Worst than Ancient Aliens? A Review of Two History Channel shows.

Worse Than Ancient Alien?

Despite its longevity, The History Channel’s Ancient Alien has been a critical disaster. Not only has the show been lambasted for tying nearly every unexplained (and explained) mysteries and human achievements to the existence to ancient aliens, it has managed to turn the once vaunted cable station into a laughing stock.

While the reputation of the History Channel was on the decline before the show aired, the addition of Ancient Aliens further pushed it towards its nadir.

In a sense, the History Channel doubled down on its paranormal lunacy. And, it's been downhill ever since then.

As an example, several of them come to mind. One started before the titular Ancients Aliens and another started the same year:

• UFO Files and its spinoffs.

• The Nostradamus Effect.

Is it possible that these shows are worse than Ancient Aliens? Let's take a look at these offerings (and stating it's worse than Ancient Aliens, is a very low bar to reach).

UFO Files And its Spinoffs

UFO Files started in 2004 and lasted until 2007. However, various specials and spinoffs have kept this show’s influence alive to this day. Additionally, the show went into syndication through streaming channels. Currently, the show is televised on Tubi and has taken on a life of its own. In its place on the History Channel has been UFO Hunters, Alien Files and various one-time specials tied to the programs.

The show and its main spinoff had short runs. By 2009, they were stopped airing on the History Channel. Still, numerous specials for the shows would pop up over the years. In addition, History Channel aired them in syndication, too.

It can be argued that UFO Files. UFO Hunter and Alien Files influenced Ancient Aliens, considering it came and went before the latter aired. However, the one-time special spinoffs took notes from Ancient Aliens' formula and incorporated it into their show.

Unlike Ancient Aliens, the original show relied on voiceover narrations rather than an on-air host. And, in most cases, the shows focused on topics not covered by the other show.

That's really where the difference end. Both shows rely on vignettes that support the views of the UFOlogists and/or Ancient Alien theorist. In addition, the shows would overlap on particular topics. One of the first episode on UFO Files focused on UFO supposedly found in the Bible.

The Season 1 episode in question was entitled “UFO in the Bible”. The show’s format is somewhat similar to something aired on Ancient Aliens; however, at the same time it’s inferior (again, a very low bar). It has a lot of vignettes with several people stating that certain events may have been UFOs and alien contact.

This includes Ezekiel's vision of a “two fiery wheels in the sky” to the Abraham meeting with Angels that may have been extraterrestrial in disguise (some expert contributors on the show suggests that angels are aliens).

The Contributors

Among the contributors to UFO Files was William J. Birnes, a Ufologist and author. He must have made an impression on the producers because in a later incarnations, UFO Hunter and Alien Files, he became the on-air host and reoccurring guest respectively. It’s possible that the reason for this was how he dressed; he appeared in various episodes dressed like an adventurer (more on that later).

The premise of UFO Hunter and Alien Files are to have experts research numerous sightings over the years. They’re supposed to decide if they are real or if there were others factors that could explain these mysterious sightings.

But, if one is expecting to find something comprehensive and deep, forget it. They always come to the same conclusions:

• It was a UFO or

• it’s still an unsolved mystery.

And, they do this through the use of colorful clips, reenactments, spooky music and a seriously over dramatic voiceover (which Ancient Alien and Nostradamus Effect also used).

Show’s Methodology is a Problem

Eventually, UFO Files morphed into UFO Hunter, and this time added an on-air host and a team of investigator. In a way, they influenced and formed the Ancient Aliens formula.

It really doesn't improve on much. The shows consists of “researchers led by Birnes going out to investigate “strange events” in various locales. What do they usually conclude after all their research with “advanced technologies and tools?”

“Something really strange happened here,” the gruff talking Birnes often stated.

That statement is as predictable as the attire he wears for every show: aviator-sunglasses, a baseball cap, and an outdated Member’s Only jacket (if you survived the 1980s, you’ll know what they were. Still not sure? It’s the red jacket Michael Jackson used to wear, except Birnes has a tan colored one).

Within 42 minutes of running time per show, a lot was packed into them. It was something of a visual Gish gallop in which distractors would have to spend many hours (or episodes) debunking every claim.

