At Flashbak: There Are Those Who Believe: The Ancient Astronauts of the 1970s and 1980s

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My latest article at Flashbak is now up.  It concerns the ancient astronaut craze of the 1970s and early 1980s.

Here's a snippet (and url: http://flashbak.com/there-are-those-who-believe-the-ancient-astronaut-craze-of-the-1970s-and-1980s-27527/)

"In 1968, Swiss author Erich Von Daniken published a literary work called Chariots of the Gods, which explored the idea that ancient alien astronauts may have visited Earth in the distant past. These aliens were responsible for such “miracles” of architecture as the Great Pyramids. 

Though widely-dismissed by scientists, Von Daniken’s speculations about astronauts visiting Earth in prehistory proved immensely popular to a wide readership of the 1970s.  His book inspired several sequel texts including Gods from Outer Space (1971), Gold of the Gods (1973), Miracles of the Gods (1976), In Search of Ancient Gods (1976), Signs of the Gods (1980) and Pathways to the Gods (1980).

Chariots of the Gods thus ignited another disco decade trend or fad, and soon ancient astronauts were being explored on television in documentaries, and in fictional entertainment..."