UFO phenomenon or religion incognito ?

[The Starman]

Is the UFO not only a pseudo-science about unrecognized flying objects, alien abductions, but also religion?

One of the many "alien kidnappers" of Billy Meir's UFO photography. "FOX tv" acquired rights to this photo, from then on it became a photo of the popular US-series X-files, Detective Mulder's wall (post-opera). With the famous inscription "I want to believe".

UFOs have elements of religious faith, people believe that UFOs (flying saucers, cigars) fly extraterrestrial beings. Usually, these advocates believe that extraterrestrial beings must be interested in the welfare of mankind. Humanity is already there, or it will eventually become a part of the existing extraterrestrial civilization. Other extraterrestrial beings tend to add more to a supernatural world where the UFO inhabitants are more like angels (or spirits / souls) than physical entities such as "gray" or "reptilian". On the other hand, from a religious perspective, this is not a striking difference across the UFO subculture.

First of all, UFO religions have expanded in countries such as: USA, Canada, France, United Kingdom and Japan. In order to realize what is an "extraterrestrial being" (alien) in this time, the society should have been technologically advanced enough. Otherwise, the concept of "extraterrestrial civilization" would have been discouraged and incomprehensible.
The term "flying saucers" and the popular UFO concept are thought to originate from 1947-1950. But the roots of this religious faith go back a few decades. Great influence on formation was made by fantastic screening like:

"Algol: The Tragedy of Power" 1920, a German film about an extraterrestrial creature (alien) from the planet of Algol, which has given a man a machine capable of controlling the whole world.

"Aelita: Queen of Mars" 1924, Soviet Union film about an unexpected space message from the Mars planet. Long story short - The plot unfolds in the love story between the man and the princess of Mars planet.

This screen shot inspired such films as "Woman in the Moon" in 1923, "Flash Gordon" 1936-49, which was later inspired by George Lucas to write Star Wars. Undoubtedly, people have long been fantasizing about an extraterrestrial planet, forms of life, and so on. 1947 The "mystique" of Roswell's history surrounded the whole country of the United States and, at that time, the enemy of the Cold War to the Soviet Union. Although until 1947 Dozens of films about aliens were made all over the world, however, the popularity of Roswell's history has led to an incredible renaissance of alien genres and new heights. Using the cinema studios, they built "space operas", in which aliens became increasingly "alter ego" (bad guys) of the main cinema characters. More and more, aliens killed or rob people in cinemas. As a result, the UFO has become one of the largest in the XX century. age pop subculture / religions.

Perhaps many heard of Heaven's Gate. Paradise Gate was the secret of the UFO for the new millennium. What her former religious practice is poorly known. Before joining the group, many members sold their property to get rid of dependence on earthly things. Scientific fiction and films made great influence on the faith. Successful executives engaged in programming business and other computer technologies (managed by Higher Source). Until 1997, the sect was rated as a harmless fanfare group of science fiction.

The religious section described above was based in the United States and there is no knowledge of followers in Lithuania . Perhaps we would have been quicker to reach the UFO wave from the west , if not the cold war and occupation before 1990 . Still , we do have the UFO movement here . The International Raelian Movement , founded in Lithuania in 2003 . The Raelians are an atheistic ufology religion, the founder and leader of which is the former journalist and owner of Claude Virilhon magazine on car sport (born 1946), since 1998. According to Rael, on December 13, 1973, a stranger (elohim) appeared to him (Hebrew elohim - "god", the inhabitants of the races are "descended from heaven") and Revealed a "slightly corrected" biblical truth . 1974 Rael published The Book That Tells The Truth and established the movement MADECH (Movement for l'acueli des Elohim createurs de l'humanite , Movement for the welcoming of the Elohim, creators of humanity), which was abandoned a year later. The Rael people's movement was officially founded in 1976, the name of religion began to be called in 1998. In the nineties, movement from France spread to the German-speaking countries : Germany , Austria , Switzerland , and now Rael himself lives in Canada, there A central international headquarters was established , and another international headquarters was established in Geneva (Switzerland) .

John Travolta, a famous Hollywood actor, is also a Scientologist. This film is based on a fantastic novel written by scientologist religion, founder (L.R. Hubbard). The film's plot has many similarities, with scientological doctrines and the very religious history.

