Customer Reviews

The Space-Gods Revealed: A Close Look at the Theories of Erich Von Daniken

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The Space Gods Revealed remains an excellent, clear, and compelling refutation to the "von Daniken Phenomenon." Written in a factual and direct manner, the book starts with a short description of the scientific method, theory and evidence - and how von Daniken's ideas fall short when examined in detail.

The book looks at ancient astronauts and the Bible, von Daniken's genetic miracle speculation, the Piri Re'is Map, the Nazca Plains, Easter Island, the Egyptian Pyramids and the Palenque Astronaut. The author is not sarcastic in his demolition of von Daniken's theories, nor is he long-winded: it's all short, matter-of-fact explanations. From pointing out von Daniken's habit of offering multiple unlikely ideas as if adding them up made them more likely, or just getting dates and scientific concepts wrong or out of context.

None of the major parts of von Daniken's proof add up to much. The Piri Re'is map is clearly inaccurate about Cuba (mislabled as Espaniola), omits nearly a 1000 miles of South America's coast and the "land below the ice" map of Antartica doesn't match modern maps. The Nazca plains, which continue to this day to be called landing strips, navigation guides, and even an interstellar encyclopedia - all strikingly low-tech aids for intergalactic voyagers - all have more down-to-earth possibilities that take into account the region's native cultures and technology.

The other mysteries are even more thoroughly demolished. The Pyramids, Easter Island, and the Palenque Astronaut? There's enormous amount of literature on the evolution of Egyptian culture and pyramid building, Heyerdahls' Easter Island study, and examples of other Mayan "astronauts" showing the carvings in their religious and cultural context.

There are several other chapters on von Daniken's other evidence that easily address the lesser known issues.

The book's very slender and easily read. One didn't have to marshall complicated and elaborate explanations to finish von Daniken. In the years since this book has come out, I've seen TV specials that ignore Story's book. It's a shame because Story did not invent his counter-explanations, he simply researched the already existing literature as well as examined what von Daniken was saying.

I'm glad I have this in my personal library. If you're interested in these sort of subjects, I think this is a great buy.

In case you haven't noticed, "they" have been pressing on all channels to get you to believe in aliens. von Däniken's ancient astronaut theory was used to create a foundation for that, which they have been building on for decades since then. The truth is, that foundation is full of holes, and Ron Story's book proves it. Erich von Däniken's website boasts; "Erich von Däniken, the world's most successful non-fiction writer of all time, has written 26 books on the topic [of "ancient astronauts"] and has sold over 63 million copies worldwide. His books have been translated into 32 languages." If Ronald Story's message had been as widely publicized as has von Däniken's the forest of trees that were tragically sacrificed in vain to von Däniken's 63 million books may have been saved! But alas, as usual the sensational is glorified, promoted and amplified while the truth is swept under the rug and ignored. Ronald Story's book "The Space-gods Revealed" is the book we all should have read on this topic back in 1976. If we had we would have learned of von Däniken's criminal past as a fraudster and embezzler, as was much more recently reported in this quote from Wikipedia; "Däniken's run-ins with the law started at an early age. In the 1960s, while working in hotels and restaurants across Switzerland, he was convicted of fraud, serving a prison sentence .. Däniken was found guilty of embezzlement, and served more than three years in Swiss prisons. While in prison, he continued writing, and "Return of the Gods" was subsequently published." It takes a particular flair for twisting the facts to one's own ends to commit fraud and embezzlement - even more so to con millions of people into believing claims that have absolutely no basis in fact whatsoever! You've heard the claims about The Wheels of Ezekiel, The Piri Re'is Map, The Nazca Lines, The Stone Heads of Easter Island, The Palenque Astronaut, and all the rest of the so-called "proof" that ancient astronauts visited the earth in the ancient past. Ron Story's book honestly and meticulously examines each artifact in detail, and in context, to show what it really is and what it really means in its own historical and cultural context. Guess what? None of these artifacts even come close to "proving" the ancient astronaut theory. Rather, each has been ripped out of its own historical and cultural context, shamelessly lied about in many details to make it fit, and then presented as "proof" to an unsuspecting public that probably wants to believe this nonsense anyway. How good is Ron Story's book? For a recent radio program I produced and hosted at Tsiyon Radio on the topic of "Space-gods Space Frauds" I found that Ronald Story had already done the lion's share of the research on the topic, and it was all honestly and intelligently presented in "The Space-gods Revealed." That kind of complete, well-presented, well-documented and useful information is definitely worth five stars to me.

Ronald Story is one of the earlier writers who criticized authors such as Erich von Daniken (author of unbelievably popular books such as Chariots of the Gods and Gods from Outer Space: Return to the Stars, or Evidence for the Impossible), who suggest that "ancient astronauts" or "gods from outer space" have visited this planet.

Story begins the book by detailing that, at the time his first book was published, von Daniken was in JAIL on charges of embezzlement, fraud, and forgery. (Von Daniken lightly dismissed this in the preface to his book.)

While Story admits that we do not know for certain the purpose of the Nazca markings in ancient Peru (that von Daniken calls "ancient airfields"), he adds that "It hardly seems reasonable that advanced extraterrestrial spacecraft would require landing strips."

He also quotes von Daniken (from an interview in Playboy magazine) as admitting that his "Chariots of the Gods" book was wrong about the "rustproof iron pillar" in Delhi, saying, "so we can forget about this iron thing."

Concerning the so-called "batteries" from ancient Baghdad, Story writes, "The most likely purpose for such a battery would be in a primitive electroplating process; one-half volt would be a sufficient electric potential to electroplate silver onto copper. I cannot see how these batteries would have been particularly beneficial to ancient space voyagers."

This book (along with Story's book, GUARDIANS OF THE UNIVERSE) is still well worth reading as a critique of the "ancient astronaut" theories.

I voraciously read all of von Daeniken's stuff when I was a kid, and thought it was all great stuff. Then, in high school, I got ahold of a slim little number entitled _The Space-Gods Revealed : A Close Look at the Theories of Erich Von Daeniken_, by Ronald Story, and in the span of a couple of hours saw the chariots of the gods tumble into the sea. My first real encounter with the power of rational thought (something not taught in school, in my experience to that point). I have to admit, though, that von Daeniken, on top of all the science fiction I read, did help to solidify my budding atheism, and for that I suppose I owe him some credit.

This is a hilarious and brilliantly-done refutation of Erich von Daniken and the whole "gods from other worlds" con. Among other tidbits, Ronald Story reveals that von Daniken's core "ideas" were borrowed from other writers. He also reveals how far von Daniken strays from scientific method when presenting anicent-astronaut theories, how far he strays from scientific fact, and how relentlessly he substitutes assumption and supposition for evidence. We are given the facts behind the construction of the Easter Island statues and Egpyt's pyramids, as well as explanations for cave-paintings of "astronauts," one-eyed Martians, etc. The book's only fault lies in its assertion that ancient-astronautology is some kind of pop religion. To wit, from the chapter "The New Mythology": "The ancient astronaut theory does seem to represent to many people a solution to the uncertainties that now plague the world." It's too bad that something so silly and specious must follow many pages of meticulous and thorough debunking, but the reader can always skip the occasional mundane digression. This is a skeptic's-bookshelf must.