Pre-astronautics

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Drawings from the Val Camonica in Italy, which are repeatedly interpreted as drawings by extraterrestrial astronauts on earth

The ancient astronaut hypothesis (also Paleo-SETI called) is a para-science , which the investigation of the alleged presence of extraterrestrial intelligences on Earth during the prehistory and antiquity aims. Pre-astronautics is understood by its followers as a protoscience , which combines knowledge from ancient sciences and astronautics . In academically institutionalized research, especially in ancient studies, it is considered a pseudoscience , the theses of which cannot be substantiated. Topics such as UFO belief or Raelism can be part of pre-astronautical views.

Pre-astronautics should not be confused with the academically institutionalized search for extraterrestrial civilizations ( SETI ).

History of pre-astronautics

The notions of the existence of ancient civilizations ( Atlantis , Lemuria , Mu , ...), discussed in the literature of the late 18th and early 19th centuries , to which knowledge of advanced technologies were ascribed, are regarded as forerunners of pre-astronautics . Charles Fort speculated in 1919 in the work The Book of the Damned , a collection of inexplicable phenomena, about whether humanity was the "possession" of aliens. In the 1920s, the Soviet space pioneers Konstantin Ziolkowski (1857–1935) and Nikolai A. Rynin (1887–1942) dealt with the idea of ​​interplanetary contacts in the past.

In the 1950s and 1960s, as a result of the attention UFOs received from the global public, several scientists, journalists, and authors explored the theory. These include the Soviet mathematician Matest M. Agrest , the Italian journalist Peter Kolosimo , Fort's student W. Raymond Drake , the Franco-Polish occultist Jacques Bergier and his co-author Louis Pauwels, and the science fiction author Robert Charroux . With these, however, the thesis is in the foreground that humanity has already reached a high level of civilization. But it was lost in a nuclear war . In esoteric and secret sciences , the core technical knowledge of the ancestors was handed down. That this comes from "interplanetary travelers" (according to Pauwels and Bergier) is only on the edge of their culture-critical speculations.

In 1960, American astrophysicist Thomas Gold speculated in an article titled Cosmic Garbage about the possibility that extraterrestrial space travelers might have visited Earth long ago. The beings would have left their garbage behind and inadvertently brought life to earth. In 1963 the American astronomer Carl Sagan raised the question of whether there could have been contact between humans and extraterrestrial visitors in the past, and whether the fact had been falsified for many reasons. Sagan suggested that alien species might have visited Earth more often, leaving artifacts on the planet or in the solar system.

The hypothesis about the astronaut gods gained great fame through the Swiss Erich von Däniken , whose debut work, Memories of the Future (1968) was immediately a bestseller and was filmed a year later . In contrast to his predecessors, Däniken does not speculate about esoteric secret knowledge, but argues purely materialistically : Through the influence of extraterrestrials, the primitive prehistoric humans suddenly and out of nowhere developed high cultures like those of Sumer or ancient Egypt . In the following years the term “pre-astronautics” was coined. In 1973, the lawyer Gene Philipps founded the Ancient Astronaut Society (AAS) in the USA , which publishes the magazine Ancient Skies . Documentaries and television series, as well as many books, dealt with the subject. Von Däniken traveled around the world and gave numerous lectures. A canon of archaeological sites and artefacts as well as traditional texts were formed, which are still considered particularly promising indicators for the theory. With The Twelfth Planet (1976), Zecharia Sitchin established himself as another popular author in the field of pre-astronautics, as did Karl F. Kohlenberg with Unraveled Prehistory (1970).

At the end of the 1980s, authors of pre-astronautics were looking for a meaningful name for their field of research - the term “pre-astronautics” was felt to be inadequate, as was occasional other terms such as “astro-archeology” (actually another name for archaeoastronomy ). Vladimir Avinsky suggested "Paleo-SETI", based on the abbreviation SETI ( Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence ), which was coined by NASA . In the years that followed, this new name was popularized in German-speaking countries, especially by Johannes Fiebag . The first edition of the German-language edition of the Lexicon of Pre-Astronautics by the author Ulrich Dopatka appeared as early as 1979 . The second edition appeared in 1981 and the third edition in 1986. The founding year of the German-speaking section of the Ancient Astronaut Society (AAS) was 1980 with the first official conference in Fulda, called 1-Day-Meeting, which was opened by Erich von Däniken and has been regular since then takes place every year. The first authors of the German-speaking Ancient Skies and the first speakers of the German-speaking AAS were Luc Bürgin , Johannes von Buttlar , Axel Ertelt , Johannes Fiebag, Peter Fiebag , Lars A. Fischinger , Ulrich Dopatka, Hans-Werner Sachmann and Wilfried Stevens. In 1999, the German edition of Ancient Skies was renamed Sagenbare Zeiten , which appears as a magazine every two months.

