There are some things that appear designed to go together, and so it is with Ufology and cults. On the edge of the sinister, UFO cults are now forever
tainted with the stigma of Heaven's Gate, but was it always this way? Are UFO cults created by design by some intel group or perhaps even a
'supernatural' force with an agenda? This is a point of view looked at in far more detail by such notables as Jacques Vallee and John Keel. Is there
in fact an intent to attempt to push these UFO cult/religions into the mainstream as a religion for the 21st century?
The world of UFOs and Ufology is a vast one, so in order to try and do justice to this topic, it is my intent to author a series of threads, and to
focus on a few groups at a time, rather than attempting to write one encyclopaedic thread and either bore the reader to death, or insufficiently
investigate the topic.
The I AM Activity
Perhaps the first UFO cult (at least of the 20th century) was the 'I AM Activity', which was an offshoot of the Theosophy movement. A fellow by the
name of Guy Ballard met another person claiming to be the 'Count of St. Germain' at that alleged paranormal and UFO hotspot Mt. Shasta. The Count gave
all sorts of mystical instruction to Ballard including the Theosophical concept of the Ascended Masters and interestingly, allowing Ballard to view
the planet Venus on his special television which I have found scant detail about so far. Venus and Venusians are prominent in a lot of early
'Contactee' mythologies. The I AM Activity seem more New Age oriented, with what seems to be a more peripheral view of UFOs and aliens, but they are
an interesting early phenomena certainly worth looking at.
Another group of interest are the Aetherious Society. In 1954 a man by the name of George King heard a voice in his ear that instructed him, 'Prepare
yourself! You are to become the voice of Interplanetary Parliament.'Prepare yourself! You are to become the voice of Interplanetary Parliament
Apparently not long after this, a world famous Swami (who was not named) entered the locked apartment of King, and instructed him to form a group to
essentially save the planet. Like Joseph Smith of the Mormons, there is no outside source to verify the veracity of the tale of King. Possibly also
taking his cue from the Theosophists, and paving the way for many new charlatans to enter the UFO field, King channeled some group called the
'Cosmic Masters', and recorded the messages received. In 1955 King founded his society.
In Aetherius Society teachings, various religious figures come from different planets. Krishna, for example, is from Saturn, which is the home
of an Interplanetary Counsel. These beings are, however, spiritual beings on another dimension's version of those planets, as the idea of corporeal
intelligent life on Mars and Venus was known to be unlikely in the 1950s. King claimed to have been contacted by many aliens, including Venusians,
Martians, Devas, and the Great White Brotherhood to spread a message to aid humanity. This message exalted the promising future humanity has should
Earthlings turn to better ways of living, while warning of the possible consequences otherwise.King is now regarded by the Aetherius Society as an
Avatar and Cosmic Master, though he did not make any claim to being either in his lifetime.
The Aetherius Society also believes that King was the last person to receive mental transmissions. The Aetherius Society claims that under the
guidance of the Cosmic Masters and with the aid of Spiritual Energy Batteries, they have prevented wars, natural disasters, disruption of the Earth's
magnetic field caused by atomic power, and even alien invasions. King taught that these spiritual exercises are meant to prevent the world's
destruction, and that the Cosmic Masters of other planets are fighting off a number of evil alien invaders. The Aetherius Society has also launched
initiatives against pollution and nuclear power, and generally identify with the ideals of the Green Movement. However, the Aetherius Society believes
that environmental and societal problems are only symptoms of a much larger spiritual problem that, once solved, would cure all other problems.[8] To
help with this, the Aetherius Society pray and meditate to draw Prana to earth. The source of this prana, they believe, is an orbiting spaceship known
as Satellite Number Three, which they claim is shielded to not show up on telescopes or radar.
Of interest is this video clip from a New Zealand TV station which seems to avoid the overly mocking tone many other news reports have.
There is also a website run, allegedly by ex-members of the Aetherius Society, but it's not all peace, love and good vibrations.
Another of the older UFO cults are that of the Urantia Movement. Central to the Urantia Movement is the Urantia Book. Written by uncredited
author(s), the intent of the book is stated as 'to present enlarged concepts and advanced truth'. Apparently the term 'Urantia' is the
extra-terrestrial word for the planet Earth. The Wikipedia page states that the book 'aims to unite religion, science and philosphy'.
There seems a mish-mash of philosophy and religion in the book, and it has been compared to Seventh Day Adventism. There are quite a lot of criticisms
of the science in the book, which the Wikipedia page goes into some detail about. Some of these criticisms include:
According to the book's descriptions, the universe is hundreds of billions of years old and periodically expands and contracts — "respires" —
at 2-billion-year intervals. Recent observations suggest that the true age of 13.7 billion years. The book does not support the big bang theory.
