David Hatcher Childress (born 1957) is an American author and publisher of books on topics on alternative history and historical revisionism. His works cover such subjects as pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact, Atlantis, Lemuria, Ancient Astronauts, UFOs, Nikola Tesla, the Knights Templar, lost cities and vimana aircraft.[1] Childress claims no academic credentials as a professional archaeologist nor in any other scientific field of study, having left the University of Montana after one year to travel the world to personally research the subjects about which he would later write.[1]
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Born in France to American parents, and raised in Colorado and Montana, United States, Childress began travelling at 19 in pursuit of archaeological interests. He moved in 1983 to Stelle, Illinois, a community founded by New Age writer Richard Kieninger. He had been given a book by Kieninger while touring Africa.[1] Childress chronicled his explorations in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s in his Lost Cities and Ancient Mysteries series of books.
Childress' first book, A Hitchhikers Guide to Africa and Arabia, was published in 1983 by Chicago Review Press. In 1984, Childress moved to Kempton, Illinois and established a publishing company named Adventures Unlimited Press, [1][2] which is a sole proprietorship. His company published his own works and then those of other authors, presenting fringe-scientific theories regarding ancient civilizations, cryptozoology, and little-known technologies. [1][3] In 1991, in Kempton, Illinois, Childress founded the World Explorers Club, which occasionally runs tours to places he writes about, and publishes a magazine called World Explorer".[1]
Childress has appeared on NBC (The Mysterious Origins of Man), Fox Network (Sightings and Encounters), Discovery Channel, A&E, and The History Channel (e.g. Ancient Aliens), to comment on subjects such as the Bermuda Triangle, Atlantis, and UFOs. He has been involved in two lawsuits regarding publishing. One, concerning the Kennedy assassination, failed after expiry of a statute of limitations and the other, involving an unpublished master's thesis about UFOs written in 1950, was settled out of court.[1] Childress writes humorously about these suits in his 2000 book A Hitchhiker's Guide to Armageddon.
In over 25 years of publishing, Childress' company has created nearly 200 books, many of which have been translated into foreign languages.