In the late 1990s, the Ancient Astronaut Society was renamed Archeology, Astronautics and SETI Research Association , keeping the abbreviation AAS . The German equivalent is called the Research Association for Archeology, Astronautics and SETI . The research company is based in Beatenberg , Switzerland, and is called AAS GmbH.

Topics and methods of pre-astronautics

Shakōki Dogū from the Late Jōmon Period (1000–400 BC)

The central theme and main subject of pre-astronautics is the assumption that extraterrestrial spacemen visited the earth in prehistoric or historical times and thereby had an influence on the genesis of humans ( tribal history of humans ) or their cultural and technological development. The main basis for this is new interpretations of religious and mythological texts, which are understood as reports on actual events in the past and are intended to describe encounters with extraterrestrial beings. Religious aspects are consistently technologized : Man's creation is interpreted as a genetic engineering experiment , the appearance of God in the Tanach as the landing of a UFO or angels as extraterrestrial space travelers. The descriptions of mythical objects or places such as the Ark of the Covenant or the Merkaba or the Valhalla of Asgard in the Nordic legends are interpreted as misunderstood transfigurations of highly developed weapons, military and space technology. Myths with similar contents are interpreted in a similar way, such as the flood mentioned in several cultures and the subsequent salvation of humanity , which is found in the Bible, as well as in the Sumerian - Babylonian Gilgamesh epic, in ancient Indian, Chinese or Australian creation myths . Pre-astronautics assumes that these traditions can be traced back to a real intervention by more highly developed beings, which is expressed in the myths as a primal human (in the Freudian sense unconscious) trauma .

Also important for the argumentation of pre-astronautics is the reinterpretation of archaeological remains and architectural structures, which, often in contradiction to established archeology , are understood as anachronism : It is assumed that their occurrence cannot be derived from previous phenomena or the technical ones Exceed the possibilities of the cultural bearers of that time. Such finds are interpreted, similar to the mythical traditions, as an expression of not understood technology. These include statues, rock drawings or reliefs of human or human-like figures, whose round and sometimes faceless heads or only certain parts of the face showing heads are interpreted as helmets (by space travelers) (e.g. the Dogū statues from Japan , the rock carvings of Valcamonica in Italy ). Small bird or fish-like objects from pre-Columbian South America and Ancient Egypt are interpreted as models of aircraft. The geoglyphs of Nazca in Peru , which include oversized animal figures and up to 20 kilometers long straight lines and triangles, are considered to be airstrips, among other things.

Pre-astronautics does not necessarily assume that these forms must be the direct result of direct contact with highly technical beings. Rather, such objects are understood as an expression of a prehistoric cargo cult , in which people witnessed the activities of these beings on earth and tried to summon the supposed gods again by imitating these inexplicable devices and systems.

Some of the interpretive approaches of pre-astronautics combine them with other borderline scientific theories. This includes reflections on the existence of technically highly developed, but extinct cultures such as Atlantis or Mu in human prehistory , the inhabitants of which could have survived into the historical early times. Some representatives assume that these cultures were created or destroyed by the influence of intelligent extraterrestrials or time-traveling beings from the future. The consequence of such contacts is the emergence or further development of human culture or the interpretation of these beings as gods in the respective mythological pantheon .

Depending on the representative of pre-astronautics, the same phenomena can be assessed differently. One example is the building of pyramids in Ancient Egypt , Mesoamerica and Southeast Asia . Depending on the approach, the idea of ​​building a pyramid is conveyed either directly at different times in the various regions by extraterrestrial beings or by survivors of earlier technical high civilizations (e.g. Atlantis), or it is conveyed to a single culture (such as the old Egypt), from where this idea was carried on through cultural contacts.

Often the pre-astronautical narratives go hand in hand with conspiracy theories : If the extraterrestrials repeatedly intervened in human history thousands of years ago, they may have been involved in the emergence of modern rationality. Erdoğan Ercivan assumes, for example, that the inventions of the early modern period, beginning with Leonardo da Vinci's flying machines, were based on ancient secret knowledge of the aliens, Andreas von Rétyi and he speculate about secret societies that search for high-tech archaeological expeditions in Egypt The conspiracy theorist Jim Marrs claims that the world domination of the secret societies was based on their knowledge of pre-astronautical technology.

criticism

Pre-astronautics is criticized in three ways: On the one hand, the bestselling author Däniken is assumed to have a purely commercial interest. Second, the findings are refuted: According to sociologist Ingbert Jüdt, there is hardly an anomaly addressed by pre-astronauts that has not been contradicted by the scientific community or by individuals who feel committed to the scientific mainstream. This happens on the websites Mysteria 3000 and Fabled Times (see web links ). Jüdt himself formulates a linguistic criticism based on John Searle's distinction between “natural” and “institutional facts”: the former concern clear sensory impressions, while the latter are always based on knowledge of social rules and the respective cultural background. Pre-astronauts would always interpret myths and artifacts as natural facts, i.e. interpret them visually and within the framework of common sense and systematically refuse to take historical contexts into account. Jüdt sees this not only as nonsense, but also as a partially understandable reaction to the exclusion of lay research and speaks out against the social closure of knowledge discourses.

