The Gods Were Astronauts: Evidence of the True Identities of the Old "Gods" (Vega books, 2001) ISBN 1843336251 The mistake is to rigidly try to classify the myths as facts or stories. If only Däniken had taken the time to understand the power of symbolism in myth-making... hell, he could have done that purely by reading a few comic books! But it is interesting how he seems to have homed in on the characteristics of a conspiracy theory, not just in content, but in style. The endless questions - if we object, he can say "hey, I'm just asking questions! Why don't you want me asking questions? What are you trying to hide!?". The pointless (and often fictitious) details. The appeals to authority and popularity - the various 'Professor Kuehn's - that are too vague to actually be a form of accountability. The hostility to intellectuals and their attempts to control (in this case I think through hubris rather than malice?) what people are taught. The negative argument - rather than methodically putting out a case, he just tries to raise enough skepticism in the mainstream 'theory' that eventually people will go 'ugh, ok, it must have been aliens'. According to von Däniken, books in his series have altogether been translated into 32 languages and have sold more than 63 million copies. [55] Kenneth Feder accused von Däniken of European ethnocentrism, [50] while John Flenley and Paul Bahn suggested that views such as his interpretation of the Easter Island statues "ignore the real achievements of our ancestors and constitute the ultimate in racism: they belittle the abilities and ingenuity of the human species as a whole." [51] Other criticisms [ edit ]

Perhaps when it first came out, it was ground-breaking and intriguing, so people ignored how poorly it was written.

Carl Sagan, Foreword to The Space Gods Revealed The iron pillar of Delhi, erected by ChandraguptaII the Great Iron pillar of Delhi [ edit ] The film was re-edited and dubbed into English by Sunn Classic Pictures for release in the United States in 1973. [5] Reception [ edit ] a b Lehmann, Fritz (April 7, 2015). "Beatenberg: "Besuche von Ausserirdischen würden nicht schaden" ". Berner Zeitung (in German) . Retrieved March 20, 2017. There are some popular books that will disappoint you when you read them for the first time due to your expectations, but you will be totally impressed by them and the author's writing skills when you reread them after a few years. The Great Gatsby was such a book for me. It took me almost ten years after the initial read to understand its beauty. Then some books belong to the other end of this spectrum. They are the books you will love during your first reading when you were young but won't impress you that much after rereading them after a few years. It might be because when you are mature, you will start questioning the problematic parts of the book which you missed when you read it earlier. This book sadly belongs to the latter category.

McClellan, Jason (25 November 2011). "Ridley Scott's alien movie 'Prometheus' inspired by Erich von Däniken". OpenMinds . Retrieved 18 December 2011.Of course, such ideas no longer astonish us today, for the television set shows us talking picture at the turn of a switch. I could rant on the stupid theories in the book but I will let you do it yourself. Although many of the theories are nothing but wild postulation, the subject matter is interesting. I have always been intrigued about the possibility of alien life, so, crazy as this guy is, its a fun subject. Flenley, John; Bahn, Paul G. The Enigmas of Easter Island, Oxford University Press 2003 ISBN 978-0192803405 p. 114 Erich von Däniken (1973) [1972]. The Gold of the Gods. Translated by Michael Heron (1ed.). London: Souvenir Press. Published simultaneously in Canada by J. M. Dent & Sons, Ontario (Canada). After reading the book I can't say I'm all too convinced about aliens visiting us in the ancient times. In the show Ancient Aliens, the conclusion was, "I don't know, therefore aliens." In the book, the base of the theories are, "If it's possible, then it must be true."