Latest / Aliens? Yes! But Maybe No | UFOs, UAPs & Alien Mysteries / Alien Cults and UFO Religions

Transcript

Alien Cults and UFO Religions · Aliens? Yes! But Maybe No | UFOs, UAPs & Alien Mysteries

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: Aliens.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: Aliens.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: Aliens.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: But maybe no.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to the show.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: This is Aliens, yes, but maybe no with Josh and Travis.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Travis.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Josh.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: And this is an otherworldly podcast as ambiguous as our title.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: So, Josh, we're just at the end of Spooky Season.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's right.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Last week we talked about little goblins.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_02: And I think I didn't believe it, and you did completely, which was really kind of a switch.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I don't think that's true.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Nice try.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: You're not gonna get me.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: Dang it.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: We haven't been recording in like a month.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Josh thinks he's gonna pull one over on me.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: Not so fast, buddy.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: Next time, I'll get you.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe one of these days you'll get me.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we did a cryptid episode, another one.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_02: Or second cryptid, right?
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: They're fun.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's just interesting.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: They are fun.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: They're interesting.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: They're kind of cool.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and we did a quiz at the very end.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: But now we're done doing like scary things, right?
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're not doing anything scary.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: So what are we going to be talking about today?
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: Colts.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: Alien cults.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: Oh no.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: Doing research with this, I was like, this seems dangerous.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: It seems dangerous.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: So part of our dossier, we had to watch some and we'll get into this later in the show.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: So spoiler alert for later in the show, but some Scientology YouTube videos.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: And now I'm worried that I'm gonna be on their like list of people they're gonna try and proselytize.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: So I live in a subdivision, and I was loading up our gear for the show today, putting in my car, and it was wild that it happened this way, and I'm just now thinking about it.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: But I was coming from my garage where I keep my gear, putting in the car.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: Car drove by really slow.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: It was a man and woman in a van.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: They slowed down in front of my house.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: They looked at my house, looked at me, parked two houses down.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: Whoa.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: And then they walked up to a door and they were going door to door.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, oh no, are these Scientologists?
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Did that information from 15 minutes ago when I just finished watching this already get to them?
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Are they coming to get me now?
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: They could.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: I had similar fears.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's all spooky.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: And just hearing rumors about Scientology, it's kind of scary.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_02: But let's, I mean, let's just hop right into it because cults are they're fascinating.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_02: They are fascinating.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: I actually still don't understand it.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I co-host another podcast.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's a movie themed podcast called Cinema Roast Bunch, and we just released an episode on cults.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: Oh.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like our favorite cult movies.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: Oh.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: Movies that have cults in them.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: I thought you were talking like cult.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: No, like cult.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like they feature a cult.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: So that's top of mind for me.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: Your worlds are colliding.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: Your podcasting worlds.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think they're colliding.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: I think they are gently passing in the night.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like maybe giving each other a high five.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: What was your favorite?
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: What was my favorite cult movie?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: I would encourage you guys to listen to it at Cinema Roast Punch.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't have a favorite cult movie.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: I like Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, which deals with a fictional version of L.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: Ron Hubbard.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: There was another one called The Apostle that starred Dan Stevens, and that is like more folklore cult type stuff.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: So like a lot of talk of like a green man, very earthy cult.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: Very old, kind of like druidic.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: Interesting.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: But cults are fascinating to me.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_02: And today we're not just talking about your run-of-the-mill cults.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_02: We're talking about alien cults where they worship them, they channel them, they build embassies.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: We're not talking about what cults?
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_02: Run of the mill.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_02: Because there's tons and tons of cults out there, but not all of them focus around.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't say any cult is run-of-the-mill.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: But they all do have very similar elements.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: So this is from Wikipedia.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: Cult is a lay term for a group perceived as requiring unwavering devotion to a set of beliefs and practices which are considered deviant outside the norms of society.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: Such groups are typically perceived as being led by a charismatic leader who tightly controls its members.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: It is in some context a pejorative term, also used for new religious movements and other social groups, which are defined by their unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or their common interest in a particular person, object, or goal.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: But not all cults have an alien theme.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: No, but all cults do have a charismatic leader.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah, absolutely.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: Which we're going to be talking about this.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_02: I'm actually thinking about starting one.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: Oh boy.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: No, not really.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_02: The minimalists, they have a podcast.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: They're a perfect group of people to have workshops and have like retreats and stuff like that, but they say they won't do it because that's how cults are started.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: Cults come from like a very fundamental set of beliefs.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: So like it is, and we'll talk about this with the Heaven's Gate.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: They believe that we are vessels.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's not a simple concept, but this is basically what like we're vessels, we're inhabited by aliens, there's a ship coming.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: There's only one way to get on this ship, and you can only get on the ship if you've made these decisions.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: So they dedicate their entire life to whatever those parameters are.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the way a lot of cults are.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_02: They start out pretty soft and then they can get pretty crazy.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_02: They can start out pretty soft.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_02: Which being a minimalist, you know, that's soft, and people get really into it, and they could step it up into the next level.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: And that's another thing, is that they get asked to give up a lot to become a member of this cult.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: So like the Jonestown, they all had to move to, I think it was in South Africa.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: Or South America.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: But they are asked to, like you said, live minimally, giving up all of their earthly possessions, but also earthly urges.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: Unless you are the leader or in a sex cult.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: You're not allowed to have sex.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: Hmm.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: The what was the cult in Texas that ended in a shootout and everybody died?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: So that guy was allowed to have sex with everybody, all the women.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: But the men that were there, they would bring their wives there and they were asked to take a vow of celibacy.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: Jeez.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and a lot of cults out there are very small, just little secluded things.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of communes can turn into cults, like hippie communes or Christian communes, or just religious communes.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_02: So I've heard of cults being like five people, ten people, but it's still focused around a leader that has a lot of control.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: So Jonestown was in Guyana.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: So these alien cults, there are people out there that don't just believe in aliens.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: They worship them, they channel them, they build embassies for them, and in some cases, they even follow them off the planet.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's a little light way of saying they unalive themselves.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: They unalive themselves.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, these UFO cults have full-blown belief systems with doctrines, rituals, charismatic leaders, and sometimes tragic endings.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_02: Did you have to say that with a question mark?
