UFOs in 7th Day Advantists and Mormonism
And a Telling Exception, Jehovah’s Witnesses

Adapted from Daniel O'Connor's book "Only Man Bears his Image"

Seventh Day Adventism - claims a new revelation

Seventh Day Adventism was a Millerite sect founded in 1868, which was largely based on the “revelations” of Ellen White, whom the Smithsonian magazine named to their list of “100 Most Significant Americans of All Time.” Far more successful than Swedenborg’s “Church” described above, this one still counts over 22 million members worldwide. Not only does it teach extraterrestrials exist, but that very belief was part and parcel to the sect’s formation:

Seventh-day Adventism emerged in the 19th century in part as a solution to theological problems stemming from the possibility of extraterrestrial life. The prophetess, Ellen White, described visions of extraterrestrial beings in different worlds that were “tall, majestic people” and entirely without sin.[298]

Lest anyone is tempted to regard these “revelations” as authentic developments from the Holy Spirit, we should hasten to consider that they teach, among other heresies, that the Catholic Church is the “Whore of Babylon” (cf. Revelation 17), the Pope is the Antichrist, worshipping on Sunday—the Lord’s Day—is the Mark of the Beast, the elect cannot arrive at Heaven until the Last Judgment, people go nto a long "soul sleep" after death, and hell is not eternal (“annihilationism”).

These are only a few of the explicit heresies that White’s “revelations” teach, therefore we can be certain that the messages are either man-made or demon-made. Among White’s “revelations” was the following description of the aliens:

The Lord has given me a view of other worlds. Wings were given me, and an angel attended me from the city to a place that was bright and glorious. ... The inhabitants of the place were of all sizes; they were noble, majestic, and lovely... I asked one of them why they were so much more lovely than those on the earth. The reply was, “We have lived in strict obedience to the commandments of God, and have not fallen by disobedience, like those on the earth.” ... Then I was taken to a world which had seven moons. ... I could not bear the thought of coming back to this dark world again. Then the angel said, “You must go back, and if you are faithful, you with the 144,000 shall have the privilege of visiting all the worlds...”[299]

White’s false revelations not only mandated belief in extraterrestrials (it is official Seventh Day Adventist doctrine that White is a prophet and messages are “a continuing and authoritative source of truth”)—they even promise that sufficiently “faithful” Adventists get to visit them! ***

Mormonism - also claims a new revelation

A similarly massive modern sect, the Church of Latter-day Saints, came into being not long after White’s “revelations.” Joseph Smith’s own (in)famous “revelations” on the golden plates constitute the Book of Mormon, which is regarded by all Mormons as Divinely inspired. It goes without saying that no authentic Christian—much less a Catholic—can put any credence whatsoever in Smith’s messages, which, unlike White’s, go so far as to deny the Trinity. And these “revelations,” too, are replete with extraterrestrial belief. Even God Himself, we are told by the Mormons, is actually a certain being who lives on the planet “Kolob,” and the universe is teeming with worlds full of aliens. The foremost chronicler of the ET debate throughout the centuries, Dr. Michael Crowe, notes:

[ET belief] was not only propounded in [Mormon] scriptures; it was also advocated in statements by some of Smith’s most important disciples. For example, Parley P. Pratt, in his Key to the Science of Theology (1855), stated:

“Gods, angels and men, are all of the same species, one race, one great family widely diffused among the planetary systems, as colonies, kingdoms, nations, etc.”... Brigham Young asserted in one of his discourses that “He [God] presides over the world on worlds that illuminate this little planet, and millions on millions of worlds that we cannot see...” [ET] themes even appear in traditional hymns; the following is a hymn still sung by Latter-day Saints.

It is by William Wine Phelps, one of Smith’s earliest disciples, who is praised for writing verses “most characteristic of Latter-day Saint thought and aspiration.” “...The works of God continue,/ And worlds and lives abound;/ Improvement and progression/ Have one eternal round./ There is no end to matter,/ There is no end to space,/ There is no end to “spirit,”/ There is no end to race.”[300]

In the less official and public texts, Mormonism’s teachings delve into radically esoteric alien-based beliefs. (Although their public statements always seek to downplay or dismiss these teachings.) God, Mormons believe, was actually once an ordinary man who attained “exaltation” in order to become “the God of this universe” and beget his son, Jesus. (How it is logically possible that the Creator was once a mortal man is not explained.) Mormons who themselves attain “exaltation” will also become “Gods;” perhaps even ruling over their own planets filled with aliens just as God rules over ours. Mormonism itself is, indeed, a veritable sci-fi delusion given shortly before the dawn of sci-fi.

Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in UFOs because they claim no "new" revelation

Another pseudo-Christian sect that arose in 19th century is the Jehovah’s Witnesses; today they have almost nine million members. Although they are considered another “Adventist” movement, the writings that spurred it on, those of Charles Taze Russel, did not claim the status of revelations. Interestingly, therefore, Jehovah’s Witnesses emphatically do not believe in extraterrestrials. Obviously, this does not vindicate the movement—it is blatantly heretical. But it is quite significant that, among these three most noteworthy of the new 19th century “Christian” religions, this is the one that does not claim a new revelation, and likewise is the one which does not believe in extraterrestrials. Instead, Jehovah’s Witnesses—rightly revering the clear sense of the Christian Bible on this point—insist that in the whole physical universe, earth alone is the object of God’s concern. They correctly teach that the heavenly bodies—whether they be stars, or planets, or anything else—exist entirely for the sake of human beings. It is, therefore, precisely because Jehovah’s Witnesses do not claim a new revelation that they have been protected from succumbing to the ET Deception.