"Truth is born of arguments". This is a common and banal statement may be used by some cynical minds to justify and fraud in scientific discussions, and moldovitei in the parliaments of many countries, and the outbreak of the local and Ecumenical conflicts. However, this aphorism is an axiom, as she would not Navassa on the teeth.

In approaches to the UFO problem clearly visible two trends that are already many decades oppose and resist each other with varying success. The first is the full recognition of the existence of the phenomenon, the second - its absolute rejection and denial. One can only hope that this endless dispute humanity sooner or later (the second most probably) knows the truth.

However, there is another approach to the problem of unidentified flying objects. For the unsophisticated public it is quite unusual and non-standard. The carrier and the conductor of this view of the above phenomenon is the Church.
Small but very deep in content the essay famous Russian Orthodox ascetic and theologian of hieromonk Seraphim (rose) "Signs in the heaven: the Orthodox explanation of unidentified flying objects" will help to understand the problems of dishes from the point of view of Christian theology and Christian traditions.
First, a few words about the author.

Father Seraphim came from ordinary American Protestant family, who lived in southern California. During his school years he has lost faith in the Protestant Christ, feeling the immorality of this direction of Christianity, dabbled in Zen Buddhism, fond of Nietzscheanism. In the book by F., Nietzsche "the Antichrist," the future hieromonk shrewdly felt accurate representation of our time - the spirit of disobedience to Christ. Being globalisasi, he thought: if the Antichrist (Nietzsche) so true is felt in our "modern" modern life is clearly negative, then can it be, that Christ, as the opposite of the Antichrist, there are really living a positive reality against which the Antichrist rises to this day? This prompted him to seek a genuine historical Christ. In 1961, he turned to Holy Orthodoxy, in 1963, became one of the founders of the brotherhood, and later - the monastery of the monk Herman of Alaska in California. Hieromonk Seraphim is the author of several books on modern spiritual life of a Christian, he is widely known in the West for his work "the religion of the future, which shows the process of the establishment of the religion of Antichrist modern Oriental Christian cults and sects. Father Seraphim died on September 2, 1982, he was only 40 years.

This one, with minor cuts, the essay.
"Decades after the Second world war witnessed a remarkable expansion in Eastern religious cults and their influence; however, they are characterized by the emergence and development of other phenomena which at first sight absolutely no connection with religion, but on closer examination turns out to be the same witness of the "new religious consciousness" and the sign "poslegarantiynoe era"as the Eastern cults. We are talking about unidentified flying objects (UFOs), which presumably was observed in all parts of the world since 1947.
...This phenomenon are interested in rather serious and responsible people, so were organized even state research and has published several books of famous scientists. These studies were not achieved positive results in the identification of the objects as physical reality. The latest assumptions scientists seem to be more satisfactory, they fail already to the borders of reality"... to the spiritual reality, to study which scientists do not have any opportunities.

The renowned Swiss psychologist K. G. Jung in his book "Flying saucers: a modern myth of things seen in the skies" (1959) examines these phenomena primarily as something psychological and religious. In the same direction trying to think and modern researchers.

Approaching the UFO phenomenon with religious and psychological hand, we must first understand the history of the issue in this aspect: what people are willing to see in the sky? The answer to this question can be found in the overview of the science fiction literature.

"'Contacts" UFO - not that other, as modern form of an occult phenomenon that existed many centuries. People fell from Christ and await the "saviors" of space - that's why the phenomenon and gives the images of interplanetary ships and aliens.

Modern researchers... because of the incompetence in the field of religious phenomena can not realize the significance of his own discoveries. American scientist John keel, however, who began the study of UFOs from a position of skepticism as a staunch unbeliever agnostic, writes: "the True history of the UFO is a story about spirits and ghosts, about the strange mental disorders, on the invisible world around us and sometimes breaks into our world... In General, properties and characteristics are minor variations of known many centuries phenomena demonology" (j. Keel. UFO: operation "Trojan horse". New York, 1970. P.46, 229).

