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by Tim
Swartz
Since 1947, when pilot Kenneth Arnold first spotted unidentified flying
objects over Washington State and coined the term “flying saucer,”
most people have believed that UFOs are spacecraft operated by extraterrestrial
visitors to Earth. However, after more than 50 years of investigation
and research, no one has managed to offer a satisfactory explanation on
the true nature of UFOs.
In fact, many people who have reported having a UFO encounter
say that their lives have been changed by the experience, often in a spiritual
sense. Some have supposedly been visited by highly advanced, angelic entities
whom they believe are here to save mankind from imminent danger while
a few have even been told that they were actually chosen to lead humans
to an eventual communion with the benevolent aliens. Although these tales
make most ufologists uncomfortable due to their allegedly unscientific
nature, these encounters appear to show a deliberate attempt to connect
otherworldly entities with spirituality.
Some people wonder why we do not see miracles today like those
referred to in ancient religious writings such as the Bible, which are
filled with tales of angelic beings, strange wonders in the skies, and
divinely inspired prophets. But these events are actually occurring today
on a daily basis throughout the world. Rather than angels from God, spacemen
from the Pleiades deliver prophetic messages of doom or salvation to contactees.
In fact, the gods and goddesses of old have not disappeared; they have
merely traded in their white beards and robes for spacesuits and helmets.
Saviors
from the Stars
When UFO contactees in the early 1950s began to describe their alleged
encounters with extraterrestrials, their stories seemed too fantastic
to believe. Yet the tales of angelic Space Brothers who are here to help
guide mankind from its evil ways struck a cord with those who were raised
in an atmosphere of scientific materialism. Since science had supposedly
proven that God and angels did not exist, here, instead, was the perfect
melding of spirituality and science—superior beings from other worlds
who were not only advanced technologically but also whose appearance and
philosophies seemed more divine than physical.
Like many who have had encounters with UFOs, early religions
usually sprang from just such a visionary experience. For instance, the
apostles supposedly saw Jesus resurrected from the grave and ascend into
heaven. Subsequent charismatic visions by people such as Saul (Paul) helped
inspire the rapid development of early Christianity from a local cult
to a worldwide religion.
Similarly, in the seventh century, Islam’s prophet Mohammad
was visited by the angel Gabriel who told him that he was Allah’s
messenger. Later, Gabriel supposedly led Mohammad to heaven to meet God,
and then to Jerusalem to meet Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Like Christianity,
Islam grew rapidly from these early mystic experiences.
New religions grow from the roots of the old, carrying with
them various doctrines of belief to ensure their continued existence.
This process is propagated by the visionary experiences of prophets and
their contacts with divine beings who deliver messages of spiritual teachings
and prophecies for the ever-growing faithful. This system occurs rapidly
at first but then tapers off to a slower but sustained growth that may
take hundreds of years to develop fully. And this is similar to what we
are now experiencing with the UFO phenomena.
It is therefore possible that we may now be experiencing the
genesis of a new spiritual system based on the belief of highly advanced,
spiritual beings from outer space. Indeed, many UFO cases seem to be more
visionary than real and according to many contactees, the ETs seem to
be unduly concerned with the spiritual affairs of mankind. If anything,
considering their warnings about future catastrophes and the war-like
nature of man, many aliens act more like guardian angels than otherworldly
astronauts.
In fact, some aliens are described as being undistinguishable
from humans except for their extraordinary beauty and spiritual radiance.
On the other hand, the devil and his demons are represented by the short,
big-eyed “Greys,” who are believed responsible for an epidemic
of abductions—and human experimentation—that has dominated the
UFO culture for over 20 years. In fact, the UFO phenomenon appears to
be more religious than philosophical. Indeed, religions, like many UFO
encounters, distinguish themselves from philosophy by their supernatural
experiences.
Jungian
UFOs
Shortly before his death, Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung was one of the
first to analyze UFO encounters in a symbolic way. In a 1951 letter to
an American friend, he wrote,
“I’m puzzled to death about these phenomena, because I haven’t
been able yet to make out with sufficient certainty whether the whole
thing is a rumor with concomitant singular and mass hallucination, or
a downright fact.”
In 1958, Jung concluded that because of the need for wholeness
out of the increasing fragmentation of the modern world, it was more desirable
for people to believe that UFOs existed than to believe that they did
not. Jung also thought it relevant that the shape of a flying saucer was
round, the shape of the ancient Mandala, a spiritual symbol of wholeness.
Additionally, Jung believed that UFOs were examples of synchronicity,
where external events mirror internal psychic states. Jung felt that to
modern man, UFOs were modern symbols for the ancient Gods who used to
come to man’s assistance in time of need.
In other words, if one believed in gods, demons, witches,
fairies, or flying saucers, some unknown higher intelligence would adopt
these roles. When these belief structures became outdated or forgotten,
the entities would simply assume a different believable guise, in an attempt
either to pacify humanity, so we would not destroy ourselves before maturing
spiritually, or as a method for spreading new information and ideas to
assist our spiritual growth.
The key here is that humanity has developed to the point where
we may have attained scientific knowledge, but we may still lack the emotional
and spiritual development necessary to deal with its consequences properly.
What better way to guide an adolescent civilization away from the brink
of destruction than to use archetypical religious imagery that resonates
at the deepest level of our subconscious?
Author and paranormal researcher John Keel has often stressed
that if belief in extraterrestrials, without verifiable evidence, is left
unchecked, there may come a time when a faith in these entities will allow
them to interfere openly with our affairs. While Keel may be overly alarmed,
his idea that there is a developing “faith” in extraterrestrials
may be correct. Whether or not this faith is being inspired by extraterrestrials,
supernatural beings who mimic extraterrestrials, or our own unconscious
minds, the fact remains that we may now be experiencing a new religion
unfolding before us.
The next several centuries will show whether this new UFO
“religion” will be able to sustain itself. Eventually, its disciples
may end up being responsible for the scientific developments that will
finally propel mankind off the planet and into the universe.
Imagine the planet as a dandelion blossom. When the time is
right, the wind blows the seeds away to find a place of their own to start
anew. Perhaps our evolving religious experience—with the assistance
of our guiding aliens—represents the wind of the universe seeking
to spread spiritually evolved, intelligent life.
from
issue #7
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