UFOs, conspiracy theories and the new age : millennial conspiracism / David G. Robertson.

By:

Robertson, David G. (David George) [author.]

Material type: Text

TextSeries: Bloomsbury advances in religious studiesPublisher: New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2016Description: 1 online resourceContent type:

text

Media type:

computer

Carrier type:

online resource

ISBN:

9781474253215
1474253210
9781474253239
1474253237
1474253229
9781474253222

Subject(s):

Genre/Form:

Electronic books.

Additional physical formats: Print version:: UFOs, conspiracy theories and the new ageDDC classification:

001.942 23

LOC classification:

BF2050 .R625 2016eb

Other classification:

REL000000 | SOC039000 | FIC009050

Online resources:

Click here to access online

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.

Summary: "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"-- Provided by publisher.

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"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"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Print version record.

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