Thoughts on UFOs

One sane and levelheaded explanation and one completely bonkers explanation.

Much like nuclear war, UFOs are one of those topics I never thought I’d have to address. But here we are. The U.S. military has shot down four mysterious “objects” over North America, with unknown methods of propulsion. The Chinese supposedly shot one down themselves, and I’ve seen reports of another one in Russia.

Photo by Albert Antony on Unsplash

Despite the White House recently stating that these are not extraterrestrial in origin, representatives of the military have been cagier, implying that they may be extraterrestrial.

This is similar to “UAP” talk from the government in recent years (UAP is the contemporary government lingo for UFOs). While the government has been ostensibly more open about encounters with unidentified objects like the infamous “Tic Tacs,” it’s also been cagey about just what these things are or what they may be.

I’m pretty familiar with some of these discussions because I had a good friend who spent years down this rabbit hole. In fact, we quit talking for a while because UFOs and UAPs were the only thing he could discuss.

I’m curious about these phenomena, but perhaps paradoxically, I’m completely disinterested in the topic. Why?

1. We have no idea what these things are. If they are extraterrestrial, the operators have made no effort—that I’m aware of—to make contact, identify themselves, or state their intentions.

2. They seem completely benign. Presumably, if we have advanced space ships traveling in our atmosphere, they would also have the technology to completely obliterate us. Yet they don’t.

3. As such, these things don’t affect our daily lives in any appreciable way.

4. And there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.

I just find it impossible to dedicate bandwidth to a mystery that has no answer and seemingly no point.

My friend eventually left the rabbit hole with the conclusion that the entire UAP phenomenon is a steaming pile of crap. Basically, he transitioned from Mulder to Scully.

In his estimation, this isn’t a government psyop like the supposed Project Blue Beam, but merely UFO enthusiasts in high places being taken advantage of by grifters.

He believes that what we have been seeing are very much terrestrial balloons and drones operated by foreign adversaries. He pointed me to a 2021 article making that case. It could also be possible that certain government elements are letting the public entertain the idea of UFOs instead of the very real possibility that we’re regularly being surveilled.

Of course, the recent downing of a Chinese spy balloon has brought this topic into sharp focus, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we’re suddenly seeing a wave of UFOs. It only stands to reason that the military is now on higher guard and are now picking up things they wouldn’t otherwise have noticed.

I could very much be wrong here, but until the government makes a definitive announcement that we’re dealing with little green men, that’s what I’m rolling with.

In the meantime, it’s not something to worry about.

Now that I’ve given you the sensible view of recent UFO encounters, permit me to have a bit of fun with wild speculation. As Michael Keaton’s Batman said, “You wanna get nuts? Let’s get nuts!”

A spiritual view of the UFO phenomenon

UFOologists have often claimed that the Bible describes encounters with UFOs.

Most notably, we have Ezekiel 1’s description of wheeled angels covered in eyes:

Now as I beheld the living creatures, there appeared upon the earth by the living creatures one wheel with four faces. And the appearance of the wheels, and the work of them was like the appearance of the sea: and the four had all one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the midst of a wheel. When they went, they went by their four parts: and they turned not when they went. The wheels had also a size, and a height, and a dreadful appearance: and the whole body was full of eyes round about all the four. And when the living creatures went, the wheels also went together by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels also were lifted up with them. Whithersoever the spirit went, thither as the spirit went the wheels also were lifted up withal, and followed it: for the spirit of life was in the wheels. When those went these went, and when those stood these stood, and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels also were lifted up together, and followed them: for the spirit of life was in the wheels.

In theological speak, these things are known as Thrones.

UFOologist’s assume that what Ezekiel actually saw was actually a UFO, and presumably the four-faced Cherubims he describes is some kind of space alien:

I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north—an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, but each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings, and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.

(Not quite like the fat baby on the toilet paper package, eh?)

But… what if the UFO stans have it backward? What if Ezekiel wasn’t seeing UFOs, and the things we see are spiritual objects?

I reached this conclusion, oddly enough, via Occam’s Razor. If we’re seeing objects that appear to completely defy the laws of physics, the simplest answer is that they’re not physical objects.

I’ve recently discovered this isn’t just my own wacky thought, and that this is a common sentiment amongst Orthodox priests. Fr. Seraphim Rose wrote in Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future:

The most puzzling aspect of UFO phenomena to most researchers—namely, the strange mingling of physical and psychic characteristics in them is no puzzle at all to readers of Orthodox spiritual books, especially the Lives of the Saints. Demons also have 'physical bodies' although the 'matter' in them is of such subtlety that it cannot be perceived by men unless their spiritual 'doors of perception' are opened, whether with God's will (in the case of holy men) or against it (in the case of sorcerers and mediums). Orthodox literature has many examples of demonic manifestations which fit precisely the UFO pattern: apparitions of 'solid' beings and objects (whether demons themselves or their illusory creations) which suddenly 'materialize' and 'dematerialize', always with the aim of awing and confusing people and ultimately leading them to perdition. The Lives of the 4th- century St. Anthony the Great (Eastern Orthodox Books, 1976 and the 3rd-century St. Cyprian the Former Sorcerer (The Orthodox Word, 1976, no. 5) are filled with such incidents…

It is clear that the manifestations of today's 'flying saucers' are quite within the 'technology' of demons; indeed, nothing else can explain them as well…

Personally, I think the possibility that pilots and tipsy rednecks are seeing literal angels and demons in the sky is much more interesting than space aliens. To each their own.

If you enjoy discussing things like this, come check out the #tinfoil channel on our Discord server. We have a lot of fun talking about aliens, demons, ghosts, and other things that go bump in the night.