Adam Baker via Compfight
With the release of Ridley Scott’s new movie Prometheus, comes the revival of the Ancient Astronaut theories made famous in the 1960’s and 70’s by Erich von Däniken. The idea is that evidence can be found in the art and writings from antiquity that imply that some sort of ancient aliens have visited the Earth and mucked about with our ancestors before leaving, never to be seen again.
Personally, I don’t believe a word of it. But man, do I love those awful shows on the History Channel about the people who swear all that stuff is actually real. People will believe all kinds of crazy non-sense. That’s just part of being human. In the end, it’s all pretty much unknowable. But that’s where Fiction comes in and makes it believable with special effects and creative story telling.
I guess my fascination with all this ancient astronaut nonsense has found its way into my latest novel – Starveyors. Just as I’m starting to work my way into the big finale of the book I start seeing these ads for Prometheus. My heart begins to sink a bit as this exact thing happened in the middle of the writing of Tyrmia. A little movie called Avatar came out and stole my thunder with a very similar story with very similar looking aliens.
I seem to have this timing problem with my novels.
I, too, enjoy those Ancient Astronaut stories. One thing I really have fun with is how they go just so far then don’t actually provide the implied proof they have to back up what they’re saying. Gotta love how they fill time with that one line every so often, as if the channel is trying to distance itself from them: “Or so say the Ancient Astronaut Theorists.” Heh! Heh!
One thing I do appreciate about them, though, is the exposure to things and places that I might never have heard about.
As a kid in Jr. High, I wrote a report on the Nazca lines and while I got a good grade, I also got this note from the teacher: “Don’t rely on von Daniken so much.” Looking back, I treasure that comment.
I think they moved to the H2 channel and multiplied. Just don’t tell your husband. LOL
You are not allowed to talk to my husband about this. He, too, has developed an unhealthy fascination with crackpot History Channel ancient alien shows.
Even I have to admit, though, the Hindu scriptures about gods having dogfights in the sky sound suspiciously like reporting.
I, on the other hand, have a perfectly healthy fascination with crackpot History Channel Doomsday documentaries. Fortunately, they seem to have had their run so I feel much better now.