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[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alien_phone_3748.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[TechnologyMarchesOn "Behold our superior technology: the mobile wireless telecommunicator!"]] ]]

->''"This morning we were able to transmit [[TheInternetIsForCats a mildly amusing image of a cat]] halfway across the world, suggesting it will be an excellent tool for sharing classified information within our organization. I named this impressive creation the "internetwork", and would be very surprised if it didn't catch on."''
-->-- '''Chief Research Officer'''[[note]]This game is set in ''TheSeventies''[[/note]], ''VideoGame/{{Xenonauts}}''

Some science fiction works will have as part of their plot that a noticeable chunk of modern technology was descended from the use of alien science/knowledge in some way: perhaps it was the reverse engineering of ImportedAlienPhlebotinum, or possibly the discovery of some LostTechnology left behind by AncientAstronauts, or maybe we got it from a CapturedSuperEntity. At any rate, it's not really ours.

This is usually meant to explain how we've managed so much progress in the past century or so. It can also explain why alien tech is [[JustifiedTrope sometimes eerily similar to human tech]].

This trope is frequently used as the basis for a HistoricalInJoke, the cheapest of which being that the reverse engineering happened at {{Area 51}} and/or was a direct result of the supposed crash in {{Roswell|ThatEndsWell}}.

If this is used as a throwaway gag rather than for technology central to the plot, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velcro Velcro]] is a popular choice, perhaps because it was first popularized by its use in Apollo-era space suits.

Expect [[HandWave varied amounts]] of success should the writers [[{{Deconstruction}} address the many issues]] brought up by the characters [[PossessionImpliesMastery understanding even the underlying principles]] of whatever SufficientlyAdvancedAlien tech the source was. Same goes if they try to explain how it came to be that an alien toaster could pave the way for the World Wide Web.

Also, a healthy dose of [[ArtisticLicenseHistory historical revisionism]] and/or "That was a Cover Story" may be necessary to effectively use this trope considering modern technology ''can'' be traced back to human discovery pretty easily.

Works where there are {{Insufficiently Advanced Alien}}s instead of humans can also fit this trope.

Compare TechnologyUplift, where the passing of technology from the advanced aliens is deliberate.

----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Advertising]]
* An Alienware advert suggests that the company's range of high-power gaming [=PCs=] was created in this way.
** Which is unintentionally hilarious considering that anyone who knows ''anything'' about computers, or ''knows'' anyone who knows anything about computers, can make one just as powerful for ''maybe'' a third of the cost. Those aliens must really get around.
* Nvidia [[http://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2014/01/05/salinas-crop-circle-and-project-192/ created a]] {{Crop Circle|s}} in a California barley field as part of a viral marketing campaign for their Tegra K1 processor.
* Before cell phones became ubiquitous, [=PrimeCo=] ran a series of commercials featuring a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl1WikuS4dk little pink alien]] who lost his cell phone on Earth and tried to get it back because "[[TheWorldIsNotReady Earth wasn't ready]]" for their technology.
* A tie-in ad campaign for ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'' has a Cybertronian [[Advertising/TheBurgerKing Burger King]] who gave the secret to delicious hamburgers to the founders of Burger King back in 1953 in exchange for a place to live. Its implied that he continues to work as their recipe man right up to the present day.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* The setting of ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' is basically the Edo era with technology four centuries ahead of the curve, thanks to the Amanto introducing them to some amenities that wouldn't look out of place in a modern-day setting.
* In ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'', wizards from another world are responsible for MediaNotes/JavaScript, as [[LanguageOfMagic it was apparently styled after their magic system]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/LesInnommables'': Inverted, as the Roswell spacecraft is actually an experimental Russian aircraft with a pilot in suspended animation. The Americans are studying it, but the Chinese send agents to steal it.
* ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'': In Volume 2, [[Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds the Martians]] do their damnedest to avert this: They retrieve the parts of fallen Fighting-Machines during the battle with the ''Nautilus''.
* ''ComicBook/ScarletTraces'': The comic posits that the tech left behind by the Martians in ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' has been developed by humans with variable results.
* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': In ''ComicBook/SupermanUnchained'', humanity's technological progress has advanced steadily since 1938 through from use of an alien equation by [[GovernmentConspiracy the Machine]]. The culmination of this is [[AppliedPhlebotinum Earthstone]]. [[spoiler:The equation was made by [[HeroAntagonist Wraith]]'s species, and they have done that with many other planets across the universe. When a civilization creates technlogy with the equation, Wraith's species can easily disable it and conquer a planet.]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'': According to General Ross in ''ComicBook/Thunderbolts2012'', American Cheese was reverse engineered from alien technology leftover from a thwarted alien invasion.
* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise'': Garrison Blackrock states that human civilisation developed thanks to Nexus Prime's Enigma of Combination crash-landing on Earth, its energies allowing the ancient tribes of Mesopotamia to unite their thoughts and ideas and come together to build the first city, Uruk. The questionable historicity of this claim aside (Uruk is far from humanity's first known city), [[spoiler: Blackrock being a [[TomatoInTheMirror Cybertronian sleeper agent]] with fabricated memories puts this whole story into doubt anyways.]]
* ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'': The Chitauri are an alien race that helped the Nazis back in World War II, but they were defeated. The Americans salvaged the Chitauri tech, and used it to kickstart NASA. Later on in the present, a disguised Kree is defecting from his mission and covertly helps NASA develop their first FTL ship.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In ''FanFic/HarryTano'', the presence of former Jedi Ahsoka Tano soon leads to Republic Tech being recreated on Earth, albeit with a large portion of it being {{Magitek}} until workarounds can be found.
* About a month into the war with The Race in ''FanFic/WorldwarWarOfEquals'', the US and the European Union are very interested in the captured Hydrogen engines from Race vehicles. Europe reverse engineers the engines, and are expected to be mass produced by January.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
* The 1914 of ''Animation/WarOfTheWorldsGoliath'' is a {{Dieselpunk}} setting thanks to humans having retro-engineered the technology of the downed Martian tripods. This proves to not be entirely advantageous because the second wave of invaders can easily adapt human power plants for their own ends.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* We've evidently gotten quite a bit of knowledge out of that one crashed spaceship in ''Film/IndependenceDay''. An extended version of the film explicitly states that it was used to create Earth computers, which also {{handwave}}s the vulnerability of the mothership to a computer virus. Continues in the [[Film/IndependenceDayResurgence sequel]], with humanity rebuilding and reverse-engineering even more alien tech in the 20-year gap between the films. This includes powerful hybrid jet fighters with shields, handheld energy weapons, and the ability to build bases on the Moon, Mars, and Rhea (one of Saturn's moons). This not only helps humanity deal with TheRemnant on Earth but prepare for the return of the aliens.
* The titular organization in ''Film/MenInBlack'' gets its funding from holding various patents based on alien technology. This includes velcro and a little disc thingy that's "gonna replace the compact disc." In ''Film/MenInBlack3'', this is PlayedForLaughs: in the 60s, Agent O talks about a meeting with some aliens called the Viagrans that developed a revolutionary pill.
* Pseudo-example in TheStinger of ''Film/NightAtTheMuseumBattleOfTheSmithsonian'' movie, where a cell phone left in a ''portrait-sized photograph'' prompted a guy from just after WWII to attempt to reverse engineer it. According to the photo, his name was Joey Motorola. Motorola, Inc. was founded in 1928 by Paul V. Galvin [[OlderThanTheyThink and was]] ''[[OlderThanTheyThink already]]'' [[OlderThanTheyThink making hand-held radios in 1940]].
* Film/{{Paul}}, who is solely responsible for most of technological and pop culture advancement, including the idea for the movie ET.
* In ''Film/Transformers2007'', the technological advances of the 20th century were made by reverse engineering the captive, frozen Megatron after he was discovered in 1897. [[ArtisticLicenseCars This somehow includes automobiles, which were actually invented over 10 years earlier.]]
