Our Cosmic Ancestors is a dynamic work unraveling the messages of these "universal astronauts" and decoding the symbols and visual mathematics they have left for us in the Egyptian Pyramids, Stonehenge, the Mayan calendar, the Maltese Cross and the Sumerian zodiac. The book is captivating reading from beginning to end. However Mr. Chatelain's purpose in sharing these exciting discoveries lies in the hope that all humans will extend their horizons, to release fear of the unknown just enough that another generation will exhibit growing curiosity to continue the search for signs of purposeful nurturing of this planet.
I have, probably, hundreds of books on antediluvian civilizations, pyramidology, prehistoric monoliths, Atlantis, aliens, etc. by well-known authors such as E. Raymond Capt, Zechariah Sitchin, L.A. Marzulli, Joseph A. Seiss, Adrian Gilbert, Immanuel Velikovsky, and many others. "Our Cosmic Ancestors" by Maurice Chatelain (1988) is one of my favorites. It is brief, and covers many topics that I have not read of elsewhere in concise chapters. I was most interested in the chapter on "the constant of Nineveh," a sort of cosmic constant known by the ancients that Chatelain explains at an introductory level. You can read all about it on this Gnosis web page if you would like to appreciate more why the Nineveh constant is so compelling (find two essays in left margin at skhane.com). Other chapters discuss the Rhodes Calculator, the Maltese Cross, the Mayan Calendar and many other interesting topics devoting 10-20 pages per chapter. Chatelain's discussions of these topics are accessible for a nontechnical person, and provide a substantial introduction to these unconventional topics.
You will read things you cannot find anywhere else.
A major problem is that much of what is discussed is idealised mathematics, possibly facts fitting theories a little too conveniently.
The gist of the work is that computers are seemingly required for many of the supposed ancient calculations, seem to relate to space distances, etc. Many constants, numbers seem irrelevant to Earth purposes.
If you can overlook the conclusions, he raises MANY pertinent points:
* The ancient builders of Baalbek knew our metric system. (I actually find it fascinating that Sumerians had our half meter as a measure. There is some hidden history here, some background to the metric system of which we are not aware, perhaps in the Earth's coordinates itself, a meter being a one ten millionth of the pole to equator. Etc. )
* An excellent discovery that the Mayan Calendar is based around 260 Great Conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn. Few astrologers even know what a Great Conjunction is. I feel it is essential to understanding the mathematics of the pyramids builders, worldwide, in the fourth millennium BC.
Charles Kos, author of "In Search of the Origin of Pyramids and the Lost Gods of Giza."
A FORMER NASA SCIENTIST LOOKS AT EVIDENCE FOR ANCIENT ALIENS
Author Maurice Chatelain Wrote in the Introduction of this 1987 book, “Most American space flights, from Mercury and Gemini to Apollo, were followed by unknown spacecraft that could have come from another civilization in outer space and have already established bases on the Moon… Modern calculation of ancient eclipse and conjunction dates shows that everything that is written in the Bible is the true story of historical events that really happened in the past but have been slowly distorted y many successive writers, translators, and interpreters who could not find the right words for events or objects which they had never seen before… the numbers of lights and landings of alien spacecraft have been increasing recently, as well as mysterious messages received from outer space; and it seems that the time is not far when we will finally meet our cosmic cousins, the descendants of our ancestors from outer space.”
He states, “All that… does not explain how our ancestors knew about the existence of Proserpine any more than it explains who told them that Mars has two satellites, Jupiter four, Saturn seven, and Uranus two. And how did the Dogons, a primitive tribe of Mali, know that an enormous planet circles around the star Sirius, with a revolution period of fifty years? I certainly do not want to give the impression that I am entirely devoted to extraterrestrial civilizations and flying saucers; but in all honesty, one has to wonder how our distant ancestors of the Stone Age could possibly have had all of this knowledge of astronomy and mathematics? They could not have found it all by themselves. Somebody had to have helped them, a god or an astronaut.” (Pg. 45)
He asserts, “As impossible and improbable as it may seem, apparently the ancient Egyptians must have been capable of predicting the future and set up radiation barriers against us, impenetrable even to electronic scouting. It looks as if some space astronauts thousands of years ago had installed electromagnetic radiation sources in at least one of the pyramids of their vicinity just to prevent the electronic devices of later generations from discovering their hidden secrets.” (Pg. 70)
He suggests, “For very good reasons, ethnologists have concluded that the earthlings of 30,000 years ago were not highly developed. But we have seen that around that time, astounding knowledge was demonstrated on several continents, always in the same basic style. This can make sense only if we are willing to accept the theory of visiting space gods, that it was astronauts who caused the great change by insemination and selective mutation, thus creating a new hybrid human race adapted to the climate and living conditions on Earth while retaining at least some of the high intelligence and knowledge of the original visitors.” (Pg. 90)
He argues, “Personally, I am convinced that the story of Atlantis, as Solon heard it from Sonchis, and as Plato has given it to us, is true from beginning to end; and some day the ruins of Atlantis will be found, just as one after another we found the once legendary Troy, Mycenae, Tiryns, and Knossos. Meanwhile, we can look at the information that has been assembled about Atlantis and the catastrophe that made it disappear.” (Pg. 173)
