Ufo Religions

March 1997, the bodies of 39 members of Heaven's Gate were discovered in a mansion outside San Diego. All had committed suicide, convinced that the passing of the Hale-Bopp comet signalled the arrival of aliens, who had come to transport them from their earthly bodies to the Kingdom of Heaven. In December 2002, the Raelian Church, who want to build an Embassy for extraterrestrials in Jerusalem, announced that they had finally realised another of it's goals: 'Clonaid', a Raelian organisation, had successfully cloned the first human baby. The popular fascination with UFOs, extraterrestrials, and alien abductions, enhanced by high-profile films, shows and books, such as Independance Day, The X-Files, and Erich von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods?, has been accompanied by an equally fascinating, sometimes apocalyptic manifestation of the modern spiritual quest. UFO Religions analyses the religions and spiritualities which incorporate UFOs, extraterrestrial life and alien contact as core beliefs. The volume brings together an international group of scholars to consider the cultural and religious ideas within UFO religion, the incorporation of ufological elements within non-UFO religions, spiritual aspects of alien abduction narratives, and interpretations of UFO belief from the perspectives of psychology, sociology and religious studies. Book jacket.