From ancient Babylon and Egypt to India and elsewhere throughout the world, practitioners of occult means and ways (ie., transcendental meditation, yoga, self-induced trance states, and use of certain consciousness altering substances), have been interacting, whether in body or out of body, with frightening creatures and humanoid beings in another dimension. Their search for powers and apotheosis leads inevitably to horror, possession, and death.
Former guru Rabindranath R. Maharaj, now a committed follower of the Way of Jesus Christ, was a frequent traveler to that dimension. He describes his former occult rituals and their terrifying consequences:
“Nothing was more important than our daily transcendental meditation, the heart of Yoga…Frightening psychic experiences awaited the…meditator. Demons described in the Vedas had been known to take possession of some Yogis. Kundalini power, said to be coiled like a serpent at the base of the spine, could produce ecstatic experiences when released in deep meditation or…it could do great mental and bodily harm. The line between ecstasy and horror was very fine…During daily meditation I began to have visions of psychedelic colors, to hear unearthly music, and to visit exotic planets where the gods conversed with me, encouraging me to attain even higher states of consciousness. Sometimes in my trance I encountered the same horrible demonic creatures…depicted by the images in Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto, and other religious temples. It was a frightful experience, but the Brahmacharya explained that it was normal and urged me to pursue the quest for Self Realization. At times I experienced a sense of mystical unity with the universe. I was the universe, Lord of all, omnipotent, omnipresent. My instructors were excited at this. I was obviously a chosen vessel, destined for early success in the search for union with Brahman. The Forces that had guided my father were now guiding me.”(Death of a Guru, Rabindranath R. Maharaj, pp. 56-57)
The terrifying Forces that guided Rabindranath appear in the skies of the post-Christian West and America. To science worshipping Westerners they come as spaceship flying extraterrestrials, but they are the same fallen angels and evil spirits that appeared as gods and goddesses to Rabindranath.
Like Rabindranath, ex-psychic Nizza was embroiled in the terrifying “darkness of the demonic.”
“I saw a lot of scary things,” she said. “I saw demonic animals, I saw shadow figures, I saw demons that would just be standing there.” “When you are dealing with demons, at some point or the other, there’s gonna be massive destruction,”
As with both Rabindranath and Jenn, demons were a constant and frightening presence:
“I was demonically oppressed to the nines. I was afraid to take a shower, I was afraid to be alone, I felt presences with me all of the time.”
This world is the realm of the demons and its lord, Satan. In the words of CS Lewis, the world is occupied enemy territory. Thus, all people, whether they know it or not, or whether they believe in demons or not, live in darkness under the controlling influence of demons. The only people who do not, are faithful, orthodox Christians whose Lord is Jesus Christ, God the Word (John 1). By His Living Word He created everything that exists, including angels, spirits, other dimensions, and humans.
He has already defeated Satan and his evil legions, and it was by accepting Him as Lord that Rabindranath and Jenn Nizza were freed from bondage to demons. Linda
MARIK VON RENNENKAMPFF, The Hill, 1/19/23
In recent years, military aviators frequently encountered mysterious objects in tightly controlled training airspace. According to eyewitness accountsand leaked sensor data, the craft appeared to exhibit flight dynamics that bent – if not shattered – the laws of physics. In the most notable incidents, objects appeared to maneuver and move through the air without wings or discernible means of propulsion.
The years since these encounters became public have seen numerous developments that should prompt us to take UFOs seriously.
1. Military pilots and other service members reported more than 500 additional UFO incidents. Some appeared to demonstrate highly advanced technology.
In 2019, intense congressional interest led the U.S. Navy to institute a formal UFO reporting mechanism. Since then, aviators and other service members have reported a staggering 510 UFO encounters (including some historical incidents dating as far back as 1996).
Of the 366 recently-reported UFO encounters, about half remain unidentified. A previous assessment identified only one out of 144 UFO reports. Despite many of the mysterious objects registering on multiplesophisticated sensor systems (such as spy satellites, radar and infrared video), the majority of the 510 military UFO reports remain unidentified.
