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Let's face it. We are all fascinated by outer space. The possibility of life existing "out there" has been predominate ever since Captain Kirk and Spock took off to go where "No man has gone before". Before Kirk, there was Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. (Now you have an idea how old I am). But up to a few years ago, if you claimed to have seen a "flying saucer", or, God-forbid, been taken up in one, you were quickly dismissed as being a "kook" or worse, insane.
That's all changed. As we'll see in this article, more and more people now believe in UFOs than ever before.
"Flying Saucers"
On June 24th, 1947, pilot Kenneth Arnold reported sighting nine circular objects flying across his plane's path over Washington state. He described their movements like "saucers skipping over water"…thus the term "flying saucer" was born.
A couple of points: This was just two years after America entered the "Atomic Age"; and one year before Israel became a nation, fulfilling Bible Prophecy. Since that time, every nation of the world has had UFO sightings. In the U.S., waves of UFO sightings came along periodically; 1947; 1952; 1957; 1965-67; and 1973. And there have been many since 1973.
These sightings were not reported by flakes or "weirdoes". They have been reported by people living in rural areas as well as urban areas. They've been seen by doctors, lawyers, police, army personnel, and others from all walks of life.
There have been numerous reports of UFO sighting over Israel, Amman Jordan, Korea and other major cities. These events are not limited to the U.S., it's world-wide.
The interest in UFO's has gained momentum in the past few years. There are more than 6,000 books out on this subject, and that is just the ones in English. There are 2,200 more in foreign languages. We're not talking the "supermarket tabloids" here, but bona fide, research books by may different authors. There are also 1,350 periodicals pertaining to this field of interest.
Before 1947, sightings were fairly rare in the U.S. But since 1947, sightings and interest has grown.
The Roswell Incident
In July, 1947, something apparently "landed" near Roswell New Mexico. Immediately, the army sealed off the area and confiscated what evidence there was. Two main views as to what took place at Roswell are prevalent. The people that own the property where this event took place maintain that a craft of some kind did, in fact, land there with four occupants. Three were dead, one was still alive. They maintain the army sealed off the area, took all of the evidence, and issued a report that it "was just a weather balloon".
There are those in the area that claim there was nothing to it, that it was all blown out of proportion. But those that take the study of UFO's seriously all relate back to the "Roswell Incident".
Of course, no one is ignorant of the amount of publicity and fame this type of thing can bring a small community.
But, are UFO's Real? There is much false information and many reports that cannot be confirmed, but those that can be confirmed and substantiated are too many and numerous to ignore. There have been instances of the same sighting witnessed by many reliable persons at once; there has been tangible evidence; they have been plotted on multiple radar screens simultaneously, and they have left behind evidence of radiation and chemical alterations.
Actually, sightings of UFO's are not new. They have been seen depicted on Stone Age pictures; Egyptian hieroglyphics; they are found in the writings of Alexander the Great; and even in Columbus' log books. However, the modern era of UFO sightings seems to have begun around the end of World War II.
Confirmation from the Pros
How reliable are the witnesses who have claimed to have seen UFO's?
How about some of America's Astronauts! Following are some quotes:
April 1996 (Dateline, NBC): "NASA is covering up what really happened at Roswell, New Mexico. (Ed Mitchell, Apollo 14)
On the Gemini Flight of June 1965, Ed White and James McDivitt saw a UFO with "arms" sticking out of it. They took movies of it, but they were never released.
In December, 1965, on Gemini 7, James Lovell and Frank Borman witnessed a UFO on their second orbit of a 14-day flight. Gemini control assumed it was the final stage of their own Titan booster, but the Astronauts indicated they had both the booster and the UFO in sight.
Walter Shirra, on a 1968 flight aboard Mercury 8, "invented" the term "Santa Claus" to indicate UFOs near the space capsules. This was later confirmed by Maurice Chatelain, Chief of the NASA Communications Systems in 1979.
Astronaut Gordon Cooper, on May 15th 1963, on his 22nd orbit in the Mercury capsule saw a green UFO, which was also being tracked by Radar. He has testified before the United Nations that UFOs are visiting this planet.
Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, on July 21st, 1969, in their Apollo 11 Flight, both apparently saw lights in and/or on a crater and there were unconfirmed reports that there were other spacecraft there. Armstong is also quoted in some reports as alluding to a CIA cover up.
The Commander of Discovery Space Shuttle, John Blaha, who is a veteran of five space shuttle missions, is currently on board the Russian Space Station "Mir". On March 24th, 1989, Blaha was communicating with Houston. The conversation was recorded by a Ham radio operator. "Houston, this is Discovery. We still have the alien spacecraft under observation".
The Japanese Government in June of 1996. established a UFO Museum, which feature various artifacts.
What many people are not aware of, is the number of witnesses to UFO phenomena. Over Fifteen Million Americans claim to have seen UFOs, including a President of the United States. Over a dozen astronauts have seen them. Hundreds of Airline pilots have also seen them.
