FLYING SAUCERS FROM HELL

8/7/2019 FLYING SAUCERS FROM HELL

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U fo lo g y o ft e n s e e m s t o c o m e d o w n to a c h o i c e b e tw e e n e x t r a t e r r e s t r i a lv i s i t o rs a n d s o m e a s y e t u n k n o w n n a t u r a l p h e n om e n o n b u t, a s

D R D A V ID C L A R K E r e v e a ls , a n o w la rg e ly f o rg o t t e n c o u n t e r- t h e o ryw a s o f in f i l t r a t io n b y d e m o n s f r o m t h e f i e r y p i t s o f H a d e s .

I l l u s t r a tio n b y M I C K B R O W N F IE L D ........ IiD!

" Y o u ' l lb e t t e r p r a g to t h e lo rd w h e n g o u s e e t h o se f l g in g s a u c e r sI t m a g b e t h e c om i n g of t h e j u d g e m e n t d a ! l. .. .. may be angels sent by God to watch over us.The best-known exponent of this idea is the Presbyterian minister

Rev Barry Downing, author ofF lying Sau cers and the Bible.Downing appears to be open minded about aliens as part ofGod's creation and to look to the scriptures for evidence ofearly ET contacts.

At the opposite end of the spectrum are some membersof the Christian Orthodox Church 1who find it impossibleto accept that there is any goodness inthe elusive and contradictory natureofUFO behaviour. The most extremeexpression of this view is that therecan be no ETs because life on otherplanets is not mentioned in the Bible.It's a point of view that leads itsproponents to a further conclusion:if there are no aliens in the Bible andthe UFO occupants aren't angels, thenUFOs c an o nly be demonic i n o r ig in .

What the opposing sides in the"UFOs are angels/demons" debatehave in common is their acceptanceof the notion that if we can have goodUFO occupants then we can alsohave evil ones (and Satan is, afterall, according to Christian tradition,a fallen angel). They also share theconcepts of the Antichrist and theimminence of the Second Coming of

Jesus predicted in the Book ofRevelation.Billy Graham, for instance, has been quoted as saying

that the angelic UFO occupants have been sent to help us"fight the demons in the prelude to the Second Coming ofChrist". Furthermore, a 2002 Time/CNN poll found that 59per cent of those quizzed accepted the literal truth of the'End Times' predicted in the Book ofRevelation. 2And thepoll found that many believe that the final battle with the

- C h a r le s G r e e n & C y C o h en , " W h e n Y o u S e e T h o s e F ly in g S a u (e rs " - O ( t 1 9 4 7 .

S ince the 19505,the dominant, and certainly themost popular, hypothesis in ufological and publiediscourse has been that flying saucers and theiroccupants represent highly intelligent visitationsfrom outer space. From an earlystage - with a few exceptions - themajority of ufologists appear to havebelieved the nature and intentions ofthe "visitors" were benevolent - eitherto keep an eye on our progress towardsjoining the 'intergalactic federation' orto warn us that our nuclear experimentswere "upsetting the balance of theUniverse".

But even proponents ofthe Extra-Terrestrial Hypothesis (or ETH) havehad to contemplate the effect that opencontact with an ET race might haveupon human societies, particularly in itsspiritual implications. Much speculationhas been published on the impact suchan event would have upon religion,especially fundamentalism. Oddlyenough, theologians - who would appearto be the most obvious experts to offeradvice on spiritual matters - have had little to say on thesubject. There is, for instance, no rigid Christian dogma onlife beyond Earth or on the nature and origin ofUFOs.This reluctance to commit has infuriated someChristian groups, particularly those who promote extremeinterpretations of the UFO phenomenon. On the one handthere is a group ofevangelicals - mainly Americans, suchas Dr Billy Graham - who have said the UFO oeeupan ts


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i UnCOn2006L E F T :T h e 'F a l l e n A n ge l ' S at a n p lu m m e t s f r o m H e av en .I llu s t ra ti on b y G u s ta v e D o r e f or M i l to n 's P a r a d i s e l o s t.