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The academically institutionalized natural sciences and humanities rejects the central theses of pre-astronautics, since these cannot be substantiated on extensive scientific examination. The advocates of pre-astronautical ideas are particularly accused of neglecting the contextual integration of their sources (such as written records, pictorial representations or archaeological objects) and only referring selectively to aspects that would superficially suggest a pre-astronautical interpretation of their sources.

An important point of criticism is that the intellectual and cultural creativity of people of earlier epochs is often far underestimated by representatives of pre-astronautics. The intervention of high-tech extraterrestrials or unknown high cultures are reminiscent of religious creation myths, creationist theories or " intelligent design ", according to which an ascent of mankind would not have been possible on its own biological and cultural strength. Pre-astronautics does not offer any solutions for the development of intelligence and culture in general, because the problem is “only” shifted in time or space. The question arises as to how the extraterrestrials or early technical high cultures are supposed to have come to their intelligence and culture. The objection of pre-astronautics that these were also influenced by other beings only shifts the problem further - to the limits of possible life in the universe . If the first original culture evolved out of itself, something is ascribed to it that is rejected for the development of man and human culture. If, on the other hand, this should have arisen through an act of creation, then pre-astronautics would only be a variant of creationism.

In addition to this philosophical problem, pre-astronautics should also generally elude the scientific notion of reduction. If there are several possible explanations, the theory with the simplest assumption should also be the most appropriate in the case of the thrift principle of the theory of science ( Ockham's razor ). This is exactly what pre-astronautics neglects in a scientific sense. It may justify the presence of certain phenomena in the human past, but the assumed influence by extraterrestrials or an early highly technical civilization explains neither the origin of these (to be explained) phenomena nor that of the (explanatory) causers themselves. Instead, it only creates one new problem (the causer), which has to be interpreted (i.e. explained) again. Thus, an unknown variable is reduced with the help of this explanation, but at the same time an even more unknown variable is produced by the explanation itself, which in turn waits for a new explanation. Such situations are not uncommon in science, but one difference is that the explanations for them by pre-astronautics are less well-founded by other sciences and findings than is usually the case; There is no further recognized prior knowledge about extraterrestrials.

Crystal skull in the Musée du quai Branly in Paris

Another point of criticism is the structure of pre-astronautics as a borderline or pseudoscientific sub-area. The existence of teaching staff, seminars and (predominantly popular science) lectures, (also predominantly popular science) publications or the announcement of funding and research prizes give it the appearance of a serious science. Apart from that, there is seldom an overlap with the established sciences. The procedure of the established sciences, such as the recognition of scientific results through publication in recognized specialist journals or monographs under the premise of the repeatability of the investigation or traceability of the results, is largely avoided, as is the discussion of different views with scientifically comprehensible arguments that a verification or falsification would allow. The problem in this context is the use of singular objects, which sometimes only receive a deeper background or context through further work in the natural sciences or humanities, or objects of dubious origin that are difficult to use as evidence or clues. However, the use of groups of artifacts, which according to all knowledge are to be regarded as fakes, is unscientific (see discussion about crystal skulls ).

Apart from this general debate and fundamental assessment, pre-astronautics is also viewed critically in terms of content and rejected. The above-mentioned extra-contextual consideration of texts, individual objects or cultural complexes should be emphasized. In addition to being torn out of the contextual context of the respective cultural epoch and / or region, it is also important that numerous occurring, sometimes similar cultural phenomena have historically or prehistorically no simultaneity, but, in contrast, show different age data. Above all, this non-existent isochrony of such phenomena is a major weak point of pre-astronautics. As an example, the idea of ​​building a pyramid, which is widespread almost worldwide, is once again mentioned, the connection of which with religious traditions is beyond doubt in all regions. According to the representatives of pre-astronautics, as already described, this can have several possible causes. On the one hand, it would be possible that this idea arose from multiple, temporally separate influences from extraterrestrial beings or representatives of early technical high cultures (Ancient Egypt from 25th century BC, Mesoamerica from 15th century BC). As a result, the initiators would have visited the earth several times, or the survivors would have had to have lived undiscovered (also for today's science) in the individual regions until the idea was initiated. However, if this idea had only been conveyed to the Egyptians once and if they had brought it to Mesoamerica through hypothetical possible but not yet secured cultural contacts (as was often discussed at the time of Ramses II, approx. 13th century BC), it would be this happened at a time when no pyramids were built in Egypt for a long time. Here the question must be asked why someone should have passed on an idea that he himself no longer cultivated. It is therefore more likely that these are analogous cultural developments (in the sense of biological convergence ), apart from the fact that Egyptian and Mesoamerican pyramids only have the name - which was later coined by external cultural groups and reduced to the shape of the buildings have in common. Apart from that, apart from a few exceptions, they have different functions, although the latter are architecturally and functionally closer to the Mesopotamian ziggurats . This example is intended to show that many cultural phenomena only appear to have similarities on the outside, but on closer inspection they show large differences, which means that the interpretive ability of pre-astronautics reaches its limits here.

