Paper short abstract:

This presentation explores the UFO phenomenon in relation to religious transformations in modern times in and through technology and alternative spiritualities, challenging scholars to think beyond an outdated secular/religious paradigm and reimagine current academic practices.

Paper long abstract:

In 2017, the New York Times published a story detailing a U.S. Department of Defense program called the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, which secretly funded research to study UFOs. The article introduced new terminology, referring to such objects as UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena). On July 26, 2023, during a congressional UFO hearing, retired Air Force Intelligence officer David Grusch testified under oath that the US military held nonhuman technical crafts, reverse engineered by private entities, and that nonhuman "biologics" had been recovered – all concealed from the public. This resulted in UFOs entering mainstream discourse, with the US government actively exploring themes of time travel, advanced states of evolution, magical technologies, and communication with nonhuman intelligences – themes rooted in modern currents of religion and alternative spirituality. Such otherworldly revelations prompt us to consider how it has come about that the UFO phenomenon – a secular-scientific imaginary – has intertwined with new expressions of religiosity? As the stigma associated with UFOs continues to fade, it will have major consequences for religion and religious studies scholars, especially regarding the relationship between religion, secularity, technology, and media. The implications of a “potentially real” UFO phenomenon present a challenge to the secularization thesis, as well as to notions of post-secularity. This challenge brings into focus the connection between technological advancement and transformations of modern religiosity, redrawing our map of reality and our experience of ourselves (who are we in here) and the Other (who is out there).