We can thank New Wave Science Fiction and its experimental “what if” nature of soft science for everything from Star Trek (and so fake Spock toys) to works which emphasized “hypothesis” of ancient human-extraterrestrial contact. It’s the last group, the sensationalized books which are the fodder of Roswell conspiracists, which seem to find me. Like this stack of retro paperbacks. Hey, Star Trek may have been the most accurate in terms of technological predictions; but Chariots Of The Gods has given us all Ancient Aliens on the History Channel. Yeah, that’s not much of a defense. But a few of them might be kind of fun to read… Or not. I can’t promise anything in any direction.
Many of these books also appeared as movies, believe it or not – cheaply produced documentaries that played in first-run movie theaters, and were advertised on local television channels. (At least, in the New York area, where I grew up.) I think these were very successful; “Chariots of the Gods” played for quite a while.