In addition to these extra-contextual considerations of individual objects or cultural phenomena, something similar can also be said about pre-astronautical theories with more comprehensive questions. The example of the Incarnation and general cultural development should be mentioned here. It was mentioned at the beginning that pre-astronautics is in competition with creationism or "intelligent design" and as their less conservative, more technophile and technology-oriented, through the influence of higher powers either in the entire original incarnation and / or in a later intelligence initialization so that a more progressive variant appears, but does not explain the actual problem or phenomenon. The question of the " missing link " between modern humans and their ape-like ancestors on the part of the representatives of pre-astronautics is the result of the non-acceptance or the failure to understand the biological evolution theory , although the existing (here greatly simplified and overview character bearing) genealogy of ( graceful) Australopithecines - Homo-habilis - Homo-erectus - Neanderthals (as a European-West Asian human variant) - early anatomically modern humans can be understood as such connecting links (and in the evolutionary sense also have to be), whereby theoretically not all are present due to tradition ( fossilization ) have to. The temporal distance between the several million years of human genesis and the parallel cultural adaptation and development is also important. The fact that mankind spent most of its existence in " Stone Age " conditions and apparently did not produce any innovation or, conversely, the majority of technical and cultural inventions only took place in the last 10,000 years, is on the one hand a product of the lack of understanding of the prehistoric approach Sciences that are largely not understood as a dynamic historical sequence (in the sense of representing historical events that have not been handed down in writing), but rather provide a description of a currently ascertainable actual state at a specific location at a specific point in time in the (prehistoric) past. Here, too, there are more or less large gaps due to tradition-related restrictions and the current level of knowledge only represents a "minimal state" of the former reality. On the other hand, ignorance or denial of knowledge in questions of biological evolution and population as well as social and cultural development is also reflected here -, coexistence and interaction dynamics.

Examples

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Worldwide there are numerous archaeological objects and architectural structures of historical or prehistoric age which, according to representatives of pre-astronautics, owe their origin to the direct or indirect influence of extraterrestrial beings and are therefore used as evidence or evidence for the theory. This view is offered as a counter-thesis to the sometimes different or even contradicting interpretations of the established natural and human sciences.

The aluminum wedge from Aiud

This item, also known as the object of Aiud , is a wedge-shaped body that was found in 1973 during construction work near the Romanian city of Aiud . It weighs 2.3 kilograms, consists to a large extent of aluminum and has an oxide layer ( patina ). This aluminum wedge is in the Historical Museum of the City of Cluj-Napoca . There are various (contradicting) analytical results on its chemical composition, but these come from a single sample taken in 1975. The original addition of mastodon bones has been lost. The aluminum wedge had also been considered lost for 15 years until the author Lars A. Fischinger found it again in Romania in 2010. Fischinger was also able to prove that the chemical composition of the find, which was circulating from 1988 to 2010, was invented. Also that in 1995 a third analysis was carried out in Lausanne, Switzerland on behalf of Peter Leb, which confirmed the previous results.

  • Interpretation of pre-astronautics:
The oxide layer is as thick as aluminum bodies would have if they had been in the ground for more than a million years. In addition, before 1825 there was no way of producing aluminum. The shape of the body indicates a mechanical or technical function; the interpretation as a “foot” is popular. B. a space shuttle. For example, the archaeologist Gheorghe Lazarovici (Cluj) has taken this view for years, as he reported to Lars A. Fischinger on site and as Romanian newspapers reported several times.

The stones of Ica

A stone from Ica with engravings of different types of dinosaurs

The stones of Ica are several thousand stones on which mythical beings, but also dinosaurs and high-tech devices can be seen. The images and scenes are engraved and are located under a surface oxide layer. The first stones are said to have been found by Indians in 1961 after heavy downpours in the river bed of the Rio Ica. According to his own statement, the surgeon Javier Cabrera received many of the stones as a gift from these Indians, and he has one of the most extensive collections.

