List of UFO religions

UFO religions are groups that deal with alleged communication between humans and extraterrestrial beings. Proponents often argue that most major religions are already based on the concept of a supernatural being in heaven. Forms of communication include telepathy and astral projection. Groups often believe that humanity can be saved after being educated by the aliens as to how to improve society. Alien abduction belief can lead to formation of a UFO religion. "I AM" Activity, founded in 1930 by Guy Ballard, is seen, according to one author, as the first UFO Religion, though Aetherius Society founded by George King has also been given this distinction. Scholars identify the 1947 Roswell incident as a key event within the history of UFO spirituality. Melodie Campbell and Stephen A. Kent describe Heaven's Gate and Order of the Solar Temple as among the most controversial of the UFO belief groups. Scientology is seen by scholars as a UFO religion, due to its Xenu cosmogony and the presence of Space opera.

## Background

[edit]

J. Gordon Melton identifies the first UFO religion as the group "I AM" Activity, founded by Guy Ballard (at left).[1] St. Germain is pictured above the mantle.

UFO religions generally deal with belief in communication with extraterrestrial beings.[2][3] Stephen Hunt writes in Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction, "One form of quasi-religion that perhaps borders on a more orthodox form of religiosity is that of the flying saucer cults".[2] In these groups, individuals believe that communication between aliens and humans can take the form of physical contact, telepathy, and astral projection.[2] Typically the groups believe that humanity will be saved by these aliens when humans are educated as to a better way to live life.[2] Some of the groups believe that aliens will come to take those that believe to a more positive location.[2] Often the extraterrestrial beings are seen to plead with humanity to improve itself and to move away from a society of greed and violence.[2] UFO religions place an emphasis on spiritual growth and the evolution of humanity.[2] A UFO religion can be formed before or after an individual claims to have experienced an alien abduction and been taken aboard a spacecraft.[4]

Christopher Hugh Partridge writes in UFO Religions that J. Gordon Melton identifies the first UFO religion as the group "I AM" Activity, founded by Guy Ballard.[1] Partridge says it "can be seen as the obvious theosophical forerunner to UFO religions such as the Aetherius Society, and to the thought of UFO religionists such as George Adamski" but views it not as a UFO religion but as a theosophical religion.[5] Partridge notes that within UFO religions, there is a belief that the supreme being or "evolved entity" did not ascend from Earth, but instead came from another plane or another planet and descended to Earth.[6] Partridge describes the 1947 Roswell incident as a key point in time within UFO spirituality, commenting: "Roswell is now firmly established as what might be described as a key ufological 'spiritual site'";[7] and James R. Lewis also calls attention to this event in his book The Gods Have Landed, noting that it is seen by Ufologists as the date of the "emergence of UFOs into the public consciousness".[8] Partridge places UFO religion within the context of theosophical esotericism, and asserts that it began to be associated as "UFO religion" after the 1947 incident at Roswell, New Mexico.[6] According to Partridge, most UFO religions still have many of the key points associated with Theosophy, such as belief in the same Spiritual Hierarchy, and he also draws parallels to New Age thought.[6] He notes that within the thought processes of UFO religions after 1947, many of these groups maintained beliefs that extraterrestrial beings were "heralds of a new era".[6]

Hunt describes the Aetherius Society founded by George King in 1955 as "probably the first and certainly the most enduring UFO cult".[9] He places the Aetherius Society and Raëlism among the "most renowned" of the "flying saucer cults".[2] Writing in the Encyclopedia of Religion and Society, contributors Melodie Campbell and Stephen A. Kent place the Aetherius Society and Unarius as among the "oldest and most studied" of the flying saucer cults.[10] They describe groups Heaven's Gate and Order of the Solar Temple as the "most controversial groups combining UFO belief with variations of contactee assertions".[10] Gregory L. Reece classes Scientology as a "UFO group" in his book UFO Religion: Inside Flying Saucer Cults and Culture, and discusses elements of the Xenu cosmogony and Space opera in Scientology doctrine.[11] He compares Scientology to the Aetherius Society and to Ashtar Command, writing: "While it bears strong similarities to the Ashtar Command or the Aetherius Society, its emphasis upon the Xenu event as the central message of the group seems to place them within the ancient astronaut tradition. Either way, Scientology is perhaps most different from other UFO groups in their attempt to keep all of the space opera stuff under wraps."[11] A similar comparison is made in New Religions: A Guide, which describes the Xenu mythology as "a basic ancient astronaut myth".[12] Author Victoria Nelson writes in The Secret Life of Puppets that "[t]he most prominent current UFO religion is probably the science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard's Church of Scientology".[13]

