The Real Culprits

Every year, more than a million people report seeing UFOs. Are these people crackpots and attention-seekers? Or is there something real behind their claims? Hugh Ross, a Christian physicist and astronomer, has studied UFO phenomena for years. His conclusion: The overwhelming majority are explainable, but some are not, and they could be dangerous. In his book, Lights in the Sky and Little Green Men, Ross writes that, after all the frauds and natural causes have been exposed, researchers "agree that there must be something real at the bottom of some UFO reports." For one thing, there's physical evidence. In the vicinity of reported UFOs, researchers have found deep soil compressions -- including crushed rock -- and altered soil and rock chemistry. Pilots encountering UFOs report disruptions in radar, radio, and compass operations. Animals become greatly agitated in the presence of UFO phenomena. And some humans who have seen UFOs claim to experience temporary blindness, burns, and internal bleeding. And yet, Ross writes, UFOs must be nonphysical, because they disobey the laws of physics. For instance, they may be detected by radar but not seen, or they're seen but not detected by radar. They make impossibly sharp turns and sudden stops, disappear and reappear. They melt asphalt and burn grass without fire or flame. And then there's the fact that ten times as many UFO sightings occur at 3:00 a.m. than at either 6:00 a.m. or 8:00 p.m. They appear in remote areas far more often than in densely populated ones. Of course, most of these reported phenomena are investigated and proven to be false. But for the remainder that cannot be explained otherwise, Ross has an intriguing theory. He writes: "Only one kind of being favors the dead of night and lonely roads. Only one is real but nonphysical, animate, powerful, deceptive," and "bent on wreaking psychological and physical harm." It seems apparent, says Ross, that UFOs, if there are such things, "must be associated with the activities of demons." Other researchers -- including secular scholars -- have come to similar conclusions. They attribute UFO phenomena to demons or to an equivalent cause -- for example, malevolent beings from another dimension. Physicist Jacques Vallee concludes: "The UFO phenomenon represents evidence for other dimensions that simply cannot be understood apart from their psychic and symbolic reality. What we see here is not an alien invasion," Vallee writes. "It is a spiritual system that acts on humans and uses humans." Astronomer and agnostic J. Allen Hynek says that UFOs cause physical effects "in the same way that a poltergeist can produce very real physical effects." Another agnostic, UFO specialist John Keel, concludes that victims of what he calls "demonomania" suffer the same medical and emotional symptoms as UFO contactees. The idea that demons are behind UFO phenomena -- and that they sometimes harm the humans who see them -- can be, if Dr. Ross is correct, frightening and can also raise interesting questions: Who among us might be vulnerable to these kinds of attacks? Read BreakPoint tomorrow for the answer. We'll test Ross's hypothesis and learn why some people encounter UFOs, and others don't. For further reading and information: Hugh Ross, Lights in the Sky and Little Green Men (NavPress, 2002). Peggy Fletcher Stack, "Heaven Sent?" Beliefnet.com, 28 February 2003. Benjamin Wiker, "Alien Ideas: Christianity and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life," Crisis, November 2002. Ravi Zacharias, Can Man Live without God? (Word Books, 1994). Peter Augustine Lawler, Aliens in America: The Strange Truth about Our Souls (ISI Books, 2002). Read past BreakPoint commentaries on aliens and UFOs.

01/14/04