Ancient Aliens?

I have been watching the History Channel show, Ancient Aliens and decided I had a lot to say about it, much like I did on my previous entry on the show Doomsday Preppers  .  Basically, this show is incredibly speculative.  Speculation is sometimes fun, but some historians can take it too far and I feel as though that is what this show does.  Now, I cannot say 100% for sure that they are wrong, since there is no proof that aliens do or do not exist.  But I can say for sure that in all of the scenarios they mention, there are far more likely explanations that aliens.

The ancient Sumerians believed that a superior race came from above from another planet and mixed with Neanderthals and that is how modern humans were formed.  The "historians/scientists" on the show believe this formation was from ancient genetic engineering and that the "superior race from above" is an ancient proof of aliens.  Now, the latest evolutionary theories suggest that modern humans, or homo sapiens, did not come after Neanderthals, but existed with them simultaneously.  The best theory is that both homo sapiens and Neanderthals descended from homo heidelbergensis, so they are actually thought to be "brother" species.  There is no proof that homo sapiens were able to interbreed with Neanderthals, however.  So before you could prove that we were genetically engineered into one species by aliens, you would first have to prove that homo sapiens could interbreed with Neanderthals, which is impossible to prove. 

The show also proposed that the beasts mentioned in ancient mythology such as the Minotaur (half man, half bull), Centaur (half man, half horse), and Cerberus (three headed dog) were all proof of ancient genetic engineering by aliens.  There are many reasons hybrids existed in ancient mythology.  One reason was that many ancient religions practiced animal worship.  Another reason is that many of these creatures were being punished by the gods by being turned into a hideous creature (such as Medusa).  Many times, hybrids made a philosophical statement about the inner battle humans have between going on their "animal" or base instincts, and being civilized.  Aliens is not the most logical solution that comes to mind. 

The show also proposes the aliens caused plagues.  The 430 B.C. Plague of Athens, the Justinian Plague, and the Black Plague were all events accompanied by reports of seeing glowing gold shields in the sky.  The "historians/scientists" on the show believe that ancient aliens had somehow weaponized airborne diseases that they used to wipe out the human race at certain points.  I would point out that many intense diseases, especially some as severe as plagues, are accompanied by hallucinations. 

The people on the show also find proof of aliens in plagues by saying that "In all ancient time periods, many humans believed that diseases and bad fortune came from above."  Well that doesn't necessarily mean aliens.  The ancient Greece called it fate.  The ancient Hindus called it karma.  Many other pagan religions thought it to be the wrath of the gods.  I don't know how you can pull "this means aliens exist" out of that. 

I don't think that anyone can say either way for sure that aliens exist or aliens do not exist.  However, this show seems to blame everything that ever happened in history on aliens.  And while you can't prove aliens do not exist, there are much more likely scenarios other than "the aliens caused this."