Ancient Aliens of the Bible

Erich von Däniken composed the basis of his theories based on his interpretation of ancient art, ancient scripture, and recently discovered artifacts in his book “Chariots of the Gods”. Däniken’s work is often considered pioneering in alternative history circles. However, there is evidence of much debate involving the subject matter prior to his emergence in the debate. His interest began with his analysis of the ancient scriptures and he set out to prove himself right.

Many passages from the Holy Bible have been interpreted by Däniken, presented in his book the “Chariots of the Gods”, to suggest his ancient alien theory was not only correct, but also well known to Old Testament writers. The meat of his argument, and that of many others, is found in the Book of Genesis which is the first book in the Holy Bible, and the Book of Enoch which was left out because of its controversial assertions. The Book of Ezekiel also contains what Däniken would consider evidence. Genesis introduces to us the character of Enoch. Enoch was a most righteous man who, according to Genesis, walked with God and could not be found again. Many say he was taken to heaven without tasting death. The context in which Enoch’s story appears is in an era when the Sons of God, as they are called in Genesis, married the daughters of men and created giant offspring known as the Nephilim. This is the extent of the Holy Bibles explanation. It leaves a lot to be explained; who are these “Sons of God,” that they might produce giants by mating with mortal women? The explanation lies in the Book of Enoch. According to the Book of Enoch, these “Sons of God” are angels who subsequently fell, or became fallen after God had seen what they did with the daughters of men. The angels were forbidden to take mankind as wives. These angels also taught men various trades, how to make weapons, how to make war, mathematics, etc.

Now the bloodline left by Adam was corrupted. God’s creation was exceedingly wicked and he regretted what his work had become. All flesh was corrupt, except for Noah and his sons. The Holy Bible says that Noah was perfect in his generations, indicating his bloodline was not corrupted like the rest of the flesh was. So God saved Noah and his generation.

From this bit of history is where Däniken’s interest becomes fixated on other worldly visitors. His book the “Chariots of the Gods” presents a theory that rests on the assumption that these angels were not angels; they were intelligent beings from another world. From there Däniken connects some more dots. He takes Ezekiel’s “wheel within a wheel” as his next bit of evidence. Däniken becomes fascinated by the idea and sets out across the world in search of artifacts, petroglyphs, and any and all accounts of ancient history he could find.

Val Camonica, Italy, is home to more than thirty thousand rock paintings dating as far back as fifteen thousand years. Many of these rock paintings have been interpreted by Däniken in an extraterrestrial manner. Some of the paintings depict humanoid figures wearing what resembles modern space suits, complete with the bubble over the head region and light reflecting off of it.

Ancient technologies such as the Bagdad Battery suggest that many ancient peoples had knowledge that was unworldly for their time period. The Nazca Lines in Peru are also described in the “Chariots of the Gods”, and Däniken suggests that they are actually maps that can only be seen from the sky, leaving one to wonder who they were meant for, as we did not learn to fly until at least fifteen hundred years after the lines were drawn. Ancient Hopi legends about six fingered men, from another world, prompted the tradition of raising the hand as a greeting.