# Erich von Däniken has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [January 11, 2026, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576 "2026-01-11T22:37:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/1 "2026-01-11T22:37:08Z")
> **['Chariots of the Gods' author Erich von Däniken dies at 90](https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/erich-von-dniken-swiss-writer-spawned-alien-archaeology-129100696)** > > Erich von Däniken, the Swiss author whose books on the extraterrestrial origins of ancient civilizations brought him both fame and scorn, has died at age 90 Aliens! 👽 👽 🛸 I never knew about this (not that I would) : > After leaving school in 1954, von Däniken worked as a waiter and barkeeper for several years, during which he was repeatedly accused of fraud and served a couple of short stints in prison. > > In 1964, he was appointed manager of a hotel in the exclusive resort town of Davos and began writing his first book. Its publication and rapid commercial success were quickly followed by accusations of tax dodging and financial impropriety, for which he again spent time behind bars. Von Däniken was the first recipient of the Ig Nobel Prize. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/2 "2026-01-11T22:38:29Z")
Good riddance. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/3 "2026-01-11T22:38:36Z")
Wow, I would have thought he was older yet. I haven’t thought about him since the early 80s. He was pretty much a bad joke that sold a lot of crappy books. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/4 "2026-01-11T22:43:26Z")
When I read it, there was a question mark in the title. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/29/Chariots_Of_The_Gods.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/29/Chariots_Of_The_Gods.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/5 "2026-01-11T22:44:33Z")
“Erich von Däniken has died” _And there was much rejoicing (yayayayayayayayaya)_ Seriously, a lot of the pop science BS / Ancient Aliens harbored latent racism, encouraged a disbelief of science, and promoted conspiracy theories for generations. Sure, it’s fine and encouraged in actual science to “trust but verify” but we’re reaping the whirlwind of generations of inculcated disbelief and skepticism, as well as Conspiracy theories. Screw that guy. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/6 "2026-01-11T22:46:46Z")
No he hasn’t. They just came to take him away. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/7 "2026-01-11T22:50:13Z")
I would have thought he had died long ago if his still being alive hadn’t been mentioned on a thread here a few days ago. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/8 "2026-01-11T22:52:05Z")
I thought he left the planet years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/9 "2026-01-11T22:54:45Z")
Yeah, the cover I remember is the one you posted. Did they drop the question mark? ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/10 "2026-01-11T23:00:44Z")
I read it in the early 80s, I must have been 12 or 13. I thought he was a loon. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/11 "2026-01-12T00:50:49Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Did they drop the question mark? No - the question mark remains in the current editions. Its a useful thing to note, because then [Betteridge’s Law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines) applies and comes up with the correct answer. Von Daniken’s entire output of books, which would still form an impressive pile even when you culled the filler guff and repetitive content, is not the only egregious pseudoarchaeology we’ve had to contend with, but has been a core component since the end of the 1960s. He pioneered and perfected the dead bat (cricket term, nothing to do with covid etc) techniques of non-response to scientific criticism which has since been used by Graham Hancock and others to great effect. He will not be missed. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/12 "2026-01-12T01:37:53Z")
He has died, you say.? I have my doubts… And will do my own research ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/13 "2026-01-12T01:50:46Z")
i read the book. Watched the movie (Sun Classic Pictures). Was interested, but by Junior High, I was perturbed enough by the mysterious evidence that kept on being misplaced or lost, or seemingly made up…that I lost any dain I had of him. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/14 "2026-01-12T01:58:32Z")
I never read the book but I saw the movie when I was a kid. I remember being fascinated by it. I got better. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/15 "2026-01-12T01:59:51Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > Watched the movie (Sun Classic Pictures). I remember the television ads for that movie – like a number of other Sunn Classic films (_In Search of Noah’s Ark_, _The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams_), they saturated the TV stations in our market with ads for it, the ads ending with a voiceover announcer who rattled off the local cities and theaters where it’d be playing (and massacring the pronunciation of many of the small Wisconsin towns). The WIkipedia entry on Sunn Classic says that they used the “four-wall” distribution strategy, in which they rented out the theater space for their films, and retained all of the box-office receipts. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/16 "2026-01-12T02:05:41Z")
I ate his stuff up when I was 13. It let you believe in crazy shit without having to turn to religion. Throw in Big Foot, UFOs, ESP, and catastrophically colliding aligned planets, the 1970s was a really fun time to be a kid. Who needs Santa Claus when you have the Loch Ness Monster, the Bermuda Triangle, and Evel Knievel 😀? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/17 "2026-01-12T06:13:55Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@Sigene](#): > > > > Watched the movie (Sun Classic Pictures). > > I remember the television ads for that movie – like a number of other Sunn Classic films (_In Search of Noah’s Ark_, _The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams_), they saturated the TV stations in our market with ads for it, the ads ending with a voiceover announcer who rattled off the local cities and theaters where it’d be playing (and massacring the pronunciation of many of the small Wisconsin towns). > > The WIkipedia entry on Sunn Classic says that they used the “four-wall” distribution strategy, in which they rented out the theater space for their films, and retained all of the box-office receipts. I certainly didn’t see it in the theater. It must have been on tv. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/18 "2026-01-12T06:19:19Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > a lot of the pop science BS / Ancient Aliens harbored latent racism, Some of EvD’s work (_Signs of the Gods_ was one) had quite _open_ racism. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/19 "2026-01-12T06:28:14Z")
True, I guess in trying to discuss the genres in general I was too _nice_ to EvD. I’m also a bit young for actually following EvD as a primary source, more the endless reams of stuff that treated his works as the template for their own BS in the mid to late 80s. But I accept your gentle correction, and will try to be mindful. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576/20 "2026-01-12T06:40:04Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > It let you believe in crazy shit without having to turn to religion. Throw in Big Foot, UFOs, ESP, and catastrophically colliding aligned planets, the 1970s was a really fun time to be a kid. Who needs Santa Claus when you have the Loch Ness Monster, the Bermuda Triangle, and Evel Knievel I had a lot of those books in the early 80s including Erica Jong’s _Witches._ I don’t remember _Chariot of the Gods_, but we did have a cool book called _Phenomenon_ that included a chapter on spontaneous human combustion and I loved the Spock narrated series _In Search Of._ It’s been so long, as with Santa Claus, I can’t tell you the precise moment I went from believing this stuff was real to understanding it wasn’t. I used to really enjoy these kids of conspiracy and pseudoscientific theories, but events over the last decade have really soured me disposition. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erich-von-daniken-has-died/1026576.md?page=2)