Aliens/UFOs
These days, lots of people believe there’s intelligent life somewhere ‘out there.’ After all, the universe is pretty huge. Yet, with all due respect to science fiction fans, there really isn’t any evidence to suggest that aliens exist. For starters, non-living chemicals would’ve had to give rise to a one-celled organism on a distant planet. Of course, this violates the Law of Biogenesis. In addition, there has never been any contact with an extraterrestrial, despite several search programs. What about claims of government cover-ups? Well, NASA’s Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program was cancelled because it never found signs of life. If they had evidence that aliens existed, they probably would’ve produced it to avoid being shut down. What’s more, after its cancellation, several private SETI programs started up. To this day, none of them have found signs of life.
What does the Bible have to say about all of this? First, Jesus became a man to die for our sins. By trusting in His death, burial and Resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins, we can be made right with God (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). This offer is only available to human beings, because Jesus only died for the human race (Hebrews 2:10-17). Likewise, the Bible doesn’t say God made extraterrestrials. Sure, it doesn’t say He didn’t create them, but why would God list a bunch of imaginary things in the Bible that He didn’t create?
In response, many people point to unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and so-called alien abductions as proof that aliens exist. What’s the deal with UFOs and abduction accounts?
Alien Abductions
Over the years, people have claimed they were abducted by aliens. Are alien spaceships really beaming people up, or is something else going on? Well, UFO researcher John Keel, who wasn’t a Christian, once said “Victims of demonomania (possession) suffer the very same medical and emotional symptoms as the UFO contactees.” He added “Strange objects and entities materialize and dematerialize in these stories, just as the UFOs and their splendid occupants appear and disappear, walk through walls, and perform other supernatural feats” (Keel, J., Operation Trojan Horse, Lilburn, GA, Illuminet Press, 1996, p. 192).
Certainly, personal testimonies about being abducted lack physical evidence, but does that mean the events never took place? Former Harvard Professor of Psychiatry John Mack observed “It’s both literally, physically happening to a degree; and it’s also some kind of psychological, spiritual experience occurring and originating perhaps in another dimension.” In other words, literal abductions aren’t happening, but something is definitely going on. What could it be?
The Bible doesn’t mention a thing about aliens, but it talks a lot about angels, both good and bad. Whether they’re good or bad, angels are powerful spiritual beings that can appear physically. God created them with the ability to cause both visions (Daniel 4:13-17; Zechariah 1:9-11; Acts 10:3) and dreams (Matthew 1:20; Matthew 2:13). These visions and dreams can be very real to the bodily senses, but they don’t physically happen. That said, angels can also cause events to physically take place. For instance, an angel once broke a follower of Christ named Peter out of prison (Acts 12:5-17).
Unfortunately, Satan and his angels, called demons, use visions and dreams to communicate deceptive messages. They try to keep people from a true knowledge of God and His love for them. Satan is the father of lies for a reason (John 8:44), and the messages these “aliens” deliver during “abductions” line up with what he’s all about. After all, researchers John Ankerberg and John Weldon noted “how credible is it to think that literally thousands of genuine extraterrestrials would fly millions or billions of light years simply to teach New Age philosophy, deny Christianity, and support the occult?” (Ankerberg, J. & Weldon, J., The Facts on UFOs and Other Supernatural Phenomena, Eugene, OR, Harvest House, 1992, p. 13)
On top of that, Jacques Vallée observed “The ‘medical examination’ to which abductees are said to be subjected, often accompanied by sadistic sexual manipulation, is reminiscent of the medieval tales of encounters with demons” (Vallée, J., Confrontations, New York, NY, Ballantine Books, 1990, p. 13). What do people who report such terrifying encounters believe about why we’re here? Harvard Professor of Psychology Richard McNally determined that “Most of them had pre-existing new-age beliefs – they were into bio-energetic therapies, past lives, astral projection, tarot cards, and so on.” While New Age beliefs are common, UFO investigator Wes Clark noticed “The Christians reporting the abduction experience tended to be people who intellectually espoused the existence of God, but didn’t apply it personally. But there seemed to be an obvious absence of devout, Bible believing, “walk the walk” Christians.” Clark also discovered that “As the number of cases mounted, the data showed that in every instance where the victim knew to invoke the name of Jesus Christ, the event stopped” (Quoted in Bates, G., Alien Intrusion: UFOs and the Evolution Connection, Powder Springs, GA, Creation Book Publishers, 2011, p. 257, 259).
Coincidence? It doesn’t seem likely.
UFOs
For the most part, UFO sightings which aren’t made up can be explained by natural phenomena, such as Venus, weather balloons, and lenticular clouds. Yet, there are some cases which are more difficult to explain. Does this mean we’re being visited by little green men?
Well, UFO researchers Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Dr. Jacques Vallée observed “If UFOs are, indeed, somebody else’s “nuts and bolts hardware,” then we must still explain how such tangible hardware can change shape before our eyes.” They added, “We must wonder too, where UFOs are “hiding” when not manifesting themselves to human eyes” (Hynek, J. and Vallée J., The Edge of Reality: A Progress Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, Chicago, IL, Henry Regnery Company, 1975, p. xii-xiii).
Indeed, UFOs have been picked up on radar, but they’ve never been detected entering the earth’s atmosphere. How likely is it that a bunch of alien spaceships are secretly entering and leaving our atmosphere? On top of that, at light speed, it would take roughly 100,000 years to travel across the Milky Way. Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity says that at the speed of light an object’s mass becomes infinite. As a result, it would take an infinite amount of energy to move it. So, in theory, traveling at light speed isn’t possible. Even if it were possible, extraterrestrials would need to go faster than the speed of light to reach us. Besides, the universe is huge. Why would our planet get so much attention?
Of course, UFOs have been picked up on radar. In some cases, pilots have even fired upon them. Still, no UFO has ever been captured or shot down. What’s the deal? To explain what’s going on, many people believe UFOs have to be advanced alien spacecraft, but this seems highly unlikely. After all, extraterrestrials would have to exist. In addition, they would need ships which travel faster than the speed of light. Finally, they would have to operate machinery which can execute physics-defying maneuvers. Obviously, the odds of all these assumptions being true are low, which is why some of the best-known researchers believed UFOs came from another dimension, not another galaxy. In fact, UFO investigator John Keel concluded “UFO manifestations seem to be, by and large, merely minor variations of the age-old demonological phenomenon” (Keel, J., Operation Trojan Horse, Lilburn, GA, Illuminet Press, 1996, p. 266).
The Bible doesn’t mention God creating extraterrestrials, and it doesn’t tell us to watch out for them. On the other hand, the Bible mentions angels frequently, and it warns us about Satan and his angels, also called demons. In other words, there’s a spiritual dimension, and demons are a part of it. 1 Timothy 4:1 says that “in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.” Overall, UFOs and so-called alien abductions are consistent with what the Bible says about demonic deception, and the spiritual war raging all around us.