A S P A C E - A G E D E M O N O L O G YI wanted to discover how far these extremeviews were reflected in British ufology. Initially,I thought there was little evidence; then Iscratched beneath the surface and found amountain ofliterature and even a societydedicated to promoting the demonic theory. Theformer editor of Britain's F ly in g S au ce r R ev ie w,Gordon Creighton, was until his recent deaththe best-known demonologist in the UK Butwhat is not so well known is that, as recently as1996, a group of 'concerned ufologists' whichincluded Creighton and the founding Presidentof BUFORA, Graham Knewstub, privatelycirculated a report warning of the demonicorigins ofUFOs.The UFO C on ce rn R ep or t was copied toseveral hundred ufologists, lYIPsand peers ofthe realm and was endorsed by none otherthan Lord Hill-Norton, a former British ChiefofDefence Staff Hill-Norton, who died in 2003,shortly after Creighton, isusually quoted byUFO proponents as someone who, given hismilitary contacts, should have known whathe was talking about. So it is interesting tofind Hill-Norton writing, in the memorandumwhich launched the report, that UFOs were"essentially a religious matter" rather thana military threat from outer space, and that

furthermore: "There is certainly a degree ofpsychical involvement in almost every case, Quite often,however, such experiences are definitely antithetical toorthodox Christian belief"

The UFO Conc er n R ep or t was a "restricted edition" aimedat alerting "top people" to the dangers posed by UFOs andabductions. While Hill-Norton's memo was published in FSR ,it got very little publicity in the mainstream UFO press. Someof the big names who initially supported it later distancedthemselves because they didn't agree with the emphasisplaced by the report's author, sub-deacon Paul Inglesby, on thespiritual dangers posed by UFOs,

Inglesby was,before conversion to theOrthodox faith, an Anglican priest by the nameofRev Eric Ingles by . It is largely through hisand Gordon Creighton's influence that thedemonic explanation ofUFOs has been keptalive in Britain,Born in 1915,Inglesby is probably Britain'slongest serving UFO theorist, with contacts atthe highest level both in the church and in theBritish establishment, Much ofwhat has beenwritten on this subject in the UK emanatesfrom his persistent and meticulous writings,even though most ufologists I've questionedhave never heard ofhim.Inglesby is also unique in that his interestbegan a whole decade before the flying

saucer era. In 1938,while serving with the Royal Navy underLord Mountbatten, he contracted a tropical disease and wasleft dangerously ill for three months, During this time heunderwent a "devastating spiritual experience", during whichhe sawvisions of a future atomic war and demonic forcescontrolling space ships and nuclear weapons. While trapped inthis timeless limbo, "_"not only did I witness future events, in amental telepathic sort ofway,but throughout the whole of thistime a battle was raging for possession ofmy soul". 4

Antichrist will take place in their own lifetime.While some ufologists have attempted to make out a casefor hostile aliens in the tradition ofHGWells,none ofthese

scenarios are as interesting as the ones conjured up in thefundamentalist literature onUFOs, founded as they are upontraditions which date back tomediaeval demonology. Ifyouwere only to read the 'serious' UFO literature youmight beforgiven forbelieving such a theory - in which demonic or evilforces are controlling the UFOs - belongs, like David Icke'sfamous reptilians, solely to the 'lunaticfringe"', just onemore crazy idea in a gamut of crackpot notions, However, thiswould be far from the truth - demonology has played a veryinfluential, and largely overlooked, role in thedevelopment of ufology both in the UnitedStates and Britain.

Probably the best-known books promotingthe demonic theory of UFOs are John Weldon &Zola Levitt's UFOs; What onEarth is Happening?and Dr CliffordWilson's UFOs & Thei r M i ss io nImpossible , both published in the 1970s.3Thesethree writers represent a very vocal faction ofChristian fundamentalists who have written onthe subject. Weldon & Levitt pull no punches insetting out their stall: UFOs are manifestationsof demonic activity, and the increasing numberofUFOs in OUf skies isthe result of demonsgathering for the coming ofthe Antichrist. Fromthis point of view,evidence identifying the UFOoccupants as fallen angels isplentiful in theBible, ifyou know where to look and how to interpret obscurepassages appropria tely.More recently, writers in the sametradition have pointed to the wave of alien abduction claims asproof that Satan's hordes have been let loose on the world, Theyare out to steal our souls and deceive us into a false religion,especially by promoting such ideas as ancient astronauts andevolution rather than Creation.


