Handbook of UFO Religions

Benjamin E. Zeller is Associate Professor and Chair of Religion at Lake Forest College. He studies North American religion, focusing on such topics as new religions, the religious engagement with science, and the quasi-religious relationship people have with food. Most recently he is author of Heaven’s Gate: America’s UFO Religion (NYU Press), and co-editor of The Bloomsbury Companion to New Religious Movements (Bloomsbury).Contributors are: Rafael Antunes Almeida, W. Michael Ashcraft, Stefano Bigliardi, Susannah Crockford, George D. Chryssides, Carole M. Cusack, Regis Dericquebourg, Holly Folk, David J. Halperin, Olav Hammer, Kelly E. Hayes, Joseph P. Laycock , Layne Little, Paul O. Myhre, Erik A. W. Östling, Susan J. Palmer, Lukas Pokorny, David G. Robertson, Mikael Rothstein, Christa Shusko, Karen Swartz, Diana Tumminia, Hugh B. Urban, and Franz Winter.

• Notes on ContributorsIntroductionBenjamin E. Zeller1 Scholarship on UFO s and Religion: The First Seventy-Five YearsW. Michael AshcraftPart 1: Religious Engagement with UFO s2 Vimānas and Hindu UfologyLayne R. Little3 Judaism and the UFO; with Emphasis on the Vision of EzekielDavid J. Halperin4 Unmasking the Alien Deception: Why Evangelicals Are Studying UfologyJoseph P. Laycock5 Aliens among Native Americans?Paul O. MyhrePart 2: Methods and Themes6 Ancient AliensOlav Hammer and Karen Swartz7 They Knew Too Much: The Entangled History of Conspiracy Theories, UFO s and New ReligionsDavid G. Robertson8 ‘I Figured That in My Dreams, I Remembered What Actually Happened’: On Abduction Narratives as Emergent FolkloreErik A. W. Östling9 ‘Focused Gatherings’?: Notes for a Study of a UFO ConferenceRafael Antunes AlmeidaPart 3: Case Studies: Individual Proponents10 A Martian God: Eleanor Kirk’s Extraterrestrial Epiphany in The Christ of the Red PlanetChrista Shusko11 Of Polenta and Elohim: Mauro Biglino’s “Ancient Aliens” between Anti-Religion and New ReligiosityStefano Bigliardi12 Maitreya, Crop Circles, and the Age of Light: Benjamin Creme’s UFO ThoughtLukas Pokorny13 Raymond W. Bernard, Hollow Earth, and UFO sHolly FolkPart 4: New UFO Religions Emerging from the American Context14 ScientologyHugh B. Urban15 The United Nuwaubian NationSusan J. Palmer16 Norman Paulsen and the Brotherhood of the Sun / SunburstCarole M. Cusack17 Heaven’s Gate and Charismatic LeadershipGeorge D. Chryssides18 A Retrospective on the Unarius Academy of ScienceDiana Tumminia19 StarseedsSusannah Crockfordpart 5: New UFO Religions Emerging from the Global Context20 Spirits of the Space Age: The Valley of the Dawn as a UFO ReligionKelly E. Hayes21 The Aetherius Society: A Ritual PerspectiveMikael Rothstein22 Rael and the RaeliansRégis Dericquebourg23 UFO s as Players in History: A Japanese New Religious Movement, ‘Spiritual Technology,’ and Ancient AstronautsFranz Winter24 East Asian UFO ReligiosityLukas PokornyIndex

"Handbook of UFO Religions is a massive and significant contribution both on the critical study of ufology and on its ties to contemporary minority religions … the text will surely serve as a significant starting point for future research into the intersections of religion and ufology." - Benjamin D. Grace, American University of Kuwait, in: Nova Religion, no. 3, 2022