Journal articles on the topic 'Ufologi'

Reports of unidentified flying objects and alien encounters have sparked amateur research (ufology), government investigations, and popular interest in the subject. Historically, however, scientists have generally greeted the topic with skepticism, most often dismissing ufology as pseudoscience and believers in unidentified flying objects and aliens as irrational or abnormal. Believers, in turn, have expressed doubts about the accuracy of academic science. This study examines the historical sources of the mutual mistrust between ufologists and scientists. It demonstrates that any science doubt surrounding unidentified flying objects and aliens was not primarily due to the ignorance of ufologists about science, but rather a product of the respective research practices of and relations between ufology, the sciences, and government investigative bodies.

Este artigo busca entender as articulações e tensões entre Nova Era e Catolicismo partindo do pensamento do personagem neoesotérico Trigueirinho Netto, autor de dezenas de livros sobre espiritualidade, esoterismo e ufologia. Trigueirinho é fundador de uma comunidade alternativa rural, a Comunidade Figueira, e um dos fundadores da Ordem Graça Misericórdia, idealizada em conjunto com autointitulados freis e madres videntes, segundo eles, a pedido de Nossa Senhora. O objetivo do trabalho é apresentar e analisar como conteúdos tradicionalmente cristãos/católicos são rearticulados dentro de interpretações e práticas new age, inicialmente ligadas à ufologia e posteriormente sintetizadas em um Catolicismo de tipo new age.

This article discusses the relationship between inner space (the mind/consciousness) and perceptions of outer space (the extraterrestrial) in Western psychedelic cultures. In particular, it analyses the writings and lectures of Terence McKenna, the most influential psychedelic thinker since the 1960s. Assimilating a broad range of ideas taken from esotericism, shamanism, and science fiction, McKenna became the principal architect of an occult theory of psychedelic experiences referred to here as psychedelic ufology. The article further argues that McKenna was formatively influenced by the ideas of Carl Jung and that, as such, much subsequent psychedelic ufology tends to be Jungian.

U radu se identifikuju popkulturne preteče savremene ufologije, jednog neobičnog amalgama verovanja, predstava i ideja, utemeljenog na ontološki zvanično nepostojećem fenomenu. Osvetljava se socio-kulturni kontekst koji je omogućio konstituisanje i transformaciju kontingentne semantičke matrice koja bi „čudne nebeske pojave“ interpretirala kao vanzemaljske letelice. Kontekstualizacijom ufologije u okvir popularne kulture, na čijim je armaturama ponikla, osvetljena je politička, ideološka i etička klima u kojoj je UFO diskurs nastao. Trasirana je putanja daljih istraživanja ufologije isticanjem da je popularna kultura − u doba krize poverenja u zvanične institucije karakteristične za drugu polovinu XX veka, kao i razgradnje ideje nauke kao vrednosno neutralne i objektivne korespondencije sa stvarnošću – pripremila teren na kojem će jedan pseudonaučni diskurs poput ufologije nastojati da se samokonstruiše kao „naučnija nauka od same nauke“ i kao „objektivnija od objektivnih“, drugim rečima − kao epistemološki validna, metodološki normirana, institucionalno utemeljena, ulaganja dostojna i etički superiorna naučna disciplina.

The Raëlian Church is an atheistic religion with a cosmology that is compatible with modern science. Its founder-leader Claude Vorilhon (Raël), whose birth in 1946 is said to herald the new Age of Aquarius, offers a detailed interpretation of Judaeo-Christian scripture that claims a history of encounters a new highly evolved technological society, with the possibility of immortality for those who are worthy. Jung's theory that flying saucers are a modern myth is used to demonstrate how Raëlianism finds it possible to synthesize UFOlogy and religion.