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of them end tragically.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I told you they seem dangerous.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_02: They are dangerous.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: They are.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_02: So before we get into all these different things, I want you guys to know we're here to explore, look at the facts.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_02: We're not here to mock or make fun of anyone, but we just want to explore the religion, the science fiction, and the search for meaning that can collide in weird ways.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's a twofold answer because these are people that are honestly looking for something.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: Right there, sincerely seeking something out and trying to find whatever helps them make sense of this world.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: Also, as you said, they are dangerous and we should be careful just about what we say about these groups.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_02: Aaron Powell Yeah.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_02: We're going to give you the facts that we have.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: We're not going to go beyond that just because we got to protect our families.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell And not saying that they're all a bunch of like protective, murderous people.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just No, but some of them are.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: Some are, and some are very maybe not murderous, but they're very persistent in the type of messaging that gets out there, and they guard that very carefully, and they don't want the wrong message to get out.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_02: So to manage this, we're gonna just focus on just a handful.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_02: There's a bunch of stuff out there, but we're gonna focus on the most famous and fascinating UFO religions.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_02: So let's get in on it.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: The Seekers, 1953.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: They're believed to be the earliest UFO religion.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_02: The Seekers, aka the Brotherhood of the Seven Rays, began in 1953.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: A Chicago woman named Dorothy Martin, later known as Sister Thedra, began receiving messages she believed were from a being named Sananda, a spiritual entity linked to Jesus.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_02: These messages warned of coming global catastrophe, a massive flood that would wipe out large parts of the United States on december twenty first, nineteen fifty-four.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: But not to worry, flying saucers would arrive to rescue the faithful before the destruction began.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: Phew.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_02: That's good.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_02: Dorothy gathered a small group of believers who became known as the Seekers.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_02: They quit their jobs, gave away their belongings, and prepared to be evacuated by aliens.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like they were going to be eva like okay.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_02: Like aliens were going to come and save them.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_02: So the group waited all night on December 20th, 1954, ready to be taken aboard.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_02: When no saucers appeared, something strange happened.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_02: Many of the members doubled down on their beliefs.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: They reinterpreted the failed prophecy to mean their devotion had saved the world from destruction.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that to me is like we were saying at the top of the show, you want to believe and you're going to interpret everything through that lens.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like, oh, they didn't show up?
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, okay, the reason they didn't show up is because we saved you.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's a means to justify their belief system.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they can dive them down deeper into that belief.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what can make these groups dangerous.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_02: And get really wacky from the beginning beliefs to the end beliefs.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's cool on wacky talk.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_02: Just the idea of starting simply like, you know, minimalism, decluttering your life to get rid of everything and come move with me to this place because the aliens are coming.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Well, a lot of them do have that kind of structure.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll see this with all the dynamics of Scientology.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: There is that level where you have to prove your dedication to these groups.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: And the way they do that is moving you or asking you to give up all of your earthly possessions.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: These people, when they thought they'd save destruction, they double down on their faith.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_02: This moment became the basis for the classic psychological study when prophecies fail, which introduced a concept of cognitive dissonance, the mental gymnastics people use when reality contradicts deeply held beliefs.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_02: Which, I mean, you see that everywhere in all religions, in all politics.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_02: Though this group eventually faded, Dorothy Martin continued to channel messages and form new movements, leaving behind one of the strangest and most studied cases in cult history.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: We're not going to dive too deep into the seekers.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_02: That's just kind of like the beginning, and possibly what some of these others have been founded on.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_02: But we are going to dive into Scientology.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_02: I think that one's going to take a little bit of time to navigate.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so Scientology.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: What it is.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: Just a little basic history on Scientology.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: It was founded by a science fiction author, L.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: Ron Hubbard.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: And it began as a self-help system called Dianetics that quickly evolved into a full-blown religion with a cosmic backstory.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: So, Josh, you're younger than I am, but I grew up watching a lot of cartoons and Saturday morning programming.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember commercials for Dianetics.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: I don't remember the specifics, but it's like this new book by author L.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: Ron Hubbard, it's gonna help you focus in on the things that are really important in your life.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember those distinctly, and I I don't think I'll ever forget, but they were like these little Now that you're saying it, that sounds really familiar.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know that.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure you can look up these old commercials on YouTube.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: But uh that was a huge part of like Saturday morning commercial programming, at least to my memory.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember my parents when I asked them about it, I think they even recognized that it was a cult back then.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, interesting.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: So at the heart of Scientology is the belief that humans are actually immortal spiritual beings, but these immortal spiritual beings are called thetans.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: They're trapped in physical bodies and burdened by traumatic memories called engrams from this life and past lives.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: The real UFO connection comes later in the church's secret teachings revealed only to advanced members.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: So we have a note here in the dossier saying that this is not publicly taught, and they don't promote this origin story that it's considered confidential doctrine.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of churches will do that.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: They will hold stuff back for when you're more open to accepting these weirder, deeper doctrines, like Mormons believing that co-op is a planet that God lives on.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: So you have to get through like the pajamas.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: The I get I don't know what that means.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: What does that mean?
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: The pajamas.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_02: Doesn't the Mormons have pajamas that they are?
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's not pajamas, it's they call them garments.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's like special undergarments that you wear, but you don't wear those as you have to turn like 18 or become an adult before you get to wear the the commandments.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: And this even that, that's like odd, deep doctrine type stuff.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: So that's like things that you work through, but in order to get to a level of understanding for those things, you have to start with like be nice to people, see how nice we are, we take care of families, we have our own welfare system, that kind of thing.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: So in order to get to that, you have to accept things little by little.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but fully.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_02: Like, yeah.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: They don't just give you all of the information, all of the stuff that's harder to understand right at the front.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_02: Anyway.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, let's talk about the confidential doctrine.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: So according to these teachings, 75 million years ago, a galactic overlord named Xenu ruled over a confederation of planets.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: Xenu solved overpopulation by freezing billions of beings, shipping them to Earth, and detonating hydrogen bombs inside volcanoes.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: This sounds a lot like this is like Thanos level thinking.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like overpopulation, I'm gonna do something extremely drastic to solve this.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: Only I know how to solve this problem.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: So the disembodied souls of these beings, called body thetans, still cling to human bodies and cause spiritual harm.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: Only by progressing through Scientology's operating Thetan, OT levels, can followers confront and release these Thetans.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: They are widely classified as a UFO religion because of this cosmology, though the church itself disputes the label.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_02: Don't they have machines that can read your OT levels, right?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: I think so.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: You go in and like put your hands on something and they can And they can test, and then if you are I've heard and because this is so closely guarded, all we get are like bits and rumors.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: That if your OT levels are off, you have to go and spend time in like an isolation.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: Oh wow.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: At their main church facility.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: Didn't you say that there was at their facilities they have recreations?
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: They have, I don't know if they're museums, but they're like visitor centers, I guess essentially, and they're scattered all throughout the United States.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: And in every single one of them, they have an exact replica of L.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: Ron Hubbard's like writing office.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_02: Man, that's so creepy.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's wild.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's wild.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_02: I wonder if you have to stay there, like on severance.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, like you're not allowed to go into these offices, even though it's not like they didn't just chop his office out of a house and then plop it down in these visitor centers.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: They just got a bunch of chairs that were similar to the chair that he got.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: Those chairs, and then you just can't go in and disturb it.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: Weird.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's like roped off.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: Scientology is also known for its celebrity outreach, legal battles, and powerful media presence.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: Its recruitment tools are everywhere.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: Stress tests, auditing, and free personality tests.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's a rare case of a UFO-related belief system becoming a major organized religion with global infrastructure.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: While most of the groups in this episode are fringe or forgotten, Scientology remains highly visible, extremely secretive, and consistently controversial.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: So this is where like my worlds are coming together because I love Tom Cruise.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: I think he's such a dynamic person.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and such a charisma.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, he's not a leader of a cult or whatever.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: He's one of the, I think, most talented and incredible human beings of our time just because of what he is able to do with his body, holding his breath for six minutes for a movie role, learning how to fly a helicopter in three months.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he pushes himself to the extra.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: He pushes himself.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: He has said that doing this helicopter training for a mission impossible would take six months to a year at eight hours a day.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: And he's like, Well, what am I gonna do with the other 16 hours?
