Apocalypse in Early UFO and Alien-Based Religions: Christian and Theosophical Themes By Carole Cusack

https://www.academia.edu/2395018/Apocalypse_in_Early_UFO_and_Alien_Based_Religions_Christian_and_Theosophical_Themes?rhid=41180783947&swp=rr-rw-wc-169582917&nav_from=1a81cc63-3825-4010-af64-84482c8ddf6f UFO and alien-based religions crystallized as contemporary Western spiritual phenomena in the post-World War II era, and reflected both historico-political and moral anxieties about the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, and the atmosphere of paranoia and expectation of the ‘end of the world’ that emerged as a result of the arms race between the United States of America and the Soviet Union. The theology of such religions drew upon two principal sources, one physical and the other spiritual. First, the hardware-oriented, proto-conspiracist sightings of ‘flying saucers’ by Kenneth Arnold in 1947 and the Roswell Incident the same year, in which an unidentified object crashed and the United States Air Force cleared the site of debris, provided evidence that UFOs and the extra-terrestrials who travelled in them were real. Second, the Theosophical notion of Ascended Masters who could transmit occult knowledge to humanity by means of clairaudient mediums or ‘channelling’ was extended to include aliens from distant planets (in addition to Tibetan lamas, denizens of lost worlds like Atlantis and Mu, the dead, and other putative sources of wisdom). This potent mixture was married to the popular cultural narratives of science fiction, such as the influential ‘alien messiah’ film The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). The themes of apocalypse and conspiracy were particularly congruent with the Cold War atmosphere of paranoia and scapegoating, and the notion that the appearance of UFOs and the visitations by extra-terrestrials were signs that the end times were at hand, unless peace on earth is achieved gained currency. The enlightened ones would be taken into the ships before the destruction of the world. UFO and alien-based religions developed in divergent directions; while some advocated an eschaton of battle and destruction (e.g., the Church Universal and Triumphant), others envisaged a harmonious Intergalactic Parliament in which humans participated in peace (e.g., the Aetherius Society). This chapter examines the apocalyptic expectations of several UFO and alien-based religions, and identifies both their sources in the religious currents of the early twentieth century, and their imbrication with post-War political discourses. ...