Close Encounters With What?
UFO 'contactee' cults show the lure of demonic deception


  (Reprinted courtesy of ON BEING July 1989)

(Investigator 9, November 1989)


By TIM SMITH

Tim Smith has been part of several Pentecostal churches
in NSW since becoming a Christian 15 years ago.


The modern day phenomenon of the unidentified flying object (UFO) began on June 24, 1947, when pilot Kenneth Arnold sighted a group of strange flying objects near Mt Rainier in Washington, USA.

He described them as being like "saucers skimming over water". The press changed his description to 'flying saucers', and sightings of strange aerial objects have been reported ever since.

Many explanations have been given for UFO's. The most popular is that they are extra terrestrial space craft and that our planet is being visited by an alien civilisation.   

One of the stranger outcomes of the extra terrestrial theory has been the appearance of 'contactee' cults. These are religious groups who claim to be in contact with alien entities visiting the earth.

Their teachings are often mingled with distorted Christian terminology and some groups are openly anti-Christian.

One Californian group (The One World Family), headed by 'contactee' Allen-Michael Noonan, believes it will take over the government of the USA and run the United Nations — but only after all professing Christians are eliminated. Noonan also claims alien beings invited him to become the saviour of the world.

Erich Von Daniken, in the well-known Chariots of the Gods?, suggested  that flying saucers have visited earth throughout its history and that humanity is in fact descended from extra terrestrials.

He also claimed that religious beliefs originate from these aliens.

It is rarely stated that 90 per cent of UFO sightings are easily explainable.

Many are everyday events seen under unusual conditions. Others are rare atmospheric phenomena such as ball lighting. Some are deliberate hoaxes.

We are still left with around 10 per cent of sightings which have no clear explanation.

A close similarity has been noted between UFO experiences, ghosts, poltergeists and other ‘psychic’ phenomena. The experiences of UFO 'contactees' are comparable to those of spiritualist mediums.

Many UFO researchers have been plagued by strange occurrences and some have died under suspicious circumstances. This suggests the answer to the UFO question is to be found not in outer space but much closer to home.

Whereas Von Daniken and others believe religious beliefs stem from a misidentification of extra-terrestrial visitors, it is probably closer to the truth to say that today's belief in extra-terrestrial visitors is based on a misidentification of the activity of spiritual forces.

John Keel, author of several UFO related books, writes: "Uncounted numbers of well documented demonic events are readily available to every researcher. The manifestations and occurrences described in this imposing literature are similar, if not entirely identical, to the UFO phenomenon itself" (UFO's — Operation Trojan Horse).

John Weldon and Zola Levitt write: "Contact with the UFO's often seems to be by occult means" (UFO's — What On Earth Is Happening?).

An increasing number of 'contactees' are receiving messages from UFO 'occupants' which warn about the future of humanity.

Some messages are very similar to biblical prophecy but they do not make mention of Jesus. Others show open hostility to Christians.

There is enough evidence to indicate that UFO's are a deception being promoted by demonic forces. Many people are falling for this deception and are looking for humanity's problems to be solved by highly advanced visitors from far off worlds.

But if UFO's are seeking to benefit humanity, they are doing it in a strange way. They cause confusion, fear and distress.

Many people's lives have been terribly scarred because of encounters with UFO's.

Is it merely coincidence that in Ephesians 2:2 Satan is called "the ruler of the kingdom of the air"?


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