Is Erich von Daniken an alcoholic?
The latest issue of Skeptic Magazine includes a wonderful expose of a likely alcoholic imagination running wild in author Erich von Daniken, who is best known for “Chariots of the Gods?” He tried to show that only extraterrestrial beings could have brought the ancients the technology to build pyramids, among other un-earthly achievements. Skeptic rips such claims to shreds.
Skeptic also describes von Daniken’s early personal life, which included convictions for fraud and embezzlement. It’s possible that von Daniken’s likely alcoholism, which took form in defrauding small groups of people early on, transmuted into a big-time fraud when he discovered a penchant for writing and story-telling. I wrote to Skeptic:
“Von Daniken dropped out of school to become a bartender. He was caught stealing from the Boy Scouts at age 15 and was convicted of theft from a camp where he worked as a youth leader at age 19. Soon after, he was convicted of fraud and embezzlement in a jewelry deal. He then denies committing any crimes even though convicted–three times. He later confabulates fantastic stories of little green men via his books, apparently convincing millions of people that early man was visited by advanced civilizations from beyond the Earth.
“Alright, we’ve got numerous behavioral indications of alcoholism (theft, fraud, embezzlement, denial of culpability, confabulations and an amazing ability to tell convincing lies). Do you have any hard evidence of addictive use of alcohol or other drugs?”
It’s tough to get the goods on well-known people because they’re so darned well protected by enablers and so few are willing to “out” them. We’ll see whether this is true of von Daniken.