The return of the gods

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With over 140 photographs, specially designed maps, models, and drawings, Von Däniken applies the same fact-filled analysis to Nazca that launched his 1968 Chariots of the Gods to continuous bestsellerdom. He reports on his many visits to the lost civilization of Nazca, an ancient, isolated settlement deep in the Peruvian desert. He analyzes aerial views and closeups of extraordinary markings that stretched across the land for miles, forming complex shapes and designs unnoticed from the ground but unmistakable from the air. How could primitive people have achieved such an amazing feat? Von Däniken concludes: Forget the theories about religious rituals, irrigation systems, and astrological calendars; these are creations of extraterrestrials. Impossible to explain or even envision from the ground, the mile-long "landing strip," the curious etchings of beasts, and the immense geometric designs and giant mandalas are simple to execute--if their creators could see them from the air.