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Close Encounters: A Better Explanation
354 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
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May 21, 2024
TWO POPULAR AUTHORS PROVIDE AN EXPLANATION FOR UFO PHENOMENA
Clifford A. Wilson (1923-2012) was an Australian Christian researcher and writer (his Ph.D. is in Educational Psychology), who also served in Israel with the American Schools of Oriental Research. His main interests are archaeology and apologetics, and he has written some of the most devastating critiques of Erich von Daniken, such as 'Crash Go the Chariots,' 'The Chariots Still Crash, and 'War Of The Chariots,' in which he holds a public debate with Von Daniken. John Weldon (1948-2014) had a Ph.D. in comparative religion and specialized in apologetics.
The Foreword to this 1978 book by Rousas Rushdoony states, “we are in the midst of religious warfare… a wide variety of cults and all forms of humanism are at war with Biblical faith… very often what are seeming opposites must be recognized as members of the same family, however much in dispute. This is clearly true of the usual pros and cons on the subject of UFO’s. The usual critique of the subject is from the standpoint of ‘pure science.’ Only those things which conform to the naturalistic presuppositions of modern scientists are held to be facts… From such a perspective, it is a foregone conclusion that UFOs are hallucinations, nonsense… On the other hand, we have another brand of humanism which is … pleased with any and every report on UFO’s. It is for them proof that the universe is other than God declares it to be…. In this study, Weldon and Wilson approach the subject … from the premise of Christian faith… The occultic orientation of much of the UFO data is carefully analyzed… The authors conclude that the UFO phenomena are real; they are demonic, and they are totally anti-Christian.”
Weldon and Wilson state in the Preface, “In this book we do not set out to ‘prove’ the reality of and UFO… phenomenon: that has already been established by various authors. Our own books, ‘UFO’s and Their Mission Impossible’ and ‘UFO’s: What On Earth is Happening?’ … [give] sufficient evidence for the unbiased readers to be satisfied that that UFO phenomena must be accepted as real.” (Pg. ix) They continue, “Now we go on from there---analyzing the writings of leading UFO researchers… and we come up with answers that are so obvious that on logical grounds they cannot be rejected. Yet they will be rejected by most researchers, because the truth can be uncomfortable.” (Pg. x)
They explain that “[Charles] Bowen acknowledges that there is little evidence to support the view that UFO’s could be interplanetary spaceships… Bowen admits that he has an uneasy feeling that much of what we hear about UFO’s is hallucinatory in nature. Other researchers have the same sort of problem… John A. Keel… writes that, contrary to public opinion, there are many different shapes and sizes of UFO’s, and that in 434 ‘unknown’ cases ‘there was no single basic uniformity in all the reports.’ Therefore either every object was individually constructed … or ‘none of the objects really existed at all.’ He makes the point that if ... the occupants of some distant planet had manufactured a complex flying machine, they would not send it out just for one maneuver over a farmhouse in Georgia. It would be used many times… and eventually there would be identical photographs of the same object. Instead of that, there are almost as many different descriptions as there are witnesses to the sightings.” (Pg. 4)
They note that Dr. Allen Hynek observed, “‘Phantom objects have been tracked electronically with radar and visually … traveling at speeds far exceeding the speed of sound within the atmosphere, without producing sonic booms.’ This absence of a sonic boom is a strong pointer to the thorough psychical nature of UFO’s. Because they are not solid constructions in the fullest sense, they do no displace air mass as they move…” (Pg. 7-8)
They recount that John Keel ‘reminds us that these UFO’s are able to move at fantastically high speeds through our atmosphere without … producing sonic booms. Some physical power, beyond that employed by physical objects, is being utilized.” (Pg. 18)
