I emailed Erik von Daniken and got a reply - legendarytimes.com

After watching the new series about Ancient Astronauts on History, I sent an e-mail to Erik Von Daniken to thank him for his research without much expectations.

He did reply to me and pointed me to a magazine called Legendary Times. I am awaiting more information and subscription by mail and will probably subscribes to the magazine. There is also a free forum for people who wants to exchange information about ancient astronauts archeology. I taught it was worthy to share this information with you fellow ATSers.

Website to the Legendary Times : www.legendarytimes.com...
Website to the forum : www.legendarytimes.com...

It is nice to see researchers really well connected to his base.

That is awesome... Erich Von Daniken is my alien God... His book is amazing I liked the Ancient Aliens on history series since it was a really good summary and update on his research and similar research. Defiantly going to check out the sites you posted. Thanks

reply to post by gagol[/url]

I thought Erich Von Daniken was dead. Could you please U2U me his email address? I would love to write to him.

He is a living legend and the great, great-grandfather of all conspiracy theories.

I used to own all of his books and he got me started in my quest for stories and myths of the the ancient kings of Israel and the unexplained events around the Myans.

You are a very lucky person indeed.

reply to post by fritz


I did not heard of his death... I emailed him at [email protected] and got replies first from an automated system, then a human generated one from one of his assistant (he receives a LOT of e-mail since that series aired)...

Hey hey!

Thanks for the information! This is one of my favorite topics.

I have no doubt there is much more to human history then is widely accepted.

Great links!

More Daniken Links :

Twitter : twitter.com...
Facebook : www.facebook.com...

I am not a big fan of social network, but this is a great way of supporting his research.

I won't bash Erik but I have read his books. I got them when they came out in the 70's. I think his research is good but I think his bottom line, his conclusions are faulty.

He makes lots of leaps and assumptions that he does not provide enough credible factual evidence for.

Originally posted by gagol
I am not a big fan of social network, but this is a great way of supporting his research.

Great.

Now, you got any suggestions on how we can undermine his scam, I mean "work?"

Harte

reply to post by Harte


Not suscribing to the magazine and the forum is a great start if you are not interested in that kind of research. If you think he his fraudulent, posting your own conclusions and proof would be very constructive.

Originally posted by gagol
reply to post by Harte

 

Not suscribing to the magazine and the forum is a great start if you are not interested in that kind of research. If you think he his fraudulent, posting your own conclusions and proof would be very constructive.

Hey gagol! You've been a busy thread starter today!!

Here is another view from another source. One of the many debunking web sites for good old Erich.

rationalwiki.org...

From the above link:

Erich von Däniken is a fantasy/science-fiction writer, who has convinced himself and many others that his books are real and factual.

Just a contribution as you requested.

Have fun, and remember "Deny Ignorance".

73's,
Tom (KC5ILU)

reply to post by gagol


Hey gagol, me again.

Just one more thing....

I am not a big fan of social network, but this is a great way of supporting his research.

He is 75(ish) years old. I don't really believe (no offense) that it was him, personally, that answered your email.
Or does a whole lot of research anymore that may need "funding" from your credit card.

It was probably routed through one of chariots and bounced back through the Andes and to your ISP. (just ribbin' ya, so don't get upset)

Take care and keep up the good work posting threads.

73's,
Tom (KC5ILU)

reply to post by tomdham


Don't get me wrong, I think it is important to get all sides to stories. I will definitely look into your information with neutral and critical eyes, just like you. I am glad to see theories, as in Ancient Astronaut Theory challenged. That is how the standard model in chemistry and physics has been developed.

Erich is sending me a back issue so I can make an opinion about Legendary Times, if it is worth my money, I may subscribe. Better that then all those magazines that talk about celebrities and their sex life!

Oh yeah, I forgot, It's one of his fellow partner in research that answered me in person after I received an automated response. About the threads, I have some spare time on my hands and reading a lot those days...

