LONDON: Egypt has invited billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk to visit its pyramids after he took to Twitter to claim they were built by aliens.
The Tesla and SpaceX boss shared the oft-repeated conspiracy theory on Friday, saying “Aliens built the pyramids obv.”
Aliens built the pyramids obv
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2020
The tweet has since received more than 85,000 retweets and half a million likes.
In response, Egypt’s Minister of International Co-operation, Rania al-Mashat, tweeted her admiration for Musk and his work at SpaceX, and extended an invitation for him to visit the pyramids to see them for himself.
She suggested he research how they were built and visit the tombs of the builders.
“Mr. Musk, we are waiting for you,” she added — followed by a rocket emoji.
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. @elonmusk https://t.co/Xlr7EoPXX4
— Rania A. Al Mashat (@RaniaAlMashat) August 1, 2020
Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass also responded in a short Arabic video, posted on social media, and said Mr Musk's argument was a “complete hallucination.”
“I found the tombs of the pyramids builders, which tell everyone that the builders of the pyramids are Egyptians and were not slaves,” he said.
There are more than 100 surviving pyramids but the most famous is the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt — standing at more than 137m.
Most of them were built as final resting places for ancient Egyptian royalty.
Musk is known for his provocative and often erratic tweeting, which has landed him in hot water a number of times, particularly for tweets that discuss his car company Tesla’s stock prices.
