Myth, Science, or Something More?

The Sirius Mystery is one of the most captivating mysteries of ancient knowledge and potential alien contact. It’s set among the Dogon people of Mali, a remote tribe in West Africa whose oral traditions contain a rich knowledge of the Sirius star system, including information about Sirius B (an invisible white dwarf star).

This leaves one question hanging: How did the Dogon know about this? Some say early European astronomers handed down this information, while others say it came from an advanced civilization or even aliens. Robert Temple’s controversial book The Sirius Mystery (1976) postulated that extraterrestrials from the Sirius system visited the Dogon, and the debate has raged ever since.

Is it possible that the Dogon were privy to this information ahead of our time? Or is there a simpler explanation? Join me as I examine the facts, what certain theories say about the case, and what still remains a mystery.

The Dogon Cosmology

The Dogon have a rich cosmology rooted in a profound relationship with the stars. They describe Sirius A, the brightest star in the night sky having an invisible companion, Sirius B, which in their oral traditions they describe as being incredibly small and heavy, that follows an elliptical orbit around Sirius A, once every 50 years, an astonishingly accurate fact that modern astronomers didn’t confirm until the 20th century.

Even more mysterious, the Dogon speak of a third star, Sirius C, which contemporary science has yet to confirm. However, based on gravitational anomalies, it has been proposed that a faint third companion star may exist, but no conclusive evidence has been found.

This knowledge is deeply embedded in Dogon culture and passed down through generations, particularly during the Sigui ceremony, a ritual that occurs once every 60 years and is said to align with key astronomical cycles. During this sacred event, the Dogon reaffirm their connection to the Nommo, mythical amphibious beings said to have come from the sky to teach them wisdom.

The Nommo are central to Dogon mythology. They are described as part-fish, part-human creatures who arrived in a “vessel of fire and thunder.” The Dogon claim that these beings originated from a planet orbiting Sirius and imparted their advanced astronomical knowledge before returning to the stars.

This is an extraordinary claim, and I wonder if the Dogon people really received this knowledge from extraterrestrial visitors or if there is another explanation.

Robert Temple and The Sirius Mystery

Robert Temple’s book The Sirius Mystery brought attention to the Dogon’s knowledge to an international audience. Temple maintained that the Sirius system was drawn with such accuracy in their mind that earthbound observation or cultural transfer would not suffice, nor did they desire such methods. Rather, he theorized, the Dogon had physical interactions with extraterrestrial beings, the Nommo, whom he associated with the ancient astronaut theory.

Temple, in his work, linked Dogon mythology and ancient Egyptian civilization while proposing that the knowledge of Sirius B may have been passed down through a forgotten history of advanced civilization. He cited linguistic and symbolic parallels between Dogon traditions and those of ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian cultures, suggesting that a single enlightened ancient civilization might have been privy to this wisdom.

For ancient astronaut theorists, Temple’s book provided groundbreaking proof that ancient aliens might have contributed to the development of human civilization. But some remained unconvinced.

The Skeptical Perspective

Numerous scientists and anthropologists have disputed Temple’s assertions, arguing that the Dogon’s knowledge can be accounted for in more down to Earth ways.

A big counterargument to this is cultural diffusion. Sirius B, which was known to European astronomers as far back as the 19th century, may have been introduced to the Dogon by French explorers or missionaries before anthropologists formally recorded it.

One of the loudest skeptics was the late Carl Sagan, who noted that if the Dogon had received knowledge from an advanced civilization, or even extraterrestrials, why didn’t they also describe other planets, galaxies, or astronomical phenomena? Dialogue with the Sirius system: Captivating as it is, it appears strangely selective if they had access to better knowledge.

Belgian anthropologist Walter van Beek did fieldwork among the Dogon in the 1990s and discovered no evidence that Sirius had any special importance in their traditions. Many of the Dogon he spoke with appeared to have no knowledge of Sirius B whatsoever. This prompted van Beek to consider the possibility that the earlier work by the anthropologists Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen, the first to publish accounts of the Dogon’s astronomical knowledge, was colored by the researchers’ interpretations, or things inadvertently seeded by their contacts with the Dogon.

Critics say oral traditions morph from generation to generation. Situational stories can be embellished, misinterpreted, and adapted to other cultures before arriving at their final resting place, and their authorship can be hard to pin down. Could the Dogon’s astronomical knowledge have undergone transformation from generation to generation, integrating contemporary scientific concepts into ancient myths?

Such skeptical views undermine the extraterrestrial hypothesis, but do not completely eliminate the mystery. The Dogon’s understanding remains incredibly specific and impressively accurate, regardless of the origins’ debate.

Re-examining the Evidence

The Sirius Mystery continues to fascinate researchers because there is no definitive explanation. The Dogon can certainly be commended for their knowledge of Sirius B, but one can only speculate if it was from ancient observation, cultural exchange or something altogether different.

One hurdle in cracking this mystery is the flexible quality of oral traditions. Unlike records written down, oral histories evolve, making it impossible to know exactly when a particular knowledge was taught. To complicate matters further, human nature favors pattern recognition, which means that both Temple and some of the researchers before him may have been overly influenced by the Dogon’s story, through previous accounts.

Yet, dismissing the Dogon’s knowledge as chance at the same time feels unsatisfactory. Their accounts of Sirius B’s density, orbit, and invisibility match so closely with contemporary science that some questions are left hanging.

And then there’s the third star: the one not yet confirmed, Sirius C. Some astronomers have speculated that gravitational data indicates the possible presence of a faint brown dwarf, or a red dwarf, in the Sirius system. This finding would revive questions about how the Dogon knew of its existence if confirmed.

Perhaps the Dogon’s information descended from a deeper, lost context? Or is it another example of how human cultures develop complex stories about the cosmos?

Conclusion

The Sirius Mystery is a testament to humanity’s enduring fascination with the unknown. The Dogon’s knowledge of Sirius B, continues to challenge conventional history, fueling speculation about lost wisdom, advanced civilizations, and extraterrestrial contact.

While skeptics offer plausible explanations, no single theory has completely debunked the mystery. Did the Dogon acquire this knowledge through ancient exchanges, independent discovery, or something far stranger?

Sources and References

Griaule, M., & Dieterlen, G. (1950). Un système soudanais de Sirius. Journal de la Société des Africanistes, 20(1), 273-294.

Holberg, J. B. (2007). Sirius: Brightest Diamond in the Night Sky. Springer Science & Business Media.

Ridpath, I. (1978). The Sirius Mystery – Some Second Thoughts. The Skeptical Inquirer, 3(1), 58-61.

Sagan, C. (1979). Broca’s Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science. Random House.

Van Beek, W. E. A. (1991). Dogon Restudied: A Field Evaluation of the Work of Marcel Griaule. Current Anthropology, 32(2), 139-167.

Oberg, J. (1982). UFOs and Outer Space Mysteries: A Sympathetic Skeptic’s Report. Prometheus Books.

Temple, R. K. G. (1976). The Sirius Mystery: New Scientific Evidence of Alien Contact 5,000 Years Ago. St. Martin’s Press.