is this where battlestar galactica got started

[solarbird]

Okay, so Battlestar Galactica, right? The excellent reboot which was a remake of the Glen Larson 1970s better-than-first-impression demi-classic. Mormonism plus Ancient Astronauts = Space Apocalypse and/or Space Adventures, depending.

I’ve never really studied how far back that whole Ancient Astronauts bullshit goes, because I have better things to do with my life, but I stumbled across something today. Could this bit of I-can-see-how-you-get-there-but-wow nuttiness from the March 1961 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact be the starting point?

The article is called “The Four-Faced Visitors of Ezekiel,” and its thesis is that they were not so much angels as space travellers, misinterpreted. Only it’s not really billed as fiction, it’s more of a “what if?” kind of piece.

Searching around for more about the “Ezekiel” author, I found this blog post from a “UFO Investigator” which talks about how you can draw a straight line from Jack Kirby’s comic book character, “Metron,” to this very article in Analog. Halperin asserts Metron is Metatron – which I think we all have to agree is the most Kirby name ever invented for an angel, but that’s beside the point – with the serial numbers filed off, and points at the similarities in drawings between the article and the comics.

So – Analog Science Fiction and Fact (1961) to Jack Kirby’s Metron (1971) to Däniken’s Chariots of the Gods (who even cares get out of here you hack) to Glen A. Larson’s Battlestar Galactica (1978) and BSG (2007)? Is this a thing?

And if so, does Neon Genesis Evangelion belong in here too?

I don’t even know.

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Comments

[typographer]

Since I was alive and a sci fi fan in rural communities where Chariots of the Gods really seemed to strike a nerve, I can assure you that Däniken's book was published a few years BEFORE Kirby's Metron... so your order is only slightly off.

And I agree he's a hack, but if you wanna talk about getting an idea into the collective consciousness, I think more people were influenced by Däniken's book and the ludicrous "documentary" than Kirby.

[solarbird]

Yeah, I coulda looked that date up, but see parenthetical comment. XD

[mdlbear]

Gods! I remember reading that when it was published -- I would have turned 14 that month.

[solarbird]

Which, "The Four-Faced Visitors of Ezekiel"?

Are you aware of the blog Galactic Journey? That's actually how I found the article. ^_^

[mdlbear]

Yes, and no. Thanks for the link, though I'll probably do little more than glance at it. Too many distractions already.