others of their ilk had a field day with this material and the Dogon enigma quickly became established as one of the pillars in their empir- ical grounding of the “flying saucer vision” and extraterrestrial inter- pretations of the pyramids. In their reasoning the implications of the Dogon “facts” were clear: there was no way the Dogon without any astronomical instruments could know these exotic facts. Definitely this implied that they must have been taught these astronomical lessons by extraterrestrials. Thus, the Dogon notion of Sirius B (C was conve- niently forgotten) came on a par with the riddles of the Gizeh pyra- mids, the Nazca lines and Stonehenge. (pp. 50-51)
The article has a good deal else. I especially like the part where, after years spent becoming accepted by the Dogon, he began to carefully expose them to the ideas that Griaule had “learned” from Ogotemmelli, only to have his Dogon friends burst out laughing! One of the major services is van Beek’s lengthy descriptions (with illustrations) of how Griaule came to create the myths of the Dogon himself (which were uncritically absorbed by Temple and passed on to the populace in his book). Basically, there was a good amount of cultural mis-communication. Van Beek relates several anecdotes you can read for yourself, but his own epiphany in this regard is worth quoting here:
Recently, in her excellent study of Dogon masks, Anne Doquet has zoomed in on one aspect I rather neglected, i.e. the conversations with Ogotemmelli themselves, and the fieldwork genesis of the first “Griaulian myths” (Doquet 1999:90-91). Analyzing Griaule’s field notes in detail from microfiches, she noticed the two-fold influence Griaule had exerted on the material he collected with the old man. This period, from 20 October 1946 to 2 December 1946, marked his famous conversations. The field notes are a haphazard collection of ref- erences to Dogon symbols and pieces of mythology, a veritable bricolage of odds and ends, without coherence or internal consistency. However, the book gives an account of a series of systematic revela- tions, each startling myth and intricate symbol tying in nicely with the great revelations of the former day, and logically leading to the revela- tions yet to come. Recently, in her excellent study of Dogon masks, Anne Doquet has zoomed in on one aspect I rather neglected, i.e. the conversations with Ogotemmelli themselves, and the fieldwork genesis of the first “Griaulian myths” (Doquet 1999:90-91). Analyzing Griaule’s field notes in detail from microfiches, she noticed the two-fold influence Griaule had exerted on the material he collected with the old man. This period, from 20 October 1946 to 2 December 1946, marked his famous conversations. The field notes are a haphazard collection of ref- erences to Dogon symbols and pieces of mythology, a veritable brico- lage of odds and ends, without coherence or internal consistency. However, the book gives an account of a series of systematic revela- tions, each startling myth and intricate symbol tying in nicely with the great revelations of the former day, and logically leading to the revela- tions yet to come. (p. 59)
Van Beek’s account of how his 1991 critique of Griaule and his co-author Dieterlen was received — by Dieterlen herself — is also of interest:
Before submitting it to the editor, I decided to give Dieterlen a chance at first reaction. She read English only with difficulty, as I knew, so I translated the article into French, sent her a copy, and made an appointment. When I arrived at her apartment in Paris, she received me as gracefully as ever. She had been expecting a publication for some time, and appreciated my effort to give her the chance at a first reaction and my effort at making a (passable) French version. She had also admired the French version of the Time-Life book (Pern/Alexander/van Beek 1982) I had sent her some time before. In that publication I had avoided the question of Griaulian validity, as a book for the general public should not be burdened with a detailed academic debate. I braced myself for a long critique, but she had just one question: “Pourqois le publier?” Only that, why publish? She had no answer to my arguments, in fact during our two-hour conversation that followed she never ventured into the content of the article at all, but just pleaded not to publish it. It was, evidently, also the most difficult question to answer, and one I had been reflecting on very long. I answered, truth- fully I think, that publishing is the very soul of science, and that debate is the way to proceed in getting closer to the truth. She had no comments on that, but instead started reminiscing on the past. (pp. 62-63; emphasis mine – MSH)
Think about that. The only other person alive who could rebut van Beek’s criticisms of the Dogon “knowledge” had nothing to say in rebuttal, even in private. All she wanted was for the criticisms not to be published.
