And you could be right - von Däniken claims that the story used for "Stargate (the movie)" was published in his book "The Eyes of the Sphinx", and indeed, one finds a lot of similarities. Von Däniken has met Roland Emmerich, the "father" of Stargate, and Emmerich admitted that he's been reading Däniken's books ever since he was a teenager.
Born in 1935, in Zofingen, Switzerland, Erich von Däniken was still a student when he dedicated his time to the study of ancient holy writings. His first book, "Chariots of the Gods", was written while he worked as a managing director of a Swiss 5-Star Hotel. The book became almost immediately a bestseller in the USA, and in following in more than 35 other countries.
"In Search of Ancient Astronauts" was the title of a TV special von Däniken created (based on his first book), and it won him instant fame in the United States. In the early 90ies, a 25 part series called "Pathway of the Gods" by and with Erich von Däniken was shown on a German TV channel, and some years later, US channel ABC produced an hour-long special, "Chariots of the Gods - The Mysteries Continue", filmed on location all over the world.
Many more movies followed, and von Däniken's cooperation with ABC continues. His books have been translated into 28 languages, over 60 million copies sold worldwide. He's fluent in 5 languages and has held well over 3000 lectures.
Woah! Yes, you guessed it - EVD is a very energetic man. He is a seeker, a driven one, who wants to get people to think rather than to blindly believe - and while the scientific world used to laugh about him, the mockers have become less and less, and daily more people are willing to at least consider the possibility that we have had a little help with the development of our culture.
The Mystery Park which now has opened its doors in the Swiss town of Interlaken is definitely one of his biggest dreams come true. He's been working on the realisation of this dream for over a decade, providing people with a place where questions are asked but no answers are given - he wants you to make your mind up by yourself.
Do I believe? Well, looking at the state our world is in I'd say it would be pretty arrogant to assume that we, of all beings, are the best nature could come up with. Those who refuse to even consider a possible influence from "outside" do, at least in my opinion, take the easy way out. To question what is established is in our nature, and it is the force which drives us to new discoveries.
Personally, I think the fact that no aliens have contacted us so far is a very good proof for the existence of extra terrestrial intelligent life - what advanced culture which is in their sane mind would contact a race which leaves half of the planet starving while the other half is busy killing each other?
For those among you who know that the answer is "somewhere out there": according to Däniken, he recently met up with the creators of "X Files", and they developed the idea that Däniken should come up with a mysterious fact, be it religion, secret service, whatever, and by now, about twenty scripts are in the works. Should financing be secured, shootings could start as early as this summer. |
