by Gary Bates
The time is right for mass deception
We live at an incredible time. Technology accelerates at such a rate it leaves the average person in a daze. Many people find it difficult to distinguish science-fact from science-fantasy. It is often stated that the majority in Western nations believe that there is life on other planets. In popular belief, then, would anyone really be surprised if UFOs appeared on a global scale? Christians have long believed that during the time before Christ’s return to Earth, the enemies of God would perform miraculous signs to deceive many, including, if possible, some Christians. Jesus warns in advance, once again in Matthew 24:5–24:
For many will come in my name, claiming, I am the Christ; and will deceive many… . For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect [Christians] — if that were possible.
Note that alleged appearances of Jesus are more common among UFO contactees and people who have undergone abduction experiences than among any other group of religious believers.
Is it possible that the “great signs” Jesus refers to (in addition to “false prophets”) include the modern UFO phenomenon? The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah warned the Israelites in a similar vein:
This is what the Lord says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them” (Jer. 10:2).
God was warning people not to follow the religious or occult practices of others, and he was clearly referring to the time when the pagan nations were worshiping the heavenly bodies.
Interestingly, as we have seen, when people today invite “alien” visitors into their lives, they often experience an increase in UFO “signs.” This not only happens on a personal spiritual level, but it can occur on a grander scale. For example, today’s crop circles, even though man-made, seem to also generate all manner of strange activity that is similar to the appearances of UFOs. In the Old Testament, Ashtoreth poles and shrines were placed in fields by rebellious Israelites. The worship of false deities like Ashtoreth and Baal was accompanied by occult practices.
They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah [same as Ashtoreth] pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal… . They practiced divination and sorcery (2 Kings 17:16–17).
It is a fact that nowadays the culture is ripe to believe in such things. Therefore, is it any coincidence that this phenomenon is escalating like never before? As people are desensitized to the spiritual nature of occult practices, which are dressed up in a pseudo-technological guise, they unwittingly create vast opportunities for Satan and his minions to perpetrate mass deceptions. Because so many have not given the UFO phenomenon a second thought, and because evolutionary beliefs are increasing in the church, could even many Christians, who are supposed to be able to spiritually discern such things, be caught unawares and deceived by a massive “extraterrestrial” visitation?
The New Age, or “many-ways-to-God,” movement is growing, inviting and welcoming the escalation of paranormal and paraphysical phenomena. These include UFO and alien visitations. Jesus said that one day there would be a time of trouble, or “tribulation,” on the earth like never before. Many Christians believe that this is to occur before He returns, although some hold to different views about the timing of Christ’s second coming, such as the premillennial (PreM), the amillennial (AM) and the post-millennial (PM) views. The UFOnauts have similar variations on these themes. The PreM view says that just before this time of Tribulation (a seven-year period), Christ will return in the clouds and will “rapture” (from the Latin for “caught up”) — that is, resurrect — the dead in Christ, and transform those who are living, taking them away to heaven. This is based on 1 Corinthians 15:51–52. It says:
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep [die], but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
The PreM view says that after the Tribulation and the battle of Armageddon is over, Christ shall return with His saints and reign on the earth for a literal one thousand years, before the devil is loosed again briefly, and the end of the earth comes. The AM view has Christ returning only once (His second coming) after a “church age” and toward the end period of the world. Whatever the case, some sort of “rapture” view is also favored by the UFOnauts, who have imparted many variations to their “missionaries.” Such views include:
• Those who refuse to change and allow Mother Earth to evolve (presumably Christians) will be removed by flying saucers and destroyed, or taken to some other place. (This is a counterfeit of the Christian premillennial view, in that if millions of Christians were to suddenly disappear from the earth, flying saucers could be blamed. In turn, New Agers might think their prophecies have come true.)
• That during a “rapture,” at the end of time, all UFO believers who have spiritually evolved will be taken away to heaven or another planet, leaving behind the earth for its destruction.
• The ascended ones (UFO believers) will be whisked away. Some believe they will be returned after the earth has been cleansed (Armageddon).
