On July 26, 2023, a former U. S. Intelligence official by the name of David Grusch testified before the House Oversight Committee concerning the existence of so-called Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, or what we until now have referred to as UFO’s. He claimed that the government is in possession of multiple UAP’s as well as several “nonhuman biologics” recovered from these crashed UAP’s.

Then, last week, September 1 of this year, one of the headline stories in USA Today was, “Talk of UFOs zooms into the mainstream.” The author of the article, Eric Lagatta, tells the story of former New York Times staff reporter, Ralph Blumenthal, and his investigation into the possibility of UFOs and the alleged reality of alien life forms.

Grusch’s testimony in particular served to fan the flames of speculation and fear among many, but not all. I am included in the latter group. No, I don’t believe in “alien life” in some distant galaxy of the universe. You may ask, why? Here are my reasons.

First, we have to acknowledge that the Bible is largely silent on this point. There are no texts that either explicitly assert or deny that alien life exists elsewhere. Of course, all Bible-believing Christians believe that there is non-human life in the form of angelic and demonic beings that are likely present throughout the universe. But Scripture also suggests that the purpose for the existence of holy angels is to do God’s bidding and fulfill his will on this earth (Ps. 103:20-21).

Hebrews 1:14 tells us that “all” holy angels are “ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.” If there were distant portions of the galaxy with “angelic” beings, why would “all” holy angels be present on and around the earth to serve and minister to Christians? My point, one that will come up again in a moment, is that God’s activity through his angelic hosts is focused upon and perhaps thus limited to our planet and God’s redemptive purposes in saving for himself a people.

We must also remember that angels do not marry nor procreate (Matt. 22:30). So, if they constitute alien life on another planet, their number is fixed and final. We don’t know if angels ever literally die and cease to exist, but fallen angels are destined for eternal torment in the lake of fire (Matt. 25:41).

Second, I’m not suggesting that there is no “life” at all on some distant planet or galaxy. There may well be micro-organisms or even plant life elsewhere in the universe, perhaps even some form of animal beings. There is considerable debate as to whether the seraphim of Isaiah 6 are an order of angelic beings or perhaps another species of sentient, non-human life. Some would also point to the four living creatures of Revelation 4:6ff. Nothing would prevent there from being four million (billion?) of such creatures that might occupy other planets in other galaxies. We simply have no way of knowing. But whatever form of “life” might exist beyond earth, it would not be sentient, cognitive, volitional life that has been created in the image of God (as is true of human beings). The key is that last phrase, “the image of God.” The four living creatures are capable of seeing, knowing, enjoying, and exalting God, so in that sense they are capable of meaningful cognitive and volitional experience. But nowhere in Scripture are they said to be created in the image of God.

Third, when I read the opening chapters of Genesis it strikes me that this earth is the principal (perhaps even exclusive) focus of God’s creative activity. God created “the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1), which I believe is inclusive not only of our cosmos but the totality of the heavens and the countless galaxies that exist. But his primary activity is directed to this earth on which we live and the people that occupy it. I suppose one could argue that this does not preclude the possibility that God pulled off another creation billions of light years away, but why then is his presence and power so clearly portrayed as pertaining solely to our world?

Fourth, and most important of all, my reason for denying the existence elsewhere in the universe of human-like beings who are created in the image of God is the truth of the incarnation of God the Son. The Word (John 1:1), God the Son, the second person of the Triune Godhead, “became flesh” (John 1:14), lived a sinless life, died a substitutionary death, was raised from the dead and is now exalted at the right hand of God the Father. In other words, the incarnation never came to an end. Jesus didn’t divest himself of his human nature when he was raised from the dead. Jesus, the God-man, is now and forever will be the God-man. He is embodied eternally. He exists now and forever will be in a glorified human nature. As the incarnate (“in-fleshed”) Son of God, he is localized.

We must also consider Hebrews 2:14-17 where we read that the Son “partook” of the same “flesh and blood” (v. 14) that characterizes our existence. In other words, God the Son became a human being. He is still and always will be God, but he is also fully human. The author of Hebrews goes on to say that “it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham” (v. 16). That’s us. This is the author’s way of saying that the Son of God did not take on the nature of any other existent being. He took on our nature. He died solely for us. This was so that he might “make propitiation for the sins of the people” (v. 17). My point is that there is no saving activity of God the Son, Jesus Christ, beyond what he accomplished once and for all for the people of this planet.

My point is that if there were truly, on some distant planet, another human or human-esque race of individuals who bear the image of God, are they sinless or fallen? If sinless, in what way would they be capable of glorifying the grace, mercy, and love of God? And why would they not be mentioned, alongside earthly saints, in the many texts of the book of Revelation that describe heavenly existence? The 24 elders are either angels or representative of the redeemed. But nowhere in Revelation do we read of other “human” or “human-esque” beings being present, be that in heaven or in the new heaven and new earth of Revelation 21-22.