How telling.
How Lovecraftian! So darn cool it just HAS to be true!
funny
Why does this Dogon hoax sound so much like Margaret Mead’s Coming of Age in Samoa, collection techniques in the 1920s? Just like the Dogon hoax, it was impossible to replicate the segment culture documented by Mead. According to Freeman, one of her few major subjects even recanted in the 1980s.
The answer may lie in the need for fantasy and the fantastic, which is fine for a fiction writer, but not so great for cultural anthropologist. It’s odd how consistently basic scientific method is ignored in the name of agenda or fame.
good question
your wrong, out here to try and guide us in the direction furthest from the truth in order to keeo secrets hidden… SITCHIN IS RIGHT
wow – this is a powerful, data-driven argument. Just what I expect from Sitchin defenders.
http://www.robert-temple.com/papers/Sirius-AnswerCritics.pdf
Sorry, your post is not consistant with much of the previous research conducted.
One example is that you fail to mention that Temple took on the task of bringing together decades old independent anthropology writings, most that were filed and unread for decades themselves, and quoted them. You like so many others are mixing the sources.
There have been many respected persons and groups look into this subject. Astro-science related sites claim that you are dead wrong that anyone from this time period could have remotely predicted later scientific descoveries.
But, we know that in general the science are quick to call anything outside the community approved textbook a hoax. Since most science is funded by government institutions the “truth” can be political an somewhat factual. Anyone that gets off the political correctness path is automatically denied promotions and basically burned at the stake.
I don’t pretend to have an answer to this very interesting and complex issue.
That said, your explanation of this being a Hoax is no different than past “experts” refusing to beleive their own eyes and physical experience.
Like this creature: The surgeon Robert Knox later explained that because the specimens arrived in England via the Indian Ocean, naturalists suspected that Chinese sailors, who were well known for their skill at stitching together hybrid creatures, might have been playing some kind of joke upon them. (See the Feejee Mermaid hoax.) “Aware of the monstrous impostures which the artful Chinese had so frequently practised on European adventurers,” Knox noted, “the scientific felt inclined to class this rare production of nature with eastern mermaids and other works of art.” Later as the scientific community watched live ones swimming in London, they still refused to dismiss the hoax!
This was absolutely not a data-driven argument.
It is tough researching this idea. On one side are all the crazy spirit nuts and on the other side are the self-proclaimed high-priest of closed minded science.
uh, so please provide us all with this research. I;ll bet NONE of it was peer reviewed. How about a Starbucks gift certificate bet on that?
I thought this argument was finished years ago? Sitchin is wrong. Great site, most of the data matches up with my own research. Love it!
You’re welcome – do you have a website I can share with readers?
Hey MSH, IDK if you’ve been to UM (unexplained-mysteries) before, but we have an army of people, who respect your research on Sitchin, etc. Our site would be a great place to post some of your research. We have been trying to educate the general public because, of shows like Ancient Aliens and because, of millions of pseudoscience books available.
MSH, I’m assuming you’re M. Heiser. I can only imagine the amount of criticism you get!
yes, MSH = Mike Heiser. Feel free to link to whatever posts you want to (if that is what you mean in the comment) and to sitchiniswrong.com. If you mean something else, contact me by email.
Read the comments and you’ll get an idea of the vitriol. But I have deleted 3-4 comments due to extreme profanities (I may have missed some, but I don’t want to waste too much time looking). I get more of that sort of stuff in email. Google filters are SO handy.
Thanks for the reply MSH!
I was inviting you to UM (unexplained-mysteries.com/forum). There’s well-rounded people who have had great feedback on your research. If you don’t have time, that’s understandable. We have an Alternative History section, which gets tons of traffic.
