".....Actually it was little more than a side note in the book"


I don't have the book, but the 1975 Time article, mentioned it as "a significant clue" which is why I thought the issue should be cleared up.

The Time article only mentioned as evidence, the textiles, the ceramic pot with a picture that seemed to "...represent a hot-air bag", and the University of Coinbra's documents.

Its interesting how an important international weekly magazine reported the story, and what evidence was thought significant enough to mention.

Its also interesting to see this whole issue of the Nazca balloon theory in its historical context.

In the late sixties, Von Däniken, who had served a 3 1/2 year stint in jail for embezzlement, forgery and fraud, published his sensational 'Chariots of the Gods'which sold tens of millions of copies, and was translated into dozens of languages - a real international best-seller. Von Däniken claimed the Nazca lines were the work of interplanary travelers, so when the balloon idea came along, sceptics quite happily used it to debunk Von Däniken.

Now it turns out, a rather dubious idea was used to debunk another even more dubious idea - can't beat real life for soap opera!

CT