The Dogon and Sirius B

The claim

"The Dogon knew about the invisible star Sirius B because aliens told them."

Where the idea comes from

French anthropologists Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen reported Dogon lore about a companion of Sirius; Robert Temple's 1976 book "The Sirius Mystery" made it an alien story.

What the evidence shows

1. Sirius B was discovered in 1862 and photographed in 1970; it was widely reported in Europe and its colonies long before the Dogon interviews.
2. The Dogon had contact with missionaries, schools and colonial officials, any of whom could have mentioned it.
3. A Dutch team led by anthropologist Walter van Beek re-studied the Dogon over a decade and reported in 1991 that they found no knowledge of a companion star.
4. Some of the reported "knowledge" is wrong, such as a third star in the Sirius system, which has not been found.

What is still open

How much of the original reporting came from a few informants or from the researchers' questions is still discussed by anthropologists.

Our verdict

Debunked The "secret knowledge" wasn't found again and could easily have come from Europe.

Sources

• Dogon people (Wikipedia)
• The Sirius Mystery (Wikipedia)

Checked 31 October 2026. Spotted a newer source? Tell us.