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so he just dedicated his time and got helicopter certified.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: He was able to fly a helicopter in three months, which is like absolutely absurd.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: Another mission impossible, there's a scene where he has to hold his breath for a really long time.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: He learned how to hold his breath for six minutes.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: Man, yeah, most people don't have that kind of dedication.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: I don't.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: I tried.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: I wish I did.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: I will like hold my breath while I'm walking around or driving my car just to see how long I can do it.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: And that sounds pretty dangerous.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: I wouldn't recommend it.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_02: And if you do do it, don't say you learned it from us.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: So anyway, and John Travolta, also a member of Scientology, to less success than I would say Tom Cruise, but he's still out there promoting whatever.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and it seemed as though like when Tom Cruise became a Scientologist, he was very loud and out about it, and then nothing.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: Like he doesn't talk about it anymore.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: No, I mean you see interviews with him now, and it's they're sad.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like he doesn't have a personal life.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: His entire persona is wrapped up in movie making and then probably Scientology.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: He doesn't want, and again, like just like Scientology S, it keeps a lot of that stuff close to your chest.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: You don't talk about it.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: You don't want to have to try and chase down some of these rumors.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_02: The video that we watched that kind of explained what Scientology actually believes.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: It was like a three or four minute video.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_02: It was actually a pretty well done movie, and they make it make sense, like what they're talking about.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: They do.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: Which is the scary part.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's just marketing.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it is marketing.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_02: They use very sly wording.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's nothing I hadn't heard before.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, Do you love animals?
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: Do you like being alive?
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: These are all things that we like too.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: So why not come and join us?
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, basically they were saying like you are a soul with a body.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: You're not a body with a soul.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, you look at your hands and you don't say, That's my consciousness.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: You say, These are my hands.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: This is my arm.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: This is my leg.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_02: They mentioned you can lose parts of your body and still be you.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_02: And then they said your mind is like an encyclopedia of just all Which is not true.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: But they're saying that They're like the mind, your memory is a steel trap, and it's such a wonderful thing.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: Everything you see in your mind is in pictures that are filed away.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: And that is not true.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: There are I don't remember shit.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: There are millions.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but there are millions, hundreds of millions of people out there that do not have that ability.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: If I were to describe an apple to you or say, like, picture an apple, there are millions of people out there that can't picture an apple in their head, but then there are some that can create scenarios around that apple.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like the orchard it was picked in, and they can picture all that very clearly in their head.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: So what they're saying with they're using the mind as being able to look at something, but the thing that is looking at it is the soul.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_02: It's not the memories itself, it's us looking at the memory.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: And they're saying that's who you are, and we're gonna help you become more connected to that part that is looking at you.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna make that kind of your forefront so that you are free.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_02: That's basically what the video said.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_02: And it was just like, oh, that's a good idea.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, sure, that's fine.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I guess that makes sense.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like if I cut off my hand, I'm still me.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: But how much we're like the knights of knee from Monty Python where we're just slowly shaving away the parts of us, and then yeah, now he's just ahead and it'll just bite your ankles or whatever.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_02: The Ethereum Society.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's 1955 to present.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_02: It was founded in 1955 by George King, a British taxi driver turned spiritual channel.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: It means he's getting this information through him.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: He's channeling the information.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's a very like British description.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: They have channels, you know, like canals essentially, that bring water from one part to another, and he's just helping move information from space to here.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_02: Aaron Powell Okay.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_02: The Ethereum Society is one of the oldest and longest-running UFO religions still active today.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: According to King, he was meditating in his London apartment when he heard a voice command.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: Prepare yourself.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_02: You are to become the voice.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I think do that better.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: Do a voice.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: You want me to do a can you do a Sean Connery?
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think this would be a great Sean Connery.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_02: I used to be able to do a Sean Connery.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: Give it a go.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: Hold on.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_02: I have to uh You have to channel Sean Connery.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: According to King, he was meditating in his London apartment when he heard a voice command.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: Prepare yourself.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_02: You are to become the voice of Interplanetary Parliament.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: Nailed it.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: Nailed it.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: I wish Sean Connery was an Everybody's Head.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: That would be great.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: That would be good.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: Mine is always Arnold Schwarzenegger.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_02: So he soon began channeling messages from Master Aetherius, a cosmic being from Venus, and other cosmic masters from across the solar system.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_02: The Aetherius Society teaches that these beings are watching over Earth and trying to help humanity evolve spiritually if we're willing to listen.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_02: Cosmic masters include figures from Venus, Mars, and other planets, though they exist on higher vibrational planes, explaining why we can't detect their life.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: Members perform rituals and spiritual missions to send spiritual energy into the world, often focusing on global crisis and natural disaster, which is nice.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: So wait, Venus, so it's like a planet of ladies?
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: Isn't that where ladies come from?
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: So George King claimed to have climbed 18 mountains around the world, turning them into spiritual energy batteries by infusing them with cosmic power.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: The society blends yoga, karma, Christianity, and extraterrestrial channeling into one unique cosmic worldview.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: So that video that we had to watch for this, do you think that was them blessing it?
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_02: They were charging a battery.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that with like hours of prayer.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: Which is how they were logging it.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, now we have 240 hours of prayer.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: I think this is going to be enough.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_02: They were describing, because there was an interviewer interviewing different people before, during, and after the prayer while they were charging.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_02: And someone described it as the same energy that you'd get at like a rave, just a combined energy of all these people enjoying everything.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_02: And that's they said it's not that, but it's similar.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: Like if you've experienced live music on a a rave, though?
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_02: That's what this person said.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like the last rave I went to, I was fucked up on mushrooms, wadaweed, and alcohol.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: This is claiming I can get that just by going to a mountain.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: Them coming together, the energy of them together.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: I doubt that.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think these guys have ever been to a rave.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think they know what they're talking about.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: There's no way.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_02: When I was younger, I went to the mountains with three friends, and we were searching for a lost witch city.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_02: This is in the Northwest.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_02: We were younger high schoolers, and we truly believed that this forest was haunted and there's a witch city there.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_02: And we didn't find anything, but the energy.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: What the fuck?
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: Why where did that idea even come from?
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_02: It was an old folklore about the forest.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_02: A city of witches?
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: Like an old town.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_02: But full of witches.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_02: Basically, it was like a little town full of witches.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's sweet, Josh.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_02: But the energy that we had when we were searching for this was off the charts.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like our senses were spiked.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's a nice thought.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: Picturing a young Josh walking through the mountains looking for magic.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's sweet.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: But I think that with this group of people, them all believing and coming together, there is probably a pretty huge energy in that crowd for some of the people picking up on it.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: And I think they're talking about that is they're all coming together and they're going to harness this energy into this battery.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: I just don't like that they compared it to a rave.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_02: But it helped me kind of think outside the box.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: It helped a little bit.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_02: While other groups focus on apocalyptic warnings or mass evacuations, the Ethereum society emphasizes service to humanity through spiritual action with a pretty strong sci-fi twist.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_02: And they still meet regularly in Los Angeles and London to charge spiritual batteries and to honor the messages of the Space Brothers.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_02: So that one's a nice one.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: I actually think that these first three that we've covered are nice and for the most part are harmless.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: There's a little twinge of like aggressive proselytizing that's done by the Scientologist group, but for the most part, they are looking at how to like move humanity forward, right?
