Archive X: Souls + Saucers

The Bomb, Technology, and the End of All That is

This conversation is about how the flying saucer and the history of religions are deeply intertwined, how “the soul is a UFO”,  both speaking of the nuclear bomb, technology (the robot and now AI), and the apocalypse as both the "end of the world" and the “disclosure” of the nature of reality. Particular focus will be given to the “gnostic” elements of ufology, that is, the ways it emphasizes a direct “knowing” (gnosis) in terms of contact or encounter and sees the world as a “simulation” or illusion constructed by a lower entity. I will demonstrate that such “gnostic” readings (named as such) have been common in the literature for about 40 years, linking these insights in turn to the study of religion. Attention will also be given to the sighting of a flying saucer as spiritual initiation, the psychedelic scene, and the hidden monster or cryptid. 

Jeffrey J. Kripal is the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University, where he helps lead the Center for the Impossible. Jeff is the author of numerous books, most recently How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else(Chicago, 2024). He is also the host of the television series "Archive X: Unexplained Phenomena" on AMC, Sundance Television, and All Reality. His full body of work can be seen at http://jeffreyjkripal.com  He thinks he may be Spider-Man.