  • Interpretation of pre-astronautics:
The age of mankind must be increased significantly, as a large part of the images is anachronistic from today's perspective. It must also have been much more advanced a long time ago.
  • Interpretation of natural and human sciences:
Since these are reading finds, the stones cannot be stratified , i.e. assigned to a specific geological layer, and they cannot be viewed as a common find complex in the sense of a closed find . In 1966 the National Technical University of Peru diagnosed the age of surface weathering to be more than 10,000 years for an arbitrarily selected stone, but this can be questioned as the chemical and biological properties of the original environment are not known due to the character of the find. A local also claimed to have forged these stones and demonstrated both the production of the engravings and the subsequent surface changes in a BBC documentary.

The light bulbs from Dendera

"Lightbulb" from Dendera

The "light bulbs" from Dendera are a group of reliefs in a side room and in a basement of the Hathor temple in Dendera ( Egypt ). Anthropomorphic figures of gods are depicted behind obliquely upwardly elongated, partly bulb-shaped to bulbous objects that arise from a lotus blossom, have a snake inside and are supported at the end by a pillar. These pictures are framed by numerous hieroglyphs . The temple originally comes from the 6th dynasty (24th to 23rd century BC), but was later rebuilt and rebuilt several times. The reliefs themselves come from the Ptolemaic epoch (4th to 1st century BC).

  • Interpretation of pre-astronautics:
The bulb-like objects on the reliefs match the appearance of historical light bulbs. This means that electricity and the production of electric light must have been known much earlier. According to investigations by Krassa and Habek, the hieroglyphs assigned to the reliefs provide information on the material and size of the light bulbs shown. With the addition of other objects, such as the Baghdad battery , but also Bible and pyramid texts , the Egyptian period can be viewed as highly technical, which is the result of the influence and influence of extraterrestrial beings in the form of the Egyptian gods. The temple of Hathor served as a storage place for the light bulbs.
  • Interpretation of the natural sciences and humanities:
The relief group consists of several individual images, some of which differ significantly, but have the same basic theme. The interpretation of pre-astronautics only refers to one of the reliefs that it particularly supports. The others are hidden. The hieroglyphic texts on the entire relief group were first translated in 1991 by the Egyptologist Wolfgang Waitkus. Accordingly, the representation is connected to the myth of the rising sun in the form of the god Harsomtus , who rises from the lotus blossom . The shape of the "pistons" is an allusion to the womb of the sky goddess Nut , in which, according to the myth, the sun hides during the night and leaves as a snake at dawn.
  • Interpretation of engineering:
A model of the theoretical Egyptian light bulb was built by the electrical engineer Walter Garn using the relief part interpreted by pre-astronautics. However, this is associated with considerable problems, since some of the components, such as the Djed pillar interpreted as an insulator at the end of the piston-shaped object, did not function as desired. Furthermore, it must be said that there has been no reference to light bulbs that work with such high voltages that an insulator would be necessary.

Core drilling by Abusir

In Abusir , about 15 kilometers from the pyramids of Giza , there are several large blocks of stone made of the very hard rock diorite . There are circular drill holes ( core drillings ) in these stones , and in some cases the associated drill cores still exist.

  • Interpretation of pre-astronautics:
Core drilling, especially in hard rock, is not possible with ancient Egyptian technology, but only with ultra-modern machines.
  • Interpretation of natural and human sciences:
There have been plausible explanations for the core drilling technique of the ancient Egyptians since the beginning of the 20th century, in particular by Uvo Hölscher (1912), Lucas and Harris (1962) and Dieter Arnold (1991). The experimental archaeologist Denys A. Stocks from Manchester / UK has recreated ancient Egyptian drilling tools and with their help proved that it was possible for the ancient Egyptians to drill the hardest rock with comparatively simple technology. Evidence for this can be found not only in Abusir, where the remains of the pyramids from the 5th dynasty are located, but also in the Cheops pyramid : Stocks was able to prove that the sarcophagus of Cheops was drilled inside before the smoothing.
Core drilling techniques, which were carried out using animal bones, have also been known for stone axes, hatchets and hammers made of tough river rocks since the Neolithic in Central Europe and are much older than the Egyptian ones mentioned here.

The Antikythera Mechanism

Antikythera Mechanism ( Athens National Museum)

At Easter 1900 divers recovered an object from an ancient Greek shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera, which is very compact and consists of numerous cogwheels - the Antikythera mechanism . The ship is dated to 70 BC. Dated. The item was made from bronze and was originally probably surrounded by a wooden case. Archaeologically, it is the oldest surviving gear mechanism.

