UFO: The Modern Lure of the Ancient Serpent

Since the middle of the last century, a “flying saucer” boom hit the world. Many people have claimed that they saw what are now called UFOs — "Unidentified Flying Objects". [1] Much has been written about contacts with "aliens", but in most cases this work has not been subjected to serious scientific analysis.

The popularity of pseudoscientific and quasi-religious occult literature shows how susceptible modern man is to myth-making, often taking speculation as fact, and receiving beautiful rhetoric as truth, a dangerous practice which ultimately bears destructive fruit. This article is intended as a warning sign, pointing out one of the spiritual pitfalls which endangers many of our contemporaries.

What do we know about the so-called "aliens"? A great deal of reading material now exists, for those who wish to study this topic. [2] 

First of all, we note that it is life threatening to have any interactions with so-called "aliens". For example, the American journalist Frank Edwards began his famous book, Flying Saucers - A Serious Matter, with the following warning:

Approaching a UFO can be dangerous to humans! Do not stand under a UFO that soars at a low altitude! Do not touch the landed UFO! For your own safety, leave this place ... Do not take risks watching UFOs! [3]

Frank Edwards is in solidarity with his colleague John Kiel, who has been studying UFOs since 1945. Kiel offers the following statements:

There are a lot of letters in my mail asking for help, and many of who have already reached insanity, and some have committed suicide [4] 

a classic case: a person was bewildered by the ultra-creatures that pushed him onto the road leading to collapse. There is no clinical explanation for the psychological underpinnings of what is happening. All the victims of such cases (there were women among them), convinced of the sincere attitude of the ultra-being to themselves, fooled by false promises and stuffed with pseudo-ideas, went a direct way to their own death. [5] 

Kiel, a well-known expert on UFOs, became personally convinced of the danger of researching the UFO phenomenon:

It was not a year after I completely devoted myself to investigating UFOs ... and the phenomenon began to haunt me just as it did with the English publisher Arthur Shatlwood and many others . At first my phone went crazy, mysterious personalities called me day and night, transmitting tremendous messages about "aliens from space."

Then I was catapulted into the fantastic world of demonology. I had a rendezvous with black Cadillacs in Long Island, and when I started chasing them, they disappeared in an incredible way ... Glowing air objects followed me everywhere like loyal dogs. It seemed they always knew exactly where I was and where I was going. I could randomly choose a motel and find that someone had already reserved a room there in my name and left a whole series of completely meaningless telephone messages for me.

I became a victim of unthinkable coincidences, and some of my close friends in New York, who never studied the phenomenon, began to report their encounters with inexplicable phenomena: poltergeists began to appear in their homes, and the vile smell of hydrogen sulphide followed them everywhere .... Some times I woke up in the middle of the night, unable to move, and a huge dark ghost was standing over me. [6] 

In our opinion, the warning of this man, who has devoted many years to the study of the UFO phenomenon, should be heeded:

My files are filled with descriptions of hundreds of cases (some of them have already been investigated by highly qualified psychiatrists) ... there are many men and women who have shown an active interest in the phenomenon UFOs, frightened by visits from some strange personalities, pursued by suddenly appearing and disappearing mysterious black “Cadillacs”. And in the end, terrorized, they ceased to study this issue. Among them were many contactees [7]

to deal with the problem of UFOs is just as dangerous as black magic. Nervous, gullible, and inexperienced people, as a rule, become a victim of the phenomenon. In many cases, this leads to acute schizophrenia, demon mania, even suicide. Thus, the mysterious charm of the UFO phenomenon can lead to terrible tragedies. Therefore, I strongly recommend parents: Forbid children to pursue an interest in such issues. It is the duty of teachers and of any adult person to protect children from UFO hobbies. [8]

So who is behind the guise of "aliens", pushing their witnesses to the point of madness, becoming the immediate cause of their death or illness, or even driving them to commit suicide? Where did these mysterious creatures come from, so vehemently opposing any serious attempt to study their visits?