* Creator/TheAsylum film ''Film/{{Transmorphers}}'' has the human resistance's weaponry reverse-engineered from the alien robots'.
* In ''Film/TheWorldsEnd'', Gary and his friends discover that [[spoiler:The Network have been influencing technological advances for decades to prepare us for life in a wider galactic community. Unfortunately some [[UnwillingRoboticisation sacrifices had to be made]] [[ForYourOwnGood For Our Own Good]]...]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', ''The Andalite Chronicles'', Elfangor says he talked to a guy named Bill who worked at a computer company...obviously intended to be Bill Gates. He also mentions a guy named Steve, which could indicate one of Apple's Steves.
** In "The Warning", Visser Three's brother took a obscure human computer tech and turned him into the billionaire owner of Web Access America, the books' version of America [=OnLine=].
** Also played with in #45 ''The Revelation'', when it's revealed that the Yeerks helped humans discover Zero-space. Lampshaded by Ax in the same book.
** In #14, the team visits [[{{Area51}} Zone 91]], where the government is rumored to be studying a crashed alien spaceship. A crazy woman at the beginning of the book strongly believes this is how humans got computers, but at the end we find out [[spoiler:there ''is'' an alien construct being studied... an Andalite ''toilet''. And an obsolete model at that.]] According to Ax, humans can't learn anything from it, so they decide not to say anything to the military devoting their lives to hopefully reaching the stars.
* In ''[[Literature/GarrettPI Angry Lead Skies]]'', two of the "[[UnusualEuphemism silver elves]]" [[TouchedByVorlons enhance Kip Prose's brain]] so he'll invent better and better technology, hoping that he'll eventually create the industrial base for them to repair their ship. [[spoiler: They're taken home by some of the other Visitors, but Kip retains his inventiveness and uses it to introduce stuff like tricycles, pencils, and folding umbrellas to [=TunFaire=] in later books.]]
* ''Literature/Area51'': The atomic bomb is revealed to be based in part on alien technology.
* In ''Creator/JacekDukaj'''s novel ''Córka łupieżcy'', all the advanced technology of the future (including augmented reality, virtual avatars for dead/unborn people etc.) is secretly acquired from abandoned alien cities accessible through [[PortalCrossroadWorld the City]]. One character remarks that the moment the City was discovered, it pretty much rendered all science moot, except for archeology: there's no point in researching anything if you can already find the answer in the records of some highly advanced civilization.
* Reversed in ''Literature/ADeepnessInTheSky'' by Creator/VernorVinge: space faring humans guide the development of the alien Spiders through their equivalent of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar in order to achieve a suitable technological base for the repair of their fleet.
* In the Creator/IsaacAsimov short story "Literature/DoesABeeCare", a larval alien, left on Earth, [[BeenThereShapedHistory guides human technological development through most of history]] until it has reached the point where he can stow away aboard an early unmanned satellite and thus make his way home. He's no more concerned about where Mankind goes after he leaves than a bee cares about the flower it has just pollinated.
* In Creator/OrsonScottCard's ''Literature/EndersGame'' and ''Literature/EndersShadow'', certain technologies like gravity manipulation and [[spoiler:Faster-than-Light communication]] come from reverse engineered alien technology.
** And then changed in the ''Literature/EarthAfire'' prequel where humanity already has gravity lensing technology ''before'' the Formics even get to Earth, courtesy of [[MegaCorp Juke Ltd]].
** Technically the communication isn't reverse engineered, because the Buggers didn't use technology to do it in the first place. It was rather that they were living proof that it was possible, which inspired humans to figure out how to replicate it using our own technology.
* Inverted and played straight in ''Literature/GoMutants'', where the human invention of nuclear weapons brings our planet to the attention of alien races [[spoiler:leading one of them to invent the [[strike:internet]] PLEX for us.]]
* ''Hard Landing'' by Creator/AlgisBudrys, in which a bunch of crash landed alien Joes have to get by on Earth, and one of them decides to sell alien tech to the US.
