You don’t need aliens to build a pyramid. You just need geometry (and a lot of men with nothing better to do).
Modern conspiracy theorists love aliens. Those aliens are so busy, mostly making sure they don’t leave any actual evidence. When you dig down to it, most conspiracy theories about history boil down to two things: that people who lived thousands of years ago were morons, and that two people living in different places couldn’t possibly have the same idea.
Look at all those varied societies, the conspiracy junkies say, that had no contact with each other. There’re pyramids in Egypt, but all over Central and South America too. The only possible explanation is that aliens visited both groups.
But there’s nothing mysterious about it. The pyramid is one of the easiest shapes to build, if you want to get big fast.
It’s super easy to build a pyramid – way easier than a tall rectangular building. You start with a large, flat, rectangular platform. You use stone or wood or even just earth. So long as it’s tightly compacted, it’ll hold up. Almost every human society has built rectangular platforms.
Then you just need another person to look at that nice, big platform and say, “Hey, here’s a thought. What if we build another, slightly smaller platform on top of that? Ooh, and then we could put a third platform on top of the second!” Before you know it, boom. A step pyramid. Even out the sides a bit and put a pretty covering on it, and soon you’ve got a wonder of the world.
The pyramid is the most stable shape in geometry. They don’t fall over easily – certainly not as easily as other solids. They can be built high, and they look impressive. We have found evidence of mathematics that shows the ancients knew geometry. The Rhind Papyrus is filled with Egyptian mathematics – including computations for pyramids.
The part about the pyramids that’s really interesting is the angle. If you build a wide, short pyramid, you’ll have a small angle. If you build a narrow, tall pyramid, you’ll have a larger angle. We can even see evidence of people figuring this out. There’s the bent pyramid in Egypt, which starts with a steeper angle at the bottom, then about halfway it lowers.
The geometry of a square pyramid is simple, and one of the formulas involves the slant-height, which is the height of the side. The Rhind Papyrus has specific examples that match actual pyramids. And the later pyramids all have approximately equal angles.
If the ancients had aliens helping them, why would there be evidence of computations that match structures, trial and error, and the occasional mistake?
