Anna Lutkajtis (University of Sydney), Review of Benjamin E. Zeller (ed.), Handbook of UFO Religions, Brill, 2021. Chapter: Carole M. Cusack, “Norman Paulsen and the Brotherhood of the Sun/ Sunburst,” pp. 354-368. (original) (raw)

Throughout history, people have reported seeing strange phenomena in the skies. Modern interest in Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) traditionally dates to 1947, when American aviator Kenneth Arnold reported seeing a number of flying disc-shaped objects near Mount Rainier, Washington. Academic scholarship linking UFOs with religion commenced around the same time and attracts scholars from a wide variety of interdisciplinary fields. The Handbook of UFO Religions, edited by Benjamin Zeller, is the latest contribution to the aca- demic study of ufology and religion. The book, which consists of over five hundred pages, comprises an introduction and twenty-four chapters, divided into five parts. In the intro- duction, Zeller orients the reader by highlighting some of the key patterns that emerge in UFO scholarship and which unite the eclectic chapters in the current volume. Reoccurring themes include scientism, millennialism, occultism (in particular, the role of Theosophy) and synergies with popular culture. Following this is an excellent chapter by W. Michael Ashcraft which summarizes the first seventy-five years of academic research.