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Erich von Däniken, Swiss hotelier turned philosopher, has spent years elaborating his theory that ancient wonders such as the pyramids were built by humans after extraterrestrials mated with them and gave them an evolutionary kick-start. But while he has been hailed as a guru and a visionary, sceptics have branded him a fraud.
Explaining his approach, he sums up the results of his investigation into the origins of Stonehenge: 'I came up with the silly idea that maybe there was an extraterrestrial knowledge behind it.' Silly idea or not, his theory has allowed him to sell 60 million books worldwide.
Before ET.
Erich von Däniken, born in 1935, grew up in the Swiss town of Schaffhausen. His father, who owned a clothing factory, was a devout Catholic and expected his children to take the same path. Erich admits to being afraid of him. 'Although he was very generous, he was a strict Catholic and we had to pray all the time in the evenings,' he says. 'I didn't like it.'
He was sent to the Catholic boarding school of St Michel in Fribourg. All the teachers were priests and daily Mass was compulsory. Nevertheless, he kept asking awkward questions rather than following the dictates of blind faith.
Religion did not hold back the youngster's enquiring mind. His sister Leni Huggenberger von Däniken recalls: 'The stars in the sky interested Erich and he would say to my father, "It must have started somewhere." But my father could give him no answer to his questions.' The priests did not like his probing and he would frequently get into trouble.
He also had to face other more down-to-earth attacks. While a boy scout, he was called before the local magistrate and accused of stealing money from the scout treasury. His school grades were poor, and in 1954 he left St Michel to take a job as a waiter and barman at a hotel in Bern.
Evolving ideas.
Meanwhile, he was shaping his ideas on the origins of the human species. 'I never had a revelation, it was a slow development,' he says. Everywhere in the Bible he could see references to extraterrestrials, but he needed more evidence to support his idea that aliens from outer space once visited the earth and gave ancient humans the knowledge to create civilisation.
He decided to look for evidence in archaeology. To fund his expeditions to examine the sites of ancient peoples, he used money he earned from waiting tables. In 1960, he married his girlfriend Elisabeth, and together they worked in hotels and restaurants across Switzerland. He served a prison sentence for defrauding his boss at one hotel, was fined for petty theft and again convicted of fraud.
Undaunted by these setbacks, Däniken continued his travels. After much searching, he at last found the critical piece of evidence to back up his theories – the Palenque Stone. He says: 'Palenque is a place in Mexico, and there is a large stone in the temple and on the stone is a kind of being sitting like in a rocket.'
Chariots of the gods?
Armed with this crucial piece of evidence, the manuscript for Chariots of the Gods? was soon finished, but publishers were not keen. One publishing house dismissed it as 'emotional ramblings', and after 22 rejections the desperate author turned to the influential German journalist Thomas von Randow.
Von Randow suggested rewriting the manuscript, with the help of a science-fiction writer, and marketing it as fact. Chariots of the Gods?: Was God an astronaut?, published in 1967, quickly became a bestseller. It tapped into the excitement surrounding the moon landings and the increasing interest in alternative sciences.
Honesty on trial.
Just as von Däniken felt that his years of work were vindicated, disaster struck. He was arrested by Interpol for non-payment of £7,000 of business tax. An extremely thorough examining magistrate uncovered a staggering £350,000 of personal debts. As well as questions of simple fraud, von Däniken's entire character was attacked.
He was subjected to psychological examinations, labelled a homosexual and lawyers attacked his theories as nonsense. His past misdemeanours were dredged up to show that he was untrustworthy.
Many saw this extreme reaction as the conservative religious establishment trying to silence a heretic who had dared to question their views. The authorities eventually imprisoned him for three and a half years for embezzlement. During his time in jail, he continued writing. His second book, Return of the Gods, which viewed the massive sculptures on Easter Island as having been built by or for aliens, was another bestseller.
By the time of his 1971 release from prison, 2.5 million copies of his two books had been sold in 24 languages.
Decline and fall.
Von Däniken's credibility was finally undermined after he was unable to substantiate claims made in another book, Gold of the Gods, that he had photographed metal plaques containing the wisdom of extraterrestrials. In 1977, a BBC Horizon programme, The Case of the Ancient Astronauts, took a rational look at his theories and showed them to be pseudo science.
Archaeologist and Mayan expert Dr Ian Graham explained his view of the figure on the Palenque Stone. 'Well I certainly don't see any need to regard him as a spaceman,' he said. 'I don't see any oxygen tubes. I see a very characteristically drawn Maya face.'
Numerous other wonders cited by von Däniken as corroboration for his theories were similarly debunked. In the late 1970s he rapidly disappeared from the public arena, and in 1982 he could not find an English or American publisher for his 10th book.