If the movement of raelians continues to grow, it has every opportunity to become an official world religion. Scientology is the finest analogue. There are over 20 million followers believing in the religious history of: the alien dictator named Xenu , who had brought billions of people to Earth planet from space and killed them all - 75 million years ago. Founder of Scientology, Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, a writer of fantasy works , a pseudo-scientist who formally has written mostly fantasy books ( in whole world ) . No one else written more then he did of any genre , to equal the number of books .

The advocates of UFO religion believe that the advent of alien civilizations will help people to overcome current ecological, technological, spiritual and social problems. Using exceptional alien technologies and spiritual abilities, one can solve such problems as: hatred, war, fanaticism, poverty, ecology, etc. . We can define such systems of faith as a religious doctrine (milenarism).

So ... the only question remains. What you want to believe and what do you believe in ?

P.S. Hi everyone , this is my first UFO article in english language . I'm lithuanian , so actually i've translated it . Sorry for mistakes , i did my best .

 

[Randall]

Cults and "UFO religions" like the Raëlians are a topic of discussion in ufology, but that it in no way makes ufology itself a religion any more than studying Gothic Cathedrals makes architecture a religion. For something to qualify as a religion it has to be deified by the group that devotes itself to it. I know of know ufologist anyplace who has deified the field ufology. The Field of Ufology

In regard to the pseudoscience remark: The field of ufology doesn't fit the definition of pseudo science because it neither claims to be a scientific field unto itself and is too broad in scope for the scientific method to apply to all areas, particularly the cultural aspects. Yes there are examples of pseudoscience within the field as a whole, but that doesn't make the field as a whole a pseudoscience any more than quacks in medicine make the whole field of medicine quackery.

 

[Irreligious Survivalist]

Is the UFO not only a pseudo-science about unrecognized flying objects, alien abductions,

You kid. ha.

 

[The Starman]

You kid. ha.

?

Cults and "UFO religions" like the Raëlians are a topic of discussion in ufology, but that it in no way makes ufology itself a religion any more than studying Gothic Cathedrals makes architecture a religion. For something to qualify as a religion it has to be deified by the group that devotes itself to it. I know of know ufologist anyplace who has deified the field ufology. The Field of Ufology

In regard to the pseudoscience remark: The field of ufology doesn't fit the definition of pseudo science because it neither claims to be a scientific field unto itself and is too broad in scope for the scientific method to apply to all areas, particularly the cultural aspects. Yes there are examples of pseudoscience within the field as a whole, but that doesn't make the field as a whole a pseudoscience any more than quacks in medicine make the whole field of medicine quackery.

Hello , Usual Suspect

UFO abductions , sightings , contacts , close aliens encounters . Do not have physical proof/evidence , everything is based on people's word . Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence . Eventually time goes on and you have to choose believe it or not . And why UFO ir a religion ----> The advocates of UFO religion believe that the advent of alien civilizations will help people to overcome current ecological, technological, spiritual and social problems. Using exceptional alien technologies and spiritual abilities, one can solve such problems as: hatred, war, fanaticism, poverty, ecology, etc. . We can define such systems of faith as a religious doctrine (milenarism).

Science is a way of thinking , analyzing ( REAL ) evidence , doing experiments .
Pseudoscience makes claims based on faulty or nonexistent scientific evidence . In most cases , pseudosciences present claims in a way that makes them seem possible , but with little or no empirical support for these claims . UFO is one of them .

 

[Randall]

? USO abductions , sightings , contacts , close aliens encounters . Do not have physical proof/evidence , everything is based on people's word .

Firsthand experience is good evidence, just not material evidence. There have also been radar cases and some photographic and trace evidence. I don't know of any scientifically valid material evidence. That however doesn't mean there is no phenomenon.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence .

That is a popular skeptical claim, but the word "extraordinary" makes it biased. Unbiased science only needs is scientifically valid evidence, not "extraordinary" evidence.

Eventually time goes on and you have to choose believe it or not. And why UFO ir a religion ----> The advocates of UFO religion believe that the advent of alien civilizations will help people to overcome current ecological, technological, spiritual and social problems. Using exceptional alien technologies and spiritual abilities, one can solve such problems as: hatred, war, fanaticism, poverty, ecology, etc. . We can define such systems of faith as a religious doctrine (milenarism).

