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Crash Go The Chariots: An Alternative To "Chariots Of The Gods"?
Book by Wilson, Clifford A
116 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1972
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 21, 2018
Um. So. This is an apologetics book disguised as an archeological refutation of Erich von Daniken's CHARIOTS OF THE GODS. Dr. Wilson, though a credentialed archeologist (defending his fellow archeologists from von Daniken's spurious criticism is supposedly the impetus for writing this book) steadily increases his proselytizing and faith-defending as the book goes on.
Problem is, one of the main underlying arguments in CHARIOTS is that "it was aliens" is at least as credible an explanation as "it was the god(s) of my particular religion" - and Clifford responds "aliens are a weak explanation; OBVIOUSLY it was magic, Satanic deception [!!!], and Yahweh's divine power! Oh, and maybe mundane human endeavors when it's not important to my religious commitment."
I'm serious, he goes on several times about how psi is probably real (and evidence for God!), witchcraft totally happens (credulous explanations of fire-walking and channeling follow), and everything about the Exodus story is probably historical. You don't need any of that to refute the ancient-astronaut claims; they lack any sort of positive evidence, rely on cynicism towards expert consensus, and masquerade wild pulp-sfnal guesswork as swaggering serious-minded conjecture worthy of every investigative expense. Laughing off "primitive" mythology while demonstrating clear chauvinism towards a particular religious tradition from the Ancient Near East treads the same condescending path as von Daniken himself!
Bizarrely, this book was cited in one, possibly two skeptical books I own, when there were at least a few other rebuttals to CHARIOTS published before it - why did they pick this one? Did they just glaze over the "obviously God exists and sent Jesus to earth Who is the Way the Truth and the Life etc etc"?
Problem is, one of the main underlying arguments in CHARIOTS is that "it was aliens" is at least as credible an explanation as "it was the god(s) of my particular religion" - and Clifford responds "aliens are a weak explanation; OBVIOUSLY it was magic, Satanic deception [!!!], and Yahweh's divine power! Oh, and maybe mundane human endeavors when it's not important to my religious commitment."
I'm serious, he goes on several times about how psi is probably real (and evidence for God!), witchcraft totally happens (credulous explanations of fire-walking and channeling follow), and everything about the Exodus story is probably historical. You don't need any of that to refute the ancient-astronaut claims; they lack any sort of positive evidence, rely on cynicism towards expert consensus, and masquerade wild pulp-sfnal guesswork as swaggering serious-minded conjecture worthy of every investigative expense. Laughing off "primitive" mythology while demonstrating clear chauvinism towards a particular religious tradition from the Ancient Near East treads the same condescending path as von Daniken himself!
Bizarrely, this book was cited in one, possibly two skeptical books I own, when there were at least a few other rebuttals to CHARIOTS published before it - why did they pick this one? Did they just glaze over the "obviously God exists and sent Jesus to earth Who is the Way the Truth and the Life etc etc"?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 26, 2016
Wilson challenges the evidence presented in Chariots of The Gods. As scary as Chariots was, Crash seems to fall on its face in similar ways. Ad hominems and non-sequiturs abound. At the end, it even goes way off topic to claim the evils of the ancients are the result of Satan operating in the world. So we are to believe it could not have been aliens because it was actually a fallen angel.
Still, of the two, I prefer Crash.
Still, of the two, I prefer Crash.
June 30, 2011
"Chariots Of The Gods" doesn't seem nearly so plausible after you read this book.
May 22, 2024
A CRITIQUE OF VAN DANIKEN’S FIRST TWO BOOKS FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
Clifford A. Wilson (1923-2012) was an Australian Christian researcher and writer (his Ph.D. is in Educational Psychology), who also served in Israel with the American Schools of Oriental Research. His main interests are archaeology and apologetics, and he has written some critiques of Erich von Daniken, such as 'The Chariots Still Crash,' and 'War Of The Chariots,' in which he holds a public debate with Von Daniken.
