Clarifying - I hardly think RR is a crackpot; he didn't make these things up, and they're not, as Keith points out, any harder to swallow than the "standard brand" literalist interpretation of scripture. They're fascinating to speculate on, but in the end "could have meant" is a long trot from "proves." And the whole "ancient aliens" theme has a load of von Daniken baggage to overcome - he was a crackpot.