Yep, I saw the Air Force colonel story - an interesting one. And Joseph Smith is a story all of his own - which has classic UFO/contactee overtones to it.

All that has changed over the years is the guise in which these “things” appear.

I think you should do that for a variety of reasons. Two stand out. The first is that these things have always had a religious overtone and the second would be that in certain religions the UFO connection is actually the mechanics behind the religion. Vallee established that well with the reports on the Blessed Virgin Mary sightings throughout history (which Keel has also remarked on) and Walter Martin in his book Kingdom of the Cults depicts a very good history of Joseph Smith (founder of mormonism) that would lead you to believe that he is a UFO contactee. Even people of the more scientific ilk view the phenomenon in some religious fashion, like air force Colonels. For instance have you seen this?

That could be a thread on it’s own.

The more I think about the UFO problem the more I think that it is the sociological and religious implications that are the most fascinating. Flying scrolls in Ezekiel, flaming chariots appearing to Zoraster and rabbit deities descending in eggs in front of throngs of Babylonians can keep you busy in this study for a lifetime.

Jess

Thanks for the comments and welcome insight. I’m going to expand on this story hopefully next week, given that this blending of UFOs and religion stimulates so much comment and controversy.

One of the more interesting things that has come warping its way out of the post-WWII “UFO subculture” has been this growing tendency try merging saucers and religion. When you start with book titles like “Chariots of the Gods” and “God Drives A Flying Saucer” and begin to push the idea that “God” or “the gods” were misperceived alien revelators and “good samaritans”, then the possibilities for such mergings became rife. Next stir “Bible Code”
theories into the mix and you can go far.

In “The Old Days” of dogmatic Christendom, you had a by-the-numbers belief system (which in Islam you pretty much still do, but the nuttiness hits there, too) and this kept things largely “uniform”…and, hey, if you had dissenters you just tried them as heretics and burnt them.

Today, though, you have all manner of interpretations of “fact” out there re: what this or that does or doesn’t mean, that you can blend up some fascinating “theological” concoctions.

Its rather like Bruce Lee’s “Jeet Kune Do” fighting system, where he took elements of Wing Chun kung fu, western boxing, foot moves from fencing, some jiu jitsu, some this, some that..and synthesized them into a concept system (which successors have taken even further by adding elementsa of Philippino Escrima and Kali). The similarly ongoing synthesizing of ETH beliefs with “Old Time” religion keeps the pot stirring there, as well. There’s a new “notion” out every time you turn around, and a new group that just “KNOWS” it has just discovered the REAL “truth” about all things.

And,in every case of such, you find yourself, as a practical, reasonable, logical person, souring up incredulously, scratching your head, and asking “WHAT have you people been SMOKING?????”

But then you can’t deny pattern recognition can you? The Urantia book, the Raelian’s beliefs, countless contactees who all have something to say about Jesus. It even spills into the Nation of Islam with Louis Farrakhan saying that

1. the UFOs will take all the white people away and

2. that Jesus will rebuke every practicing christian and be a front man for establishing world wide Islam, after he descends in a UFO!

So what will we do when a Jesus lookalike does descend in a UFO and proclaim a new age, new Islam Earth? $&%@ or go blind?

I probably will take up my lot with the dolphins, you’ll find me in Cabo begging for fish!

Jess

LOL; good one!

I agree - so many people in ufology want the ETs to be friends, our saviours, etc. But it just doesn’t seem to be happening.

My view is that people need to stand up on their own feet, take charge of their own lives in a fashion that works for them, and not hope that some more advanced being is going to make it all nice for them. People need to take their own responsibility.

They left out the part where SLC Utah becomes the center of the universe, and the friendly, dolphin aliens all come down and have a swim in the Great Salt Lake.

You’re not alone either in thinking America is a little wacky with religion, I was born in this country and the amount of people obsessed with religion in this country truly frightens me at times.