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's what they want.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: They want us to be like a collective and kind of get back to what is important, right?
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: You can maybe say that.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: So that being said, now we're gonna get into some of the really dangerous, dark stuff.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: Dangerous.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: This is we'll get into it.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna start with Heaven's Gate.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: This was founded in the early 70s, and I believe there are still some members practicing today, but those people are more witnesses than they are like members of an organized group.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like a couple of them were left behind.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: One is named Sawyer X, who is still a believer and still talks about it to this day.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, from my understanding, he was left behind.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_02: Oh no, Sawyer X, sorry, Sawyer X was he left.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: There was another uh, or maybe I'm getting the two confused.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_02: There's one guy that was left behind.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: The one guy that was left behind, and he was the witness.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_02: Heaven's Gate, their end goal was to open the door, and he was there to keep the door ajar for other people and continue putting information out into the world.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: But there was another guy who left before this happened in the early 90s.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: I think his name was Sawyer X.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: And he left not because he was excommunicated, but he left because he couldn't fully commit.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: He felt like he was struggling with the sexy desires of being a human.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: And he couldn't give that up.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: So he left because he felt like he wasn't strong enough.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: But he still believes to this day.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so Heaven's Gate.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: Arguably one of the most infamous UFO cults of all time, and for good reason, the group believed the earth was about to be recycled.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: And that was Marshall Applewhite released a video, and it looked like he just came up with that thought on the spot.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_02: Who's Marshall?
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get to that.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: He is looking right down the barrel of the camera and saying this is going to be called, I don't know, Project Earth about to be recycled.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's like he just came up with it on the spot, and it's wildly scary.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: So we believed the earth was going to be recycled, and the only way to survive was to leave with the aliens.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: They referred to the human body as a vehicle or plant and believed that their souls were meant to ascend to the next level, a non-earthly realm beyond human.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: And they called it like level beyond human, is why.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: The scruple's led by Marshall Applewhite, who went by Doe and Bonnie Nettles, known as T.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: So you think of that song from The Sound of Music, Do Re Mi Fasola T, that is where they got it.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's like their own version of Alpha and Omega.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: But like a, I don't know.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like uh musical version.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_01: I guess you could say a musical version.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: I was going to say something else, but anyway.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: Doe believed he was the same spirit that once inhabited Jesus.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: Together they claimed to be extraterrestrial beings in human form sent to help people ascend before the end of the world.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: They were also early adopters of internet culture.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: When they used that to help spread their message, they still have a website.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: That's www.heavensgate.com.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: Their final message created a lasting media legacy.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: And you can find that message online.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: On their website.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: And just on YouTube.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: We watched a part of it.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'll post it in the show notes.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: And that's where he's looking down the barrel of the camera.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: His eyes are wide.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: He looks fanatical.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: When you think of a fanatic, this is what I picture.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: Especially like right before he's deciding to leave the planet.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: They all shave their head.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so this is him like buzz cut hair just looking absolutely terrifying.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I agree.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: So in 1997, 39 members of the group died by suicide in a coordinated effort to board a spacecraft, they believe was trailing the Halebop comet.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: Now I'm of a certain age.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: I was in high school when this happened.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember Hailbop being like, this is a comet that comes here every fuck like hundreds of years.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: We watched this.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: I think I went out and there was rumors of this cult exist, and so people would go out and try and see if they could spot a spaceship behind it.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody really knowing how this was going to turn out, but it became like a big cultural event.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody was fascinated, not just by the cult, but by watching this like heavenly thing, this asteroid or this comet, whatever it is.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know the difference between asteroid and comet.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'll look it up.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: Pass by Earth.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: I remember watching it with my family at a friend's house.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_02: I was 10.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't know any backstory or anything like that.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: So anyway, that was like a huge cultural thing in 1997.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to read their press release, which is essentially a suicide note, and it's dated three hundred twenty two ninety-seven.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: By the time you read this, we suspect that the human bodies we were wearing have been found, and that a flurry of fragmented reports have begun to hit the wire services.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: For those who want to know the facts, the following statement has been issued.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_01: Heaven's Gate Away Team and that's what they refer to themselves as.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_01: They even had patches.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: So Heaven's Gate Away Team returns to level above human in distant space, which is what they call the next step, level beyond human.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_01: Rancho Santa Fe, California.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_01: By the time you receive this, we'll be gone.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_01: Several dozen of us.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: We come from the level above human in distant space, and we have now exited the bodies that we are wearing for our earthly task to return to the world from whence we came, task completed.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: The distant space we refer to as what your religious literature would call the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: What's so creepy, like task completed.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: It is.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: And calling them the away team.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's like tied into sports.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like I guess the home team would be us, and they're the away team, so now they're gone.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: Thirty-nine people, and they took a cocktail of this lethal dose of something mixed with vodka.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: They put plastic bags over their head, and then like a purple towel.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: They were all dressed exactly the same, wearing black Nikes, laid out in beds in this mansion in California.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: Jeez.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: They were discovered by this guy that was in that short little clip that we watched, who was intentionally left behind to witness this event and then pass on any information and kind of keep the movement going, or as you say, the door ajar.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's they mentioned in the feature that we watched.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_01: While Heaven's Gate no longer functions as an active organization, it's digital footprint endurours offering insight into one of the most infamous UFO religions in American history.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_01: The website is maintained by two former members, believed to be Mark and Sarah King.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: They were reportedly instructed by the group's leader, Marshall Appwite, to stay behind and manage the group's online legacy.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: While they do not actively recruit new members, they have been known to respond to inquiries and provide information about the group's beliefs.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe that's a an app.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: We will reach out to them.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_01: We could.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have the balls to do that?
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'll join.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to join.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: You just have to reach out and I ask some questions.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want you to join this, Josh.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_02: No, that's fine.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_02: I'll just do an episode where I join each one of these.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_02: Oh man, that would be terrifying.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think you'd like that.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_02: I don't have the balls for it.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_02: I'd be so paranoid.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_02: I would be too.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: I'd probably become a leader of one of them.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_02: Honestly, looking at these and like the characteristics and some of the things these people believe, it wouldn't be that hard to start a cult if you're enthusiastic enough.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_02: And like I couldn't lie to people.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_02: Do these cult leaders believe it?
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, some believe it so much that they're not here anymore because they believed it so strongly.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: Like Marshall Applewhite or Jim Jones.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: Raalism.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_02: So how do you say it?
