Cryptoterrestrials

Cryptoterrestrials — also called ultraterrestrials in some research traditions — are alleged non-human intelligent beings native to or permanently resident on Earth itself, as distinct from extraterrestrial beings arriving from other star systems. They are the beings posited by the cryptoterrestrial hypothesis — itself a branch of the broader ultraterrestrial hypothesis. The hypothesis covers a range of proposed entities: remnant advanced civilizations inhabiting subterranean or undersea environments, ancient occult groups in continuous hidden existence, beings displaced from higher-frequency layers of the planet's interior, and genetically distinct humanoids who have cohabited with surface humanity while remaining deliberately concealed. Specific groups named in contemporary contact accounts include the Ant People, the Nordic inner Earth civilization, and the Anshar, all described as inhabiting deep inner-Earth cavern systems. In practice the category is understood as a mix of interdimensional beings, subterranean populations, and advanced NHI species able to remain unseen — their secrecy reportedly assisted, in both modern and earlier (if less technologically advanced) eras, by elite human teams tasked with keeping their presence hidden.[citation needed]

Terminology and theoretical framework

The term cryptoterrestrial was popularized by researcher Mac Tonnies in his book The Cryptoterrestrials (2010), which Hal Puthoff cited in his academic paper "Ultraterrestrials Models" as the most useful framing for entities fitting this description. Puthoff — a physicist formerly associated with the CIA's Project Stargate and the Pentagon's Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program — laid out the cryptoterrestrial hypothesis alongside extraterrestrial and inter-dimensional hypotheses as candidate explanations for unidentified aerial phenomena.

The earlier term ultraterrestrial was introduced by John Keel to describe non-physical beings able to instantiate in perceivable form — a broader category that partly overlaps the cryptoterrestrial concept but extends to entities Keel considered fundamentally non-material. Puthoff distinguished a narrower, more physical variant — an "isolated high-tech closed community of humans with somewhat advanced scientific knowledge existing apart from known culture" — from Keel's more metaphysical formulation, observing that the two models are not mutually exclusive and that observable UAP evidence may reflect both simultaneously.

Evidence markers proposed by Puthoff

Puthoff's paper identified a set of potential observable signatures that would be consistent with an ultraterrestrial/cryptoterrestrial presence rather than a purely extraterrestrial one:

• High local density of UAP sightings over centuries, more consistent with a geographically near source than occasional interstellar visitors
• UAP-associated messaging focused on nuclear disarmament and environmental degradation — concerns that would affect a co-located hidden population as much as surface humanity
• Deliberate promotion of the extraterrestrial narrative as misdirection to prevent discovery of terrestrial concealment
• Interactions with beings ranging from modern-human-appearing to genetically altered drones, all within the range of human genomic variation
• Apparent genetic outreach through abduction-type reproduction programs, consistent with a small inbred isolated group requiring genetic diversity

Puthoff also cited ex-NASA contractor testimony reported by author Nick Redfern, describing insider claims that NASA held evidence of "a small band of individuals who are not aliens from some distant star system at all, but supposedly represented the last vestige of a very ancient terrestrial race of beings that thousands of years ago had an advanced and isolated civilization" — responsible for the Atlantis traditions — who "were forced by circumstances to retreat into remote sequestered locales for survival, e.g., mountains and the seabed," and who were "primarily concerned about nuclear war and degradation of the environment."

Ancient alien experiments and human DNA

Michael Salla and Laura Eisenhower — discussing cryptoterrestrials in a March 2024 episode of Exopolitics Today — situated the concept within a longer account of ancient genetic experimentation on the human lineage. Eisenhower described the human genome as carrying dormant capacities seeded by multiple off-world and terrestrial factions, with cryptoterrestrials representing one faction that remained embedded on Earth through and after these experiments, rather than departing to other star systems. She linked this to the ancient astronaut framework — multiple rounds of human genetic modification by beings who did not all leave — citing alignment between her research and that of Zecharia Sitchin's Earth Chronicles series as catalogued in Puthoff's paper.

Eisenhower, great-granddaughter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, argued that the Majestic 12 organization's secret treaties with non-human groups — signed without the President's knowledge or consent — enabled certain terrestrially-resident NHI factions to expand their covert presence in underground facilities and classified programs, operating alongside (and against the interests of) surface governments for decades.

