The 50th Anniversary of Erich von Däniken’s Chariots of the Gods
The 50th Anniversary of Erich von Däniken’s Chariots of the Gods
This month marks the 50th anniversary of Erich von Däniken’s seminal work, Chariots of the God; a book that introduced millions to the novel idea that the deities of ancient religious scripture may have actually been advanced ancient astronauts from another part of the cosmos. Now, after half a century of criticism and scrutiny, von Däniken’s work has stood the test of time, spreading curiosity, wonder, and a message of modesty, that maybe there is more to our reality than we claim to know.
Originally released in 1968 under the title Erinnerungen an die Zukunft, or “Memories of the Future,” von Däniken’s book would be rechristened Chariots of the Gods, after an English publisher read his interpretation of Ezekiel’s vision in the Old Testament.
The title would go on to sell 16 million copies, laying the groundwork for 40 sequels that sold 72 million books worldwide. Von Däniken’s work inspired a number of eminent Hollywood productions, television series, and written works that challenged archeological and theological tenets, much to the chagrin of mainstream scholars.
He prefaced Chariots of the Gods with the sentence, “It took courage to write this book and it will take courage to read it,” knowing he faced detractors who would dismiss his theory as sacrilege.
After Chariots of the Gods found success in its paperback sales, it became the impetus for a television series called In Search of the Ancient Astronauts. The series featured interviews with such names as Carl Sagan and Werner von Braun, and was narrated by Rod Serling and Leonard Nimoy.
This set the stage for the popular, contemporary series Ancient Aliens, on History Channel. And now, the legacy continues with Erich von Däniken: Beyond the Legend, on Gaia; a series dissecting his theory and its implications on modern society.
But despite a lifetime of success, von Däniken continues to fend off cynics, maintaining his intention to instill a sense of humility in scientists and theologians who often believe we are alone, or at the top of the universe’s evolutionary chain.
Over decades of welcomed critique, von Däniken has admitted when he was wrong, revised his ideas when necessary, and accepted adversity when presented to him. And in the face of it all, he remains steadfast in his overarching theory that has found increasing support and evidence to boot.
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NASA Announces How It Will Report ET Contact
NASA Chief Bill Nelson says looking for extraterrestrial life is part of NASA’s mission, as its top scientists call for a detailed system for classifying ET life.
In a huge departure from the US government’s historical treatment of UFOs and possible ET life, NASA administrator Bill Nelson said in an interview with University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato, “[W]ho am I to say that planet Earth is the only location of a life form that is civilized and organized like ours?”
Meanwhile, top NASA scientists are calling for a scaled system for reporting any evidence of extraterrestrial life modeled after NASA’s progressive scale of Technological Readiness Level already in use for new spaceflight equipment.
Instead of the binary “life or no life” way of looking at off-planet discoveries, these scientists are suggesting a more nuanced way of reporting what they find. Cheryl Costa, retired journalist, UFO statistician, and author of the UFO Sightings Desk Reference, thinks it’s about time.
“I think it’s long overdue, they’ve been talking about this stuff for years. They know that there have been unidentified things in our skies since biblical times,” Costa said. “The fact that they’re finally owning up to the idea of classifying alien life. Their scale is going to have to run the range of organic molecules all the way up to sentient beings, so it needs to be a pretty big scale, and it’s nice to start seeing bonified scientists looking at this issue and saying ‘OK, we need to do this.'”
And what about NASA Administrator Bill Nelson’s comments?
“I think it’s refreshing that the NASA chief came out and said ‘Yeah, maybe’ on the UFOs and off-world life. I think they still know more than they’re telling us. I’m happy NASA is coming out with this stuff, I think they’re trying to feed it to us a little spoonful at a time. They don’t want to scare the populace,” Costa said.