I deal with the same sitchin believers, everyday. I know how you feel. It was actually the AAT that got me looking into history, from actual historians! lol Keep up the good work! It would be nice to see you debate Daniken on TV!! I would love it! Take it easy.
thanks, but I just have time to participate on forums. But thanks!
Hey, M. Hessier, thanks!—I referenced you in a research paper I just wrote in my astronomy course this week.
(Heiser) – you’re welcome.
this just to keep the blood suckin jews in power.
what a winner this reply is!
I appreciate your scholarship your clearly stated point of view, which is to defend the Bible and all that you believe comes with it. I’m not such a scholar, but I am a researcher. I don’t buy the modern interpretation of the Christian story. The whole human origin dilemma is a huge subject that no one person can ever fully comprehend. We must broaden our research to include all points of view, and use a multi-discipline approach, ask questions and get facts, without a bias either way. The truth may be shocking. Ancient teachings that you almost certainly have not heard of state that our sun is involved with Sirius in a binary system, and that star is also involved in a much larger celestial circulation. The Dogon most likely actually saw sirius B when it was closer, thousands of years ago. naturally their teachings have decayed since then, so all we have left are strange concepts. The “fish people” may well refer to an astrological sign. and the Sirius B orbit of 50 years makes an excellent timekeeping mechanism, IF you can see it, which apparently they could, at least long ago.
You’re assuming a lot here. What the heck is the “modern interpretation” of the Christian story? What does “modern” mean anyway? (post – Renaissance?). I don’t care for denomination positions across the board, so I wouldn’t care for “modern interpretations” either, despite the vagueness of your wording.
The fact of the Dogon stuff is quite evident; it’s made up. Temple has ONE (count him) African folk-teller guy whose views his own kinsman thought wacky. That has ZERO to do with the Bible (ancient or modern). Nice evidence.
so the Epic of Gilgamesh is not real ?
it’s a real piece of literature (that isn’t about aliens). In other words, only the interpretation about aliens is a crock.
Place two books side-by-side and ask which one will sell the most copies? The first is a well-researched scientific and academic study of all known existing Sumerian texts with a basic summary of their content. The second is an exciting explanation of “hidden” tablets that reveal information mainstream scientists ignore because of shocking truths they are afraid to admit. The answer is obvious. Why? Truth is boring and fantasy is exciting. It is a shame, but it is reality. I contend that many people have a longing to be “in the know” and to have access to what they believe to be hidden knowledge. It makes them feel special and important. This is one of the dynamics involved in debates over the ancient astronaut and Sitchin theories. When I was young and naive I read with great interest something about some kind of grand politico-religious conspiracy and wrote to the author for more information and available evidence. The response I received woke me up because they stated that not only did they have no evidence for their claims but that in their view the lack of evidence was the very proof they were correct in their conjectures. People are not well informed of scientific method and therefore easily swayed by someone who appears on TV or writes a book using all of these previous themes: lack of evidence IS the evidence; most academics are part of a grand hierarchy and cannot be trusted; something important has been hidden from the public, etc… There are people who will argue Sitchin theories with you until they are red-faced fully convinced he was right despite the complete and utter lack of evidence. It was made up out of thin air, but they won’t accept it. It’s a psychological blockage. It makes me wonder how easily it would have been for George Lucas to write Star Wars as a “hidden truth” and how many today would stand by it as real. There is an old adage which says “people prefer to be humbugged”, and how true it has proven to be.
“truth is boring and fantasy is exciting” – yeah, I’ve lived that one, and still do.
