I have always been drawn to digging into past human civilizations, religions, and legends. Beyond the questions of how cultures developed, the order of our evolution, and how language and writing were developed, with inspiration from the UAP topic I’ve become enthralled by more unanswerable questions. There’s always been something missing to me about the traditional Cryptoterrestrial Hypothesis (CTH), and wondering about what the ice age, and its melting, could have hidden.

Some things I write here will sound familiar since some portions of my theory are actually shared by others, although I came to my theory completely by myself. I always find that encouraging.

This might turn into a little bit of a series exploring the different possibilities for cryptoterrestrial civilizations.

Clues

There have been statements by prominent researchers in the UAP that sparked myself, and many others, to try to find more possibilities for hominid civilizations.

“Something happened 70,000 years ago which pushed us to the top of the food chain.”

“What if we are not “humankind”, but “humankinds”.”

“Imagine being the first guy to break into King Tut’s tomb, and of all the things you find there, you find an intact 747 sitting in the tomb.”

Luis Elizondo

Human Evolution

With this, I think it’s very important to start with the evolution of hominids in order to demonstrate the possibilities of multiple human civilizations.

Homo Sapiens aren’t the only hominid species to migrate out of Africa, and they weren’t even the first. In fact, we were one of the later successful species to venture out of the continent. The common ancestor of us and our successful cousins, Homo Erectus, made it to the southern end of Indonesia long before Sapiens set foot there. Along the way, Erectus split off into a few distinct species of hominid: the Neanderthals in Europe, the Denisovans in Asia, and finally the Floresiensis (I’ll refer to them as Flores) in south-east Asia (Sundaland). As we, Sapiens, continued to evolve in Africa where we stayed behind, our cousins were also developing their own successful ways of living outside of Africa.

Homo Erectus migration out of Africa

To give more of an idea of when we Sapiens arrived in certain parts of the world compare the map above of Erectus’ migration, with the map below of our Sapiens’. Erectus, along with their subsequent Denisovan and Flores descendants, would have been undisturbed by us for 1.6 million years in Asia. Considering how fast our human civilization has developed in the last 10,000 years, that is an extremely long time that would have given those hominids ample opportunity to evolve and develop their own roots for civilization.

Homo Sapiens migration out of Africa

To be clear as well, I’m not claiming that those other hominid species discovered electricity, drove around in cars, or any other advanced technology. I’m simply suggesting that they could have developed a more sedentary lifestyle, including farming and simple living quarters.

70,000 Years Ago

So what was going on 70 kya (thousand years ago) that vaulted us to the top of the food chain? As well, why have we been taught that we were always at the top of the food chain? The answer to the second question is pretty obvious, human exceptionalism, which has dominated our species’ ego for a very long time. The answer to the first might actually be quite obvious too, because there was an immense natural event that transpired around that time which brought our Sapiens species to its knees.

This event is known as the Youngest Toba Eruption, which brought our species to a population of only 3,000-10,000. Toba is a supervolcano that is located on the northern end of the island Sumatra, in Indonesia. The eruption was so destructive, that it was the most explosive in the Quaternary (spanning back 2.6 mya), and is one of the most explosive in all of Earth’s history. Specifically what killed the most people, was actually the volcanic winter that the eruption caused. So it’s pretty easy to tell that this is most likely exactly what Elizondo was referring to.

If we know the event which brought us to the top, then who was above us before? We know it probably can’t be Neanderthals, since while smart and well adapted to the colder Europe, they would have been out of the way from the most devastating effects of the eruption and supposedly we didn’t have much of an issue competing with them. What is more fuzzy, is the development of the Denisovans and the Flores’, who inhabited the areas much closer to the eruption event.

Sundaland

Sundaland during the Ice Age. Toba is located on the northern end of the island Sumatera.

Back at that time, the islands of south-east Asia were connected by a huge span of land known as Sundaland. Since in the latest Ice Age, the ocean levels were so much lower than they are today, which exposed this incredible portion of land that surely was a cradle for those hominids that lived there.

Since we know that Erectus made it to Sundaland, and along the way evolved into the Denisovans and Flores, these two species are the most likely to have inhabited this area. Narrowing it down even further, is that we have found Denisovan fossils from as late as 15 kya in New Guinea, so we know that they were alive for much longer after the Toba eruption. We also know that the Flores went extinct an estimated 50-60 kya, which lines up much more closely, especially considering that they could have been almost completely eradicated due to that eruption.

So, I believe this is our answer to who was above us at the top of the food chain. The Flores inhabited the part of the world which would have been the most devastated by the Toba eruption, and that area would have been an incredible cradle of civilization at that time. The Flores were much smaller than us and the Denisovans, but we know that you don’t need to be physically strong to be the most successful. You just need to be smart in order to figure out ways to propel yourself higher, for instance we know that Flores’ had developed stone tools.

Why is there no proof of a Sundaland civilization? As we know, throughout history, we gravitate towards bodies of water in order to build our settlements. I suspect that the Flores were no different. The only portions of Sundaland that are not submerged in the ocean today were farther back from the coast, would have been much higher, and mountainous at the time when they inhabited Sundaland. We have evidence that the areas which are now submerged were grasslands with many rivers, prime for settling upon. Artifacts and architecture don’t fare too well even above water, so anything we would have any hope of finding would be long gone after more than 50,000 years.

How Developed Were They?

What I am curious about still, is why Elizondo seemed to speak about them as if they were much more advanced than we were. If these hominids are part of the current group of NHI who have been interacting with us using UAP, they might have been more advanced than we are today! Using the term “food chain” doesn’t mean that they were eating us per se, but they were clearly much more powerful than us.

This is when I’m reminded of Elizondo’s statement about “finding an intact 747 inside of King Tut’s tomb”. It’s very clear that he is hinting that an “out-of-place artifact” was probably found as part of an archaeological investigation or, as he said, by someone raiding or stumbling upon an ancient site. Since Elizondo used a 747 in his metaphor, I wonder if this ties in with Ross Coulthart’s statement of something “so big it can’t be moved”. By the way they describe what they are talking about, it makes it clear to me that this specific “artifact” would have been discovered in recent history, so it wouldn’t be buried under any other ancient site. That being said, unless that ancient site in itself was also buried, meaning it would have to be exceptionally old. Which means it most likely wouldn’t be under any huge well-known sites such as an of the pyramids around the world.

Additionally, the way Elizondo talks about the possibility of “humankinds”, it makes me draws me more toward the thought that they are one of the NHI still interacting with us – which I guess that would still make them a human intelligence. Otherwise, why would the question of another hominid even be a part of the picture? If we aren’t directly interacting with them face-to-face, then we are interacting with technology that belonged to them.

Some Afterthoughts…

Is the submergence of Sundaland a possible origin for the flood myths and possibly the legend of Atlantis? Are the Denisovans or Flores responsible, or the inspiration for, any other myths around the world? Is there a relationship between the Flores and the Short Greys? Many people hypothesize that the appearance of the Greys resemble what we may look like in the future. They are both described as being between 3 and 4 feet tall. Could the Denisovans have also been more successful than we know of? Based on their migration, it would have been plausible that they and Flores could have interacted. Could they also have developed more than we would be able to know?