Ufological Euhemerism

 

“`Ancient Astronaut´ Narrations: A Popular Discourse on Our Religious Past” is an article by Andreas Grünschloss, first published in the Marburg Journal of Religion in 2006 (vol 11, no 1). The article does contain some interesting information on Erich von Däniken and the Ancient Astronaut milieu, although I suppose it´s possible that aficionados (or critics) of said milieu knows everything already! The main thesis of the article is familiar to me, however. The author points out the seemingly paradoxical fact that while the ancient astronaut “theory” could be seen as a “broken myth”, in the sense that it de-enchants and explains the mysteries of the past in terms of modern technology and humanoid space-farers, it has also re-enchanted the very same past and made it mysterious again. The “discovery” that humanity´s gods are really alien astronauts is turned around, making the aliens the new gods!

Däniken´s supporters organized themselves in the Ancient Astronaut Society (AAS). I´ve heard somewhere that AAS later developed in a New Age direction. This is not confirmed by Grünschloss, who claims the exact opposite. In order to sound more “scientific” and respectable, the AAS changed its name to Archeology, Astronautics and SETI Research Association (AAS RA). The author doesn´t seem to have noticed that Ra is also the Egyptian sun-god, so perhaps there is a pun in there. The membership of the AAS back in 2006 was surprisingly small: only about 800 members worldwide, of which about 600 were from German-speaking nations in Europe. However, the influence of ancient astronaut “theory” must have been far wider, since Däniken had managed to open a theme park in Interlaken in Switzerland dedicated to his ideas (the town is a popular tourist destination). Add to that various popular Hollywood films. Today, there is also the popular TV series “Ancient Aliens”.

One thing I wasn´t aware of is that Charles Hoy Fort wrote about UFOs decades before the term was coined and the phenomenon “really” born. He also speculated about alien visitations in the past, and wrote that humans might be somebody else´s “property”. Däniken is of course well aware of Fort, and also borrowed extensively from a French archeo-astronaut writer named Charroux. Grünschloss believes that one can discern clear similarities between the books of Däniken and the two aforementioned writers.

The AAS tries to put themselves forward as scientific, as a kind of Paleo-SETI. Needless to say, the article author isn´t terribly impressed by their “research”. Däniken and his associates simply repeat, over and over again, all the old claims from the 1960´s and 1970´s, including those that have been convincingly debunked (like the Mayan “astronaut” from Palenque). I also get the impression that Däniken is strongly down-playing the more “esoteric” side of his speculations, which include a belief in extrasensory perception and an interest in Theosophy. Instead, he says that “everything is technology”. The AAS, while criticizing establishment science for policing its boundaries against the likes of AAS, engage in boundary policing themselves. The group strongly condemns “UFO cults”. The author also wonders why the only aspect of modernity projected onto the ancient aliens is technology. Why not something else? I assume he has in mind such things as politics or social relations. What attracts followers to speculations about ancient aliens is precisely their simplicity, alongside a longing for the exotic and mysterious. Opposition to establishment science is (of course) also a strong driving motive.

The author then briefly discusses the bizarre Raëlian religion as an example of the esoteric-religious tendency within ancient astronaut discourse. What makes the Raëlians to peculiar is precisely that they are nominally “atheist” and “materialist”, deconstructing the ancient gods as humanoid space aliens, while nevertheless being a new religion worshipping said aliens. The author ends on a somewhat pessimistic note, arguing that it´s difficult to convince adherents of ancient astronaut “theory” with purely rational arguments. Ancient alien conspiracies will always be more exciting and easier to understand than traditional religion or the complex theories of science. The continued proliferation of this narrative has proven the author correct.