[music playing]
NARRATOR: An ancient painting
on a cave wall in Africa.
Ceremonial clay objects
discovered in Sweden.
A mysterious sculpture
found in China.
Throughout the ancient world,
there is a symbol that is
more pervasive than any other--
the symbol of the egg.
[music playing]
JONATHAN YOUNG: The
egg is one of the most
universal sacred images.
It is more widespread than the
cross or the star or the wheel.
It appeals to people in
all corners of the Earth,
in all times and traditions.
ERICH VON DANIKEN: We found
stone eggs all over the world.
For example, stone eggs
were found in Egypt.
And even on Easter Island,
a stone egg was found.
So the symbol of egg
is a worldwide symbol.
RICHARD RADER: What's
amazing is that the egg, what
we call the egg cosmogony, is a
feature of several cosmogonies.
We have it in the
Nordic tradition.
We have it in the
Mediterranean tradition, not
only Greco Roman, but Egyptian
and also the Phoenician
mythologies.
We also have it in
some Middle Eastern
and even Vedic mythologies.
So these are radically
different cultures.
Is it possible that
there's a common origin
for South American,
Native American,
Norse, and Vedic mythology?
We have no evidence,
so it would be
hard to say where
they come from and why
they all use this image.
NARRATOR: Why is it that
so many ancient cultures
separated by thousands of miles
all use the symbol of the egg?
For one thing, obviously,
it is associated with birth.
Well birth is a great mystery,
so it's the worship of life.
It is also taken as
a symbol of rebirth.
We use it at the Easter
time in the spring.
[music playing]
RICHARD RADER: The cultures that
birth these stories recognized
something in the story
of birth, of creation,
of fertility, of
reproduction that was
meaningful for their stories.
NARRATOR: While the most obvious
interpretation of the egg
is that it symbolizes fertility
and the natural creation
of life, some researchers
question why there are so
many depictions of eggs found
throughout the ancient world
that show humans
emerging from them.
DAVID CHILDRESS: We
have these many stories
from around the world
of how life starts
in the form of an egg,
including human life, too,
starting with a
sperm and an egg.
But how would ancient
people realize that humans
also have these eggs?
[music playing]
NARRATOR: Could ancient people
have somehow had the knowledge
that humans emerged from eggs?
Or might this symbol have
held a less literal and more
profound meaning
for them, one that
reveals an extra
terrestrial connection?
Ancient astronaut
theorists suggest
that the stories
connected to the egg
provide undeniable evidence
that this was not simply
a representation of fertility.
Nearly as widespread as
the symbol of the egg
is a concept commonly
known as the cosmic egg.
While the name varies
from culture to culture,
the story is always
nearly identical--
that the entire universe
originated from an egg.
They're called cosmic eggs.
They're called silver eggs.
They're called magic eggs.
They're called enchanted eggs.
They're called the
eggs of the gods.
I mean, all around
the world, there
are these creation stories
of the egg breaking open
and the water of
life coming out.
In Chinese mythology,
there is this notion
that the universe emerges
out of a primordial chaos.
And this primordial
chaos, in many accounts,
is self-contained.
It's like a cosmic egg.
And from this primordial chaos,
which contains everything,
the universe is
generated, And first, it
divides into two principles,
yin and yang, and then
three, and then 10,000.
Basically, ad infinitum.