This self-published book is clearly the product of a frustrated researcher. The subtitle alone provides an accurate insight into Cox’s thinking. That said, anyone who has been around these fields for any length of time can share a sense of frustration. Listening to any number self-anointed experts, and even charlatans, who populate the fields of the paranormal, can be exasperating. Yes, tall tales abound. Unfortunately, there are no lower limits to crazy that will not attract a following. Such is the nature of studying unexplained phenomena. The publication does not appear to have been professionally edited, as one finds both grammatical and contextual errors. Cox contracted with a company called Outskirts Press; one that specializes in physically printing self-published books. In checking with them, I found they do offer an editing service. The author would have been better served to have paid for that option, as there are many incomplete sentences and other grammatical errors. As an established author, I believe attempting to edit your own material is fraught with danger. That is the position I believe most frequently published and serious authors would agree with. Mechanically speaking, The Fall of the Ufology appears to be designed for an e-publication, as opposed to a print format. That is because there are many Internet sites that are listed and that I suspect can be directly accessed in electronically published form. The contextual format changes significantly throughout the book. Some of it is straight nonfiction statements of fact, but that is often followed by side commentary as if one were attending a social gathering. While the title implies the singular topic is UFOs, it digresses into many other areas. He takes significant liberties in defining, or redefining, terms that have been around for many years, even centuries. Seemingly, Cox does view himself as the arbiter of acceptability of terms. As an example, he proffers “Anomalogy” as a new term which he defines “as a person who studies anomalies,” as opposed to parapsychology or ufology. In many ways, what Cox puts forth many of us would view as a blinding flash of the obvious. The notion of the interrelationship between various fields in the study of phenomena has been addressed for decades. Several authors, including Jacques Valle and myself, have written extensively on this matter. On a hypocritical note, Cox simultaneously admonishes Ufologists who present outlandish opinions at conferences, and then destroys his own credibility by accepting extreme conspiracy theories. While addressing his own UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena) sightings, he states that he believes the craft as being of man-made origin. That, even though he witnessed events that would be beyond our currently known technical capabilities. Specifically, on page 32 he states, “I believe now that somehow we on earth have been given this technology from ‘Outside Intelligence.’” Here, I am admittedly biased, but have explicitly eliminated that possibility in my own UFO writings. The notion that the US government has reverse-engineered a crashed UFO is not new. But as I have pointed out, if such technology existed, making small craft that flit about would be trivial compared to the fundamental understanding of an entirely new energy source. Such a capability would undeniably alter our strategic interests and geopolitical landscape forever.

A partir de um conjunto de dados obtidos em pesquisa, o texto deseja salientar uma face pouco examinada pelos estudiosos do espiritismo kardecista no Brasil: aquela dos grupos espíritas que cultuam extraterrestres. Examina a narrativa Rebelião de Lúcifer, escrita pelo médium potiguar Jan Val Ellam. Sustenta que esta atualiza noções importantes em relação a narrativas de salvação anteriores construídas pelo espiritismo. Destaca em especial o aprimoramento racial e moral através da reencarnação em distintos corpos humanos e em diferentes planetas. Examina-os a partir das noções de exílio planetário e de evolução racializada. Argumenta que Jan Val Ellam as atualiza através da categoria nativa Povo de Alt'Lam e através de bricolagem com outros campos semânticos, notadamente a ufologia e a ficção científica.

American horror novelist Whitley Strieber’s account of an apparent “alien abduction” in Communion: A True Story (1987) was instrumental in bringing the abductee narrative into popular culture. Despite his ongoing engagement with mainstream ufology, in this article I argue that Strieber’s experiences are more representative of a broader paranormal category, here defined discursively. I first examine this claim through an assessment of Strieber’s career, particularly how his experience transformed his understanding of the nature of reality and brought him to challenge epistemic norms more broadly. Then, through ethnographic fieldwork, I consider whether this pattern repeated itself among subscribers at Strieber’s 2012 Dreamland Festival in Nashville. I find that, in many cases, the paranormal experience acted as a catalyst for a larger questioning of epistemic norms—in short, a paranormal gnosis.

The new religious movement popularly called Heaven's Gate emerged in the mid-1970s. This article argues that its two co-founders, Marshall Herff Applewhite (1932––1997) and Bonnie Lu Nettles (1928––1985), employed what I call extraterrestrial biblical hermeneutics in constructing the theological worldview of Heaven's Gate. This hermeneutics developed out of the New Age movement and its broader interest in ufology, extraterrestrial life, and alien visitation, and postulates a series of close encounters and alien visitations. Borrowing from its New Age and ufological origins, the hermeneutics assumes an extraterrestrial interest in assisting human beings to self-develop, as well as a technological materialism antithetical to supernaturalist readings of the Bible. As I argue here, this extraterrestrial biblical hermeneutics led Applewhite and Nettles to read the Bible as supporting a message of alien visitation, self-transformation, and ultimately extraterrestrial technological rapture.

Resumo Este artigo aborda uma pesquisa pós-doutoral, analisando-se discursivamente a filmografia Vingadores. Examinam-se oito sequências enunciativas referentes ao primeiro filme, atentando-se para enunciados concernentes à violência/paz; à verdade/inverdade, ao conhecimento/desconhecimento, fundamentados nas pesquisas arqueológica, genealógica (FOUCAULT). Conforme a primeira, focalizam-se dois conceitos basilares: discurso e enunciado, a partir dos quais são estudados o objeto, os campos de saber nele/por ele mobilizados (religião/mito/ufologia; tecnologia/armamentismo; história), averiguando-se os acontecimentos em seu entorno. Atinente à genealogia, reflete-se sobre as relações entre poder, produção de verdades homogeneizadoras, capazes de universalizar culturas, modos de vida. Duas perguntas norteiam a análise: qual o papel dos discursos veiculados nesse Universo Cinematográfico para a criação do imaginário dos sujeitos? Num gesto arqueológico, questiona-se a conexão entre a mídia e a história do presente. Constata-se que os Vingadores são considerados pessoas notáveis, rememorando o poder político-econômico, armamentista estadunidense, a possível engenhosidade de seus heróis.

Rauni-Leena Luukanen-Kilde (b. 1939) is a well-known figure in the Finnish alternative spiritual milieu. She is an author and lecturer on parapsychology and ufology and has been a guest on several talk shows in the Nordic countries. The topics discussed by Luukanen-Kilde range from the psychic abilities of mankind to visitations from extraterrestrial beings. Since the mid-1980s Luukanen-Kilde has developed conspiracy theories about an elite group governing the world in secret. Luukanen-Kilde is a bestselling author and draws audiences of several hundreds to her talks. Her conspiracy theory view of the world offers explanations for all kinds of personal, national, as well as global problems and disasters. Personal health problems, tragic incidents such as school shootings, economic crises and unemployment, earthquakes and floods can, according to her belief system, all be attributed to a single cause; namely to the actions of a clandestine, malevolent group. The popularity of Luukanen-Kilde’s books and lectures can be seen as an example of how people in late modernity are seeking alternative interpretations of themselves and of world events.

The Revelation of the Magi is the longest and most complex ancient Christian apocryphal writing devoted to the Magi. In this paper, after discussing the basic issues surrounding the interpretation of this text, I explore the popular reception of the text after my publication of it in 2010. This popular reception has been dominated by New Age and ufological (that is, the theorizing of unidentified flying objects) interpretative perspectives. Rather than viewing these interpretations as anachronistic, the paper argues that they may have far more in common with the circumstances that gave rise to the Revelation of the Magi than might initially be supposed. Ultimately, the Revelation of the Magi can be profitably characterized as a “gnostic” text—despite its lack of a demiurge—because of its strongly countercultural religious outlook, an outlook it shares with much New Age religious thought.

This article examines the raced, gendered, and classed world of UFO-related media with the intention of assessing its potential as a form of resistance. I use as a case study the largest crowdsourced documentary of all time, Sirius (2013), which explores exotic technologies and the exploits of ufologist, Dr. Steven Greer. Sirius’s affiliates conducted immaterial, post-Fordist labor to distribute the environmentally conscious film online, yet despite their progressive, utopian bent, they indicate that any technologies associated with the film will operate under market logic. Moreover, Sirius recycles racially fraught tropes of UFO culture, such as reflecting white ufologists’ desire to experience the Other or subject to understanding a gray race of beings they fear has challenged their racially privileged status.

This paper reviews three novels by different modern authors, all published in 2020 and applying to the realities of Ancient Rome. Marik Lerner’s science fiction novel “Practical Ufology” fits within the subliterary genre of “accidental travel”, and any background information from the Roman-Byzantine life is not very appropriate in the adventure text. The new novel “The Triumphant” by Olga Eliseeva, a professional historian, can be labeled as a form of the “science novel” genre, because it has numerous references and “anchors” that only an educated person is able to understand. The main canvas of O. Eliseeva’s novel is a synthesis of the personalities and actions of Julius Caesar and Constantine the Great, so the writer used the motif of the fantasy world, in which the Roman Republic and Rome are replaced by Latium and Eternal City with the Nazarenes (i.e., Christians) playing an important role in its future. The trilogy “Divine World” by Boris Tolchinsky, a professional politologist, is the most radical inversion of the reality with its own alternative history. The world of the Amorian Empire is a synthesis of the ancient Mediterranean and the ancient Egyptian civilizations. These texts can be considered as “imperial literature” tied to the post-Soviet realities and projects aimed to find a better future.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how certain religious perspectives present nuances between the concepts of creation and evolution. Although public debate characterizes them as polarized concepts, it is important to understand how contemporary religious expressions resignify them and create arrangements in which biological evolution and creation by the intervention of higher beings are presented in a continuum. It begins with a brief introduction on the relations and reframing of Science concepts in the New Religious Movements along with New Age thinking. Then we have two examples which allows us to analyze this evolution-creation synthesis. First, I will present a South American New Religious Movement that promotes bricolage between the New Age, Roman Catholicism and contacts with extraterrestrials. Then, I will analyze the thoughts of a Brazilian medium who disseminates lectures along with the channeling of ETs in videos on the internet, mixing the elements of ufology with cosmologies of Brazilian religions such as Kardecist spiritism and Umbanda. These two examples share the idea of ​​the intervention of extraterrestrial or superior beings in human evolution, thus, articulating the concepts of evolution and creation. Therefore, in these arrangements it is possible to observe an inseparability between spiritual and material, evolution and creation or biological and spiritual evolution.

With more than 1500 pages, this is a massive undertaking by SSE Dinsdale Award winner, Jerry Clark. This two-volume third edition is buttressed by his decades of research in the field of UFOs. For this encyclopedic effort he is supported by several competent researchers with international reputations. Typically, my reviews of written works by SSE members tend to be quite favorable as I recognize the difficulty of getting our research into print. This work definitely left me conflicted in an attempt to be both fair to the authors and to the potential readers. In general, the material that is included does provide considerable depth to the cases selected for presentation. As this is the third edition, much of that material has been previously published. Clark and his colleagues have in-depth knowledge of many of the earlier cases and these are well represented. What I found most troubling were some glaring omissions that are hard to reconcile with an encyclopedia that suggests it is comprehensive in nature, as opposed to a representation of cases as selected by the chief editor. Absent is the more recent incidences and evidence that have dramatically altered the entire field of UFOlogy. Given the rapid pace of advancement of knowledge, especially since December 2017, it would be nearly impossible for any print medium to keep pace. Here I am addressing the remarkable revelations by the U.S. Department of Defense concerning interactions between military aircraft and unknown objects. Internally these were so significant as to cause the U.S. Navy to publicly publish a policy position acknowledging these events were occurring frequently. However, it is more than the events of just the past two years that are omitted or downplayed. As a prime example, Phil Corso is not mentioned. In 1997, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Corso’s book The Day After Roswell became an international phenomenon. It dominated much of the conversation in the field. Whether one agrees with Corso or not is irrelevant. His book sold more than any other UFO publication by a great margin and he had significant impact on the field. Thus, both Corso and his book should deserve serious consideration.

O objetivo do presente artigo procura é desenvolver, mediante o uso da regressão linear, modelos estatísticos capazes de isolar e avaliar o impacto de uma série de variáveis independentes – interesse pelo assunto, filiação a grupos ufológicos e grau de conhecimento – sobre o grau de adesão às crenças ufológicas e, em seguida, partir da modelagem de equação estrutural, elaborar modelos explicativos capazes de se ajustar aos dados obtidos em uma pesquisa empírica sobre as crenças ufológicas e os extraterrestres. Os resultados obtidos pela regressão linear indicaram que os modelos elaborados possuem um poder preditivo relativamente alto e uma qualidade bastante aceitável, a se considerar os índices de ajustamento da equação estrutural, que apresentaram valores bastante toleráveis para estudos conduzidos nos domínios das ciências comportamentais. Finalmente, foram apresentadas algumas implicações destes modelos para a pesquisa psicossocial sobre as crenças, em especial sobre as crenças ufológicas.Palavras-chave: crenças; crenças compartilhadas; ufologia.

Ever since UFOs were first spotted in the sky in 1947, many theories have sought to explain these apparitions that defy science. Some of them lend weight to conspiracy theories. Even though there is a wide spectrum of conspiracies involving a certain amount of people and organizations, the purpose of this article will be to follow one particular author’s point of view, Jimmy Guieu’s, namely because of the global approach that he favors. Guieu, a pioneer of ufology, followed its evolution up until his death in 2000 and tried, through his many works, to offer some enlightening information on UFOs. Ranging from Black-out to the secret government embodied by the MJ-12, he patiently assembled the pieces of a puzzle whose final product takes the form of “romans-vérité”. Although he remains a rather marginal author, some approaches similar to Jimmy Guieu’s can be seen on television in widely distributed productions; this will allow us to put forward the existence of a recurrent narrative structure in the alien conspiracy theory.

A presente pesquisa teve por objetivo identificar os padrões diferenciais de crenças compartilhadas por pessoas envolvidas ou não com grupos de pesquisas ufológicas. Foram estudados os efeitos das variáveis, grau de conhecimento, interesse pela pesquisa e de vinculação com os grupos ufológicos, bem como a religião, a idade, o sexo e a escolaridade sobre as crenças relacionadas com os extraterrestres e os objetos voadores não-identificados. De acordo com a semelhança do conteúdo, os itens do questionário foram agrupados em cinco blocos de crenças: os extraterrestes e a humanidade; a interferência dos extraterrestres no planeta Terra; os extraterrestres e os humanos; os extraterrestres, a ciência e os cientistas; e as teorias conspiratórias. O instrumento de coleta de dados foi colocado online e, até a elaboração deste resumo, respondido por 617 participantes. Os resultados indicam um padrão diferencial de adesão, no sentido em que os participantes com um maior grau de conhecimento, com maior interesse e vinculados aos grupos de pesquisa tendem a aderir mais intensamente às crenças que os demais participantes. Análises adicionais sugerem que apenas as variáveis, interesse, participação em grupos ufológicos e conhecimento contribuem para a explicação da variância de cada uma das crenças. Palavras-chave: crenças compartilhadas; ufologia; extraterrestres; conhecimento.

Apocacidal Tendencies: Three Excerpts from the Heaven's Gate Website 1995 (A term which blends apocalypse with suicide, apocacides could be best described as those groups or individuals who understand salvation from an imagined approaching armageddon to involve, indeed depend upon, the voluntary sacrifice of one's own life on earth.) 1. '95 Statement by An E.T. Presently Incarnate: "... We brought to Earth with us a crew of students whom we had worked with (nurtured) on Earth in previous missions. They were in varying stages of metamorphic transition from membership in the human kingdom to membership in the physical Evolutionary Level Above Human (what your history refers to as the Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven). It seems that we arrived in Earth's atmosphere between Earth's 1940s and early 1990s. We suspect that many of us arrived in staged spacecraft (UFO) crashes and many of our discarded bodies (genderless, not belonging to the human species), were retrieved by human authorities (government and military). Other crews from the Level Above Human preceded our arrival and 'tagged' -- placed a despite 'chip' -- in each of the vehicles (bodies) that we would individually incarnate into, when that instruction would be given. These 'chips' set aside those bodies for us ... In any given civilisation on a fertile planet such as Earth (and Earth has had many periodic/cyclical civilisations), the Level Above Human plants all the new life forms (including humans) for that civilisation in a neutral condition so that they have a chance to choose the direction of their growth. The Level Above Human -- or Next Level -- directly (hands on) relates significantly to the civilisation at its beginning stage, and subsequently (with few exceptions) at approximately 2000-year intervals (48-hour intervals from a Next Level perspective) until that civilisation's final 'Age.' ..." 2. Our Position Against Suicide: " ... We know that it is only while we are in these physical vehicles (bodies) that we can learn the lessons needed to complete our own individual transition, as well as to complete our task of offering the Kingdom of Heaven to this civilisation one last time. We take good care of our vehicles so they can function well for us in this task, and we try to protect them from any harm. We fully desire, expect, and look forward to boarding a spacecraft from the Next Level very soon (in our physical bodies). There is no doubt in our mind that our being 'picked up' is inevitable in the very near future. But what happens between now and then is the big question. We are keenly aware of several possibilities ... The true meaning of 'suicide' is to turn against the Next Level when it is being offered. In these last days, we are focused on ... entering the Kingdom of Heaven ..." 3. Last Chance to Evacuate Earth Before It's Recycled (Sept 29, 1996): "... I'm in a vehicle that is already falling apart on me, and I'm desperate to try to help you have a last chance to go ... I don't mean to make fun of this. I am desperate -- for your sakes. Within the past twenty-four hours I have been clearly informed by my Older Member of how short the remaining time is; how clearly we cannot concentrate on anything except the perspective that says: the end of this civilisation is very close. The end of a civilisation is accompanied by spading under, refurbishing the planet in preparation for another civilisation. And the only ones who can survive that experience have to be those who are taken into the keeping of the Evolutionary Level Above Human ..." Heaven's Gate -- http://www.trancenet.org/heavensgate/index.html Magnificat Meal Movement [Toowoomba, Australia] -- http://homepages.iol.ie/~magnific/ Apocaholic Cocktails: Mixing Visions of the End Armageddon Anonymous: Hidden Faces Plotting the End on Television The 1996 book release X-Files Confidential describes its subject matter as "'social-science fiction' ... fuelled by the realities -- and internal anxieties -- of [our] time: the era of diminished expectations", a television show which "concerns itself with the dark side of technology, competition, politics, ambition, and selfishness", warning against the "risks of abandoning an interior life or one's community" and reinforcing the notion that "our attempts to combat evil are usually an exercise in futility" though that "effort alone is significant". Unlike the participants within the apocaholic communities who intimate that the 'truth is with us', the X-Files, as an entertainment product of the secular industry, proclaims that the 'truth is out there'. This conceptual and narrative framework within the X-Files works on several levels: Frustrates resolution through contrived revelation; Frustrates revelation through contrived resolution; Identifies and resists externally imposed futures; Gives a narrative voice to marginalised hierarchies of genres, values and futures mythology, eg., those involving ufology, genetic mutations and the like; De-emphasises mainstream hierarchies of authority, genres, values and futures mythology; Suggests a regime of hidden truth, embedded within what initially appears as disconnected and unrelated phenomena; Implicates the mainstream future as conspiricist (i.e., the governments which control our futures do not have our interests at heart); Identifies the ritualistic reassurance set by the mainstream discursive strategy (e.g., "apology is policy"); Cultivates its own in-language, or futurespeak, where special terms refer to a future-oriented conspiracy of mammoth proportions. And, finally, it gives meaning to the millennium beyond a mere change in dates. All in all, the X-Files is popular and successful because it explores the possibilities of resolvable and unresolvable endings. It blurs the boundaries between the theological and the secular imaginings of the end. It borrows elements common to contemporary evangelicalism, endtime signs such as the mark of the beast, and gives them a plausible secular narrative. For example, whereas it might be difficult to suspend disbelief for a story that has a charismatic antichrist controlling the world through marking its population with 666, X-Files modernises the setting by creating a mysterious consortium of 12 elders who are in allegiance with some alien plan to initiate a scheduled holocaust. Such an organised drive towards armageddon involves genetic tagging of the populations through smallpox injections, little biochips which switch on and switch-off cancers, transportation of plague through bee stings and heavenly lights that harbour creatures with sinister purposes. In the X-Files, mainstream society is the cult whose future has been pre-organised by its real architects and whose adherents, the general populace, move through society blinded by ideas and doctrines of thought that Mulder sees as lies. His ultimate quest is find the truth, to reveal the future being secretly planned for the world. His quest involves reading the signs of the times in his encounters with the X-Files. Scully, whose initial introduction was to provide a sceptic balance to his quest, in fact provides a scientific rationale for Mulder's seemingly odd flights of fancy. In explaining Mulder's theories away in pseudo-scientific terms, Scully makes the unthinkable seem more plausible, and her character development from sceptic to believer provides the narrative added credibility for long-term viewers. If Scully can be convinced, then there must really be a hidden sinister future embedded beyond the mainstream outlook. Mainstream programmes such as these can in themselves throw wine of the proverbial armageddon fire. Both Star Trek and the X-Files were favourite pastimes for the Heaven's Gate Cult. Star Trek epitomised the ultimate open-ended humanist future, exploration of the unknown, while the X-Files epitomised the nature of this level, a conspiricist and closed future in which the world's only hope lay in the revealing of the sinister unknown before the great destructive end. Needless to say, X-Files-styled sites proliferate the Webscape in late 1999: Apocalypse Soon -- http://www.apocalypsesoon.org/english.html UFOs & Antichrist Millennium Bug Connection New World Order -- http://www.mt.net/~watcher/nwoy2k.html UFOs, Aliens & Antichrist: The Angelic Conspiracy & End Times Deception -- http://www.mt.net/~watcher/ "The Bible says that the b'nai Elohim, angels, sons of God, were ministers of creation, from before the worlds, Job 38:7. Contrary to popular secular theories, the b'nai Elohim are created beings distinct from ELOHIM the God of Israel. God created the b'nai Elohim to reflect His glory, and reflect His word which spoke all things into being. Before a third of the heavenly host rebelled, they were stewards of creation, building civilizations on the terrestrial planets of our solar system designed to glorify the Word of God. The Cydonia "face" is a monument constructed by these Sons of God, revealing their knowledge of the message in the stars. Both the Cydonia face and the Sphinx are cherubim, combining figures in the constellations Virgo and Leo, symbolic representations of the first and second advent of Christ on Earth." Satan's Plan to Escape Judgement -- http://www.mt.net/~watcher/hate.html "Previous pages explained how Satan was created to lead the angelic hierarchy, ruling over physical civilizations of angels on planets, such as the one still in evidence on Mars. After Satan rebelled, the center of his angelic civilization was destroyed "from among the stones of fire", yet the Bible tells us Satan is still waiting for the time of God's judgment. Satan is not in hell, he is still allowed audience before God, where he accuses the faithful (Rev.), and he still roams above and within the earth (Job). Since Satan is the most beautiful and powerful cherub, Prince of the Powers of the Air, intelligence behind UFO phenomena, the authority over all the aerial regions outward from earth..." The Millennium Group -- http://www.millenngroup.com/ Australia's Fair Dinkum Magazine -- http://unforgiven.iweb.net.au/~dinkum/ Eyes on the World -- http://eotw.orac.net.au/articles/index.html Antichrist / False Prophet -- http://members.tripod.com/jonastheprophet1/antipope.html "Antichrist will arise out of the British Monarchy within the context of the European Union/False prophet will arise out of the Vatican-Whore Church/Both will work together to build Satan's end time kingdom in these last and final days." 666 Sketch: The Mark of the Beast -- http://www.greaterthings.com/Essays/666mark.htm Conspiracy Books -- http://parascope.com/parastore/booksconspiracy.htm Corrupt Government, Conspiracy, New World Order, A Future? -- http://www.pushhamburger.com/ Dark Conspiracy -- http://www.blazing-trails.com/DarkConspiracies/welcome.html "Things have gotten really seriously convoluted. To try to follow some of the conspiracies requires a substantial amount of dedication. Any one thread can lead to so many other threads, eventually, maybe they will come together into a complete tapestry that could scare the bejabbers out of you." New World Order Conspiracy -- http://www.ufomind.com/para/conspire/nwo/ Silver Screen Endings: Blockbuster Profits in Apocalypse Gripped in a delirium of apocaholicism, contemporary secular society is exploring the conditions and consequence of endings. Mainstream presentations such as Independence Day, Event Horizon, Armageddon, End of Days, The Matrix and Deep Impact depict the notion of endings in elaborate and extravagant modes. Independence Day is a lesson in Orwellian doublethink -- it begins by destroying the very values it eschews at its closure. The statue of liberty, the White House, and the Empire State Building, all contemporary icons of western democratic and consumerist values, are brutally and spectacularly disintegrated. Yet the very core of the western meta-narrative, the maintenance of independence, which brought about the empowerment of these icons, is upheld throughout the film, leaving a critical viewer with the sense that what we are watching in this film is not the destruction of the world by some alien force -- certainly no other nation is depicted as so grossly devastated nor are any icons of other significantly known cultures destroyed -- but the annihilation of contemporary western icons: essentially, the death of icons. The values are constant, as emoted by the President of the United States towards the fiery conclusion of the movie, but the icons are unstable, susceptible to external disruption, unlike the proverbial humanist spirit. Hence, most audiences reacted gleefully to seeing famous landmarks blasted to smithereens -- this goes hand in hand I suspect with the prevailing social atmosphere cultivating change: do away with the current icons, they are no longer valid nor do they faithfully represent the social world around us, we require new ones to image our emerging spirit. Event Horizon is very different in content and style. It blends conventional theology with science fiction to create an incredible narrative about a starship so fast that it punches a hole through to hell and back. The concern throughout the film as the blood thickens is not with the collective end to society but rather with the very personal and private closure to individual life and the post-death experience. Other films, like Deep Impact and Armageddon, draw on the "worst bits" in the bible, to quote one trailer, and depict disturbing destructive images of the western metropolitan society, with dramatic wrangling over who will survive and how in order to establish a brave new world. What links these varying cinematic depictions of the end? Is it perhaps the imagined triumph of humanist spiritism, usually legitimised through the sacrificial offering of a main character in a film's final showdown? (Bruce Willis dies in Armageddon, Tea Leoni waits with her estranged father for the tidal wave in Deep Impact, and a half-drunk kamikaze pilot in an old biplane destroys the mothership at the close of Independence Day.) Being excessively popular, one needs to ask what role these films play within the collective social narrative of endism: do these films serve to quiet anxieties about the end by visualising human solutions to impossible destructive odds? Or do apocalyptic blockbusters market towards existing endtimes tension, reflecting the growing apocaholic nature of our societies as we near the close of the twentieth century and thereby, in true western capitalist fashion, profit from this cultural dysfunction? Or do films of this nature answer a more base, unacknowledged desire within our societies to see the end and survive? Event Horizon -- http://www.eventhorizonmovie.com/ End of Days -- http://www.end-of-days.com/ The Matrix -- http://www.whatisthematrix.com/ Deep Impact -- http://www.deepimpact.com/ Timeout: Clocking the Endtimes Christian End-Time Expectations -- Millennia Monitor -- http://www.fas.org/2000/endtime1.htm This resource provides links to a wide variety of Christian sources with a primary focus on millennial, apocalyptic, or other End Time expectations. Countdown 2000: Your Guide to the Millennium -- http://www.countdown2000.com/index.htm "As we approach the millennium, the world seems to be getting weirder. Countdown 2000 is packed with the latest news, hype, and hysteria. Where will the blow-out parties be? Will Y2K cause global havoc? How can I get involved in improving the world? Whatever the millennium and year 2000 mean to you, Countdown 2000 can help you learn what you want to know. Countdown 2000 is packed with over 150 pages, and 2500 links." Amazing Prophecy -- http://bibleprophecy.com/ Topics covered: Bible prophecy, rapture, tribulation, millennium, last days, end times, end of time, second coming, covenants, revelation, advent, antichrist, 666, parousia (appearing of Christ), preterist (fulfilled prophecy), eschatology (the study of last things), and many more. 888 Christ Come: Your Bible Prophecy Website -- http://www.888c.com/ Apocalists: The Tribulation Inbox Interesting things happen on discussion lists. Perhaps a more significant example of apocalyptic dissemination, capable of real-time feedback and iteration on endtime signs within every corner of the Web, millions on the bible highway speak of the premillennial tension that characterises contemporary cultural life and thousands more direct these lunges into apocalyptic extrapolation via discussion lists. Nowhere has the apocalyptic urge to image the end, to identify the sign of its approach, been more revitalised than on this electronic frontier: indeed, Apocalypse has an impressive online presence. Today, anyone can receive daily updates sent to their email inbox on the progress or nearness of the great endtimes tribulation, press releases of the latest armageddon publication list, prophecy ezines, the latest incarnation of the mark of the beast 666, new candidates for antichrist identification and revelation reports, to name but a few: Bible Prophecy Discussion List -- http://www.geocities.com/~dawn-/index.html Bible Prophecy-L was created as an open, moderated forum to discuss and share information related to end times Bible prophecy. Some of the topics you may find discussed are: Eschatology; Global Government; Global Religion and the New Age Movement; Rapture; Antichrist; Environmental Changes (earthquakes, tornados, volcanoes, freak storms, flooding etc.); Israel and the Middle East; Signs in the Heavens (UFOs, Comets, etc.); Pestilence (infectious diseases); Wars and Rumors of Wars; Prophecy Conference Updates ... etc. Bible Prophecy Report -- http://philologos.org/bpr Bible Codes News Update -- http://thebiblecodes.com/news/bcnu.htm Tribulation News -- http://www.tribnews.net/mir Conspiracy Journal -- http://www.members.tripod.com/uforeview/welcome.html Citation reference for this article MLA style: Jason Ensor. "Apocacide, Apocaholics and Apocalists: A Selective Webography of Endism." M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2.8 (1999). [your date of access] <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9912/apocacide.php>. Chicago style: Jason Ensor, "Apocacide, Apocaholics and Apocalists: A Selective Webography of Endism," M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2, no. 8 (1999), <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9912/apocacide.php> ([your date of access]). APA style: Jason Ensor. (1999) Apocacide, Apocaholics and Apocalists: A Selective Webography of Endism. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2(8). <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9912/apocacide.php> ([your date of access]).