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Like one of his beloved sky gods, Erich von Däniken and his ancient astronaut theories have reappeared on our planet. As proof, this is a picture book of his greatest hits. We get glossy pictures of the Nazca Lines, Japanese figurines, Mayan pyramids, Costa Rica balls and all the usual suspects.
What puzzles me is if half of these sculptures, carvings, monuments and structures are true remains of alien, or alien-inspired, work, why didn't they leave something a bit more convincing than a bunch of rocks pointing at a star, or carvings of people in funny hats? Sure enough, the construction of many of these artifacts is often remarkable and impressive but not beyond the efforts of humanity. Even a dedicated believer doesn't have to look far to find alternative and more mundane explanations for these objects.
At first appearances this book is a pleasant and uncritical look at ancient astronautics. What is more worrying is Moran's scepticism of Darwinian evolution; the last words of her book are: "Is it so much harder to contemplate that we may have been influenced by visitors from the skies, than that we somehow evolved from an elusive missing link with monkeys? An open mind is all we need."
With open minds like that we could all fall into a bottomless pit of gullibility. At least monkeys exist in reality; the space gods or aliens are just a fancy concept.
I don't think science is omnipotent, and there are flaws in Darwinian theory, and it is refreshing that "establishment science" is not slavishly venerated and respected. Charles Fort certainly made it his life's work poking holes and fun at pompous scientists and their precious dogmas. The only problem now is that anyone can kick a stone or read a book, and before you can say "George Adamski" they become an expert who knows better than qualified scientists. Then again, some qualified scientists have weirder ideas than a room full of drunken rabbits. So the point of this argument is that this book is just an excuse for pretty pictures and vacuous questions that pander to brainless dolts.. -- Nigel Watson, from Magonia [Monthly] Bulletin 16, June 1999.~
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