It is known that animals feel the approach of these creatures and all their behavior reveals fear: cows and sheep panic, and dogs start to howl and bark. There are cases when UFOs caused burns in animals, bringing about temporary paralysis. After such visits, the corpses of dead animals have been found. [9] 

When an alleged UFO contacts people, there are sometimes recorded cases of temporary paralysis of the eyewitnesses, where people retain all their sensations, but are unable to move. Some UFO witnesses describe their feelings as an electric shock that paralyzed them. There were cases when the appearance of a UFO led eyewitnesses to an immediate loss of consciousness. In other cases they lost consciousness several hours after such a meeting. There were cases of clothes burning, severe burns on the body, and cases of vision loss were also recorded. [10] 

There are also cases where deaths have occurred, when people came into contact with supposed UFOs. For example, in 1946, a forty-year-old farmer died in Brazil. After contact with a UFO, there were no burns on his body, but shortly afterwards the unthinkable happened:

"within an hour in front of witnesses, his soft tissues began to fall off his bones, his teeth and bones were exposed, and after 6 hours he died." [11] 

This is not the only example of a person’s death after meeting with “aliens”. [12] In general, UFOs are often present where blood is being shed. In the historical chronicles there is evidence of their presence on the battlefield. [13] [14]

What are the consequences of the influence of UFOs on the psyche of people? The range is wide here too: Sometimes, even before the appearance of a UFO, people begin to feel intense excitement, anxiety, and in some cases eyewitnesses have a feeling of fear, turning into horror. For example, in 1979, the Polish fishing boat "Hel-127" collided with a UFO, after which the following happened:

the boat skipper Schomborg felt a strange numbness, chest pain, and began to lose his sight. At the same time, he experienced such a fear that he did not know even in the strongest storm. The helmsman Elvart, too, became numb and even left the steering wheel, and two other members of the team, Figursky and Bona, stepping onto the bridge, felt a severe pain in their temples. [15] 

Shomborg argued that the feeling of fear did not leave him for a long time. Sometimes, after contact with UFOs, people begin to experience nightmares. After experiencing a UFO phenomenon, there are cases where people started sleeping 16 hours a day, for an extended period of weeks or months.

Sometimes when a person witnesses a UFO, another person appears, saying that they are able to communicate telepathically with the aliens. They say they are receiving messages from the stars, and they claim to have received extrasensory abilities. What happens to these people after contact? UFO researchers have discovered a number of patterns in the lives of such people. They die quickly, and serious illness often precedes death. A lot of them go to mental hospitals. They have significantly reduced intellectual capacity, and a reduced ability to critically analyze. They become more credulous, and they fall more easily into a hypnotic trance than other people. [17] 

Regarding how communication with "aliens" impacts human health, candidate of medical sciences N.D. Tuikin, who had been engaged in the rehabilitation of contactees for a long time, said the following in one of his interviews with the Nedelya newspaper:

In the overwhelming majority of cases, when dealing with aliens, the picture is the following: contact is followed by a shift in psyche. The first symptoms are fear and nervousness. [18]

The Soyuz UFO Center conducted a study of the mental state of contactees with "aliens". [19] It turned out that out of 106 people only four were healthy:

The remaining 102 people can be classified as problematic:

• 47 people have schizophrenia (paraphrenic stage -16, periodical forms - 9, a defective state with severe deficiency disorders - 10)
• differential diagnostic doubts about the form of the chronic state of mind - 10 people
• psychopathy - 40 people, (paranoid forms - 24, hysterical - 12, hyperthymic - 6)
• intellectual failure - 5 people (“induced delusions”);
• organic lesions of the central nervous system - 80 people;
• cyclothymia (manic phase) - 2 people 

According to Nick Pope, the author of the book UFO Dossiers of the British Ministry of Defense, most people who are seriously studying UFOs suffer from paranoia. [20] The findings of scientists are frightening:

The negative impact of UFOs is obvious. Psychophysical effects grow in proportion to the demonstrativeness of the phenomenon. And if after the contact a person remained alive and did not suffer physically, even if he was cured, his habitual life changes. [21]

The “aliens” choose spiritually defenseless people as contactees, i.e. either atheists or unchurched people. [22] Fascination with any forms of occult greatly contributes to this. Church-attending Orthodox Christians do not come into contact with UFOs. [23]

