The Ancient Alien Question by Philip Coppens

Philip Coppens' new book is sub-titled A New Inquiry Into the Existence, Evidence, and Influence of Ancient Visitors.

Journalist Coppens is the scruffy guy who appears in The History Channel’s popular Ancient Aliens series.



When I see him on television, I think that he should cut his hair and get a shave, but after reading his new book, I should just keep quiet and savor Mr. Coppens erudition and exceptional writing abilities.

The man is brilliant and scholarly, in that he provides a surfeit of sources and information to bolster his view that extraterrestrials once saturated the Earth, leaving knowledge and remnants seen or found in a plethora of locales, such as Egypt, Meso-America, and a lot of other places.

He sometimes moderates von Däniken’s views, as those about the Nazca lines, which von Däniken has ameliorated himself since his first hypothesis about the lines representing landing strips for alien spacecraft.

Many of the artifacts touted by ancient astronaut theorists are included in Mr. Coppens illustrative array of words, drawings, and photos -- a batch of splendid colored pics lie in the middle of the 320 page book.

Ancient Astronaut aficionados will find much that they’ve read in von Däniken’s books or have seen in the History Channel series, but Mr. Coppens provides little known details that are fresh for even the most knowledgeable AA enthusiast.

I read things about Carl Sagan – a man I thought I knew a little about – that enlightened.

Information about Oannes, the Sumerian fish-god [Page 197 ff.], the Piri Reis map [Page 189 ff.], ancient India flying machines [Page 113 ff.], Crystal skulls [Page 126 ff.], and Panspermia (and Louis Pasteur) [Page 225 ff.] are just a few of the many topics Mr. Coppens elaborates on, often with esoteric details not well-known even to the well-read.

The book has footnotes, an extensive bibliography, and a generous index, but it’s the overwhelming impact of the AA clues in the text that make the case for alien visitation in the past.

Skeptics and debunkers will have a difficult time eschewing what Coppens brings to the ancient astronaut table, bolstering the views of von Däniken all the while and giving a nod to those, such as William Bramley (The Gods of Eden), who’ve also provided AA views.

The book retails for $19.99 and can be found at Amazon.com, of course, Powell’s books, and other established bookstores, online and off.

It’s a New Page book, which is a Division of The Career Press, Inc., Pompton Plains, NJ.

More about Philip Coppens can be found at http://www.philipcoppens.com

Information about the book, the author, and other books of the genre can be found at http://www.warwickassociates.net

New Page Books is at http://www.newpagebooks.com

Career Press is located online at http://www.careerpress.com

RR