  • Interpretation of pre-astronautics:
The question arises, where did the Greeks come from in the 1st century BC? B.C. had the knowledge to build such a mechanism, especially since this knowledge has not been handed down and the corresponding technology was only invented more than 1300 years later.
  • Interpretation of natural and human sciences:
It is a kind of analog computer with which the movements and the relations of the stars known at the time could be calculated. It is noteworthy that the mechanism contains a differential gear , which, according to the original opinion, was only known from the 13th century. The apparatus has been scientifically examined several times, since 2005 by an international joint project. In the process, characters that were scratched into the gears were discovered and some of them deciphered. They provided a kind of instruction for using the device. The device has so far been reconstructed and tested several times, but the investigations are still ongoing. According to Derek de Solla Price , Washington, who had already investigated the mechanism in the 1950s, the high mechanical and mathematical complexity of the device does not mean that the mechanism could not come from that time, but that most modern historians the scientific To underestimate the capabilities of antiquity.

The Colombian gold aviators

The Colombian gold aviators are several pieces of gold jewelry in the Tolima and Quimbaya styles that were found in Colombian shaft tombs and date to around AD 100 to 1000. The objects are only a few centimeters tall, have a torpedo-shaped fuselage, delta-shaped side wings and a vertical tail fin. Most of the objects of this kind are kept in the " Museo del Oro " (Gold Museum) of the Banco de la República in Bogotá ( Colombia ) and in the Überseemuseum Bremen , but such specimens can also be found in other museums (for example in the Ethnographic Museum in Berlin-Dahlem ) .

  • Interpretation of pre-astronautics:
Individual components of the figures have unnatural shapes (delta wings, vertical tail fin). They are therefore models of airplanes that were built by the locals of that time based on real models.
  • Interpretation of natural and human sciences:
It is a replica of fish capable of flying . On the other hand, the sea angel or angel shark can also come into question, which anatomically shares some special features (e.g. the delta-shaped pectoral fins) with the gold objects.
  • Interpretation of engineering:
Investigations in the wind tunnel at the Aeronautical Institute , New York do not necessarily indicate aircraft, since in addition to birds, fish (must) have an aerodynamic structure in order to be able to move optimally in their environment. Airworthy models were built by Algund Eenboom and Air Force officer Peter Belting (Germany), among others, and further investigations were carried out at the Technical University of Bremen.
A similar example is the bird from Saqqara , Egypt, from the 2nd century BC. Chr.

The Palenque tombstone

Drawing of the grave slab of Palenque

The grave slab of Palenque is a sarcophagus lid from the burial chamber of King Pakal under the Temple of Inscriptions in Palenque , Mexico , which was discovered in 1952 and dates from the 7th century. On the lid, a man is shown in a sitting position, around whom numerous objects are arranged. The bridge of the nose of the person does not lead under the front bulges in the forehead, but runs over them in a straight line.

  • Interpretation of pre-astronautics:
The half-sitting, half-lying position of the figure suggests a seat in a rocket-like aircraft. The objects around them are operating elements, as indicated by the position of the arms. The upper part of the head is not comparable to today's humans, but rather suggests an extraterrestrial being. The person likely represents the god Kukumatz .
  • Interpretation of natural and human sciences:
The translation of the hieroglyphs on the sides of the plate describes the journey of the buried King Pakal into the underworld. The representation symbolically shows Pakal's function as a mediator between the underworld and the world of the living. In addition, the representation on the grave slab serves to legitimize the king, who did not derive his rule from his father, as is usual with the Maya, but from his mother. Similar to the Egyptian queen Hatshepsut , Pakal resorted to religion to legitimize his rule.

The Paluxy River footprints

The Paluxy River footprints are imprints of dinosaurs , the geological formation in which they are embedded is approximately 113 million years old. This formation was first described at the end of the 19th century. In addition to the well-known toe prints of large dinosaurs, there are also human-like prints of sole walkers.

  • Interpretation of pre-astronautics:
The human-like prints prove that humanity is much older and would have coexisted with the dinosaurs. In addition, due to their size, they are proof of the existence of previously extremely tall people ("giants").
  • Interpretation of natural and human sciences:
The original assumption that dinosaurs were generally toe-walkers has been refuted. Other places are known where similar traces exist. In addition, a local said he had forged individual tracks in the 1930s in order to sell them.

Reception in pop culture

On the one hand, the early science fiction literature exerted a strong influence on the development of pre-astronautics, on the other hand, it also affects modern film and literary culture. Motifs appear in short stories and novels, for example in the Cthulhu cycle by HP Lovecraft , the Perry-Rhodan novel series, in Phainomenon by HD Klein , in Shikasta and the cycle Canopus in Argos: Archives by Doris Lessing , in Das Legacy of the Stars including sequels by James P. Hogan and in As the Gods died by Günther Krupkat . They are also often in science fiction films (such as 2001: A Space Odyssey , Stargate , Mission to Mars , Alien vs. Predator , Transformers , Prometheus ) (for example, and -Fernsehserien Star Trek , Stargate and Galactica Battlestar ) to find .

