Wednesday, July 8, 2026

It is the 8th of July 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

Ok- two days in a row- I’ve got a mailbag question and an event for the day which happen to dovetail. I’ll tell the “on this day” story and then fold in the question…

 

We head back to 1947- southeast New Mexico- rancher Mac Brazel found scattered debris on his property- rubber, foil, tape… curious, he contacted the sheriff, who knew this might be an issue for the nearby Army base- the Roswell Army Airfield. An intelligence officer went out to the field and concluded that this may have been the remains of a “flying disc”. On July 8th, 1947, the Roswell Airfield reported news of the “flying disc,” and the Roswell Daily Record ran the headline “RAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell”. This, coupled with other stories of strange sightings and general Cold War paranoia, helped to fuel the UFO craze of the last century. The church’s response is my concern- and it was a question and concern for Dana in Aberdeen- based on “conversations around the new movie Disclosure Day” and what I’ve heard “about the theological significance of alien beings”.

 

Ok- Dana, I’ll not point out that Aberdeen was once called the “Heck” Hole of the Pacific" and the “Port of Missing Men”- because it’s gotten better… It’s also where Kurt Cobain was from.

 

Dana- I watch “Disclosure Day” with my family- it was fun… not really an alien movie as much as a “cat and mouse”/“someone knows too much” kind of movie.

 

Ok- so, the early church- think geocentric- the universe isn’t that big- and all the stuff “out there” in the night sky was given to us for light and to count the days and seasons. It’s with the Copernican and scientific revolution that we start to realize how big the universe is… and so we start to see conversations about “other worlds”- could there be parallel worlds and peoples?

 

In 748, the Pope did take this question on- Pope Zachary condemned the idea that people might live inside the earth or sun or moon or on other planets. His concern was a particular priest teaching these ideas- the concern for the Pope was to keep the particular status of humankind distinct, with Adam as the progenitor. Pope Pius II made a similar claim against “other humans” in the 1400s.

 

Others held the door open for speculation- and given the church’s slow-to-adapt history with the science of the heavens, she has done well to speak slowly. Although this isn’t the universal rule.

 

Some groups- often conservative and young earth creationists- dismiss alien life forms, seeing the cosmos as created in large part to serve this particular planet. Others, notably C.S. Lewis in his Space Trilogy, used the speculation of other worlds and people to think theologically about ourselves.

 

The question is whether or not the Genesis creation narrative requires an “exclusive” reading- could God have created elsewhere and decided it was ‘none of our business’? But then what if there is interstellar transportation? Is that frustrating God’s plan to keep the creations apart? Might it be that there are other populated planets but are so designed such that communication is impossible? Could part of the universe be under the curse- having “fallen” while other parts aren’t?

 

Modern theology has also asked, if UFO’s aren’t real- what are they? Could the demonic use the ‘extraterrestrial’ as a guise by which they continue to fool and bedevil the world? Dana- I give you permission to speculate- speculate wildly, if you wish… but keep it in proportion… the gospel might be good news for E.T… or maybe the good news on Melmac is different from the good news on Earth… and the rumors are true…

 

Also- the Roswell affair was confirmed in the 1990s to be part of Project Mogul- it was a top-secret spy balloon- hence the Air Force tried, clumsily, to classify it as a standard “weather balloon,” and the story exploded…

 

As for my take? Easy… where do you think the nephilim went? I doubt we’ll be able to tie in another date event and email, though I’ll try… send me your questions at danv@1517.org.

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and John 13:

6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 8th of July 2026 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who surely got the reference to Melmac…he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who… You see, there was a show called “Alf”- a puppet alien from the planet Melmac, and he liked to eat cats… that was his gimmick… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.