[edit on 3-8-2010 by gagol]

reply to post by gagol


Keep up the good work!!

AND watch your wallet!!

Good Luck, s&f for you.

73's,
Tom (KC5ILU)

Von Daniken cast a modern eye, familiar with our technology, on ancient inscriptions and depictions. He saw "rocket ships" whereas the scribe or stone carver who made these images would have no idea what a rocket ship was. It's a lot like a Rorschach test. The claim that the Nazca lines were runways? They're barely scratches in the desert floor, you couldn't land a kite on them let alone a space ship with eradicating them.

He and Sitchin made money off of selling these books that pushed this drivel. Plain and simple.

reply to post by gagol

If you think he his fraudulent, posting your own conclusions and proof would be very constructive.

He's a convicted fraud and served time for ripping off the hotel he worked at. He was later convicted of tax evasion and embezzlement. Is that important? Maybe it is and maybe it isn't...people can fall by the wayside and straighten up later in life. It happens all the time. So the question is, has Von Daniken gone straight? Have the character traits of self-serving dishonesty been overcome?

No.

I could write a lengthy, referenced post detailing the long list of deceptions and misinformations that litter his early books, but don't care enough. Look at his wiki page and maybe skim through a couple of the links below. What you'll find is a man with an idea about 'ancient astronauts' who claims everything he sees is evidence. Much of his flim-flam is without supporting evidence. He never misses the opportunity to ignore research. He knowingly uses false information to lend credibility to his BS and is on record admitting it. He's admitted various deceits since the 70s and continues to publish those 'errors' even today.

So you have a man with a history of dishonesty selling a dozen books that are based around a core of dishonesty. It doesn't have any effect on those who buy his books or hold him in high esteem. I'm just putting this out there to add a little salt and balance to the popular ideal that Von Daniken is an honest researcher and writer.

www.channel4.com...

en.wikipedia.org...

www.ufoevidence.org...

www.forteantimes.com...

thehallofmaat.com...

www.badarchaeology.net...

www.skepdic.com...

Originally posted by Blackmarketeer He and Sitchin made money off of selling these books that pushed this drivel. Plain and simple.

Fine! Everybody is entitled to their views.

Now, what in your view made those marks? Why can they only be seen from the sky? Why do the ancient Jewish kings live to be hundreds of years old?

What enabled the Myans to have unrivled mathmatical knowledge and prowess not known in Europe until the Middle Ages? Where or who did the Myans get their knowledge of calanders from?

So to sum up, everybody who ever published books about UFOs, the Unexplained, the Loch Ness Monster and all the other mysteries of life here on earth and all the history professors who have published papers on their theories and research; coupled with all the scientists who have ever put pen to paper are nothing more than scam artists taking money from us fools?

I notice you do not provide us with proof that von Daniken's theories are false, so my question to you is, if you know that von Daniken is wrong, publish your theories and give the money you make to charities.

Hey everyone!

I missed the series on the history channel. Does anyone know a site were I can watch these.

it would be most appreciated.

Now, what in your view made those marks? Why can they only be seen from the sky?

They can be seen from the ground, too. Viewing them from the sky just gives you a different perspective on them. Like the large-scale petraglyphs or geoglyphs found in ancient Briton or Andalusia, they may represent any number of things, and it's never been certain precisely what the objective of their creators were. A religious commune with the gods? Vanity? An innate need on the part of it's creators to create art?

Skeptic Dictionary: Nazca

Why do the ancient Jewish kings live to be hundreds of years old?

If you accept the Bible's version of history verbatim, then you obviously believe in God. And a belief in God automatically repudiates any belief in Ancient Aliens - because there is no mention of them in the bible.

