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00:00 It's said that God created the universe in six days, that Jesus, the son of God, performed
00:05 miracles during his time on earth, that Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are the supreme forces driving
00:11 reality, or that Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, can lead us to spiritual nirvana.
00:16 Figures and stories such as these are the foundation for humankind's most widely followed
00:20 religions.
00:22 But since the coming of the space age, and with our rapidly growing cosmological knowledge,
00:26 could a revolution of faith take hold?
00:29 This is Unveiled, and today we're answering the extraordinary question; is God an alien?
00:38 Do you need the big questions answered?
00:40 Are you constantly curious?
00:41 Then why not subscribe to Unveiled for more clips like this one?
00:44 And ring the bell for more thought-provoking content!
00:50 Exotheology emerged as a budding academic field in the 1960s and 70s.
00:54 In general, it represents a major meeting point between science and religion.
00:59 Scientists are tied up in trying to achieve an understanding of religious concepts in
01:03 relation to potential extraterrestrial intelligence.
01:06 How would our belief systems cope should alien life be found?
01:10 Would they prosper or fail?
01:11 Could religion ever account for aliens in itself?
01:14 And would an extraterrestrial lifeform have religion of its own?
01:18 At around the same time as exotheology was establishing itself, the "ancient astronauts"
01:22 theory was started up.
01:24 Peddled most notably by the Swiss writer Erich von Däniken in his 1968 book, Chariots of
01:29 the Gods, plus several follow-ups.
01:31 While exotheology is generally considered a valid pursuit, von Däniken's ideas are
01:36 typically deemed controversial and unfounded.
01:39 For instance, his claims towards various ancient monuments as having been built by aliens rather
01:43 than humans.
01:45 Critics say that there was never any evidence for such claims, and modern research has continually
01:49 shown that sites such as the pyramids in Stonehenge were built by human hands alone.
01:54 But nevertheless, the wider merging of humanity's ideas about divine figures with the search
01:59 for alien life has continued into the modern day, although in different directions.
02:04 The Reverend Professor David Wilkinson, Principal of St. John's College at Durham University
02:09 in the UK, is one high-profile figure with variously perhaps controversial views on record.
02:15 In 2013, he published the book Science, Religion and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.
02:21 On the one hand, Wilkinson is a Methodist minister, but on the other, he's an astrophysicist
02:26 and a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
02:30 Speaking to The Northern Echo again in 2013, he tells of keeping an open mind, and on the
02:35 subject of the vastness of the universe, he says, "Surely there must be another Earth-like
02:40 planet out there, and surely there must be other life."
02:43 Toward the end of the article, he's quoted as saying, "Often we find a God who's more
02:47 surprising and extravagant than we ever imagined."
02:51 Professor Wilkinson's comments are generally more concerned with how we might tally the
02:55 discovery of alien life with long-held religious views.
02:58 He never insinuates that God himself is an alien, however others have done.
03:03 For example, the Reverend John Polk, from North Carolina in the US, published in 2015
03:09 a book called "Yahweh the Biblical God is an Alien".
03:13 It weighed in at more than 200 pages, with variously repeating claims that all of our
03:17 god-like figures are actually alien beings, and that Polk had been selected as a "seer"
03:23 to channel the true message.
03:24 Perhaps unsurprisingly, the book, which has been criticised as "made-up" and "poorly
03:29 written", has never been taken seriously on anything close to a wider scale.
03:33 There have been other occasions, however, when similarly subversive views have caught
03:38 on - and sometimes in a big way.
03:41 Probably the most infamous example is in the Church of Scientology, which features the
03:45 figure of Xenu in its particular legend as to how life came to Earth.
03:49 According to Scientologists, Xenu was an ET ruler - an alien overlord, if you will - who
03:54 populated Earth with intelligent beings 75 million years ago.
03:58 Of course, none of that checks out in mainstream science, but it also flies in the face of
04:03 conventional religion.
04:04 So, while Scientology is vague on the concept of God itself, it might be said that it suggests
04:10 that yes, God is an alien.
04:12 But as New Age as Scientology might seem, it actually isn't that new of a concept.
04:17 The Aetherius Society was founded by George King, a London cab driver, in 1954, after
04:24 King claimed to have received a message telling him to "prepare yourself, you are to become
04:29 the voice of interplanetary parliament".
