Ancient Aliens
Where it came from
Giorgio Tsoukalos, a regular commentator on the History Channel show Ancient Aliens (2010–present), with his wild hair and his constant insistence that every unexplained thing in history was aliens. Became a meme around 2011.
A guy with aggressively tall hair gestures at the camera. The caption is "I'm not saying it was aliens... but it was aliens." You use it any time someone offers a reasonable explanation for something and you want to dismissively suggest a completely unhinged one instead. Missing car keys? Aliens. Weird weather? Aliens. Your code working for no reason? Aliens.
The meme works entirely on the guy's face — he looks absolutely convinced, every time, no matter what you're putting in the caption. The original show is earnestly ridiculous, and the meme just turned the earnestness into the punchline.
Older millennial meme, fading but not dead. Still pops up when someone really wants to nuke a conversation.
Search interest, over time
↳ data courtesy of google trends