## List

[edit]

Image | Name | Founder | Founded  | Founding country  | Ref

|
|
|
|
|

| Aetherius Society | George King | 1955  |  UK | [2][3][10][14][15]
| Ashtar Galactic Command | Thelma B. Terrill  | 1977  |  US | [16][11][12][17]
| Association of Sananda and Sanat Kumara | Dorothy Martin (same founder as the Seekers)  |  |  US | [18]
| Cassiopaean Experiment  | Laura Knight Jadczyk and Arkadiusz Jadczyk  |  |  US | [18]
| CEIRUS | Jean Miguères | 1987  |  FR | [19][20]
| Chen Tao | Hon-ming Chen  | 1993  |  TW | [18][21][17][22][23]
| Chino's True Law | Chino Yuko  | 2000s  |  JP | [24]
| Christ Brotherhood | Wallace C. Halsey  | 1956  |  US | [25]
| Church Universal and Triumphant | Mark L. Prophet | 1958  |  US | [26][27]
| Comunidade Figueira | José Trigueirinho Neto  | 1980s  |  BR | [28]
| Cosmic Circle of Fellowship | William R. Ferguson  | 1955  |  US | [29][30]
| Cosmon Research Foundation | Gloria Lee | 1959  |  US | [31]
| École de la préparation à l'évacuation extraterrestre | Jeanine Derel  |  |  FR | [32]
| Extraterrestrial Earth Mission | Savizar and Silarra  | 1986  |  US | [33][34]
| Falun Gong | Li Hongzhi | 1992  |  CN | [21]
| Fiat Lux | Erika Bertschinger Eike  | 1980  |  DE | [18][35][12][36]
| Freie Interessengemeinschaft für Grenz- und Geisteswissenschaften und Ufologiestudien | Billy Meier | 1970s  |  CH | [37]
| God Light Association | Shinji Takahashi | 1969  |  JP | [38]
| Ground Crew Project | Sheldon Nidle  | 1980s  |  US | [17][12]
| The Ground Crew | Valerie Donner  | 1996  |  US | [39][40]
| Happy Science | Ryuho Okawa | 1986  |  JP | [41]
| Heaven's Gate | Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles | 1970s  |  US | [10][42][43][44][45]
| International Get Acquainted Program | H.C. Petersen  | 1965  |  DK | [46]
| "I AM" Activity | Guy Ballard | 1930s  |  US | [47][1]
| Industrial Church of the New World Comforter | Allen Michael  | 1973  |  US | [17]
| Mark-Age | Charles Boyd Gentzel and Pauline Sharpe  | 1962  |  US | [34][40][48][49]
Flag of the Nation of Islam | Nation of Islam | Wallace Fard Muhammad | 1930  |  US | [50][51]
| Néo-Phare | Arnaud Mussy  | 2001  |  FR | [52]
| Nibiruan Council  | Jelaila Starr  | 1997  |  US | [53][40]
| Nuwaubian Nation | Dwight York | 1970s  |  US | [54][55]
Order of the Solar Temple logo | Order of the Solar Temple | Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret | 1984  |  CH | [10]
| Pana Wave | Offshoot of Chino's True Law  |  |  JP | [40]
| Projeto Alvorada | Ferreira Neto  | 1982  |  BR | [28]
| Projeto Portal | Urandir Fernandes de Oliveira  |  |  BR | [28]
Raëlian symbol | Raëlism | Raël | 1974  |  FR | [2][3][11]
| Rational Culture | Manoel Jacintho Coelho | 1935  |  BR | [28]
| Religion of Eternal Life Holy Society of God | Cho Hui-song  | 1981  |  KR | [56]
| Sanctuary of Thought | Truman Bethurum | 1950s  |  US | [57]
| The Seekers | Charles Laughead and Dorothy Martin  | 1953  |  US | [17]
| Siderella | Jean-Paul Appel-Guéry; wrote Timeless Voyage, which conveys similar beliefs to the group  |  |  FR | [58]
| Science Research Center | Halûk Sarıkaya  | 1978  |  TR | [59]
Scientology logo | Scientology | L. Ron Hubbard | 1952  |  US | [3][11][12][13][60][50][61]
| Share International | Benjamin Creme | 1970s  |  UK | [62][63]
| Sunburst | Norman Paulsen  | 1969  |  US | [64][65][66]
| Unarius | Ernest Norman and Ruth Norman | 1954  |  US | [14][17][67][68][15]
| Universariun Foundation | Zelrun and Daisy Karsleigh  | 1958  |  US | [69]
| Universe People | Ivo A. Benda  | 1997  |  CZ | [35]
| Urantia movement | Based on a book of unknown authorship; spawned a loosely organized series of many groups  | 1924 at the earliest and 1955 at the latest  |  US | [70][14][71]
| Vale do Amanhecer | Neiva Chaves Zelaya  | 1960s  |  BR | [72]
| World Brotherhood Union | Bülent Çorak  | 1980s  |  TR | [73]