A fundamental particle called an "ultimaton" is proposed, with an electron being composed of 100 ultimatons. The particle is not known to be described
anywhere
The Andromeda Galaxy is claimed to be "almost one million" light years away, repeating the understandings of the 1920s, but the galaxy is now
understood to be 2.5 million light years away.
In Closing of Part I
These 3 earlier UFO cult/religions may seem quite tame in comparison, especially when looking at later groups like Heaven's Gate, and Aum Shinrikyo
(not specifically a UFO cult, they did believe in UFOs, X-ray vision, and trips to the fourth dimension), but already many concepts accepted in later
UFO cults have already appeared. Channeling, apocalyptic environmental catastrophe, and the idea of alien invasion are already prominent, and ready
for future regurgitation.
Stay with us, it gets weirder and weirder...
edit on 23-4-2014 by cuckooold because: (no reason given)
Of course all of this New Age philosophy/cult society stuff is to be taken with a grain of salt and all are entitled to their own beliefs and systems.
I see them as merely twisted distortions with bits of truth outlined in them. No one should totally put 100% faith in them but that should go
without saying.
The Uranita book for example gives a detailed orchestration of how the universe, it's being, and all inhabitants came into existence. It also gives
a synopsis of the fallen angelic dilemma involving Lucifer which is interesting to say the least. I soak all information in for discernment from a
wide range of sources for comparison and contrast purposes as well as others do but this does not necessarily mean that I, or anyone who fits this
mold, pledges allegiance to it's ideology.
The most important thing to remember is to be weary of what these entities/cults claim to be and what motives may be in effect. They may not be in
your best interests.
Another important thing to remember is that even though these cult like factions may in fact be designed to lead one towards disinformation and
misdirection, it does nothing to undermine ufology and the presumed alien existence and presence said to be taking place on Earth and throughout the
cosmos.
I see channeling as another possible "cult". There are several, Bashar, Abraham Hicks, Kryon, and many more, all claiming to be off planet. Applewhite
(Heavens Gate) claimed that he was used as a channel. I have taken interest in the messages and they all seem to be the same, self rule, self love,
meditation and rejection of negative thoughts and actions, all done in order to raise ones vibration. All good messages in my opinion, minus any
messages to kill yourself.
Perhaps mankind would take a turn for the better if we had more voices from OUT THERE.
Does anyone find it a strange coincidence that the Phoenix sightings were shortly after the Heavens Gate mass suicide? Applewhite did state that there
was a UFO trailing the Hale Bopp comet.
Edit to correct....Phoenix lights were on March 13th, before mass suicide.
Well done thread presentation, perhaps if it is not to late to edit you should add "tongue in cheek" to the title or change it...you might have had
more response.
Excellent thread. More needs to be done to shed light on the subject of UFO cults, as most around here don't seem to be aware of them or of their
dubious nature. John Keel did some excellent work on exposing some of the more devious (and even malevolent) forces which seem to operate in such
circles.
Failed predictions, ruined careers, and suicide pacts are rife throughout the culture of UFO cultists. It is a dangerous world and one people too
often do not guard against because of their interest in UFO's or the abduction phenomenon. While most people write them off as kooks, there does seem
to be something sinister at work within such groups, as they fully believe in the "mystical" experiences they are having, often to their own detriment
or even destruction.
I'm looking forward to reading the other installment to your thread. S&F!
edit on 23-4-2014 by DeadSeraph because: (no reason given)
Well done thread presentation, perhaps if it is not to late to edit you should add "tongue in cheek" to the title or change it...you might have had
more response.
I second that, title is a little off putting . great work BTW.
Right it can be used for deluding ones self with partially or completely false details or for the opening of ones mind to imagining the endless
possibilities of the mysteries of the universe.
It's interesting. There are plenty of weird cultists as well as snake oil salesman who work on extracting money from gullible people who want to
believe, but there are some weird and anomalous phenomena I've come across in my own searchings that make me question if all of this cult type stuff
is pure nonsense.
Of interest are the Gulf Breeze 6, and a few others not immediately at hand (at work, not on my home computer), who I hope to give some space to in
upcoming threads.
That was fun to read. I look forward to this kind of historical synopsis. Cool to see how it all evolved all though maybe you (or even the founders of
said belief) might not consider these connected in that way.
One thing I've always wondering in a humorous, disturbing kind of way was how do we know that those cult suicides DIDN'T result in them all doing
exactly as they thought/hoped they would in spirit-form?
I think UFOlogy is incidental to cultism. In other words human beings will utilize whatever is in their experience to merge with their archetypal
desire for the transcendent and the sky beings are just a part of this only because UFOlogy is trending in this century.
You really don’t need UFOlogy; these are basically spiritual schools or cults with varying degrees of UFological lore within their theology.
Even the Nation of Islam has UFological lore as well of course Scientology but they aren’t classified as UFO cults.