John Ackerman (Pseudonym; Angiras) was born in Philadelphia and studied at John Hopkins University, where he received a degree in physics. After 35 years concerned with satellites and lasers, he retired early to study the work of catastrophist Immanuel Velikovsky and is now a leading exponent of that school of thought.

Ackerman has developed his own particular brand entitled ‘cyclical catastrophism’^(b). This particular aspect is developed in his book, Egyptian Astrophysics^[1461],  which explores the Egyptian texts relating to the cyclical close encounters of the Earth with Mars and Venus between 3700 and 687 BC, proposed by Velikovsky.

Velikovsky claimed a number close encounters with Mars in the 7th and 8th centuries BC. The idea was taken up by, among others, Donald Patten^[277] (1929-2014) and more recently expanded upon by Stuart Harris^(c).

He claims to have identified two celestial events that occurred some 11,640 and 10,340 years ago, which had a profound effect on the Earth and its inhabitants. Students of the Atlantis question cannot fail to note that the older date coincides exactly with the date that was apparently given to Solon for the demise of Atlantis.

Excerpts from Ackerman’s books are available on his website^(a) where he outlines a bizarre view of Atlantis that closely mirrors that of Alan Alford, marrying it with the more extreme ideas of Velikovsky, placing it on Mars, “It is said that more books have been published on the subject of Atlantis than any other, except possibly the Bible and chess. In a recent one, Zangger points out that Atlantis means ‘the daughter of Atlas.’ Thus the key to locating Atlantis lies in identifying Atlas, which we have just done. The concentric circular continents and bodies of water which comprised the ‘mythical’ place called Atlantis are also described in Hindu myth. Mt. Meru, on which Brahma lived was Mt. Olympus on which Zeus dwelt in Greek myth. In that instance, the commentator expressed the view that the ancient Hindus had a very poor knowledge of the geography surrounding the Punjab, since he assumed it was a description of the earth’s surface. By the same token, all of the authors, from Plato to Zangger, have sought Atlantis on Earth. Today the it seems the only possible location, given Plato’s detailed description of the dimensions and layout of a great city. However, no modern scholar has ‘discovered’ the true Atlantis – because it was not on the Earth. It was nearby however, in a position which provided a birds-eye view. It was because it could be seen from Greece to India, that these descriptions are so similar. Atlantis was on the planet priori-Mars, the nearest point of which was only some 33,000 kilometers above the surface of the Earth during the many ‘dance encounters.’ Its location is now buried under the northern ice cap on Mars.”

Ackerman has also published To Catch a Flying Star ^[1884],  in which he claims to offer a scientific explanation for the propulsion system employed by UFOs^(d)!

Ackerman’s best-known books are Firmament^[1417] and Chaos^[1418] which gave him the title of his website.

^(a) Firmament and Chaos (archive.org)

^(b) Acksblog | Become Enlightened – All Ye Who Enter Here. (archive.org)

^(c) https://www.migration-diffusion.info/article.php?year=2017&id=504

^(d) http://www.univelt.com/univeltpubs/miscellaneous/ufobook.htm