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UFOs on The History Channel

CMI’s original research answers a new History Channel series

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blue-book

CMI’s original research answers a new History Channel series

Some readers of CMI material might still be skeptical about why CMI aims to be a leading Christian voice in dealing with this nagging but very popular cultural phenomenon.

In January 2019 in the US, and with much fanfare, The History Channel (the same station that brought us the much acclaimed The Bible series—reviewed here by CMI), released a new docudrama series called Project Blue Book. Based upon real historical events, it tells the story of the US Government’s early efforts to find out exactly what UFOs were.

In the late 1940’s, coinciding with new found technology such as jet-propelled airplanes and radar technology that could track them, there was a wave of sightings of unidentified objects across the USA. Somewhat ironically, this in turn caused people to look up to the skies even more, which led to even more sightings. The government had around 850 sightings reported to them in that year alone. Coupled with the Roswell Crash in 1947, it is not an exaggeration to say that the mystery of UFOs had become a media sensation.

Using radar technology, the military realized that in a handful of cases they were dealing with something more mysterious than just mistaken sightings of weather balloons or the planet Venus, because UFOs performed aerial maneuvers that conventional craft were just not capable of at the time. Two previous investigative projects—Sign and Grudge—had failed to shed much light on the UFO phenomenon, so in 1952, the USAF enlisted the full-time help of Ph.D. astronomer Professor J. Allen Hynek. The History Channel’s new series traces Hynek’s involvement and his investigations of many puzzling sightings, and also how the military dealt with some sightings that they could not explain naturalistically. For many, it’s a bit hard to believe that with so many sightings that governments actually do not know what is really going on, but this is still the case today.

Dr-Allen-Hynek
Dr. J. Allen Hynek

Hynek was a member of a CIA investigative committee into UFOs (The Robertson Panel) which recommended that UFOS should be merely debunked. But due to the evidence he was confronted with, Hynek's opinions about UFOs changed over time and he believed they were worthy of scientific investigation. If UFOs were visitors from another planet, it would represent not only a scientific paradigm shift, but a cultural one. In the first page of his book, The Hynek UFO Report (which detailed over 12,000 UFO sightings and 140,000 official Project Blue Book pages), he wrote;

“I had started out as an outright 'debunker,' taking great joy in cracking what seemed at first to be puzzling cases. I was the arch enemy of those 'flying saucer groups and enthusiasts' who very dearly wanted UFOs to be interplanetary. My own knowledge of those groups came almost entirely from what I heard from Blue Book personnel: they were all 'crackpots and visionaries.' My transformation was gradual but by the late sixties it was complete. Today I would not spend one further moment on the subject of UFOs if I didn't seriously feel that the UFO phenomenon is real and that efforts to investigate and understand it, and eventually to solve it, could have a profound effect—perhaps even be the springboard to mankind's outlook on the universe.”

His last line really states what is at stake with the UFO phenomenon. Most laypeople believe that the mysterious, physics-defying feats of some UFOs represent some advanced technology superior to our own. And where must it come from? The obvious conclusion drawn is that it comes from an older (on the evolutionary scale) alien civilization. And because they evolved millions of years in advance of humans on earth they’ve had more time to develop these fantastic technologies.

It’s all about origins

There are only two ‘games in town’ when it comes to how the universe and life arose. Either big bang, cosmic evolution is true, or there is a divine Creator as the Bible states. ET really needs evolution to be true, and the concept of God creating alien life would violate the very Gospel of Christ (see Did God create life on other planets?) Although Blue Book ended in 1970 (other projects followed like the Condon Report), even today, the US government continues to spend millions on UFO research. As such, this subject is right in CMI’s ballpark.

So, one must wonder why, after 60 years of research why no tangible, concrete answer has been found. And it’s not going away. When I first became involved in this subject, the most popular, secular view was that UFOs were real physical craft visiting us from a distant planet or star system. This is called The Extraterrestrial Hypothesis. But as we showed in our own movie Alien Intrusion: Unmasking a Deception, Dr Hynek eventually came to believe that we are dealing with something interdimensional, even “paranormal” to quote him directly. This is known as The Interdimensional Hypothesis. In fact, very few serious researchers today doubt this. But this presents a problem because it is very difficult to empirically test something that appears in our realm as some sort of non-tangible or ethereal entity, which can appear, disappear and perform all sorts of supernatural feats. I personally have a lot of respect for Dr Hynek as a genuine researcher looking for answers. He was a pioneer of serious research into the UFO phenomenon and his ‘Close Encounters’ classification system is still used today to describe the various levels of UFO events. I am saddened, however, that his secular worldview limited his interpretation of the data he was researching because he did not find the truth before he died.

The Good News

The first episode in The History Channel’s new series exhibited a lot of poetic license by overly dramatizing events. As such, it fell short of the mark in terms of dealing with the subject matter truthfully and seriously. But if there is one thing we can use such ‘entertainment’ for, it would be to lead people to Jesus Christ.

The same week that the History Channel released its new series, also marked the first anniversary of the world premiere of our own groundbreaking UFO movie Alien Intrusion: Unmasking a Deception, which went on to appear in over 800 theaters worldwide (an absolute first for CMI—see pastors’ reviews here). And the movie actually features Dr Hynek and Project Blue Book, the origins issue and the source of the more mysterious UFO sightings. But the stunning conclusion to the movie highlights the Lord Jesus Christ front and center as our Creator and Savior. In short, as strange as it sounds, this ‘UFO movie’ is all about Jesus! As our narrator, the noted Hollywood actor John Schneider said at the conclusion of our film;

“The idea that older, wiser and more technologically advanced aliens are visiting the earth, would redefine our traditional view of humankind's place in the universe. However, the serious experts all agree that whatever is behind the UFO phenomenon, it is deceptive and emanating from another realm or dimension. And we've just heard another angle, and it seems like the Christian interpretation ideally fits the facts. And that traditional view indicates that the most important event in human history occurred when the Creator, Jesus Christ became human. And the Bible says He came to rescue us from these same, evil and deceptive forces that gripped this world. And if the Bible is right, then it was this event that most certainly defined our place in the universe.”

CMI’s research of UFOs is not a case of Christians shoehorning the evidence into our Christian worldview. Studying the actual evidence without preconceptions leave no possibility for these events to be extraterrestrial visitors in faster-than-light spaceships. But it does point to them being interdimensional or spiritual visitors. This is something that the majority of both secular and Christian researchers can agree on. However, we may disagree about the origin of the entities behind these visitations. And this is why John Schneider was able to make such a statement in the movie. The Bible gives us an historical record of spiritual visitations both benevolent and malevolent. As such, a serious study of what is behind the UFO phenomenon reveals one of the most powerful and compelling cases for the truth of the Bible and the reality of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is exactly what CMI’s movie on the subject seeks to do, and it represents an easy and exciting witnessing opportunity using such a popular cultural icon.

You can screen Alien Intrusion: Unmasking a Deception as an outreach event in your church. Click here.

Get your copy today. The award-winning Alien Intrusion: Unmasking a Deception is available as:

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It is based upon the Amazon top-50 best seller Alien Intrusion: UFOs and the evolution connection, available as:

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Published: 15 January 2019

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