The Dubious Authorial Accomplishments of Giorgio Tsoukalos

4/17/2012

As most of you know, I like to give alternative theorists the benefit of the doubt and actually listen to their evidence before explaining why their theories don’t make any sense. But they don’t make it easy. Have you seen the way Ancient Aliens star Giorgio Tsoukalos has been inflating his credentials? He is routinely identified as the “publisher of Legendary Times,” even though this is (a) only a newsletter and (b) apparently produced very irregularly. According to their website, the last issues were published in 2010—though as with everything in the ancient astronaut world, even this isn’t clear since the website stopped being updated regularly. There is no evidence of any issues after 2010 after a Google search. I’m not sure what kind of credential it is to be the publisher of a title that no one is allowed to know if it still exists.

Anyway, Tsoukalos has also taken to promoting himself as the “author” of something called Gods or Ancient Aliens?, implying that this is a book, since that is typically what authors write. So, since, as I said, I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt to alternative theorists, I figured I ought to read this book to see what evidence it provides for the ancient astronaut theory. I Googled it, and… nothing. Just as searching for Legendary Times fails to turn up the magazine, a search for Gods or Ancient Aliens yields no book. Instead, all I can find is a 90-minute “dynamic, fast-paced powerpoint [sic] presentation” and a rash of fake (I hope) OkCupid profiles for Giorgio Tsoukalos copying his promotional text about being the “author” of Gods or Ancient Aliens.

Is that all it takes to be an “author” in the ancient astronaut world? I suppose after having redefined “science” as “opinions” and “facts” as “lies,” ancient astronaut theorists can also redefine “author” as someone who pastes together quotes for a PowerPoint presentation.

But it cheapens the title of author for all of us—including, heaven help us, ancient astronaut theorists—who actually do the work of writing actual books.

49 Comments

Ben McGee link

4/17/2012 01:01:04 pm

Fantastic post. Humorous, unforgiving. It's one thing to promote fun speculation; it's another entirely to assume false authority and cloak speculation under the guise of fact. I applaud your efforts!
Cheers,
Ben

Robin Swope link

5/9/2012 01:36:52 pm

I often wondered where they got this guy. I thought he might be one of the people funding the production somehow.
I await his lauding of doctoral degrees from the Universal Life Church Monastery or a similar online institution.

Jason Colavito link

5/9/2012 01:47:58 pm

Robin...I accidentally deleted your comment. I'm sorry. Tsoukalos is a former bodybuilding promoter who fell in with Eric von Daniken and became his spokesman and then the head of the Ancient Astronaut Society.

Hugo L.

6/8/2012 07:37:41 am

You last phrase made me chuckle laugh out loud. And now i'm going to to powerpoint to begin my author career lol.

Jason Colavito link

6/8/2012 08:17:15 am

Be sure not to let anyone see your PowerPoint until they've paid the $125 admission fee!

Ginny

4/13/2013 08:10:31 am

Why do you let him get under your skin so much? You sound quite obsessed with debunking everything he says. It almost sounds more like jealousy and envy. If he is a fraud, or simply misguided in what he believes (which would put him in with anyone belonging to any organized religion), I'm puzzled as to WHY you let him bother you so much. Sometimes it's just better to let things go. Just an outside observation and an idol thought, though I have seen this same sort of behavior so many times. Not letting it go harms you way more than it harms him.

Peace

Jason Colavito link

4/13/2013 09:59:02 am

Now there's a first. Usually I get accused of being obsessed with Scott Wolter. It goes with the territory of covering alternative writers that one must discuss them. You'll find that I've written extensively about Graham Hancock, David Childress, Philip Coppens, Robert Temple, Scott Wolter, and others. Churning out 365 or more blog posts a year for three years now, I do end up mentioning each more than once. "Letting it go" would only encourage them to fabricate more evidence and deceive more people.

Giorgio Tsokalous

7/20/2013 07:20:10 pm

Love you too Jason :)

Bill Robinson

9/26/2014 05:04:59 pm

Good lord man, these folks are not claiming to be the second coming of Christ! They are very entertaining and informative. Have you ever heard of an open mind? Yours is obviously rusted shut.

Darren R

6/9/2017 07:31:02 pm

> "Letting it go" would only encourage them to fabricate more evidence and deceive more people. "

Yeah... that's only slightly less believable than the things Tsoukalos says.

Bill Robinson

9/26/2014 04:56:15 pm

Great comeback Ginny, I agree wholeheartedly.

Rill bobinson

12/16/2018 09:21:01 am

No it wasn’t.

Why are you so obsessed with commenting on this blog? It’s not the second coming of the Old Testament. Why don’t you just let it go? Have you ever heard of an open mind? Yours is clearly riddled with holes.

