Did Jeffrey Epstein believe in the Anunnaki?

Just when you think the craziness of the Epstein Files starts to die down, something else pops up that makes you want to dive back in and find more information. Who knew that Jeffrey Epstein would have an interest in the Anunnaki, Nibiru, and renowned author Zecharia Sitchin (1920–2010)?

Two uncovered emails from the released documents from the Justice Department point to the fact that Epstein tried to set up a meeting with the researcher just prior to Sitchin's death. 

If you are unfamiliar with him, Sitchin is an interesting person, with a background in economics and journalism rather than formal credentials in archaeology or Assyriology; he became one of the most popular promoters of the “ancient astronaut” theory. 

His best-selling Earth Chronicles series, beginning with The 12th Planet in 1976, reinterpreted Sumerian clay tablets and mythology as literal historical records of extraterrestrial visitors.According to Sitchin, a race of humanoid beings called the Anunnaki (“those who from heaven to Earth came”) originated on a distant planet named Nibiru. 

This alleged twelfth planet in our solar system follows a long elliptical orbit that brings it near Earth roughly every 3,600 years. About 450,000 years ago, the Anunnaki arrived seeking gold to protect their atmosphere. Finding manual labor exhausting, they genetically engineered modern humans by mixing their own DNA with that of early hominids, creating a slave workforce. Sitchin claimed these “gods” founded Sumerian civilization, taught advanced knowledge, and appear in the Bible as the Nephilim. 

His books sold millions of copies worldwide and heavily influenced popular culture, including television shows like Ancient Aliens, conspiracy theories about Nibiru/Planet X, and broader ancient-astronaut narratives. Sitchin presented himself as a unique decoder of Sumerian and Akkadian texts.

Mainstream scholars, however, have thoroughly rejected his work. Assyriologists, Sumerologists, historians, and astronomers point to systematic mistranslations, selective readings of myths, and scientific impossibilities (no evidence supports the existence or orbit of Nibiru). Experts note that the Anunnaki were a standard pantheon of Mesopotamian deities, not space travelers, and that Sitchin’s timeline and genetic claims contradict established archaeology, genetics, and planetary science. His ideas are classified as pseudohistory and pseudoscience.

Despite the academic consensus, Sitchin’s narrative remains culturally influential, offering a dramatic alternative origin story that blends mythology, science fiction, and speculation about humanity’s place in the cosmos.

While there is no evidence that any meeting took place, it is still an interesting twist in this horrific case that could point to something even darker at play.