Erich von Däniken first presented, more than forty years ago, his theory of extraterrestrial contact with the ancient world in his book, Chariots of the Gods, which has had a far-reaching influence on entertainment and science. In the first half of the show, he reviewed his theories and discussed some of his latest ventures. He posited that there were ET visitations around 14,000 years ago, and they influenced humankind with their science--"they gave to our forefathers knowledge about the moon, the sun...and our calendar," he said. The UFOs that visit our planet today, do not have much direct contact with us, and could well be piloted by different beings than the ones who visited our planet thousands of years ago, he noted.

He cited ancient texts from India that referred to three gigantic "cities" that surrounded our planet like stars. A war in the heavens took place and two of the cities were destroyed by massive weapons, he recounted. Regarding the ancient Nazca Lines in Peru-- massive drawings whose designs can only be discerned by air, he pointed out that satellite technology has revealed other huge pictographs around the globe, in such locations as northeast Jordan, South Africa, and Russia. Von Däniken, who just celebrated his 80th birthday at a huge international Congress in his honor at Sindelfingen, Germany, will be appearing next at the Contact in the Desert event in Joshua Tree.

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In the latter half, author and meditation teacher Dean Sluyter shared simple meditation techniques and strategies. While some may associate meditation with mellowness or passivity, he reported that many practitioners are highly successful individuals such as hedge fund managers, championship athletes, and moguls. There are many scientific studies which have shown beneficial effects from meditation, such as the cortical thickening of the hippocampus, which is correlated with learning and memory, while there's a decrease in the volume of the amygdala which is associated with fear and stress, he detailed.

Sluyter, who taught meditation to prisoners in the tough Newark, NJ prison system, suggested that the practice should be approached in an effortless manner, without the meditator trying to overly control the process. "There's a kind of claustrophobia in the way we're caught up in our thoughts and circumstances," but when you meditate you don't have to annihilate these things, you just settle down in your own "dark, silent cave" and all those issues can float away. It's better to do just a short daily meditation practice than not do anything at all, and when one does have a powerful experience during meditation, it's best to remain somewhat detached from it, he advised.

News segment guests: Howard Bloom, Paola Harris