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Fortunately, Inglesby's prayers were answered and he wassaved from the clutches of the demonic forces. Followinghis baptism of fire, he naturally remained on the lookout forevidence ofevil influences. When the first reports of flyingsaucers appeared in British newspapers in 1947,Inglesbyfelt his visions were about to become reality. He found theextraterrestrial hypothesis, prevalent in the media and ufology,an unsatisfactory explanation for the phenomenon. Gradually,he came to believe the contacts and messages passed on by theUFO occupants were, at least partly, demonic in origin.Conversion to Christianity followed and in 1964he wasordained as a priest in the Church of England. His conversionto the Orthodox Church came in 1980following a meeting withFr Seraphim Rose at a monastery in California. Fr Rose hadwritten a treatise on UFOs as demonic signs which proved tobe highly influential on Inglesby's developing theories. Themonk advised him to take refuge in orthodox doctrine so thathe would have spiritual protection in the campaign againstflying saucery that was to occupy much of his life.

Like other fundamentalists, Inglesby saw the decline oftra di tiona 1religion and the arrival ofNew Age and UFO-based religious cults such as the Moonies asa sign that the End Times were imminent.Of course, this wasn't a new idea, or oneexclusive to Christians. As forteans are wellaware, belief in the approaching apocalypseis a massively important theme throughoutthe history of ufology. It is particularlyassociated with UFO cults whose leadershave predicted world cataclysms inmessages supposedly passed on by thespace people. Fundamentalists, however,interpret these messages as beingdemonically inspired.

Before the End Times can arrive, Satanmust implement his evil plan for worlddomination. In order for it to succeed,large numbers of people - particularlythose in high places - will be brainwashedor possessed by evil spirits in order to prepare them forthe final battle on the side of the Antichrist. This idea of acreeping take-over alarmed those who believed UFOs weredemonic in origin, Not for them the War of the Worlds invasionof aliens with machines and death rays. They feared a moredeadly takeover of human souls and the horrifying idea ofcrossbreeding between demons and human beings to createhybrid creatures.

The famous Antonio Villas-Boas UFO abduction case fromBrazil provided the demonologists with the evidence theywere looking for when it was published in FSR. Thisamazing story of a sexual liaison with a female alien,which took place on board a UFO in 1957, did notemerge in the UFO literature until 1965.Ever since,the sexual theme has continued to turn up in abductionnarratives, somuch so that Inglesby was able tostate, in a letter to FSR published in 1993, that: "Allthe evidence points to quite a simple solution [to theUFO abduction mystery], namely that wicked spiritualpowers for some time have [...] been stealing human spermand ova [... J however, these genetic ingredieni:s mostprobably are NOT crossed with their own geneticstuff (if any!) [ ...] but are being used [... J to createpseudo human beings [... J probably thousands,ifnot millions, of these creatures somehow,somewhere, now exist. Inevitably they mustbe soul-less, and thus can be easily possessedand completely controlled by evil spirits[the 'aliens']' Their ultimate purpose canonly be the takeover of planet Earthby invasion, Trojan-horse fashion."

O N E W O M A N S A IDT H A T F L Y IN G S A U C E R SW ER E A S IG N O F T H EW O R L D 'S E N D

D E M O N I C I D E A S I N T H E N E W U F O L O G YAt the opening of the UFO era in 1947, the ETH was just one ofanum ber of competing theories for the origin offlying saucers.When the very first Gallup poll was carried out in the US, theETH did not even figure in the results. But when asked "Whatdoyou think the saucers are?" one woman responded by"citing

a Biblical text ... [and] said it was a sign ofthe world's end". 5 However, even at thisstage, more ancient devil traditions fromfolklore were becoming entwined with theUFO narratives. Probably the most obviousexample is the Men in Black, orMIB,a pieceof ufological folklore which began with thestory ofAlbert KBender, founder of the US-based International Flying Saucer Bureau.Bender learned the ultimate source of thesaucers in 1953 and decided toreveal whathe knew.What happened next is legend:three sinister men dressed in black suits paidhim a visit, having intercepted his letter. TheMIBvisit affected him so profoundly that hediscontinued all further involvement withufology and shut down his saucer club.

