UFO religions

“It is a beautiful night for the end of the world” – The Reasonabilists (Parks and Recreation)

For a while in the 1970s, our town was run by a freaky cult, and every few years the remaining members predict that the world’s gonna end, and they have an all-night vigil in the park. It’s super annoying. Turns out when you think the world’s ending, you don’t aim so carefully in the port-a-potties. … Read more“It is a beautiful night for the end of the world” – The Reasonabilists (Parks and Recreation)

“Church of the Flying Saucer” (May 2024)

The Church of the Flying Saucer follows Carol Klodie, a former film school student who has hit a slump in her life. By happenstance, she finds a pamphlet under the windshield of her car advertising what seems to be a support group for UFO abductees and alien conspiracy theorists. She finds the pamphlet ridiculous and … Read more“Church of the Flying Saucer” (May 2024)

“UFO Belief is a Modern Outlet for Ancient Spiritual Yearnings”

Francesco Dimitri writes for Psyche: The Raëlians are not the only UFO religion born in the 20th century. They are the most laid-back, with their dancing nights and their ‘sensual meditation’, a far cry from the nihilism of another, Heaven’s Gate, whose members died in a mass suicide in 1997. The Aetherius Society is an … Read more“UFO Belief is a Modern Outlet for Ancient Spiritual Yearnings”

“Inside the Spirituality ‘Cult’ Whose Members Allege Sexual and Financial Exploitation”

Mark Wilding writes for VICE on Gudni Gudnason’s Modern Mystery School: The school describes this network as an “international community of lightworkers, initiated in an ancient tradition of service, compassion and empowerment”. Its critics, including numerous former students, describe it as a cult and a spiritual pyramid scheme, whose members face psychological trauma, spiralling debts … Read more“Inside the Spirituality ‘Cult’ Whose Members Allege Sexual and Financial Exploitation”

“I’m Starting a Religion” (MTV’s “True Life”, 2015)

This episode of MTV’s True Life series documents the efforts of two quirky 20-somethings – Seattle’s Unicole Unicron and Chicago’s Christopher Karl Allman – as they strive to establish their new religions (Unicultism and The People of Ieya, respectively). The documentary is listed as (S2015 E18) and originally screened in 2015, which should be plenty … Read more“I’m Starting a Religion” (MTV’s “True Life”, 2015)