Prometheus - Inspired by Ancient Astronauts?

Publisher's Note: I found this article on the http://www.huffingtonpost.com and thought you would be interested in the subject matter. I love Ridley Scott, Blade Runner and all. This movie looks great. Dirk

By Alejandro Rojas

Excitement for Ridley Scott's latest alien movie, Prometheus, has been heating up. Fascinating new images were recently released and there has been news this week of a trailer being leaked. However, an exciting fact for those who believe extraterrestrials have already visited our humble planet is that Scott says his new movie is influenced by the theory that aliens have "helped" humanity advance to its current level of civilization. Dubbed the "ancient astronaut theory," this idea was made popular in the late 60s by Swiss author Erich von Daniken, and is currently the focus of the popular History channel television series Ancient Aliens.

Scott's new movie, Prometheus, started off as a prequel to the Alien series. However, as the project took shape it turned into something new and different. Scott told the Hollywood Reporter that it had changed from being an Alien prequel to exploring the "space jockey" aliens that were featured in the first Alien movie. They were the giant beings whose ship the humans explored, finding the giant pilot long dead. It was on this ship that the protagonists found the eggs of the aliens which would terrorize the humans in one of the most popular movie franchises in science fiction.

Scott also told the Hollywood Reporter that:

Von Daniken's ideas were an instant hit when he introduced them in his best-selling book Chariots of the Gods?, published in 1968. Von Daniken suggests that some of the world's ancient structures were too complicated to be created by mankind. Instead he believes they were created by advanced extraterrestrial civilizations that interacted with primitive human beings. One of the most popular examples is the pyramids of Giza; others are the monuments on Easter Island, and Stonehenge in England.

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