This is a prize-winning comment; it provides insights that I can vouch for as to how the “alternative reality / history” brokerage really works. The dirty little secret Sitchinites don’t know is that insiders on several radio and internet shows they listen to that promote all this think what he says is bogus just like me (some of them think even worse, but I tend to think Sitchin wasn’t a “new world order operative” or “alien in disguise” – !). I know because I’ve been on all the shows, and conversations do happen before show time and between breaks. It’s about entertainment, not information (and especially not about “truth”).
so you claim these “shows” you participate in are for “entertainment”? yet youre attempting to get the “truth” out there about sitchin (youre obviously obsessed with the man, you cant ever stop bringing him up)? why would anyone take anything you say serious when you claim to take part in shows that are for(in your very own words) entertainment? poor misguided soul, i bet king james would be very proud of you.
yep; one show every 15 months on Sitchin (and at Coast’s request to boot). Yep, that’s an obsession all right.
I don’t believe in the ancient aliens theory, but I do wonder how the ancients were able to build some of these megalithic stone structures. To say aliens helped the ancients is to take credit away from human ingenuity and intelligence. We may not fully understand how they did it, but to say aliens helped them? come on, where’s the proof?
There’s a lot on this blog about this; check out the archives.
Having just slogged through “the Sirius Mystery,” I must agree that the reasoning is highly tendentious and often borders on “non-sequitur.” Nevertheless, the criticism presented here is also suspect; to state that there have been naked eye observations of one of Jupiter’s moons and of two galaxies and then to leap to the conclusion that Sirius-B can be seen with the naked eye is itself a perfect non-sequitur and perfect nonsense. Anyone with reasonable vision, outside city limits, can make out the blur of the Andromeda galaxy in peripheral vision. A cheap pair of binoculars will reveal the four Galilean moons of Jupiter. Sirius-B, by contrast, was first photographed in 1970 using one of the world’s most powerful telescopes. One might as well claim that the naked eye could distinguish a candle flame on a distant mountain top from the sun rising behind it.
I am prepared to accept that the Dogon might not have the knowledge of Sirius some claim. But if it can be conclusively shown that some peoples, currently or historically, have had indigenous traditions that do reveal pre-contact knowledge of a white dwarf orbiting Sirius, the mystery must be said to remain, however much we might scoff at Temple et al.’s flights of fancy.
Hello all, just want to say I am a Maori by descent I remember my grandfather telling me do not let the white man tell you your history, we have have been here Aotearoa (New Zealand) for over 3 thousand yrs and also there were 3 other races of people, they were red heads (pale people) fairy people (robust dwarf people) and the morihori (gentle giant people). These people were either wiped out or integrated with the 7 waka (canoe) that came here. When Captain James Cook showed my people the map of New Zealand they told him it was wrong. My people navigated all over. Our old tongue is known with the nomads of Egypt, Easter Island and some tribes of South America. What you do not know is that the oceans were a highway for us that modern Archaeology will tell you other wise. They will push there ideology as true and the only explanation that they come up. What I do know is that most archaeologist do not know how to interpret myth and legend properly as a story is told it is complex and you need to understand the way they view the world not the other way round as you will miss it all together as to what is being said.
if you read the material, that white man got the Dogon history (that did not reinforce the ET view) *from a Dogon*!
THANKS Mike! This is a perfect example of why I enjoy your site (total), because you enjoy clarifying FACTS, and differentiating from FICTION / misinterpretations, etc.
Again, this reveals why DEEP STUDY often takes much more than just (25 years that Temple spent with the DOGON), first hand experience, but also, objectivity, some skepticism, and a desire for finding the TRUTH. And obviously broader research than one person can achieve.
While this particular tribe’s LEGEND isn’t necessarily SUPER significant, it is a “piece of the puzzle” that helps us determine that: “ET’s” exist, OR: that they’re something else, OR: that they are simply men imagining….Thanks mike, this helps!.
you’re welcome
Thanks for the interesting read Michael, you make some interesting points. However, I will stick to the true experts like Sitchin and Von Daniken with their interpretations of the AAT. I still can not make out whether you are brainwashed by mainstream archaeology or you work for the government to deceive the general public. Since you have quite a following, still much smaller than Sitchin and Von Daniken, I still enjoy reading your publications, because one it makes sense to debate ones interpretations every though they are better than 90% correct. No disrespect, you maybe right on a few issues. Thanks.