Bender had an obsessive interest in theoccult and black magic aswell as flying

saucers, so perhaps it ishardly surprising that he was visitedby the devil. 6His experience, though, had far-reachingconsequences in that it tended to alert some ofthe morereligious members of flying saucer clubs to the spiritualdangers ofinvolvement in flying saucery. As a result, a schismoccurred, with some saucer groups actively avoiding anyassociations with the occult such aswere rife among thecontactee movement. But the spiritual connotations offlying

saucers would not go away.Bythe late 1960s,many mainstream ufologistswere growing disenchanted with the subject. Thelong-predicted landings on the White House lawnhad failed to materialise and the truth aboutUFOs seemed as elusive as ever. In some cases,ufologists turned awayfrom the ETH and lookedinstead to occult and supernatural explanations.Journalist and author John Keel and, to a

lesser extent, the French computer scientistJacques Vallee, were leaders of the

so-called 'new ufology'. Keel'stheory of 'ultraterrestrials'- supernatural entities whichcoexist with mankind in aparallel universe - proved

immensely popular amongL E F T : G o r d on C r eig h to n ,l o n g tim e e d i t o r o f F l y i n gS a u re r R e v ie w .

FT211 35www. for teant i l "nes . com


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A B O V E : A r e d -t o p s c a r e s t o ry f r o m t h e 1 97 0 s _B O T T O M : Pa u l l n g l e s b y , f o r m e r l y R ev E r i c I n g l e s b y , w h o w a r n ed o ft h e s p ir i t u a l d an g e r s o f U F O s a n d w r o te U F O s an d th e C h ri s t i a n ( 1 9 7 81 .

ufologists who were looking for an alternative to the ETH.Keel claimed he could contact the UFO entities via messages

relayed by contactees and even via the telephone (in asimilar fashion to spirit mediums). These encounters led himto conclude that the intentions of the UFO occupants weresinister. In his Oper at io n T ro ja n Ho rs e, he wrote: "The UFOnautsare the liars, not the contactees. And they are lying deliberatelyas part ofthe bewildering smokescreen which they haveestablished to cover their real origin, purpose and motivation."

Although Keel avoided religious conclusions and claimedto be an atheist, his ultraterrestrials were, in effect, identicalto the angels and demons of old. F ly in g S au ce r R e vi ew was oneofthe main conduits for these Keelian/occult views,whoseinfluence reached every UFO group and society in Britain.When Gordon Creighton took over editorship, the demonictheories were promoted with renewed energy. By 1976, he couldwrite in a review of one ofVallee's books that: "Demons ... arehere already in immense strength." They were busily selectingthose people whose genetic stock was needed for crossbreeding.Even worse, the demonic enti ties were programming theseslaves to commit violence and controlling puppets inGovernment to do their evil bidding.

These were peculiar views, even for a UFO publication.Creighton was following Inglesby in forging a demonologicalinterpretation of ufology,a package that contained somedisturbing ingredients such as extreme right wing politics andraging paranoia. During his long editorship, these bizarre viewsfound a home in the very mouthpiece of'serious' ufology. Fora time, anyone who was anyone in the subject read FSR.And, as a result, a number ofvery well known nameswere drawn into this web - including some of thosefromBritain's largest UFO organisation, BUFORA.

Three former chairmen ofBUFORA, includingthe founding President, Graham Knewstub,along with Capt Ivar Mackay and Roger Stanway,became convinced that UFOs were of demonicorigin. Both Knewstub and Stanway were originallybelievers in nuts-and-bolts spacecraft,but their views changed whentheir involvement in ufologycame into direct conflict withtheir religious beliefs.

In November 1976, Stanwaystunned his friends andcolleagues by resigning

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aschairman and severing allcontact with the subject. In hisresignation letter of November1976,he explained that he andhis wife had been "born again"as part of a massive Christianrevival that was sweeping throughthe world. He added that:"Furthermore, I now believethat the UFO phenomenon hasSatanic origins."You coulddismiss Stanway as an isolatedexample of someone whowas pre-inclined to religiousfundamentalism - but thatwouldn't necessarily be true,and he isn't an isolatedexample.Perhaps the most bizarrestory of all concerns theBUFORA investigator for