Millenarianism is at least an interesting way of supporting your claim. My counterpoint to that would be twofold:

First, the belief that contact with an advanced alien civilization will bring about a positive transformation in global culture is contingent upon it actually happening, and I don't know any ufologists who are 100% certain that will actually happen. Therefore no "faith" is involved. It's simply a "What if?" type of situation. It is possible that a certain number of non-ufologists do have such a belief, and I would contend that they are in the minority and are simply expressing their wishful thinking about the subject. Do they really blindly believe aliens are going to come down and save the world? I don't know. I've never met anyone who actually believes that. Have you?

Secondly, simply having the faith that something unproven will radically change the world doesn't necessarily make it a religious belief. Such a belief can be based on sound logic and critical thinking. Consider for a moment the advantages of harnessing fusion power. There are real scientific projects underway as we speak on those projects. Antigravity still eludes us, but there are serious efforts being made by people to figure that out too. Those two things alone would be very powerful in transforming society. There's also the quest for antiaging. It's a legitimate scientific pursuit. Clearly however they aren't religious in nature.

Science is a way of thinking , analyzing ( REAL ) evidence , doing experiments. Pseudoscience makes claims based on faulty or nonexistent scientific evidence . In most cases , pseudosciences present claims in a way that makes them seem possible , but with little or no empirical support for these claims . UFO is one of them.

You raise legitimate concerns, and I've had to deal with them in the past, so let's see if I can help clear things up, starting with the issue of pseudoscience. To be a pseudoscience, the people involved have to either make the claim that what they are doing is science, or present their work using all the trappings of a scientific presentation to make it appear to be scientific, and then it has to be shown by real scientists that it doesn't meet their accepted scientific standards. Again, I am a member of the ufology community in an organization with thousands of members. We do not believe ufology is a science, and furthermore most of us recognize that it never can be a science because it's too broad in scope for the scientific method. When real science needs to be done we advocate sending it to real scientists. See "Sighting Investigations" in the chart below:

​

It appears to me that your view of the field of ufology has been heavily influenced by relatively uniformed and highly biased skeptics who misrepresent the field in order to marginalize it as part of their own personal agenda. I don't know of a single ufologist who considers the field of ufology ( as a whole ) to be a science unto itself, or tries to put on a show that leads people to believe it is. The vast majority of works are for the mass market and not aimed specifically at scientists. We do however advocate using critical thinking when evaluating claims. So quite clearly, ufology as a field simply doesn't fit the definition of pseudoscience, no matter how badly some skeptics want it to.

I personally feel that ufology could be made into an accepted academic field with the Humanities ( not the sciences ), and that when real science can be done for the field, it should be done by real scientists at arms length from ufology. So for example if someone in the ufology faculty came upon some physical evidence, they should take it over to the science faculty and let them have a look at it on their own terms. This approach should eliminate the kinds of concerns you have raised, which once again I think are legitimate concerns. If you have any helpful suggestions on how to further improve the field, please let me know!

 

[The Starman]

Firsthand experience is good evidence, just not material evidence. There have also been radar cases and some photographic and trace evidence. I don't know of any scientifically valid material evidence. That however doesn't mean there is no phenomenon. That is a popular skeptical claim, but the word "extraordinary" makes it biased. Unbiased science only needs is scientifically valid evidence, not "extraordinary" evidence. Millenarianism is at least an interesting way of supporting your claim. My counterpoint to that would be twofold:

I want to make myself clear. I don't see all UFO subject ( unidentified flying object ) as BS, i can't deny that strange "objects" time to time appear in the skies/water, maybe people really see them. But, individual experience is not valid to call "evidence". No one else can check it and aproove, someone's statement like "i saw disk form object" is correct. Other then that, people more interested on man's credibility, which raises another question, why should i believe him and take this case serious?

I know many people who just, believes that UFO aliens are visiting us to "observe". If ufology at most has to offer just individual people claims, realistically this will never can go to the main stream academic field as a serious subject.

I appreciate that there are people like you, who take this topic serious, and try to do in the right way. But after so many years looking into it, i don't see any good progress instead more and more nonsense. People are willing to do anything and earn money cause now it has more then ever UFO believers. It's getting out of hand. Nowdays ufology is more a religion than an explained phenomenon . It's sad.