Movie and TV

See also

literature

  • Axel Ertelt : The Home of the Gods , Ancient Mail Verlag, together with co-author Wilfried Briegel, Groß-Gerau, 2013, ISBN 978-3-944198-94-1
  • Pia Andersson: Ancient Astronauts . In: James R. Lewis (ed.): UFOs and Popular Culture. An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Myth , Santa Barbara 2000, pp. 20-25, ISBN 1-57607-265-7
  • Nicolas Gasoline: Basics of the Paleo-SETI. Volume I: The Hypothesis Framework . Frankfurt am Main 2006.
  • Andreas Faber-Kaiser : saints or cosmonauts? 1977, German new edition Ullstein 1997, ISBN 978-3-548-35704-1
  • Andreas Grünschloß: When the gods land ... Religious dimensions of the UFO belief . Berlin 2000.
  • Ingbert Jüdt: Aliens in the cultural memory? The projective reconstruction of the past in the discourse of pre-astronautics . In: Michael Schetsche , Martin Engelbrecht (Ed.): From humans and extraterrestrials. Transterrestrial encounters as reflected in cultural studies . transcript, Bielefeld 2015, ISBN 978-3-8394-0855-1 , pp. 81-103 (accessed via De Gruyter Online).
  • André Kukuk: The paleo SETI hypothesis as an alternative theory to the origin and development history of Homo sapiens - an analysis and evaluation of the foundations, arguments and points of criticism against the background of today's knowledge of modern science. dissertation.de, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-86624-192-3
  • Uwe Neuhold: The Baghdad Battery and Ezekiel's spaceship. Art, science, esotericism - how archeology becomes science fiction , in: Das Science Fiction Jahr 2010 , edited by Sascha Mamczak and Wolfgang Jeschke , Heyne, Munich 2010, pp. 545–602. ISBN 978-3-453-52681-5
  • Ulrich Magin : Pre-Astronautics . In: Gerald L. Eberlein (Hrsg.): Small Lexicon of Para sciences . Munich 1995, ISBN 3-406-39219-9 , pp. 135-143.
  • Markus Pössel: Fantastic Science. About Erich von Däniken and Johannes von Buttlar . Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-499-60259-8 . ( Corrigenda, links and additions to the book )
  • Ulrich Dopatka : Lexicon of pre-astronautics . Econ, Munich 1982, ISBN 978-3-430-12136-1 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jonas Richter: Gods-Astronauts - Erich von Däniken and the Paleo-SETI-Mythology . LIT-Verlag, 2017, ISBN 978-3-643-13655-8 , pp. 63 f . ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed March 30, 2019]).
  2. ^ Nicolas Gasoline: Basics of the Paleo-SETI. Volume I: The Hypothesis Framework . 2006, p. 13f.
  3. ^ Nicolas Gasoline: Basics of the Paleo-SETI. Volume I: The Hypothesis Framework . 2006, pp. 14-20
  4. ↑ paleocontact hypothesis. In: daviddarling.info . Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  5. ↑ Ingbert Jüdt: Aliens in the cultural memory? The projective reconstruction of the past in the discourse of pre-astronautics . In: Michael Schetsche , Martin Engelbrecht (Ed.): From humans and extraterrestrials. Transterrestrial encounters as reflected in cultural studies . transcript, Bielefeld 2015, ISBN 978-3-8394-0855-1 , pp. 82–85 (accessed via De Gruyter Online).
  6. ↑ Thomas Gold: Cosmic Garbage in: Air Force and Space Digest No. 43, May 1960, p. 65; quoted after George Basalla: Civilized life in the universe. Scientists on intelligent extraterrestrials Oxford University Press, New York 2006, ISBN 0-19-517181-0 , p. 145
  7. ^ Carl Sagan: Direct contact among galactic civilizations by relativistic interstellar spaceflight. Planetary and Space Science, Vol. 11, p. 485, 05/1963, doi: 10.1016 / 0032-0633 (63) 90072-2 , abstract @ osti.gov, accessed on August 3, 2011
  8. ↑ Michael Michaud: Contact with Alien Civilizations - Our Hopes and Fears about Encountering Extraterrestrials. Springer, Berlin 2006, ISBN 0-387-28598-9 , Ancient Visitors to Earth , pp. 141-142 & Astroarchaeology , pp. 138-139
  9. ↑ George Basalla: Civilized life in the universe. Scientists on intelligent extraterrestrials Oxford University Press, New York 2006, ISBN 0-19-517181-0 , p. 144