In many respects, it's not superior Ancient Aliens In fact, in one case, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (by nuclear bombs, according to the show’s expert) was based on concepts that came from Erich Von Däniken’s Chariots of the Gods?, which Ancient Alien is based on (and produced by Erick, too).

Another disturbing aspect of UFO File/UFO Hunter was its use of selective editing (something that Ancient Aliens and The Nostradamus Effect would be accused of doing, too). The show became notorious for this. Often, they’d have a researcher such as a scientist who is an expert his in his or field. They’d be given a chance to counter claims that were made by the producers of the show and would be filmed doing so. However, the finished product were highly edited and in many cases made the real experts sound like they were agreeing with these Ufologists.

To say the least, the researchers did complain and went out of their way to explain their side. However, the practice continued despite the complaints and criticism.

The Nostradamus Effect and the Art of Shoehorning

There are many people that believe the 15th century physician and mystic in France predicted the future. The problem, however, is that when it comes to Nostradamus, fact and fiction often get blurred.

Don’t tell that to the producers, hosts and guest speakers on this show. As far as they are concerned, Nostradamus is the real deal.

Gleaning predictions from Nostradamus has always been problematic. Often, he wrote quatrains and used a lot of symbols that were often better understood during the 15th century but not in later years.

On top of that, these quatrains referred to events happening in his time and not in the future. Still, due to its archaic language and symbols, whatever he was trying to say could be translated in many ways. And that’s exactly what has happened over the years.

In addition, nobody that studies his work can agree what they mean. It’s not unusual for a passage to be interpreted to represent numerous events.

Also, it should be noted that when believers claim they found evidence that he predicted the event, it often comes after an event occurred and never before it.

The show, The Nostradamus Effect, which aired the same year as Ancient Aliens in 2009, is similar to a certain degree to UFO Files and Ancient Aliens. They try to solve mysterious situations with so-called experts on prophesies. However, the differences is that they seemingly try to tie nearly every prophesy ever uttered in humanity to Nostradamus. Even the seemingly unrelated ones -- such as the Mayan calendar’s predictions for the year 2012 -- were manipulated by these true-believers to be somehow related to him.

In many cases, the topic of the episodes are not about Nostradamus. But, the producers of the show found ways to make it about him by shoehorning his name whenever possible.

According to LogicalFallacies.com, shoehorning is an informal fallacy in which someone tries to fit concept or agenda into an unrelated narrative. Often, these views are unrelated to the concept being present but it is forced in to make it fit (much like the an actual shoehorn does for shoes).

The insertion of Nostradamus's views into these episodes are apparent and usually occur at predictable times. In two episodes, they came at the 40 minute marks. One episode was on the Rapture and another was on a Fatima's prophesy from the early 20th century. While brief, they managed to slip in the 15th century's mystic and claim that it was part of his "influence" (How that's possible is still a mystery).

Of the shows mentioned, Nostradamus Effect is rated lower than the rest by both critics and audience. It’s a sloppy show to say the least and after being exposed to similar shows, the realization is that it’s not doing anything new except, as mentioned, the shoehorning of Nostradamus’s name.

Oddly, this show is still on TV as of this writing.

The Major Problem

Shows like UFO Files/Hunter and The Nostradamus Effect are not about researching the paranormal. They are all about promoting woo science and/or conspiracy theories for entertainment purposes. But, they're anything but entertaining. They're formulaic and predictable and the shows really don't care about solving the mysteries. The producers learned a long time ago that suspense sell.

In the process, however, they give viewers the false impression that such things are real, and that official science should not be trusted for doubting their existence.

Work Cited

• Robert Todd Carroll: "Shoehorning": Logically Fallacious/ The Skeptic Dictionary (retrieved 2026)

• Kristen Akers Gozdecki: "UFO Files" :imbd.com (2004-2007)

• Wikipedia editor: "William J. Birnes": Wikipedia.org (retrieved 2026)

• Erich von Däniken: The Chariots of the Gods?: Bantam Books (1972).

• Luke Ellis (Director): The Nostradamus Effect: imbd.com (2009- present).

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• Why I Hate History Channel’s Ancient Aliens