I posted another article, this one is more polished. I would like to hear you opinion on that aswell if you are willing to read. I do like reading your point of view. ---> Alien contacts / critical point of view
Just one more question. Have ever encountered a physical evidence as ufologist?

 

[Randall]

I want to make myself clear. I don't see all UFO subject ( unidentified flying object ) as BS, i can't deny that strange "objects" time to time appear in the skies/water, maybe people really see them. But, individual experience is not valid to call "evidence". No one else can check it and to aproove, that someone's statement like "i saw disk form object" is correct. Other then that, people more interested on man's credibility, which raises another question, why should i believe him and take this case serious?

I see your point, but its validity hinges on your definition of evidence. There's no question that there is a variety of evidence and that firsthand experience counts as such. What it doesn't count as is scientifically valid material evidence. But that isn't the only standard by which people judge how likely something is to be true. In the absence of scientifically valid material evidence sufficient to scientifically prove UFOs exist, firsthand experience has already proven to thousands of people that UFOs do exist, and the weight of their collective experience, combined with critical thinking and other available evidence is sufficient for any fair minded person to believe that UFOs exist. The opinions of certain particular types of scientists who lack the evidence they need to verify their claims is not sufficient reason to dismiss all other evidence.

I know many people who just, believes that UFO aliens are visiting us to "observe". If ufology at most has to offer just individual people claims, realistically this will never can go to the main stream academic field as a serious subject.

There's much more to ufology than individual cases. It's become embedded in virtually every facet of modern culture. I would say that the cultural aspect is even broader in scope and could indeed be studied academically, but not as part of the sciences. As mentioned already, I think it would fit better as part of the Humanities. There we have things like the Arts, which are almost totally subjective.

I appreciate that there are people like you, who take this topic serious, and try to do in the right way. But after so many years looking into it, i don't see any good progress instead more and more nonsense. People are willing to do anything and earn money cause now it has more then ever UFO believers. It's getting out of hand. Nowdays ufology is more a religion than an explained phenomenon . It's sad.

The idea of ufology as a religion is popularized more by skeptics than anyone else. It's a misrepresentation of the field. I don't know a single ufologist who worships UFOs. Do you? Again: Have you actually met anyone who believes aliens are actually going to come down and save the world? I haven't met any either and I've been doing ufology for decades. So maybe instead of creating social theories based on unsubstantiated skeptical opinion and misrepresentation, how about getting some real facts. You can take my name off the list of ufologists who worship UFOs and have faith that they're going to come down and save the world. Try asking a few more of them. I'm sure you'll have a much harder time than you think.

I posted another article, this one is more polished. I would like to hear you opinion on that aswell if you are willing to read. I do like reading your point of view ---> Alien contacts / critical point of view
Just one more question. Have ever encountered a physical evidence as ufologist?

If you mean material evidence like an alien artifact that I could hold and weigh? No. If you mean physical as in it emitted light as photons ( a physical phenomenon ) that were picked up by my retinas and converted by my brain ( also a physical system ) into a visual image, then actually still no. I was much younger when I saw a UFO. It was before I would have called myself a ufologist.

 

[Irreligious Survivalist]

USO abductions , sightings , contacts , close aliens encounters . Do not have physical proof/evidence , everything is based on people's word

What a kidder! ha.

 

[The Starman]

I see your point, but its validity hinges on your definition of evidence. There's no question that there is a variety of evidence and that firsthand experience counts as such. What it doesn't count as is scientifically valid material evidence. But that isn't the only standard by which people judge how likely something is to be true. In the absence of scientifically valid material evidence sufficient to scientifically prove UFOs exist, firsthand experience has already proven to thousands of people that UFOs do exist, and the weight of their collective experience, combined with critical thinking and other available evidence is sufficient for any fair minded person to believe that UFOs exist. The opinions of certain particular types of scientists who lack the evidence they need to verify their claims is not sufficient reason to dismiss all other evidence.
There's much more to ufology than individual cases. It's become embedded in virtually every facet of modern culture. I would say that the cultural aspect is even broader in scope and could indeed be studied academically, but not as part of the sciences. As mentioned already, I think it would fit better as part of the Humanities. There we have things like the Arts, which are almost totally subjective.
The idea of ufology as a religion is popularized more by skeptics than anyone else. It's a misrepresentation of the field. I don't know a single ufologist who worships UFOs. Do you? Again: Have you actually met anyone who believes aliens are actually going to come down and save the world? I haven't met any either and I've been doing ufology for decades. So maybe instead of creating social theories based on unsubstantiated skeptical opinion and misrepresentation, how about getting some real facts. You can take my name off the list of ufologists who worship UFOs and have faith that they're going to come down and save the world. Try asking a few more of them. I'm sure you'll have a much harder time than you think.
If you mean material evidence like an alien artifact that I could hold and weigh? No. If you mean physical as in it emitted light as photons ( a physical phenomenon ) that were picked up by my retinas and converted by my brain ( also a physical system ) into a visual image, then actually still no. I was much younger when I saw a UFO. It was before I would have called myself a ufologist.

