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The Young Investigator's Guide to Ancient Aliens
As a tie-in to the wildly successful History Channel show, here's a book filled with fascinating tales, ancient folklore, and compelling evidence of the role extraterrestrials may have played in human history. What really happened to the dinosaurs? Who actually built the ancient pyramids in Egypt? Are airplanes really as modern as we think they are? This book takes a close look at landmark events throughout history and asks the What if aliens were involved?
Spanning history, from the earliest of human civilizations to the modern period, this book exposes evidence of the presence of extraterrestrials in some of our most triumphant and devastating moments.
Spanning history, from the earliest of human civilizations to the modern period, this book exposes evidence of the presence of extraterrestrials in some of our most triumphant and devastating moments.
112 pages, Hardcover
First published April 21, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 8, 2015
Can I give it a 0? I wish.
The Young Investigator's Guide to Ancient Aliens was published July 21, 2015 by History Channel/A&E Network. It lists NO actual authors because no one would want their name connected to this tripe.
There is NO WAY I would purchase such a book, so thank you, libraries, for providing access. I suspect that the publishers made an effort to get it into libraries by using the HISTORY Channel brand as leverage. Because it’s there, it will get read. This is unfortunate because this book is a piece of garbage.
The framing of the book is to promote the TV show. That is blatant. Both presentation outlets sow doubt about the body of knowledge derived by the scientific process. The book states “What we know COULD BE WRONG!” It never tells us why that "could be wrong". The text never includes what the standard, scientifically-supported explanations are for their stated “mysteries” such as the construction of the pyramids, Puma Punku, Stonehenge, and Coral Castle. They treat Atlantis, King Arthur, and a Hollow Earth as reasonable possibilities. The authors outright ignore the solid explanations for crystal skulls and the “Montauk monster”. The goal of this book is to keep people ignorant and to promote absurd explanations that make no sense and aren't at all helpful in understanding the real world.
The Ancient Alien (or Astronaut) theorists (they can’t call them scientists, they are more like pundits) are said to examine historical events for signs of ancient alien contact missed by archaeologists and historians throughout history. They “look for obvious connections between our civilization and those of other worlds”. Gee, they really think poorly of scientists and historians to assume they missed such incredible connections the first time around. THEY know better.
Conspiracy is one of the themes used in the book to help explain items that are inconvenient to them.
You will find the usual list of cranks cited as reputable researchers - von Däniken, Sitchin, Hoagland and their go-to spokesperson for speculative sciencey stuff -Giorgio Tsoukalos.
The methods they use in the book are unimaginative and foolish such as the appeal to the popularity: Millions of people believe; what if its true? And, they bank on the argument from ignorance with a twist - we actually know how megalithic monuments were made but that info isn't provided since that would take effort. Apparently they can’t consult actual sources, or they just refuse to because finding out the truth is NOT their goal. They reference movies like “Signs” or “Cowboys and Aliens” as if to subtly suggest these had a basis in fact. And they add smiling green cartoon aliens throughout. It's all so MYSTERIOUS! Wooooooo...
“Whether the ancient Egyptians’ knowledge of the stars, and their beliefs about their gods came from genuine contact with extraterrestrials remains one of history’s most perplexing unanswered questions.”
p 52 Uhhh....
They misuse legitimate concepts like Fermi’s paradox and the “goldilocks zone” to erroneously support their speculation. Otherwise, they have NO support except that of the fringe researchers they prop up. Opinions of their “experts” are given undue credence; no scientific sources are cited.
By page 70, I stopped making notations. I’d been overwhelmed. I'd concluded this publication had more than earned the “garbage” label. So I skimmed the rest about monsters from space and other fiction might call supposables - “suppose this is true” - presented as plausible. The ridiculously unintelligent tone of this book can be encapsulated in this quote from Tsoukalos on page 88:
“If today we are able to create a two-headed dog with six legs, is it possible that a similar creature existed thousands of years ago? I say ‘yes’”
I say, this is one of those things that isn’t even wrong; it’s beyond stupid, it’s stupidiocy.
Here are more zinger supposables from the book:
Stonehenge was an alien landing pad,
Pyramids are power plants for alien ships,
The builder of Coral Castle in Florida moved material by reversing gravity,
Nazca lines and large native mounds act as “billboards for the sky gods”,
There was a worldwide energy grid for the alien spaceships,
Goliath from the Bible was a Bigfoot,
Aliens created ape-man hybrids.
Yep, this is insulting to the cultures that achieved these feats of art, architecture, and civilization. The supposable claims are insulting to credentialed scientists, and are travesties of history, archaeology, anthropology, cosmology, and geology.
The age level for this book is stated at 8-12. It’s my opinion that “juvenile literature” should not be childish and naive but should be enlightening and educational. This book only spreads serious misconceptions and embarrassing ignorance. It’s stupefyingly bad.
The Young Investigator's Guide to Ancient Aliens was published July 21, 2015 by History Channel/A&E Network. It lists NO actual authors because no one would want their name connected to this tripe.
There is NO WAY I would purchase such a book, so thank you, libraries, for providing access. I suspect that the publishers made an effort to get it into libraries by using the HISTORY Channel brand as leverage. Because it’s there, it will get read. This is unfortunate because this book is a piece of garbage.
