Author: John Prytz
I have long maintained that God and the gods were not totally imaginary, but not supernatural either, rather extraterrestrials (ET). What ET is known for today, among other things, are not only those UFO encounters of the first, second and third kind, but those alleged abductions of humans for various purposes – close encounters of the fourth kind. Perhaps as it is now, so it was back in Biblical times.
Here are some people and events from the Bible (King James Version) that is suggestive of close encounters of the heavenly or out-of-this-world or extraterrestrial kind. Heavenly is apt since heaven is literally out-of-this-world.
One of the keywords in searching for Biblical UFOs is the ‘whirlwind'. In Biblical texts, the ‘whirlwind(s)' – all 27 references - is clearly identified with phenomena caused by or related to God, or the LORD as He often is referred to, or more often as not refers to Himself. Whirlwinds go up, as in the case of Elijah (see immediately below), and they come down, as for example in Ezekiel (see further below).
ELIJAH
Elijah is only one of two people in the Bible who does not die. Why? Here's why!
2 Kings 2:11: And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
*Now we have no idea what really transpired after that abduction, but there are those who maintain that, all these centuries later, Elijah is alive and well and has yet a role to play in that ‘end of days' scenario.
Malachi 4:5: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
*So Elijah is abducted, but will ultimately be returned, sort of like modern UFO/alien abductees, only over a far longer time span.
ENOCH
Enoch is the other of that duo that doesn't die in the Bible. While there is no quasi-UFO event, there is an abduction related scenario according to the Bible.
Genesis 5:24: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
Hebrews 11:5: By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
*If God took him, and God is an ET, then an alien UFO abduction rose-by-any-other-name is still an alien UFO abduction.
EZEKIEL
Ezekiel had that famous UFO encounter recounted in Ezekiel chapter one relating those wheels within wheels and various creatures that looked sort-of like men but weren't. Ezekiel says he had a "vision" of God, but if God is really an extraterrestrial, then Ezekiel had a vision of an extraterrestrial(s) or in modern parlance, a ‘close encounter of the third kind'. Here are the first couple of verses.
Ezekiel 1:4: And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.
Ezekiel 1:5: Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.
Ezekiel 1: 6: And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.
*Ezekiel's close encounter is fairly self-explanatory, and it goes on from there. But what happened after that?
Ezekiel 3:12: Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place.
Ezekiel 3:13: I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing.
Ezekiel 3:14: So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.
Ezekiel 3:15: Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by theriverofChebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.
*All of that sounds a bit like an unwilling UFO abduction to me!
MOSES
Another keyword associated with a possible Biblical UFO event is ‘cloud'. Take Moses for example. Moses too was ‘abducted' in a cloud by God, but, as typical of most abductees, returned safely to earth, or in the case of Moses, the wilderness.
Exodus 19:9: And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud.
Exodus 24:15: And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount.
Exodus 24:18: And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.
Exodus 33:9: And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.
Exodus 34:5: And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him [Moses] there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
MORE UFO CLOUDS
Speaking of clouds as a term for UFOs by those who comprehended the idea of a ‘cloud' but not of an extraterrestrial atmospheric shuttlecraft, we note that a Biblical ‘cloud' actually transports; it goes up and down and contains passengers. Here are a few examples from the Old Testament.
Exodus 13:21: And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.
Exodus 16:10: And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children ofIsrael, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.
*When the Lord assisted His Chosen People out ofEgypt, He didn't hoof it like the Israelites but oversaw events from his aerial ‘cloud'.
Numbers 11:25: And the LORD came down in a cloud.
Numbers 12:5: And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle.
Numbers 12:10: And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle.
*Clearly this ‘cloud' not only has a passenger (the Lord) but lands and takes off.
Deuteronomy 31:15: And the LORD appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle.
*God's own personal aerial limousine again is depicted as a ‘cloud'.
Psalm 104:3: Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind.
*We note the association between (aerial) clouds and transportation (chariots), as well as a hint of actually being airborne. I mean if you're in an aircraft and you move about the cabin, you could be said to be walking on the wings of the wind in a manner of speaking.
Isaiah 19:1: Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come intoEgypt: and the idols ofEgyptshall be moved at his presence, and the heart ofEgyptshall melt in the midst of it.
*Not only does God ride as if a passenger in a cloud, but the ‘cloud' is moving along at a pretty quick-smart pace.
Jeremiah 4:13: Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles.
*A multi-association is depicted between a passenger and clouds and chariots and whirlwinds and speed.
Ezekiel 1:4: And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.
*I repeat the quote of what kick-started Ezekiel's close encounter, but noting specifically the associations between a whirlwind and a cloud as well as fire (akin to that pillar of fire in Exodus?) and brightness. While a whirlwind-cloud might be a tornado, that sort of weather event isn't common in the region and isn't associated with fire and brightness. Besides, this whirlwind-cloud disembarked living creatures.
Ezekiel 10:3: Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.
*Could this be a suggestion of a landed UFO ‘cloud' that first landed and then disembarked a man in an inner courtyard? If the cloud had really been fog then more than just the inner court would have been filled.
UFO ‘clouds' aren't confined to just the Old Testament. The New Testament clouds the issue as well.
