Erich von Däniken (1935-) is famous for his ancient astronaut theories. As a young man I was very influenced by his writings and it took time to develop my critical faculties to the point where I could discount his ideas as waffle. I now see him as a guru for the lunatic fringe who cynically presents distorted collections of historical artefacts and data for financial gain.

Von Däniken had seldom touched on the Atlantis story until his Odyssey of the Gods published in English in 2000^[273]. He concentrated his discussion on the work of fellow Swiss writer, Eberhard Zangger, who identifies Atlantis with Troy. Von Däniken appears ambiguous about the actual existence of Atlantis, although he seems to reluctantly lean towards Zangger’s Trojan theory.