Swiss writer, Erich von Däniken, was fascinated by Nazca and was also a strong believer in extraterrestrial visitations. Von Daniken writes about his beliefs about archeology sites such as the Egyptian pyramids, Stonehenge, and Easter Island, and how they are connected to extraterrestrials. He often explains the origins of religions as reactions of ancient people when they came in contact with an alien race. Von Daniken published a best-selling book titled Chariots of the Gods? in 1968. In this book he describes [43] his theory that these mysterious lines were actually used as landing sites for UFOs. He theorized that the shapes and lines were made by aliens and were created to help steer their spaceships, as well as work as landing pads. Von Daniken claimed the patterns at this site looked very similar to a modern airport and used this as evidence that proved that aliens used this area as a landing place for their spaceships. Däniken claimed that the Nazca lines site reflected visits by astronauts from other worlds, who became the creators of ancient civilizations.

Even when the countries were not formally at war, tension remained high, and royal authority in either or both kingdoms was often weak, particularly in remote locations. The difficulty and uncertainties of basic human survival meant that communities and/or people kindred to each other would seek security through group strength and cunning. They would attempt to improve their livelihoods at their nominal enemies' expense, enemies who were frequently also just trying to survive. Loyalty to a feeble or distant monarch and reliance on the effectiveness of the law usually made people a target for depredations rather than conferring any security.

Cardinal Bellarmine had written in 1615 that the Copernican system could not be defended without "a true physical demonstration that the sun does not circle the earth but the earth circles the sun".[84] Galileo considered his theory of the tides to provide such evidence.[85] This theory was so important to him that he originally intended to call his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems the Dialogue on the Ebb and Flow of the Sea.[86] The reference to tides was removed from the title by order of the Inquisition.[citation needed] For Galileo, the tides were caused by the sloshing back and forth of water in the seas as a point on the Earth's surface sped up and slowed down because of the Earth's rotation on its axis and revolution around the Sun. He circulated his first account of the tides in 1616, addressed to Cardinal Orsini.[87] His theory gave the first insight into the importance of the shapes of ocean basins in the size and timing of tides; he correctly accounted, for instance, for the negligible tides halfway along the Adriatic Sea compared to those at the ends. As a general account of the cause of tides, however, his theory was a failure.[citation needed]