UFO sightings in the First State

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UFO sightings in the First State
July 18, 2009
by Keith Wimer
Examiner.com

Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan‘s immensely popular film “Signs”, ($408 million gross worldwide) tells the story of Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) and his family, who become distressed when “crop circles” appear in a corn field on their Pennsylvania farm and are plagued by strange occurrences thereafter. WARNING: Spoiler - The conclusion of the film’s creator is that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the cosmos, and a possibility about how humankind meets its demise, is for a horde of these cheesed-off spacemen to invade planet Earth and slaughter us. With chameleon-esque ability to hide themselves and “Klingon” like technology to “cloak” their flying saucers, the aliens’ victory is all but assured, save for the fact that someone discovers they have an “aversion” to water.

“Signs” is no doubt a highly entertaining film and presented as fictitious cinema. There has not been a public statement made (at least not one that the research for this article uncovered) by Mr. Shyamalan concerning his beliefs about the actual existence of UFO’s nor the implications attendant therewith. However, entertainment being seen by many as “art imitating life“, it’s worthwhile to recognize that there is a persistent belief in the existence of such phenomena and the affects these beliefs might have on the future of the human race. In a poll conducted a few years back by Opinion Dynamics Corporation for Fox News, 34% of Americans said they believe in UFO’s. Web sites like ufoevidence.org with more of an “alien axe to grind”, as it were, suggest that as much as 50% (or more) of the “population” believe in extraterrestrials.

News of unexplained celestial occurences are universal and the “First State”, Delaware, is not without examples. Early in the morning of November 26, 2005, a family from the downstate town of Seaford noticed a strange light, which appeared to follow them for almost an hour while traveling east towards Rehoboth Beach to do some “Black Friday” Christmas shopping. When a Frankford family reported a UFO sighting in 2002, a town spokesperson cited a possible earthly explanation - a high-powered searchlight which was projected against the clouds by a former Ocean City, Md., nightclub. On October 16, 2007 a UFO, or at least a portion of one, supposedly “crash landed” near Wilmington at around 4:00 P.M. Sightings have also come from the capitol of Dover, Slaughter Beach, Smyrna, Newport, and Odessa.

Volumes have been written about the appearance of, encounters with, and even abductions by, these extraordinary visitors from beyond our galaxy. A 1993 film “Fire in the Sky” depicts the “true” story of Travis Walton (D.B. Sweeney) who was allegedly taken aboard an alien spacecraft and “experimented on” for days before being returned to Earth.

The point of all this is not to objurgate, on one hand, nor affirm, on the other, these beliefs, but to bring to light that these suppositions do exist. Moreover, that there are instances in which the eschatological inherencies of these beliefs have affected the lives, and even deaths, of their proponents. Therefore, it will be instructive to examine briefly two so-called UFO cults, the “Raëlian Movement” and “Heaven’s Gate”.

Eschatology as defined before is the analysis of what’s commonly referred to as the “end-times”.

Based on what has happened so far, the more benign of the two would be the former mentioned here - the Raëlian Movement. On December 13, 1973, former racecar driver, a Frenchman named Claude Vorilhon (b. 1946), allegedly encountered a saucer-shaped UFO hovering over an extinct volcano near Clermont-Ferrand, France. He described the occupant that emerged as a pale green humanlike being, approximately four feet tall with black hair, a beard, and almond-shaped eyes. The tiny extraterrestrial informed Vorilhon about the true origins of humankind and gave him a new name: Raël, meaning “light of God” or “ambassador.” He commissioned Raël to spread his “Messages” throughout the world, a duty befitting Raël as the “last of the forty prophets.” According to “The New Commandments,” Raël is also the “shepherd of shepherds,” and “the one whose coming was announced in all the religions by the ancient prophets.” Thus is the origin of the Raëlian Movement.

Incorporated in Raëlian “theology” are the premises that humans were created, not by divine fiat or the random process of evolution, but …by Beings known as the Elohim, or “those who came from the sky.” Raël claims the original Hebrew word “Elohim” has been wrongly translated as “God” (singular). There is, claims Raël, no personal creator God, but there is a plurality of Elohim Creators, also known as “the fathers.” Further, in terms of the person of Christ they claim that Jesus is the 38th prophet, followed by Joseph Smith of Mormon fame and that he was a product of Mary’s artificial insemination by the president of the Council of the Eternals, that is, Yahweh, the chief Eloha. Furthermore, they have a scientific explanation for the resurrection of Jesus. It was, they say, a “resuscitation” and type of cloning, performed by the Elohim using a single cell preserved prior to Jesus’ crucifixion. These views are no doubt abhorrent to the whole of Christendom, denominational specificity notwithstanding.