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_02: I would say raism, yeah.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_02: Because I watched the videos on it and they're still present.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_02: They're still making videos today, and they're very popular, but they never said their name in the videos that I watched, and I never looked it up.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: I don't like their symbol.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_02: So this started in 1974.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_02: French race car journalist Claude Vorilhan had a close encounter of the founding a whole religion kind.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_02: According to him, he was visited by a small humanoid extraterrestrial who stepped out of a flying saucer and revealed that life on Earth was created by an advanced alien species known as the Elohim.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_02: They didn't just create us, they wanted us to know, and they chose Claude, now renamed Rael, to spread the message.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's a real name.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_01: See what they did?
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_02: Rail name?
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_02: Rael.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_02: It's a Rael name.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but they just switched the E and the A.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's real guys, I promise.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_02: Raelism teaches that Elohim seeded life on Earth and have been guiding humanity throughout history.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_02: Figures like Jesus, Buddha, and Muhammad, all messengers sent by Elohim.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_02: The group advocates for building an embassy to welcome the Elohim's return, ideally near Jerusalem, complete with a landing pad.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_02: However, Israel doesn't appreciate the star of David slash swastika combo that they're if you look at this, that's exactly what it is.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's the star of David, right?
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_01: A six-sided star with a swastika right in the middle.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, instead of like the star lines going all the way to the next point, it creates a swastika.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of done in the style of like a Celtic knot.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you know what a Celtic knot is, but that's where like all these pieces connect.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_01: Very upsetting.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_02: One of their most controversial moments came in the early 2000s when Rayle claimed a company affiliated with the movement, clonade, had successfully cloned a human child.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_01: It sounds like they're one letter away from something that you use to clean out your colon.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: Colon aid?
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_01: If you just put an O there.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_01: That's true.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't sound like a technology used to clone.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: It sounds like a an aid.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like a medical.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like a medical aid, yes.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_02: I think I remember hearing clone aid in school when I was in the 2000s.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_02: Raelians support human cloning, sensual meditation, and a kind of spiritual atheism, replacing God with science and aliens.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_02: They even in the video that we watched, they mentioned, did you watch that one with the comic, like comic book style?
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_02: When this closed encounter happened and it was just recounting it, it was the whole conversation that they had.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_02: And one of the things he's like, so there is no spirituality.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_02: It's all science.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_02: Like when Moses split the Red Sea, it wasn't Moses that did it.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_02: It was our alien spaceship that sent beams and split it for them because we were guiding them to safe passage.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_02: And the video talked about tons of different things.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe I missed that part, but that's okay.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just co-opting all these religious events and saying it was all aliens all along.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's aliens all the way down.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_02: Aliens and science.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_02: So that's where the spiritual atheism comes in.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_02: So Rail often appears in a white jumpsuit with a sci-fi insignia.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_02: And yes, this group is still very much active around the world.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_02: Their YouTube channel is extremely active.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_02: Raelism has tens of thousands of followers worldwide and some very bold branding around pleasure, peace, and post-religious enlightenment.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_02: So that's at UFO Cole.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_02: The videos I watched, they were fairly poorly done.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: I liked the graphic of their compound.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to see that in real life.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to see what this actually looked like, but I don't even think it's built because they're talking in the dossier about wanting to build near Jerusalem, and Jerusalem's like Yeah, they have the plans all laid out, like they know what it's going to look like.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_02: They're basically building a welcome center for the aliens when they come, and they have it all ready.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_02: It looks like a party.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: Straight cult.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_01: Straight alien cult.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_01: Real quick, I skipped over the part in Heaven's Gate about Star Trek.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_01: So to jump back, the cult included many Star Trek influences from their uniformed appearance with identical clothing and Nikes to their use of Star Trek terminology, the most infamous example being their term for their suicide, the away mission.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_01: Star Trek even released an episode about a year after the suicides in Deep Space Nine episode 7 titled Covenant.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: The basic story of this episode came from David Weddell, who had been an investigative reporter and had written about Colts for the LA Weekly and San Jose Mercury News.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_01: Specifically, the episode was inspired by the Heaven's Gate cult led by Marshall Applewite.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_01: So one of the big takeaways that I get before we get into our next group is how tied to science fiction these guys all are.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, definitely a link.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like O.Ron Hubbard was a science fiction author.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's wild.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like the connections they have to Star Trek.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, one of the videos we watched the Heaven's Gate members would just watch reruns of old Star Trek because they were looking for clues.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_01: They thought that these Star Trek episodes contained a message about how to move on to level beyond human.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's just wild.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_02: That is.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, the next one, which is the last one we're gonna cover, is Order of the Solar Temple.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_01: So Order of the Solar Temple, founded around 1984, up to 1997, which seems like what a big year for cult ends.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_01: Big, big ending year, yeah.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_01: The Order of the Solar Temple blended UFO beliefs with apocalyptic Christianity, Freemasonry, and New Age mysticism, and ended one of the most disturbing cult tragedies of the 20th century.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_01: Founded by Joseph D.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_01: Mombro and Luc Juray in Europe in the 1980s, the group taught that Earth was corrupt and doomed, and that true believers would ascend to a higher existence on a planet orbiting the star Sirius.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_01: The only way to get there?
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_01: Death.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_01: Seen not as an end but a transition, a transit to the next realm.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_01: The order was secretive, hierarchical, and ritual heavy with members wearing robes and performing elaborate ceremonies.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_01: DeMombro claimed to be in contact with ascended masters and said he alone could interpret their will.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_01: The group acquired wealth and influence, attracting educated professionals, including doctors and civil servants.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_01: Things turned tragic in the mid-1990s.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_01: In 1994, fifty-three members of the order were found dead in Switzerland and Quebec in what appeared to be mass suicides or ritual murders.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_01: More deaths followed in 1995 and 97, bringing the total to 74 fatalities, which is almost double the Heaven's Gate.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and some of these fatalities were actually children.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_02: Eleven of them were children.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean this whole thing got really weird in the 90s because they went one of the leaders had his own child when he was in his 50s, and he believed that it was Immaculate Conception.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_02: And he convinced all the followers that this was a holy child.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_02: Then he started having sex with the women to curate helpers, holy helpers, to be servants to his child.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_02: And then sometimes when families would leave, he would go and kill those families.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_02: And so that's part of those 74 deaths, is just murders.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_02: They would tranquilize them.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_02: One of the babies, he told some of the followers that the baby was the Antichrist, and the only way to kill an antichrist is to stab it in the heart.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_02: And so the parents watched these followers stab this baby in the heart, and then they stabbed the parents to death because they left.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_01: I hate this so much.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it was disgusting.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_01: Victims were often drugged and placed in ranged positions with some buildings burned to the ground.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_01: The group believed their deaths would allow them to reincarnate on Sirius and help humanity from beyond.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like Heaven's Gate, they saw the human body as a temporary vessel and their exit as a form of salvation.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_01: The Order of the Solar Temple stands as a chilling reminder of how cosmic belief, charismatic leadership, and apocalyptic urgency can lead to real world horror.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_02: And another strange thing is we don't know.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_02: We think that this isn't around anymore, but after one of the bigger mass suicides, the two leaders were a part of that.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_02: So they don't know who the leaders were after that, but there were a couple other instances from this group of suicide and murder after the fact.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_02: And then we don't know if they just went underground or if they're still around or if they are done now.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_02: It's wild.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_02: It is wild.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_02: So, like you were saying, there are common threads across these UFO religions.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_02: So salvation from the stars is one.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_02: Nearly every group promises rescue or transcendence through extraterrestrial intervention.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_02: Whether it's a spaceship behind a comet, a portal to Sirius, or an alien-built embassy, they're all looking for salvation.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_02: Another one is the body as a vessel.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_02: Many teach that physical forms are just vehicles or containers.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_02: What matters is the soul, spirit, or thetan inside and where it's headed next.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_02: And like you mentioned at the top of the episode, the charismatic leadership, gotta have that.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_02: From Doe to Ryal to Dimombro, most of these groups revolve around a central figure with access to higher knowledge or divine alien contact.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_02: And then they all have apocalyptic thinking.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_02: There's often a looming threat, whether it's Earth's destruction or a planetary recycling or spiritual collapse that only the initiated can escape.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_02: And then cosmic hierarchies.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_02: These religions love structure.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_02: You've got the Elohim, the cosmic masters, the Galactic Confederation, the level above humans, and the interplanetary parliament.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like they're all there.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_01: Very Star Wars, like the Galactic Confederation.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_02: And then spiritual science fiction.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_02: Many of these beliefs reframe traditional religious ideas, creation, since salvation through a sci-fi lens.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_02: It's Genesis rewritten with lasers, basically.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_02: So this is, I mean, if you're a troubled mind, you could use these common threads to create your own cult.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_02: What does that say about you, Josh?