Sitchin and von Daniken WOULD be the true experts on their own fantasies. I’ll stick with the Dogon people who had no idea with respect to the mythological BS one unknown (and untraceable) person said they said.
Hybrid fish-man, “Jed, there’s a giant frog in the cement pond.” Granny describing a scuba diver in the Beverly Hillbillies.
loved it – the “cement pond” always made me laugh!
Hello Mr. MSH,
I’ve been reading your article and the comments below. I have a question.
You maintain that the Dogon could see sirius with the naked eye… I’ve read that they keep rocks mimicking the orbits of Sirius A,B,C.. is that true?
If so, I would think it is truly impossible to see the orbits with the naked eye, wouldn’t you agree?
Just asking… thank you.
This isn’t my (original) contention. The work I am citing had the anthropologist ask the Dogon themselves about their understanding of the star, and it didn’t conform to Temple’s assertion. The presumed drawing that supposedly supports this (the rocks idea) is shown to be flawed in this post (click out to the Bad Archaeology links – if the “rock diagrams” are represented in this drawing, its coherence is in big trouble). The capabilities of Naked eye astronomy are discussed in one (forget which link) of the article links in this post:
http://michaelsheiser.com/PaleoBabble/2009/06/seriously-the-dogon-and-sirius/
The larger point of this post is that the Dogon seem to NOT know of this “unseeable” star anyway, rendering your question moot.
MSH – First time I came across your posts. Must be tough job proving other people’s work wrong. Too bad Van Beek could not find the right man where he could exact the details he needed. But that does not necessarily mean that Temple’s work was a hoax. Natives are a lot smarter than what we think. Some have the ability to know your real motive even before you speak. They also know how to protect their customs and traditions. They are usually very sensitive and a wrong approach may lead to an unproductive meeting.
What is the agenda you are promoting aside from proving Sitchin wrong?
The issue wasn’t whether Temple’s native was smart — please read the material more closely. The issue was that OTHER natives (a number of them) had no inkling as to the story Temple’s native told. Adding THAT fact to the other Sirus problems makes for a very weak case for Temple.
MSH – Thanks for your reply. Makes me wonder why Van Beek was not able to locate Ogotommelli. The bits of information that he gave to Temple may not actually be widely known among the ordinary natives or even among their leaders. As it turns out, Ogotommelli was the only one who knew about Sirius and its accompanying stars. Being a blind hunter, he must be someone special among the natives. His knowledge may not be actually first-hand, it may just have been handed down to him by his grandparents. Or, by other people before he met Temple. It may be that this information was only for a privileged few. Like in today’s world, we can not be all linguists, or archeologists or astronomers. Somebody has to till the fields, or drive for us, or even drive us crazy. You see, in tribes they also live out differing roles. Was Ogotommelli a seer, a keeper of this knowledge,or a plain outcast of his village who may have considered him crazy. Or, was he just a creation of Temple?
But for sure, there was something brought forth by Van Beek that was worth debating about – Ogotommelli and his story about Sirius, fact or just a journalistic creation?
“the only one who knew about Sirius” — this is not a good argument for this material being a “Dogon tradition” in the first place. And there is more to it (see the quotes from the article; no need to reproduce them here).
so who do you believe bilt the pyramids_?
