UFOs as a Modern Devil Myth by Don Webb (c) Copyright Don Webb 1993 I recently sold a story to _Asimov's_ called "Sabbath of the Zeppelins." I had wanted to write about the Phantom Airship flap of 1897 for quite some time, and I figured this would make a good addition to my series of surrealist Western short stories. The story went along swimmingly until I reached the crucial point where my hero Malcolm Mackenzie has to come face to face with the Captain of the Airship. Up to that point I had been using newspaper accounts of the flap and fairly simplistic adventure writing to carry the narrative along. But when I had to ascribe motive and form to the creatures that drove the ship, I was stymied. I had to take a long subjective journey to find what (for me) was the archetype behind the UFO phenomena. The archetype for me was -- somewhat to my surprise -- Lucifer, in his role as the inspirer of technology and the furtherer of individuation. I would like to share with you eight reasons why I feel that these two myths -- that of Lucifer, the principle of isolate intelligence, and the UFO principle of the scientific unknown -- are cognates in the langauge of the psyche (and perhaps suggest why the later is taking the place of the former in the popular imagination). Both of these figures that bear light in the darkness represent a form of rebellion in belief systems -- a type of spiritual dissent. It must be emphasized that this essay is interested in these archetypes only as myth, and will leave discussions of the reality of such figures to appropriate theologians and ontologists. Both are myths of rebellion, so both will be in decline in a growingly postmodern culture (since it's harder to be a rebel with nothing clear to rebel against); although both should undergo revivals in nations entering an industrial era. In postmodern culture we see that most beliefs tend to lose their power in the plurality, and that medievalist beliefs -- such as the belief in Lucifer or the UFO -- will tend to fade away into the bywaters of cultural effect, such as Access TV. But because the beliefs work the soul in a similar fashion, both being part of what Jungians call the "movement toward the left" -- that is to say individuation, I predict that UFO beliefs will begin more and more to replace beliefs in the devil. The great difference is that Lucifer is perceived as evil, and the UFO is generally precieved as good. But we must remember that the traditional goals of the black magician, knowledge and power, are no longer considered bad by our society. Indeed Faust's goals of knowledge, power, and wealth are shared by thousand of American parents when they send their children off to college so that they can get a good job. Since these ideas are no longer evil, but are actually the American Dream, the old dream of obtaining them through a secret (or occult) fashion has changed from the deal with the devil to the Close Encounter. In the Judeo-Christian world view where knowledge is connected with evil and the Fall, Lucifer is the closest thing we have to the figure of Prometheus. Lucifer, like Prometheus, the UFO and the Second Beast of Revelations brings down fire from heaven. Let's examine those ideas in detail; I will leave the consideration of what those ideas mean to society and the individual (and what use may be made of such myths) to the individual reader. 1. Both the UFO and Lucifer appear (and appeal) to the downtrodden. Although UFOs have been witnessed by people of all walks of life; the encounters of greatest strangeness happen to lower middle class people with reasonably powerless lives. That they were singled out gives their lives a potency and meaning similar to the Medieval peasant who hallucinated the Witch's Sabbath. Not only does such a mythic interlude get a short-lived notoriety, it becomes essential for the believability of the myth. We may all be suspicious of a Whitely Striber, but there is an acceptance when the news comes from a guy with limited experience and education. Our notion seems to be, " He couldn't have made that up." To be singled out -- even for the terrible abduction experience -- is seen as an honor. "Boy I'd sure like to meet up with a UFO." 2. Both the UFO and Lucifer represent a form of antinomianism. The sinful or "going against the grain" nature of holding Lucifer in high regard need not be explained. However in a scientific and logical society. a belief in UFOs is equally antinomian. Antinomianism is defined by the matrix culture. If you want to revolt against the symbols of your culture, the way to begin that revolt is to take on those symbols that represent conventional "evil" or "impurity" or "rationality," or whatever quality the conventional culture fears and loathes. The rebel will set himself apart from his fellow man, will actually or figuratively become an outsider, in order to gain the kind of inner independence necessary to break with a society that has nothing to offer him. Just as Lucifer worship represents a break from Judeo-Christian society. UFO-worship represents a break from scientism -- afterall UFOs have the trappings of science -- planets, drives, alien biology -- and yet are the objects of ridicule and loathing by the scientific community. Note that this process can be fully conscious -- UFO worship among well-educated empowered individuals who are glad to take on antinomian roles -- and unconsciously among people who lack the training and philosophy to make a break with society and are therefore at the mercy of their unconscious. The mythic experiences of the latter provide the fuel for the former. Occasionally the members of the former group must break away from the subculture they have embraced -- a good example being the irascible Jim Moseley, publisher of Saucer Smear .