Now, if you really want to know why the ancient Jewish kings "lived to be hundreds of years old" (as you put it), one needs to understand the relationship between ancient Sumer and Akkad. The Hebrews emerged during the Third Dynasty of Ur (the etymology of the word itself could fill volumes, but largely has to do with the nomadic origins of these Semitic peoples and the fact they held themselves apart from the kings and rulers of their day). The Hebrew bible then would be based quite largely on the Sumero-Akkadian texts, which also relates a number of important rulers as being long-lived. The Sumerian king's list, for instance, as described by C. Leonard Wooley, indicates a length of reign for antediluvian kings (ten in all) based not on actual years, but rather in multiples of sars or cycles of 360 years each; Wooley states: "Behind these grotesque sums there may be some confusion between different systems of notation, but even so another schematizing influence has been at work and it is not difficult to see that the numbers have been modified or invented to harmonize with some theory of astronomy." Indeed as Wooley further says, some of these early kings would reappear in later lists as gods, so clearly their mortal reigns became subject to cultic religious whims. The bible is a reflection of this.

What enabled the Myans to have unrivled mathmatical knowledge and prowess not known in Europe until the Middle Ages?

Unrivaled? Look up any post here on the Antikythera mechanism by the ancient Greeks, clearly that rivals the Mayans. It's easy to dismiss the level of ancient people's intelligence and credit aliens or gods as the sources for their achievements, but I can assure you they are as intelligent as we are today. All they lacked was an established history, a way to pass down their knowledge succinctly from one generation to the next. We draw our body of knowledge from this history, but they were the ones creating it.

Where or who did the Myans get their knowledge of calanders from?

A little observation goes a long ways.

So to sum up, everybody who ever published books about UFOs, the Unexplained, the Loch Ness Monster and all the other mysteries of life here on earth and all the history professors who have published papers on their theories and research; coupled with all the scientists who have ever put pen to paper are nothing more than scam artists taking money from us fools?

Why would you lump history professors and scientists in with writers of fiction? Anyone can call themself a "researcher". Look at these shows on "ghost hunters". Most so-called para-normal researchers are charlatans. And yes they are scam artists taking money from fools.

I notice you do not provide us with proof that von Daniken's theories are false,

I'm sorry, but Von Daniken hasn't provided us with proof his theories are true. That's how it works - you publish a theory and the proof. It's not up to everybody else to prove you wrong.

reply to post by gagol


Thank you for the links to those sites. I am one who is very interested in the ancient astronaut/ancient civilization theories out there. They are very interesting ideas that do ask many intriguing questions about the way things are viewed.

ATS means deny ignorance and also means to have an open mind and look at ALL ideas, not just what the mainstream states.

Originally posted by gagol
reply to post by Harte

 

Not suscribing to the magazine and the forum is a great start if you are not interested in that kind of research. If you think he his fraudulent, posting your own conclusions and proof would be very constructive.

Oh, he's fraudulent alright.

But really it depends on your definition of the terrm.

It is, after all, totally possible that he believes his own hooey.

Originally posted by gagol
reply to post by tomdham

 

Don't get me wrong, I think it is important to get all sides to stories. I will definitely look into your information with neutral and critical eyes, just like you.

If you really mean that, perhaps you should look into when he was caught red-handed actually fabricating so-called "evidence" of alien intervention in the past.

I'm not sure, but I think the pottery involved was what became known as the Lolladoff Plate (don't hold me to that.)
Anyway, it happened on NOVA/BBC Horizons (shown over both networks):

Case Of The Ancient Astronauts (The)
NOVA investigates the theories of von Daniken and others that the Earth has been visited by intelligent beings from outer space. Among claims examined are: that the building techniques used in the Great Pyramid of Cheops are so advanced that only an extraterrestrial intelligence could have built it; and that the engraved stones of Palenque in Mexico depict an ancient astronaut at the controls of a space rocket.
Original broadcast date: 03/08/78
Topic: unexplained phenomena

Source: PBS.org

I just happen to have found a site that claims you can stream this episode of NOVA on your computer:
Watchallyoucan.com

Come back here and post what you think after you see him admit to fraud - in the very field he's known for (AA speculating.)

Harte