He wrote in the ‘An Explanation’ to the 1976 edition of this 1973 book, “Three years have passed since [this book] was first published… The book quickly became a best seller… It has been revised and updated, with additional material added at appropriate points. We have avoided intruding on the new material covered by ‘The Chariots Still Crash’… Thus, in this volume, we do not touch on such matters as Erich von Daniken’s ‘The Gold of the Gods,’ which is dealt with in ‘The Chariots Still Crash.’ An additional chapter has been added dealing with the Bermuda Triangle… We do not claim to answer all the problems, but we do claim to show that as knowledge increases, so-called mysteries are explainable after all. This applies equally to von Daniken’s theories and to the wild conjectures of various writers about the Bermuda Triangle.”
When von Daniken suggests that the biblical book of Exodus might have come from the Epic of Gilgamesh, he comments, “Such a statement is virtually incredible. In the first chapter of Exodus, we learn of the birth of Moses, and the Book itself is a historical record of Israel as it became a nation. It certainly could NOT have come from the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh!” (Pg. 59)
After acknowledging that in the first edition of this book, he says, “the theory was accepted that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were buried beneath the … Dead Sea; but this is now unlikely,” he adds, “the discarding of old theories does take place from time to time, and they are not ‘cemented down’ as von Daniken suggests in regard to archaeological theories… it is also relevant to state that the Bible did not say that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were beneath the waters… The theory was… merely an interpretation. The Bible record itself continues to stand … For this reason, the historical validity of the Bible must not be allowed to stand simply on the evidence of archaeology. Archaeologists can be wrong…. The amazing thing is that … the Bible is proved to be right all the time.” (Pg. 71-72)
He notes, “The hypothesis is put forward by [von Daniken] that [the Piri Re’is maps] must have been taken from a high-flying aircraft or from a spaceship. Piri Re’is himself stated on the map in question that he had consulted over 20 different earlier charts in the preparation of his own work… One interesting sidelight is that the River Amazon is shown twice… which can probably be explained by the fact that it WAS a piecing together of a number of charts.” (Pg. 78)
Of the Indian pillar shown in von Daniken’s book, Wilson comments, “This pillar is situated at Delphi and the story of its ‘special’ qualities is well known… However (despite con Daniken’s claim…), it is NOT rust-proof, for it does contain phosphorus and does show signs of some rust, though it is true that it is remarkably well-preserved.” (Pg. 88)
For the idea that Ezekiel 1 describes spaceships, he suggests, “Ezekiel says that he saw ‘visions from God.’ ‘Visions’ are not necessarily literal phenomena… Ezekiel’s prophecy includes much symbolic teaching… In view of the clear statements as to the symbolic elements and the visionary presentation of this prophecy, there is little point in further following the outlandish interpretations … as to the experiences of Ezekiel.” (Pg. 94)
He states, “Would con Daniken accept the Mayan belief that the earth rested on the back of a crocodile?... Von Daniken insists… that these people knew the earth was round. But how did the crocodile fit in? As a matter of fact, knowledge of a round earth was not restricted to the Mayas.” (Pg. 98) Later, he adds, I find it hard to believe that von Daniken takes these legends and folklore so seriously. It seems clear that a great many such statements cannot possibly be taken as expressions of literal fact in the sense that von Daniken accepts them…” (Pg. 110)
He concludes, “We do not discount the mysterious, and we readily acknowledge that startling knowledge was demonstrated in the construction of the pyramids and many other ancient buildings. However… that certainly does not mean we must look for the explanations by calling up visitors from outer space…. If early men did live for great periods of time, even apart from the Bible there is good reason to believe this, then in some areas their knowledge is likely to be significantly greater than that of twentieth century man… It is not really surprising that sometimes our ancestors had a knowledge beyond our own. That knowledge had its origin in God Himself.” (Pg. 160-161)
This book will be of great interest to Christians looking for critiques of von Daniken’s books.
Clifford A. Wilson (1923-2012) was an Australian Christian researcher and writer (his Ph.D. is in Educational Psychology), who also served in Israel with the American Schools of Oriental Research. His main interests are archaeology and apologetics, and he has written some critiques of Erich von Daniken, such as 'The Chariots Still Crash,' and 'War Of The Chariots,' in which he holds a public debate with Von Daniken.
