Lights in the Sky and Little Green Men: A Review

December 8, 2003
By GREGORY J. RUMMO

      LAST SUMMER, ATTENTION was focused on the southern skies, where Mars appeared brighter than usual. Its orbit had placed it within 35 million miles of Earth, the closest the two planets have been in 60,000 years.

      The curious were drawn outdoors, hoping to catch a brighter than normal glimpse of the red planet. Some, no doubt, came away pondering the existence of extraterrestrials.

      Interest in UFO phenomenon continues to fuel the success of movies such as “Signs,” and “Contact” as well as TV Shows like “The X-Files” and more recently, Steven Spielberg’s “Taken.”

      For millennia, man has wondered whether he is alone in the universe. Organizations such as the SETI Institute (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence), founded in 1984, employs more than 100 scientists, educators, and support staff in its quest to "explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe." To date, they've come up empty.

      The assumption that there must be life somewhere else in the universe is rooted in the philosophies of evolution and naturalism. It goes something like this: Given the sheer numbers of stars and the possibilities of planetary systems orbiting them, the probabilities of there being another earthlike planet where evolution occurred is significant.

      Swiss author Erich Von Daniken - founder of the Archaeology, Astronautics, and SETI Research Association - has been weighing in on the subject since the 1970s with his bestseller "Chariots of the Gods: Unsolved Mysteries of the Past."

      "On a clear night, the naked eye can see about 4,500 stars, so the astronomers say. The telescope of even a small observatory makes nearly 2,000,000 stars visible and a modern reflecting telescope brings the light from thousands of millions more to the viewer," writes Von Daniken, and he concludes there must be at least 100,000 planets upon which "civilizations more advanced than our own could have developed." Much of the book cites "dramatic discoveries" such as "an alien astronaut preserved in a pyramid" and "a giant spaceport in the Andes" that Von Daniken offers as "irrefutable evidence that Earth has been visited repeatedly by advanced aliens from other worlds." Though Von Daniken's claims have been debunked by reputable experts, he continues to promote his theories by writing, lecturing, appearing in films and TV specials, and maintaining a multilingual Web site (www.daniken.com). This year, he even launched a Mystery Park in Switzerland.

      The Bible is silent about the existence of life on other worlds. With the exception of the angelic host - both good and evil - nowhere in Scripture is it explicitly stated that there are other races of beings anywhere in the universe that might give rise to UFOs.

      Genesis simply states God created celestial objects solely: "to divide the day from the night ... for signs and seasons ... for days and years ... to give light on the earth," (Genesis 1:14-15).

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This thesis is supported in a book recently published on the subject. The authors of "Lights in the Sky and Little Green Men," (NavPress, Colorado Springs, Colo., 2002), demonstrate convincingly that "both physical and nonphysical data argue against an extraterrestrial hypothesis for UFOs," while claiming the evidence supports the "extradimensional hypothesis ...a scientifically and biblically credible view of reality."

      The book is written by Hugh Ross, who holds a Ph.D. in astronomy; Kenneth Samples, a theologian; and Mark Clark, a professor of political science and director of the national security studies program at California State University in San Bernardino. Their diverse backgrounds provide a balanced, thorough understanding of the UFO-extraterrestrial phenomenon, which is composed of many different elements, among them: natural phenomena, belief in government coverups, and the cultic nature of many human-UFO interactions providing strong evidence for their interdimensional and demonic origin.

      The first two chapters are written by Samples. They explain the UFO craze and the different types of UFOs. "Most UFOs become IFOs (identified flying objects)," he writes. "In fact, John Spencer, British ufologist and the editor of The UFO Encyclopedia asserts, 'It is important to note that over 90 percent, possibly 95 percent, of UFO reports received are turned into IFOs and explained satisfactorily.'" In the three following chapters, Ross addresses whether life on other planets is possible, the probabilities of evolution, and the difficulties associated with interstellar space travel.

      He demonstrates that the number of stars in the cosmos with planets of any size is significantly less than Carl Sagan's ubiquitous estimates. In a section titled "Hospitable Habitats," he makes this statement: "A calculation of the probability for there existing just one naturally occurring planet anywhere in the observable universe with the capacity to support physical life is less than one chance in 10 raised to the 174th power.," a conclusion he backs up in a substantial appendix.

      Other topics in the book include UFO cults, alien abductions, government conspiracies, the Bible and UFOs, the interdimensional hypothesis, and RUFOs -residual unidentified flying objects or those UFOs "that make repeat visits to certain witnesses and sites."

      The writers of "The X-Files," portrayed many of these elements in the weekly television series that had FBI agent Fox Mulder (played by David Duchovny) attempting to expose a government coverup to breed alien-human hybrids. "The truth is out there" was the caption on a poster depicting a famous photograph of an alleged UFO on the wall in Mulder's office. I was a loyal fan of the show for much of its nine seasons.

      Despite the fact that it was science fiction, Agent Mulder was right about one thing: The truth about UFOs can be known.

      Ross concludes: "Indeed, the UFO mystery is a mystery solved. Earth is not being visited by aliens from another planet but some people are being visited by spirit beings who want everyone to think they are aliens from another planet. By trusting the revelation given by the Greatest Transdimensional Being of them all, people never need wonder about UFOs again. When people put their lives in the hands of this Cause of human existence, this God who loves every person, the fear of UFO demons and what they can do evaporates." n

Gregory J. Rummo is a syndicated columnist.