UFO religions
are groups that deal with alleged communication between humans and
extraterrestrial
beings. Proponents often argue that most major religions are already based on the concept of a supernatural being in heaven. Forms of communication include
telepathy
and
astral projection
. Groups often believe that humanity can be saved after being educated by the aliens as to how to improve society.
Alien abduction
belief can lead to formation of a UFO religion.
I AM Religious Activity
, founded in 1930 by
Guy Ballard
, is seen, according to one author, as the first UFO Religion, though
Aetherius Society
founded by
George King
has also been given this distinction. Scholars identify the 1947
Roswell incident
as a key event within the history of UFO spirituality. Melodie Campbell and
Stephen A. Kent
describe
Heaven's Gate
and
Order of the Solar Temple
as among the most controversial of the UFO belief groups.
Scientology
is seen by scholars as a UFO religion, due to its
Xenu
cosmogony and the presence of
Space opera in Scientology doctrine
.
Background
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UFO religions generally deal with belief in communication with extraterrestrial beings.
Stephen Hunt writes in
Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction
, "One form of quasi-religion that perhaps borders on a more orthodox form of religiosity is that of the flying saucer cults".
In these groups, individuals believe that communication between aliens and humans can take the form of physical contact,
telepathy
, and
astral projection
.
Typically the groups believe that humanity will be saved by these aliens when humans are educated as to a better way to live life.
Some of the groups believe that aliens will come to take those that believe to a more positive location.
Often the extraterrestrial beings are seen to plead with humanity to improve itself and to move away from a society of greed and violence.
UFO religions place an emphasis on spiritual growth and the evolution of humanity.
A UFO religion can be formed before or after an individual claims to have experienced an
alien abduction
and been taken aboard a spacecraft.
Christopher Hugh Partridge writes in
UFO Religions
that
J. Gordon Melton
identifies the first UFO religion as the group
"I AM" Activity
, founded by
Guy Ballard
.
Partridge says it "can be seen as the obvious theosophical forerunner to UFO religions such as the
Aetherius Society
, and to the thought of UFO religionists such as
George Adamski
" but views it not as a UFO religion but as a theosophical religion.
Partridge notes that within UFO religions, there is a belief that the supreme being or "evolved entity" did not ascend from Earth, but instead came from another
plane
or another planet and descended to Earth.
While the vast majority of factions affiliated with I AM reject UFOs as unimportant, some modern-day
Ascended Master
Teachings teachers such as
Joshua David Stone
mention UFOs.
Partridge describes the 1947
Roswell incident
as a key point in time within UFO spirituality, commenting: "Roswell is now firmly established as what might be described as a key
ufological
'spiritual site'";
and
James R. Lewis
also calls attention to this event in his book
The Gods Have Landed
, noting that it is seen by Ufologists as the date of the "emergence of UFOs into the public consciousness".
Partridge places UFO religion within the context of
theosophical
esotericism
, and asserts that it began to be associated as "UFO religion" after the 1947 incident at
Roswell, New Mexico
.
According to Partridge, most UFO religions still have many of the key points associated with Theosophy, such as belief in the same
Spiritual Hierarchy
, and he also draws parallels to
New Age
thought.
He notes that within the thought processes of UFO religions after 1947, many of these groups maintained beliefs that extraterrestrial beings were "heralds of a new era".
Hunt describes the
Aetherius Society
founded by
George King
in 1955 as "probably the first and certainly the most enduring UFO
cult
".
He places the Aetherius Society and
Raelism
among the "most renowned" of the "
flying saucer
cults".
Writing in the
Encyclopedia of Religion and Society
, contributors Melodie Campbell and
Stephen A. Kent
place the Aetherius Society and
Unarius
as among the "oldest and most studied" of the flying saucer cults.
They describe groups
Heaven's Gate
and
Order of the Solar Temple
as the "most controversial groups combining UFO belief with variations of
contactee
assertions".
