Chariots of the Gods: Its Beginning and Aftermath

by UFO History Buff & Author, Charles Lear 

For many people growing up in the 1970s (of which this writer is one), seeing a UFO documentary was their first in-depth look into the subject. These films often came along with books tied in, and major publishers such as Bantam were getting onboard. More and more people were willing to accept the idea that UFOs were worthy of serious consideration, and this meant that more and more people were willing to spend money on movies and books covering the subject. What had formerly been mostly confined to a subculture of enthusiasts, was now becoming a somewhat profitable entertainment industry. Indeed, it may come as a surprise to some readers, but between the summer of the saucers in 1947, and 1968, there were only two documentaries made in the midst of all the science fiction saucer films that became popular starting in the 1950s.

The beginning of the 1970s wave of UFO documentaries can be traced back to the 1968 book Erinnerungen an die Zukunft (Memories of the Future) by Erich von Däniken published by Econ-Verlag in West Germany. The book not only whetted the public’s appetite for UFOs and aliens (especially ancient ones), but opened up the doors for all things strange and mysterious, including Bigfoot, the Bermuda Triangle, ghosts, and lake monsters.

The book was translated into English and published in 1969 by Souvenir Press in England as Chariots of the Gods? and under the same title in 1970 by Putnam in the United States. It made The New York Times bestseller list and was the source (along with von Däniken’s second book published in 1970, Return to the Stars) for a film with the German book title. This was produced by Berlin-based Terra-Filmkunst, directed by Harald Reinl, and released in West Germany in 1970. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Film.

In 1972, the English version, Chariots of the Gods (note the lack of the question mark), was released in the United States by Sun International Pictures. According to the website the-numbers.com, which lists it under its German title, it ranked 25th in all-time highest grossing documentaries and had grossed $25,900,000 as of this writing.

Before becoming a successful author, Von Däniken’s future didn’t look so bright as he came into adulthood. According to the introduction of an interview with him presented on pages 51 and 52 of the August 1974 Playboy magazine, his father took him out of Catholic school when he was 19 and apprenticed him to a hotelier. This was after he was convicted of stealing money from a camp where he worked and an innkeeper. He was given a four-month suspended sentence, and a psychiatrist who examined him said he showed a “tendency to lie.”

After sticking with the apprenticeship “for a while,” he ran off to Egypt, got involved in a sketchy jewelry deal, and wound up being convicted of fraud and embezzlement upon his return. This time he served nine months in jail, and he told Playboy that he had experienced a vision there but didn’t see fit to share the details.

Von Däniken returned to the hotel business as a manager. For the next twelve years, on vacations, he traveled the world and gathered material for his book. Law officials began to wonder how a man of his means was able to afford this and found that he had obtained $130,000 in loans by “falsifying hotel books.” He was convicted on charges of fraud and embezzlement and spent a year in prison. At the trial he was described as a liar and a criminal psychopath by a court appointed psychiatrist.

As it turned out, jail served him as a writer’s retreat. His book was published in Europe by then, and was a best seller, so he was able to easily pay off the $130,000. While doing his time, he wrote his second book, and continued his career as a writer after his release. As of this writing, his biography at daniken.com states that he is the author of 49 books which “have sold at around 70 million copies and have been translated into 32 languages.” According to the “Books” section of the site, his “last and final book,” Notizen aus meinem Leben (Notes of my Life) was published in 2024.

The movie set the tone for 1970s UFO docs. It opens with a shot of outer space for the title sequence and then moves into footage of Mount Palomar observatory as the narration begins. The soundtrack was done by German composer Peter Thomas, who, like Ennio Morricone, the Italian composer best known for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, became renowned for his creative use of a variety of sounds and instruments. For Chariots, Thomas made use of orchestral and jazz styles with electronic beeps and burbles sprinkled in throughout. Interspersed with footage taken from all over the world, there are talking heads with academic titles offering speculations on alien intervention in not only our architecture, but also our culture, religion, and genetic makeup.

The success of Chariots spawned a series of movies in the same vein. For television, it was re-edited, Rod Serling was hired to do the narration, and it aired in 1973 as In Search of Ancient Astronauts. Serling also did the narration for The Outer Space Connection, created by Alan Landsburg Productions and released in theatres in 1975. Besides rehashing the ideas from Chariots, it veered into other realms of the mysterious, including the Bermuda Triangle “mystery,” which had captured the public imagination thanks to Charles Berlitz’s 1974 book The Bermuda Triangle.

Then, in 1975, William Shatner hit the big screen in Mysteries of the Gods. This was based on Von Daniken’s 1974 book Miracles of the Gods and was another movie made in Germany (produced by Terra-Filmkunst, directed by Harald Reinl) and redone for American release with Shatner’s narration and added footage of him interviewing “experts.” This includes what may have been the first big-screen appearance of a crystal skull, and a prediction by Jeanne Dixon that the Earth would be visited by aliens in August of 1977.

Von Däniken’s theories and claims were challenged early on, notably in two books: Clifford Wilson’s 1972 book, Crash Go the Chariots, and Ronald Story’s 1976 book, The Space Gods Revealed. Carl Sagan wrote in the forward of Story’s book, “I know of no recent books so riddled with logical and factual errors as the works of Däniken.”

Von Däniken commented on his critics for Playboy and is quoted in the introduction: “I’m the only author who has really frightened the critics. Other writers sit at home and wait for miracles. I’m making miracles.”

Von Däniken passed away on January 10th.