Fifty-seven percent of Americans believe in UFOs. Fifteen percent claim to have seen one, and three to five percent claim to have been abducted by aliens.
Abductions have been researched and are being taken very seriously by law enforcement agencies and the medical community. They are too wide-spread to be multiple hallucinations. It is interesting that in all of the studies being done, there have been no Bible-believing Christians who have been abducted. In fact, all who have claimed to have been abducted were found to have had some experience in dealing with the occult.
Government Studies
Since the mid forties, there have been many Government studies of the UFO Phenomenon. "Project Blue Book", which began in 1949 and ceased in 1969, was headed by the U.S. Air Force. It concluded that UFOs didn't represent a threat to national security, or that there was any evidence that UFOs were extraterrestrial.
Secular scientists who have studied UFOs have come to some strange conclusions. UFOs cannot be dismissed because they leave tangible evidence. They have been timed at over 16,000 Miles per hour, yet they don't cause sonic "booms". They make sharp, right-angel turns which indicate they have no mass. They have been tracked on radar. They appear to materialize and dematerialize without a trace. They have been plotted at times on radar, but only showing up on every-other pass, indicating they are appearing and disappearing at will. The question is, where are they when we don't see them.
Thousands of photographs have been taken of them, and at other times, they do not show up on photographs.
NASA Most Secular Scientist have concluded that UFOs are not from another planet, yet they are posing as such. The reason this is thought is the enormous distances involved. The nearest star, Alpha Centari is 4.5 light-years away. (A light year is the distance light travels in one year, at an average speed of 186,000 miles per second). If a craft were able to travel at One million miles per day, it would take 70,000 years to make the trip.
If not from another planet, where are they from? Most scientist of the opinion they are extra-dimensional. They have found a way to transcend their dimension into ours. More on this a little later.
NASA for years has kept a low profile when it comes to UFO sightings, and other weird things. But that all changed in August, 1996. On the 6th of that month, NASA announced evidence of life once existing on Mars. (See Article "The Mysteries of Mars" Click Here)
On August 13th, 1996, they announced evidence of water on Europa, a moon of Jupiter.
Because of these reports and others, the public has jumped on the "life in outer space" band wagon. It has created a great deal of interest in the field of "theology". We now have an alternate theory as to where life on Earth came from. "We were planted here from some higher advanced civilization", is the thinking now among many scientists.
Three missions were launched for trips to the planet Mars. The Russian mission ran into some problems, but the two U.S. missions are on their way. The "Mars Observer" and "Mars Pathfinder". The latter will land a "rover" to gather scientific data. Don't be surprised if more "evidence" is discovered "proving" life existed on Mars. It is just another push toward "the lie"….and also more funding for NASA.
Hollywood's Part
The number of movies and television shows in the last ten to fifteen years are so, with alien themes are increasing. Most of these tend to show the "aliens" as being friendly, loving, and wanting to "help" Earthlings find true peace with the cosmos. A few, like "Independence Day" depicted the aliens as bringing the fear of conquest, and what saved the day? The coming together of all the nations of the world to fight a common enemy. Is this idea ridiculous? Many don't think so.
In September, 1987, then President Reagan, while addressing the entire United Nations General Assembly stated: "Perhaps we need some outside universal threat to make us recognize the common bond that unites all humanity. How quickly our differences world-wide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world. And yet I ask you, is not an alien threat already among us?"
President Carter is also on record as having observed UFO's before he was president.
According to "USA Today" and other media, Henry Kissinger, in an address to the Bilderberger's Meeting, in France on May 21, 1992 stated: "Today Americans would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order. Tomorrow, they may be grateful. This is especially true if they were told there was an outside threat from beyond, rather real or promulgated that threatened our very existence. It is then that all the peoples of the world would plead with world leaders to deliver them from the evil.
"The one thing that every man fears is the unknown. (Their) individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well-being granted to them by their world governments".
The huge interest and intrigue of the possibility of alien life existing is all part of Satan's plan to create a mind-set for man to accept the answer to the question of the Rapture when it takes place. A world-wide abduction of those "trouble-making Christians" seems to be a likely scenario for those that are left behind to accept.
What are they….really?
Most Secular Scientist have concluded that UFOs are not from another planet, yet they are posing as such. The reason this is thought is the enormous distances involved. The nearest star, Alpha Centari is 4.5 light-years away. (A light year is the distance light travels in one year, at an average speed of 186,000 miles per second). If a craft were able to travel at One million miles per day, it would take 70,000 years to make the trip. (Unless of course, they have the Enterprise's Warp Drive)
If not from another planet, where are they from? Most scientist of the opinion they are extra-dimensional. They have found a way to transcend from their dimension into ours. More on this a little later.
Mysteries of the Crop Circles
For quite a few years, mysterious "crop circles" have appeared, many overnight. This began some years ago mainly in Great Britain. These circles would be discovered where none were there the day before, and in very intricate patterns. The grain isn't crushed but would be "matted" down. Many believed this was a hoax, but the problem was, it couldn't be duplicated. The British Government has sealed off many of these fields trying to catch whoever, or whatever is creating these circles. Almost everyday, somewhere in the world, they are found. The patterns are getting more and more intricate. They also seem to line up with ancient monuments. Many assume they are somehow associated with UFOs, but are not sure how. No one has been able to figure out how they appear and what technology is used to create them.
