Chariots of the Gods?: Unsolved Mysteries of the Past is a book written in 1968 by Erich von Däniken. It is centered on the hypothesis that many ancient civilizations' technologies and religion were given to them by space travelers who were welcomed as gods. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1408x2175, 143 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1408x2175, 143 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Erich Anton Paul von Däniken (b. ... Look up Hypothesis in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000-5,500 years, with cuneiform possibly being the oldest form of writing. ... Technology (Gr. ... Green people redirects here. ... This article is about the term Deity in the context of mysticism and theology. ...

Claims

The types of evidence he cites can be categorized as follows:

• Artifacts have been found which represent higher technological knowledge than is presumed to have existed at times when they were manufactured. Von Däniken maintains that these artifacts were produced either by extraterrestrial visitors or by humans who learned the necessary knowledge from them. Such artifacts include the Egyptian pyramids, Stonehenge, the head statues of Easter Island and the Antikythera mechanism. Further examples include a medieval map known as the Piri Reis Map, allegedly showing the Earth as it is seen from space, and the Nazca lines in Peru, which he explains as landing strips for an airfield.

• In ancient art throughout the world themes can be observed which can be interpreted to illustrate astronauts, air and space vehicles, non-human but intelligent creatures, and artifacts of high technology. Von Däniken also points out details that are similar in art of unrelated cultures.

• Origins of religions as reaction to a contact of primitive humans with an alien race. The humans considered the technology of the aliens to be supernatural and the aliens themselves to be gods. According to von Däniken, the oral and literal traditions of most religions contain references to visitors from 'stars' and vehicles traveling through air and space. These, he says, should be interpreted as literal descriptions which have changed during the passage of time and become more obscure, rather than symbolic or mythical fiction. One such is Ezekiel's revelation in Old Testament, which he interprets as a detailed description of a landing spacecraft. As a real-life example, von Däniken uses the "cargo cults" that formed during and after World War II, when once-isolated tribes in the South Pacific mistook the advanced American and Japanese soldiers for gods.

The two most controversial proposals were that Biblical characters were inspired by the extraterrestrials, and humans acquired their superior intelligence by mating with them. A view of the pyramids at Giza from the plateau to the south of the complex. ... For other uses, see Stonehenge (disambiguation). ... Ahu Tongariki, restored by Chilean archaeologist Claudio Cristino in the 1990s This is about the statues of Easter Island, for the seamount see Moai (seamount) Main article: Easter Island Moai (or mo‘ai) are monolithic human figures carved from rock on the Polynesian island of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), mostly... Rapa Nui redirects here. ... The Antikythera mechanism (main fragment). ... The Piri Reis map The Piri Reis map is a famous premodern world map created by 16th century Ottoman-Turkish admiral and cartographer Piri Reis. ... The Nazca Lines are a series of geoglyphs located in the Nazca Desert, a high arid plateau that stretches 53 miles or more than 80 kilometers between the towns of Nazca and Palpa on the Pampas de Jumana in Peru. ... For other uses, see Supernatural (disambiguation). ... Ezekiel, , IPA: , God will strengthen, from , chazaq, [ xazaq ], literally to fasten upon, figuratively strong, and , el, [ el ], literally strength, figuratively Almighty. He is a prophet and priest in the Bible who prophesied for 22 years sometime in the 500s BCE while in the form of visions exiled in... The Space Shuttle Discovery as seen from the International Space Station. ... For other uses, see Cargo cult (disambiguation). ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... For other uses, see Oceania (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Bible (disambiguation). ...

Response

Most scientists and historians did not take the ideas seriously, claiming that the book's conclusions were based on faulty, pseudoscientific evidence, some of which were later demonstrated to be fraudulent and/or fabricated, and often illogical premises. For example, Ronald Story wrote a book rebutting Däniken's ideas in 1976 titled The Space Gods Revealed. A similar book titled Crash Go The Chariots by Clifford Wilson appeared in 1972. A typical 18th century phrenology chart. ... Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Space Gods Revealed is a book written in 1976 by Ronald Story. ...

At least one artifact offered as evidence in the book has been disclaimed by Von Däniken himself. Chariots asserts that a non-rusting iron pillar in India was evidence of extraterrestrial influence, but Von Däniken 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." However, neither this nor any other discredited evidence has been removed from subsequent reprints of Chariots of the Gods. Classic Playboy logo. ...

In film and television

The book was adapted for TV as In Search of Ancient Astronauts. It also served as inspiration for the original TV series Battlestar Galactica, the feature film Stargate, its spinoff TV series, the Halo games, and in the Alien vs. Predator film, where Predators came to Earth and "taught humans how to build". The Ultimate Edition DVD of Stargate contains an interview with Erich von Däniken entitled, "Is There a Stargate?". Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction movie and television series, produced in 1978 by Glen Larson and starring Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict. ... Stargate is a science fiction/action film released in 1994, directed by Roland Emmerich and written by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, with a soundtrack by David Arnold. ... Comic book series Film version of Alien vs. ... The creature as seen in Predator (1987) Predators (known in the fictional expanded universe as Yautja) are a fictional species featured in the films Predator (1987), Predator 2 (1990), Alien vs. ...

See also

• Ancient astronaut theories
• OOPArt
• Vimana
• Vaimanika Shastra
• Scientific foreknowledge in Sacred Texts

Paintings from Val Camonica, Italy, c. ... An out-of-place artifact (OOPArt) is a term coined by American zoologist Ivan T. Sanderson for a historical, archaeological or palaeontological object found in a very unusual, or even impossible, location. ... This page deals with the flying chariots of Hindu mythology. ... Title page of the English translation of Vaimanika Shastra published in 1973 The Vaimanika Shastra (Science of Aeronautics[1]; also Vimanika, Vymanika) is a Sanskrit text on aeronautics, discussing construction of vimānas, the chariots of the gods, mythical self-moving aerial cars in the Sanskrit epics. ...

External links

• Erinnerungen an die Zukunft (1970) IMDb Entry
• Chariots of the gods
• Center for Ancient Astronaut Research

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