Agreed that Herodotus isn't reliable.

He wrote his histories with an eye to making money performing them (sort of an on-Greek-stage version of supermarket tabloids). Whatever he was told by 'the locals' about how things used to be, got included, with just a 'this is how I was told' disclaimer. I'm sure that if an Egyptian told him that a past dynasty was founded by extraterrestrials, that would have gone in there, too - making a clear parallel with the National Enquirer.

BTW/FWIW, IMO the best way to read Herodotus in English is the Landmark edition (lots of maps, explanations of references, both cultural and physical)