They summarize, “No crashes of UFO’s have ever feen found. Crashes have been ‘seen,’ but this is merely another ‘set up’ in the same category as the UFO ‘repair operations’ which people report…. They have never really ‘come out in the open.’ … The wide variety of craft and occupants, which indicates that few, if any, are exactly alike. It is impossible that each craft would be individually constructed and then used only once… The occupants consistently deny the truths of the Bible…” (Pg. 38-39)
They continue, “there are accelerations that violate the mechanical law of mass-ratios (or Newton’s Second Law of Motion): the amount of fuel needed for these craft is far greater than that which is possible for them to carry, is they use similar propulsion methods to ours…. Their resistance to the tremendous amount of heat caused by air friction at great speeds… Sometimes they are completely silent in flight. There are no sounds or supersonic booms that should result if they are physical craft.” (Pg. 39-40)
They ask, “‘Would [UFO’s] be going to all this trouble, if they were not planning something on a vast scale?’… Obviously they want us to believe in them… Overall they have been very successful, and the small minority who do not believe them to be extraterrestrials are comparatively insignificant… They know what they can get away with and are confident that the demonic and evil aspects of ufology will not damage their present purpose, which is to make mankind believe in extraterrestrial contact.” (Pg. 91-92)
They observe, “If these were benign beings visiting us, they would grant their host society certain measures of respect… However, this benign approach is not what we find in many circumstances. All too often contactees have been tricked, lied to, deliberately misinformed… ruined psychologically, driven insane, and had their lives disrupted.” (Pg. 125) They point out “the high correlation between the occult and UFO phenomena. This is important because the province of demons is linked with the psychic or occult realm.” (Pg. 167)
They argue, “Jesus warned His disciples that in the last times false Christs would arise… The disciples of Jesus look to Him as the Great Deliverer, the One Who will eventually rule the world when the forces of evil are overthrown. This is a theme ‘borrowed’ by the UFO entities… They have seized on the potential dangers from atomic bombs, atmospheric pollution, and international tensions as pointing to the urgent need for deliverance, a deliverance which man himself is unable to provide. Thus the UFO’s are the ‘only hope’ for a world bent on destroying itself.” (Pg. 251)
This book will be of keen interest for Evangelical Christians studying UFOs.
Clifford A. Wilson (1923-2012) was an Australian Christian researcher and writer (his Ph.D. is in Educational Psychology), who also served in Israel with the American Schools of Oriental Research. His main interests are archaeology and apologetics, and he has written some of the most devastating critiques of Erich von Daniken, such as 'Crash Go the Chariots,' 'The Chariots Still Crash, and 'War Of The Chariots,' in which he holds a public debate with Von Daniken. John Weldon (1948-2014) had a Ph.D. in comparative religion and specialized in apologetics.
The Foreword to this 1978 book by Rousas Rushdoony states, “we are in the midst of religious warfare… a wide variety of cults and all forms of humanism are at war with Biblical faith… very often what are seeming opposites must be recognized as members of the same family, however much in dispute. This is clearly true of the usual pros and cons on the subject of UFO’s. The usual critique of the subject is from the standpoint of ‘pure science.’ Only those things which conform to the naturalistic presuppositions of modern scientists are held to be facts… From such a perspective, it is a foregone conclusion that UFOs are hallucinations, nonsense… On the other hand, we have another brand of humanism which is … pleased with any and every report on UFO’s. It is for them proof that the universe is other than God declares it to be…. In this study, Weldon and Wilson approach the subject … from the premise of Christian faith… The occultic orientation of much of the UFO data is carefully analyzed… The authors conclude that the UFO phenomena are real; they are demonic, and they are totally anti-Christian.”