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, how many times in this episode did you say you're gonna start a cult?
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_02: On or off mic?
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like ten.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, maybe one's on mic.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_00: Oh boy.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_02: Gonna do it.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_02: Rewind the tape.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_02: Let's hear it.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_02: So which group's belief systems surprise you the most?
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh none of them.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_02: You're just like, yep, checks out.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_01: No, they weren't surprising.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's the actions that they take based on those beliefs.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_01: That's what's surprising.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's how far some of these leaders took their beliefs.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, the Order of the Solar Temple, they took it the furthest.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_02: You know, they created basically like sleeper agents to go and kill.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_01: I think Heaven's Gate took it the furthest because he was able like Order of the Solar Temple, that was murder.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like he was going out and murdering people.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_01: He'd convince people that whatever their belief system was, but these people had to die, one was the Antichrist or whatever.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_01: And then he killed them.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_01: But with Heaven's Gate, he convinced them to take their own life, which I think is that's scarier.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like we've always had murderers and and killers in our society, but convincing not just one or two people that they have to move on beyond this life to get to the next level.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_01: He convinced 39 people to do it.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_01: That is terrifying.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I don't get it.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, is there any of these cults that you get?
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the Ethereum I don't get, but it is like the weirdest, and they're so fucking sincere.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like standing on top, shouting prayers into a battery, and they all have to strike a pose where it's like Sounds like a good Friday.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, and they like you said, uh good times and Yeah, they're not hurting anyone, they're actually there to help.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_02: They believe that they're doing good.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, of all the ones we've read, I think that one is like the sweetest.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_02: I pretty much don't like any of them, but do you think that there's a line between spiritual belief and dangerous delusion?
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, there's a line.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't like what is the question.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_02: Where do you think that line is?
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I don't know.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not a like a spiritual doctor.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm not a like a philosophical theologian.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like one of those things for me, when you see it, you see it.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_01: Or when you know it's there, you know it's there.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what the line is, though.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I just I've known people that have accidentally gotten into cults, and it is a very slow thing.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_02: Like you said, you know, they don't go in knowing all this information.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_01: To put it into like real-world context, like there are a lot of fundamental churches out there.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_01: The LES Church has one and colloquially refer to them as fundies, right?
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_01: And there's some in the Jewish church, Mennonites are a big one.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_01: We don't really have a lot of and mean we have a small Mennonite community here.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_01: Amish, another fundy group.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_01: We had a real life, and maybe you don't know this, but we had a real life fundy event happen here within the last couple of days.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_01: There was an amber alert.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_01: This family, they were part of this fundamental church.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_01: One of the parents who had left the church and had had divorced their spouse wanted to go and get their kids.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_01: They felt like their kids were not safe.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_01: Went and picked up the kids.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_01: The kids didn't want to leave, but they went with their parent.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so there was an amber alert put out trying to bring these kids back to this fundamental church.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_02: Jeez, that's scary.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_02: That happened a couple days ago.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of people don't realize that they're in a cult.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_01: So it is that slow fade.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and I think a lot of that comes from like that definition that I read at the top of the show.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's a pejorative.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like nobody wants to be part of something that is scorned or looked upon.
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like they'll say, like, it's not a cult.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like you don't even know what a cult is.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_02: Well, a lot of times cult leaders they'll become so enveloped in this person's life that they end up cutting them off from the people that love them most so that no one can tell them isolation, basically.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's why they all have like compounds and like with Scientology, though, it's they're as far as all these cults are concerned, very visible.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_01: But some of the really dangerous ones, it's like in an abusive relationship.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_01: If you are abusing somebody, you're going to want to keep them away from people, friends, family, people that will try to get you out of that situation.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_01: So it's very much an abusive relationship made large.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_02: So here are some signs that you're in a cult.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_02: Absolute authoritarianism.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_02: So the leader's word is law, and there's little to no accountability for their actions.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like you can't ask questions, which is the next one.
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_02: They don't let you ask questions.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you can't ask questions, and then it's like, well, this is good for me, but not good for you.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_01: So, like we talked about a lot of these cults, and that includes I'm talking about cults broadly, not cults just within this alien subsect.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_01: You have to take a vow of celibacy, but the cult leader doesn't, because the cult leader feels like his seed is so much more important to spread than anybody else's.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_01: So now you're bringing your wife in.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_01: Well, now your wife has now become part of his harem.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_02: So they have control over members' lives, which is almost always male.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_02: Personal finances, relationships, and personal choices.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_02: They also do mind control and manipulation.
• 48:12
  SPEAKER_02: They do black and white, rigid thinking.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_02: It usually promotes simplistic views of the world, often portraying them as good and the outside world as evil.
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_02: They use fear tactics, emotional manipulation, and loss of individuality.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_01: That's the whole point of the uniforms.
• 48:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_02: Secrecy, communal living, ideological extremism, so exclusive truth claims, rejections from outsiders, and unrealistic goals and promises, financial exploitation.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_02: So they're very interested in your finances.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_02: But these are just signs.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_02: So since I've known people that have been in them, a lot of times they don't see the sign.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_02: So if you're in a group that has anything like that, whether it be political, religious, spiritual.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_01: I would say it's more important for people who have loved ones that maybe have joined a cult to help get them out than it is we're not going to convince a cult member to leave a cult.
• 49:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like that is not going to happen because we're just two idiots with microphones.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_02: You never know.
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I don't think so.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's never going to happen.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_01: I think that the family members that can identify that, that's where you're going to make the change.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_02: No, I agree.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_02: I would hate to be a family member who's I mean, we saw interviews on a lot of these videos of family members after their loved ones took their lives or were convinced to take their lives, or basically they were murdered through the cult leader's words.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_02: You can see the real, real pain that these people go through.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_02: And it's I could not imagine that.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_02: That'd be horrible.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_02: To wrap this whole thing up, aliens, yes, but maybe Jesus?
