Engaging E.T. — Cultish

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year or so, you’ve probably noticed that the subjects of Extraterrestrial life and UFOs are saturating American culture. Of course, this is not a new trend, as historians have noted how “flying saucer fever” gripped the public imagination in the early days of the Cold War. Yet despite decades of academic ridicule and government denial, sociologists have noted how belief in UFOs has persistently shaped the outlook of contemporary thought. The success of shows such as Ancient Aliens, the “Storm Area 51” Facebook event, and the increased discussion of this subject by Joe Rogan, are all recent examples of this powerful cultural meme. Having converted to Christ out of the New Age movement - which largely intersects with various UFO beliefs - I have first-hand experience with the underlying intellectual and religious appeal related to this subject.

And by all estimations, that appeal seems to be growing. In my own experience working for a Silicon Valley company, I learned rather quickly that this subject is taken rather seriously by intelligent people, especially when engaged in religious and philosophical discussions. I have had enough Christians report this same experience to convince me that my observation isn’t isolated.

And yet too many Christians the subject of UFOs remains “fringe” - so why not just laugh it off and tell the tinfoil hat brigade to come back when they have something serious to say? This is certainly the knee jerk reaction and the more comfortable option. However, below I give three reasons why I think Christians should consider a more thoughtful approach to this subject. This will kick off a three-part Cultish series; where we will examine the appeal of this form of belief, the background of its current manifestation, and then we will examine it through Biblical lenses.

“Reason #1: Many Americans are taking this subject seriously”

Dr. Diana Walsh Pasulka, the Chair of the Philosophy and Religion Department at UNC Wilmington, and the author of “American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, and Technology,” describes belief in Extraterrestrial life as a new form of “religiosity.” The appeal of this particular form of belief is what Dr. Pasulka labels its “potential reality.” While traditional religions are based upon the plausibility of a past event, belief in alien contact is plausible precisely because it has the potential to become a future event. So, for example, while belief in the reality of Christ is founded upon historical accounts; belief in alien visitation can be denied in the present, but anticipated as being likely in the future. It is assumed that because we evolved as a species, then most likely many other species have evolved ahead of us - and so it is simply a matter of time before we make contact with them and learn from them. Think of it as the eschatology of a society built on evolutionary theory and intoxicated by technological progress. And by all estimations, this certainly appears to be the worldview of many in our society.

As of June 2019, Gallup reports that while 33% of Americans believe UFOs represent alien spacecraft, 68% believe that the government knows more than they are letting on. In other words, 1 out of every 3 people you meet believe that earth has been visited, and 2 out of 3 people believe that the government is withholding information related to the subject. Other polls, such as a 2012 National Geographic survey, place the number of Americans who believe in alien contact as high at 77%. When it comes to belief in alien life in general; Gallup reports that 49% believe that other intelligent life exists throughout the universe and that 75% believe that some form of life exists out there.

So interpreting this data from a worldview perspective; a third of Americans believe that the alien eschaton is already here, 49% believe it is plausibly headed our way, and 68% believe that the government is hiding something related to it. And, again, unless you have been living under a rock for the last two years, the media and government’s change of tune on this subject is likely to shift the overton window even further.

“Reason #2: The Government and Media are taking this subject seriously”

While there have always been reasonable people associated with UFOlogy, such as Dr. J Allen Hynek, the chief scientific advisor for the Air Force’s Project Blue Book; the media’s approach to the subject has largely been one of denial and ridicule. But all of that changed on December 16th, 2017 when the New York Times published an article entitled “Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O Program”. After spending two months researching and verifying the story, the authors told the story of what was called the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). The program was created in 2007 by Senators Harry Reid (D-NV), Ted Stevens (R-AK), and Daniel Inouye (D-HI) not only in response to an increase in military UFO reports, but also because of the personal urging of men like former Astronaut John Glenn.

At the center of the NYT article was a man named Luis Elizondo, an Intelligence Officer with 22 years of service in the DoD. Mr. Elizondo ran AATIP from 2007 until it lost funding in 2012, at which point he claims the program continued under different funding mechanisms. He resigned in protest from the DoD on October 4th of 2017, two months before the article was published. According to Elizondo, the program continued to produce mountains of data demonstrating the reality of UFOs; however, due to bureaucratic incompetence, the information was not making it into the right hands. He then joined Tom Delonge’s (of Blink-182) “To the Stars Academy of Arts and Sciences” later in October in order to lobby the government on this issue from the outside.

Along with Mr. Elizondo, the article also produced two videos that were confirmed as genuine by DoD chain of custody documentation. The videos are entitled Gimbal, Flir1, along with GoFast, which was released later by the Washington Post.

