For millennia, ancient cultures around the world have described contact with non-human intelligent beings that descended from the skies. Countless stories, cave paintings, artifacts and even structures seem to point to ancient alien encounters across history. This has led many to speculate – if extraterrestrials visited Earth civilizations in the distant past, where have they been in recent history? Why does there appear to be no modern record of alien contact when our ancestors described it so vividly?

Several theories attempt to explain this discrepancy. Some posit that ancient aliens were simply monitoring primitive human development during early stages and have now moved on to other developing worlds. However, one would expect occasional return visits and checks. Others suggest ancient people misinterpreted ordinary phenomena or spiritual visions as physical alien beings due to lack of scientific understanding. But detailed depictions and consistency across cultures cast doubt.

A more unsettling explanation is that modern alien absence indicates they found what they needed from ancient people and no longer require contact. Historical texts disturbingly describe human abduction, experimentation and even organic material extraction procedures by non-humans. Have extraterrestrials already taken all required biological data from humankind in the distant past? 

There are also theories that human consciousness development has now reached a stage where contact could destabilize society or that alien deceit was uncovered, leading them to avoid further relations. Some even believe ancient alien races shared advanced technology that allowed human civilizations like Atlantis to achieve an advanced stage that posed a threat. Is modern society being deliberately suppressed?

While definitive evidence of prolonged alien contact exists, limited records from recent centuries seem conspicuous given historical accounts. This had led to many theories, but all lack hard proof in modern times. However, pattern changes in 2022, including a dramatic uptick in sightings globally, suggest a potential shift. Coupled with unprecedented identification of aerial phenomena by the US government and the first interstellar object detected entering our solar system, are we on the verge of renewed alien appearances that may confirm or deny ancient legends?

What experts agree is that even if aliens have been absent more recently, they were certainly involved during human prehistory based on ample evidence across cultures. Why they have not clearly appeared to modern civilization is a mystery that can only be solved by their next open arrival. Whenever that may be.