Joe Rogan and Tucker Discuss Whether UFOs Are Ancient Aliens... or Demonic
I doubt seriously that Satan and his demons travel at 500 knots underwater in white cylinders
Well, this one caught my ear: Tucker Carlson going on Joe Rogan’s podcast to discuss the nature of the UFO phenomena that the U.S. government, after 70 years of denials, now concedes are real.
What especially intrigued me was Carlson’s claim that UFO phenomena are clearly “supernatural” in nature, and not obviously good.
Although he did not immediately use the word, “not obviously good” supernatural phenomena would generally be called demonic.
I was sort of half listening when Carlson pointed to the Bible, of all places, as evidence that “these things” have been making appearances for “thousands of years.” Specially, he pointed to the oracles of the prophet Ezekiel where he speaks of “wheels in the sky” (Ezekiel 1:1-48:22).
This immediately set off my Bible reading alarm bells, since it sounded suspiciously like the “Chariots of the Gods” and ancient aliens school of Old Testament exegesis. For decades, authors have been peddling the idea that Ezekiel was describing ancient alien astronauts in passages like this:
“As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal. And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures... Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them (Ezk 1: 4-5,15, ESV).
Clearly, what the Hebrew prophet was describing was flying saucers of some kind!
“The Old Testament gives some impressive descriptions in which God alone or his angels fly straight down from heaven making a tremendous noise and issuing clouds of smoke,” explains Erich von Däniken, the grandfather of ancient astronaut blockbusters, in Chariots of the Gods. “One of the most original descriptions of such incidents comes to us from the prophet Ezekiel… Ezekiel gives precise details of the landing of this vehicle. He describes a craft that comes from the north, emitting rays and gleaming and raising a gigantic cloud of desert sand.”
Of course, mainstream evangelical, Catholic and Jewish Biblical scholars have long ago dismissed such bizarre claims. The vision that Ezekiel describes in obvious, common apocalyptic language (see the Book of Revelation) is not a literal description of ancient astronauts – each with four faces and four wings – but a lament that God’s presence, the Skekhinah, was departing from Zion, a “nation of rebels.” (It is strange that the ancient astronauts, if that’s what the prophet saw, also told him, “I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me.”)
But I digress. Despite Carlson’s flirting with fringe Biblical exegesis, his larger point is even more startling. In his opinion, which is common among some Christians today, the UFO phenomena are “supernatural” in nature and have nothing to do with aliens, ancient or modern. Instead, they are “spiritual beings.”
“They've been here for thousands of years whatever they are and it's pretty clear to me that they're spiritual entities -- whatever that means – and supernatural,” Carlson says.
One reason Carlson gives for why this is “obviously” the case is that we monitor the skies all the time and have never seen anything come bursting through the atmosphere to visit us. More ominously, Carlson speculates that, whatever these UFO phenomena are, elements within our government are likely in contact with them and are “serving a bad force.”
Carlson makes the claim that, prior to the dropping of the atomic bomb in 1945, “all civilizations before us” would have seen UFO phenomena as self-evidently supernatural and contact with dimensions beyond our own.
Fair enough. That is probably true. But then again, “all civilizations before us” may have seen epilepsy as evidence of demonic possession, as well.
In any event, Joe Rogan wasn’t buying it.
He clearly prefers what Carlson calls the “science fiction” explanation of UFO phenomena.
Could it be that advanced Romulan civilizations from beyond our galaxy or dimension have, over thousands or even millions of years, developed advanced “anti-gravity” propulsion systems that defy the laws of physics, at least as we understand them – such as the ability to travel underwater at 500 knots?
That seems, to Rogan, a simpler explanation.
The two speculate about where some of our advanced technology, such as nuclear technology, “really” came from.
Could it be that UFOs crash landing on earth are a kind of “donation” of technology that we are meant to “reverse engineer”?
Anyway, one thing is clear: there is indeed a lot more to the UFO story than we are being told. The recently declassified military sightings require some explanation.
And on one point Carlson is clearly correct: our newly woke military is great at promoting transgender inclusivity but probably not so great at stopping Romulan warbirds. Under Joe Biden, they can’t even stop the Taliban!
Personally, I’m skeptical of both UFO explanations, the sci-fi and the supernatural.
I doubt seriously that Satan and his demons travel at 500 knots underwater in white cylinders... and I also don’t think there is strong evidence that UFO phenomena are visitations from alien worlds in space, either.
At least, not yet.
Given what we now know, my guess – and it is, I admit, equally preposterous – is that UFOs reflect secret advanced technology that the U.S. and other governments have developed and don’t want us mere taxpayers to know anything about, not even Navy pilots.
In any event, as always I found Carlson and Rogan’s discussion of a clearly forbidden topic to be fascinating. Check it out if you have the time.
Robert J. Hutchinson writes about “Disputed Questions” at his Substack newsletter of the same name. He is the author of many books, including Searching for Jesus: New Discoveries in the Quest for Jesus of Nazareth.