## See also

[edit]

* Religion portal
* Outer space portal

* Doomsday cult
* List of new religious movements
* List of ufologists
* List of UFO organizations

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Partridge 2003, p. 7.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hunt 2003, p. 226.
3. ^ a b c d Partridge 2005, pp. 444–445.
4. ^ Hexham 2002, p. 11.
5. ^ Partridge 2003, p. 8.
6. ^ a b c d Partridge 2003, p. 36.
7. ^ Partridge 2003, p. 6.
8. ^ Lewis 1995, p. xiii.
9. ^ Hunt 2003, p. 227.
10. ^ a b c d e Swatos 1998, pp. 531–532.
11. ^ a b c d e Reece 2007, pp. 182–186.
12. ^ a b c d e Partridge 2004, p. 374.
13. ^ a b Nelson 2002, pp. 178–179.
14. ^ a b c Landes 2000, p. 411.
15. ^ a b Zeller 2021, p. 386.
16. ^ Tumminia 2007, pp. 309–310.
17. ^ a b c d e f Tumminia 2005, p. 4.
18. ^ a b c d Tumminia 2007, p. 309.
19. ^ Bigliardi 2016.
20. ^ Faubert 1993, p. 220.
21. ^ a b Zeller 2021, p. 523.
22. ^ Lewis 2003, pp. 301–303.
23. ^ Lewis 2001, pp. 371–372.
24. ^ Zeller 2021, p. 515.
25. ^ Matthews 2009, p. 63.
26. ^ Lewis 1995, p. 27.
27. ^ Zeller 2021, p. 358.
28. ^ a b c d Almeida 2019, p. 1.
29. ^ Lewis 1995, p. 45.
30. ^ Bainbridge 1997, p. 380.
31. ^ Clark 2000, p. 133.
32. ^ Abgrall 1999, pp. 93–95.
33. ^ Clark 2000, p. 36.
34. ^ a b Lewis 1995, p. 29.
35. ^ a b Saliba 2006, p. 120.
36. ^ Partridge 2003, p. 180.
37. ^ Zeller 2021, pp. 8, 514.
38. ^ Zeller 2021, p. 514.
39. ^ Grünschloß 1998, pp. 1–2, 7.
40. ^ a b c d Tumminia 2007, p. 310.
41. ^ Zeller 2021, p. 517.
42. ^ Hunt 2003, pp. 27–28.
43. ^ Partridge 2003, p. 239.
44. ^ Lewis 1995, p. 137.
45. ^ Clarke 2006, p. 227.
46. ^ Bogdan & Hammer 2016, pp. 633, 636.
47. ^ Lewis 2003, pp. 9–10.
48. ^ Bainbridge 1997, p. 180.
49. ^ Lewis 2001, p. 367.
50. ^ a b Zeller 2021, p. 180.
51. ^ Partridge 2003, pp. 280–281.
52. ^ "Que sait-on de ? Néo-Phare" [What do we know about? Néo-Phare]. UNADFI (in French). 22 August 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
53. ^ Clark 2000, p. 115.
54. ^ Reece 2007, p. 196.
55. ^ Partridge 2003, pp. 281–282.
56. ^ Zeller 2021, p. 525.
57. ^ Reece 2007, p. 115.
58. ^ Abgrall 1999, p. 95.
59. ^ Determann 2021, pp. 122–123.
60. ^ Partridge 2003, pp. 188, 263–265.
61. ^ Lewis 2003, p. 42, 329.
62. ^ Partridge 2003, p. 18.
63. ^ Zeller 2021, p. 513.
64. ^ Lewis 2001, p. 19.
65. ^ Partridge 2003, p. 19.
66. ^ Zeller 2021, p. 354.
67. ^ Lewis 1995, p. 85.
68. ^ Hexham 2002, p. 113.
69. ^ Tumminia 2007, p. 312.
70. ^ Tumminia 2007, p. 311.
71. ^ Clarke 2006, p. 153.
72. ^ Zeller 2021, p. 426.
73. ^ Determann 2021, pp. 124–125.