South Wales, Randall Jones Pugh, who diedin 2003.Pugh - a retired veterinary surgeon - was a Cod-fearing man who investigated the WestWales UFO flap of1977 that became known as the "Welsh Triangle". Initially,he was another believer in ET visitors but gradually hisviews changed. During his investigations, Pugh looked intoa range of weird happenings centred upon a remote part ofthe Pembroke shire coast: lights and 0bjects hovering in thesky,mysterious silver-suited figures peering into farmhousewindows, cowering animals, a herd ofcattle teleported fromone part of a farm to another, and poltergeists plaguing afamily of UFO witnesses. 7 By1980,he had concluded that theUFO occupants were evil supernatural entities, and came tobelieve ufologists were placing themselves in both physicaland spiritual danger. Soon afterwards, like Roger Stanwaybefore him, Pugh left ufology and burned his collection ofbooks and slides. These actions followed a series ofpersonalexperiences that, he claimed, "were too frightening to talkabout".

Like Pugh, the Rev Anthony Millican's interest in evilaliens came from personal experience. One night inApril1968,he was out for stroll with his wife near his vicarage onthe outskirts ofBristol. Suddenly, the couple saw a glowing,dome-shaped object hovering close to the ground just afewhundred feet away.It was transparent and appeared torotate silently onits axis; both felt "uncanny and chilling"sensations.

Millican said: "I don't think the thing I sawwas mechanicalat all.I got the distinct impression that it was alive." He feltthe UFO was evil, and made a report of it to the Bishop ofBristol and to the police, who searched the area but drew ablank. 8

C H R I S T I A N S v s T H E S P A C E P EO P LEIn May 1977,a group of priests and formerufologists came together as a result of an advertplaced in the T he C hu rch T im es . In the advert, EricInglesby had invited all those who were concerned

by the growing public interest in UFOs and aliensto join a new Christian UFO Research Association.Although membership of CHRUFORA never rose

above 40, the society had associates from alldenominations of the Christian faith. It

included ufologistssuch as Knewstub,Stanway and Pugh and clergy such asInglesby, IvIillican and several bishops.The association pledged to fight againstwhat it saw as the rising tide of occultism


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A B O V E L E FT :H e r M a je s t y Q u e e n E li z a b et h I I w it h E a r l M o u n t b a t t e n - P au l l n gl e s b !l w a r n e d t h e m a g a i n s t a t t e n d i n g t h e p re m i e r e 0 1 C l o se E n c o u n te rso f T h e T h ir d K in d ( 1 9 76 ) , A B O V E R IG H T : T h e D e v il ' s T o w e r , W ! lo m in g , a s s e e n i n t h e S p i e l b e r g f i lm .

and to do everything inits power to warn others about the evilinfluence offlying saucery, which was "fraught with danger forthe unwary and riddled with heresy and false belief".CHRUFORA saw the imminent release of the StevenSpielberg film C lo se E n co un te rs o f th e T hir d K in d as the mostobvious focus for their campaign launch. Inglesby describedthe massive popularity of the film as "slow poison, more deadlyeven than The Exorc is t" . The use bySpielberg of the Devil's.Tower monument inWyoming as the focal point ofthe film'sfinal close encounter was clear evidence to CHRUFORA ofthemovie's demonic inspiration.

Members also identified a number of other evil elementsin the plot. For example, those contacted by the aliens aresubject toa form of'mind control' (demonic possession) thatgives them an overwhelming desire to make their wayto theDevil's Tower.At the climax ofthe movie, the UFO entities areportrayed as benevolent and angelic, and - as all well-informeddemonologists know - Satan's demons are able to disguisethemselves as 'angels oflight' to deceive world leaders.

Rev Millican's reaction to the opening ofthe film inhisnative Bristol was to set up a stall in the foyer of the Odeon FilmCentre. ByJune 1978, over 150,000 people had passed through;there were plenty of souls to save. During his campaign, hehanded out 4,000 leaflets warning cinemagoers that UFOs werenot ETs but "the devil's messengers".

Millican's display was in direct opposition to the message ofthe local UFO club and the Aetherius Society-which had 20stalls of its own at cinemas up and down the country - but hisdemonic message seems to have been the most newsworthy. 9

While Millican was saving souls in Bristol, Inglesby was moreconcerned abou t the spiritual welfare of the Royal Family. HerMajesty the Queen, he felt, wasin grave spiritual danger ifshe allowed herself tobe seen to publicly endorse the film. InFebruary 1978,he learned to his horror that both the Queenand Prince Philip had been persuaded to see it for the benefitofa charity. In desperation, he appealed to the Archbishop ofCanter bury and to Lord Mountbatten, urging them to interveneand warning that Her Majesty's presence might prove"disastrous" for the Royal Family.

