The park was designed by Erich von Däniken, and consisted of seven pavilions, each of which featured one of several great "mysteries" of the world.

Von Däniken opened the theme park to present his interpretations of archaeological sites around the world, claiming that they involve visits from extraterrestrial life.

The Mystery Park was labeled a "cultural Chernobyl" by Académie suisse des sciences techniques member Antoine Wasserfallen who was cited by the Swiss newspaper Le Temps and other media.

Investigators noted the appearance of car headlights coming and leaving around the time the crop circle was estimated to have been made.

[5] In the winter of 2004, the park and its governmental support came under heavy criticism by the news channel SRG SSR idée suisse.

[8] Critics also attributed the park's failure to other reasons: some cited von Däniken's biases regarding alien interactions with ancient civilizations.