The Egyptians.
since Van Beek was trying to prove Giaule and Dieterlen were lying who’s to say that what he said that dieterlen did or did not say in their conversation is not lies, was this conversation comfirmed by Dieterlen, if not, this is a weak point in your argument. also speculation of a primitive optical instrument, i assume speculation means no proof at all, another weak point in your argument and the chinese and Jupitor is also a weak point and you fail to prove where this knowledge of sirius A,B,C came from since it wasnt known.”According to the Dogon, this knowledge had been imparted by the Nommo, fish-like water spirits, in the distant past.”From this information, Temple goes on to theorize that the “fish-like water spirits” were extraterrestrials.If Temple believed the former, would this not be a logical assumption, how else would the fish like spirits know of Sirius. since VB did not speak to Ogotemmêli how could he confirm what as said and not said and speaking to elders 40 years later is no proof at all because in my view the existence of Ogotemmêli and the knowledge he passed on would be denied to outsiders as i assume Ogotemmêli was breaking dogon laws by passing this information to an outsider.
The arguments made by yourself and BadArchaeology are weak neither you ,Badarchaeology and Giaule can provide sound evidence to back you claims.
Again, where is the Dogon evidence (you are missing the gist of the argument). If these “observations” were not observations in the first place — that is, they were fabricated by Temple’s source, or the drawings are misunderstood, there is no need to even care about “optic speculation.” Where is the incontrovertible evidence *from the Dogon* for Sirius B? THAT is the place where this has to start. And Temple’s only source is flatly contradicted — and even denied — by other Dogon.
you have deleted my comment and badarchaelology has deleted my comments which were not offensive to you or anyone else you have only proved 1 thing your frauds, i can only laugh, so much for the truth
I deleted a duplicate comment. Its duplicate should be in here.
Is there any evidence apart from beliefs, because you require concrete evidence when you dont agree with someones theory.
YOU have it wrong (again): I require concrete evidence of a theory before I believe it. What Temple has is ONE Dogon whose words are contradicted by a number of other Dogon. And then there are the places where Temple then moves on to simply misread other ancient material. If this were a court case, Temple’s case would go down in flames. I need something that passes a “reasonable doubt” test.
The former was regarding the Pyramids.
I am not missing the gist, let make it clear, i am open minded to evey theory, so VB and his pals saying the Dogons denied knowledge of sirius etc and it was all made up by Giaule, is not evidence, whos to say that VB and pals are not lying also, did they provide evidence apart from their words, as far as im concerned the Dogon could have told him, yes its all true.
Most of the world including yourself i assume believe Bin Laden was behind 911 and no evidence was produced not 1 bit, except bush on tv saying it was Mr Laden and his pals but theres plenty of evidence to prove that bush and his government were lying but because that evidence never gets mainstream media coverage its regarded as conspiracy and people keep on believing it was Bin laden. This point also applies to archaeology .
Theres footprints dating million of years if this is true then aliens have visited or Science is lying about our history ie homo sapiens being around for 200,000 thousand years.
If you like i can provide you with Evidence that kids are being brainwashed at school and uviversity about our history and not just history, at the end of the day i can prove we are being lied to and the truth is being hidden and if this is so, the validity of archaeology and everything else is also dubious.
Let’s make it simple. Give me ONE piece of data in favor of alien visitation to the Dogon — something that does not rely on hearsay — hearsay that is contradicted by other expert witnesses to the Dogon culture. Can you give me and the readers just that for starters?
I doubt it, since you are now defending the theory with unrelated and wacky conspiracy theory (again, THEORY, with no objective, testable data).
Mr Heiser, stop putting words into my posts, i never said i could provide concrete evidence about Temples theory,but i am not going to take VB and pals word for it, if they have evidence to back what they say please link to it so we can see it as far as im concerned Giaule or VB could be right but none have provided solid evidence, just as you have not provided solid evidence in this article. so i will remain open minded on this 1.
Regarding the pyramids which you believe were built by the Egyptians. Where is the concrete evidence the Egyptians built the pyramids, is there Egyptian texts stating that they built the pyramids and how they did it, if so please link to them other wise everything else is just beliefs.
Regarding footprints do you already know of them or would you like links as i said before they would prove science is lying or aliens have visited.
As for 911 going by your reply i assume you believe binLaden did it wich would make you a hypocrite because there is no evidence what so ever .
