Ancient Aliens is an American documentary television series that premiered on April 20, 2010 on the History (History (TV channel)) channel. Produced by Prometheus Entertainment, the program studies the theories of ancient astronauts (generally dismissed (pseudohistory) by mainstream science), examining centuries-old texts, hieroglyphs, ruins, and legends that are implied as evidence of human-extraterrestrial (extraterrestrial life) contact in the past and how it could have played a role in human culture and development. The series de facto pilot was a documentary special (TV special) of the same name that aired on August 3, 2009.