LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� In out Friday, Steven Spielberg is once again inviting audiences to ponder the existence of extraterrestrial life 鈥� and the implications it would have for religion on Earth.
But Spielberg is hardly the only one making headlines of late about UFOs and the possibility of life on other planets.
What was once considered fringe or conspiratorial has in recent months popped up everywhere from the White House to the Catholic Church, as public fascination with unidentified anomalous phenomena 鈥� or UAPs, as the government calls them 鈥� becomes more mainstream.
The Pentagon in May large swaths of UFO files with very little context, leaving curious sleuths to piece together their own interpretations. The dump came just weeks after former President Barack Obama set off a media frenzy for stating unambiguously in an interview that aliens are real, though he later tempered that take.
鈥淪tatistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there鈥檚 life out there,鈥� the former president, who made a surprise visit to the 鈥淒isclosure Day鈥� set, posted on social media. 鈥淚 saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!鈥�
Some religious adherents, as well as some nonbelievers, maintain that the existence of life on other planets might undermine many faiths because it would complicate assertions that humans are unique. But others argue the opposite.
鈥淏elief in UFOs is really one of the best things that鈥檚 happened to religion in a long time,鈥� said Diana Walsh Pasulka, a religion scholar at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a blow to the secular, materialist worldview.鈥�
An intersection of aliens, demons and Catholics
Even if broad interest in UAPs bolsters the case for an enchanted universe, some believers in religions such as Christianity think they are something to be wary of.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think they鈥檙e aliens. I think they鈥檙e demons,鈥� Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, said in a recent podcast interview.
That sentiment was echoed by Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, formerly an exorcist with the Archdiocese of Washington. He last week by the archbishop, who said statements by Rossetti 鈥済ravely undermine鈥� Catholic teaching on demons and the devil.
鈥淚t鈥檚 my personal belief that probably many, if not most, of these UFO sightings are in fact demons,鈥� Rossetti said in a May 29 video posted on his Facebook page. 鈥淎liens, if there are aliens, don鈥檛 possess people.鈥�
Christopher Baglow, who heads a science and religion initiative at the University of Notre Dame, was surprised by the firing given that Rosetti made clear in the video he was expressing his own opinion. Baglow speculated that there may be other factors behind the decision.
鈥淚 ask forgiveness for any ways that I have not been faithful to the teachings of the Church鈥檚 Magisterium,鈥� Rosetti said in a statement online.
Despite the assertions by Vance and Rossetti about demons, Baglow maintains the Catholic Church has long been open to the possibility of extraterrestrial life. 鈥淭heologians have been speculating about this for centuries and the church has never ever taught one way or the other,鈥� he said.
While meeting with astronomy students last year at the Vatican, spoke about the 鈥渁ncient light of distant galaxies鈥� and the 鈥渕ysterious joy鈥� provoked by the study of outer space. Some interpreted these remarks as tacit speculation about the possibility of life on other planets.
Extraterrestrials, old and new
In one sense, the idea of otherworldly beings coming to Earth can be traced back millennia.
鈥淧eople would call it the plurality of worlds. So even back in the time of Socrates and Aristotle, there were Greek philosophers who talked about beings on other planets and other stars,鈥� Walsh Pasulka said.
But it wasn鈥檛 until after 1945 that modern conceptions of UFOs began to develop, according to Jeffrey Kripal, a historian of religions at Rice University. 鈥淭he flying saucer and the alien and the UFO 鈥� it鈥檚 definitely a Cold War invasion narrative,鈥� he said.
That narrative explains why UAPs are often perceived as hostile to humans. But it鈥檚 also evolved over time and led to the formation of some religions 鈥� like , which counts many a Hollywood celebrity among its adherents 鈥� that see extraterrestrials as good or even part of a divine plan. Some adherents to the Nation of Islam, for example, believe that its founder will inaugurate an apocalyptic return to Earth on a spaceship.
The International Ra毛lian Movement, also know as Ra毛lism, is a UFO religion that was founded in France in the 1970s. It is still practiced today, with its strongest followings in parts of Asia, Africa and Canada, according to Susan Palmer, a sociologist who studies new religious movements at Concordia University in Montreal.
Its founder, Ra毛l, claims he is a direct descendant of Yahweh, whom Ra毛l visited on the planet of Elohim in 1975. Ra毛lism claims the Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad are all hybrids of humans and extraterrestrials, as well as Ra毛l鈥檚 half brothers.
Of the groups she has studied, Palmer argued Ra毛lism is the most sympathetic toward UFOs. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not interested in extraterrestrial wars,鈥� she said.
But some think that sentiment might be growing.
Kripal, who heads Rice鈥檚 archival collection of reported paranormal experiences called the Center for the Impossible, perceives an increasing openness to these kinds of conversations about the existence of UFOs 鈥� and the possibility that they are not hostile.
鈥淧eople are reporting these experiences or these encounters with entities and they鈥檙e religious through and through,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y colleagues in the academy, they鈥檙e really starting to listen in a different way.鈥�
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