Often, contactees do not have a high level of intelligence, which is evident even from the books distributed by them. The substantive side of this kind of work often raises questions about the responsibility of the authors, not to mention the complete scientific inconsistency of these works. Numerous studies have shown that the information received by contactees has no practical value. In most cases, contactees are so-called mediums — that is, people who are prone to the influence of demonic forces, perhaps due to various psychophysical or hereditary predispositions. [24] 

When these people become authors, their literature — at best — testifies to their credulity. At worst, it reflects their psychological and sometimes psychiatric problems. [25] For example, we suggest that readers independently reflect on what sort of troubled psyche may be behind the following statement, written by someone who claims to have contacted aliens: “humanity will switch to the energy level of being, dolphins will take the place of people in the biosphere. They will go on land and get a human appearance. But then the dolphins will go to the energy level and go into space, and the Sun will go out and become a planet. Dolphins by then will lead the inhabitants of Venus as the leading ones. And for Venus, the Absolute will light the green sun that Jupiter will become." [26]

Among the natural phenomena that anticipate the emergence of "aliens", the following can be numbered:

• terrible dreams
• strange-looking visitors
• a knock at the door and the absence of anyone behind it 
• seeing a so-called “black man” shortly before personal contact

For many people, the very contact with "aliens" causes a painful experience of fear, a sense of insecurity, internal anxiety, and a desire to quickly interrupt communication. After contact, people often feel a loss of strength, emptiness, physical fatigue, and weakness. In certain cases, there are examples where contactees experience excitement, exaltation, and a surge of strength. However, this condition does not last long and usually ends with depression. [27]

Judging by the nature of what happens when “aliens” communicate with their victims, they are clearly striving for power over people, thinly veiling their desire by using beautiful words about the “salvation” of earthly civilization. It is clearly appealing to them, to feign the role of "rescuers of humanity". But according to people who have been in contact with "aliens", there is only a brief honeymoon period, after which the aliens openly demand submission, threatening eyewitnesses with many misfortunes. [28]

The aliens use human passions and weaknesses as manipulation methods. Another form of bait is the promised gift of healings, with which the “newcomers” supposedly can make their gullible fans happy. They use an artificial “unwinding” of human sexual needs, as well as various forms of intimidation. [29] The techniques are not new [30], but they are effective, and they often reach their goals.

"Aliens" are actively implementing their own religious ideas. At the same time, these ideas are very much in tune with those that are spread by occultists of all stripes. [31] For example:

“humanity must ... return to the path indicated by Christ, Krishna and Buddha ...” [32] 

Such appeals to embark on the path of “Christ, Krishna and Buddha” end with the banal preaching of occultism and the affirmation of the “uniqueness” of another contactee, who is ready to replace all traditional world religions in view of his “latest” information from “supercivilization”. [33]

In stores that distribute esoteric literature, it is easy to find writings by people who have had contact with "aliens". Unfortunately, there continue to be people who are imbued with trust in them, considering the ideas inspired by them to be a reality. There are often fatal consequences of interacting with "aliens", as any careful historical study will show.

Recall, for example, the Heaven's Gate sect and its leader, Marshall Applewhite, who convinced his followers to undergo collective suicide at a Santa Fe ranch, in an attempt to catch a ride on an "alien spacecraft". Having discovered information about the appearance of comet Hale-Bopp, and believing that an alien spacecraft was hiding in the tail of this comet, 39 people committed suicide in hopes of getting on this “ship”. [34] Unfortunately, the list of victims of UFOs is considerable, and members of the Heaven's Gate sect are not alone here.

A careful analysis of the repeated actions of “aliens”, for many decades, suggests that their actions are primarily aimed at attracting attention and gaining trust, and that they are not actually interested in investigating people or saving the world. [35] Psychologists have discovered an interesting property of our psyche: if a person commits logically meaningless actions, then this can contribute to his immersion in a trance. [36] Maybe it should be assumed that contacts with “aliens” are a technique for influencing the psyche of a potential contactee, in order to increase his suggestibility?

