Philip Coppens (author) facts for kids

Philip Coppens (born January 25, 1971 – died December 30, 2012) was a Belgian writer and radio host. He was known for his work on "alternative history" and "fringe science."

Alternative history looks at what might have happened if major events had gone differently. Fringe science explores ideas that are not widely accepted by mainstream scientists.

Philip Coppens was born in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium. He co-hosted a radio show called "Spirit Revolution." His articles appeared in magazines like Nexus. He also appeared in many episodes of the TV show Ancient Aliens on the History Channel.

He married Kathleen McGowan on September 22, 2011. He passed away in Los Angeles, California, in 2012. He died from a rare type of cancer called angiosarcoma.

Philip Coppens' Writing Career

Philip Coppens began his career as a journalist. He investigated topics like government activities and politics.

In 1995, he helped start a magazine called Frontier 2000. This magazine was popular in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

Exploring Ancient Mysteries in Books

In 1999, Philip was the main researcher for a book called The Stargate Conspiracy. This book explored ancient Egypt. It looked at how ancient history might still affect today's world. It also discussed a CIA program called Stargate Project. This program studied how people might use their minds to see things far away.

His second book, The Canopus Revelation (2004), questioned common beliefs about ancient Egypt. Many thought Egyptians linked their god Osiris to the Orion constellation. Philip suggested they might have linked Osiris to Canopus instead. Canopus is the second brightest star in the night sky. He shared this idea at a conference in 2005.

In 2009, Philip wrote Servants of the Grail. In this book, he looked for real people who might have inspired characters from the Perceval, the Story of the Grail legends. He suggested that Rotrou III, Count of Perche, could have been the real Perceval.

That same year, he wrote a chapter for another book. It was called Ancient Code: Are You Ready for the Real 2012? His chapter was titled "Ancient Inroads Towards a New Age."

Philip Coppens on Ancient Aliens

From 2010 to 2012, Philip Coppens was often seen on the History Channel's Ancient Aliens show. This show explores the idea that aliens might have visited Earth in ancient times.

He also helped to show that some claims about the Dogon people were not true. The Dogon are a group from Mali, Africa. Some believed they had special knowledge about the star Sirius that only aliens could have given them. Philip wrote an article called "Dogon Shame" in Fortean Times. In it, he explained that a scientist might have given the Dogon more credit than they deserved. Philip believed that ancient civilizations had less knowledge than some people thought.

In October 2012, he was a speaker at the Paradigm Symposium for Intrepid Magazine.

Philip Coppens' Final Thoughts

Philip Coppens passed away on December 30, 2012. He had a very rare type of cancer called angiosarcoma. Less than 200 people in the U.S. get this cancer each year.

In his last blog post, Philip wrote about his illness. He said, "Each case is almost by default unique… and so I found that the man who normally studies anomalies, has become a medical enigma as well." He meant that he, who studied strange things, had become a medical mystery himself.