How-and why- were UFOs so prevalent in both conspiracy theories and the New Age milieu in the post-Cold War period? In this ground-breaking book, David G. Robertson argues that UFOs symbolized an uncertainty about the boundaries between scientific knowledge and other ways of validating knowledge, and thus became part of a shared vocabulary.
Through historical and ethnographic case studies of three prominent figures-novelist and abductee Whitley Strieber; environmentalist and reptilian proponent David Icke; and David Wilcock, alleged reincarnation of Edgar Cayce-the investigation reveals that millennial conspiracism offers an explanation as to why the prophesied New Age failed to arrive-it was prevented from arriving by malevolent, hidden others. Yet millennial conspiracism constructs a counter-elite, a gnostic third party defined by their special knowledge.
An overview of the development of UFO subcultures from the perspective of religious studies, UFOs, Conspiracy Theories and the New Age is an innovative application of discourse analysis to the study of present day alternative religion.

- 265 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Prologue: ‘And the Truth Shall Set You Free’
- 1 Introduction: Aquarian Conspiracies
- 2 Approaching Millennial Conspiracism
- 3 ‘Trust No-One’: UFOs, Conspiracism and Popular Millennialism during the Cold War, 1947–87
- 4 Occulted Histories: Whitley Strieber and the Abductee Narrative
- 5 ‘Problem-Reaction-Solution’: David Icke and the Reptilian Thesis
- 6 ‘The Science of Oneness’: David Wilcock and ‘2012’ Millennialism
- 7 The Counter-Elite/A Theodicy of the Dispossessed
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
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Yes, you can access UFOs, Conspiracy Theories and the New Age by David G. Robertson in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Theology & Religion & Religion. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.