Exclusive analysis brought to you by To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science: FLIR1 is the second of three US military videos of unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP) that has been through the official declassification review process of the United States government and approved for public release.

Each of the videos were related to AATIP investigations that were corroborated by pilot and radar operator testimony. As experts have pointed out, what is particularly noteworthy in these videos is that no exhaust plum or heat trail appears behind the objects, even though they were taken in Infrared mode.

The NYT article, along with the videos, led to a flurry of news reports in the final weeks of 2017. Mr. Elizondo appeared on almost every major news network and even hesitatingly stated on CNN that AATIP found evidence that “we may not be alone”. Along with Elizondo, Commander David Fravor came forward, who was the leader of the F/A-18 squadron that encountered the “Tic Tac” UFO recorded on the FLIR1 video. He likewise stated on Fox News that he believed the object - which could achieve hypersonic speeds at an estimated 100+ Gs - was “something not from this world”. In addition, the NYT article also mentioned that Aerospace Billionaire Robert Bigelow, who was contracted through AATIP, had metal alloys in his Las Vegas facilities associated with the UFO investigations. The alloys provoked many questions from the media, which Mr. Elizondo recently teased again on Fox News, stating that they are undergoing peer-reviewed analysis and are demonstrating anomalous properties.

But for our purposes here, what many commentators noted after the publishing of the NYT article, was that UFOs suddenly became a serious media talking point. And this trend has continued well into 2019.

In January of this year, an inquiry by the late John McCain was answered by the DIA, listing off 38 scientific reports related to AATIP investigations. The list of reports reads like a science fiction novel, with titles such as “Warp Drive, Dark Energy, and the Manipulation of Extra-dimensions,” and “Antigravity for Aerospace Applications.” The DIA reports seemed to mitigate against the idea suggested by some, that AATIP was merely studying advanced drones or experimental aircraft.

Then on May 26th of this year, the New York Times did a follow-up piece that featured Lt. Ryan Graves, an F/A-18 pilot who was involved with the incidents recorded in the previously released Gimbal and GoFast videos. He recounted how bizarre “spheres inside of cubes,” which were capable of hypersonic speeds and breakneck turns, followed his carrier group around almost daily for a few months and were witnessed by over 60 of his fellow aviators. Simultaneous to this release, the Navy officially announced that they were updating their protocols so that pilots could more easily report UFOs without fearing professional backlash.

When ABC News' George Stephanopoulos asked Trump if he thought he would know if there were a case of extraterrestrial life, he said, "Our great pilots would know." #ABCNews #Trump #UFOs

But what was perhaps the most dramatic turn of events, was that not only was it revealed that Senators had received classified briefings on UFOs; but so had President Trump who said that while he didn’t “particularly believe it,” he nevertheless did believe the testimony of “our great pilots.” This was a noteworthy statement, as no President has ever admitted to being briefed on UFOs.

Finally, in September the Navy publicly stated that, yes, they had released the videos from the original NYT piece, and that they did, in fact, depict “Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon”. This led scientist and futurist Michio Kaku to state unequivocally on Fox News that the burden of proof was now on the government to prove that these are not alien spacecraft. As of the fall of 2019, it is hard to deny that after years of dismissal, the media and government have now fundamentally changed their tune on this subject. It is no longer fringe, but fringe entering the mainstream, and as figures like Luis Elizondo and Tom Delonge have stated, this is just the beginning.

“Reason #3: The subject of ET and UFOs provokes worldview discussions”

Regardless of how one personally feels about the above-cited information, the significance of this to the Christian is that it provokes major worldview questions. The extended discussion about the purpose of humanity towards the end of Joe Rogan’s interview with Bob Lazar is a case in point. As demonstrated above, belief in UFOs has an inherent intellectual and emotional draw, along with its own version of an “empty tomb” evidential appeal which often leads people into New Age practices. This makes it a rival to the Christian faith, at least in the way that it is commonly apprehended by the public. And even if the current reports are debunked - or end up leading nowhere significant - the era of private space industry will likely lead to a society captivated by these questions as depicted in the recent Hollywood film “Ad Astra.” These discussions ought to be taken seriously by the culturally engaged Christian, just as discussions about bioethics, gender identity, and artificial intelligence are taken seriously.

But many may ask, why now? Why the sudden change in tune from our government and media organizations. To answer that question, and to prepare for the deeper worldview answers, we will have to examine the background of what many will find to be a surprising wellspring of information. A certain punk rocker’s company has been credited with this recent media cycle.