Erich von Däniken

Erich Anton Paul von Däniken (/ˈɛrᵻk fɒn ˈdɛnᵻkᵻn/; German: [ˈeːrɪç fɔn ˈdɛːnɪkən]; born 14 April 1935) is a Swiss author of several books which make pseudoscientific claims about extraterrestrial influences on early human culture, including the best-selling Chariots of the Gods?, published in 1968. Däniken is one of the main figures responsible for popularizing the "paleo-contact" and ancient astronauts hypotheses. The ideas put forth in his books are rejected by a majority of scientists and academics, who categorize his work as pseudohistory and pseudoarchaeology.

Däniken later became a co-founder of the Archaeology, Astronautics and SETI Research Association (AAS RA). He designed Mystery Park (now known as Jungfrau Park), a theme park located in Interlaken, Switzerland, that opened in May 2003.

Early life

Däniken was born in Zofingen, Aargau. Brought up as a Roman Catholic, he attended the Saint-Michel International Catholic School in Fribourg, Switzerland. During his time at the school he rejected the church's interpretations of the Bible and developed an interest in astronomy and the phenomenon of flying saucers. At the age of 19, he was given a four-month suspended sentence for theft. He left the school and was apprenticed to a Swiss hotelier for a time, before moving to Egypt. In December 1964, Däniken wrote Hatten unsere Vorfahren Besuch aus dem Weltraum? ("Did our Ancestors have a Visit from Space?") for the German-Canadian periodical Der Nordwesten. While in Egypt, he was involved in a jewelry deal which resulted in a nine-month conviction for fraud and embezzlement upon his return to Switzerland.

Ancient Aliens

Ancient Aliens is an American television documentary series that premiered on April 20, 2010 on the History channel. Produced by Prometheus Entertainment, the program presents hypotheses of ancient astronauts and proposes that historical texts, archaeology, and legends contain evidence of past human-extraterrestrial contact. The show has been criticized for presenting pseudoscience and pseudohistory.

The series' de facto pilot was a TV special of the same name that aired on March 8, 2009, on the History channel. Seasons 1–3 aired on the same channel until 2011. From season 4 to the middle of season 7, the series aired on H2. On April 10, 2015, episode premieres returned to History. Season 8 began on July 24, 2015.

Production

The executive producer of Ancient Aliens is Kevin Burns, who also directed and wrote the pilot episode. Giorgio A. Tsoukalos serves as consulting producer and appeared on screen in the pilot.Erich von Däniken appeared in the pilot episode, and UFO researcher C. Scott Littleton served as an expert consultant for the show until his death in 2010.

Chariots of the Gods?

Chariots of the Gods? Unsolved Mysteries of the Past (German: Erinnerungen an die Zukunft: Ungelöste Rätsel der Vergangenheit; in English, Memories of the Future: Unsolved Mysteries of the Past) is a book authored in 1968 by Erich von Däniken. It involves the hypothesis that the technologies and religions of many ancient civilizations were given to them by ancient astronauts who were welcomed as gods.

The first draft of the publication had been rejected by a variety of publishers. The book was extensively rewritten by its editor, Wilhelm Roggersdorf (a pen name of the German screenwriter Wilhelm "Utz" Utermann), Utermann had been a Nazi bestselling author and had held a leading position with the Völkischer Beobachter.

Overview

Von Däniken offers the following hypotheses:

Eric

The given name Eric, Erik, or Erick is derived from the Old Norse name Eiríkr (or Eríkr in Eastern Scandinavia due to monophthongization). The first element, ei- is derived either from the older Proto-Norse *aina(z) meaning "one" or "alone" or from Proto-Norse *aiwa(z) meaning "ever" or "eternal". The second element -ríkr derives either from *rík(a)z meaning "ruler" or "prince" (cf. Gothic reiks) or from an even older Proto-Germanic *ríkiaz which meant "powerful" and "rich". The name is thus usually taken to mean "one ruler", "autocrat", "eternal ruler" or "ever powerful", "warrior", and "government".

The most common spelling in Scandinavia is Erik. In Norway, another form of the name (which has kept the Old Norse diphthong) Eirik is also commonly used. In Finland, the form Erkki is also used. The modern Icelandic version is Eiríkur, while the modern Faroese version is Eirikur. Éric [eʁik] is used in French, and in Germany Eric, Erik and Erich are used.

Although the name was in use in Anglo-Saxon England, its use was reinforced by Scandinavian settlers arriving before the Norman Invasion. It was an uncommon name in England until the Middle Ages, when it gained popularity, and finally became a common name in the 19th century. This was partly because of the publishing of the novel Eric, or, Little by Little by Frederick William Farrar in 1858.

Däniken, Solothurn

Däniken is a municipality in the district of Olten in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.

History

Däniken is first mentioned in 1273 as de Tennikon. In 1317 it was mentioned as de Tennenkon and in 1423 it was von Taennikon.

Geography

Däniken has an area, as of 2009, of 5.41 square kilometers (2.09 sq mi). Of this area, 1.75 km² (0.68 sq mi) or 32.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.85 km² (0.71 sq mi) or 34.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.69 km² (0.65 sq mi) or 31.2% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.05 km² (12 acres) or 0.9% is either rivers or lakes and 0.03 km² (7.4 acres) or 0.6% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 5.5% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 11.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 8.3%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 4.3% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.5%. Out of the forested land, 32.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 19.2% is used for growing crops and 11.6% is pastures, while 1.5% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.