The Ancient Astronaut theory, first proposed in 1919, explores the possibility that Extra-Terrestrials visited our ancestors, perhaps even having a hand in our very creation. Since 1919 the theory has been popularized by authors like Erich Von Daniken (Chariots of the Gods?) and most recently by the History Channel hit Ancient Aliens.
Over the past 8 seasons the series has turned millions of curious viewers into loyal fans and has become a pop-culture phenomenon. However, the theory has received considerable criticism from some parts of the scientific community. The Smithsonian Institute bluntly classifies the whole subject as pseudo-science and renowned scientist Carl Sagan had this to say about Von Daniken:
“I hope for the continuing popularity of books like Chariots of the Gods? in high school and college logic courses, as object lessons in sloppy thinking. I know of no recent books so riddled with logical and factual errors as the works of Von Däniken” – Carl Sagan
But are Von Daniken and the AA poster-boy, Giorgio Tsoukalos, really so crazy? What about countless other authors, radio hosts, even reverends, that appear on the show? Maybe not. In fact, the show has been lauded for offering an interesting alternative view of history.
AA does a good job highlighting unexplained evidence, but sometimes in an attempt to present their intriguing theory they go a little too far off the deep-end…
Source: What Culture
Source: What Culture
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