Gods from outer space; return to the stars, or evidence for the impossible. Translated by Michael Heron.[1st American ed.]. PDF
Preview Gods from outer space; return to the stars, or evidence for the impossible. Translated by Michael Heron.[1st American ed.].
A BANTAMBOOK BY THE AUTHOR OF CHARIOTS OF THE CODS? FOR THE SWHO ENJOYED THE TV SPECIAL "IN SEARCH OF ANCIENT ASTRONAUTS" ^ RLDWIDE BESTS£LL£K! lyr^ |c-[i) . FASCINATING! MIND-EXPANDING! ENTERTAINING! "As in his Chariots of the Gods?, Daniken once more strains scientific credulity but intrigues and fascinates with his bold theories and speculations about mysterious 'visitors' from outer space in ancient and prehistoric times. Such open-ended possibilities as he proposes make for absorbing reading." —Publishers' Weekly "Von Daniken's book should serve as mind-expander . . as an inspiration to closer examination and fresh inter- pretation of existing facts." — Lincoln (Neb.) Sunday Journal "It is a thought-provoking book which is both Informative and entertaining." — Camden (N.J.) Courier-Post GODS FROM OUTER SPACE Bantam Books by Eric von Daniken CHARIOTS OF THE GODS? GODS FROM OUTER SPACE GODS FROM OUTER SPACE RETURN TO THE STARS OR EVIDENCE FOR THE IMPOSSIBLE by Erich von Daniken OriginaUy published as RETURN TO THE STARS Translated by MICHAEL HERON ANATIONALGENERALCOMPANY This low-priced Bantam Book has been completely reset in a type face designed for easy reading, and was printed from new plates. It contains the complete text of the original hard-cover edition. NOT ONB WOBD HAS BEEN OMTTTED. GODS FROM OUTER SPACE ABantam Book / published by arrangement with G. P. Putnam's Sons PRINTING HISTORY Firstpublished in Germany by Econ-Verlagunder the title zurOck zu den sternen Firstpublished in GreatBritain 1970 by Souvenir PressLtd, under the title return TO the stars Putnam's Sons edition published April1971 2nd printing . . . May 1971 Condensations by Philadelphia inquirer July 1971 Universe Book Club edition published August 1971 Bantam edition published April 1972 2nd printing 3rd printing 4th printing 5th printing 6th printing 7th printing 8th printing 9th printing Copyright ©All19r6i8ghbtsyrEecsoenr-veVde.rlag Gmbh. Translation copyright © 1970 by Michael Heron and Souvenir Press. This book may notbe reproduced in whole or in part, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission. For information address: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 200 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016. Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, Inc., a National General company. Its trade-mark, consisting of the words "Bantam Books" and the portrayal of a bantam, is registered in the United States Patent Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, Inc., 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10019. PUNTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Contents About Erich von Daniken vii Foreword ix 1 Interstellar Space Flight Is Possible 1 2 On the Track of Life 12 3 A "Sunday**Archaeologist Asks Questions 30 4 Mankind's Storehouse of Memory 46 5 The Sphere the Ideal Shape for Spacecraft 57 6 The Science Fiction of Yesterday Is Tomorrow's Reahty 78 7 Conversations in Moscow 91 8 AncientSitesThatDeserveInvestigation 100 9 Easter Island: An Inexhaustible Topic 114 10 To India to Consult the Sacred Texts 123 11 The Perversions of Our Ancestors 143 12 Questions and Still More Questions 163 BIBLIOGRAPHY 167 INDEX 169 About Erich von Daniken Erich von Daniken is not a scholar. He is an autodidact, which the dictionary defines as a manwho is self-taught. Probably this helps explain the success his first book met witli all over the world. Completely free from all prejudices, he had to demon- strate personally that his theses and theories were not unfounded and hundreds of thousands of readers were able to follow him along the adventurous road he took—a roadthat ledinto regions thatwere surrounded and protected by taboos. Besides, his fearless questioning of all the previous explanations of the origin of the human race seems to have been long overdue. Erich von Daniken was not the first man who dared to challenge them, but his questions were more impartial, more direct and more audacious. In addition, he was able to say exactlywhat he wanted to say, unlike a professor, for example, who would have felt boimd to take the opinions of his col- leagues or the representatives of similar academic dis- ciplines into consideration. What is more, he came up with some startling answers. Men who blimtly ask bold questions that cast doubt on time-honored, accepted explanations have always been a nuisance and people have never been over- fussy about how they silenced them. In the past their books were banished to secret libraries or put on the index; today people tryto hush them up or make them vii look ridiculous. Yet none of these methods has ever succeeded in disposing of questions which concern the reason for our very existence. Erichvon Daniken has the spontaneity of the enthu- siast In the summer of 1968 he read articles by Vlatcheslav Saizev in the Soviet journal Sputnik with titles such as "Spaceship in the Himalayas'* and "An- gels in Spaceships." Von Daniken booked a flight to Moscow on the spot. There Professor Shklovsky, di- rector of the Radio Astronomic Department of the Soviet Academy of Science's Sternberg Institute, an- swered his questions. The author of Chariots of the Gods? was barely nineteen years old when his curiosity first drove him to Egyptwhere he hopedto track down the real mean- ing of some cuneiform inscriptions. Since his first jour- ney in 1954, he hops on planes to clear up his theories thewaywecatch a bus. Thinking on the space scale as he does, distance means nothing to him so long as the goal of his journeys provides arguments for the im- possible. Wilhelm Roggersdorf VIII
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