Lance Wagner
AP English Language and Composition
Mr. Lane
05.11.2010
Researched Argument Paper – Draft 1
History Is Wrong
I. Introduction and Context
The world that society has created today is full of many religions, all having differences
and similarities. Every religion tells of how humans were created and their history till the present
after they were presented knowledge passed onto them by their so called “God,” and claim that
their religion is the right one. But what if all of these religions were wrong? What if there is no
God or gods, but distant space travelers that helped the ancient civilizations and people of this
world? Ancient astronaut is the term to describe extraterrestrials who have visited Earth during
the ancient civilizations. These “astronauts” may have or may not have helped early humans
learn how to read, write, and harvest crops. If these aliens had helped establish societies and
created order, then the religions were wrong. Has everything people have learned to this point a
lie? No, but maybe twisted and turned after many generations of story-telling and
misunderstandings. These extraterrestrials could have been mistaken as gods or angels. Could
ancient astronauts have visited Earth? In the book, History Is Wrong, Erich von Däniken, the
author, explores these possibilities and many more.
II. The Author’s Background
Erich von Däniken has become famous because of his idea of extraterrestrials influencing
human culture. Considered the world’s “most successful non-fiction writer,” von Däniken has
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written over twenty-six books and has sold over sixty million copies worldwide (Drury
University). Over the past thirty years von Däniken has given around three thousand five
hundred lectures that have been presented in twenty-five countries (Drury University). Of these
three thousand five hundred lectures, over six hundred have been given in many different
colleges and universities in the United States and Germany (Drury University). In 1998, von
Däniken, along with two people, founded the A.A.S.R.A. or better known as the Archeology,
Astronautics, and SETI Research Association (Drury University). This association also publishes
the English journal Legendary Times, the world’s only journal to report on the research of the
ancient astronaut field of study (Drury University). Von Däniken also has published at least three
documentaries showed on ABC/Kane, German station SAT-1, and Germany’s biggest TV
network RTL (Drury University). Erich von Däniken writes his books based on historical objects
and facts, and his own opinions. Many, if not all, of his books are one-sided in their arguments
and von Däniken does not share any counter-arguments within his books. If he did have any
ulterior motives other than sharing his opinions and facts, then one ulterior motive would be
trying to earn money like most writers. He even built a theme park called Mysteries of the World
in 2002 in Switzerland (Drury University). In my opinion though, I believe that Erich von
Däniken is very qualified and has the authority and experience to speak about the argument at
hand.
III. The Book’s Argument
In the book, History Is Wrong, Erich von Däniken makes the claim that extraterrestrials
have visited earth during the time of ancient civilizations. He backs up these claims using
historical texts and artifacts to help prove his theories. Von Däniken writes this book with the
word usage pertaining to the audience reading the book. He doesn’t use many complex words,
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except for the words necessary to understanding the ideas. He first talks about the Voynich
Manuscript. This manuscript was discovered by Wilfrid Voynich, who found this manuscript in a
former Jesuit collegio. The age of this manuscript is unknown; but it is estimated to have been
written around the thirteenth century by Roger Bacon, who is believed to have copied this text
down from a different source, which could have predated formal writing. For eighty years, many
people have tried to decipher and crack the Voynich Manuscript, which contains writing and
pictures never seen before. Of the pictures written in the manuscript, some include plants not
seen on this planet, astronomical charts, the sun and moon, and women undressed in weird
bathes, thought of as fountains of youth. Could this manuscript have been copied down from a
text written in alien language? Nobody knows for sure, but there is always the possibility that the
original text may have been recorded using an alien language (Däniken 10-21). There is also the
chance that this text could be nonsense, written down in no language at all.
In the next part of the book, von Däniken tells the story of Enoch and how it relates to
extraterrestrials. Enoch is described as the “king over all men, who reigned for exactly two
hundred and forty three years” (Däniken 39). The Bible mentions Enoch in the book of Genesis
“after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years and had
other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived three hundred and sixty five years. Enoch
walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Däniken 39). Von
Däniken at this time does not list the page numbers or line numbers inside the book of Genesis
which would improve his argument. The Hebrew Book of Enoch states that the Rabbi Ishma’el
claimed that he traveled to “heaven” and met with the “angel” Metatron. This “angel” revealed
himself to be Enoch and that he has been living with the “Lord.” The first five chapters of the
Book of Enoch describe Enoch’s confrontation with God and his legion of angels. These angels
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were all assigned tasks to help the people of Earth including teaching root cutting, astrology,
constellations, knowledge of the clouds, signs of the Earth, signs of the sun, and the courses of
the moon. The archangel Pravuil was given an assignment to teach Enoch how to write. Pravuil
gave Enoch a “reed of quick-writing,” and books given to Pravuil by “God” to write down and
copy everything in the books to paper so others could read what Enoch has learned (Däniken 3950). Däniken proposes that ordinary space travelers have been misinterpreted as angels, the
officers as archangels, and the supreme commander as God. One thing von Däniken does is
present a personal story inside this section that at first relates to the subject but then veers off into
him trying to prove that his claims are not lies, which was a weakness in his book.
