How Old Is Erich von Däniken? Erich von Däniken Birthday
Erich von Däniken was born on April 14, 1935 and is 89 years old now.
Birthday: April 14, 1935
How Old - Age: 89
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Erich von Däniken - Biography
Erich Anton Paul von Däniken (/ˈɛrɨk fɒn ˈdɛnɨkɨn/; born 14 April 1935) is a Swiss author of several books which make pseudoscientific claims about extraterrestrial influences on early human culture, including the best-selling Chariots of the Gods?, published in 1968. Däniken is one of the main figures responsible for popularizing the "paleo-contact" and ancient astronauts hypotheses. The ideas put forth in his books are rejected by scientists and academics, who categorize his work as pseudohistory and pseudoarchaeology.
Von Däniken was born in Zofingen, Aargau. Brought up as a Roman Catholic, he attended the Saint-Michel International Catholic School in Fribourg, Switzerland. During his time at the school he rejected the church's interpretations of the Bible and developed an interest in astronomy and the phenomenon of flying saucers.
At the age of 19, he was given a four-month suspended sentence for theft. He left the school and was apprenticed to a Swiss hotelier for a time, before moving to Egypt. In December 1964, von Däniken wrote Hatten unsere Vorfahren Besuch aus dem Weltraum? ("Did our Ancestors have a Visit from Space?") for the German-Canadian periodical Der Nordwesten. While in Egypt, he was involved in a jewelry deal which resulted in a nine-month conviction for fraud and embezzlement upon his return to Switzerland.
The general claim of von Däniken over several published books, starting with Chariots of the Gods? in 1968, is that extraterrestrials or "ancient astronauts" visited Earth and influenced early human culture. Von Däniken writes about his belief that structures such as the Egyptian pyramids, Stonehenge, and the Moai of Easter Island and artifacts from that period represent higher technological knowledge than is presumed to have existed at the times they were manufactured. He also describes ancient artwork throughout the world as containing depictions of astronauts, air and space vehicles, extraterrestrials, and complex technology. Von Däniken explains the origins of religions as reactions to contact with an alien race, and offers interpretations of sections of the Old Testament of the Bible.