* In ''Literature/TheHelmsmanSaga'', it is stated a few civilizations were given the push toward interstellar travel by the Empire's {{Escape pod}}s. [[spoiler: In book 8, the heroes land on Earth in the 60s. After being rescued, they leave the pod for us to study.]]
* The Hayford Peirce short story "High Yield Bondage" features an alien ship crashing on Earth in 1972 and starting businesses to both advance technology and build capital, which it can use to purchase parts to repair their starship.
* In ''Literature/TheManWhoFellToEarth'' (both book and film), alien protagonist Thomas Jerome Newton starts an Earthly corporate empire via his people's inventions (electronics, film stock, etc., all far ahead of human technology) with the intent of raising the capital he needs to fulfill his mission.
* In the ''Literature/MyTeacherIsAnAlien'' series by Creator/BruceCoville, an alien helps humanity develop television in hopes that it will slow humanity's development. He later regrets the interference[[note]]The idea was to be so much of a distraction that it ''slowed down'' human technological development (already much [[HumansAdvanceSwiftly faster]] than any other race) to allow society to catch up. The result was... pretty much the opposite of that.[[/note]].
* In the ''Literature/MythAdventures'' series, it's visitors from other ''dimensions'' that are alleged to pose as "great inventors" so they can sell new technology to the yokels in less-advanced worlds.
* The Creator/StrugatskyBrothers' ''Literature/RoadsidePicnic'' transfers this trope into the future: In a setting TwentyMinutesInTheFuture, humanity makes progress by studying and finding uses for alien artefacts dropped on Earth by an unknown extraterrestrial civilization. Some characters also discuss the artifacts, pondering if the way we are using them is the intended way, or if there are other ways to use them we just don't have the knowledge base to understand and are doing the equivalent of using a computer screen as a night-light.
* In Creator/HarryTurtledove's ''Literature/{{Worldwar}}'' series, after a partly-successful AlienInvasion during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII that leaves most of the Southern Hemisphere and the tropics under the control of [[ReptilianConspiracy the Race]], the surviving human nations start reverse-engineering their technology. By TheSixties, human technology has reached 21st century levels, and in less than a hundred years they've surpassed the Race (who are very conservative about applying new technologies that could disrupt the social order) and are building FasterThanLight starships.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* The [[TimeTravel sphere]] in ''Series/SevenDays1998'' is based on [[RoswellThatEndsWell Roswell tech]]. Other more mundane technology is also said to have come from Roswell.
* In ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryDoubleFeature'', every major technological advancement since 1954 has been the result of science gifted to the US government by the aliens as their side of [[GovernmentConspiracy the deal that lets them abduct US citizens for experimentation]].
* ''Series/ChappellesShow'' had a take on the movie Film/DeepImpact where the president reveals all the nation's secrets in the shadow of impending doom. One of these is the existence of aliens who brought us technical marvels such as both Playstation 1 and 2. (3 and 4 had yet to be released.)
* ''Series/DarkSkies'', and the conspiracy folklore it's based on, supposes that modern technology was invented by reverse-engineering material from the famous {{Roswell|ThatEndsWell}} incident.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E6Dalek "Dalek"]] features a tech mogul who hoards alien artefacts for profit or [[TheCollector just to admire them]]. According to him, he's not the first: Broadband is from {{Roswell|ThatEndsWell}}.
** This is the explicit purpose of the original Torchwood, as revealed in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E12ArmyOfGhosts "Army of Ghosts"]]: to defend the British Empire against Aliens and taking their stuff to make them stronger. The United Nations Intelligence Taskforce / Unified Intelligence Taskforce (U.N.I.T.) has a similar goal.
** A subversion in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E2DayOfTheMoon "Day of the Moon"]], in which it is revealed [[spoiler:that many of humanity's technological advancements were ordered by a race of hypnotic, memory-wiping parasite alien things with the aim of getting to the Moon, making it a case of humans giving E.T. wi-fi.]] Technically they wanted [[spoiler:a space suit and not moon travel; mankind just sorta took the ball and ran with it.]]
* ''Series/EerieIndiana'': In "The Loyal Order of Corn", the alien Ned encouraged the development of radio and television.
