<p> The plot for last year's movie Cowboys & Aliens (and the graphic novel from which it was adapted) didn't come from thin air. Stories of strange lights and airships in the sky over America proliferated during the 19th century, and the episode of A&E's “Ancient Aliens” series called “Aliens and the Old West” overlooks some of the more interesting ones. </p> <p>Still, the episode's far-reaching sweep gathers some interesting ideas in the folds of its net. If nothing else, that gigantic Serpent Mound in Ohio proves the American Indians of the area were more advanced than European settlers could credit. And doesn't Joseph Smith's visionary angel Moroni sound extra-terrestrial? With its infinity of inhabitable worlds, the peculiar cosmology of Mormonism seems remarkable when contrasted against the conventions of 19th century astronomy. </p> <p>Some of the talking heads seen on “Aliens and the Old West” are the usual kook merchants with fanciful interpretations of ancient pictographs, but then, there's the contemporary Indian chief who believes the “star beings” of his people's legends are still in touch, and at the story's edges are such respectable academics as the Notre Dame professor who points out that Whitman and Emerson believed in life on other planets. </p> <p>“Aliens and the Old West” is found on “Ancient Aliens: The Complete Season Three,” a four-DVD set out Feb. 7 </p>
