~Ana-Sofia
In 1968, Erich von Daniken publishes Chariots of the Gods, the book that kicked off the Ancient Aliens
craze. Initially, one of the gods revealed to be of extraterrestrial origin was Jesus Christ. At his publishers
urging, this was cut out, and since then Daniken had been, by all accounts, a deeply conservative
Christian. This illustrates the strangely contradictory and fluid nature of the Ancient Aliens theory’s
relationship towards religions.
1. Early Ancient Alien theories were secularists, anti-religious. Why has the theory become so
pseudo-religious since then?
2. Is the Ancient Alien theory explicitly or inherently anti-religious?
3. Is it wrong to appropriate modern religious traditions in service of Ancient Aliens? (See the
Vedas) What about ancient ones?
4. Shift from nuts-and-bolts to more ‘spiritual’ aliens. Less flying saucers, more star-gates and
portals. Why?
5. What might make a religious person believe in the Ancient Aliens theory?
6. Contempt for Ancient Aliens as a pseudoscience is legitimate. What happens if it fully morphs
into religion? Must or should we respect it?