According to intelligence analysts, some of the objects appear to demonstrate “unusual flight characteristics or performance capabilities.” Such cases, according to the U.S. government, “require further analysis.” Moreover, “[s]ome [UFOs] appeared to remain stationary in winds aloft, move against the wind, maneuver abruptly, or move at considerable speed, without discernible means of propulsion.”
Despite heavy redactions, declassified UFO reports make clear that fighter pilots are frequently left stunned – and exasperated – by such encounters.
Intriguingly, officials have high confidence that the objects observed by military aviators in recent years are not secret U.S. government aircraft or technology. At the same time, analysts have no evidence that the encounters “are indicative of a major technological advancement by a potential adversary” such as China or Russia.
2. Congress is taking UFOs extremely seriously.
Thanks to in-person briefings by military aviators who personally encountered UFOs, members of Congress are taking the phenomena extremely seriously.
In December, President Biden signed the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) – which includes sweeping UFO provisions – into law. Beyond bolstering a powerful new UFO office, the legislation redefines “UFO” as “unidentified anomalous phenomena” (UAP) to account for unknown objects observed in (and moving between) air, water and space. Moreover, the new law directs the Department of Defense to establish a secure mechanism for government-affiliated individuals to report UAP-related information. The legislation appears intended, in part, to get to the bottom of long-standing rumors that “legacy” UFO analysis programs may have been illegally withheld from Congress.
Intriguingly, the 2023 NDAA also mandates a sweeping accounting (dating back to 1945) of U.S. government involvement in the UFO phenomenon. Among other requirements, the Pentagon and intelligence agencies must come clean about “any efforts to obfuscate, manipulate public opinion, hide, or otherwise provide incorrect unclassified or classified information about” UAP.
Previous legislation also requires the newly-established UFO office to: (1) Provide frequent reports, analyses and briefings on UFO activity – including any links to nuclear technology and possible health effects associated with UAP encounters – to Congress and the public, (2) develop a detailed “science plan” to account for UFOs “that exceed the known state of the art in science and technology” and (3) mount rapid “field investigations of [UFO] incidents.”
Importantly, Congress gave the director of the UFO office sweeping authorities to leverage “any resource, capability, asset, or process of the Department [of Defense] and the intelligence community.” At the same time, Congress ensured that the UFO office director now reports directly to top Pentagon leadership, removing several layers of likely bureaucratic obstruction.
3. Government officials are making eyebrow-raising statements about UFOs.
Top intelligence officials (such as former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe, ex-CIA directors John Brennan and James Woolsey and current director of national intelligence Avril Haines) have made stunningcomments about UAP. Ditto for former astronaut, senator and current NASA administrator Bill Nelson.
Not to be outdone, ex-presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton gave striking answers when asked about UFOs in recent years (as have several members of Congress, especially those with intelligence committee assignments).
4. Scientists are interested in the UFO phenomenon (and have been for decades).
NASA is proceeding “full force” with a 16-member scientific scoping study of UFOs. At the same time, Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb launched the Galileo Project, which draws on a multi-disciplinary academic team to scientifically evaluate the phenomenon. Moreover, noted theoretical physicist Michio Kaku has spoken publicly about UFOs, while Stanford University’s Garry Nolan is conducting cutting-edge UFO-related research.
Similarly, a 1975 survey of more than 1,300 astronomers asked if UFOs “deserve serious scientific study.” A whopping 80 percent of respondents replied “certainly,” “probably” or “possibly.”
Two decades earlier, J. Allen Hynek, noted astronomer and scientific consultant to the Air Force’s 20-year UFO “analysis” effort, surveyed dozens of his colleagues. According to Hynek, scientists’ “general lethargy [regarding UFOs] is due to lack of information on the subject.” After explaining that “some of the sightings were truly puzzling and not at all easily explainable [the astronomers’] interest was almost immediately aroused.”
Moreover, as Hynek astutely observed, scientists who have “not studied the literature and the evidence… [are] not qualified to speak with authority on the subject of” contemporary UFO sightings. (Hynek’s 1966 letter to Science Magazine is particularly noteworthy.)
