A Phenomenon We Can’t Ignore

By Heidi Swander

When I returned to the office after my vacation a few weeks ago I walked in excited, carrying a movie I’d viewed over the break, and said, “Jan, you’ve got to watch this!  You’re really going to like it.  It’s just what you’ve been looking for!”  I kept up the enthusiasm until finally, Jan took the 85 minutes necessary to watch it.  The movie was Unidentified, a thought-provoking dramatic film by producer and director Rich Christiano (whom Jan just interviewed this past weekend) that not only provides a balanced perspective of the UFO phenomenon but also challenges viewers to consider life’s most important question — the destiny of their souls.

You see, I knew that Jan has wanted to find some product to present to ministry followers that would factually address this topic, but also one that wouldn’t be viewed as fringe.  That’s a tough assignment because there are so many hoaxes, and so much of this subject has been appropriately viewed as extreme.  We did carry Chuck Missler’s excellent book Alien Encounters for a time, and it generated quite a bit of interest. Also some scorn. (I guess that’s to be expected, even though Chuck’s thesis included many facts, scholarly quotes, and scripture references that are difficult to refute.) But this . . . this was just the ticket! A movie: Entertaining, inspirational and educational — including a respectable number of intriguing facts behind the phenomenon sprinkled throughout the movie.

In the bonus feature, “A Special Message From the Director” Rich says, “A lot of people ask me if I believe in UFOs. I don’t believe in aliens — not even for a second. I do think it’s demonic.”

Many Bible and science scholars agree with Rich’s conclusion. In his aforementioned book, Chuck Missler explains, “A number of UFO researchers have concluded that modern-day aliens may very well be the modern-day equivalent of fallen angels or demonic entities.  Dr. Pierre Guerin, a well-known UFO researcher in the 1960s and 1970s, examined the nature and activities of aliens and concluded, ‘UFO behaviour is more akin to magic than to physics as we know it . . . the modern UFOnauts and the demons of past days are probably identical.’”

And in his book The Kingdom of the Occult, Dr. Walter Martin (with editor Jill Martin Rische), a world authority on cults and the occult who held four earned degrees and authored 12 books and numerous articles during his 40 years of ministry, said, “Christians may not have ready answers to every question about UFO sightings, but in the face of extraterrestrial doctrine, no question remains as to the source of the messages: spiritual beings opposed to God’s truth and thus, demonic in nature.”

This, in a nutshell, is what we at Olive Tree Ministries yearn to effectively communicate:  These unexplainable incidents are demonic, end-times phenomena that are growing more pronounced concurrently with other signs of the coming Tribulation we see. There may be many hoaxes, experiences and sightings that can be explained away, but there are a percentage of these that cannot be casually dismissed.

In his book, Dr. Martin eloquently states, “The Christian church simply cannot ignore the UFO subject any longer. . . Responsible Christian theologians, including the late C.S. Lewis, [also] called attention to the fact that it has tremendous implications for the Christian church.“  If what Dr. Martin says is true then we cannot — we must not — dismiss these phenomena out-of-hand any more.  But what are the implications that we “simply cannot ignore?”

Chuck Missler explains. “One of the unexpected aspects of the 20th-century UFO phenomenon is that it has been embraced as a source of religious inspiration by more than 10,000 groups in a movement called the ‘New Age.‘ . . . Although the New Age movement is a loose network of independent organizations, they share a number of common doctrines including: The belief in a central spirit being known as ‘the Source’ or ‘the God of Force’ [note shades of Daniel 11:38, which is an obvious reference to the antichrist], the belief in the god within, the divinity of man, the law of rebirth (reincarnation), the belief that Jesus and the Christ consciousness are two separate entities and that the Christ is an office rather than a man.”  Is this sounding familiar?  Read on.

According to Doug Potter, author of the white paper “UFOs, ETs and the New Age: A Christian Perspective” that was presented at the 1997 National Conference on Apologetics, Cults and Other Religions, “Many people, even Christian teenagers, get hooked into the New Age movement as a result of their interest in the possibility of UFOs and ETs.“  And then he asks this searing question:  “What is the Christian response to the New Age and the possibility of alien life?”

So you see, just as Dr. Martin challenged, we, as Christians, simply cannot ignore this subject or scoff at it any longer.  Many who have close contact with a UFO or its inhabitants adopt new and dangerous belief systems. It is another deception of the enemy — much more, really — that is drawing souls eternally away from the Truth, Jesus Christ. And the refusal of the church at large to even become acquainted with the valid aspects of this phenomenon means that it’s open season for Satan and his minions on thousands of souls that the Body of Christ writes off as quacks and walks away from.  These are souls for whom Jesus died.

The Bible admonishes us to “always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you,” (I Peter 3:15).  Might this include being ready to engage in a meaningful, educated discussion with someone who has been deceived by the “prince of the power of the air,” who has been taken in by his wiles through a demonic UFO experience?

When the 85 minutes were over, Jan and Gail (our administrative assistant) both sat back in awe, and Jan said, “This movie has everything going for it!“  High praise from Jan Markell. I hope you’ll check out the movie with an open mind and heart.  You’ll find believable characters who honestly explore this issue, and some whose lives are eternally changed as a result.