Among the many versions that exist, some include Jesus returning in His spaceship, or UFO believers being whisked away to meet Him on another planet called Heaven (an ethereal New Age/ascended paradise, or even to a golden city — reminiscent of the New Jerusalem of Revelation). However, UFO researcher Bill Alnor says:
I believe the UFOnauts’ view of future events and their concept of the Second Coming strikes at the very core of Christianity itself. Virtually every extraterrestrial message I know today denies what the church has always called the blessed “hope:” Jesus’ personal, physical return to Earth that the Bible refers to more than five hundred times (emphasis added).[1]
… after reading literally thousands of messages from the space brothers … and carefully analyzing their views of the Second Coming, the coming millennium, new age, Armageddon, the rapture, and the new Jerusalem, I am convinced that these entities are trying to sell humanity one of the biggest deceptions of all time.[2]
Christ’s return has long been called “the blessed hope” by Christians, who know that it will usher in what they will ultimately inherit for eternity. The Bible says a time is coming when the whole universe will be destroyed with a “fervent” heat. God will then create a new heaven and a new earth, in which there is no death, bloodshed, or suffering. (This is similar to many of the messages of the space brothers, which claim that UFO-believers will inherit some form of deathless utopia.) Only those whose names are found in the “Lamb’s Book of Life” (Rev. 21:27) will inherit it. This refers only to Christians.
Change is coming
Famous New Age author Barbara Marciniak believes, as do many other UFO/New Age prophets, that the earth is going to undergo a dramatic change. She holds an “evacuation” view that will rid the world of those with old “fuddy duddy” ideas. In her book Bringers of the Dawn: Teachings from the Pleiadians (1992), she wrote:
The people who leave the planet during the time of Earth changes do not fit in here any longer, and they are stopping the harmony of Earth. When the time comes that perhaps 20 million people leave the planet at one time there will be a tremendous shift in consciousness for those who are remaining.[3]
This view gives the impression that it was completely derived from outside of the Bible, yet its form mirrors the Bible’s description of end-time events. The Pleiadians’ website provides an insight to the source of this counterfeiting operation of the space brothers.
Compiled from more than four hundred hours of channeling by Barbara Marciniak, Bringers of the Dawn imparts to us the wisdom of the Pleiadians, a group of enlightened beings who have come to Earth to help us discover how to reach a new stage of evolution… . We learn … how the original human was
a magnificent being with twelve strands of DNA and twelve chakra centers [so-called centers of spiritual energy], and who our “gods” are… . These teachings offer essential reading for anyone questioning their existence on this planet and the direction of our collective conscious — and unconscious. By remembering that we are [sic] Family of Light, that we share an ancient ancestry with the universe around us, we become “bringers of the dawn,” consciously creating a new reality, a new Earth.[4]
The whole gamut of satanic deception is revealed here in one short passage. False creation, an endorsement of evolution and its “you shall be as gods” philosophy, a vision of a new Earth, and a claim that we are part of Satan’s family of light and we are part of the universe.
One of the most popular and well-read alternate versions of end-time events comes from a book called Project World Evacuation (1992), supposedly channeled by the ET known as Ashtar (there he is again!). But this time he is a commander of an intergalactic, interdimensional fleet of spacecraft known as “The Ashtar Command.” Their fleet of spaceships will come to Earth and evacuate only worthy persons while the planet undergoes a “cleansing.” The Ashtar command is apparently assisted by none other than Lucifer (who has become a good guy now), and they all operate under the supreme command of Lord Sananda (which is a common UFO term for Jesus).
The following Bible passages describe what some refer to as the rapture of the church:
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep [die], or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel [Michael] and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever (1 Thess. 4:13–17).
The following verse was mentioned earlier, but it is relevant to repeat it here in the context of the rapture event.
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed (1 Cor. 15:51–52).
Compare this to the account in Project World Evacuation, supposedly channeled by Ashtar to contactee Thelma Terrell, who goes by the “spiritual” name of “Tuella.”
Our rescue ships will be able to come in close enough in the twinkling of an eye to set the lifting beams in operation in a moment. And all over the globe where events warrant it, this will be the method of evacuation. Mankind will be lifted, levitated shall we say, by the beams from our smaller ships. These smaller craft will in turn taxi the persons to the larger ships overhead, higher in the atmosphere, where there is ample space and quarters and supplies for millions of people.
… Earth changes will be the primary factor in mass evacuation of this planet. There is method and great organization in a detailed plan already near completion for the purpose of removing souls from this planet, in the event of catastrophic events making a rescue necessary… . The Great Evacuation will come upon the world very suddenly. The flash of emergency events will be as a lightning that flashes in the sky. So suddenly and so quick in its happening that it is over almost before you are aware of its presence… .[5]
This is a not-so-subtle ploy to usurp the biblical account. There are many differing versions of UFO end times, and some contactees, such as Billy Meier, vehemently disagree with Barbara Marciniak’s Pleiadian exhortations. This causes any particular Bible interpretation to become just one of many, in the same way that a proliferation of religions causes many to think that “just one can’t be right.” If millions of Christians do disappear from the earth, then this deception also provides a way, on an unprecedented scale, for Satan’s minions to explain the event and deceive those left behind.