## Sources

[edit]

* Abgrall, Jean-Marie (1999). "Sectes Ufologiques". Les sectes de l'apocalypse: gourous de l'an 2000 (in French). Paris: Calmann-Lévy. ISBN 978-2-7021-2954-8.
* Almeida, Rafael Antunes (2019). "UFO Religions in Latin America". In Gooren, Henri (ed.). Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions. Religions of the World. Cham: Springer Nature. ISBN 978-3-319-08956-0.
* Bainbridge, William Sims (1997). The Sociology of Religious Movements. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-91202-4.
* Bogdan, Henrik; Hammer, Olav, eds. (2016). Western Esotericism in Scandinavia. Brill Esotericism Reference Library. Boston: BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-30241-9. ISSN 2468-3566.
* Bigliardi, Stefano (2016). "From Contactee to Prophet: The Evolution of Jean Miguères's Self-Narrative". Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review. 7 (1): 23–51\. doi:10.5840/asrr201651718. ISSN 1946-0538.
* Clark, Jerome (2000). Extraordinary Encounters: An Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrials and Otherworldy Beings. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-249-3.
* Clarke, Peter Bernard (2006). New Religions in Global Perspective: A Study of Religious Change in the Modern World. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-25748-4.
* Determann, Jörg Matthias (2021). "Islamic UFO Religions". Islam, Science Fiction and Extraterrestrial Life: The Culture of Astrobiology in the Muslim World. London New York Oxford New Dehli Sydney: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-0-7556-0127-1.
* Faubert, Serge (1993). Une secte au coeur de la République: les réseaux français de l'Eglise de scientologie (in French). Paris: Calmann-Lévy. ISBN 978-2-7021-1947-1.
* Grünschloß, Andreas (1998). "»When we enter into my Father's spacecraft«. Cargoistic hopes and millenarian cosmologies in new religious UFO movements". Marburg Journal of Religion. 3 (2). doi:10.17192/mjr.1998.3.3771. ISSN 1612-2941.
* Hexham, Irving (2002). Pocket Dictionary of New Religious Movements. InterVarsity Press. ISBN 0-8308-1466-3.
* Hunt, Stephen (2003). Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction. Ashgate. ISBN 0-7546-3410-8.
* Landes, Richard (2000). Encyclopedia of Millennialism and Millennial Movements. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-92246-1.
* Lewis, James R. (1995). The Gods Have Landed: New Religions from Other Worlds. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-2329-5.
* Lewis, James R. (2001). Odd Gods: New Religions and the Cult Controversy. Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-842-9.
* Lewis, James R. (2003). The Encyclopedic Sourcebook of UFO Religions. Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-964-6.
* Matthews, Carol S. (2009). New Religions. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4381-0645-8.
* Nelson, Victoria (2002). The Secret Life of Puppets. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-00630-5.
* Partridge, Christopher Hugh (2005). Introduction To World Religions. Fortress Press. ISBN 0-8006-3714-3.
* Partridge, Christopher Hugh (2004). New Religions: A Guide: New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-522042-0.
* Partridge, Christopher Hugh (2003). UFO Religions. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-26324-7.
* Reece, Gregory L. (2007). UFO Religion: Inside Flying Saucer Cults and Culture. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-451-0.
* Saliba, John A. (November 2006). "The Study of UFO Religions". Nova Religio. 10 (2). Berkeley, California: University of California Press: 103–123\. doi:10.1525/nr.2006.10.2.103.
* Swatos, William H.; Peter Kivisto (1998). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. AltaMira Press. ISBN 0-7619-8956-0.
* Tumminia, Diana G. (2005). When Prophecy Never Fails: Myth and Reality in a Flying-Saucer Group. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-517675-8.
* Tumminia, Diana G., ed. (2007). Alien Worlds: Social and Religious Dimensions of Extraterrestrial Contact. Religion and Politics. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-0858-5.
* Zeller, Benjamin E., ed. (2021). Handbook of UFO Religions. Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion. Boston: Brill Publishers. ISBN 978-90-04-43437-0. ISSN 1874-6691.

* v
* t
* e

UFOs

* Ufology

Claimed sightings|

| General|

* List of reported UFO sightings
* Sightings in outer space
* Sightings near atomic sites

|

Pre-20th century|

* Ezekiel's Wheel (circa 622–570 BC)
* Airship of Clonmacnoise (740s)
* 1561 celestial phenomenon over Nuremberg
* 1566 celestial phenomenon over Basel
* 1665 celestial phenomenon over Stralsund
* José Bonilla observation (1883)
* Airship wave (1896–97)
* Aurora (1897)