A Scientific Approach to Investigating UFO Claims

Modern scientists cannot unambiguously explain the UFO phenomenon. [37] On this account there are many theories, but there is no definite answer from science. Against a version of the alien origin of the phenomenon, scientists put forward the following arguments:

• First, they say that modern science does not allow spacecraft to move from one star system to another by overcoming the separation distance in classical space-time, due to the immensity of distances and the impossibility of ships achieving superluminal speeds. [38] 
• Secondly, it is said that it would be difficult for aliens to keep in touch with their planet due to the enormous distance. Besides, UFOs seen by eyewitnesses are too small to be interstellar ships. 
• In addition, the ability of alien ships to instantly disappear and appear, change their shape, and to rapidly alter their movement along any trajectory, violates all the laws of physics.

UFO supporters say that interstellar flights are carried out on large ships hiding, for example, on the Moon [39], from which small ships fly to Earth. Naturally, no one can confirm or deny this. Ultimately, supporters of UFOs reject all the above arguments, presuming that UFOs may possess technologies unknown to us.

The last argument against UFOs is their stubborn unwillingness to make a fixed contact with humanity. [40]

But if science is not able to answer who the "aliens" are, then perhaps it should be remembered that the field of scientific knowledge is limited only to the physical world. And as we have already noted, the "aliens" often turn to the spiritual life of man in their activities, preaching ideas that are strangely similar to occult ones.

The life of the human spirit goes beyond scientific knowledge. It exists within a sphere of religious thought. And if this is so, then maybe the inquisitive thoughts of humanity have been knocking on the wrong door? We agree with the following statement from John Kiel, who says we should also pursue a theological investigation of UFO phenomena:

the main, but unexplored aspects of the UFO phenomenon are, besides the purely scientific, theological and philosophical. The problem of UFOs will never be solved by scientists if they do not master the knowledge in the field of the liberal arts, theology and philosophy. Unfortunately, it takes so much time and effort to study the majority of scientific disciplines that there simply are no physical opportunities to do anything else seriously. [41]

A Christian Approach to Investigating UFO Claims

Let's review what we know about these creatures, and look at the phenomenon of mysterious "aliens" from the point of view of the Christian religion:

• These creatures can easily move in space, violating all the laws of physics, and they can easily change their external form.
• Their presence causes horror in animals and people.
• Communicating with them is destructive to a person’s mental and physical health.
• They actively seek to change the worldview and psychology of contactees.
• Often, contacts with "aliens" result in the contactees committing suicide.
• These creatures are actively introducing religious ideas, aimed at honoring the "newcomers" as "saviors" of humanity.

These ideas, as you can see, are in themselves anti-Christian, and are very consonant with ideas found in occult teachings. Does anything remind you of the creatures described above? These “newcomers” demonstrate all the signs of those spiritual beings with whom humanity has lived side by side throughout the history of its existence, and which are well known to the Orthodox Church and its understanding of spiritual life. The behavior of these creatures, and the results of communication with them, clearly allows us to identify them as demons.

Even the standard appearance of the "aliens" most often resembles the appearance of those creatures who appear before participants in seance. Consider the following account regarding a medium known as Rev. Francis Monk:

Archbishop Thomas Colley describes an ordinary case of materialization in front of a group of doctors and priests:

"The spirit, being formed, became 8 inches taller than Dr. Monk, he grew up gradually and appeared before us as a giant with the muscles of a bronze statue, a strong ancient Egyptian independent of the medium ... I went to the spirit to measure his hands. They were small, like all Eastern peoples, thin wrists, but massive, hairy biceps. The eyes of the spirit were black and piercing, but not cruel; hair straight and pitch black, low mustache and long beard. The creature was full of life and expression, but a bit sphinx-like. The headdress of the spirit was very strange, resembling a kind of metal yarmulke with an emblem in front. He was pulled over his forehead, which glittered and gathered in wrinkles above fluttering eyebrows. I felt cold when, under my touch, his members melted like snow flakes in order to become hard again in a moment." [42] 

John Kiel comments on this example as follows:

