The Ancient Alien Question, 10th Anniversary Edition: An Inquiry into the Existence, Evidence, and Influence of Ancient Visitors

What can I say that hasn't already been said? Not only was the late Filip Coppens a talented author and researcher, he inspired a new generation of believers (I include myself here) as a contributor to the Ancient Aliens TV Show.Filip Coppens' The Ancient Alien Question is a well thought out, well written book that in some ways reminded me of a more modern, colourful version of Erich Von Daniken's classic; Chariot of the Gods. Like many, I was first introduced to Coppen's style of research through the Ancient Aliens program by the History Channel. I personally identified with him more than some of the other contributors because of his reluctance to simply believe everything without first checking it out. As you might imagine this transfers over really well into The Ancient Alien Question.Everything from the Nasca lines to Puma Punku and the Giza Pyramids are covered. What surprised me about the book however was that Coppens challenges at least one of Sitchin's (Zecharia) claims, and also brings new evidence forth to suggest that the Dogan (who many now claim possess information about the solar system which they should never have had except through ET intelligence) actually possess no such knowledge. Since Sitchin's work was what got me into reading extra-terrestrial themed books in later years, and for awhile i had believed in his work sincerely, seeing Coppens expose the late scholar was both interesting and slightly disheartening. Then again, truth is truth and in this subject, it is of extreme importance that truth be not treated flippantly since we are at odds with an entire public whose only exposure to the UFO phenomena is the "the little green men" that silly news channels and news papers laugh off, much to their detriment.All in all a fascinating book. If you found the topics in the Ancient Aliens TV program interesting and like your UFO/Alien books properly researched, this is for you.

Excellent book both aw an introduction to the ancient alien question but also to consolidate other more in depth studies. Covers a huge range of alien questions form biblical times and before, including south American cultures. If you follow Philip Coppens on the Discovery Channel, you will like this book.Don't be put off by the title - using the word "aliens". I think that this is a headline grabbing device to market programmes and books. That apart, there is a great connectivity between ancient cultures and mystery religions. Whether from outer space or not is a minor intrusion.

The author himself admits that there is no definitive proof to his theories and does adopt a fairly sceptical approach (even going so far as to completely destroy some of the more fanciful theorists), but does explain his theories well and how the limited evidence available does fit in. The book provides a good overview of the field of ancient astronaut theory. Additionally puts forward the view that the "ancient alien question" should challenge science to work harder to explain things that do make sense, criticising the field for perpetuating certain dogmatic views and ridiculing ancient alien theorists rather than attempting to disprove them.I feel the book is spoiled to an extent in the later chapters when Coppens takes as fact testimonies from sources that claim to have had certain visions, seemingly abandoning his sceptic approach in this case. Overall I would recommend this book as it does provide a good overview of the field and certainly provides food for thought if nothing else.

great book. very interesting and knowedgeable.To read other peoples viewpoints on subjects regarding our ancient past opens up many possibilities and givesus the way forward in our own reasoning with the past.Must be read by all followers of our Ancient Past ......................

I enjoyed reading this book very much. Philip Coppens researches very interesting ideas and lays the information out without putting his personal bias on it.

Some chapters are a lot better than others in this book. And although he says he is a 'sceptic' by the end of the book he clearly has made his mind up about certain theories, and this is where the book looses it's way. The last bunch of chapters descend into a lot of old hogwash about mystics, shamans from deep inside the Amazon jungle and their trippy drugs, other dimensions and non physical entities and the like, which the author argues more as fact than the previous 'questions' that he addressed earlier in the book.When he started talking about Uri Geller (a proven fraud) and other people with supposed special abilities, he goes on about the more mystical side of things, which is a lot harder to support without the hard physical evidence such as all the archaeological or historical records and empirical evidence which he started the book focusing on, he looses some credibility.His belief that UFO's are not actually physical things is a bit of a jump, and he doesn't address a whole branch of UFOology by doing this. I know his focus is on 'ancient aliens' but the thousands upon thousands of modern UFO sighting of clear physical objects which show up on radar and leave physical traces etc would suggest that these 'visitors' are probably not some mystical angel type deities that can only be experienced by drug enhanced spiritual 'crossing over' to some other dimension or higher plane, but more than likely, actually genuine Extra terrestrial biological beings.I had just hoped for a more scientific approach to the question, and although good in parts such as the archaeological studies, I think this book descended a little too close to religious, spiritual territory and unfounded leaps of faith by the author at the end.

Excellent book if you interested in ancient aliens and anything to do with the subject

I highly recommend this book for much of the information it gives you. I learnt so much from it couldn't put it down . Enjoyable cant wait to read the other book Philip writes on.

Interesting read about the subject matter.

Excellente synthèse, du problème.Etant, également lecteur de VON DANIKEN, je comprends qu'il ait été marqué par "chariots of the gods".Cet auteur, n'est cependant pas le seul, à débattre du sujet.Bien d'autres s'y sont consacrés!J'ai peine à comprendre le massacre répété, de Z. SETCHIN, qui a autant de mérite que bien d'autres.

There are too many things on this planet, starting with life itself, that cannot be explained entirely in a satisfactory way, and although it is Science to which I tend to turn first, I am aware of its limitations. I also do want to believe. As a child and later, I discovered and devoured the works of Erich von Däniken and Zecharia Sitchin among others.Later, I began doubting many of their claims; I wanted to believe, but not unreasonably.Philip Coppens took all the aspects of the Ancient Astronaut Theory and analyzed them with the mind set that I would have done it with. Skeptical enough and enough of a believer, he wrote a book that brought me all that reason that I was looking for. It feels like home."Though we no longer believe the world originated in 4004 BC, what science and archaeology have done is to place the origins of civilization at that moment in time, and argue that anything before then cannot be validated by science, and hence by default is believed not to be true. However, truth simply is, whether you believe it or not."

Very good book

Diante dos fatos, a propositura do autor nos obriga, definitivamente, a reavaliar nossos conceitos. Mais do que isto, também obriga que o mundo acadêmico reveja suas interpretações dos objetos antropológicos, à luz do conhecimento ao qual nossa humanidade alcançou.Muito bom!Recomendo.Maria Alice Carneiro