I agree that there is a UFO, I do not mind it. I am worried by people's explanations of what they have seen, e.t.c flying saucers, orbs . Do we have at least one normal picture from the beginning of the 20th century?
I will abstain from commenting on what people claim to have seen. Many scholars do this because there is not enough evidence to develop / conduct research. I am not inclined to draw conclusions from the presumptions.

Religion is not only a religious rites and a visit to shrines. Religions often explain the origin and meaning of man, the Universe and various natural phenomena, and makes people believe in supernatural beings, stop asking and seeking rational explanations. I see this happening especially in ufology right now.

I do not know the ufologists who believe that the aliens will descend from sky and save everyone. However, I know ufologists who believe in similar abductees narratives that explain intergalactic wars, etc. I have described one such UFO story in my country. In addition, many ufologists just believe in aliens and flying saucers, and therefore, as far as ufology is a subculture subject, it does not have a big difference.

 

[Randall]

... Religions often explain the origin and meaning of man, the Universe and various natural phenomena, and makes people believe in supernatural beings, stop asking and seeking rational explanations. I see this happening especially in ufology right now ...

Okay, you make a fair point there. It would however say that religion tends to strongly imply divinity, and not merely something supernatural. For example I consider myself to be non-religious, but that doesn't mean I don't think it's possible that there may be some sort of universe creator. The difference between me and a religious person is that they have deified the universe creator, whereas I have not. To a religious person the universe creator is something to be worshiped and spiritually devoted to. I see it simply as something objective, perhaps the architect of a vastly powerful processing system that is responsible for generating this construct we call a universe.

This gets into the simulation hypothesis from a cosmological perspective. No God is required. But such a being might still be considered supernatural in the sense that any such architect would of necessity reside outside our "natural world". So hypothetically someone might propose that such beings seem to exist, but have no idea how to explain them, and simply deal with people who encounter phenomena associated with them. In that context, such a researcher doesn't necessarily need to be religious themselves. For example the abduction researcher John Mack dealt with a lot of this. But he was a Harvard Professor.

Where we correctly draw the line is when we get into cases like The Raëlians. However the Raëlians themselves don't claim to have anything to with ufology, and I don't know of any ufologists who are Raëlians or a member of any UFO cult or religion. Maybe there is one someplace, but I haven't met them and can't name them, and I'd have to know more about their specific case to be able to comment. I don't think Meier or Raël are considered by anyone in the field to be ufologists.

I do not know the ufologists who believe that the aliens will descend from sky and save everyone. However, I know ufologists who believe in similar abductees narratives that explain intergalactic wars, etc. I have described one such UFO story in my country. In addition, many ufologists just believe in aliens and flying saucers, and therefore, as far as ufology is a subculture subject, it does not have a big difference.

Again, I'd say that there is a difference between an abduction researcher like Mack, who believes his patients are sincere about their stories, and someone who necessarily believes the stories themselves are true in that they reflect an objective reality that matches their story.

However there's no doubt that there is a fringe element to ufology. But can they be considered genuine ufologists? This is a separate issue altogether. The field of ufology doesn't have any oversight. People like myself at USI and others you might think of as responsible and objective ufologists make an effort to expose frauds and distance the field itself from those who are simply exploiting the field for gain. We would actually welcome someone like yourself to help us in that effort in a fair-minded way, and BTW, thank you for your kind comments in your other post. I like to think of myself as a critical thinker. It's nice when someone else recognizes it.