He wrote in the ‘An Explanation’ to the 1976 edition of this 1973 book, “Three years have passed since [this book] was first published… The book quickly became a best seller… It has been revised and updated, with additional material added at appropriate points. We have avoided intruding on the new material covered by ‘The Chariots Still Crash’… Thus, in this volume, we do not touch on such matters as Erich von Daniken’s ‘The Gold of the Gods,’ which is dealt with in ‘The Chariots Still Crash.’ An additional chapter has been added dealing with the Bermuda Triangle… We do not claim to answer all the problems, but we do claim to show that as knowledge increases, so-called mysteries are explainable after all. This applies equally to von Daniken’s theories and to the wild conjectures of various writers about the Bermuda Triangle.”
When von Daniken suggests that the biblical book of Exodus might have come from the Epic of Gilgamesh, he comments, “Such a statement is virtually incredible. In the first chapter of Exodus, we learn of the birth of Moses, and the Book itself is a historical record of Israel as it became a nation. It certainly could NOT have come from the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh!” (Pg. 59)
After acknowledging that in the first edition of this book, he says, “the theory was accepted that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were buried beneath the … Dead Sea; but this is now unlikely,” he adds, “the discarding of old theories does take place from time to time, and they are not ‘cemented down’ as von Daniken suggests in regard to archaeological theories… it is also relevant to state that the Bible did not say that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were beneath the waters… The theory was… merely an interpretation. The Bible record itself continues to stand … For this reason, the historical validity of the Bible must not be allowed to stand simply on the evidence of archaeology. Archaeologists can be wrong…. The amazing thing is that … the Bible is proved to be right all the time.” (Pg. 71-72)
He notes, “The hypothesis is put forward by [von Daniken] that [the Piri Re’is maps] must have been taken from a high-flying aircraft or from a spaceship. Piri Re’is himself stated on the map in question that he had consulted over 20 different earlier charts in the preparation of his own work… One interesting sidelight is that the River Amazon is shown twice… which can probably be explained by the fact that it WAS a piecing together of a number of charts.” (Pg. 78)
Of the Indian pillar shown in von Daniken’s book, Wilson comments, “This pillar is situated at Delphi and the story of its ‘special’ qualities is well known… However (despite con Daniken’s claim…), it is NOT rust-proof, for it does contain phosphorus and does show signs of some rust, though it is true that it is remarkably well-preserved.” (Pg. 88)
For the idea that Ezekiel 1 describes spaceships, he suggests, “Ezekiel says that he saw ‘visions from God.’ ‘Visions’ are not necessarily literal phenomena… Ezekiel’s prophecy includes much symbolic teaching… In view of the clear statements as to the symbolic elements and the visionary presentation of this prophecy, there is little point in further following the outlandish interpretations … as to the experiences of Ezekiel.” (Pg. 94)
He states, “Would con Daniken accept the Mayan belief that the earth rested on the back of a crocodile?... Von Daniken insists… that these people knew the earth was round. But how did the crocodile fit in? As a matter of fact, knowledge of a round earth was not restricted to the Mayas.” (Pg. 98) Later, he adds, I find it hard to believe that von Daniken takes these legends and folklore so seriously. It seems clear that a great many such statements cannot possibly be taken as expressions of literal fact in the sense that von Daniken accepts them…” (Pg. 110)
He concludes, “We do not discount the mysterious, and we readily acknowledge that startling knowledge was demonstrated in the construction of the pyramids and many other ancient buildings. However… that certainly does not mean we must look for the explanations by calling up visitors from outer space…. If early men did live for great periods of time, even apart from the Bible there is good reason to believe this, then in some areas their knowledge is likely to be significantly greater than that of twentieth century man… It is not really surprising that sometimes our ancestors had a knowledge beyond our own. That knowledge had its origin in God Himself.” (Pg. 160-161)
This book will be of great interest to Christians looking for critiques of von Daniken’s books.