In the event, the Queen, along with Prince Philip and LordMountbatten - both ofwhom were long-standing flying saucer.enthusiasts - attended the star-spangled Royal Premiere on 14March, apparently without any intervention by demonic forces.Having failed in their campaign against Close Encounters ,CHRUFORA had more success in their bid to make theirmark on the House of Lords UFO Debate initiated by ufologist

P U G H C O N C L U D E DT H A T T H E U F OO C C U P A N T S W E R EE V IL S U P E R N A T U R A LE N T I T I E SLord Clancarty (Brinsley Le Poer Trench). It was through theintervention of IngJesby and CHRUFORA that the Archbishopof Canterbury asked Maurice Wood,the Bishop ofNorwich, tospeak in the debate, held in January 1979. In his contribution,he said he wasanxious about the dangers posed by UFO cultsand pseudo-religions "obscuring basic Christian tmth" andadded: "Some Christian researchers suggest that those whobecome deeply involved in the religious aspects ofthe UFOsituation come under psychic domination which can causeserious distress to them in their personal lives."

Through the 1980s,public interest inUFOs and the occultdwindled and Ingles by's group felt it had achieved somesuccess, at least insofar as the general consensus had movedagainst "an obsessive, unhealthy interest in UFOs now seen asoccult phenomena".B A T T L EF IE LD E A RT HSOwhy did the demonic theory ofUFOs become such a popularexplanation from the late 1960s and early 1970s on?And howmany ufologists and, indeed, members ofthe public, givecredence to this idea today?

I suspect there may be a link between belief in ademonic origin for UFOs and the wider "occult revival"recognised by the sociologist Marcello Truzzi (see FT208:58-59). He categorised the revival into four main areas ofpopular fascination: Astrology; Satanism and Witchcraft;Parapsychology; and Eastern mysticism. "Flying saucers"appeared only in a fifth 'waste basket' category containingareas which he believed had "small scope and influence or are

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in an actual state of decline". 10Few detailed studies have been carried out into the

relationship between religious and UFO beliefs. As a result, itis difficult to assess how many people subscribe to the angelicI demonic origin ofUFOs. There have been few opinion polls inthe UK, but if we look at the most recent US Gallup poll from1996we find that 48 per cent of respondents believe UFOsa re re al a nd n ot fig me nts o f th e im ag in atio n. Proponents of theExtraterrestrial Hypothesis tend to interpret the result asmeaning that nearly half the population believe UFOs are ETvisitors - but is this really the case?

Much depends on what is meant by "real". For many religiouspeople, the Devil isvery much a physical, living reality. Certainly,his evil influence is as real to them as are the Greys to those whobelieve in alien abductors. Indeed, it seemed that, in the USAat least, belief in the devil had easily overtaken the ETH in therun up to the Millennium. A succession of polls published by theCenter for Policy Research found belief in the devil increasedfrom 37 per cent in 1964 to 48 per cent in 1973.llThe latestGallup poll, in 1995, found this had risen to 65 per cent - morethan those who believe UFOs are "real"!

Wecan now appreciate why the demonic theory has retainedits popularity for so long and why it appears to be the onlyanswer that makes sense to many people. Quite simply, asGareth Medway has recognised, 12 demonic theories have anadvantage over all other ufological hypotheses. Many peoplewant an answer to the mystery that leaves no ambiguities, and noresidue ofunexplained cases. Those who seek to explain UFOsas weather balloons, mirages, ball lightning, 'earth lights' or ETcraft can make their case only by distorting or ignoring evidencethat does not fit - or by suppressing it.

NOTES Levitt,UFO /? : W h . at 01 1 Ear thi s Happen ing? , Harvest,California, 1875. 'I\c~ording tothe in tro du ctio n, W e[dQ hi~ a .researcheditQrfDrtheChristi;ioResearch tnstitutaand.Levitt is aHebrewC h ris tia ri w hO "m et theLord in1971"; Clffl'otdWil~ajtl,UFO s & their MissioJ) lmpossihte,Signet,Ne w York, 19.74.4 Erici11glesby. UFOs ana theChristian, RegencyPress, 1-918.

