|
***Erich von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods***
In the mid-seventies, one of my jobs as European corr of a big US paper was to check out UFO stories. I interviewed Erich several times and used to attend the annual meetings of his organisation 'The Society of Ancient Astronauts'. He was great company, as was his wife, Elizabeth, and the eccentrics who used to surround them.
But I also found him a plausible rogue.
Much of his 'research' was tailored to suit his theory and his second book, especially, contained things (even pictures) that were brazenly fake beyond a doubt. Like all pseudoscholarship, his work is great fun ... but it should be taken with a shovel of salt, as should most of the similar books that his success spawned.
Neil
|