UFOs and Aliens at the Vatican
Does the Vatican know something about UFOs and aliens that we don’t? Are popes after popes keeping secrets? Might there be a conspiracy between the Curia and an extraterrestrial civilization? Is this an unfounded rumor? How can we find out?
Well, we could ask. And that’s just what I plan to do here.
The Vatican Observatory in Outer Space
From 1987 to 2002, I had the opportunity to work on a joint project including the Vatican Observatory (VO) and the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS). Saint Pope John Paull II took a specific interest in this project, meeting with us every two or three years. We relied on the very able leadership of then VO Director, astronomer George Coyne, S.J.
We called it the Divine Action Project (DAP). By bringing scientists and theologians along with philosophers together, we sought to articulate a coherent way to understand God’s action in nature’s world. The world of nature we studied included the electron within the atom as well as the expanding universe of perhaps two billion galaxies.
From time to time we snooped around in the research of the staff scientists both at Castelle Gandolfo in Italy and the University of Arizona in the United States. I recall a number of Vatican astronomers were working on star formation, publishing scientific papers right along with other observatories around the world.
Although the astronomers reported very little direct research on ETI and theology, it was not uncommon to talk about astrobiology and extraterrestrial neighbors in the Milky Way.
In no way did I perceive the slightest nervousness, obfuscation, or deceit from the scientist-Jesuits over a decade and a half. They seemed to know what was commonly known in the globwide scientific community about the possibilities of extraterrestrial life. Nothing less. Nothing more. No reason to whisper, speculare, or accuse anyone of conspiracy on this subject matter.
We like to gossip about what the Vatican knows.
When David Grusch testified before the Oversight Committee of the US House of Representatives last month and spoke in an interview with NewsNation about UFOs, he said the Vatican had in its possession both a crashed spaceship as well as one or more alien pilots. He dated this during the Mussolini period, 1933. Yes, Grusch said with confidence, the Vatican knows. What a titilating rumor under the guise of whistle blowing. But, until we see the evidence, we simply will not know what the Vatican knows. Allegedly.
Seth Shostak, an astronomer at SETI, asks: where’s the evidence?
“David Grusch says they’re here. But either he can’t prove it, or he won’t. Until he does, we should consider his stories to be just that: stories.”
If the Vatican has the evidence, let’s see it.
Why not just ask the Vatican about UFOs and Aliens?
So, let’s ask the Vatican. But, whom should we pepper with our questions? Pope Francis? The Holy Father has already told us he would baptize an alien if the alien asks for it. Now, just how many aliens has this pontiff already baptized? Mmmmm? Well, what Francis said, in my opinion, seems much too innocuous a statement to be worthy of conspiracy speculation.
So, let’s ask José Gabriel Funes. Why him? Because Jose served as Director of the Vatican Observatory from 2006 to 2015. He’s an accomplished astromer and, like so many of his VO colleagues, interested in the dialogue between science and theology. He is author of…
After departing VO, Jose returned to his native Argentina to teach and conduct research. Jose spent this past sabbatical academic year in Berkeley with his Jesuit colleagues and with us at CTNS. Jose has told me that he has not seen any empirical evidence that would support these rumors. The question of extraterrestrial life is an open question awating future scientific dciscovery.
José Gabriel Funes: an Interview
TED: Jose, whistleblower discussion in the United States strongly hints there is first hand knowledge of UFOs and aliens at the Vatican. But, rumor has it, the Vatican maintains this knowledge in secrecy. You have told me that the Vatican Observatory is not the holder of such secret knowledge. The question of off-Earth civilizations remains a strictly scientific question and an open question. What do you think?
JOSE. I think that the scientific community should investigate this information in a multidisciplinary approach.
Secondly, not everyone is able to do scientific research. In simple words, you should get a driving license in sciences to carry on scientific research. That license is the doctorate that universities on behalf of the academic community bestows. The academic system is not perfect but is the best we have. Moreover, results of the research must go through peer review. As I wrote in the epilogue of my recent book on SETI research, we need patience and humility. We live in a culture of immediacy. We may not see in our time any proof of ETI existence. We also need to get along with the fact that our legitimate questions may not have answers.
Third, in the hypothetical case that we find any form of extraterrestrial life, I do not see any contradiction with the faith in God the Creator. However, the potential discovery would challenge our theological thinking becoming less parochial, less anthropomorphic, and anthropocentric.
Now, Jose has shared this statement with a wide audience who has asked him my kind of question.
Conclusion
Well, there you have it. Are you disappointed? Is this just one more rumor about secret knowledge of UFOs and aliens in the Vatican with no conclusive answer? Or, is it just as much as anyone knows about UFOs and aliens at the Vatican?
Would you like more on this topic?
NASA and Priests Preparing for ETI Contact
Are alien scientists the real gods?
Would confirmation of extraterrestrial life cause a crisis for terrestrial religion?
SR 1178 UFOs and Aliens at the Vatican
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Ted Peters directs traffic at the intersection of science, religion, and ethics. Peters is an emeritus professor at the Graduate Theological Union, where he co-edits the journal, Theology and Science, with Robert John Russell on behalf of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, in Berkeley, California, USA. He authored Playing God? Genetic Determinism and Human Freedom? (Routledge, 2nd ed., 2002) as well as Science, Theology, and Ethics (Ashgate 2003). Along with Martinez Hewlett, Joshua Moritz, and Robert John Russell, he co-edited, Astrotheology: Science and Theology Meet Extraterrestrial Intelligence (2018). Along with Octavio Chon Torres, Joseph Seckbach, and Russell Gordon, he co-edited, Astrobiology: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy (Scrivener 2021). He is also author of UFOs: God’s Chariots? Spirituality, Ancient Aliens, and Religious Yearnings in the Age of Extraterrestrials (Career Press New Page Books, 2014). Look for his newest book, The Voice of Public Theology, a collection of previous articles. See his website: TedsTimelyTake.com.
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