The framing of the book is to promote the TV show. That is blatant. Both presentation outlets sow doubt about the body of knowledge derived by the scientific process. The book states “What we know COULD BE WRONG!” It never tells us why that "could be wrong". The text never includes what the standard, scientifically-supported explanations are for their stated “mysteries” such as the construction of the pyramids, Puma Punku, Stonehenge, and Coral Castle. They treat Atlantis, King Arthur, and a Hollow Earth as reasonable possibilities. The authors outright ignore the solid explanations for crystal skulls and the “Montauk monster”. The goal of this book is to keep people ignorant and to promote absurd explanations that make no sense and aren't at all helpful in understanding the real world.
The Ancient Alien (or Astronaut) theorists (they can’t call them scientists, they are more like pundits) are said to examine historical events for signs of ancient alien contact missed by archaeologists and historians throughout history. They “look for obvious connections between our civilization and those of other worlds”. Gee, they really think poorly of scientists and historians to assume they missed such incredible connections the first time around. THEY know better.
Conspiracy is one of the themes used in the book to help explain items that are inconvenient to them.
You will find the usual list of cranks cited as reputable researchers - von Däniken, Sitchin, Hoagland and their go-to spokesperson for speculative sciencey stuff -Giorgio Tsoukalos.
The methods they use in the book are unimaginative and foolish such as the appeal to the popularity: Millions of people believe; what if its true? And, they bank on the argument from ignorance with a twist - we actually know how megalithic monuments were made but that info isn't provided since that would take effort. Apparently they can’t consult actual sources, or they just refuse to because finding out the truth is NOT their goal. They reference movies like “Signs” or “Cowboys and Aliens” as if to subtly suggest these had a basis in fact. And they add smiling green cartoon aliens throughout. It's all so MYSTERIOUS! Wooooooo...
“Whether the ancient Egyptians’ knowledge of the stars, and their beliefs about their gods came from genuine contact with extraterrestrials remains one of history’s most perplexing unanswered questions.”
p 52 Uhhh....
They misuse legitimate concepts like Fermi’s paradox and the “goldilocks zone” to erroneously support their speculation. Otherwise, they have NO support except that of the fringe researchers they prop up. Opinions of their “experts” are given undue credence; no scientific sources are cited.
By page 70, I stopped making notations. I’d been overwhelmed. I'd concluded this publication had more than earned the “garbage” label. So I skimmed the rest about monsters from space and other fiction might call supposables - “suppose this is true” - presented as plausible. The ridiculously unintelligent tone of this book can be encapsulated in this quote from Tsoukalos on page 88:
“If today we are able to create a two-headed dog with six legs, is it possible that a similar creature existed thousands of years ago? I say ‘yes’”
I say, this is one of those things that isn’t even wrong; it’s beyond stupid, it’s stupidiocy.
Here are more zinger supposables from the book:
Stonehenge was an alien landing pad,
Pyramids are power plants for alien ships,
The builder of Coral Castle in Florida moved material by reversing gravity,
Nazca lines and large native mounds act as “billboards for the sky gods”,
There was a worldwide energy grid for the alien spaceships,
Goliath from the Bible was a Bigfoot,
Aliens created ape-man hybrids.
Yep, this is insulting to the cultures that achieved these feats of art, architecture, and civilization. The supposable claims are insulting to credentialed scientists, and are travesties of history, archaeology, anthropology, cosmology, and geology.
The age level for this book is stated at 8-12. It’s my opinion that “juvenile literature” should not be childish and naive but should be enlightening and educational. This book only spreads serious misconceptions and embarrassing ignorance. It’s stupefyingly bad.
January 31, 2016
Ancient Astronaut theories explore historical and scientific evidence which may indicate that human beings have been contacted by visitors from outer space throughout recorded time. Artwork, architectural marvels, and references to highly advanced weapons make some theorists believe aliens have been among us for centuries, even millennia. Some believe that government agencies like NASA have more information than they’ve shared with the public, and may be trying to cover up the presence of extraterrestrials.
Because the text explores so many topics, only a brief explanation of each is given, making it more of a beginner’s look at the subject. Broken into focused sections, the text explores various evidence and builds a case for Ancient Astronaut theories. While very careful to express where the evidence ends and the theories begin, one thing this book doesn’t have is a list of other sources which support the information provided. There is a reference to the television series which inspired the book on the last page preceding the index, but no other references are named.
I'm by no means an expert on this topic, and though I find the idea of little interest to me, the book presented information in a straightforward way that I could appreciate. I wished there had been other sources so I could verify some of the wilder claims in the text.
Because the text explores so many topics, only a brief explanation of each is given, making it more of a beginner’s look at the subject. Broken into focused sections, the text explores various evidence and builds a case for Ancient Astronaut theories. While very careful to express where the evidence ends and the theories begin, one thing this book doesn’t have is a list of other sources which support the information provided. There is a reference to the television series which inspired the book on the last page preceding the index, but no other references are named.
I'm by no means an expert on this topic, and though I find the idea of little interest to me, the book presented information in a straightforward way that I could appreciate. I wished there had been other sources so I could verify some of the wilder claims in the text.
October 12, 2019
If you want to read a book about aliens, stay far away from this one.
January 23, 2020
Great children’s book about ufos, space aliens & the history and study of same!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews