Gabriel Rotello’s work on television’s “Ancient Aliens” takes him to far-flung places from jungles to deserts – even an ice cave under a glacier in Canada.
“We were there to determine whether microbes that were frozen for thousands of years would come back to life when the ice thawed,” said Danbury’s Rotello, a writer and producer for the series.
“Science is full of strange and seemingly odd things that turn out to be true, so I have a very open mind about it.”
Danbury resident Gabriel Rotello’s new novel is a riveting mystery set in the summer of 1977. It mixes fiction with real events and historical figures. (Courtesy of Koehler Books)
When the COVID-19 pandemic briefly curtailed his travels, he dove into a different adventure-recently publishing a novel, “The CBGB Conspiracy.”
“What inspired it was that people kept telling me I should write a memoir because I’ve done a whole bunch of different things,” said the Emmy-nominated writer and filmmaker, whose projects appear on such networks as HBO, Netflix, Showtime and National Geographic.
“Except for being a musician, they were always sort of by accident. I’ve always just been very lucky to be in the right place at the right time.”
Rotello’s films explore subjects from gay rights to World War II, to the reality TV revolution.
He’s also known for his activism. A 1970 graduate of Danbury High School, he founded the now-defunct OutWeek magazine.
“I intended to be a musician my whole life…but when the AIDS epidemic happened (and he was losing loved ones), it felt like somebody needed to do something journalistically and nobody was, so I did that.”
Gabriel Rotello in front of the Colossi of Memnon in Egypt in 2024. He’s currently producing an “Ancient Aliens” episode investigating the alleged discovery of gigantic structures thousands of feet under the Giza Plateau. (Courtesy of Gabriel Rotello)
Rotello spent 25 years apiece in New York City and Los Angeles before returning to Danbury.
Seated in the parlor of his childhood home, an 1890 Victorian, he shared more, including how being a musician during the New York City punk scene played a role in “The CBGB Conspiracy.”
A murder mystery, it includes historical figures – think Lou Reed (“Walk on the Wild Side”) and Patti Smith (“Because the Night”) – and events such as the Son of Sam murders.
Rotello has worked with Smith (a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer), and was friends with Hilly Kristal, the late owner of CBGB, the iconic club where Smith, Blondie and the Ramones got their start.
Gabriel Rotello is seen here in 1977, the same year of the story shared in his new novel, “The CBGB Conspiracy.” (Courtesy of Stephen Sprouse)
Rotello played there, too, but said he never considered a memoir.
“I could never write a memoir, particularly about my early life in the ’70s, because then there would be the ’80s and everybody would die of AIDS. I just couldn’t put myself through that.”
He was happy when he came up with the idea of taking his friends from the 1970s and bringing them back to life in a fictional novel about solving a crime.
“That way it could be kind of a memoir. It would be people that were my friends, but instead of the relentless march of time, it would just be focused on one fun thing, not that a murder is fun. But one fun, you know, escapade.”
Gabriel Rotello is seen on the set of “Ancient Aliens” in Los Angeles. The History Channel series is filmed around the world and is in its 18th year. (Courtesy of Chris Denton)
The story is about a young poet found dead with a heroin needle in his arm in New York in 1977. Cops think it’s an accidental overdose, but his friends think it’s murder and their first suspect is writer William Burroughs.
“In the course of it you meet lots of people I knew back then and you’re on the scene I was on, but it’s tied into historical events like the blackout of ’77 and the Everard Baths fire, and Hilly Kristal’s ill-fated opening of the CBGB Theater, not to be confused with CBGBs.”
Rotello said he’ll do some book events when the weather’s better, but he’s currently focused on “Ancient Aliens,” in its 18th season.
Even as a teen, he was “fascinated by the idea that there were things in history that remained hidden, that we didn’t know the whole story of the human race, that there was still a lot left to find out and some of it might be quite fantastical.”
Gabriel Rotello, right, is seen on the set of History channel’s “The Universe,” with physicist and science writer Michio Kaku. The series explores everything from black holes and gravity to how humans could exist in space. (Courtesy of Gabriel Rotello)
History channel’s “Ancient Aliens” is based on Erich von Däniken’s theory that stories “of gods coming down from the skies were actually cases of mistaken identity – that the gods were extraterrestrials…and people didn’t have the wherewithal to understand,” Rotello said.
Däniken, who died Jan. 10, first popularized his theory in his 1969 book, “Chariots of the Gods?” He sought evidence in temples, carvings, structures, mythology and books like the Bible.
“People have disagreed with lots of things in science before they were shown to be true,” Rotello said.
“Nobody agreed with plate tectonics until it was proven to have happened, and nobody believed that a catastrophe had wiped out the dinosaurs until it was proven.”
Upcoming episodes will focus on such topics as how artificial intelligence is helping scientists decipher ancient writings, and developments involving contemporary UFO sightings.
“Ever since 2017, when The New York Times published its famous front-page story revealing the government was studying UFOs and also released U.S. Navy video footage that pilots had taken, there’s been a huge resurgence of interest. Congress has been investigating this…We cover both the ancient and new stuff.”
Rotello said he’s certainly aware that “Ancient Aliens” is “speculative” and “has its critics,” but like many of us, he’d love to be here when all is revealed.
“I research the episodes, I produce them, meaning I figure out who to interview and then travel around the world interviewing those people, and oftentimes write the scripts.”
Surprises come with the territory, as there were when he visited that ice cave under the glacier. A NASA scientist accompanied him, then chipped ice from the cave’s wall and thawed it under a microscope.
“Bacteria began swimming around – tiny life forms that had been frozen for 15,000 years,” Rotello said. “Things like that, you really don’t get to do in your average job.”
This article originally published at ‘Ancient Aliens’ producer pens mystery about New York City’s punk rock scene.