Frank

2/3/2019 06:33:13 pm

Informative?

He makes statements that are either unsupported by facts or have been shown to be not true.

He does ask lots of 'could it be......' questions.

How about 'could it be that the sun doesn't exist and that the heat and light on the earth are created by a giant machine created by aliens?.

Josilynn

12/3/2018 08:34:31 pm

Why wouldn’t you be upset when presented with this kind of information? I’m not going to get into it completely but this just goes along with the lies that the media tells us and the unfortunate acceptance of quite a large population of the world to just except anything that they hear on a news/educational type of programming as complete and faithful fact. If you are going to be speaking in front of an unimaginable amount of people on national television you should be required to have credentials proving that you are giving accurate and articulated opinions and facts. When does it end? Should the media and the creators of these kinds of shows just run down to the grocery store, find the first bag person they see, bring them back to the studio, dress them up and then put them on TV after telling them to just go ahead and give your opinion on whatever you want and we will present it as fact. If we keep on believing in everything that we here and see as fact I seriously fear for our future! Wake up everyone in the world and see what these “people in positions of power” are feeding us, start to think for yourselves or we are doomed as a species!

Frank

2/3/2019 06:34:56 pm

Exactly.
Well said.

robert

9/4/2013 11:01:31 am

Apparently you keep him up at nights reading about his credentials and I thought his hair was the joke.... and as far as letting this go I agree, most of what he and many others say is misleading and out right fabricated nonsense. I cannot discount the idea of life beyond our own solar system but some of the stuff they claim is actually a hinderance and a step backwards in truly understanding the unknown which is what science is supposed to do. I also understand it is entertainment and should be taken as such but so many people watch these programs and take it at face value thinking that these guys are "experts" because they saw them on tv. Hardly, any one does the ground work and actually check out the sources, which in any academic research would be done, ten fold. With that said I commend you and your diligent work, as for the critics sounds like your snake in the grass is pulling out his minions in an attempt to rebuke your statements.

john

4/14/2014 02:44:28 pm

Giorgio A. Tsoukalos (Greek: Γεώργιος Α. Τσούκαλος; born March 19, 1978) is a Swiss-born Greek writer, television personality, and proponent of the idea that ancient astronauts interacted with ancient humans.[2] He was the publisher of the now defunct Legendary Times magazine, that featured articles from Erich von Däniken (Chariots of the Gods?), David Hatcher Childress, Peter Fiebag, Robert Bauval, and Luc Bürgin, on the topic of ancient astronauts.[2]

Tsoukalos has been the director of Erich von Däniken's Center for Ancient Astronaut Research ( the A.A.S. R.A. – Archaeology, Astronautics and SETI Research Association) for over 15 years, and has appeared on The Travel Channel, The History Channel, the Sci-Fi Channel, the National Geographic Channel, as well as Coast to Coast AM, and is a consulting producer of the television series Ancient Aliens.

This information from wikipedia, also you can get back copies of this mag and books from legendarytimesbooks.com

Will Payne

1/26/2015 12:41:52 am

My question is, why is wrong with thoughts that ancient alien theorists provoke? Science should be open minded to ALL possibilities.By ignoring those possibilities that closes off everything that could be learned by exploring that theory. How would you explain Puma Punku, or any other megalithic structure? So far ancient astronaught theories are the only ones that make sense.

1/5/2018 05:12:22 am

No. AA 'theories' do not make the most sense, not by a long shot. Why can't people understand that primitive doesn't mean stupid?

ALL of these "theories" have been debunked years, decades ago.

"How to explain all these megalithic structures?"
A lot of people doing manual labor over time with the tools they used. No aliens needed.

Josilynn

12/3/2018 08:39:53 pm

Absolutely nothing wrong with it, everybody should have an open mind about everything that is out there. Never stop asking questions! The problem is with his people that are being put on TV telling millions and billions of people things that are supposedly fact or highly educated opinions when these people have absolutely no education or background on the subject. We’re never going to move forward if we listen to people who have no idea what they’re talking about. Especially these people who take bits and pieces of information scattered from all over the place and make it fit into the little puzzle that they’re trying to put together and ignore all of the other facts from the information that they have taken that inconveniently for them poke holes in every single theory that is expelled from there mouth.

Mick Breazeale

1/22/2023 10:51:11 pm

As a scientist, if you close yourself off, to only looking under the street lamps for your keys, you’re never going to find your damn keys.
Dr. Travis S. Taylor

Travis Taylor investigates ufo activity, extraterrestrial encounters, ancient astronaut theory, ancient alien visitation, and other such mysteries. He was speaking of the ‘habit’ of the scientific community to ignore the possibility of the existence of other-worldly beings.

