Erich von Däniken

Erich Von Daniken is a writer, producer, and former hotel manager and convicted con artist. He was first convicted at age 19 for theft, then at age 29 for fraud and embezzlement. He was a hotel manager in Davos, Switzerland when he wrote Chariots of the Gods. At age 33 he was convicted again for fraud, embezzlement, and forgery, stealing $130,000. His second book Gods from Outer Space was written in prison. Von Daniken's books were enormously popular, selling tens of millions of copies. Royalties from his books paid off his legal fees and fines. The reaction from academics was scathing. Carl Sagan wrote, "I know of no recent books so riddled with logical and factual errors as the works of Von Daniken." Archaeologists and historians were equally critical, with some pointing to Von Daniken's racism for claims like "Was the black race a failure and did the extraterrestrials change the genetic code by gene surgery and then program a white or a yellow race?" Von Daniken had a definite long term impact, seen in the influence on programs such as Ancient Aliens, for which he is a frequent. Ancient Aliens angered scholars enough that they put out a feature length documentary debunking it, Ancient Aliens Exposed. Von Daniken also designed Mystery Park, a theme park based on ancient alien themes that opened in Switzerland in 2003. It closed in 2006 due to low turnout and financial failure. It briefly reopened in 2010.