OUT OF THIS WORLD (1977)
JON RONSON'S FOR THE LOVE OF FAITH: AETHERIUS SOCIETY (1998)
SHAUN RYDER ON UFOS: WORSHIP AND ABDUCTION (2013)
In OUT OF THIS WORLD, George King is on Prayer Power Battery duty. The self-appointed cosmic guru also shows off his George Adamski-inspired UFO model, the go-to piece for The Aetherius Society. This was also used by "Mr Roberts" in an episode of ONE PAIR OF EYES.
MANKIND'S hard-wired religious instincts, and innate yearning to look to the sky for answers, is addressed in the BBC's OUT OF THIS WORLD, a documentary that nicely sits amongst the pseudo-fortean output of the 1970s. Segments include George King on Holdstone Down recounting his contact with Jesus, former diplomat Gordon Creighton theorising on parallel realities and humanity being the result of "superior engineering," and House of Lords member William Francis Brinsley Le Poer Trench, 8th Earl of Clancarty, conveniently mentioning his book Secret of the Ages: UFOs from Inside the Earth. Trench would also state in The Sky People that Adam and Eve, Noah and many others from The Bible originally lived on Mars, and that he knew a former U.S. test pilot who was present at a meeting between President Eisenhower and a group of aliens.
The JON RONSON'S FOR THE LOVE OF FAITH episode on The Aetherius Society features five acolytes waxing lyrical on the Cosmic Masters manifesting as wisdom. Apparently it has been no coincidence that the voices from space started during the Atomic age, and that our extraterrestrial councillors have been fundamental in the safeguarding of the human race at such a dangerous time (their craft have also closely monitored our space travel). Everything exists in spiritual planes, the guests explain, which can conveniently dilute any kind of scientific fact: even though the planets in our solar system are all inhospitable, the Cosmic Masters can simply appear and disappear at whim due to this metaphysical existence. Since his passing in 1997, the members also announce that they don't actually know where King is, but that he has certainly become an "Avatar," a suitably abstract labelling.
Shaun Ryder has been obsessed with UFOs since he saw a zig-zagging ball of light at a bus stop aged fifteen. In SHAUN RYDER ON UFOS, he states that he "wouldn't mind having a go at being abducted by aliens." This traumatic notion is scoffed at by The Aetherius Society, a phenomenon that is a clear inversion of their constructive, vision-driven teachings.
In this Channel 4 discussion, Ronson does not need to drive the conversation, rather reclines and prompts were necessary; he is respectful and asks what the guests constantly refer to as "good questions." The underlying theme of humanity needing to "wake up" is illustrated by notions that "famine is a crime" and unstable weather patterns are what "our Karma deserves." Despite the goofiness, a need for a balance between nature and humanity is a prophetic one, a cause which is more evident with every passing year. However, it does not seem that the teachings from "Mars Sector Six" and the visiting "Third Satellite" - an orbiting craft which injects humanity with enhanced spirituality - are really working.
Shown on the History Channel, SHAUN RYDER ON UFOS is a four-part investigation fronted by the always entertaining Happy Mondays and Black Grape kingpin. Shaun’s quest for the truth leads through the USA, Mayan ruins, and the aboriginal cave paintings of Australia. In the third episode - WORSHIP AND ABDUCTION - the presenter interviews Nick Pope in a tearoom, and attends an underwhelming meeting of The UFO Academy in Watford. Ryder's visit to the London offices of The Aetherius Society sees him greeted by Richard Lawrence, an executive secretary of the European division. Lawrence is much more congenial compared to the Mr Roberts encountered by Patrick Moore in CAN YOU TALK VENUSIAN?, inviting Shaun to witness a red-robed prayer session conveniently featuring a stunningly beautiful young woman. Although clearly still processing this more spiritual approach to Ufology, Shaun sees little difference in what is happening in Church congregations throughout the land.