Weldon and Wilson state in the Preface, “In this book we do not set out to ‘prove’ the reality of and UFO… phenomenon: that has already been established by various authors. Our own books, ‘UFO’s and Their Mission Impossible’ and ‘UFO’s: What On Earth is Happening?’ … [give] sufficient evidence for the unbiased readers to be satisfied that that UFO phenomena must be accepted as real.” (Pg. ix) They continue, “Now we go on from there---analyzing the writings of leading UFO researchers… and we come up with answers that are so obvious that on logical grounds they cannot be rejected. Yet they will be rejected by most researchers, because the truth can be uncomfortable.” (Pg. x)
They explain that “[Charles] Bowen acknowledges that there is little evidence to support the view that UFO’s could be interplanetary spaceships… Bowen admits that he has an uneasy feeling that much of what we hear about UFO’s is hallucinatory in nature. Other researchers have the same sort of problem… John A. Keel… writes that, contrary to public opinion, there are many different shapes and sizes of UFO’s, and that in 434 ‘unknown’ cases ‘there was no single basic uniformity in all the reports.’ Therefore either every object was individually constructed … or ‘none of the objects really existed at all.’ He makes the point that if ... the occupants of some distant planet had manufactured a complex flying machine, they would not send it out just for one maneuver over a farmhouse in Georgia. It would be used many times… and eventually there would be identical photographs of the same object. Instead of that, there are almost as many different descriptions as there are witnesses to the sightings.” (Pg. 4)
They note that Dr. Allen Hynek observed, “‘Phantom objects have been tracked electronically with radar and visually … traveling at speeds far exceeding the speed of sound within the atmosphere, without producing sonic booms.’ This absence of a sonic boom is a strong pointer to the thorough psychical nature of UFO’s. Because they are not solid constructions in the fullest sense, they do no displace air mass as they move…” (Pg. 7-8)
They recount that John Keel ‘reminds us that these UFO’s are able to move at fantastically high speeds through our atmosphere without … producing sonic booms. Some physical power, beyond that employed by physical objects, is being utilized.” (Pg. 18)
They summarize, “No crashes of UFO’s have ever feen found. Crashes have been ‘seen,’ but this is merely another ‘set up’ in the same category as the UFO ‘repair operations’ which people report…. They have never really ‘come out in the open.’ … The wide variety of craft and occupants, which indicates that few, if any, are exactly alike. It is impossible that each craft would be individually constructed and then used only once… The occupants consistently deny the truths of the Bible…” (Pg. 38-39)
They continue, “there are accelerations that violate the mechanical law of mass-ratios (or Newton’s Second Law of Motion): the amount of fuel needed for these craft is far greater than that which is possible for them to carry, is they use similar propulsion methods to ours…. Their resistance to the tremendous amount of heat caused by air friction at great speeds… Sometimes they are completely silent in flight. There are no sounds or supersonic booms that should result if they are physical craft.” (Pg. 39-40)
They ask, “‘Would [UFO’s] be going to all this trouble, if they were not planning something on a vast scale?’… Obviously they want us to believe in them… Overall they have been very successful, and the small minority who do not believe them to be extraterrestrials are comparatively insignificant… They know what they can get away with and are confident that the demonic and evil aspects of ufology will not damage their present purpose, which is to make mankind believe in extraterrestrial contact.” (Pg. 91-92)
They observe, “If these were benign beings visiting us, they would grant their host society certain measures of respect… However, this benign approach is not what we find in many circumstances. All too often contactees have been tricked, lied to, deliberately misinformed… ruined psychologically, driven insane, and had their lives disrupted.” (Pg. 125) They point out “the high correlation between the occult and UFO phenomena. This is important because the province of demons is linked with the psychic or occult realm.” (Pg. 167)
They argue, “Jesus warned His disciples that in the last times false Christs would arise… The disciples of Jesus look to Him as the Great Deliverer, the One Who will eventually rule the world when the forces of evil are overthrown. This is a theme ‘borrowed’ by the UFO entities… They have seized on the potential dangers from atomic bombs, atmospheric pollution, and international tensions as pointing to the urgent need for deliverance, a deliverance which man himself is unable to provide. Thus the UFO’s are the ‘only hope’ for a world bent on destroying itself.” (Pg. 251)
This book will be of keen interest for Evangelical Christians studying UFOs.
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