January 13, 2023
Crap, baloney sandwich at its finest. An evangelical tooting the horn on himself with low quality science and claims to try to disprove another author, Erich von Daniken. At least von Daniken had some fun creativity in his ramblings. For a Bible man to not alow the statistical probability of earth not being the only in trillions of options is validation of bias and flawed ingenuity.
October 20, 2008
Interesting but very slight. Debunks the Chariots of the Gods but I think it could have done a much better job.
July 26, 2011
I liked this more because the von Daniken books got up my nose That Far...others might find it just mean, depending on how they believed Chariots of the Gods.
October 17, 2015
I reviewed Chariots of the Gods as trite. This one is equally trite if not worse. Neither author is at all convincing unless you already subscribe to his hypothesis.
October 27, 2023
This book is striking in that in Clifford Wilson’s attempts to disprove von Däniken's absurd oeuvre “Chariots of the gods?” he somehow manages to accidentally give him more credibility. This is largely because of Wilson’s painfully narrow worldview. I do not take issue with Wilson’s faith, but he repeatedly uses precepts of the Christian faith and sacred texts to ineptly negate von Däniken’s beliefs. That’s what both of these men possess: beliefs with very, very scant reference to irrefutable fact.
When Wilson uses his actual archaeological know-how to discredit von Däniken he is at his most effective. This is how the book begins and then it proceeds to go very quickly off the rails. As mentioned, Wilson uses precepts of his own faith as matters of fact, asserts the existence of “evil spirits” with his own, overly credulous experiences as proof thereof, and then repeatedly poo-poos the religious beliefs of anyone who isn’t a Bible believing Christian.
I see from some minor research that Wilson ended up a young-Earth creationist and unfortunately, based on this experience with his writings, that doesn’t surprise me. I think if Wilson had better been able to separate his own beliefs and raw emotional reaction to von Däniken’s inarguably moronic text then he would’ve been better off and we would have a much more useful book here.
All this being said, this book is an excellent distraction when you’re experiencing extreme stress. I definitely recommend reading it aloud with friends or family for a good laugh.
When Wilson uses his actual archaeological know-how to discredit von Däniken he is at his most effective. This is how the book begins and then it proceeds to go very quickly off the rails. As mentioned, Wilson uses precepts of his own faith as matters of fact, asserts the existence of “evil spirits” with his own, overly credulous experiences as proof thereof, and then repeatedly poo-poos the religious beliefs of anyone who isn’t a Bible believing Christian.
I see from some minor research that Wilson ended up a young-Earth creationist and unfortunately, based on this experience with his writings, that doesn’t surprise me. I think if Wilson had better been able to separate his own beliefs and raw emotional reaction to von Däniken’s inarguably moronic text then he would’ve been better off and we would have a much more useful book here.
All this being said, this book is an excellent distraction when you’re experiencing extreme stress. I definitely recommend reading it aloud with friends or family for a good laugh.
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November 1, 2019A primer on skepticism.
June 13, 2014
Debunking crazy alien theories
13 July 2012
This is a book that was written to debunk the writings of Erich Von Däniken who wrote a book called Chariots of the Gods, in which he argued that ancient literature and a number of ancient sites were evidence that humanity had been visited and ruled by aliens. One of his major sources was the Bible, and the title of his book relates to the fiery chariot that took the prophet Elijah up to heaven. Von Daniken's argument was that the chariot was actually an interstellar spacecraft.
Dr Wilson is a Christian archaeologist who has made some amazing discoveries in the Near East that supports the biblical account of Genesis. However he has also written books regarding the UFO movement that was gaining popularity in the United States. While UFOs are apparently a modern phenomena, the first reported sightings being over Washington state in the 1940s, in other books Wilson has argued that this is not the case, and demonstrated that stories of strange lights in the sky have been around for as long as recorded history. In fact, his arguments are that UFOs are demonic in origin and only wish humanity harm.
