Chapter 3 Summary and Analysis

Chapter 3 - The author cites several examples of ancient accomplishments and phenomenon he asserts would not have been possible without the supposed astronaut gods' existence. The ancient maps of Turkish Admiral and cartographer Piri Reis are discussed. These maps are extraordinarily accurate, an accuracy thought impossible given the technology available at the time. Moreover, some argue they depict America and regions of Antarctica that would not be explored until centuries later. Most interesting to Von Däniken is the fact that the Reis maps distort toward the edges, much like the image at the edge of a camera lens would do. Given this, the author asserts these ancient maps must have been the work of ancient astronauts capable of aerial photography.

The reader is next pointed to the famous "Nazca lines" in Peru. These lines and geometrical figures, to Von D...