20th century|

* Los Angeles (1942)
* Ängelholm UFO memorial (1946)
* Kenneth Arnold (1947)
* 1947 craze
* Flight 105 (1947)
* Roswell (1947)
* Rhodes (1947)
* Mantell (1948)
* Chiles-Whitted (1948)
* Gorman Dogfight (1948)
* Mariana (1950)
* McMinnville photographs (1950)
* Sperry (1950)
* Lubbock Lights (1951)
* Nash-Fortenberry (1952)
* Washington, D.C. (1952)
* Flatwoods monster (1952)
* Kelly–Hopkinsville (1955)
* Lakenheath-Bentwaters (1956)
* Antônio Villas Boas (1957)
* Levelland (1957)
* Barney and Betty Hill abduction (1961)
* Lonnie Zamora incident (1964)
* Solway Firth Spaceman (1964)
* Exeter (1965)
* Kecksburg (1965)
* Westall (1966)
* Falcon Lake (1967)
* Shag Harbour (1967)
* Jimmy Carter (1969)
* Finnish Air Force (1969)
* Pascagoula Abduction (1973)
* John Lennon UFO incident (1974)
* Travis Walton incident (1975)
* Tehran (1976)
* Petrozavodsk phenomenon (1977)
* Operação Prato (1977)
* Zanfretta incident (1978)
* Valentich disappearance (1978)
* Kaikoura Lights (1978)
* Robert Taylor incident (1979)
* Val Johnson incident (1979)
* Manises (1979)
* Cash–Landrum incident (1980)
* Rendlesham Forest (1980)
* Trans-en-Provence (1981)
* Japan Air Lines (1986)
* Ilkley Moor (1987)
* Voronezh incident (1989)
* Belgian UFO wave (1990)
* Ariel School (1994)
* Varginha (1996)
* Phoenix Lights (1997)

21st century|

* USS Nimitz UFO incident (2004)
* Campeche, Mexico (2004)
* O'Hare Airport (2006)
* Alderney (2007)
* Norway (2009)
* USS Theodore Roosevelt UFO incidents (2014)
* Jetpack man (2020–21)
* High-altitude object events (2023)
* David Grusch claims (2023)

Confirmed hoaxes|

* Maury Island hoax (1947)
* Twin Falls, Idaho hoax (1947)
* Aztec, New Mexico hoax (1949)
* Southern England (1967)
* Majestic 12 (1985)
* Gulf Breeze (1987–88)
* Alien Autopsy (1995 film)
* Morristown (2009)

Sightings by country|

* Africa (South Africa)
* Albania
* Argentina
* Australia
* Belarus
* Belgium
* Brazil
* Canada
* China
* Czech Republic
* France
* Greece
* India
* Indonesia
* Iran
* Italy
* Mexico
* Nepal
* New Zealand
* Norway
* Poland
* Russia
* Spain (Canary Islands)
* Sweden
* United Kingdom
* United States

Types of UFOs|

* Black triangle
* Flying saucer
* Foo fighter
* Ghost rockets
* Green fireballs
* Mystery airship
* Space jellyfish

Types of alleged
extraterrestrial beings|

* Energy beings
* Grey aliens
* Insectoids
* Little green men
* Nordic aliens
* Reptilian humanoids

Studies and timeline|

* Investigation of UFO reports by the United States government
* The Flying Saucers Are Real (1947–1950)
* Project Sign (1948)
* Project Grudge (1949)
* Flying Saucer Working Party (1950)
* Project Magnet (1950–1962)
* Project Blue Book (1952–1970)
* Robertson Panel (1953)
* Ruppelt report (1956)
* National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena (1956–1980)
* Condon Report (1966–1968)
* Institute 22 (1978–?)
* Project Condign (1997–2000)
* Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (2007–2012)
* Identification studies of UFOs
* Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (current)
* NASA's UAP independent study team

Hypotheses|

* Ancient astronauts
* Cryptoterrestrial
* Extraterrestrial
* Interdimensional
* Psychological perspectives on UFO belief
* Psychosocial
* Nazi UFOs
* Time-traveller
* Trotskyist-Posadism

Conspiracy theories|

* Area 51
* Storm Area 51
* Bob Lazar
* Dulce Base
* Men in black
* Project Serpo

Involvement|

| Abduction claims|

* History
* Entities
* Narrative
* Perspectives
* Insurance

|

Other|

* Implants
* Cattle mutilation
* Close encounter
* Contactee
* Crop circles
* Government responses
* GEIPAN
* Organizations
* Ufologists

Culture|

* Fiction
* Religions
* list

Skepticism|

* List of scientific skeptics
* Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

Government & Law|

* United States Congress hearings on UFOs (2022)
* Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Act (UADPA), USA law (2023)

* Category

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template