A famous UFO picture

Interest in UFO’s ( unidentified flying objects aka “flying saucers” ) only really took off in the years immediately after World War II. Today there are a multitude of groups and cults to be found.

You can find a brief history of the modern UFO age at the UFO Encounters UK website

It is important to distinguish between genuine research groups and cult groups.

On one side there are research groups such as the Disclosure Project – who describe themselves as:

“a nonprofit research project working to fully disclose the facts about UFOs, extraterrestrial intelligence, and classified advanced energy and propulsion systems. We have over 400 government, military, and intelligence community witnesses testifying to their direct, personal, first hand experience with UFOs, ETs, ET technology, and the cover-up that keeps this information secret.”

On the other side is a rich mixture of religious, quasi-religious and non-religious new age and occult groups. These include self-proclaimed abductees who now see themselves as representatives of the aliens and have surrounded themselves with a small group of ardent ‘believers’. There are also some christian groups who attempt to relate the UFO phenomenon to various passages in scripture, and see the whole thing as a satanic deception.

One thing that does seem to be factually established is the involvement of governments in UFO research.

One of the more prominent ‘New Age’ websites is that run by the International Raelian Movement, which is strongly anti-religions of all types, including christianity. Rael claims to be an appointed prophet who relays messages from extra-terrestial beings called the Elohim.

A recent article on their associated Raelia News website appealed to Raelian members to support the October 2009 ad campaign promoting atheism to be run in the New York subways. The new ads will carry this message: “A million New Yorkers are good without God. Are you?”

You can find a concise but comprehensive outline of Raelian beliefs by clicking here.

The various christian websites that deal with this area provide an alternative and credible explanation, expressed in a way that fits with the mindset and terminology of UFO believers. You may disagree with some of the explanation at times, but there is still much of value to be found, particularly if you are attempting to minister to a person caught up in a UFO belief system.

In no way do any of the sites attempt to present a ‘christianised’ version of UFO ideas. The emphasis is very much on the satanic deceptions involved and the need to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as saviour.

The most useful of the christian based websites is Alien Resistance, which provides a gateway to other similar christian websites. Another I would recommend for personal reading is the online E-book – Modern Guide to Demons and Fallen Angels

For those who are interested, I was able to dig up some video footage of alleged UFO sightings over New Zealand. I can’t say I found the footing terribly convincing myself though.

It is interesting to note that a British survey of Anglican vicars
found that while some don’t believe in heaven, more than half believe in life on other planets.