# So-called Space Alien "Cults" **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 9, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-called-space-alien-cults/325444 "2005-10-09T21:37:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-called-space-alien-cults/325444/21 "2005-10-12T17:09:20Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > For a while, I even had 1950s-style “Space Brothers” incorporated into my concept of the Angelic hierarchy (somewhere between “thrones” and “dominions” 😃 ). Ah, they’re 1950’s style…never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-called-space-alien-cults/325444/22 "2005-10-13T01:00:01Z")
Carl Jung, noticing that UFOs and other phenomena that had once been attributed to heavenly or ethereal sources were now being attributed to alien or otherwise unknown technology, referred to them as [Technological Angels](http://home.uchicago.edu/~ryancook/ufonrm.htm) (a phrase it’s hard to believe has never been co-opted by a techno band). While Jung himself is not generally believed to have been a space alien, his fellow psychological legend [B. F. Skinner](http://www.cedu.niu.edu/tutortechlab/images/SkinnerPix.JPG) was in fact the son of a [human](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/94/Fonzie.jpg) father and a [Talosian](http://members.aol.com/mikesauter/img/talosian.jpg) mother, hence his ability to think outside the box. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2005, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-called-space-alien-cults/325444/23 "2005-10-13T03:43:39Z")
No, no, Skinner not only thought _inside_ the box, he actually _built_ the [box](http://www.snopes.com/science/skinner.asp)! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-called-space-alien-cults/325444/24 "2005-10-13T23:35:08Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Another useful distinction is the issue of secrecy. “Legitmate” religions are open to all, and don’t hide secrets. Not always. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yezidis:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yezidis:) > [@](#): > > Yazidi are exclusive and do not reveal most of their secrets to the uninitiated. The twice-daily prayer services must not be performed in the presence of outsiders, and are always performed in the direction of the sun. Wednesday is the holy day but Saturday is the day of rest. There is also a three-day feast in December. > > \ > > Yazidi are exclusive; clans do not intermarry even with other Kurds and accept no converts. They claim that they are descended only from Adam. The strongest punishment is expulsion, which is also effectively excommunication because the soul of the exiled is forfeit. I think the Yazidi must be accounted a “legitimate” religion if only for their antiquity. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-called-space-alien-cults/325444/25 "2005-10-14T14:55:58Z")
Any idea what “They claim they are descended only from Adam” means? (Does this mean “No Eve” or “brother-sister marriages all the way, baby!” or…?) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-called-space-alien-cults/325444/26 "2005-10-14T16:00:37Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Any idea what “They claim they are descended only from Adam” means? (Does this mean “No Eve” or “brother-sister marriages all the way, baby!” or…?) It means no Eve. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-called-space-alien-cults/325444/27 "2005-10-14T20:41:53Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > It means no Eve. 😕 How do they account for that, biologically? (Sounds even weirder than the Raelians!) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-called-space-alien-cults/325444.md?page=1)