Ancient Aliens, Advanced Beings & Reincarnation 
 Interdisciplinary cosmologist Paul Von Ward discussed his scientific  research on how "advanced beings" (ABs) have influenced our history by  shaping our genes & technology, and providing the impetus for modern  civilization. Rather than extraterrestrials, he prefers the term ABs,  which could include ETs, 'ancient astronauts,' interdimensional beings,  as well as advanced Earth species (active before our civilization began,  such as Atlanteans). These beings intervened with humanity, and  tinkered or intermingled with our genetics, but around 5,000--6,000  years ago, they pulled away from direct involvement with human  civilization, he reported.
The departure of the ABs or 'gods'  from places like the Indus Valley, China, Egypt, and the Middle East  left a class of interlocutors who became known as the priesthood. Over  centuries of time without the gods coming back, "this priesthood  continued to carry out the rituals, and request the obedience of the  followers," and began to use words to describe the gods as divine  beings, Von Ward said. Eventually it got to the point where the ABs had  been gone so long, that it was forgotten they were real physical beings,  and their concept evolved into the supernatural notion of a singular  God, he continued.
Von Ward also addressed his study of  reincarnation and its effects on the human personality. He described the  psychoplasm as the scientific concept of a soul-- a biogenetic field  (or the portion of universal consciousness that is associated with an  individual) that survives the physical manifestation of the body. A  person's past life legacy can predispose them to certain directions,  abilities, and appearances. He is currently studying a case of a poet in  the American Southwest who believes she may be the reincarnation of  Elizabeth Barrett Browning. An independent comparison of their poems has  found significant similarities, he noted. 
Biography:
Paul  Von Ward, author of The Soul Genome: Science and Reincarnation, wrote  from the perspective of a psychologist and interdisciplinary  cosmologist. Before becoming an independent scholar and creator of the  Reincarnation Experiment, Paul's public career included roles as  Protestant minister, U.S. naval officer, American diplomat, U.S. State  Department official, and the founder/CEO of Delphi International. 
Wikipedia
Ancient  astronauts or ancient aliens are purported intelligent extraterrestrial  beings said to have visited Earth in antiquity or prehistory and made  contact with humans. Proponents suggest that this contact influenced the  development of human cultures, technologies and religions. A common  variant of the idea is that deities from most, if not all, religions are  actually extraterrestrials, and their advanced technologies were  wrongly understood by primitive men as evidence of their divine status.
These  proposals have been popularized, particularly in the latter half of the  20th century, by writers such as Erich von Däniken, Giorgio A.  Tsoukalos, Zecharia Sitchin, Robert K. G. Temple, David Icke and Peter  Kolosimo
Thomas Gold, a professor of astronomy, suggested a  "garbage theory" for the origin of life, proposing that life on earth  might have spread from a pile of waste products accidentally dumped on  Earth long ago by extraterrestrials.
The television series  Ancient Aliens on the History channel features the main proponents in  the ancient astronaut theory, and includes interviews with Giorgio A.  Tsoukalos, David Childress, Erich von Däniken, Steven Greer and Nick  Pope.
Zecharia Sitchin's series The Earth Chronicles, beginning  with The 12th Planet, revolves around Sitchin's interpretation of  ancient Sumerian and Middle Eastern texts, megalithic sites, and  artifacts from around the world. He theorizes the gods of old  Mesopotamia were actually astronauts from the planet "Nibiru", which  Sitchin claims the Sumerians believed to be a remote "12th planet"  (counting the Sun, Moon, and Pluto as planets) associated with the god  Marduk. According to Sitchin, Nibiru continues to orbit our sun on a  3,600-year elongated orbit. Sitchin also suggests that the asteroid belt  between Mars and Jupiter is the shattered remains of the ancient planet  "Tiamat", which he claims was destroyed in one of Nibiru's orbits  through the solar system. Modern astronomy has found no evidence to  support Sitchin's claims.