UFOs: God’s
Chariots?,
Ted Peters, New Page Books, Pompton Plains, NJ, 2014, 320pp, $16.99.
This is the second edition of a
book previously published in 1977. There have been revisions and additions to
the original version.
The
link between UFOs and religion is not new. Primitive carvings, historic
hieroglyphics and holy books all contain pictures and stories of strange lights
in the sky, unknown objects that appear to hover or fly, and beings that
resemble humans and yet are not. The question has always been there. Have there
been celestial visitors, and if so, where are they from?
Many who believe in extraterrestrial
life would argue against the idea that there is anything but a scientific
explanation for visitors from the stars, and yet, time and time again,
otherworldly beings are described in spiritual ways. Is it simply man’s way to
explain the unexplainable? Or is looking for a scientific explanation an
attempt to do the same thing by trying to rationalize that spacemen make more
sense than angels? Questions, questions and more questions. The more we search,
the less it seems we know. Time brings more information and more evidence but
no real answers.
Ted Peters became interested in UFOs at
a young age and soon discovered that there were a lot of untruths and
misconceptions from the ‘experts’ at the time. He began his own research, which
resulted in the original version of this book. Peters, though, approached his
UFO study from his foundation of faith. When asked if he believes in UFOs, his
response is “No. I believe in God. I study UFOs.”
Peters’ presents four models of UFO interpretation:
the Interstellar Diplomat, the Research Scientist, the Celestial Savior, and
the newly added, Hybridizer. Each model is explained and various traditional
theories are compared and contrasted within each of the models. Some theories
fit into more than one category which creates a type of Venn diagram of UFOlogy
ideas, but it also helps the reader to understand the complexity of how
evidence can be interpreted to support both the scientific and religious
arguments.
This book is not an easy read in the
sense that the reader will not come away with any clear answers. Some of the
models and the information presented need more than one pass due to the density
of information. It can be quite confusing as anecdotal evidence easily fits
into multiple places, but it can be a useful resource full of jumping off
points for further investigation.
Even though the information is fairly
well presented, there are obvious biases that Peters allows to creep into the
book. At times it can be a bit intrusive, but an open mind is helpful as one
reads through it. For me, it served to raise some surprising thoughts when
considering the religious connotations of the UFO phenomenon. Most of us have
become pretty accustomed to the ancient astronaut stories that are tied to
Egyptian tombs and Mexican ruins and even the description of the wheel of fire
in the Bible. Reading UFOs: God’s
Chariots? started me thinking about the description of Jesus’ ascension
into heaven. He is sometimes described as unworldly, and when He ascends, He is
drawn up by a beam of light. So religious thought says He arose to heaven, but
scientific thought could say He returned to a UFO via a tractor beam. It’s
certainly something I never considered before.
One final note on the book. The author
shares the results of his Religious Crisis Survey where self-identified
believers of varying faiths were asked if making intelligent extraterrestrial
contact would undermine historic religious traditions. The response was no, it
would not. So whichever side of the debate you may find yourself on, it really
seems as if having an open mind to the possibilities of extraterrestrial life
and what it might mean does not have to be a bad thing.
- Jan Kaniuk
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