Matthew 17:5: While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
Mark 9:7: And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.
Luke 9:34: While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud.
Luke 9:35: And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.
*It would appear that God's cloudy limousine has made the transition from Old to New Testament.
Luke 21:27: And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
*It would also appear that Jesus gets to ride in his daddy's cloudy limo too, or more likely he had one of his own.
Acts 1:9: And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
*Up, up and away he went in a ‘cloud' only to finally vanish from sight.
Revelation 1:7: Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.
Revelation 10:1: And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire.
*What goes up must come down, and so those who from on high who will partake in Armageddon will need to transport on down, and of course the preferred means is via that ‘cloud'.
Revelation 11:12: And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
*What goes down must go up. Mortals hail a taxi; ET thumbs a ride back to his heavenly abode via a ‘cloud'.
UFOs MIMIC STARS
Another possible UFO connection could be a ‘star'. While most references in the Bible that refer to stars really do refer to those celestial stellar objects; most, but not quite all. There's that one famous exception – the Star of Bethlehem.
Matthew 2:9:When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
*Alas for a natural explanation, no celestial objects (apart from the North Polar Star Polaris) ever stand still since the Earth rotates, and one assumes that the North Star was a familiar object – which was in the north and not in the east in any event. This was obviously not a standard celestial sight, and since it ‘guided' people to a specific destination then stood still, well that implies intelligence. Therefore this is another case of a Biblical UFO under the direction of ET.
CHARIOTS
Chariots are an obvious choice as something associated with UFOs, especially given Erich Von Daniken's best seller "Chariots of the Gods". Most chariots in the Bible are clearly your standard horse-drawn ground vehicle. Of course there are exceptions.
2 Kings 2:11: And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
*I repeat this famous passage to illustrate the association of a chariot with an up, up and away whirlwind.
Psalm 104:3: Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind.
*I repeat this verse to indicate the cloud-chariot connection as well as the other aerial connection of walking-wings-wind.
Jeremiah 4:13: Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles.
*I repeat this verse to point out the connection of a chariot with both the whirlwind and clouds. The horses are given an aerial connection being compared to eagles, all the more obvious since the "he" in question is ascending.
Isaiah 66:15: For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
*We note the association with the whirlwind; the implication that the chariots are airborne.
Zechariah 6:1: And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.
Zechariah 6:2: In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses.
Zechariah 6:3:And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses.
*Zechariah must have been puffing on the good stuff. The four chariots appear to be aerial coming out from between two mountains, mountains that were made of brass – WTF? Further, all the horses aren't pulling the chariots; they are "in" the chariots!
FLYING ROLLS
And whatever are we to make of this incident? Is he doing some more puffing on the weed perhaps? What transpires in Zechariah is hardly an incident that anyone would suggest is an alien abduction, nor is there a cloud noted, but it's still obviously a close encounter of the third kind.
Zechariah 5:1: Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll.
Zechariah 5:2: And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.
*A "flying roll" is a near perfect description for a standard disc-shaped UFO. Now a cubit is roughly equal to 18 to 22 inches, so let's call it 20 inches even. That makes the "flying roll" 400 inches in length and 200 inches in breadth, or a bit over 33 feet in length and a bit over 16.5 feet in breadth. That's pretty good ballpark figures when compared to your average run-of-the-mill modern UFO sighting.
Zechariah 5:9: Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.
*These winged females are not identified in any shape, manner or form as being angels. In fact they aren't identified as anything at all, except winged females.
WINGED HUMANOIDS
While non-human entities in the Bible aren't depicted with green skin, or pointed ears or antenna or oozing slime or hoisting ray-guns, there are certainly some out-of-this-world creatures in the Bible. The most notable of these are the winged beings called the Cherubim and the Seraphim. [Note: despite popular depictions, angels aren't winged.]
Exodus 25:20: And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high.
2 Chronicles 3:13: The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward.
Isaiah 6:2: Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
JESUS, THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL
John 8:23: And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of thisworld; I am not of this world.
*Though one could put this statement in a supernatural context, one could just as easily interpret this as having an extraterrestrial context.
So there you have it. This is by no means an exhaustive list of relatively suggestive close encounters as related in the Bible. For more of same, see my further suggested reading list immediately below.
Further readings: While dozens of books on ‘ancient astronauts' and UFOs will discuss the more famous of the Biblical UFO events, there's more to Biblical UFOs than just The Star ofBethlehemand the Wheel of Ezekiel.
Blumrich, Josef F.;
The Spaceships of Ezekiel; Bantam,New York; 1974:
Dean, John W.;
Flying Saucers and the Scriptures; Vantage Press,New York; 1964:
Downing, Barry H.;
The Bible & Flying Saucers;Avon,New York; 1968:
Jessup, Morris K;
UFO and the Bible; Citadel Press,New York; 1956:
Leonard, R.;
Flying Saucers, Ancient Writings and the Bible; Exposition Press,New York; 1969:
Article Source:
http://www.articlesbase.com/new-age-articles/biblical-ufos-abductions-and-ancient-astronauts-5928151.html
About the Author
Science librarian; retired.