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_01: Well that's not even an appropriate question.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_02: No, it isn't.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_01: But these things aren't the same.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_02: Like we said, there's a bunch of other alien cults out there.
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_02: Some, all they're doing is just trying to contact aliens through remote viewing.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and I mean that's just what it is.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_02: They're not doing any harm, they're not doing really any good.
• 50:07
  SPEAKER_02: You know, they're just doing their thing.
• 50:09
  SPEAKER_02: It's an intense hobby.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_02: Let me know what your guys' favorite was.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_02: Get a hold of us on Instagram or Gmail, aliens yes, but maybe no at Gmail.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_02: Leave comments and reviews.
• 50:21
  SPEAKER_02: So we're on YouTube, Spotify.
• 50:23
  SPEAKER_02: You can comment on their reviews on Apple.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_02: We would love to just hear from you guys.
• 50:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_01: Positive reviews, though.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_01: We want positivity.
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, don't be dumb.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_02: That wasn't very positive, I guess.
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_01: Don't be a jerk and say, like, you don't like the sound of our voice.
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, I can't change my voice.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's going to be annoying intro.
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to interrupt you.
• 50:40
  SPEAKER_02: You have a great podcasting voice.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_02: This leads us to the best part of the show.
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 50:49
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, this is kind of a nice little power cleanser.
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'm looking forward to this over talking about cults.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, don't don't tell me yet.
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_02: I haven't opened it.
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_02: So we are going to open our email that we get.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_02: And this is going to be the topic for our next episode.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_02: We don't know what it is until just now.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_02: We get this.
• 51:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we're learning it with you.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_02: Now I know.
• 51:16
  SPEAKER_02: And what is the baseline quiz going to be?
• 51:19
  SPEAKER_02: Alien species.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah.
• 51:23
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my god.
• 51:24
  SPEAKER_02: I'm excited.
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_02: This is going to be cool.
• 51:27
  SPEAKER_02: I've only heard from other people.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_02: I haven't done any research or anything like that.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_02: So this will be cool learning.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_01: So we're going to do like xenomorphs and ETs and avatars.
• 51:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 51:36
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 51:37
  SPEAKER_01: Hopefully.
• 51:38
  SPEAKER_02: No, that's your that's your other podcast.
• 51:40
  SPEAKER_02: These are all alien species.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_02: Are they?
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_02: Let's find out.
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_02: So we'll do the quiz.
• 51:44
  SPEAKER_02: Avatars.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_02: That's what they're called, right?
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_02: The last airbender?
• 51:49
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe.
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 51:51
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 51:52
  SPEAKER_02: So we have a handful of questions.
• 51:54
  SPEAKER_02: I'm going to read them.
• 51:55
  SPEAKER_02: That is from my other podcast, Cinema Rust Punch, if you guys didn't get that.
• 51:59
  SPEAKER_01: Shameless plug.
• 52:00
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm going to read the question.
• 52:02
  SPEAKER_02: We're both going to answer.
• 52:03
  SPEAKER_02: We're going to lock in our own answers, and at the end we'll see.
• 52:07
  SPEAKER_01: I already know what my answer is for this first one.
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 52:10
  SPEAKER_02: So, first question.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_02: How many species of extraterrestrials are there at least, according to a recent interview with Dr.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_02: Steven Greer?
• 52:18
  SPEAKER_02: Is it 11?
• 52:19
  SPEAKER_02: 27?
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_02: 69.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_02: Boom.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_02: 108.
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_02: 69.
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_02: You think it's 69?
• 52:25
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, dude, I'm I don't care.
• 52:27
  SPEAKER_02: You think Greer's a a freak?
• 52:29
  SPEAKER_01: I think he's a dirty, dirty little man.
• 52:32
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna say 27.
• 52:35
  SPEAKER_02: You know space is big, right?
• 52:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_02: So you're taking with 69?
• 52:40
  SPEAKER_02: I'm saying it was 69.
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 52:42
  SPEAKER_02: What do you know, Josh?
• 52:43
  SPEAKER_02: Nothing.
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_02: Next one.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_02: What species is not commonly rumored to work with or be involved in Earth's government?
• 52:51
  SPEAKER_02: Is it the grays, the tall whites, the reptilians, or the Plaiadians?
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_02: Never heard of that.
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, not commonly rumored to work with.
• 53:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm gonna say the Pleiades, because I've never heard of that.
• 53:04
  SPEAKER_01: So like reptilians they say very involved.
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_01: Grays are always like they're like the tricksters, right?
• 53:10
  SPEAKER_01: They're like the abductors.
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna say the grays.
• 53:13
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna say grays?
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 53:15
  SPEAKER_02: Next question.
• 53:16
  SPEAKER_02: This alien species is described as spiritually advanced, possibly blue skinned, and known for telepathic communication and communal living.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_02: Is it A, the Syrians?
• 53:27
  SPEAKER_02: Syrians.
• 53:28
  SPEAKER_02: Syrians?
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_02: From Syria.
• 53:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 53:30
  SPEAKER_02: Alien planet.
• 53:32
  SPEAKER_02: B tall whites.
• 53:34
  SPEAKER_02: C uh Venetians.
• 53:36
  SPEAKER_02: Venusians.
• 53:36
  SPEAKER_02: Venusians.
• 53:37
  SPEAKER_02: Like from Venus.
• 53:38
  SPEAKER_02: Or D Arturians Arturians.
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna say Venusians.
• 53:44
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna say Venusians too.
• 53:45
  SPEAKER_02: Because blue.
• 53:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 53:46
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 53:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 53:47
  SPEAKER_02: Same color as women.
• 53:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 53:49
  SPEAKER_02: Blue.
• 53:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 53:50
  SPEAKER_02: That's where they come from.
• 53:51
  SPEAKER_02: And men are from Mars.
• 53:52
  SPEAKER_02: It just seems like the right answer.
• 53:54
  SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
• 53:54
  SPEAKER_02: Communal living.
• 53:55
  SPEAKER_02: Come on.
• 53:56
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 53:57
  SPEAKER_02: Next question.
• 53:58
  SPEAKER_02: Where are reptilians said to live, according to many conspiracy theories?
• 54:02
  SPEAKER_02: Is it the moon?
• 54:03
  SPEAKER_02: Underground bases on Earth, deep ocean trenches, or a hidden space station orbiting Saturn?
• 54:10
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to say underground bases on Earth.
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_02: That sounds good.
• 54:13
  SPEAKER_02: I'm going to say deep ocean trenches.
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_02: But I feel like you might be right.
• 54:17
  SPEAKER_02: But it could be the moon.
• 54:18
  SPEAKER_01: I feel pretty strong about my answer, which means it's wrong.
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah.
• 54:21
  SPEAKER_02: That's true.
• 54:22
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, next one.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_02: Which alien species is described as insect-like, often appearing during abductions as observers or supervisors?
• 54:30
  SPEAKER_02: Oh man, supervisors.