1 The OrthodoxChurch orEasternOrthodox C hu r eh isdefinedbythe OE D as " a Christ ian churchor federation of-Churchesacknowledgingtheauthor i tyof\,[le p at ri ar ch o f C o ns ta n ti no p le ,originatingin theChurch,oftheB y za n ti ne empi re ".2 B BC N ew s Onl ine, 6 April 2003.3 John W eldon and Zo la

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L E FT :H ow ar d an d M ar la M en ger . w ho w er ewarned by a n e xt ra te rr es tr ia l c on ta ct t ha tE ar th w as th e b attlefi eld o f A r mag ed do n a ndth ey sh ou ld r ely on p rayer , g ood th ou gh tsa nd c au t io n.

An American Orthodox priest,FrThomas Kulp, summarised thesuperiority of the demonic theory overall others in this way: "Ifwe are beingvisited by extraterrestrials, no unifiedand coherent hypothesis has yet beenoffered to explain the multifariousworldwide motifs of alien contact ...There is not a single UFO incident onrecord that cannot be explained as ademonic deception or apparition."

So,if you believe the devil and hisarmy of demons are real, everything canbe explained. As the devil has unlimitedpowers, no U F O story is too absurd orcontradictory, as this is just what wouldbe expected if their source were ademonic one. Bearing this in mind, wecan appreciate why this theory provedso attractive to ufologists like Creightonand Inglesby, who had searched in vainfor a satisfactory answer. For ufologistsof a paranoid or apocalyptic mindser

- with which the subject seems beset - the idea of an invasion byevil forces (whether alien or Satanic) can explain all the bafflingand contradictory aspects of the UFO mystery.

What we are witnessing is a reenactment of some very ancientmyths and legends common to many of the world's religioustraditions. The most obvious is the ongoing battle for the soulsof mankind between the opposing forces of light and dark, goodand evil, God and the Devil, played out in a technological settingwhere spaceships replace traditional religious imagery.

Perhaps that iswhat the space people who visited New Jerseysignwriter and contactee Howard Menger in 1956 were trying tocommunicate. As well as telling him they were fromVenus, Mars,Jupiter and Saturn, introducing him to space music and thedelights of space potatoes, they informed him that there wereboth good and bad space people, and that the bad ones coulddisguise themselves.

When Menger asked how a mere mortal was able to tell themapart, one of the spacemen turned and looked at him sadly,saying: "My friend, this Earth is the battlefield ofArmageddon,and the battle is for men's minds and souls. Prayer, good thoughtsand caution are your best insulation." IIi

A U T H O R B IO G R A P H Y

D R D A V I D CL A R K E l ec tu re s o n s up er na tu ra l b eli ef san d u rban leg en ds at S heffield Un iv er si ty 's C entre forE ng li sh C u lt ur al T rad it io n. H e i s a r eg ul ar F T (ontributorand au th or of T h e A n g e l o f M o ns ( 2 0 0 41 .

S See Bob Durant, " Pu b ii c O p in io npolls an d UFOs", in EVans & . Stacy(eds), UFO 1947-97, jo hn B rbw nPubl ish ing, i8S?SPeter ROjCeWiCZ,"The MeninB I . a c k Exper ience a r i C i Tn; l i :l i tiQn, , .J ou rn al o f Amer ican. E O / k r o r e '100,AQril/June 1987,., See D avid C la rke, "B rita in 's X -F ile s: T he W eis h T ria ng le ," F 1" 20 0:24-25, Ju ly 2005. '

8 F ly in g S au ce r R ev ie w Vol 14/4,1968.9 S u n da y P e op le . 23 April19.78.1 0 M arc ell T ru zz i, "T he Occult,Revival as Popwl< 'I r < ;:9[tpre,".SdcioiogicalQuqlter1y 13;'1972.11 Rona ld Story, T he S pa ce podsRe ve a le d " : 1, 97 6.12 Gareth Medwi;Y, "AncientAstronauts, Gods an d Grey$,"Magon ia 64, 1998.

FLYING SAUCERS FROM HELL

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