Matest M. Agrest

Matest M. Agrest (July 20, 1915 - September 20, 2005) was a Russian ethnologist and mathematician known chiefly for being an early proponent of the existence of ancient astronauts, which reached its peak of popularity in the 1970s.

Agrest was born in 1915 near Mogilev, Belarus.

In a 1959 work, he asserted a number of unorthodox claims, such as that the megalithic stone terracing at Baalbek had been used as a launch site for spaceships, and that the destruction of Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah were the result of a nuclear explosion detonated by extraterrestrial beings.

Agrest was a major inspiration of later figures such as Erich von Däniken and Zecharia Sitchin, who in later decades popularized the idea of ancient astronauts.

External links

• Encyclopedia article on Agrest

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Name	Agrest, Matest M.
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Date of birth	July 20, 1915
Place of birth
Date of death	September 20, 2005
Place of death