Elon Musk claims aliens 'obviously' built the pyramids - here’s how Egypt reacted

Tesla and SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk, has sparked a bizarre Twitter debate by claiming that it was aliens, not humans, who built the Great Pyramids of Egypt.

The wealthy technology entrepreneur tweeted on 31 July, alleging that the Great Pyramids of Egypt, were built by extraterrestrials.

Addressing his 37.4 million followers, he wrote, “Aliens built the pyramids obv.”

The post has since received over half a million likes.

Users on Twitter responded to the outlandish claim by questioning its veracity, to which Musk attempted to defend his hypothesis, by quoting a Wikipedia source.

He also emphasised the remarkable nature of the Great Pyramids, writing, “The Great Pyramid was the tallest structure made by humans for 3800 years. Three thousand, eight hundred years.”

Musk later defended his position by posting a BBC article explaining how the pyramids were built, despite his chosen article not making any mention of aliens.

How did people respond?

Egypt's Minister of International Co-operation Rania Al-Mashat replied to Mr Musk on the social media platform, suggesting the entrepreneur reads more on the history of the pyramids.

She wrote, “I follow your work with a lot of admiration. I invite you & Space X to explore the writings about how the pyramids were built and also to check out the tombs of the pyramid builders. Mr. Musk, we are waiting for you.”

Additionally, the Egyptian archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, also replied to the claim, decrying Musk's theory as a "complete hallucination.”

Some Twitter users questioned whether Musk’s comments came from racist assumptions.

One wrote, “Just because white people didn’t do it doesn’t mean “aliens” did.”

The history of the pyramids

All three of the famous ancient pyramids were built between roughly 2550 to 2490 BC. The pyramids were filled with all the possessions each Pharaoh would need to help him in the afterlife, where it was believed he would become a god.

The construction of the pyramids were ordered by Pharaohs Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure, and it is widely thought that they were built using slave labour.

However, the exact methods by which they were built continues to be one of the world’s biggest mysteries, due to the enormous weight of the stone blocks used to construct the pyramids, and the lack of sufficient lifting tools at the time.

The largest of the three structures is estimated to be made from 2.3 million stone blocks, each weighing an average of 2.5 to 15 tons.