David Vaughan Icke (born 29 April 1952) is an English conspiracy theorist, author and a former semi-professional footballer, sports journalist and sports broadcaster. He has written over 20 books, self-published since the mid-1990s, and spoken in more than 25 countries. Icke contends that the universe consists of "vibrational" energy and infinite dimensions sharing the same space. He argues that there is an inter-dimensional race of reptilian beings, the Archons or Anunnaki, which have hijacked the Earth. Further, a genetically modified human–Archon hybrid race of reptilian shape-shifters – the Babylonian Brotherhood, Illuminati or "elite" – manipulate events to keep humans in fear, so that the Archons can feed off the resulting "negative energy".