In December 1964, von Däniken wrote Hatten unsere Vorfahren Besuch aus dem Weltraum? ('Were Our Ancestors Visited from Space?') for the German-Canadian periodical Der Nordwesten. He left the school and was apprenticed to a Swiss hotelier for a time, before moving to Egypt. At the age of 19, he was given a four-month suspended sentence for theft. During his time at the school he rejected the church's interpretations of the Bible and developed an interest in astronomy and flying saucers. Brought up as a Roman Catholic, he attended the Saint-Michel International Catholic School in Fribourg, Switzerland. Von Däniken was born in Zofingen, Aargau. He designed Mystery Park (now known as Jungfrau Park), a theme park located in Interlaken, Switzerland, that opened in May 2003. Von Däniken later became a co-founder of the Archaeology, Astronautics and SETI Research Association (AAS RA). Early in his career, he was convicted and served time for several counts of fraud or embezzlement, and wrote one of his books in prison. The ideas put forth in his books are rejected by virtually all scientists and academics, who categorize his work as pseudohistory, pseudoarchaeology, and pseudoscience. Von Däniken is one of the main figures responsible for popularizing the ' paleo-contact' and ancient astronauts hypotheses. Erich Anton Paul von Däniken ( / ˈ ɛr ɪ k f ɒ n ˈ d ɛ n ɪ k ɪ n/ German: born 14 April 1935) is a Swiss author of several books which make claims about extraterrestrial influences on early human culture, including the best-selling Chariots of the Gods?, published in 1968.

Erich von däniken books in order