 

[The Starman]

Okay, you make a fair point there. It would however say that religion tends to strongly imply divinity, and not merely something supernatural. For example I consider myself to be non-religious, but that doesn't mean I don't think it's possible that there may be some sort of universe creator. The difference between me and a religious person is that they have deified the universe creator, whereas I have not. To a religious person the universe creator is something to be worshiped and spiritually devoted to. I see it simply as something objective, perhaps the architect of a vastly powerful processing system that is responsible for generating this construct we call a universe.

This gets into the simulation hypothesis from a cosmological perspective. No God is required. But such a being might still be considered supernatural in the sense that any such architect would of necessity reside outside our "natural world". So hypothetically someone might propose that such beings seem to exist, but have no idea how to explain them, and simply deal with people who encounter phenomena associated with them. In that context, such a researcher doesn't necessarily need to be religious themselves. For example the abduction researcher John Mack dealt with a lot of this. But he was a Harvard Professor.

Where we correctly draw the line is when we get into cases like The Raëlians. However the Raëlians themselves don't claim to have anything to with ufology, and I don't know of any ufologists who are Raëlians or a member of any UFO cult or religion. Maybe there is one someplace, but I haven't met them and can't name them, and I'd have to know more about their specific case to be able to comment. I don't think Meier or Raël are considered by anyone in the field to be ufologists.
Again, I'd say that there is a difference between an abduction researcher like Mack, who believes his patients are sincere about their stories, and someone who necessarily believes the stories themselves are true in that they reflect an objective reality that matches their story.

However there's no doubt that there is a fringe element to ufology. But can they be considered genuine ufologists? This is a separate issue altogether. The field of ufology doesn't have any oversight. People like myself at USI and others you might think of as responsible and objective ufologists make an effort to expose frauds and distance the field itself from those who are simply exploiting the field for gain. We would actually welcome someone like yourself to help us in that effort in a fair-minded way, and BTW, thank you for your kind comments in your other post. I like to think of myself as a critical thinker. It's nice when someone else recognizes it.

If you can't explain or understand something, you don't need to make statements like there is a god or aliens, flying saucers. These presumptions based on belief system, not scientific evidence. I think it is hard to separate ufologists good from bad ones and opposite, when the actuall community do have many demagogues with big statements. It does not matter whoever believes in anything...belief is iracional. But if someone is going to say "this or that" are true, you must have evidence, otherwise it's just another beautiful story.

 

[Randall]

If you can't explain or understand something, you don't need to make statements like there is a god or aliens, flying saucers. These presumptions based on belief system, not scientific evidence. I think it is hard to separate ufologists good from bad ones and opposite, when the actuall community do have many demagogues with big statements. It does not matter whoever believes in anything...belief is iracional. But if someone is going to say "this or that" are true, you must have evidence, otherwise it's just another beautiful story.

You can call my experience "just another beautiful story" all you want, but it won't change the reality of it, or thousands of other cases. It's easy to be a skeptic. It's harder to do the homework required to get to the point where you see that calling all eye witness accounts just "another beautiful story" is small minded, if not insulting. To his credit, astronomer Dr.J. Allen Hynek, official scientific consultant to Project Blue Book was compelled by the weight of his own investigations, to come to this same conclusion. It's good that you're not falling for the fakes. But you ned to look at the other side of the coin too.

 

[The Starman]

You can call my experience "just another beautiful story" all you want, but it won't change the reality of it, or thousands of other cases. It's easy to be a skeptic. It's harder to do the homework required to get to the point where you see that calling eye witness accounts just "another beautiful story" is small minded, if not insulting. To his credit, astronomer Dr.J. Allen Hynek, official scientific consultant to Project Blue Book was compelled by the weight of his own investigations, to come to this same conclusion. It's good that you're not falling for the fakes. But you ned to look at the other side of the coin too.

Last reply was not about you.

 

[Randall]

Last reply was not about you.

You quoted me specifically. So I'm not sure what you mean.

 

[The Starman]

You quoted me specifically. So I'm not sure what you mean.

Im talking about UFO subject.

 

[The Starman]

Welcome to The Aetherius Society

Famous Heaven's gate.

Former scientologist finds out about alien Xenu.


Main questions:

1. What is a religion, how do you describe this term ?
2. How do you describe UFOlogy ?
3. What similarities do they have and what differences ?