A strange fact that may or may not be related to UFOs, and other phenomenon, is the history of some ancient cultures, the Samarian, Egyptian and Babylonian. It has been discovered that these cultures have no "progressive" history. They seem to have began as a "civilized" culture, without any previous "growth" in reaching their heights of technology.
There are also many legends and stories from these civilizations that their "gods" came to them on some kind of flying discs and communed with the residents they found. The legends of the Incas, some south-sea island peoples, India, ancient Babylon, and Persia all have these kind of legends.
In Bolivia there have been buildings discovered built from sixty ton boulders, banded with iron bands. The legends tell of them being built in one night by Giants who visited them from the Pleiades, (a cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus, six of which are visible to the naked eye).
The Great Pyramid
There are many mysteries on the planet, most of which are unanswerable. Who, for example, built the Great Pyramid in Egypt? Many believe it was not built by the Egyptians, that it preceded them. The other pyramids were all built as tombs, the Great Pyramid wasn't. For one thing, there are no hieroglyphics in it. There are many other differences that set it apart from the other pyramids. Many even believe it was built before the great flood.
Another mystery, who built Stonehenge? It was not build by the Druids, as some believe. It has been discovered that it predicts eclipses of the sun, but it makes an error every three hundred years. (For more on ancient monuments, contact Koinonia House, PO Box "D", Coeur d'Alene ID. 83816 or contact their website at www.khouse.org for the tape series "Ancient Monuments: Sacred or Profane)
There is also the Face on Mars that has many believing was built by some alien life. (For more on this subject, see "The Mysteries of Mars". (Click Here)
As Christians, we should not be consumed by the mysteries and questions that abound. Most theologians that accept the doctrine of the Second Coming, The Rapture, and the 1000 year reign of Messiah have concluded that these "visitors" are actually the work of Satan, preparing the world for the coming of Antichrist.
Jesus said in Matthew 24, that "as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be". (Matt. 24:37) It is believed that "the days of Noah" saw the coming together of Satanic beings, "fallen angels" that mated with human women, thus creating the "Nephilim" spoken of in Genesis 6. (For more on the Nephilim see article by same title. (Click Here)
Are UFOs predicted for the "end times"? Luke 21:26 could be an indication of such an occurrence. We read: "Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming upon the earth: for the powers of Heaven shall be shaken".
The Restrainer
Once the Holy Spirit is removed from the Earth, there will be nothing to prevent Satan from launching an all-out attack on humanity. The Holy Spirit restrains much more than we realize. We know there are Satanic forces at work continuously, and when He, the Holy Spirit is taken out in the Rapture of the Church, Satan will have free reign. It is believed by most prophecy teachers that Antichrist will claim to either have an alien "connection" or will claim to be an alien himself. Read in 2 Thess. 2:7-9: "For the Mystery of Iniquity doth already work: only He who now hindereth will hinder, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked One be revealed…whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders".
Jesus Himself warned His disciples (and us) about the deception that was to come: "For there shall arise false Christs (Messiahs, Saviors) and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect". Matthew 24:24.
Paul tells us in 2 Thess. 2: 10-11: And with all deceivableness or unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie".
Strange stuff! We who accept the teachings of Holy Scripture regarding these times to come, believe Christians will not be present when these things take place. However, there may be events leading up to these times that we will be witness to. Most believe we are already seeing some of the events take place.
There is nothing more that needs to be done before Christ comes for His Church in the Rapture. No prophecy needs to be fulfilled for that event to take place. Israel is a nation. Plans are in the works for the Temple in Jerusalem to be built. Modern science has made it possible for man to destroy himself with the push of a button. It is now possible to communicate with anyone else in the world who has access to a telephone, a modem, or a computer. World wide news reports are now seen all over the planet, the instant it happens. Knowledge has increased a thousand fold in just the last fifty years. Now man has started developing ways to "create" life, through the science of cloning. My father, who has gone on to be with the Lord, always had a theory, that when man figured out away to "create" life, the Lord would come. I don't know if that's good theology, but I hope he was right. Even so come quickly, Lord Jesus.
We at Maranatha Ministries welcome your questions, comments, and even criticisms. You can contact us at: Maranatha Ministries, 2012 Country Crossing; Indianapolis Indiana 46214. Our E-mail address is: www.maranatha@oaktree.net.
Much of the information and statistics in the above article came from the Tape series "The Return of the Nephilim" by Chuck Missler of Koinonia House. www.khouse.org
Khouse has many fine books and tapes available on this and other fascinating subjects.
Another excellent source for Tapes and books on Bible Prophecy, the Jews and Israel is "The Christian Jew Foundation", www.cjf.org
See the links on the Home page for other sources of Bible Prophecy.
Shalom!
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