During a press conference that was supposed to discuss the opening of a new airport in Dhi Qar, Iraq’s transport minister, Kazem Finjan, surprised reporters when he diverted from the talking points memo to claim that the ancient middle-eastern nation’s location was once home to space stations built by extra-terrestrials.

Finjan referred to the ancient astronaut theorist Zecharia Sitchin, saying:

“I invite those who doubt to read the book of the great Sumerian historian Zecharia Sitchin, or the books of Samuel Kramer including one entitled ‘History Begins at Sumer’ which speaks of the first airport constructed on planet earth, and it is there at el Naciria.”

“The particularity of this place is that it remains the safest for the landing and take-off of aircraft, due to favourable weather conditions. When the Sumerians settled on this land, they were aware of this and have chosen specifically for their flights to other planets”

Journalists were quick to dismiss Finjan’s claims.

And one man, Dawood Al-Basri tweeted:

“Iraqi transport minister’s hallucinations about spaceships in Nasiriyah proves that the [Haidar] Al-Abadi government is full of fools, hashish addicts and the most worthless of humanity.”

Hayder al-Khoei

A researcher at the Centre for Academic Shi’a Studies.

Two other’s commented:

“Can you believe that this imbecile is the current Iraqi transportation minister? I thank Allah for the blessing of a brain.”

Iraqi Al Jazeera journalist

Amer Al-Kubaisi.

“Awkward moment and I don’t think anyone was brave enough to contradict him.”

Hayder al-Khoei

A researcher at the Centre for Academic Shi’a Studies.

Although the reactions were intense, there are several things to consider before dismissing Finjin’s beliefs.

Zecharia Sitchin was an author who wrote and promoted the ancient astronaut theory before his death on October 9th, 2010, decades before the Ancient Aliens became a worldwide sensation on History channel.

Within Ufology and forbidden archeology circles, Sitchin is often credited for revealing the hidden history and origins of humanity, based on alleged alternative translations of Sumerian tablets from antiquity.

However, these interpretations are hotly contested.

And some now believe that Sitchin was a cointelpro ‘disinformation’ agent for certain hidden forces that wanted to promote an agenda that might have had an air of truth to it.

One of Sitchin’s claims is regarding ancient sites in the Middle East in Egypt and the Palestine-Israel area, which he says were once home to space stations used by the Annunaki for thousands of years.

He also claims that they were abandoned by the non-terrestrial overlords of the Sumerian people until 3,000 years ago.

Is the impromptu statement by the Iraqi transportation minister nothing more than an enthusiastic Ancient Aliens fan’s rantings, who wanted to spread a sensational rumor?

Or is there more to this story?

Despite the fact that Sitchin may have fabricated his translations, he is not the only one who believes that ancient aliens once lived amongst the people of Earth, providing tools to build contemporary style civilizations.

Mainstream archaeology has yet to offer an explanation of how the Sumerian culture seemed to spring forth out of obscurity, fully formed and complete with writing, financial systems, law, building techniques and many other features of advanced civilization.

The fields of ufology and forbidden archaeology are replete with claims and examples of advanced beings assisting people in ancient times.

Accepted archaeology suggests that humankind were nothing more than primitive hunter-gatherers for the vast majority of it’s over 240,000-year existence.

Megalithic sites unexplained by archeology.

But some intrepid researchers, like Graham Hancock, claim that before the diluvium period of approximately 11,000 years ago, there were many very advanced societies, which possessed knowledge modern humans are only now beginning to rediscover.

The pyramids of Egypt – despite allegedly being built by craftsman using copper-age tools – cannot be reproduced with all the splendour of modern technology.

Furthermore, the little-recognized site of Gobekli Tepe was determined to be at least 10,000 years old, and probably much older, using standard dating techniques.

And there are still other megalithic sites found throughout the world that form a growing body of evidence to suggest current views of human history are woefully inaccurate.

If Sitchin’s debunkers are to be believed, then it suggests that someone in the know supplied him with information some 20 years before discoveries of antediluvian sites were unearthed.

Perhaps those who hidden forces that possess knowledge of humanity’s true origins are trying to sow seeds of truth through agents like Sitchin in an effort to one day unveil a more authentic narrative of history.

If so, it would mean the currently held views of people on Earth are nothing more than a fabrication made to service a hidden agenda.

As a final note, several insiders and whistle-blowers claim that the human race is much older than what academics have suggested. They say that there have been many floods or cataclysms and conflagrations that have ravaged the surface of the Earth.

Those cultures that possessed advanced technology and knowledge are said to have taken refuge below the Earth, and remained there waiting for the surface to stabilize after catastrophes.

In one such example, a group of humans closely related to people living on the surface, claims to have built a long-lasting civilization in deep caverns below the earth’s crust.

One whistle-blower claims to have met these beings, which he calls the Anshar that claim to have watched over humanity for over 12 to 18 million years – an unbelievable assertion for many.

Artist depiction of an inner-Earth city.

While these theories remain unsubstantiated, the fact that geneticists have proven the human race’s current lineage can be traced back at least 240,000 years suggest that indeed modern man could have seen the rise of many different advanced civilizations.

Consider how much technological advancement has occurred in the past 1000 years alone, and the supposition of ancient cultures taking refuge from periodic cataclysms seems more plausible.

For now, the Iraqi minister’s claims are viewed by many as wildly unsupportable.

But for some who are brave enough to question the status quo, a great mystery has yet to be solved, one that could in the future change the way humanity understands its place on Earth and in the cosmos at large…