In spiritualistic circles, such a creature is automatically considered a spirit — the shadow of a long-dead Egyptian. But if the same creature in the same metallic yarmulke comes out of the bushes in West Virginia and scares the retreating lovers, then it will be accepted as an alien cosmonaut. There are so many occult cases that I am not able to review the most significant of them, but there are a lot of excellent books on this subject that fully reveal this problem. If you have enough time and patience to read these books, you will find in the examples cited there the exact analogies with the UFO phenomenon. You will understand how clearly a picture emerges of the action of the same forces in both situations. [43] 

This position was shared by a late Orthodox scholar, the academician Viktor Yosefavich Veinik, who wrote,

... the alien origin of UFOs is only a disguise, a bait, and the true meaning and purpose of the phenomenon is something else. Now many people, who are hoping for some higher cosmic mind to help ease the sufferings of mankind, will be attracted to this bait ... I would like to draw particular attention to the desire to introduce into the consciousness of modern man the idea of ​​an alien origin of the phenomenon, which allegedly aims to save a civilization that has gotten into trouble. [44]

Let's turn to the Holy Scriptures and remember what it tells us about the spirits of evil. First of all, the Holy Scriptures explicitly call demons “spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). They are treacherous, and they tempt people by playing on their passions. They can take any form: from a person’s image, to the image of an angel of light, and even Christ:

"And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).

Demons can instantly move through space. The Bible provides many examples of possession, and the torment to which demons subject possessed people. The devil is a murderer and a misanthrope (John 8:44), and he brings corruption and death. So a meeting with him or his servants can cause horror in the soul of a person. In addition, a view of the spiritual origin of "aliens" is suggested by John Kiel:

"Demonology is not a study of the absurd. From ancient works, it seems that monsters and demons have coexisted with man throughout his history. Thousands of books have been written on this topic, many of which have been written by the most educated priests, outstanding researchers, and scholars, each of whom relied on numerous well-documented demonic incidents. The events described in this highly impressive literature are very similar, if not identical, to our UFO phenomenon. The victims of demon-mania are subject to the same emotional and physiological stresses as those who have had contact with UFOs.” [45]

Why is it that, at present, the seduction of people by evil spirits is carried out through the image of "aliens"? This question is not difficult to answer. They are tempted by those things which are capable of tempting them. Whatever the mentality of society is, this is what determines the forms of temptation!

The 20th century insistently demanded turning to new methods. Humanity was rapidly advancing in the wake of a rapidly developing science, and the phenomenon inevitably had to change its religious camouflage into the scientific one. It was not difficult to foresee that a series of scientific demonstrations (with a hint of alienness) would capture the imaginations of people cut off from religion. [46] 

Radio telescopes are tapping the universe in search of "brothers in mind." The idea of life on other planets is quite accessible and understandable to modern man. Modern society is secular in nature. The 19th and 20th centuries were an era of belief in technical progress, and “unknown extraterrestrial technologies” proved to be an excellent bait for the earthling.

No, now people do not reject faith in God. But their faith is devoid of depth, meaningfulness, and therefore firmness. Faith requires a man of spiritual effort and achievement (Matt. 7:13), but man usually just prefers to go with the flow. Spiritual relaxation leads to spiritual atrophy. Going to church to light a candle “just in case”, the same person can read a book on magic at his leisure, run to an astrologer to predict the future, and — feeling unwell — hurry to a psychic. This is the average spiritual image of our contemporary.

As a result, society is gradually becoming more and more saturated with occultism. The concept is simple: If you forge a well-known product, you can earn good money — the devil "earns" human souls in the same way. We are warned about his goal:

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)

Everything else is just a question of methods. John Kiel writes about this:

in the past, the phenomenon carefully cultivated the transfer of a religious point of view to itself, just like an alien version is being imposed today. The Trojan Horse operation is a very old game, which is now being conducted in a somewhat new form. Yesterday's emissaries of the devil are replaced by the mysterious "men in black." The quasi-angels of biblical times were replaced by magnificent astronauts. Demons, devils, and pseudo-angels have always been considered to be liars and robbers. The same liars and impostors today appeared in the form of long-haired Venusians. [47]

To review the footnotes and references, see the original article in Russian.