Bringing the Bible up to date?
Many Christians also believe that prior to enormous destruction taking place on the earth, there will be a period of unprecedented peace and a global system, either an economic or religious one, that will unite all of humanity.
Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan understood that the world would suddenly become a small place if an alien attack were real. During an address to the United Nations General Assembly, he said:
In our obsession with antagonisms of the moment, we often forget how much unites all the members of humanity. Perhaps we need some outside universal threat to make us recognize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world.[6]
Even one of the most powerful men in the world thought it was a possibility. One could think of no better scare tactic to deceive mankind than the perceived extraterrestrial threat. Noted UFOlogist Jacques Vallée noticed the following during his UFO studies:
Increased attention given to UFO activity promotes the concept of political unification of this planet. This is perhaps the most commonly recurring theme in my entire study of these groups. Through the belief in UFOs, a tremendous yearning for global peace is expressing itself… . Contactee philosophies often include belief in higher races and in totalitarian systems that would eliminate democracy.[7]
Sadly, by believing in the space brothers, many think they will be saved. New Ager Brad Steiger attempts to reconcile the scriptural record and channeled messages from entities who reveal that there is going to be a time of enormous change on the earth. He says:
Although these paraphysical, multidimensional entities have always coexisted with us, in the last half-century they have been accelerating their interaction with us in preparation for a fast-approaching time of transition and transformation. This period, we have been told, will be a difficult one; and for generations our prophets and revelators have been referring to it as “the great cleansing,” “Judgment Day,” “Armageddon.” But we have been promised that, after a season of cataclysmic changes on the Earth plane, a New Age consciousness will suffuse the planet. It is to this end that the UFO is a transformative symbol.[8]
Steiger claims he used to be a Christian (although some would argue that he probably wasn’t to begin with). Nonetheless, a clear indication of the strength of the prophesied end-time delusions is that Jesus says they could possibly deceive the “elect” (the elect specifically refers to Christians, or believers chosen by God). If such an undemocratic world system as Steiger describes is going to come, then presumably, Christians alive at such a time would reject it, because they would see it as a prelude to coming end-time events. It is likely then that they would be isolated and hated for failing to go along with the majority. The Bible says there will be a “falling away” toward the end and that many will depart the faith (Matt. 24:10; 1 Tim. 4:1–2). Could that be partly as a result of that sort of pressure from the majority?
Steiger is not the only former “believer” to have been deceived and to have fallen away. The Reverend Dr. Barry H. Downing is the pastor of a Presbyterian church in New York. He has been an advisor to MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) and is a board member of FUFOR (Fund for UFO Research). His book The Bible and Flying Saucers (1968) is a work that seeks to harmonize the biblical texts with UFO beliefs. This matrimony of the two is a type of universalism that is adored by UFO believers. The fact that Downing is well credentialed theologically does no harm to his cause among the UFO faithful. In fact, it seems to add credibility to his “UFOs in the Bible” views. His book is revered as a benchmark text among the more religious UFO believers, who hail him as a UFO “master.”
Downing believes that UFOs are angelic in nature and have possibly been guiding the Christian
religion. His book mainly concerns the time of the Exodus of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, and he leaves room for the possibility that many of the supernatural events, such as the parting of the Red Sea, and the burning bush that Moses saw, were UFO encounters. Moreover, he believes that these extraterrestrial angels are aliens from another planet, and thus we should understand that the Bible is a mythological document rather than an historical one.[9] Bill Alnor notes that in a speech to MUFON, Downing argued that:
The Judeo-Christian tradition can mostly be saved by going in the direction I have gone.[10]
Downing advocates exactly what masquerading fallen angels want to hear — “a reinterpretation of the Bible according to new revelation.” It would appear that he has been deceived and has accepted the messages of the alien benefactors, which he places on par with the Bible itself. Downing even thinks that the account of the transfiguration of Christ (Matt. 17:1–9), where He was manifested in His heavenly glory along with the Old Testament prophets Moses and Elijah, was caused by UFO activity. But on reading the Bible at face value, it clearly explains what occurred. Downing is relying on his own wishful notions when it comes to this, and he is imposing his view upon the text, as so many others have done through the ages. When the apostle Peter was reminding some followers about the deity of Christ in one of his letters, he specifically mentioned the transfiguration event, at which he was present. He wrote: