How to Train Your Alien
“He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?’. . . The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’”
Aliens have gone mainstream. Last summer, Congress convened a public hearing with whistleblowers from the armed forces who reported encountering unidentified flying objects. Each gave testimony regarding phenomena that they had witnessed ranging from strange to outright supernatural—crafts that defy the laws of physics and behave in unsettling ways. At one point, a witness even claimed that the government had recovered unknown “biologics” from downed spacecraft, indicating the presence of extraterrestrial life. The hearing prompted a media frenzy and public speculation about the presence of aliens on Earth from skeptics and fanatics alike.But encounters with extraterrestrial life are nothing new in America. One of the earliest famous alien stories comes from Barney and Betty Hill, a New Hampshire couple who claimed to be abducted on their way home from their honeymoon. The pair observed a flying, glowing disc following their car. Through the windows they saw men in uniforms watching them. After a time, they grew exceptionally drowsy. When they arrived home, they realized that their trip had taken two hours longer than it should have, and they were covered in inexplicable scrapes and bruises that had not been there earlier. The two sought counseling and, under hypno-therapy, gradually began to remember strange medical experiments performed by unearthly men with strange accents. Mr. Hill is reported to have begun wailing and screaming each time his therapist asked him about the incident. Mrs. Hill would report being haunted by lights for the remainder of her life. The story has been widely panned, but not debunked. Hypnotic therapy is largely discredited today, as it is now understood to be able to create false memories, but the couple sought counseling before ever receiving hypnosis, so this criticism is not sufficient to refute their story (I have not seen any critiques that even attempt to do so based on the use of hypnosis). Moreover, even the most ardent skeptics emphasize that the couple were genuine in their distress; Mrs. Hill would even go on to dedicate her life to studying these alien phenomena. No credible scientific explanation for the event has ever been proposed.Tales of alien encounters vary widely, from simple lights in the sky to full-blown abductions. But there are a few aspects of these stories that are nearly universal to every victim: paranoia, distress, confusion, isolation, and abject fear. That these are the only constants in a widely-observed phenomena suggests that the alien phenomena is something more sinister than visits from curious neighbors. Simply put, these experiences seem to be demonic.There are a few reasons to conclude that demons may be behind the attacks. First, the Bible does not explicitly preclude the idea of extraterrestrial life, but Genesis 1 and 2 describe life as only having been created on this planet. The general narrative of humanity, a uniquely beautiful species, as the object of God’s grand plan for redemption casts doubt on theories positing a second humanoid race existing in a different part of the universe. Second, demons prey on our fears and paranoias. They seek anything that draws us away from the peace of God or exacerbates the worst parts of our natures. Finally, the seeming ability for these creatures to defy the laws of physics should raise red flags. These experiences, recounted in vivid detail at the Congressional hearings, should not be possible. In the Christian worldview, nothing natural may break the laws of nature as instituted by God. These spacecraft, then, are likely supernatural in origin. No wonder, then, that top Pentagon officials tried to halt investigations into these spacecraft on the strong suspicion that they were demons.We should not be surprised, moreover, that demons would engage with us by using schemes and visions, such as medical experiments or military craft, that seem rational or scientific in nature. Modern America is dismissive of the fairies and spirits that haunted our ancestors, we are all too willing, on the other hand, to put full faith and credit in phenomena that appear to be scientifically plausible, giving them an opening. After all, demons live to deceive us. Satan is “the father of lies,” per John 8, and the first time that we see demonic activity, when Satan tempts Eve in Eden, he immediately attempts to deceive with regards to God’s words and the nature of man. Sowing confusion through supernatural, but scientifically-coded, apparitions is the logical step for the evil host.Where demons sow confusion, Christians are called to fight back with clarity. We ought to treat alien stories and the like with a large dose of skepticism. Whatever it is, it is not an alien. Many of these stories are hoaxes or tall tales. But some of them may be real spiritual experiences. As Christendom recedes in our increasingly secularized part of the world, we should expect that evil spirits will once again seek to make their home here. For those people suffering from demonic attacks, Christians have an opportunity to witness to them by naming and explaining what they are struggling with, the powers and principalities of darkness, in a way that no secular worldview can adequately address. We can bring light to the darkness, healing to the nations, and cool rationality to a discussion where science can only take you so far.Ben Kelley is a Junior in CC. He studies Political Science and Statistics and currently cannot get enough of Proverbs.