In the Preface to the bibliographic list of UFO phenomena, prepared by the library of Congress for the scientific Department of the US air force, States that "many of the published in the popular press authentic stories about UFOs strikingly similar to demon possession and mental phenomena, long familiar theologians and parapsychologists" (Lynn, Keto. UFO and similar theme. Washington, 1969). Most UFO researchers are now looking for the answer to the field of occult and demonology.

Even the most mysterious phenomenon of UFOs it is no surprise to readers of Orthodox spiritual books, and especially the lives of saints. Demons also have a physical body, but the matter is they are so thin, that they may not be visible to the person if his spiritual doors of perception are not open with God's permission (as saints) or against God (as the magicians and mediums) (see the doctrine of Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov in the book the Soul after death").

Orthodox literature provides many examples of the phenomena of demons who exactly fit into the scheme of UFOs: seeing creatures and objects that are instantly materialized and dematerialized always in order to intimidate the people and to bring them to destruction (see the life of St. Anthony the Great, St. Cyprian, the former sorcerer).

Phenomena of today's "flying saucers" it is within the powers of demons "technology", Diverse devilish delusion were adapted to the mythology of space... the purpose of UFOs in such contacts are very clear: to put people in awe, to create a sense of "mystery" and give evidence for the existence of "a higher form of intelligence" - "visitors from outer space" for the modern man.

Story about the activity of demons were common in the past centuries. But the modern man, with all his "enlightenment" not that the Christian principles, which would explain phenomena such as UFOs, and the sign of the spiritual crisis of our days. The physical world has a moral neutrality and may be relatively well-known objective observer; but the invisible, spiritual world inhabited by beings of good and evil, and objective observer cannot distinguish between them, if you do not accept the revelation, which gave man the invisible God.

A true evaluation of the UFO can only be done on the basis of Christian revelation and experience and are available only to the humble Christian. Of course, the human is unable to fully explain the invisible world of angels and demons, but he has only Christian knowledge to understand how these beings act in our world and how we should respond to their actions, especially how to avoid demonic networks. UFO researchers concluded that the study of a phenomenon similar to a "demonic", but only the Christian - Orthodox Christian, enlightened patristic interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, and two thousand years of experience of contact, of the saints with the invisible world of spirits that can quite understand their meaning.
Why UFOs appeared in this period of human history? What is their mission?

First of all, the UFO phenomena’is just part of an astonishing outpouring of anomalous phenomena that just a few years ago most would consider miracles. "Observation unusual incidents suddenly came to us by the thousands, causing the displacement familiar to people foundations and beliefs". In Christian language, this means: the human race has come a new invasion of demons. According to the Christian apocalyptic view, we see that vulture, still holding the last and most terrible manifestation of demonic activity on earth has been taken out of the way (2 Thess. 2, 7). The Christian world view no longer exists as a unified whole, and Satan is loosed out of his prison, where he was held the grace of the Church of Christ, is released in order to "deceive the Nations" (Rev. 20,7-8), to prepare them to worship the Antichrist in the end times. Perhaps, never before from the beginning of the Christian faith demons appeared so openly and widely as it is today. The theory of "visitors from outer space" is just one of the methods by which they try to convince people that "higher beings" are now to take the destiny of mankind.

UFO - only the latest of mediumistic techniques by which the devil recruiting supporters of his occult world. It's a terrible sign that man, as never before, it has become susceptible to demonic influence. Humanity has lost what remained of the Christian worldview, and now passively provides itself in orderof any powers can descend from heaven. The famous American film, Close encounters of the third kind is a shocking revelation superstitions modern man, who is ready immediately, "without doubt", to follow the demons wherever they might lead.

