Pyramids/Alien Theory Gets Elon Musk an Invitation to Egypt

History and diplomacy meet on social media

Pyramids
These were not built by aliens.
Ricardo Liberato/Creative Commons

What happens after someone posts bad science on social media? For most people, that results in a series of corrections, some polite and others…not so much. But what happens when a high-profile tech magnate makes a foray into the world of questionable science and history? If that tech magnate is Elon Musk, well, they just might get a nice trip out of it.

At Business Insider, Sophia Ankel reports that Elon Musk has been invited to Egypt by that country’s government. What prompted such an invitation, you might ask? Musk taking to Twitter on Friday night to espouse the theory that the pyramids were built by aliens.

How, exactly, does one respond to that? Well, if you’re Rania al-Mashat, Egypt’s Minister of International Co-operation, you take to Twitter to try to rectify the situation somewhat. al-Mashat did exactly that, extending an invitation to Musk to visit Egypt and tour the pyramids — and, in the process, hopefully be convinced that the pyramids were built by humans.

Musk eventually followed up on his earlier post with a link to a BBC article on the creation of the pyramids. The article in question focuses on the amount of labor required to build the pyramids — all of it human. No extraterrestrials or flying saucers are discussed.

As for whether or not Musk will take up the Egyptian government’s offer of a visit, that remains to be seen.

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