The religion of UFO’s

It should be no secret to those who follow my articles that I am both pro church and have an interest in UFO’s; I have often written about both.

I do not consider myself a fanatic of either; even though I hold several degrees in religious and theological study and attended one of the most respected theological seminaries in the world. I also pastored 8 churches for over twenty years and was an associated minister for over ten additional years in many other churches.

As many of you know, I am obviously a critic of organized religion and have stated such in many of my articles over the years.

As to UFO’s I have had a somewhat distant and often skeptical interest since my childhood going back to listening to Larry King late night on the old Mutual Radio Network as he often discussed UFO’s and the abduction phenomenon.

Even as a child, it seemed to me there was somehow a logical connection between the Bible, celestial and extra-terrestrial beings, angels and aliens. I saw no problem with such an association then and remain convinced of such now.

In the 1990’s like many who would work or stay up late studying, I would listen to the late Art Bell who passed on April 13, 2018 and founded the “Coast to Coast AM” program. Art is probably best known for the call he received live on air from supposedly inside Area 51 from a guy who claimed to have worked on back engineering a UFO. Art’s three hour late night/early morning Coast to Coast AM program was five and sometimes seven times per week. It didn’t take long for a renewed and increased interest in UFOlogy to move like wild fire across the nation and even the world.

With the inception of cable television and networkslike the History Channel, UFOlogy (as it’s often called) really took off.

The History Channel series, “Ancient Aliens” (beginning its thirteenth season on April 27) really stirred my interest. The program is well produced and involves well known named experts and witnesses in the field which has drastically increased the interest with UFO’s. The program answers many questions people have always had such as “Who are we, where do we come from and what is the purpose of

life”?

For those who aren’t satisfied with the traditional answers of the church and the Bible, they often receive appealing and satisfactory answers in this community of their peers.

Over the years, these UFO experts began having UFO conferences around the country. Much like the famed “Comic Cons”, these UFO conferences have grown dramatically with usually thousands of attendees.

With the inception of You Tube, these UFO Conferences are now available via video recording for anyone to view and I’ve often watched with interest; they’re very informative and well done.

I recently had the opportunity to attend one of these conferences in the Rio Grande Valley in the city of Edinburg, Texas. I thought this was great since there was a renowned UFO event in the same city back in the 1960’s. To my surprise this was the seventh year of this event.

The conference was great. The speakers included, Nick Pope, Stephen Bassett, John Greenewald and the real Travis Walton of “Fire in the Sky” fame.

Unfortunately unlike church, the conference was everything it promised. Those attending were even allowed to ask questions both officially and one on one in the halls of the conference center.

One of the great problems for the church is it simply isn’t always able to deliver. To use an old cliché, “It doesn’t always practice what it preaches”.

The one huge similarity with organized religion, the UFO conference has its fair share of weirdoes and fanatical fundamentalist wackos.

Like the church, the UFO community is made up of mostly decent, hardworking everyday people just seeking some answers, entertainment and some “out of this world” fun.

But make no mistake, for many; UFO’s are a religion; tin foil hat and all. They listen to every “Coast to Coast AM” radio show (now hosted by George Noory who is often a regular speaker on the UFO conference circuit), they watch everything on TV about UFO’s, they religiously watch Ancient Aliens and will travel cross country to attend UFO conferences.

Some like rock and roll groupies even find out where the guest speakers are staying to book the same hotels in hope of interacting.

Many are rude, arrogant and will give you their life story and how many times they have seen a UFO or been abducted.

I learned many of these things in my first attendance of a UFO conference from several of these whack jobs coming up to me telling me (unsolicited) all about these things.

As I was leaving the conference, I thought about how many well intentioned people have never gone back to church as the result of a similar encounter. I also realized why the UFO community has often been debunked by critics and gotten such a bad rap.

Like the church, people need to give the study of UFOs a chance. There is much we simply don’t know and there is much to learn.

For me, well I certainly won’t be wearing a tin foil hat but I will probably go back next year…, if the aliens don’t abduct me.

© 2018 The Outlaw Observer and Opinion