One thousand years ago we all lived in a small colony called Atlantis/Eden. Humans are from elsewhere. Some act of hubris managed to blow the thing up and our species had to leave the garden.
We fucked up but we knew our spaceships would one day relink back to us. However, given the issues of space travel, help would take CENTURIES. What to do while we wait?
Here we are stranded on this rock, lost all our good technology and need to survive for generations to be rescued! We tried to remember how we got here, but the message was oral and got distorted over time. After enough generations, very few knew the truth and kept the knowledge of ancient science and technology, hoping for a day when the world will be organized enough to actually rebuild it. This is what the highest levels of the secret societies know.
As the population grew larger they realized they (the bloodlines that kept the sacred memory) can't keep everyone ignorant forever, people are asking questions. So they invented answers. They extended our history to 10000BC. They said we evolved 200000 years ago. Apparently we sat around with thumbs up our assets for 190000 years! They build churches and schools and governments. They let us vote, knowing we would vote according to our educations.
They had a nickname for America. New Atlantis. This land was to be the launch pad back to the stars where humanity would finally reclaim its place in the heavens.
We are not alone though. Many other species are observing and interfering. Some even breed us for intergalactic slavery (North Korea).
Now you know why Trump is demanding a Space Force.