Inner Earth groups in contact accounts

Several groups reported in contactee and military witness accounts correspond to the cryptoterrestrial model by virtue of being indigenous to Earth rather than originating off-world:

Ant People

Main article:

Ant People

The Ant People are described as a humanoid non-human species inhabiting an extensive cavern network beneath the continental United States, accessible through camouflaged trapdoors in forested areas. They are credited in Hopi tradition with sheltering surface peoples during ancient cataclysms, and contemporary accounts from JP describe a civilization that has coexisted with surface humanity for millennia — teaching agricultural practices to Native Americans and accepting surface humans who choose to relocate underground.

Nordic inner Earth civilization

Main article:

Nordic inner Earth civilization

The Nordic inner Earth civilization is described by JP as a community of Nordic-appearing humanoids resident in deep cavern cities for thousands of years, maintaining their own written historical records and life-extension pharmacopeia, and sharing technology with elements of the U.S. military as of 2023. Their own records indicate they were assisted in establishing their underground way of life by the Ant People.

Anshar

Main article:

Anshar Command

The Anshar, described by Corey Goode as a fourth-density inner-Earth civilization, claim an origin in humanity's own future — a small group sent back approximately 17 million years to steward the optimal temporal timeline — who grew into a large underground civilization with multiple city-systems. They previously presented themselves to surface contacts as Pleiadians for operational security reasons, as surface military penetrating weapons had become a threat to their underground cities.

Concealment and misdirection

A recurring theme across cryptoterrestrial accounts is that these groups actively promoted the extraterrestrial narrative — presenting themselves as visitors from distant star systems — to divert surface humanity's attention from their terrestrial location. Puthoff identified "injected, proliferating emphasis on the ET theme as misdirection to prevent exposure of local terrestrial habitation" as one of the expected signatures of a co-located hidden civilization. The Anshar example illustrates this pattern: they claimed Pleiadian origin for decades, only recently disclosing their actual origin and location as surface humanity developed the technological capability to locate and threaten their deep underground habitations.

Eisenhower connected this to what she described as systematic Deep State disinformation — a strategy of creating false disclosure narratives that place all non-human activity off-planet while concealing the presence of terrestrially-resident groups involved in covert programs.

Relationship to surface humanity

Accounts describe a spectrum of cryptoterrestrial attitudes toward the surface population — from protective and pedagogical (the Ant People sheltering and teaching Native Americans; the Nordic inner-Earth civilization sharing life-extension knowledge) to neutral and concealed (the Anshar managing their timeline with minimal direct intervention) to adversarial (underground factions working in concert with above-ground Deep State groups against surface humanity's interests).

Eisenhower described the current period as one of increasing cryptoterrestrial disclosure: Sleeping Giants awakening from stasis across multiple underground locations, inner-Earth groups opening their cavern systems to limited military contact, and the broader trajectory of non-human intelligences resident on Earth choosing — under the pressure of a galactic frequency shift — to move toward greater surface visibility rather than continued concealment.

Ramay: off-world origin, underground residency

The Ramay, catalogued in Elena Danaan's Encyclopedia Galactica Volume I, represent a documented case of a species that arrived with an extraterrestrial expedition and subsequently established permanent underground residence on Earth following a cataclysm — a trajectory consistent with the cryptoterrestrial model. Originally from the Capella binary star system and part of the broader Anunnaki group, the Ramay came to Earth with the Anunnaki expedition during the Atlantean period. When Enlil initiated the Younger Dryas catastrophe, the Ramay were abandoned and "after the Younger Dryas event, the Ramay took up residence in the underground of South and Central America. They were at the origin of the rise of the Mayan civilization." Their memory persisted in Mesoamerican myth even after their departure, with local populations performing blood sacrifices in their name. The Ramay thus represent a case where a species with off-world origins transitioned into a cryptoterrestrial underground resident population for millennia, interacting pedagogically with surface humanity before eventually withdrawing — exactly the pattern Puthoff identifies as diagnostic of the cryptoterrestrial model.

Government witness account testimony

In a 2024 presentation on The Invisible College's Sol Forum — alongside Jacques Vallée and researcher Larry Lemke — Puthoff summarized evidence from government program witnesses as pointing toward beings that are "significantly different from us and yet significantly similar enough to try to wrap your head around." He identified three possible interpretations: advanced humans traveling back from the future; a different species that "broke off from us" and "set up a civilization embedded in the seabed"; or beings from other dimensions. He concluded that, in all cases, "the evidence is strong enough from the people that we've interacted with that there are in fact beings associated with these craft" that are non-human but humanoid in form.

See also

• List of non-human intelligent species
• JP's mission to the Nordic Inner Earth civilization (October 2023)
• JP's second mission to the Ant People underground kingdom

References