Lisa

2/23/2015 10:16:11 pm

Jason, you seem as pompous as Giorgio's hair. Not that there's anything wrong with Giorgio's hair.

Natalie

3/27/2015 09:14:44 am

Skeptics always grasp at straws to make visionaries seem insane and obsolete. To you I say enjoy being trapped inside your small mind. Ignorance is bliss,after all.

The GRIM!

5/26/2015 06:50:01 pm

VISIONARY? REALLY? THAT TSOUKALOS IS A MORON! AND YOUR THE IGNORANT ONE IF YOU BELIEVE THE LIES, AND CRAP HE SPEWS! THERE IS NO EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT ANY OF HIS BS AND THE BS ANCIENT ALIEN MYTH!

1/27/2020 10:14:16 pm

you haven't researched this man one bit if you are serious in what you just said Natalie, hes a fraud

Olias

4/10/2015 05:25:43 am

I've been trying to find somewhere or someone that can tell me where to find help understanding something. I see things before they happen. I've been this way all my life. Please don't poke fun. It's real. I don't know what to do. I would like to learn how to focus it better.

NICK B

11/1/2016 09:56:12 am

THIS HAPPENS TO ME TOO. IT USED TO HAPPEN ALOT MORE WHEN I WAS YOUNGER AND MY MIND AND BODY WERE AS ONE. I STILL SEE THINGS BEFORE THEY HAPPEN, JUST NOT AS MUCH AS I USED TO. THERE ARE MORE OF US OUT THERE, AND I AM WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO EXPLAIN WHY THIS HAPPENS TOO, WHY WE CAN SEE SOME THINGS BEFORE THEY HAPPEN.

1/5/2018 05:14:32 am

Simple answer? You can't see into the future.

Don link

5/11/2015 05:44:51 pm

I look at Georgio as just a bit of entertainment - Excuse me but he can't even pronounce "Extra-Terrestrial"! On the other side of the issue though Jason I believe that the ancient humans called ET's God!

Chris Kurisu

9/7/2019 09:07:03 pm

Thank you! I can't believe that hardly anyone notices this. EXTA terresTIALS. Drives me nuts to listen to him say it.

1/27/2020 10:15:25 pm

Not when its put on History channel ffs

John

5/15/2015 05:32:07 am

I find all of this very amusing, if a little far fetched. On one hand you get fascinating bits such as the picture of the Stegosaurus at Ankor Wat then crazy statements about the lines of standing stones in France being navigation markers for Ancient Aliens. I suspect that if they found their way half way across the galaxy they may have technology which would allow them to find their way around our planet without needing to coerce stone age Man to drag huge numbers of stones around as signposts. Maybe their Sat nav wouldn't work so far from home...

NICK B

11/1/2016 10:00:59 am

STONES AND ROCKS ARE AN EXCELLENT WAY OF LEAVING MARKERS THAT WILL LAST THOUSANDS OF YEARS. IF TECHNOLOGICAL MARKERS WERE USED , ANYONE WOULD REMOVE THE TECHNOLOGY FOR SOME OTHER USE. ALSO LARGE STONES CAN BE SEEN FROM FARTHER DISTANCES AND ALIEN TECHNOLOGY CAN PICK THESE MARKERS UP FROM GREATER DISTANCES IN THE SAME WAY OUR DEEP SPACE PROBES ARE BRINGING PICTURES BACK FROM MARS' SURFACE. WE LOOK AT THOSE PICTURES FOR RIVERBEDS OR ANYTHING THAT SHOWED CIVILIZATION ONCE EXISTED ON MARS. SO WHY CAN'T ALIENS HAVE COME TO EARTH TENS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO AND LEFT SIMILAR MARKERS HERE ON EARTH? HOW DO WE KNOW ALIENS DIDN'T BRING HUMAN LIFE TO EARTH?

Frank

2/3/2019 06:23:53 pm

Seriously?

If we visited Mars, we would not put stone markers down to show the path to anything.

The stones you are talking about are much, much smaller than the features you can see on Mars.

In any case, why would someone want to see a 'path' when they aren't actually close by? I.e., what would be the purpose of seeing the path at distances greater than the length of our solar system?