I can provide plenty of evidence to prove Bush and the Media were lying or are you afraid of being shown to be brainwashed, as for unrelated,1 thing links them all together, the truth is being hidden.
Bush and bin Laden have nothing to do with Sirius. If you can’t offer any comments of substance, I will of course still approve them, but you’ll look unhinged.
I have stated already what i believe concerning Sirius, since you have not provided solid evidence in this article, i will remain open on this 1.
Regarding the pyramids which is your field, please provide the concrete evidence.
The footprints if true, which is also your field, means aliens have visited or science is lying.
Your reluctance to address 1. the pyramids 2. the footprints, tells me this, there is no concrete evidence that the Egypians built the pyramids thus making you a hypocrite and the footprints wouçld mean you believe something that isnt true.
You are right 9-11 has nothing to do with Sirius, my reason for mentioning 9-11 was to prove you are a hypocrite because you stated that “I require concrete evidence of a theory before I believe it” so if you believe the Governments version which i think you do, this would make you a hypocrite since they have provided no evidence at all, let alone concrete. This is all relevant in proving whether you are a credible source or not.
I don’t care what you *believe* about Sirius. I’m asking you to post evidence. Belief and evidence are two different things.
I am not the one who wrote this article, so its not down to me to produce any evidence its down to you and thats my point you have only produced heresay and no concrete evidence,i have already stated i have no evidence and remain open minded on this 1, are you reading my comments_? or do have i to keep repeating myself.
You keep avoiding my questions because you know it will prove your a hypocrite and not just to me but to all your readers.You are only fooling yourself.
this is the third attempt to get you to post some evidence for your view on the Dogon. Having failed three times, you’re done.
Can you provide any proof? Egyptian hieroglyphs that say, yes we built the Pyramids. Also may I ask with all of your knowlage and research into ancient texts what are your personal beliefs about our origins? How do you personally explain the Giants being discovered and where do they and these enlongated skull people if not extraterrestrial fit into our history. Also in your veiw what exactly does the Sumerian tablets say of our origins, if anything at all.
I really do appreciate you debating all this with all of us, I’m not looking for God or ET’s I just want to know the truth of our origins, it just seems that as soon as we get close its explained by god or et therioes.
yes; had you read the engineering books on the bookshelf on this blog, you would know that drawings and other engineering sketches exist that show the technology that was used.
You really need to spend some serious time reading through this blog and my Sitchiniswrong.com site. All of these issues are addressed in detail. I’m not going to reproduce the material in the comments section.
good argument MSH, you’re all talk about evidence, and once someone engages you and asks for it you hastily retreat and counter-argue asking for evidence in return (after saying he has none, you’re gonna wait for it before you reply, good show). You have thus halted the argument with basic crap tactics.
I find your answers rude and for the most part condescending. You dont really seem to have a leg to stand on. I’m not saying i believe AAT but there’s definately something to be said about you when you make a website with a statement and then avoid providing proof in such a childish manner. Face it, its heresay vs heresay.
so, where is your evidence in rebuttal, or are you just annoyed?
And you spelled “hearsay” wrong.
back to the old evidence war huh. What would I be providing evidence for? I haven’t claimed anything, I’ve just said you lack evidence yourself. You can translate aramaic but can’t read plain english. Nice to note half of your response was aimed at correcting my spelling, and the other half was exactly as predicted in my previous reply.
It seems it is you who has spat out your pacifier.
So, it’s unreasonable to ask for evidence? Consider me enlightened by the thought.
how you came to that conclusion I will never know, but in response, it is unreasonable to ask ME for evidence, when I have made no claims. That is the second time, and second way, that I have phrased that for you. I wish you all the luck in your future, you need it.
You seem to think disputing a position (mine) leaves you “claim-less”; it doesn’t. You can’t pretend to be in favor of nothing, and your responses shows that you aren’t neutral. If you were opinion-less, you wouldn’t have commented.
