About this episode

The episode explores the intersection of belief in UFOs and spirituality, featuring discussions with experts on religion and anthropology.

Religion is often about powerful beings coming down from the skies and humans yearning to go up to join them. Does that mean we can swap aliens in for God? More and more people seem to think so. In fact, many spiritually-minded people are looking to UFOs as opportunities to commune with enlightened alien teachers. Some believe they’re even aliens themselves, sent here to prepare us for a new age. But when religion gets mixed with conspiracy theory, things can sometimes take a darker turn. Join Dave as he speaks with religious studies professor Diana Walsh Pasulka, about what belief in UFOs might share with other religions, and with anthropologist Susannah Crockford about how and why conspiracy theories are giving rise to a new spiritual movement. Diana Walsh Pasulka is the author of Encounters: Experiences with Nonhuman Intelligence and American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology. Find out more about her work on her website . Susannah Crockford is the author of Ripples of the Universe: Spirituality in Sedona, Arizona, and the host of the show Miss Information , a podcast about the ways online misinformation and conspiracy theories infiltrate wellness communities and conservative…

People in this episode

Host: Dave

Guests: Diana Walsh Pasulka, Susannah Crockford

Topics covered

• aliens
• spirituality
• UFOs
• religion
• conspiracy theories
• new spiritual movement

Keywords

• aliens
• spirituality
• UFOs
• religion
• conspiracy theories
• Diana Walsh Pasulka
• Susannah Crockford

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: PRX, Miss Information

Books & works: Encounters: Experiences with Nonhuman Intelligence, American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology, Ripples of the Universe: Spirituality in Sedona, Arizona

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