UFOs in Genesis?

When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. (Gen. 6:1-4)

Michael Heiser reads Biblical Hebrew and studies the history of UFO sightings. He thinks that people should keep an open mind about evidence for UFOs and contact with extraterrestrials or “watchers” in the Bible. Genesis 6:1-4 is one of the verses often cited in support of contact with extraterrestrial beings. Another is Numbers 13:33: “there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, which come of the Nephilim”.

Are the Nephilim beings from space or are they angels? Some believe that the Nephilim were fallen angels or demons who had intercourse with human females in Noah’s time and produced a race of giants. However, angels were not created to sexually reproduce. Jesus states that the angels neither marry nor are given in marriage.

The interpretation of fallen angels rests on the assumption that the word nephilim is the masculine plural participle of Hebrew naphal, meaning to fall, but this is not conclusive. In the book of Daniel, the Aramaic term used to denote angels is "watchers" (`îrîn). Such a being is also called "watcher and holy one" (`îr weqadîsh). The term "watcher" implies that angels act as God's sentinels, as did the angels appointed to guard the entrance to Eden. The existence of these angelic watchers could explain some of the mysterious appearances classified as contact with extraterrestrials since angels are assigned to watch over heaven and earth. Heiser, who has read thousands of pages of testimony about UFO sightings, notes that the majority of sightings involve lights.  Angels are associated with light in the Bible so perhaps there is some basis for believing that people have had unusual encounters with angels.  As to the claim of some that they were abducted, we have the story of Lot being taken from Sodom as a possible example of abduction by angels.

However, these `îrîn (watchers) appear in literature that post-dates the earliest material in Genesis. They are also mentioned in Vedic (Sanskrit) texts which tell of gods begetting children with humans. They appear in the Epic of Gilgamesh, in the Lamech scrolls, and in The Book of Enoch which states that 200 "Watchers" descended to earth in the time of Jared and instructed men in the arts and sciences.

These non-biblical sources lend support to the view that technological advances made by ancient man came as the result of contact with more advanced beings. This is more or less the position of Michael Tellinger who is promoting his new book Temples of the African Gods. Instead of recognizing that ancient Africans were observers of the heavens and regarded the cardinal points as the basis for understanding the order of creation he insists that the ancient ruins found at Mpumalanga, South Africa prove contact with extraterrestrial beings. Here is what Tellinger writes about that stone ruin:

This ruin has become the subject of much research and measurement by Johan Heine. It features prominently in our new book Temples of the African Gods. There are multiple alignments with the cardinal geographical points. The perfect hexagon is formed by extending the length of the flattened edge across the top right side into the circle. This has a very important significance since it suggests that the architects had a good understanding of particle physics and sacred geometry, since the hexagon is just a flattened perspective of a Star Tetrahedron. It is directly linked to advanced ancient knowledge. The Star Tetrahedron is a very important structure in the study of sacred geometry. Leading physicists believe that this is the fundamental structure of all matter in the universe.

These monoliths are found in the same region and date to the time of the mines from which miners were extracting red ochre, a symbol of blood.  Sophisticated mining operations in the Lebombo Mountains reveal that thousands of workers were extracting red ochre which was ground into powder and used in the burial of nobles in places as distant as Wales and Turkey. There is consensus among anthropologists (who agree on little, it seems) that this red powder symbolized blood, and its use in burial represented hope for the renewal of life. These mining operations suggest long-standing human industry rather than intervention from space beings.

Heiser’s idea of contact with UFOs is based on reading thousands of pages of reports by sighters, including United States military pilots. Tellinger insists that the discoveries of advanced civilizations in southern Africa dating between 80,000 to 100,000 years ago must be explained by contact with more advanced beings. The two men are building their arguments for UFOs based on different data. Genesis has something to say about angels and technological advances, but it doesn’t support the popular conception of UFOs from outer space.

Related reading: Who Were the Nephilim?; The Mighty Men of Old