  10. ↑ Ingbert Jüdt: Aliens in the cultural memory? The projective reconstruction of the past in the discourse of pre-astronautics . In: Michael Schetsche, Martin Engelbrecht (Ed.): From humans and extraterrestrials. Transterrestrial encounters as reflected in cultural studies . transcript, Bielefeld 2015, ISBN 978-3-8394-0855-1 , pp. 85 ff. (accessed via De Gruyter Online).
  11. ↑ Ulrich Magin: Article Pre-Astronautics , In: Gerald L. Eberlein (Hg.): Small Lexicon of Para sciences . 1995, pp. 135-143
  12. ↑ Ulrich Magin : New Myths / New Mythologies . In: Metzler Lexikon Religion. Present - everyday life - media. JB Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2005, vol. 2, p. 556.
  13. ↑ Ingbert Jüdt: Aliens in the cultural memory? The projective reconstruction of the past in the discourse of pre-astronautics . In: Michael Schetsche, Martin Engelbrecht (Ed.): From humans and extraterrestrials. Transterrestrial encounters as reflected in cultural studies . transcript, Bielefeld 2015, ISBN 978-3-8394-0855-1 , pp. 89-92 (accessed via De Gruyter Online).
  14. ↑ Ingbert Jüdt: Aliens in the cultural memory? The projective reconstruction of the past in the discourse of pre-astronautics . In: Michael Schetsche, Martin Engelbrecht (Ed.): From humans and extraterrestrials. Transterrestrial encounters as reflected in cultural studies . transcript, Bielefeld 2015, ISBN 978-3-8394-0855-1 , pp. 92–101 (accessed via De Gruyter Online).
  15. ^ A b Lars A. Fischinger: Forbidden History . Munich: ANSATA Verlag 2010, ISBN 978-3-7787-7436-6
  16. ↑ Peter Krassa, Reinhard Habeck: The light of the pharaohs. High technology and electricity in ancient Egypt . 5th edition, Herbig, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-7766-1717-9
  17. ↑ Electric light in Egypt? In: fdoernenburg.de. Frank Dörnenburg, accessed on May 11, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Markus Pössel: Fantastic Science , pp. 17–62
  19. ^ Klaus Richter: Core drilling in ancient Egypt . In: Skeptiker 2/2004, pp. 52–58
  20. ↑ R. Lorenz: Core drilling in ancient Egypt , in: Mysteria3000, 4/2002 (3rd year), pp. 15–34 ( PDF )
  21. ↑ so Erich von Däniken: sowing and cosmos. Traces and plans of extraterrestrial intelligences , 2nd edition Düsseldorf and Vienna 1990, page 32; however without further indication of the source
  22. ^ In the El Dorado catalog . The gold of the princely graves , Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-496-01114-9 , it says of the Tolima artifacts under catalog number 217: “Pendant in the form of hybrid beings. Tolima, 100 - 1000 AD “These are inventory numbers 5580, 6400, 6462 and 6515 of the Museo del Oro / Bogotá. In the catalog The Gold of El Dorado , London 1978, ISBN 0-7230-0226-6 , six gold artifacts are shown under catalog number 411 with the explanation: “Set of six pendants, fish-like shapes. Cast gold. Quimbaya, Qiundío. The form is found in both Quimbaya and Tolima zones ". According to the catalog, it is inventory number 2907 of the Museo del Oro / Bogotá.
  23. ^ P. Fiebag, P. Belting, A. Eenboom: Planes of the Pharaohs , Rottenburg, 2004, ISBN 3-930219-80-8
  24. ^ Rainer Lorenz: The grave slab of Palenque . In: Mysteria3000 . 3rd year, no. 3 , 2002, ISSN  1619-5752 ( mysteria3000.de [accessed August 1, 2020]).
  25. ↑ Ulrich Magin: The grave slab of Palenque - Part V: The journey to Xibalba. In: benben.de. Retrieved December 10, 2018 .
  26. ↑ Klaus Richter: The grave slab of Palenque . In: Sokar . No. 1/2001 . Michael Haase, 2001, ISSN  1438-7956 , p. 34-38 .
  27. ↑ Erich von Däniken: My world in pictures. 1973, ISBN 3-426-03404-2
  28. ^ Johann Thun: Visit of the old gods. From HP Lovecraft's 'Cthulhu Myth' to Erich von Däniken's 'Pre-Astronautics'. A search for clues from a literary perspective . In: Pawel Walowski (Ed.): The (new) man and his worlds. Fantastic German-language literature and science fiction . 1st edition. Frank & Timme, Berlin, ISBN 978-3-7329-0237-8 , pp. 47-61 .