Unfortunately, we have all been given the dubious blessing of living in interesting times. Things seem to grow stranger and more bewildering with each passing day. Whether it is the nonsensical gender identity/fluidity debate, Russia’s own hired mercenaries making a wild dash for Moscow, ridiculous conspiracy theories gaining traction, or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs) swooping in and out of the news, there is a lot to process. While Joel 2:30 and Matthew 24 point to signs in heaven as well as “wars and rumors of wars” that signal the onset of end times or tribulation, it can become harder to consistently focus upon Christ with these distractions pulling us ever further away. This turmoil may lead some to a concern that the strange events themselves point to a chaotic and uncontrolled reality untouched today by the hand of God. This, then may also lead to the misguided idea that perhaps perception is reality. That is, for instance, why continue to oppose things such as gender identity or abortion, if everything is going crazy around us and God has supposedly exited stage right? After all, wouldn’t it be easier to just give in and “make nice?” Please allow me a personal example to begin this look as I focus here on the UAP question--as it intersects with a person of faith, in particular.
A number of years ago, we lived a half hour away in the town of Salem, Oregon. We had a nice ranch style home in a great neighborhood, situated within just a few blocks of our church. One activity I enjoyed was to stand on my expansive (greatly missed) back deck and stare up at the night sky to take in the stars. It was not unusual for me to catch the distant streak of a meteor or unwavering glint of a satellite high above. Something else caught my eye one particular evening. It appeared from the north heading south overhead. Its triangular or “V” shape was more inferred than seen, as the sky and stars were partially blotted out overhead by this large, unknown craft. Everything around me was remarkably still; absolutely no sound came from the thing gliding south above me. I attempted to take a photo with my phone, but, of course, it was just blackness. Before I could call my wife, the object was gone into the night—still heading south, as last I could discern. My mind went briefly to the Native American tales of the thunderbird, except this thing was clearly enormous and mechanical in nature. When you have nothing on which to gauge or compare size or height precisely, it is difficult to estimate proportions, but it certainly appeared to dwarf any aircraft of which I am familiar, and the absolute silence made it highly unlikely to be…from around here.
Since I am the guy writing this, I might as well sheepishly confess that this wasn’t the only occurrence. I also saw multiple lights come together and then speed apart at a high rate of speed across the night sky of the Yakima Valley when I was just a child. I tried to explain what I saw, but the adults in my life at the time assumed that I had simply been watching too much television. Time to limit those Star Trek episodes perhaps? Many years later when I heard that the FBI had made some large freedom of information releases online, I decided to search for my hometown and “UFOs.” While I recalled locating information in that particular database, it must have been elsewhere. The information I did begin to uncover, however, suggested that there were numerous other substantiated reports of occurrences along these lines dating back at least to the early 1970s. In January 2019. For example, the Yakima Herald Republic ran an article exploring some of these instances.
Some look at the question of potential alien life—just like certain social issues—and decide that it undermines faith, demanding a new way of understanding the spiritual and physical world; they are viewed as mutually exclusive. While alien life would require some spiritual retooling perhaps, it need not damage one’s faith. It may surprise readers to learn that C.S. Lewis addressed the issue of alien life in one of his essays—as well as his last recorded interview.
…usually, when the popular hubbub has subsided and the novelty has been chewed over by real theologians, real scientists and real philosophers, both sides
find themselves pretty much where they were before. So it was with Copernican astronomy, with Darwinism, with Biblical Criticism, with the new psychology. So, I
cannot help expecting, it will be with the discovery of "life on other planets" If that discovery is ever made.
The supposed threat is clearly directed against the doctrine of the Incarnation, the belief that God of God "for us men and for our salvation came down from
heaven and was . . . made man." Why for us men more than for others? If we find ourselves to be but one among a million races, scattered through a million spheres, how can we, without absurd arrogance, believe ourselves to have been uniquely favored? I admit that the question could become formidable.
Lewis, CS. “Religion and Rocketry,” The World’s Last Night
It’s important to make a brief digression here. Some extremely intelligent Catholics are making the somewhat naïve argument that all UAPs originate with the devil as further distractions from what is good and true. While the devil may indeed may play some role here, I’d like to respectfully remind these writers that it seems highly implausible that evil spirits can interfere with humanity to the degree that they are able/permitted to take a nuclear missile system offline as has been revealed took place at the Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota on October 24, 1966 or that they can be seen and recorded by pilots and radar installations around the world. (The following is one written account of many available of the 1966 incident. This particular best-seller by journalist Leslie Kean brings together former military, commercial pilot, and air traffic controller accounts of interactions with UAPs from over the last half century, or so, and it includes testimony from those hailing from multiple countries.)
Something very extraordinary also occurred one year earlier at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota: On October 24, 1966, the Minuteman missile system was adversely affected during an afternoon while UFOs were sighted from the ground by multiple observers at three separate missile sites for over three hours, and two objects were tracked on radar. Communications and radio transmissions between various facilities monitoring the events were disrupted by static when the UFO came close to the site.
At 4:49 p.m. the outside and interior security alarms of safety for the Oscar 7 missile silo were activated at the control desk located sixteen kilometers (ten miles) away. A security team was dispatched and discovered that not only was the fence open but the horizontal door closing the missile silo was also open. This reinforced-concrete door weighed nearly twenty tons and there were no tire tracks nor any record of a visit that could account for this.
Kean, Leslie. UFOs (p. 139). Crown. Kindle Edition.
When one reads or hears first-person accounts from both military and commercial pilots, they do seem to carry more weight; these are people trained to observe and work under pressure. More recently, UFO whistleblowers like retired Air Force Officer David Gruisch have also gone even further in expressing his concern as to what nefarious activities government may be involved in concerning these objects.
Be that as it may, what the issue really does come down to how Leslie Kean articulates this issue in the introduction.
To approach UFOs rationally, we must maintain the agnostic position regarding their nature or origin, because we simply don’t know the answers yet. By being agnostics, we are taking a giant step forward. So often, the UFO debate fuels two polarities, both representing untenable positions. On one side, the “believers” proclaim that extraterrestrials have arrived from outer space and that we already know that UFOs are alien vehicles, and on the other, the “debunkers” argue with aggressive defensiveness that UFOs don’t exist at all. This counterproductive battle has unfortunately dominated public discourse for a long time, only heightening confusion and creating more distance from the scientific—the agnostic—approach.
Kean, Leslie. UFOs (pp. 12-13). Crown. Kindle Edition.
With the recent Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing on UAPs, it’s abundantly clear that we can’t close our eyes to their reality. Whatever these objects may prove be, they do appear to be part of our reality. As such, it’s probably best that we begin to get our minds around that fact. Yes, certainly some supposed interactions may be manifestations of the devil for purposes of deception, but spiritual entities don’t engage in dogfights with military jets or shutdown nuclear missile silos. At any rate, I believe this is an important foundation to bear in mind, because confusion abounds when we over generalize about subject matter such as this. The UAP issue is potentially so important, I believe, as perhaps another ringing sign that we may be approaching end times and serves as a gentle reminder to be vigilant. (Bear in mind that that this is just my opinion, so feel free to take it with a couple grains of salt.)
Added a couple of my own astrophotography shots in early 2024.
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