Von Daniken's concepts inspire Alien's creators

leading from 

Afterworlds 
and 

Erich Von Daniken

a)  The Von Daniken Phenomena
i.) Erich Von Däniken wrote a book of fantastical speculations about extra-terrestrials having visited Earth in the distant past, created mankind in their own image and there were giants as well, and they were responsible for the pyramids of Giza. The book was called "Chariots of the Gods" and was published in 1968.  He was only writing a book about his own private naive speculations about some of the world's ancient enigmatic mysteries, and because the book became a success, he became a victim of Switzerland's dislike of new ideas, he was ridiculed by the press and the public for many years to come. As time went by, Erich's point of view on the subject evolved and the arguments about the origins of these ancient structures have increased, which have been a starting point for many other people's ideas about the possibilities of technically advanced civilisations who have visited Earth in the ancient past.

b) One of Erich's most famous ideas was that the image on the Sarcophagus Lid of the Tomb of Pakal Votan depicted an astronaut in a rocket ship cockpit. Another was that the Nazca Lines were used by ancient astonauts as a landing strip.

c. ) Books were written continuing to rebuttle his claims such as Ron Story's book Space Gods revealed published in 1976 with a forward by Carl Sagan who seemed to find some value in Von Daniken's books welcoming the idea of their popularity in schools and colleges as object lessons in sloppy thinking. (See: Carl Sagan vs Von Däniken and Skeptics in for the attack on Von Däniken )

drawing credited to Dan O'Bannon

d) Dan O'Bannon Inspired by Eric Von Däniken
One of the earth crew in the original script the character speculated about the pyramid in relation to the Space Jockey " Maybe the rest of the crew is in there -- in some kind of suspended animation, waiting to be rescued." which is an idea related to Von Daniken's explorations into what the Pyramids were about.

e) Walter Hill's cynicism towards Von Däniken
Walter Hill said words in relation to talking about the presence of a pyramid in the original script, that the alien eggs were in the bottom of a pyramid and that indeed in the script there were pyramids and hieroglyphics on the plantetoid but he mentioned there connection with Von Däniken's ideas with some of it in derision.

f) Chris Foss inspired by Erich Von Däniken

Chris Foss the artist who was one of the concept designers for Alien also took inspiration from the book Chariot of the Gods when he drew the Nazca Lines being used a landing strip by a space craft for a project not related to Alien.

g) HR Giger influenced by Erich Von Däniken
When Ridley chose some ideas from Giger's Necronomicon for the space jockey, more was required beyond that for the design of the space jockey and his seat which forced him to turn to images of the ancient Egyptian funerary barge of the god Sokar to transform that using his imagination into his ancient alien dead pilot in its control seat, perhaps much like the Sarcophagus Lid the Tomb of Pakal Votan appears to have translated itself in Von Däniken's mind into an ancient astronaut in a rocket ship whatever the truth of the matter. (see 3. Evolution of Space Jockey via the Egyptian Book of the Dead) However  in 2014, it suddenly dawned on me that Giger's painting Necronom V had been inspired by the Sarcopaghus lid ( See: Necronom V: Biomechanised Pakal Votan Tomb Lid.) and in the middle of that year I discovered that there was a book Die Däniken-Story. which Giger's friend Sergius Golowin had co-written with  Gilbert Albert Bourquin

Die Däniken-Story by Sergius Golowin and Gilbert Albert Bourquin

h) Ancient Aliens.
Von Daniken's ideas would still catch the imagination into the 21st Century,  in 2010,  a TV series called Ancient Aliens exploring his whole view with the idea of presenting the "hypotheses of ancient astronauts and proposes that historical texts, archaeology and legends contain evidence of past human-extraterrestrial contact. The show has been criticized for presenting disputed pseudoscience." (and endlessly groups of people have found the need to debunk the claims made in the TV series.  

Source Quotes

1. Walter Hill: Dan was deeply into pyramidology at the time.   (Starlog July 1979, p95) 
2. Walter Hill: There was this genuflect to pyramidology, the alien eggs were in the bottom of a pyramid. (Cinefantastique , vol 9, number 1, p16)    
3. Walter Hill: They had pyramids and hieroglyphics on the planetoid, a lot of Von Däniken crap. (Film International)  
4. HR Giger: Chur became famous in the world press as the place where Erich Von Daniken was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for fraud - a term otherwise reserved for murderers. It shows that the inhabitants of Graubunden for fantastists, foreigners or people from other parts of Switzerland have a chance if they bring money into the canton, like Gunter sachs or the Shah of Persia. (Giger's Necronomicon, p12)(N.B. Chur us the capital of Graunbunden which is a cantor (district) in Switzerland)