• 54:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 54:33
  SPEAKER_02: Is it mantids?
• 54:34
  SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
• 54:35
  SPEAKER_02: Syrians?
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_02: Arcturians or tall whites?
• 54:39
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I'm gonna say mantids?
• 54:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna say mantids too, because mantis.
• 54:43
  SPEAKER_02: Like a praying mantis.
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_02: Mantius, yeah.
• 54:45
  SPEAKER_02: Easy.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_01: Easy.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 54:47
  SPEAKER_02: Next one.
• 54:48
  SPEAKER_02: What physical features commonly described in reports of the grays?
• 54:52
  SPEAKER_02: Red eyes with vertical pupils, long antenna with blinking tips, large black almond-shaped eyes, glowing blue skin.
• 55:00
  SPEAKER_02: What do you think?
• 55:01
  SPEAKER_01: Large black almond-shaped eyes.
• 55:03
  SPEAKER_01: I was just picturing grays in my head.
• 55:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 55:05
  SPEAKER_02: I've seen hundreds of pictures of grays.
• 55:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_02: The stereotypical alien, not green, but gray.
• 55:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 55:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 55:14
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 55:15
  SPEAKER_02: Last question.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_02: Better get it right.
• 55:17
  SPEAKER_02: Which group is often associated with ancient civilizations and gold mining and said to originate from the mysterious planet called Niburu.
• 55:26
  SPEAKER_02: Is it Anunnaki, Reptilians, Venusians, or Greys?
• 55:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to say Anunnaki because you bring it up all the time.
• 55:36
  SPEAKER_01: You're always talking about, and I don't ever Because it's all real, man.
• 55:39
  SPEAKER_01: I don't ever listen.
• 55:40
  SPEAKER_01: As soon as you say that word, I'm just like, my eyes, I'm done.
• 55:44
  SPEAKER_01: I can see it, but that doesn't stop me from talking about it.
• 55:46
  SPEAKER_01: I started thinking about how did Tom Cruise learn to hold his breath for six minutes.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 55:51
  SPEAKER_02: So let's submit.
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_02: View our accuracy.
• 55:55
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_02: How many species of extraterrestrials are there?
• 55:59
  SPEAKER_01: Oh.
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_02: At least, according to Stephen Greer.
• 56:02
  SPEAKER_01: What a horny number.
• 56:04
  SPEAKER_02: It is 69.
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_02: Hell yeah, it is.
• 56:06
  SPEAKER_02: So never not guess 69, Josh.
• 56:09
  SPEAKER_02: Or 420.
• 56:10
  SPEAKER_02: I'm learning that now.
• 56:12
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 56:12
  SPEAKER_02: What species is not commonly rumored to work with or be involved in Earth's governments?
• 56:17
  SPEAKER_02: I said Pleiadians.
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_02: You said that too, right?
• 56:19
  SPEAKER_02: No, I said Grays.
• 56:21
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay.
• 56:21
  SPEAKER_02: Pleiadians.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_02: From Pleiades.
• 56:23
  SPEAKER_02: Pleiades.
• 56:24
  SPEAKER_02: Pleiadians.
• 56:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 56:26
  SPEAKER_02: So next one.
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_02: This alien species is described as spiritually advanced, possibly blueskin, and known for telepathic communication and communal living.
• 56:35
  SPEAKER_02: The answer was Arcturians.
• 56:38
  SPEAKER_01: So right, and I just want to get ahead of this.
• 56:40
  SPEAKER_01: I got one right so far, two wrong so far, but scrolling through, Travis did pretty good.
• 56:46
  SPEAKER_01: Good.
• 56:47
  SPEAKER_01: Good for you.
• 56:48
  SPEAKER_01: Pretty good.
• 56:49
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 56:50
  SPEAKER_02: So that one is Arcturians.
• 56:52
  SPEAKER_02: Arcturians.
• 56:53
  SPEAKER_02: Next one, where are reptilians said to live, according to many conspiracy theories?
• 56:57
  SPEAKER_02: I said deep ocean trenches.
• 56:59
  SPEAKER_02: That's not correct.
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_02: And you said underground bases on Earth.
• 57:02
  SPEAKER_02: You got it right.
• 57:03
  SPEAKER_01: Feeling pretty good right now.
• 57:05
  SPEAKER_02: Good.
• 57:05
  SPEAKER_02: Which alien species is described as insect-like, often appearing during abductions or observers or supervisors?
• 57:12
  SPEAKER_02: We both said mantids, right?
• 57:14
  SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
• 57:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 57:14
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_02: Got it right.
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_02: Both got it right.
• 57:16
  SPEAKER_02: What physical features commonly described in Reports of the Greys?
• 57:19
  SPEAKER_02: Large black almonds shaped.
• 57:22
  SPEAKER_02: Nailed in.
• 57:22
  SPEAKER_02: Obvi.
• 57:23
  SPEAKER_02: And then lastly, which group is often associated with ancient civilizations and gold mining and said to originate from the mysterious planet called Nibiru?
• 57:31
  SPEAKER_02: It is the Anunnaki.
• 57:33
  SPEAKER_02: I think this might be a longer episode that we're going to do.
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe break it up in two.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_02: I mean the Anunnaki could just be one.
• 57:39
  SPEAKER_02: But we'll see.
• 57:40
  SPEAKER_01: Because of gold.
• 57:41
  SPEAKER_02: Because they like their gold.
• 57:42
  SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
• 57:43
  SPEAKER_02: Well, the Anunnaki goes back to like ancient Sumerian texts and all these other ancient writings.
• 57:49
  SPEAKER_02: What about the Nephilim?
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_02: The Anunnaki and the Nephilim are they're the same?
• 57:54
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we'll find out.
• 57:57
  SPEAKER_01: That comes from Genesis?
• 57:58
  SPEAKER_01: Nephilim?
• 57:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 57:59
  SPEAKER_01: There's biblical context.
• 58:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_02: There's a lot of from my understanding.
• 58:04
  SPEAKER_02: I haven't researched them a lot, but from what I've seen and read, there's a lot of good evidence that there is a possibility that this is real.
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_02: Just from around the world, different texts saying that these people came from the sky.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_02: Love it.
• 58:18
  SPEAKER_02: I actually ran into someone at a store the other day and was telling about this podcast, and they are from a tribe in Alaska, and they were telling me that they have an alignment in their own like native wording about a time before the moon and their ancestors came down from the stars.
• 58:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 58:34
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I mean, so all around the world, there's just these origin stories of beings coming from the air.
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_02: So cool.
• 58:41
  SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you for listening.
• 58:43
  SPEAKER_02: And like I said, rate, review, comment, smash that whatever button.
• 58:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 58:48
  SPEAKER_01: Smash that like button.
• 58:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 58:50
  SPEAKER_01: That thumbs up.
• 58:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 58:51
  SPEAKER_02: Give me that thumbs up.
• 58:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 58:53
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 58:54
  SPEAKER_02: And we will chat at you next episode.
• 58:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yay.
• 58:56
  SPEAKER_02: Bye.
• 58:57
  SPEAKER_02: Bye.