The wisest man who ever lived was right when he said “there is nothing new under the sun.”

For those of you who like a good conspiracy, you’re probably familiar with the ancient astronaut theory, popularized by the show Ancient Aliens. The book "Chariot of the Gods," by Erich von Däniken, inspired the show.

For those of you who don’t know, the ancient astronaut theory holds that thousands of year ago, extraterrestrial being visited prehistoric humans. The effect this visitation had varies from author to author.

The evidence for the alien visitation are the similarities between ancient cultures, such as the building of massive, triangular structures and the sacrificial nature of some ancient religions.

But what if I told you that someone else had already noticed these same broad similarities and had already drawn a conclusion about them?

"Chariot of the Gods" was published in 1968. This person’s book was published in 1882.

This person was Ignatius Donnelly. The book, "Atlantis: The Antediluvian World."

In short, Ignatius draws upon similar patterns across ancient cultures as Däniken, in some cases, he uses the same evidence, but his conclusion is not that a civilization from the outside come and intervened in humanity’s destiny, but that an ancient humanity did so.

Donnelly holds that a continent used to exist between the Americas, Europe and Africa. This continent was home to a sole nation, Atlantis. Atlantis was a civilization advanced centuries ahead of the primitive tribes around it.

But one fateful day, a natural disaster sunk the continent and Atlantis with it. A few survivors arrived on the surrounding continents and spread their Atlantean culture, thus giving humanity an evolutionary boost and beginning the agricultural revolution as we know it.

I leave you, the reader, to read or listen to "Atlantis: the Antediluvian World" to gain a full understanding of Donnelly’s theory and evidence.

I know it’s not as cool as aliens from another world or dimension, but the idea is the same; primitive humans had a boost from a civilization much more advanced than itself whose wisdom and customs live on in the architecture and religion of their first tribal contacts.

This doesn’t mean, Ancient Astronaut adherents, that you can’t hold to your theory anymore. You are free to believe whatever you want. If anything, let this be an exercise in exploring how your theory has developed over time.

To everyone else, you now have a fun little factoid to bring with you to your next party.