Many people believe they’ve encountered UFOs or strange beings, often assuming they are advanced extraterrestrials. However, this raises questions about how these events are understood in the Bible. Are there any Biblical accounts of aliens or UFOs? Did people in ancient times have similar sightings and encounters that so many claim to have today?
Gary Bates from Creation Ministries recently joined us on 20Twenty to talk about the Roswell crash in 1947. He explains that it was really just a military experiment with weather balloons, not aliens. The media made a big deal out of it and started using the term ‘flying saucer’ due to earlier UFO stories becoming popular.
Gary suggests that what people think are alien encounters could actually be natural events. But they misinterpret them because they don’t know what they are. ‘Afer nearly 30 years of investigation,’ says Gary, ‘the truth is much simpler and much more benign than most people realise. When you think about all the hype around Roswell, the movies, and the TV series. Yet we’re talking about a crashed weather balloon.’
Gary believes that people often struggle to accept such a simple truth. However, he also notes that many UFO sightings lack sufficient evidence to confirm they are of alien origin. He suggests that some experiences might stem from the spiritual realm, which carries the risk of becoming a substitute for genuine religious faith.
Are there any Biblical accounts of aliens or UFOs?
This also raises concerns that believing in UFOs could distract people from trusting in God, especially in relation to beliefs about the end times. ‘But if God is creator, then you and I were created with meaning and purpose,’ says Gary. ‘The decisions we make in this life will affect where we spend eternity.’
Many people report UFO sightings, showing what has become a cultural trend where some look to aliens for meaning, thinking they might be involved in human evolution. But Gary emphasises the importance of having beliefs based on the Bible, suggesting that these encounters might be more about spiritual realities than alien visits.
‘Sometimes sightings are seen by hundreds and hundreds of people,’ says Gary. ‘There are objects that appear in the sky and Christians get caught up in that. So we can see things that are manifesting. The question for everybody is, what are we looking at? Because when you say UFO, it doesn’t mean ‘unidentified flying object’ anymore. In the common vernacular, it really means a spaceship piloted by beings from another planet.’
Gary encourages everyone to think about how believing in UFOs might affect their faith and their quest for truth beyond the fascination with the unknown. There are some things that defy a naturalisic explanation. ‘For people who’ve not been in a church and don’t know Jesus,’ says Gary, ‘we need to have empathy. It can be a life changing experience.’
Listen to Gary’s full interview on 20Twenty below:
