Religions

Believers in extraterrestrials have also pointed to religious texts to support their claims of a previous visitation. Proponents often mention the imagery in the Book of Ezekiel, or the vimanas of Hindu Vedic texts, while some religions, like Raelism and Scientology, hold the belief of extraterrestrials as basic tenets of their faith. One thing some Ancient Astronaut theorists like to mention as a modern day comparison are the so-called Cargo Cults. These “cults” arose when the primitive, indigenous populations of isolated islands were exposed to visitors from civilized countries. For example, U.S. soldiers landed on the tiny island of Tanna, Vanuatu, during WWII to build airstrips for their fight against Japan. The tribal inhabitants viewed the soldiers as gods, and accepted gifts from them as rewards from their deities. When the soldiers left as quickly as they came, the inhabitants began recreating their “rituals,” such as marching in formation and building makeshift landing strips and planes, in order to continue the delivery of their divine “cargo.” Some ufologists have speculated that ancient religions may have developed the same way, with extraterrestrials acting the part of American soldiers.

宗教

相信有外星人的人士还曾引述宗教文字来佐证外星人曾经来访的观点。支持者经常提及以西结书中的雕像，即印度吠陀文献中的维曼拿斯(vimanas，印度文献中记载的一种神话般的飞行器--译者注)，而有些宗教(如雷尔教派和科学论派)将相信外星人的存在作为其信仰的基本教义。一些古代宇航员理论支持者喜欢提及用来与当代作比较的一件事是所谓的货物崇拜。这种“崇拜”在孤岛上的原始、土著人遇到来自文明国家的来访者时产生。例如，二战期间，美国士兵曾登陆瓦鲁阿图一个叫塔纳的小岛，在岛上建造机场，方便对日作战。部落土著将这些士兵视为天神，接受“神赐”礼物，认为这是神对于他们虔诚的奖赏。当这些士兵们如同迅速到来那般迅速离开时，土著开始重新创建他们的“仪式”，如按队列行进以及建造临时机场和飞机，以便继续上交他们的神圣“货物”。一些UFO专家推测，古代宗教也可能是以同样的方式发展的，只不过外星人取代了美国士兵的地位。