If we were visited, they blew the opportunity. Surely we would be much more advanced by now. How quickly other cultures pick up from each other when something good is on offer. A spaceship landing would have made a more discernible impact on the human psyche… Just a thought.
I hope you don’t see my responses as a personal attack, as they are all true, I dont claim to be neutral, and I’m on a debunking website because i’m interested in both sides. I would have liked to read the evidence and responses others asked you for (regarding the Dogons), but all your answers were dead-ends. You could respond to to them now, but I assume you’ll avoid intelligent response with knee-jerk defensiveness.
what I want is a piece of evidence from you that this is ET-related. I can’t make it any simpler. If you can’t do this, I won’t bother approving any more of your comments. It’s a waste of time. You’ve had plenty of chances, and people can read the comments where I repeatedly ask you for this very simple item, and you repeatedly respond as if you never got the request.
Have you even read the replies? Are you literally blinded by your arrogance? I dont recall being -repeatedly- asked anything by you, and THAT is there for your readers to see.
You ask me for evidence of aliens visiting saying you wont respond to me otherwise, yet being a man of your age and having an academic background, you should already know no such evidence has ever been found, and that it would be a groundbreaking event you would know about if it had been found.
So a rough translation of your last pointless, childish, idiotic response would be : show me evidence of aliens or you are discredited and not worth talking to.
Arrogance does not do well to represent intelligence, and if you’ve got something to say, and want to be heard, then you better learn to say it right.
the only reason you wouldn’t approve this is because everyone else would.
Okay, Einstein, have YOU read what I asked for? Give me one piece of evidence for extraterrestrial life and visitation. That’s the starting point. Let’s have it. Then it’s on the table for Sirius.
Let me tell you, Einstein described idiocy as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results, and I must be far from comparable to Einstein to keep responding to you and expecting a decent reply.
I have never claimed aliens came and helped ANY ancient civilizations (AS I HAVE ALREADY SAID), and personally I think you might be right with your version of events regarding the Dogon.
So, why are you asking me for evidence for it? (AS I HAVE ALREADY ASKED)
I merely point out the fact that you’re the type of guy that avoids answering questions with shill tactics and childishness (AS I HAVE ALREADY SAID). Someone asked you for evidence, which I would have liked to have seen (AS I HAVE ALREADY SAID) Now, you avoided giving that person a response, asking them for evidence in return, showing no inkling of respect to the way forum and debate usually take place. Then I pointed this out to you, and you started asking ME for evidence (AS I HAVE ALREADY SAID).
Continuing, I would like to further point out to you that no evidence of E.T. even exists (AS I HAVE ALREADY SAID), and you ask me for ET evidence again in the very next post in response … Are you really serious? Really? I don’t think you’re trying, you can’t be THIS stupid.
You’ve made so many assumptions about me and my intentions, but you’re just not smart enough to do that (as you have been wrong in all your assumptions), you’re logic is FUBAR. I have tried to simplifiy it a little for you for you to understand by pointing out the reasons and causes of my actions and responses. This will allow you to think about your responses without having to scroll up and read my previous responses (as this challenge seems too much for you).
So, want to try to belittle me more? Maybe try, and fail (again), to put words in my mouth? Well that won’t work on me, I’m above such games. Are you ready to admit you’re nothing but another jumped up little academic thinking he’s got the world figured out?
SO, just to clarify, I don’t have to provide you with evidence of something that hasn’t been proven (lets face it, it would be childish if I did have to, as I hope you have learned from our previous encounters). So, in your response I hope you refrain from asking such nonsense of me again, all it does is serve to derail your comments section and cease intelligent conversation.
It won’t be long till you stop approving my messages, you’re looking worse after every one, but its too late, everyone already knows you’re scared when challenged by the abrasive and immature way you respond. Quite lucky you have a means of censoring me really, but it doesn’t matter, the truth doesn’t need your approval.
I eagerly, but not hopefully, await your response.
Regards,
Luke