04:32 From that point, King claimed to have been able to channel what the Society refers to
04:36 as "Cosmic Masters", and here's where our particular question comes into play.
04:41 In short, a Cosmic Master is a supreme alien being.
04:44 Aetherius itself is said to be one - an advanced extraterrestrial that King had a direct line
04:50 of telepathic communication with.
04:52 However, and according to the Society, most of the most well-known and widely followed
04:57 religious figures are Cosmic Masters, too.
04:59 Jesus, the Buddha, Krishna… there's a long list of deities and prophets that are
05:04 said to be somehow involved.
05:06 From belief systems all over the world.
05:08 Many of the key moments and symbols of religious belief were also redrawn by King and his followers,
05:13 such as the Star of Bethlehem, which gets rethought of as a UFO.
05:17 Again, perhaps predictably, the Aetherius Society has faced heavy criticism over the
05:22 years.
05:23 King claimed that he held variously superior titles, including an obscure form of knighthood
05:28 in the UK, but most of those have been discredited.
05:31 The sceptic James Randi, among others, has spoken out against the Society before.
05:35 Meanwhile, its apparent teachings have seemingly struggled to keep up with contemporary scientific
05:40 knowledge.
05:41 For example, followers are told that most key figures come from planets and places within
05:46 the solar system, such as Jesus and the Buddha who are said to come from Venus.
05:51 But there has been little to no evidence so far that this could be true… of anything,
05:56 let alone of Jesus and the Buddha, specifically.
05:58 Instead, it might be argued that King's original story was limited by the scope of
06:02 what was known at the time, and is let down by the wealth of what is known today.
06:07 Nevertheless, the Society does still exist many decades on.
06:12 King died in 1997, but members believe that he is now a cosmic master as well.
06:17 In terms of numbers, it's thought that the Society today is a small but international
06:21 group.
06:22 So, is God an alien?
06:24 Clearly, it's a question wrapped up in all manner of other questions before and after
06:28 it.
06:29 Does God exist?
06:30 Whose God is the right one?
06:32 Do aliens exist?
06:34 How advanced could any one alien lifeform ever become?
06:37 There have been, and are still ongoing, numerous controversial attempts to suggest that yes,
06:43 what we know as a God could actually be an ET.
06:47 From the Aetherius Society to Scientology, there are groups that seemingly bow to the
06:52 higher knowledge of an off-Earth force.
06:54 In many cases, however, the line between alternate belief and dangerous cult is pretty thin.
07:00 What's your verdict?
07:02 Let us know in the comments.
07:04 Meanwhile, there are those such as Reverend Professor Wilkinson who are busy mulling over
07:08 slightly less blockbuster notions.
07:10 Because the relationship between our understanding of aliens and the idea we have on divine beings
07:16 is certainly an interesting one.
07:18 Wonder for a moment if an advanced alien civilization does exist somewhere in the cosmos - a Kardashev
07:24 Type Three or higher.
07:26 If we were to somehow cross paths with that group, they would certainly appear godlike
07:30 in many ways.
07:32 Such an event would surely rattle the faith of many followers of any religion, and for
07:36 some, it would shatter their beliefs entirely.
07:39 But on the other hand, an advanced alien group could never really be a god - at least, not
07:44 to those in monotheistic religions.
07:47 They would be more than one - god is the only one.
07:50 Jump up something like the Kardashev Scale to Types Five or higher, however, and eventually
07:54 you might get to a level that isn't really a civilization anymore, but rather it's a
07:58 supreme force.
08:00 An indefinable but also unbeatable quantity that knows and understands and sees literally
08:05 everything.
08:06 At that point, is it a god?
08:08 Maybe.
08:09 Is it still an alien?
08:10 Maybe not.
08:11 Again, be sure to let us know what you think in the comments.
08:14 Since the mid-twentieth century especially, humankind has looked to the stars with new
08:18 vigour.
08:19 In ancient times, those twinkling lights were understood by some to directly correspond
08:25 with the gods that they followed.
08:26 Of course, that's no longer the case, and even our most entrenched beliefs have somewhat
08:31 moved on.
08:32 But might the universe still one day reveal a greater link?
08:35 Or, as lowly humans, are we always destined to wonder what's out there, but never know
08:40 for sure?
08:42 What do you think?
08:43 Is there anything we missed?
08:44 Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you
08:48 subscribe and ring the bell for our latest content.