What do you think of Erich Von Daniken?

Question

I have visited the Mystery park in Interlaken Switzeland and it';s truly amazing. Has anyone been there?

Answer 1

Never been to Switzerland...read Chariots of the Gods though. Do I beleive him? Well, I don't dismiss him. Sometimes the truth is hard to beleive, and easy to reject, so who knows. I like to keep an open mind.

Answer 2

The scientific community has universally dismissed von Däniken's theories. Scientists such as Carl Sagan and I. S. Shklovskii have written about paleocontact and extraterrestrial visitations to earth. Although Sagan did not rule out the possibility of visitation, he insisted that such extraordinary assertions as von Däniken's demand extraordinary proof and that the absence of evidence makes the claims highly unlikely to be true.

Historians regard von Däniken's archaeological claims as pseudoscience, and are of the opinion that he draws far-fetched conclusions from little or no real evidence and disregards more likely alternative hypotheses. A few followers, some of whom have written books of their own, believe that his ideas are likely to be true.

Von Däniken claimed a non-rusting iron pillar in India was evidence of extra-terrestrial influence (Chariots of the Gods? p.94). However, he admitted in a Playboy interview (vol.21, no.8, 1974) that the pillar was man-made and that as far as supporting his theories goes "we can forget about this iron thing." Neither von Däniken nor his publishers have removed this, or any other, discredited evidence from subsequent reprints of Chariots of the Gods? or his other books.

Von Däniken has also been accused of racism and Eurocentrism. Though Europe contains many remarkable, large-scale ancient monuments, von Däniken generally does not suggest these were built with extraterrestrial aid. For example, von Däniken "concedes that Europeans could build the complex cathedrals, but refuses to admit equivalent levels of skill and endeavour in the non-European societies."

Answer 3

Von Daniken, David Icke, Jan Van Helsing etc etc

All ideas but no evidence.

Answer 4

blah.

His books were very popular in the seventies, but they were largely debunked. I remember being heartbroken when I watched "Nova" and they examined his book.

Maybe a new generation will be coming up, and be interested in Erich Von Daniken. But I've been down that road.

Answer 5

Of COURSE it's amazing. That's how they suck you in! They have professionals to design the place. Every single thing you see, every single word you hear spoken, are planned very carefully to get as positive a reaction out of you as possible. Just stay away for the sake of your well-being.

Answer 6

I think he is very smart to dream up the conspiracy theories he does and rehash them over many books, milking the half-baked theories for what they are worth.

I don't buy his theories but find them entertaining to read on occasion. He makes more money than the experts who actually know what they are talking about and write accordingly

Answer 7

Never been there but I would go, Eric Von Daniken rocks! I don't agree with everything he says but at least he's got the balls to say it.

Answer 8

He is a proven fraud. He was caught hiring a potter in Mexico to manufacture pots with UFOs on them. He also went to jail for fraud. Although he writes good stories, he cannot be trusted as a presenter of facts.

Answer 9

There may be some merit to the ancient astronaut's theory.

He must have been a big influence on Graham Hancock who wrote "fingerprints of the gods", which may be a little more definitive on the subject.

Answer 10

Are you evaluating the complexity of human DNA to a pyramid? And evaluating the version of complicated organisms forming by using mere possibility to the two human or alien potential. You arguments are vulnerable at superb or at worst provide credence on your opposition.