UFO religion
UFOs and ufology |
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Notable sightings and hoaxes |
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Conspiracy theories |
Religions |
Lists of organizations, sightings, studies, etc. |
A UFO religion is any
Summary
Some adherents of UFO religions believe that the arrival or rediscovery of alien civilizations, technologies, and spirituality will enable humans to overcome current ecological, spiritual, and social problems. Issues such as hatred, war, bigotry, poverty and so on are said to be resolvable through the use of superior alien technology and spiritual abilities. Such belief systems are also described as millenarian in their outlook.[2][3]
UFO religions developed first in such countries as the
Notable UFO religions
Aetherius Society
The
Church of the SubGenius
Founded in 1979 with the publication of SubGenius Pamphlet #1 by
Heaven's Gate
The
Love Has Won
Love Has Won incorporated beliefs about extraterrestrial beings into their spiritual teachings. The group claimed that Mother God, whom they believed was embodied by Amy Carlson, had direct contact and communication with advanced alien civilizations. Love Has Won followers believed in the existence of various extraterrestrial races like such as the
Raëlism
The International Raëlian Movement has been described as "the largest UFO religion in the world."[10] Raëlians believe that scientifically advanced extraterrestrials, known as the Elohim, created life on Earth through genetic engineering, and that a combination of human cloning and "mind transfer" can ultimately provide eternal life.
Scientology
Scientology has been discussed in the context of UFO religions in UFO Religions by Christopher Partridge,
From the early 1950s onward, Scientology's founder,
Scientology teaches that all humans have experienced innumerable
According to Hubbard, a thetan (the Scientology term for a soul) has a body. When that body dies the thetan goes to a "landing station" on the planet Venus, where they are re-implanted and are programmed to forget their previous lifetimes. The Venusians then "capsule" each thetan and send them back to Earth to be dumped into the Gulf of California; whereupon, each thetan searches for a new body to inhabit. To avoid these inconveniences, Hubbard advised Scientologists to simply refuse to go to Venus after their death.[17][18]
Unarius Academy of Science
Founded by Ernest L. Norman and his wife, Ruth, in 1954, the Unarians are a group headquartered in El Cajon, California, who believe that, through the use of Four-dimensional space physics, they are able to communicate with supposed advanced intelligent beings that allegedly exist on "higher frequency" planes. Unarians believe in past lives and hold that the Solar System was once inhabited by ancient interplanetary civilizations.[19][20]
Universal Industrial Church of the New World Comforter
The Universal Industrial Church of the New World Comforter is a UFO religion of the
Universe People
The Universe People or Cosmic people of light powers (Czech: Vesmírní lidé sil světla) is a Czech movement centered around Ivo A. Benda. Its belief system is based upon the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations communicating with Benda and other "contacters" since October 1997 telepathically and later by direct personal contact. According to Benda, those civilizations operate a fleet of spaceships led by Ashtar (sometimes written Ashtar Sheran) orbiting and closely watching the Earth, helping the good and waiting to transport the followers into another dimension. The Universe People teaching incorporates various elements from ufology (some foreign "contacters" are credited, though often also renounced after a time as misguided or deceptive), Christianity (Jesus was a "fine-vibrations" being) and conspiracy theories (forces of evil are supposed to plan compulsory chipping of the populace).[28]
UFOs in non-UFO religions
Ascended Master Teachings
The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
According to Mormon scripture, the Earth is just one of many inhabited worlds, and there are many governing heavenly bodies, including the planet or star Kolob, which is said to be nearest the throne of God. Kolob is a star or planet described in the Book of Abraham. According to Mormon cosmology, the Earth was created near Kolob during six creative periods referred to scripturally as "days", then moved to its present position in the Solar System.
Nation of Islam
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad told us of a giant Motherplane that is made like the universe, spheres within spheres. White people call them unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Ezekiel, in the Old Testament, saw a wheel that looked like a cloud by day but a pillar of fire by night. The Hon. Elijah Muhammad said that that wheel was built on the island of Nippon, which is now called Japan, by some of the original scientists. It took 15 billion dollars in gold at that time to build it. It is made of the toughest steel. America does not yet know the composition of the steel used to make an instrument like it. It is a circular plane, and the Bible says that it never makes turns. Because of its circular nature it can stop and travel in all directions at speeds of thousands of miles per hour. He said there are 1,500 small wheels in this mother wheel which is a half mile by a half mile (800 by 800 m). This Mother Wheel is like a small human built planet. Each one of these small planes carry three bombs.[31]
The
Tempelhofgesellschaft
An
Training centre for release of the Atma-energy
This sect was originally a splinter group of the Brahma Kumaris[39] and is known for a police and media scare in which an alleged attempt to commit ritual suicide took place in Teide National Park in Tenerife in 1998. Apparently, the 32 members of the sect believed that they would be collected by a spacecraft and taken to an unspecified destination.[40]
Worldwide Community of the New Message from God
The New Message from God is at once both a set of teachings with claims of divine authority
See also
- Doomsday cult
- Fictional religion
- List of new religious movements
- List of UFO religions
- When Prophecy Fails
References
- ISBN 9780231508384.
- ^ (Partridge 2003, p. 274)
- ^ When We Enter Into My Father's Spacecraft. Andreas Grünschloß. Marburg Journal of Religion, Vol. 3, No. 2 (December 1998), pp. 1–24
- ^ (Partridge 2003, p. 7f)
- S2CID 234904304.
- ^ "Mass suicide involved sedatives, vodka and careful planning". CNN. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
- New York Times. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
According to material the group posted on its Internet site, the timing of the suicides were probably related to the arrival of the Hale–Bopp comet, which members seemed to regard as a cosmic emissary beckoning them to another world.
- ^ "Crestone Cult Love Has Won Leaves Man to die in Desert". July 23, 2020.
- ^ "From 'Mother God' to Mummified Corpse: Inside the Fringe Spiritual Sect 'Love Has Won'". Rolling Stone. November 26, 2021.
- ISBN 0-918954-92-4
- ^ (Partridge 2003, pp. 188, 263–265)
- ISBN 1-57392-964-6.
- ISBN 978-1-84511-451-0.
- . Retrieved April 17, 2023.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0190692889.
- Lewis, James R. (1995), The Gods have landed: new religions from other worlds, SUNY Press, ISBN 978-0-7914-2329-5
- Partridge, Christopher Hugh (2003), UFO religions, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-26323-8
- Tumminia, Diana G. (2007), Alien worlds: social and religious dimensions of extraterrestrial contact, Syracuse University Press, ISBN 978-0-8156-0858-5
- ISBN 0-486-20394-8
- ISBN 0-915904-38-1(originally published 1979)
- James R. Lewis (ed.), Encyclopedic Sourcebook of UFO Religions, ISBN 1-57392-964-6
- Diana G. Tumminia, When Prophecy Never Fails: Myth and Reality in a Flying-Saucer Group, ISBN 0-19-517675-8
- Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas (2002). Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity. New York University Press.