If these alleged “human-esque” beings are not sinless, but fallen, how could they be redeemed and obtain the forgiveness of sins given the fact that God the Son has already become an earthly human and suffered for our race? Surely you wouldn’t suggest that he would divest himself of his glorified body, be born yet again of a virgin on another planet, and live and die and be raised yet again to redeem creatures in a distant galaxy.

So, if we conclude that there are no human or human-esque life forms in some distant galaxy, what are we to make of the multiple “sightings” of UAP’s or UFO’s, especially those whose movements seem to defy what we know of the laws of physics? There are several things to note.

First, in a recent article in Commentary (September 2023), James B. Meigs has pointed out that “there’s one thing missing in all this recent UFO fervor: evidence. Despite the excitement around Grusch’s testimony, even he admits that he’s never seen a single scrap from a crashed UFO. He’s only heard ‘reports’ from unnamed people who say they have.” Again, “the fact is,” notes Meigs, “in more than 70 years of public fascination with the idea of alien visitors, no one has produced the tiniest piece of tangible evidence. Elaborate tales of alien visitation hang on nothing but blurry images of distant lights in the sky.”

Second, the sightings of these unidentified anomalous phenomena most times turn out to be stray balloons (remember the Chinese spy/weather balloon that traversed the sky over our country earlier this year?), civilian aircraft, satellites, drones, “or visual distortions within the camera systems” (Meigs). Along these same lines, Meigs proceeds to ask: “if a pilot spots something hard to identify, which is more likely: It’s a camera glitch or a mundane bit of aerial trash, or it’s a super-advanced spaceship from a distant civilization?” He also asks, “If aliens are visiting us, how come they never show themselves clearly? On the other hand, if they’re trying to hide, why can’t they stay completely out of sight?”

In similar fashion, I have always wondered about the technical and scientific capabilities of an alien life form that has the power to travel millions, perhaps billions of light years to earth and yet lacks the ability to avoid crashing into mountains. In addition, when you consider the expanse of the universe and the distance between our earth and other galaxies, to arrive on earth by “spaceship” or “flying saucer” or some other aerial device you would have to travel for hundreds of thousands of years. Are we being asked to believe that these “alien” beings can live that long and perhaps even never die? The absurdity of any such notion is obvious.

The pushback to this is the highly speculative and, in my opinion, baseless assertion that such aliens are not subject to the laws of physics that govern life on earth. Perhaps they can travel at speeds far beyond anything possible in our galaxy without incurring damage or death. Of course, this the sort of bizarre and unscientific speculation required to make plausible the theory of alien visitations.

Third, if not alien spaceships, if not debris from satellites or drones or weather balloons or other forms of aerial trash, if not the glitch of a camera or the heightened imagination of people who are predisposed to identify such UAP’s as alien life forms, could it be that what passes for UAP’s or UFO’s are actually either angelic or demonic beings?

My answer is decidedly, Yes. Paul says we “we wrestle against “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). He also describes Satan in Ephesians 2:3 as the “prince of the authority (exousia) (or power) of the air.” The word translated “power” or “authority” denotes the realm or sphere or empire of the devil’s influence (i.e., demonic hosts; see Col. 1:13). The word “air” could refer to (1) the literal atmosphere around us (hence the abode of demonic spirits); (2) or it could be synonymous with “darkness” (cf. Luke 22:53; Eph. 6:12; Col. 1:13); or (3) it could be a reference to the nature of the demonic hosts; i.e., they are unearthly, spiritual, not human. (4) Or it could involve to some degree all these ideas and be “another way of indicating the ‘heavenly realm’, which, according to Ephesians 6:12, is the abode of those principalities and powers, the ‘world-rulers of this darkness’ and ‘spiritual forces of wickedness’, against which the people of Christ wage war” (O’Brien, 160).

We also read of another portrayal of Satan in Revelation 12:3, “And another sign appeared in heaven: behold a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems” (Rev. 12:3). Revelation 16:14 refers to “unclean” “demonic” spirits who were “performing signs” and Paul speaks of “the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders” and “wicked deception” (2 Thess. 2:9-10). Could these “signs and wonders” that come from Satan and his demonic hosts be the explanation for what so many claim to be alien space craft? Yes, I think so.

If we press on to ask what might be the purpose of such demonic manifestations, signs, and wonders in the heavens, at least three things come to mind.

First, these visible expressions of demonic power would serve to instill fear and confusion in the hearts of men and women, a fear that apart from Christianity has no remedy, thus leading to despair. Second, such UAP’s serve to distract people from Jesus Christ and the truth of the gospel and to re-direct their attention to all manner of speculation about what exists “out there” aside from God. Third, these aerial phenomena have the potential to lead many non-Christians to conclude that the Bible isn’t true. If such phenomena truly exist, so they reason, surely the Bible would have given us hints of such. The fact that it doesn’t must mean the Bible contains only myth, not factual reality.

In the final analysis, I can’t disprove the existence of alien life forms that have come to earth. But no one has provided concrete, empirical evidence that such has in fact occurred. Given the narrative of Scripture that portrays God’s creative, providential, and redemptive activity on this earth, among those who alone are described as existing in his image, I can’t bring myself to believe that human or human-esque beings exist outside our cosmos.