1/27/2020 10:28:56 pm

rofl we got Nick B here , Apparent Expert in Alien Technologies

"ALIEN TECHNOLOGY CAN PICK THESE MARKERS UP FROM GREATER DISTANCES IN THE SAME WAY OUR DEEP SPACE PROBES ARE BRINGING PICTURES BACK FROM MARS' SURFACE"

sigh

Why is it so hard for so many to think that we did it ourselves? the big thing that creates this misinformation is the elder and younger dryas around 10k years ago, it effected most of the earth and wiped out all the more advanced civilizations at the time that lived near the coasts and all over north / south America (as the meteor hit Greenland) as well as Europe and a lot of Asia, only south and east Africa were relatively unaffected,also many animals died including the last of the ice age super giant mammals like sabre tooth tigers and mammoths ,giant sloths etc

1/27/2020 10:18:09 pm

People seem to have a hard time realizing that we as Humans are an amazing species who was capable of doing all this by ourselves, Most think of our ancestors as cave men and dont realize how advanced they were b4 the younger and elder dryas reset most of human civilization around 10k years ago

Phil

5/16/2015 06:06:02 am

Would you like to see evidence of these things. I was a skeptic and always wanted to see something. So I just looked. I would see these lights in the sky doing strange things. So I bought a video camera with a 900 power zoom lens and went to work. I have seen things that cannot be debunked. I have video of things mankind was not meant to see. I watched them and they watched me. Whatever this is alien or spirits they entered upon me. Then I began to be tormented by something. TORMENTED.

I even had MUFON come over and while they stood there and told me I was mistaken with what I saw this stuff came flying by. They obviously did not want to know or admit either way. The guy did make a statement that rings in my ear to this day. "We are going back to Austin and you have to come to terms with this". As the lady said above if you deny this then you have to deny God. I have to go the other direction if what I have seen is real, which assuredly it is, then by default God has to be real. I finally right again with God and quit looking and the tormenting just stopped. This stuff is still there but I keep my nose out of it. So the name of my book will be "Be Careful What You Wish For".

Katherine

8/16/2015 03:07:40 am

Believe what you may I was a child when all of these things were happening to us. I have tried to shut it out but I have seen things I can never forget.

1/5/2018 05:17:46 am

You saw lights, couldn't recognize them, therefore aliens, therefore god is real?

Ask the nurse to increase your meds.

1/27/2020 10:34:43 pm

honestly i had to facepalm when reading that comment, i saw lights in the sky that i could not explain therefore aliens and that must mean god is real! is sounds more like this person had some sorta faith problem and has gone through quite the leap of logic to come to some sort of settlement with themselves and what they want to believe because they wanted to think god is real and something made them think otherwise so this long logic leaping line of thought was created to create a way to make it ok in the persons mind . its sad, if people did more research into actual SCIENCE and not Mufon videos and ancient aliens than you might actually find real answers .

Wyatt

2/15/2019 10:35:04 am

Do me a favor and YouTube “synchronized drones”. I don’t want to hear that man made objects can’t move like this or that.. you have no reference point to tell the size of or how far something is away from you in the night sky.

1/27/2020 10:41:46 pm

EXACTLY there's so much ignorance in a lot of these conclusions and then instead of real science research they go look for ufo vids or ancient alien "experts (rofl)"

aliens are real in some form math dictates that but much of this thinking is pure insanity and ignorance, we are an amazing species that did all of these amazing things ourselves over long periods of time its that simple, our civilization has evolved then faced extinction events multiple multiple times throughout our evolution , each time setting us back by wiping out our largest most civilized coastal cities etc... the last large two were the elder and younger dryas around 12-14 thousand years ago which ended the ice age by hitting Greenland/ the northern hemispheres ice sheet and rapidly melting it causing the oceans to rise drastically fast and finished off the last of the large ice age mammals like sabre tooth tigers , mammoths etc and then another smaller dryas a couple thousand years later .

Rob D link

8/15/2015 01:05:08 pm

To all of you who don't believe anything spoken about on ancient aliens, do you believe the bible ? There's far less truth spoken in there than there is on ancient aliens.

Frank

2/3/2019 06:25:32 pm

Great point.
What does that say about what's in the bible?

Darrell Tipper link

1/1/2016 10:09:45 pm

Say what you want, he is dang sure putting out what is obviously being kept from the sheeple. Go Giorgio.

Gong Phale

12/16/2018 09:27:32 am

Not doing a very good job of keeping it from the sheeple if he is putting out there then, are they?

Michele

9/23/2016 10:38:59 pm

I think aliens live in Giorgio's hair.

Jeffrey

12/15/2017 08:23:38 pm

Ancient alien theorist, religion and blog writers...All just opinion.

Tim

1/10/2020 12:34:57 pm

Theory v facts. Why hasn't a UFO ever been found, why hasn't a Bigfoot ever been found, why hasn't a Loch Ness ever washed up on the shore? Thousands of (so-called) sightings, extensive investigations, and millions of dollars made promoting all this stuff and here we are......ZERO EVIDENCE. Nothing more than opinion, wild imaginations, speculation and mental instability.

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