Yeah, “I read Chariots of the Gods.” I think I was 12, or a bit older. Dad read it first, of course, then I got my dirty little hands on it. Initially my young mind was intrigued by these mysteries and aliens. Hey, I was a kid, starved for information with a susceptible imagination. Over the years, gaining a modicum of maturity, I began to see it as a fantasy, every bit as much as the Science Fiction and Fantasy novels I was consuming. Which then led to an ingrained skepticism of such claims. It has become difficult to keep my mouth shut in polite company when such topics arise, even an instinctive eye roll must be restrained. I credit Däniken with calibrating my bullshit detector, so there’s that.
A eulogy, of sorts, can be read here:
https://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/remembering-erich-von-daniken-1935-2026
https://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/remembering-erich-von-daniken-1935-2026