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Giorgio A. Tsoukalos

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Giorgio A. Tsoukalos
Tsoukalos at AlienCon 2016
Born (1978-03-14) 14 March 1978 (age 46)
Lucerne, Switzerland[1]
EducationIthaca College
Occupations
  • Writer
  • Television producer
Websitethealiensguy.com

Giorgio A. Tsoukalos (/ˈsuːkələs/, Greek: Γεώργιος Τσούκαλος; born 14 March 1978) is a Swiss-born writer, and television presenter and producer. He is a ufologist and a promoter of the pseudoscientific ancient astronauts hypothesis.[2] He is best known for his appearances on Ancient Aliens, a History Channel series of which he is also producer.[3]

Career

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Tsoukalos is of Greek-Austrian heritage.[4] He is a 1998 graduate of Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York, with a bachelor's degree in Communications.[5] From 1999 to 2007, he worked as a promoter of IFBB sanctioned bodybuilding contests, including Mr. Olympia.[6] He was lead promoter and contest director of the IFBB San Francisco Pro Grand Prix from 2001 to 2005.[7][5]

Since 2002, Tsoukalos has appeared in programs broadcast by Travel Channel, History Channel, Syfy, and National Geographic. He was the editor of Legendary Times magazine from 1999 to 2008.[8][9][10] He is a co-executive producer of Ancient Aliens, and he has appeared in more than 200 episodes since 2009.[11] He presented and co-produced the 2014 H2 series In Search of Aliens.[12]

Ancient Aliens meme

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Tsoukalos's appearances in Ancient Aliens inspired a meme highlighting his unusual hairstyle overlaid with the caption: "I'm not saying it was aliens … but …"[13] Variations of the meme were uploaded by users as early as November 2010.[13][14] According to Dictionary.com, the meme mimicked "the tone of conviction used by Tsoukalos to present unfounded far-fetched pseudo-logic as fact."[14]

In a 2015 Reddit AMA, Tsoukalos said he loved the meme, adding "it's a great honor to have been embraced" by Internet users.[4][15] During a 2016 appearance on CNN Philippines, Tsoukalos's meme-ification was discussed at length. A partial transcript of the interview was later published online as "Meet the Hair Guy from Ancient Aliens."[16]

In 2021, Tsoukalos made a cameo appearance in the Resident Alien episode "Welcome Aliens". He was described by the lead character as "that high-haired gentleman".[17] The episode included several references to the Ancient Aliens meme.[18] Tsoukalos reprised his cameo in the 2022 episode "Best of Enemies".

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
2002 In Search of Self 1 episode; Credited as an Egyptologist
2003 Is It Real? Episode: "Ancient Astronauts"
Is There a Stargate? Documentary short
2007 Mysterious Journeys 3 episodes[5]
2008 Indiana Jones and the Ultimate Quest TV documentary[5]
2008–2016 Coast to Coast AM Syndicated radio program; 9 episodes[19]
2009 Race to Witch Mountain Giorgio Tsoukalos (cameo) Uncredited appearance
UFO Hunters Self 3 episodes[5]
2009–2024 Ancient Aliens Self / Producer
  • 240 episodes
  • Consulting producer (2009–2015)
  • Co-executive producer (2015–2024)
2010 Extreme Universe Self Episode: "Star Gates"
2011 The Mo'Nique Show 1 episode; Archive footage appeared in later episodes
2011–12 The Joe Rogan Experience Podcast; Episodes #125 and #232
2013 Contacto Extraterrestre Episode: "Caídos a Tierra"
America's Book of Secrets Episode: "The Ancient Astronaut Cover-Up"
2014 In Search of Aliens Self / Presenter 10 episodes; Credited as co-executive producer
2017 Ancient Aliens Declassified Self 6 episodes; Highlights from Ancients Aliens
Next Week with Jeff Durbin Episode: "Conspiracy Theories and Sam McClure"; Archive footage
2018 BuzzFeed Unsolved Supernatural Episode: "The Unexplained Phoenix Lights Phenomenon"
The Noite com Danilo Gentili Episode: "Ufólogos"
2019 Truth-Seekers Giorgio (cameo) Short film
2020 The UnXplained Self Episode: "The Truth About UFO's"
2021–22 Resident Alien Giorgio Tsoukalos (cameo) 2 episodes
2022 Les Secrets du miracle de Fatima Self TV documentary; Archive footage

References

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  1. ^ Childress, David Hatcher (30 July 2009). Lost Cities and Ancient Mysteries of the Southwest. Kempton, IL: Adventures Unlimited Press. p. 400. ISBN 978-1-931882-94-1.
  2. ^ Wood, Jennifer M. (18 April 2015). "10 Things We Learned About Aliens (and Hairspray) from Giorgio Tsoukalos' AMA". MentalFloss. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  3. ^ Birnes, William J. (23 February 2016). UFO Hunters Book Two. New York: Tor Books. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-7653-2521-1.
  4. ^ a b "10 Facts About the Ancient Aliens Guy". History Channel. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Giorgio A. Tsoukalos". www.legendarytimes.com. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  6. ^ Colavito, Jason (30 December 2005). The Cult of Alien Gods: H.P. Lovecraft and Extraterrestrial Pop Culture. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1-59102-352-4.
  7. ^ Teper, Lonnie (3 March 2003). "Cutler Repeats as Schwarzenegger Classic Champion". Iron Man. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  8. ^ "Uspto Issues Trademark: Legendary Times". US Fed News Service. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  9. ^ "Giorgio A. Tsoukalos: Short Biographical Sketch". Legendary Times. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
  10. ^ Card, Jeb J.; Anderson, David S. (2016). Lost City, Found Pyramid: Understanding Alternative Archaeologies and Pseudoscientific Practices. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0817319113.
  11. ^ "Giorgio A. Tsoukalos - Ancient Aliens Cast". History. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  12. ^ "In Search of Aliens". History. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Ancient Aliens". Know Your Meme. 15 May 2011. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  14. ^ a b "ancient aliens". Dictionary.com. March 2018. Archived from the original on 22 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  15. ^ Tsoukalos, Giorgio (17 April 2015). "I am Giorgio Tsoukalos. You may know me from the show ANCIENT ALIENS. AMA!". r/IAmA. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  16. ^ Juacian, Don (26 August 2016). "I want to believe: Meet the hair guy from "Ancient Aliens"". CNN Philippines. Archived from the original on 22 December 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  17. ^ "Welcome Aliens". Resident Alien. Season 1. Episode 9. 24 March 2021. Syfy.
  18. ^ Sagers, Aaron (21 April 2021). "Resident Alien: Inside That Hair-Raising Cameo". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on 22 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  19. ^ "Giorgio Tsoukalos". Coast to Coast AM. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
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