Not to be outdone, noted atmospheric physicist James McDonald presented the seminal paper on UFOs and science at a 1969 symposium organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
5. Public analyses corroborate eyewitness accounts of UFOs exhibiting remarkable technology.
A small group of mathematically-inclined citizens conducted exhaustive analyses of the three U.S. Navy videos that catalyzed the current focus on UFOs. In short, meticulous three-dimensional models corroborate naval aviators’ specific, detailed accounts of objects maneuvering in extraordinary ways. At the same time, the analyses mathematically rule outprosaic explanations (such as misidentified aircraft or balloons) for the objects observed in the three videos.
6. Credible sources observed UFOs for decades.
Pilots and radar operators have observed airborne objects appearing to demonstrate radically advanced technologies for nearly a century. In the early 1950s, a government-contracted scientific analysis of more than 3,000 reports found that 33 percent of the most credible, highest quality encounters could not be identified. By 1952, intelligence assessments ruled out domestic or foreign origins for UFOs, convincing several high-ranking officials that the objects were “interplanetary” craft.
But in 1953, Cold War fears led the U.S. government to adopt a semi-official policy of “debunking” and discrediting UFO sightings. Analysts quickly began force-fitting absurd, unscientific “explanations” onto highly credibleencounters. By 1955, with government UFO “debunking” proceeding apace, only 3 percent of reports were officially classified as “Unknown.”
7. An intra-government battle over UFOs may be brewing.
There is credible evidence that competing elements of the U.S. government have split into pro- and anti-UFO factions. If this is the case, history is repeating itself.
8. The government’s UFO hunt may have already hit national security pay dirt.
Preliminary reporting suggests that the government’s newfound focus on UFOs uncovered at least one previously unknown foreign spying operation.
9. UFOs are a fiercely bipartisan issue.
The UFO phenomenon has accomplished a remarkable feat: Amid bitter political, social and cultural divisions, UFOs have united members of Congress and government officials from across the political spectrum (to include loyal Trump appointees and the ex-president’s fiercest critics).
Moreover, three former presidential candidates – Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) – have sponsored or cosponsored historic, unprecedented UFO legislation.
10. UFOs are an intriguing mystery — with potentially profound implications.
Homo sapiens is an inherently inquisitive species. We are at our best not when driven by arrogance, but when we are united by curiosity about the unknown.
Even if the odds that UFOs possess the extraordinary technology described by credible witnesses (and corroborated in public, open-source analyses) are low, a robust, objective analytic effort may lead to profound – and humbling – discoveries.
Marik von Rennenkampff served as an analyst with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, as well as an Obama administration appointee at the U.S. Department of Defense
When I was a teenager I read science fiction stories from many noted sci-fi authors, from Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clark, Robert Heinlein, and on up a long list, many of which concerned contacts with extraterrestrials. Even the TV series “Star Trek” came from one of them, Gene Roddenberry. They were all fiction of course but they also left open the hypothetical possibility of the existence of aliens.
Then I chanced upon a public library book called “Flying Saucers Have Landed” by George Adamski which took the subject seriously. It delved into factual UFO encounters and made a teenage believer out of me.
I don’t believe it anymore. With my newfound faith in Christ along with my rejection of evolutionary theory, there cannot be any highly intelligent alien races that “evolved” elsewhere. The whole idea that they exist rests on they’re having “evolved” into “advanced” beings with unheard of technologies. That can’t happen.
Therefore, these sightings are paranormal or supernatural in origin, along with their associated abilities. Therefore, just saying a prayer to God would make these ghostly entities go away. If they’re the evil ones, that is.
Some other notable sci-fi authors were Clifford D. Simak, Poul Anderson (yes, P-o-u-l), and Ray Bradbury. Poul Anderson had a terrific story called “Tau Zero” which won it the Nebula Award the year it was published, around ’71 or ’72 I think.
I recall the Air Force calling such sightings swamp gas, weather balloons, or the planet Venus. This was laughably brought out in the “Men In Black” movies.