Even though it is barely implied in the series, is it
correct to assume that the Voltes V series is nonetheless has some ancient
astronaut theory or ancient alien theory influences?
By: Ringo Bones
The distance between planet earth and planet bozania may be
4,324 parsecs or 14,096.24 light years, which means a radio message sent from
earth traveling at the speed of light – 186,000 miles per second - will take a
little over 14,000 years to reach bozania. And despite such vast distances,
current theoretical physics, especially the one put forth by Prof. Miguel
Alcubierre, points out that such vast distances can be traversed by intelligent
beings possessing “warp” travel technology that allows then to travel almost
10,000 times faster than light without breaking Laws of Relativity put forth by
Albert Einstein. Such hints of fantastic future technologies is primarily the
basis of the ancient astronaut theory / ancient alien theory first put forth by
Charles Fort in 1919 but was made famous around the world by Erich Von Däniken
when he published his book “Chariot of the Gods?” back in 1968.
To those unfamiliar with the concept, ancient astronaut
theory / ancient alien theory claims that intelligent technologically advanced
life-forms visited earth in ancient times and profoundly affected the
development of human civilization. Even though no such event happened in Voltes
V. The setting of the story in theyear 1989 when it was first aired in 1977
suggests that technologically advanced extraterrestrial beings capable of faster-than-light
interstellar travel are readily willing to help us earthlings to advance our
preexisting scientific capabilities – although in Voltes V, the purpose is to
prepare the human race defend ourselves from an alien threat.
Even though it is very hard to ignore the influence of ancient
alien theory / ancient astronaut theory as a literary device in almost every
work of science fiction published around the end of World War II and its peak during
the 1960s Age of Aquarius, many a good science fiction with a large following
and ones with a “cult following” – i.e. Voltes V in the Philippines – seems to
have owed its existence to Erich Von Däniken’s
“Chariots of the Gods?”. At least this concept is a sure-fire way to sell
science fiction.