He recounts, “Thirty years ago, I did not believe in flying saucers. At that time I was working for NASA as a space scientist, on the Communications System of the Apollo spacecraft, which was to land on the Moon five years later. Then the UFO phenomenon was practically unknown; and anyway, none of us would have dared to mention in NASA circles, because that would certainly have been the end of one’s career. Then I made several trips to France, where I learned from French scientists not only that the UFO problem was real, but also that it was seriously investigated by official agencies of several European countries including Russia. Unfortunately, I had to keep that for myself when I came back. Now things have changed. First of all, I am not working for NASA any longer. Then NASA itself has been forced to recognize the existence of the UFO phenomenon, and even to admit that it did not know what it was or where it was coming from… Moreover, according to recent astronomical discoveries, it is now very likely that there might exist other civilizations in outer space, and that some of them could even be far more advanced than we. It is therefore perfectly logical to try to establish a contact with these civilizations, first by listening to the messages that they might try to transmit to us, then by sending them simple messages ourselves with the primitive means at our disposal, such as radio and laser, for example.” (Pg. 193 He summarizes, “Personally, I believe that they really exist and I keep trying to find out exactly what they are, where they come from, and why they come and visit us at this particular time in the history of human evolution. Maybe they are just trying to warn us that we are on the eve of a terrible cosmic cataclysm that will destroy almost everything on the surface of the Earth, as it has already happened several times before a very long time ago. In that case, it might be a good idea to listen to them.” (Pg. 203)
He concludes, “Years ago, when I decided to write this book, I wanted to prove the accuracy of three of my favorite theories that would help explain many great mysteries of the past.” (Pg. 205) He adds, “It is evident that all the theories and hypotheses that I have proposed here are subject to further verification, and it is possible that some will be proven inexact, as is often the case with this kind of research, touching on the outer limits of exact sciences. But that seems to be of lesser importance to me, at least as far as we are concerned now. What is important is to launch and set in motion new ideas, so that these can inspire subsequent generations to make their own discoveries and formulate new theories.” (Pg. 212)
This book will interest those studying ‘Ancient Aliens’ theories.
I have seen this book referred to in many other works which explore the idea of ancient aliens and extraterrestrial intervention, etc. and therefore was keen to delve into it for myself. It's a good book and it's written rather well, especially Chatelain's colorful descriptions of how he believes things may have happened in our planet's distant past. For the book as a whole to really make sense we must accept that, in Chatelain's own words "...these mysteries have just one explanation, the intervention of astronauts from another world, who came, just as the Bible tells us, to create, educate, and civilize a new human race in their own image". While not quite as fully convinced as the author, I do firmly believe that the history of the human race differs somewhat to the established view of 'science' and that which we are taught at school. I've always thought that to adequately explain many things from ancient times, based on what remains today, there must have been a whole lot more knowledge and technology in use than we give credit for, including certain abilities to move objects and manipulate matter like the huge monuments and engineering feats that we could not accomplish today even with modern equipment. The author is right, contact with advanced extraterrestrial beings could explain so much of these anomalies (and the evidence for this hypothesis is actually rather abundant) and therein lies the idea of this book. Chatelain uses a lot of numbers and mathematics at times, but makes no apologies for this because one needs to look at the numbers for proof of much of this particular subject, like how the ancients had a thorough understanding of complex geometry and astronomy which lead to amazingly accurate constructions and celestial calendars, etc. This list goes on, and this book outlines the notion in a concise fashion that works well for readers who are not mathematicians or scientists, the layperson if you will (like me). Overall a recommended read for those people with a thirst for understanding of the world around us, and the universe as a whole.
This one is quite different from the other more traditional ancient alien books, it has some affinity witoh Andrew Thomas's book "We were not the first". The author focus on not only the achievements of the ancient civilisations but on their numerical systems and mathematical coincidences. As the book was written quite some time ago, it is easy for us to understand that some of his points became a bit obsolete compared to more contemporary investigations, though the modern reader will still find plenty to get amused by. It is not the easiest book to read, it does require some effort but interesting all the same.
NASA expert discusses possible connections between ancient monuments, the signs of the zodiac and advanced civilizations that have been lost to history.
Written by the former NASA chief of communications, this book reveals new, hidden information re our origins on Earth . Not a new agey read, but rather a highly scientific read in most areas, it discusses matter-of-factly incidents, issues, information, that I had never before encountered despite the fact that I have read extensively in this subject area.