Ufologists, in general, struggle to maintain the notion that the UFO mystery began only 50 or so years ago. By maintaining this arbitrary timeline, they are able to profess that the phenomenon is either a scientific study by aliens from nearby star systems, or the early stages of an alien invasion. Those are the only conclusions one can reasonably come to if UFOs are something relatively new. But what kind of study or invasion takes thousands of years? What if these so-called “aliens” have always been here, and ancient writings portray encounters with them? What if the gods of old are the aliens of today?

If this is so, the study of ufology cannot avoid delving into both ancient religions and contemporary ones. This is a terrible dilemma for those wishing to make the study of UFOs an acceptable mainstream science. Debunkers already love to claim that those interested in UFOs are cultists, or that ufology is itself a religion and, therefore, not a science.