Gregory L. Reece classes
Scientology
as a "UFO group" in his book
UFO Religion: Inside Flying Saucer Cults and Culture
, and discusses elements of the
Xenu
cosmogony
and
Space opera in Scientology doctrine
.
He compares Scientology to the Aetherius Society and to
Ashtar Command
, writing: "While it bears strong similarities to the Ashtar Command or the Aetherius Society, its emphasis upon the Xenu event as the central message of the group seems to place them within the ancient astronaut tradition. Either way, Scientology is perhaps most different from other UFO groups in their attempt to keep all of the space opera stuff under wraps."
A similar comparison is made in
New Religions: A Guide
, which describes the Xenu mythology as "a basic
ancient astronaut
myth".
Author Victoria Nelson writes in
The Secret Life of Puppets
that "[t]he most prominent current UFO religion is probably the science fiction writer
L. Ron Hubbard
's
Church of Scientology
".
List
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See also
[
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Notes
[
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References
[
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- Bainbridge, William Sims (1996).
The Sociology of Religious Movements
. Routledge.
ISBN
0-415-91202-4
.
- Clarke, Peter Bernard (2006).
New Religions in Global Perspective: A Study of Religious Change in the Modern World
. Routledge.
ISBN
0-415-25748-4
.
- Gallagher, Eugene V.; W. Michael Ashcraft (2006).
Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America
. Greenwood Press.
ISBN
0-275-98712-4
.
- Hexham, Irving (2002).
Pocket Dictionary of New Religious Movements
. InterVarsity Press.
ISBN
0-8308-1466-3
.
- Festinger, Leon; Riecken, H. W.; Schachter, Stanley (1956).
When Prophecy Fails
. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
ISBN
0-06-131132-4
.
- Hunt, Stephen (2003).
Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction
. Ashgate Publishing.
ISBN
0-7546-3410-8
.
- Landes, Richard (2000).
Encyclopedia of Millennialism and Millennial Movements
. Routledge.
ISBN
0-415-92246-1
.
- Lewis, James R.
(2003).
The Encyclopedic Sourcebook of UFO Religions
. Prometheus Books.
ISBN
1-57392-964-6
.
- Lewis, James R.
(1995).
The Gods Have Landed: New Religions from Other Worlds
. State University of New York Press.
ISBN
0-7914-2329-8
.
- Lewis, James R.
(2001).
Odd Gods: New Religions and the Cult Controversy
. Prometheus Books.
ISBN
1-57392-842-9
.
- Nelson, Victoria (2002).
The Secret Life of Puppets
.
Harvard University Press
.
ISBN
0-674-00630-5
.
- Partridge, Christopher Hugh
(2005).
Introduction To World Religions
. Fortress Press.
ISBN
0-8006-3714-3
.
- Partridge, Christopher Hugh
(2004).
New Religions: A Guide: New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities
. Oxford University Press, USA.
ISBN
0-19-522042-0
.
- Partridge, Christopher Hugh
(2003).
UFO Religions
. Routledge.
ISBN
0-415-26324-7
.
- Reece, Gregory L. (2007).
UFO Religion: Inside Flying Saucer Cults and Culture
. I. B. Tauris.
ISBN
978-1-84511-451-0
.
- Saliba, John
(November 2006). "The Study of UFO Religions".
Nova Religio
.
10
(2).
Berkeley, California
:
University of California Press
: 103?123.
doi
:
10.1525/nr.2006.10.2.103
.
- Swatos, William H.; Peter Kivisto (1998).
Encyclopedia of Religion and Society
. AltaMira Press.
ISBN
0-7619-8956-0
.
- Tumminia, Diana G. (2005).
When Prophecy Never Fails: Myth and Reality in a Flying-Saucer Group
. Oxford University Press.
ISBN
0-19-517675-8
.
- "La policia frustra el suicidio colectivo de los 33 miembros de una secta en Tenerife"
.
La Vanguardia
(in Spanish). 9 January 1998.
External links
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