In the past few years, however, his ideas have again started to become popular in a culture fascinated by programmes such as The X Files. He is also working on a huge theme park in Switzerland, called the Mysteries of the World, and money is gushing into the project. Scientist or pseudo scientist, heretic or visionary, he is certainly tenacious and a master at whipping up a frenzy in the public imagination.
Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third party sites.
(To reflect the controversial nature of von Däniken’s work, the following resources are arranged in two sections, Believers and Sceptics)
Believers.
Daniken.com.
www.daniken.com
Everything you ever wanted to know about Erich von Däniken. Includes
a biography, contact details and an extensive range of photographs taken
from his journeys round the world.
Archaeology, Astronautics & SETI Research Association.
www.aas-ra.org
Von Däniken's research organisation pursues the answer to questions
such as whether extraterrestrial visitors guided human and cultural evolution.
Site also provides membership information.
Mysteries of the World.
www.mysterypark.ch
The official site of the Mysteries of the World theme park at Interlaken,
Switzerland. View the park's promotional video online.
British UFO Research Association.
www.bufora.org.uk
Whether you want to report a UFO sighting or read about BUFORA's research
into the phenomena, this is a UK site packed with information.
Sceptics.
Science or Charlatanism?
www.debunker.com/texts/vondanik.html
Dedicated to debunking pseudo science: a page by page attack on von Däniken's
work.
The Skeptic's Dictionary.
www.skepdic.com
Over 400 sceptical definitions and essays on occult, paranormal, supernatural
and pseudoscientific ideas and practices.
Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal.
www.csicop.org
CSICOP encourages the critical investigation of paranormal and fringe-science
claims from a scientific point of view and disseminates factual information.
Join up and chat to other sceptical members online.
James Randi Educational Foundation homepage.
www.randi.org
A tireless and popular crusader against misinformation, pseudo science
and fraud.
Believers.
Chariots of the Gods?: Was God an astronaut? by Erich von Däniken
(Souvenir Press, 1989) £6.99.
Erich von Däniken's ground-breaking bestseller in a revised edition.
Includes a picture of the Palenque Stone.
Odyssey of the Gods by Erich von Däniken (Element Books, 2000)
£16.99.
Erich von Däniken turns his attention to Greece and, using mythological and archaeological evidence, he suggests that the Greek 'gods' were in fact extraterrestrial beings who arrived on Earth thousands of years ago.
Mysteries Explored: The search for human origins, UFOs and religious beginnings
by Jack Barranger and Paul Tice (Book Tree, 2000) £8.99.
Investigation into human origins, religion, mythology, UFOs and other unexplained phenomena. Explores the evidence for aliens being from other earthly dimensions as opposed to having an extraterrestrial origin.
Extraterrestrial Archaeology by David Hatcher Childress (Adventures
Unlimited, 2000) £16.50.
Takes readers to the fascinating worlds of the planets and beyond in a search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Using enlargements of official NASA and Russian photographs, seeks evidence of intelligent life in the solar system.
Fortean Times.
Freepost (SW6096)
Bristol BS32 0ZZ.
Tel: 01454 642458
Website: www.forteantimes.com
12 issues cost £28.60.
Monthly magazine of news, reviews and research on strange phenomena and
experiences, curiosities, prodigies and portents.
Sceptics.
The Demon-haunted World by Carl Sagan (Headline, 1997) £7.99.
Demonstrates how scientific thinking is necessary to safeguard our democratic institutions and our technical civilisation. The book debunks the ideas of alien abduction, mediums and faith healers.
Bringing UFOs Down to Earth by Philip J Klass (Prometheus Books, 1997)
£8.99.
Explains how UFO reports are investigated and explained rationally, examines the role of the media in promoting belief in unidentified flying objects, and recommends critical thinking and scepticism.
Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer (MJF Books, 2000)
£11.99.
A survey of a range of irrationalisms, with explanations of their empirical and logical flaws. The book describes the differences between science and pseudo science, and criticises popular contemporary irrationalisms.
Skeptical Inquirer
10 Cresent View
Loughton
Essex IG10 4PZ
E-mail: europe@csicop.org
Website: www.csicop.org/si
6 issues cost £11.50
Magazine which encourages the critical investigation of paranormal and fringe-science claims from a scientific point of view.
Produced to accompany The Real Erich von Däniken, produced by Twenty Twenty, first screened on Channel 4 in February 2001.
Writer: Daniel Lee
Project manager: Caroline Sutton
Editor: Aleks Sierz
Web designer: Alan (Fred) Pipes.
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