Finally, the mission UFO is to prepare the way for the Antichrist. Perhaps he himself will descend from heaven, in order to be like Christ; maybe only "visitors from outer space" will land in front of everyone, to make "space" worship his master; perhaps the "fire from heaven" (Rev. 13,13) will be part of the great demonic spectacles of the last times. Anyway, the message of the devil contemporary mankind is: wait for the release, but not of the Christian revelation and faith in an unseen God, but from the "space aliens".

Already more than 100 years ago Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov in his book On miracles and signs" (Yaroslavl, 1870) noted "the desire, which meets the modern Christian society to see miracles and even do miracles... Such a striving reveals the deception based on pride and vanity that live in the soul, and have it" (C. 32). The true miracle workers have become rare and disappear, but the people "thirst for miracles more than ever... We are getting closer to the time when this opens a wide field for numerous and striking false miracles to bring to ruin those unfortunate descendants carnal philosophizing, which will be tempted and seduced by these miracles" (C. 46-49;. "The miracles of Antichrist will mostly occur in the air element, where the main domain of Satan. Signs will act on the vision, charming and deceiving. St. John the Theologian, contemplating the events protekauschie the end of the world, says that the Antichrist will do great signs, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven to the earth before men" (Rev. 13, 13)... "People will not understand that the miracles of Antichrist have no good purpose, no particular meaning that they are alien to the truth, filled with lies, that is terrible, evil, pointless mummery, which grows to hit, to immerse into confusion and forgetfulness, to Deceive, to seduce, to attract enchantment pompous, empty stupid effects" (C. 11). "All phenomena devils possess a common property - even the slightest attention given to them, already dangerous: one only care admitted even without any sympathy for the phenomenon, people can be captured by the bad impression and be subjected to a severe temptation" (C. 50). Thousands of "the UFO contactees" and even simple witnesses have experienced the dreadful truth of these words, and a few managed to escape after they were involved in these contacts seriously.

Even worldly UFO researchers considered it our duty to warn people against dangers. So, mentioned John keel, writes: "Jokes with UFOs as bad as jokes with black magic... Paranoid schizophrenia, demonomaniya and even suicide can understand them and have learned. A mild curiosity about the UFOs can turn in destructive obsession. For this reason I strongly recommend that parents kept children from these interests. School teachers and other adults should not encourage teenagers to take an interest in this subject" (Upon. back With. 220).

The UFO phenomenon is a sign for Orthodox Christians, that they are even more sobriety were on the way to salvation, knowing that they will be tempted and enter into temptation not only false religions, and false signs. In the early centuries Christians with great care belonged to all kinds of strange phenomena, remembering the snares of the devil, but when the era of "enlightenment", the majority began to treat him with curiosity, pushing the devil in pravoobladanie region. True understanding of the nature of UFOs should serve as a tool for revival of Orthodox Christians to a conscious spiritual life and a conscious Orthodox worldview".

Comments:

Isn't that a very unconventional approach to all known issue, philosophy and deep analysis in the examination of the "UFO phenomenon" in this article, undoubtedly, present, albeit unusual, theological point of view. Perhaps, however, be objected: "what For to demonize let strange, unexplained, but still a phenomenon of Nature. What to look for mysticism where humanity got used to describe phenomena with the help of the equations and formulas". But the thing is that if we consider UFO effects with the notorious "materialistic" positions, it is necessary to analyze the statistics of contacts with UFOs and the results of their direct effects on humans. In this situation, the view is alarming and even frightening picture.

The units of the cases virtuous interaction (healing from incurable diseases, salvation in a desperate, deadly situations) are hundreds, even thousands of precedents of the harmful influence of UFOs to a person and the human community as a whole (the cases of abductee, electric rays of unknown nature, the destruction of the equipment, theft of natural resources, etc.).

The Christian Church has a background of a two-thousand-year history of development and modern technogenic civilization, which has the position that humanity is trying to understand the UFO phenomena, were under a couple of centuries. Is to listen to the advice of the elders and to learn from them invaluable experience.