Chariots of the Gods

Swiss author Erich von Däniken passed away on January 10 at the age of 90. His 1968 book, Chariots of the Gods? Unsolved Mysteries of the Past, helped popularize the idea that early human civilizations may have been influenced by contact with extraterrestrials.

West German director Harald Reinl translated von Däniken’s book to the screen in the 1970 Chariots of the Gods documentary, dubbed into English and released in the U.S in 1973. Though book and film were accused of “pseudoscience” from the outset, the book became a bestseller and the film earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature.

The documentary first takes viewers on a tour of ancient texts—from Gilgamesh to Genesis—noting that “written accounts of godlike visitors abound” and suggesting that the fact that such accounts were reported the world over makes them difficult to dismiss as “mere fantasy.”

Where the film really packs a punch, even half a century later, is in its tour around the world to showcase the “many traces left behind” by the “ancient astronauts” posited by von Däniken to have visited Earth. From the “spaceships” seemingly depicted in 14th-century frescoes in Yugoslavia, to ancient maps showing astonishing aerial views, to cave paintings of figures with antenna-like helmets, to the 6.5 million ton Great Pyramid of Giza (“roughly the weight of 65,000 locomotives”), to the massive Moai statues on Easter Island, the film highlights many intriguing artistic and archaeological “mysteries of the past.”

Chariots was also a feat of intrepid and persistent filmmaking—the crew was refused entry to the Palenque ruins in Mexico eight times before finally being allowed to enter for a mere 30 minutes.

As for von Däniken, he led a colorful life, writing Chariots while working as a hotel manager in Davos (of all places). Soon after, when he was arrested for embezzlement, fraud, and forgery, he claimed that his intentions were not malicious and that he had used the money for travel to research his book.

The 90-minute documentary Chariots of the Gods can be viewed HERE.