Now, with regards to Von Däniken's work, it is quite easy to misinterpret books and scriptures. He makes mention of a pillar in India that doesn't rust. Well, I would respond by saying that it is easy to make a pillar that doesn't rust: make it out of gold (or cover it is plastic, or as is the case with this pillar, some other rust resistant coating). Okay, if we made it out of gold, the pillar is highly unlikely to remain standing there for too long (unless of course it is guarded), but I am sure you understand what I mean (gold doesn't rust). Another thing he points out is a Japanese sculpture of a man wearing a spacesuit. My response is that it is not a spacesuit, it is a suit of armour.
Now, I could make a argument supporting Von Däniken by using the Atrahasis. In the Atrahasis we are told that humanity was created by one of the gods who mixed clay with blood and spittle and then growing it in a womb. Gee, that sounds like humanity was made in a test tube and grown in a cloning lab by an advanced race. However, the gods (or aliens) turned on humanity and sought to destroy them because they rebelled. Hmm, seems like something that Lovecraft had already written (and is also a theme running through the 2012 film Prometheus). My argument against that is if the aliens wanted to destroy humanity, first of all why are we still here (Prometheus suggests that they were destroyed when a genetic experiment went wrong) and where are they?
The other thing that I want to say about aliens is the whole idea of being kidnapped by aliens who then proceed to probe us. Seriously, why is that so alien? Don't we do that when we encounter something new? What about the native Americans and the Australian Aboriginals that were taken back to England for study? Or how about the Africans that were abducted from their homeland to be made to work as slaves in America. Seriously, from what I gather, these aliens, if they exist, are in the end no different from us.
13 July 2012
This is a book that was written to debunk the writings of Erich Von Däniken who wrote a book called Chariots of the Gods, in which he argued that ancient literature and a number of ancient sites were evidence that humanity had been visited and ruled by aliens. One of his major sources was the Bible, and the title of his book relates to the fiery chariot that took the prophet Elijah up to heaven. Von Daniken's argument was that the chariot was actually an interstellar spacecraft.
Dr Wilson is a Christian archaeologist who has made some amazing discoveries in the Near East that supports the biblical account of Genesis. However he has also written books regarding the UFO movement that was gaining popularity in the United States. While UFOs are apparently a modern phenomena, the first reported sightings being over Washington state in the 1940s, in other books Wilson has argued that this is not the case, and demonstrated that stories of strange lights in the sky have been around for as long as recorded history. In fact, his arguments are that UFOs are demonic in origin and only wish humanity harm.
Now, with regards to Von Däniken's work, it is quite easy to misinterpret books and scriptures. He makes mention of a pillar in India that doesn't rust. Well, I would respond by saying that it is easy to make a pillar that doesn't rust: make it out of gold (or cover it is plastic, or as is the case with this pillar, some other rust resistant coating). Okay, if we made it out of gold, the pillar is highly unlikely to remain standing there for too long (unless of course it is guarded), but I am sure you understand what I mean (gold doesn't rust). Another thing he points out is a Japanese sculpture of a man wearing a spacesuit. My response is that it is not a spacesuit, it is a suit of armour.
Now, I could make a argument supporting Von Däniken by using the Atrahasis. In the Atrahasis we are told that humanity was created by one of the gods who mixed clay with blood and spittle and then growing it in a womb. Gee, that sounds like humanity was made in a test tube and grown in a cloning lab by an advanced race. However, the gods (or aliens) turned on humanity and sought to destroy them because they rebelled. Hmm, seems like something that Lovecraft had already written (and is also a theme running through the 2012 film Prometheus). My argument against that is if the aliens wanted to destroy humanity, first of all why are we still here (Prometheus suggests that they were destroyed when a genetic experiment went wrong) and where are they?
The other thing that I want to say about aliens is the whole idea of being kidnapped by aliens who then proceed to probe us. Seriously, why is that so alien? Don't we do that when we encounter something new? What about the native Americans and the Australian Aboriginals that were taken back to England for study? Or how about the Africans that were abducted from their homeland to be made to work as slaves in America. Seriously, from what I gather, these aliens, if they exist, are in the end no different from us.
January 12, 2015
This is a piece of crap. This guy tried hard to get Von Daniken down but he could nowhere get close to anything. A very stupid attempt. Foolish writer. A cheap way to bring some brilliant writer down.
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