* ''Series/TheEvent'': [[spoiler:Development of the atomic bomb was pushed ahead by several decades, thanks to the {{Human Alien|s}} Thomas' involvement in the project. The ultimate goal of the aliens, who are stranded on Earth, seems to be to advance humanity's technology so that they have the infrastructure to make it back home.]]
* ''Series/{{Fringe}}:'' It is implied that many of Massive Dynamic's tech advances are copied from the parallel universe: the Other Side is far enough ahead of us to be worth copying, but not so far ahead as to be beyond us.
* ''Series/{{Sliders}}'' episode "The Return of Maggie Beckett" showcased a parallel world where TheGreys gave Earth new technologies and allowed for significant advances. Rembrandt says he always believed this was the case for his own world and cites several technologies, including Velcro. (Both this and the ''Enterprise'' episode listed below were written by Chris Black.)
** It's implied that the only reason the government made the contact with aliens public was because a different President was in office at the time, thanks to UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo lasting longer.
* In a variation, the powers-that-be on ''Series/StargateSG1'' were initially disappointed that not enough exploitable alien tech was coming back with the teams. As time passes and they bring in more tech, it starts filtering down to the public. They even fielded a (barely functional) energy weapon.
** In an AlternateTimeline where the stargate was never discovered, technology is noticeably behind the main timeline standard.
** The low rate of transfer is mainly because the SGC has to balance [[TheMasquerade keeping itself secret]] (not to mention trying not to piss off their offworld allies) with getting a return on the government's investment, and generally leans towards the former. The aforementioned energy weapon is ''intentionally'' barely functional in order to simulate trial-and-error development; Carter and the other scientist are able to get it working pretty fast when their lives depend on it.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** Preventing the reverse of this -- keeping Human/Federation tech out of the hands of alien civilizations whose society might be altered by it -- is one of the original reasons for [[AlienNonInterferenceClause the Prime Directive]].
** The ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS02E02CarbonCreek Carbon Creek]]" implies that Vulcans stranded on Earth during TheFifties sold Velcro to support a child's education.
** In the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS3E8FuturesEnd Future's End]]", the IT revolution happens because a timeship crash lands next to a 1960s hippie who becomes an '80s yuppie ([[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed probably based on Steve Jobs]]) by reverse-engineering its technology. Since the Federation tend to put all of human knowledge into the computer of every single starship, Sterling was able to quickly learn what he needs to just by asking the right questions. His progress is stunted when he gets to (then) modern-day technology, however, claiming that he had reached the limit of what he could adapt from the timeship. Presumably, Sterling lacked the technical knowledge and resources to adapt much more complex technologies like transporters and replicators, even though he somehow managed to reproduce holodeck technology (a product of both) in his office (why he never sold ''that'' is a mystery). He was planning a trip to the future to get more technology, apparently too egotistical to realize all the logistical problems this would entail (putting aside that he would have blown up future!Earth doing it, it seemed not to occur to him that the future might not appreciate his theft of their technology).
* ''Series/{{Taken}}'': In "Jacob and Jesse", the only thing that the Groom Lake research team managed to obtain from the alien ship in eleven years is velcro, which Owen Crawford dismissively describes as "a way to hold up [his] pants without a belt."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
** The Deathwatch chapter of Space Marines use Xenophase Blades, a powerful type of sword that can cut through force fields and molecular bonds. It was reverse engineered from alien technology that is greatly hinted to be [[spoiler: Necron in origin.]]
** Trope is inverted with the Orks, who pillage technology from other races or crudely imitate it, as they cannot naturally develop new technology themselves. Some common examples include Leman Russ tanks and other Imperial Guard equipment. A famous example is Ufthak Blackhawk, an Ork Warboss who uses looted Space Marine Centurion armor.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Assassins Creed|I}}'', the [[UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar Templars]] (and by extension, society) are implied to have gotten all of our advances from reverse-engineering alien artifacts (with a couple of failures, see Philadelphia Experiment (done by by US government, not Templars)). Later on in the series, [[spoiler:it turns out it's not aliens exactly, but rather the [[{{Precursors}} First Civilization]] of humans on this planet, who created ''homo sapiens'' to serve them but were overthrown and wiped out.]]
** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'', it's confirmed that [[spoiler:Altaïr had learned the design for the first handgun -- and forearm-mounted at that! --]] from a vision given by one of these, which had been implied in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII''. Also, in a brief scene at the beginning of the "Battle of Forli" DLC for ''II'', a brief activation of the Apple shows images of designs that Creator/LeonardoDaVinci (who was watching the Apple) would later set to paper.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Freelancer}}'', there are some very vague hints that the Jump Gates used across Sirius have alien origin. Since the plot of the game (and indeed the game itself) went through some revisions, it is unclear if this plot hook was ever meant to have any payoff.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'', one of the player's available weapons is Exagryph, the Adamant Rail, a ChainsawGripBFG with machine gun and grenade launcher functionality. It was forged by the cyclopes at the dawn of time for Hestia to wield against the Titans, and it is heavily implied that it is the Platonic ideal of a gun, which will one day inspire humankind to invent firearms in general.
* In ''VideoGame/NexusTheJupiterIncident'', it's heavily implied that the last of the [[{{Precursors}} Creators]] influenced humanity's development up until the 19th century (when the last one died) in order to result in the creation of compatible computing technology and [=AIs=] that could merge with Angel, the AI they left behind in an asteroid base near Pluto. All to combat their own creations, the [[AIIsACrapshoot Mechanoids]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''Website/SCPFoundation'', [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1073 SCP-1073 ("Computing Microbes")]]. The silicon chip technology that almost 90% of the Earth's computer systems are based on came from information provided by SCP-1073.
** In general, once the Foundation has analyzed something to the point where it's completely understood, they arrange for what they've learned to be released to the general public, since at that point it's no longer considered to be paranormal/anomalous.
* ''Literature/TheTimTebowCFLChronicles'' has a non-E.T. example. ''All'' technology was actually invented by the scientists of [[HiddenElfVillage Greenland City]], and they've been secretly sharing their knowledge with the outside world, bit by bit.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' has a sport variation, with the inhabitants of Valhalla having their own version of pro wrestling that mortals replicated in the form we know today. The main difference is that it is [[ProWrestlingIsReal very real with]] [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt very real consequences]] [[ProWrestlingIsReal for the losing team]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR'', this was attempted, but not finished, by the United States government after the Roswell crash. The only thing the Area 51 people managed to create was a rogue HumongousMecha with an aesthetic of TheFifties. Even this wasn't fully realized, though, as it needs an external source of electricity to power itself and accesses data via reels of magnetic tape.
* According to ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlackTheSeries'', most advanced human technology was granted by a benevolent advanced alien race. Computers, hard drives and the Clapper are cited as examples and their patent revenue is TheMenInBlack's primary source of financing.
* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' has the robotic technology of the 22nd century all reverse-engineered from Megatron's dormant head.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* In a lovely piece of irony, [[Series/TheXFiles Gillian]] [[AgentScully Anderson]] apparently believes this.
** A quick Google search confirms she isn't the only one. This little factoid made it hard to search off-Website/TVTropes for more examples of this trope.
* An episode of The History Channel's ''UFO Hunters'' investigated real-life rumors that the SR-71 and B-2 Spirit bomber were a result of this.
* Erich von Daniken is famous for claims that the first human civilizations were created by aliens, codifying the AncientAstronauts trope.
* Just to give the trope name some credibility, one of the first consumer wi-fi routers was the Apple [=AirPort=] Base Station. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE23wyAZ-LM It looks remarkably like a flying saucer.]]
* According to a quote in this article, [[http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/aussie-student-amelia-fraser-mckelvie/story-e6frfku0-1226064320755 cell phone technology was derived from black hole research]]. E.T. really did give us [=WiFi=]!
* Li Hongzhi, founder of Falun Gong, [[http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2053761,00.html believes this.]]
[[/folder]]
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