IN SEARCH OF ANCIENT MYSTERIES (1975)
Article 2084 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 11-29-2006
Posting Date: 4-27-2007
Directed by Fred Washofsky
Featuring narration by Rod Serling

In the ancient world there are many phenomena that have yet to be explained by modern science. Could this be proof that we have been visited by men from outer space?

This short TV documentary was one of two culled from CHARIOTS OF THE GODS; it features narration by Rod Serling as we travel the world searching for evidence that we are descendants of ancient astronauts. Other than to mention that I am a skeptic about such things, I won’t dwell much on the validity of the theories; instead, I’m going to grouse a bit about how dull and repetitive these documentaries can get. We visit a far-flung country, and the soundtrack plays vaguely exotic music reminiscent of this region. The narrator describes some curious phenomenon, and then asks some variation of “Could it be that these phenomena were the result of visitors from another world?”. Occasionally, they vary the proceedings by interviewing some noted scientist (whose name is unfamiliar to me); we see the scientist walking around while the narrator gives us his credentials, and then the scientist speculates about visitors from outer space. Even with Rod Serling as the narrator and a short running time, this wears thin very quickly, especially if you’ve seen this sort of thing before. Granted, if you buy into the theories, it probably seems exciting and mysterious. I suspect that whether you like this is dependent on how much you buy into it.