- Erich von Daniken, who shot to fame in 1966 with his
best-selling book Chariots of the Gods, has made a comeback. This time,
in his homeland of Switzerland, where he has created a Disneyland-like
theme park for fans of UFOs and alien abductions.
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- Built on a modest budget of £40m, Von Daniken's
Mystery Park doesn't have expensive special effects or sophisticated interactive
computer programmes.
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- Nevertheless, visitors have been flocking to the new
theme park set in a disused airfield outside Interlaken in the Swiss Alps
ever since it opened last month.
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- "The great mysteries of the world exist on all five
continents, but only a few people have the time and the money to travel
to them," said Von Daniken, explaining that the idea was to group
models of these wonders under one roof for convenience.
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- Mystery Park looks like a spaceship stranded in the Alps.
It is divided into seven themed "pavilions" each presenting one
of seven "great mysteries of the world."
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- Von Daniken says the aim is "to ask questions, not
to provide answers" and that he wants to evoke "wonder and astonishment"
in visitors.
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- One pavilion, called "MegaStones" describes
Stonehenge in Wiltshire as "a time machine for high priests"
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- Professor Rudolf von Steiger of the International Space
Science Institute in the Swiss capital of Berne, who visited Mystery Park
before it opened on May 24, said: "It's a theme park, so it's fun.
But no one is going to learn anything there."
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- <http://www.scotsman.com>©2003 scotsman.com
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- http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/international.cfm?id=635922003
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