A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture
A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture
A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture
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Ch.2 Contact<br />
INTRODUCTION<br />
Contact with extraterrestrials was far from unknown prior to <strong>the</strong> twentieth century. As discussed<br />
<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> previous chapter, one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sem<strong>in</strong>al figures <strong>of</strong> <strong>American</strong> Spiritualism, Emmanuel<br />
Swedenborg, claimed to have traveled throughout <strong>the</strong> solar system and observed life on <strong>the</strong><br />
various planets. Swedenborg’s visits to o<strong>the</strong>r planets and meet<strong>in</strong>gs with <strong>the</strong>ir representative<br />
populations took place <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> same way that <strong>the</strong> vast majority <strong>of</strong> such meet<strong>in</strong>gs did prior to<br />
WWII, which was via astral travel, with <strong>the</strong> contactee function<strong>in</strong>g as a medium. 142<br />
The séance<br />
room was no stranger to extraterrestrials. In fact most pre-twentieth century contact took place<br />
<strong>in</strong> a spiritualist context. <strong>Extraterrestrial</strong>s were merely angels <strong>of</strong> ano<strong>the</strong>r sort. Messengers from<br />
<strong>the</strong> beyond, present<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>mselves as historical lum<strong>in</strong>aries, unnamed natives or beloved relations<br />
had cavorted <strong>in</strong> parlors across <strong>the</strong> nation, reveal<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> perfection that lay beyond <strong>the</strong> veil.<br />
<strong>Extraterrestrial</strong>s, be<strong>in</strong>gs from o<strong>the</strong>r planets, were counted among this spectral parade. They too<br />
bore witness to <strong>the</strong> perfectibility <strong>of</strong> society and <strong>in</strong>dividual. In an era when space travel was mere<br />
fancy, <strong>the</strong> vast reaches <strong>of</strong> outer space were understood as somehow equivalent to <strong>the</strong> world <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> hereafter—angels, aliens and <strong>the</strong> dead all <strong>of</strong> a piece. As <strong>the</strong> twentieth century progressed,<br />
be<strong>in</strong>gs from o<strong>the</strong>r planets would assume pre-em<strong>in</strong>ence among those O<strong>the</strong>rs seek<strong>in</strong>g to impart<br />
wisdom to terrestrial humans. The elision <strong>of</strong> angel and alien and <strong>the</strong> transfer <strong>of</strong> sovereignty from<br />
142 J. Gordon Melton, “The Contactees: A Survey” <strong>in</strong> The Gods Have Landed: New Religions from O<strong>the</strong>r Worlds,<br />
ed. James R. Lewis (Albany: State University <strong>of</strong> New York Press, 1995) 1-13.<br />
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