As to their eschatological speculation, Raëlians believe we are now living in the “Age of Apocalypse,” a Messianic age of revelation ushered in by the Hiroshima bombing,… that humanity may someday destroy itself… the Elohim will return to earth to officially sanction Raëlianism as the dominant world religion and, if necessary, take followers of the religion to their own planet…If Raëlians die prior to this event, eternal life can be experienced on the planet of the Elohim, provided their earthly balance sheet tallied up more positives than negatives on a universal computer…Death… is nothing to be feared; it’s just an endless sleep. If the “terrible event” of suffering (either physical or mental) should accompany the dying process, suicide is recommended. Raël also notes that euthanasia should be offered to those whose suffering “remains incurable.

Whew!

Based upon a known outcome, the latter of the two, “Heaven’s Gate”, a syncretistic Christian/UFO/Suicide cult, follow(ed) significantly less beneficent leaders. In 1975 former Army Signal Corps member and convicted car thief Marshall Herff Applewhite (1931-1997) along with nursing school graduate and Baptist church congregant Bonnie Lu Nettles (1927-1985) started the sect which would eventually come to be referred to by the infamous moniker. Prior to adopting the identity “Heaven’s Gate” the group had also called itself Human Individual Metamorphosis (HIM) and Total Overcomers Anonymous or "TOA". Nettles, who went by the name “Ti”, died of cancer in 1985 leaving Applewhite, known to his followers as “Do” (pronounced “doe“) to lead the assembly. H.G.’s “liturgy” included abstinence from things dubbed to be “earthly entrapments”, e.g. sex, alcohol, contact with family members. To fully grasp this cult’s “theology” would be a tremulous endeavor, but principally they held fast to the opinions that about 2000 years ago, a group of extra-terrestrials came to earth from the Kingdom of Heaven (the "Next Level"). One of these was "Do". He was given instructions by "Ti", his female companion, whom he referred to as his "Heavenly Father." He left his body behind, transported to Earth in a space-ship, and incarnated (moved into) a human body, that of Jesus Christ. A second group of extra-terrestrials returned to earth, starting in the 1920's. Do was the Captain of this expedition; Ti was the Admiral. They each moved into a human body, but somehow became scattered. Do and Ti held public meetings to disseminate their beliefs. They were pleasantly surprised to find that most of their converts were the long-lost crew members. Furthermore, they believe that UFOs are inter-stellar space ships operated by extra-terrestrial beings who are attempting to bring humanity to a higher level of knowledge… and …by committing suicide together at the correct time; they will leave their containers (bodies) behind. The soul goes to sleep until it is "replanted" in another container.

Their eschatological views, which ultimately lead to suicidal exigency, can be reduced to their theory that…our Older Member in the Evolutionary Level Above Human (the "Kingdom of Heaven") has made it clear to us that Hale-Bopp's (comet) approach is the "marker" we've been waiting for -- the time for the arrival of the spacecraft from the Level Above Human to take us home to "Their World" -- in the literal Heavens. Our 22 years of classroom here on planet Earth is finally coming to conclusion -- "graduation" from the Human Evolutionary Level. We are happily prepared to leave "this world" and go with Ti's crew… you will hopefully understand our joy and what our purpose here on Earth has been. You may even find your "boarding pass" to leave with us during this brief "window." In short, they thought there was a spaceship tailing the Hale-Bopp Comet approaching Earth in 1997, signaling the “end”, and that by offing themselves, they could hop on board and head out into space.

However all this might be interpreted, Heaven’s Gate’s ideology left 39 deceased “containers” behind, 41 counting two others who later committed suicide as well. As benumbing to the mind as it might seem, Heaven’s Gate still exists (on some unknown level) and they continue to operate a web site, which to this day declares its troubling teachings, amidst of course, merchandising of its “visionary” educational materials.

Fringe “religions” like these rarely ever show their true nature until after horrific events take place. Both Heaven’s Gate and Raëlian traditions intersperse grossly distorted elements from the Christian Bible in an effort to give their movements the look of orthodoxy. A deeply intuitive quote that is most applicable comes from second century apologist Irenaeus who wrote: “Error, indeed, is never set forth in its naked deformity, lest, being thus exposed, it should at once be detected. But it is craftily decked out in on attractive dress, so as, by its outward form, to make it appear to the inexperienced (ridiculous as the expression may seem) more true than truth itself.”

Ideas, fully matured, applied to their logical extents, have consequences.