The last topic von Däniken discusses is the Nazca lines. There have been many theories
stating that the Nazca lines were used as landing strips for alien ships. Erich von Däniken and
other scientists traveled to Nazca, Peru to research the geoelectricity and chemical elements of
the land. When measuring the soil, the scientists discovered that the geoelectrical resistance of
the pista and lines “exceeded the normal values by a factor of more than a thousand” (Däniken
184). Also, when measuring the chemical elements of the ground, the arsenic concentration
measurements were “ten and seventeen times as high as it should have been” (Däniken 187). The
points written in the book are very straight forward and he addresses one claim at a time, instead
of moving from one claim to the next and back to the first claim. This section particularly is very
straight forward when addressing the tests on the Nazca lines.
IV. Opposing Points of View
As this topic is very controversial, there have been many people trying to find errors in
von Däniken’s claims. One source claims that von Däniken does not back up his claims with
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sufficient information and switches between his claims quickly as he does not go into detail on
his claims. He also talks about how von Däniken uses information about the Voynich Manuscript
that has been stated before in other sources. This source states that Erich von Däniken is more
concerned about how his readers and the press see him and not his theories (Pelling). Out of the
three sources that are counter-arguments, this source is the least credible of the three, but it does
relate to History Is Wrong because it talks about the Voynich Manuscript. The next source talks
about how von Däniken, when writing his books, fails to reference footnotes and fails to
reference a book, “discussing the Ark of the covenant, he comes out with a surprising admission
“without actually consulting Exodus, I seem to remember that the Ark was often surrounded by
flashing sparks and that Moses made use of this ‘transmitter’ whenever he needed help and
advice”” (It all started). Another argument this source makes is that Erich von Däniken’s many
ideas did not originate with him. Many of his ideas were inspired by “Jacques Bergier, who
wrote ‘Morning of the Magicians’ in 1960, and Robert Charroux, who documented ‘One
Hundred Thousand Years of Man’s Unknown History’ shortly later” (It all started). This source
is also not very credible but does provide information and opinions. Also, the source does not
relate to History Is Wrong. The last source is the most credible source as this information is
provided by Dr. Martin Rundkvist, who is a Swedish archeologist but does not relate to the text.
Erich von Däniken has talked about the precession of the Earth’s axis. The precession of the
Earth’s axis is described as the “changing orientation of our planet's rotation axis, today (in the
North) it is pointing, more or less, towards the star Polaris, but the Earth wobbles a bit - like the
spinning top in the figure on the right” (Rundkvist). The rotation axis is said to make a complete
circle every 25,800 years. Däniken claims that on December 21, 2012, the precession will end.
He states that then the axis will point to the center of the Milky Way and signal the date when
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aliens will return to Earth. But Dr. Rundkvist claims that this cannot happen since the center of
the Milky Way is close to lying on the orbital plane of the Earth and since the axis of Earth can
never lie on the orbital plane, due to it having a sixty-six and five tenths degrees inclination
above the plane, the axis cannot point towards the center of the Milky Way (Rundkvist). There
are many opposing views on this controversial issue, but these sources were the most convincing
arguments against von Däniken’s claims and I also believe that these are the three best opposing
sources.
V. Conclusion
Could extraterrestrials have visited Earth during ancient civilizations? Who can say, but
there are many interesting and mysterious objects in the world today that make people wonder.
Texts like the Book of Enoch and the Voynich Manuscript and mysteries like the Nazca lines are
just examples of possible extraterrestrial influences and interaction. I believe that History Is
Wrong is a great book for anyone who has an open mind and can believe in the possibilities. If
we are alive and can think, why can there not be others like us in the vast space we call the
universe?
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Works Cited
Däniken, Erich Von. History Is Wrong. Franklin Lakes: New Page Books, 2009. Print.
"Drury University: Erich von Däniken." Drury University, Springfield, Missouri Web. 5 May
2010. <http://www.drury.edu/multinl/story.cfm?ID=1109&NLID=135>.
"It all started with Erich von Däniken… « Return of the Space Gods." Return of the Space Gods.
18 Mar. 2008. Web. 5 May 2010. <http://returnofthespacegods.wordpress.com/2008/03/
18/it-all-started-with-erich-von-daniken%E2%80%A6/>.
Pelling, Nick. "Review: Erich von Däniken’s “History Is Wrong”… | Cipher Mysteries." Cipher
Mysteries - Voynich Manuscript, Beale Papers, and more... 23 Jan. 2010. Web. 5 May
2010. <http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2010/01/23/review-erich-von-danikens-historyis-wrong>.
Rundkvist, Dr. Martin. "Erich von Däniken: Twilight of the Gods : Aardvarchaeology."
ScienceBlogs. 7 Nov. 2008. Web. 5 May 2010. <http://scienceblogs.com/
aardvarchaeology/2008/11/erich_von_daniken_twilight_of.php>
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Name
Topic/Title
Area
Ideas and Content
Organization
Word Choice
Sentence Fluency
Voice
Lower Order Concerns
Presentation (Research Guide)
Insight
Support
Introduction and Conclusion
TOTAL
GRADE out of 50
Date
Score
Comments
8
10
9
9
10
9
9
8
8
9
89
44 Section III lacks analysis of or reference to patterns of develop
or any analysis of rhetoric; you do a nice job summarizing argu
but remember to focus on HOW arugments are developed.