In summer 2025, episodes on three different TV series (Beyond Skinwalker Ranch, Expedition X, and The Proof Is Out There) featured people who claim to sense the presence of, invite, and communicate with UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena).
The trend gaining attention is called CE5 (that is, Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind; some call this phenomenon Human Initiated Contact). “Experiencers” can supposedly learn/practice how to become adept at making contact with what’s out there.
Alarmed in the moment at this “new” craze, I’d forgotten about my February 2024 post, “A Critique of the Ancient Aliens TV Series.” That post mentioned college courses that are intriguing students toward wanting to connect with aliens. The Ancient Aliens episode being reviewed had first aired on TV in January 2019. And of course, there have been government space programs for a number of years, in which signals are sent to see whether “anything is out there,” trying to research “other dimensions.” And one popular promoter of CE5 experiences is said to have been creating “contact protocols” since the early ’70s.
So it’s not really new, but there is lots of new hype about potential “extraterrestrial visitation,” along with certain lingo that implies enhancing your spirituality: entering frequencies, divine energy, portal, higher consciousness…
One technique recommended as way to initiate an extraterrestrial event is mantra meditation—getting the mind into a trancelike state. Assorted claims explained that a mantra has to do with vibrations/frequencies, a sense of being “at one,” spiritual power.
One sample was a famous Hindu mantra, praising a Hindu god. Another mantra related to a Sanskrit phrase that praised one’s “true self” (which, in the Eastern/occult sense, means that you are god; the true you is deity). Others say that the specifics don’t matter; it’s whatever creates that altered state.
OK, that’s enough. Let’s back up.
These CE5 experiencers are even willing to chant to a pagan entity (or who knows what?) for help/power to summon and communicate with a being they don’t know. And the hope is… is what? Certain promos suggest lofty purposes like uplifting humanity or receiving healings. Not sure how that’s to play out.
And what if things take a turn for the worse? Think of accounts of people being assaulted by supposed aliens. We now want to invite those same beings to come over? If we chant a mantra to a pagan god, and the result is a close encounter with something evil, will that pagan god now rush in to rescue? (There is only one true God. Ex: Isaiah 45:5.) My bet is that most participants haven’t thought this far but are just intrigued by the spooky scenario, hoping for a wild adventure they can later tell friends about.
Any Christians who are dabbling in or curious about CE5 had better stop, drop (to their knees), and become more savvy about the dark side.
- We’re not to disrespect/defy the Lord by calling on other gods (which is also flirting with spiritual danger, opening occult doors). From ancient times God’s people were instructed, “Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips” (Exodus 23:13).
- If there are “humanoid” beings roaming the cosmos (big if)… well, isn’t it just a bit suspicious regarding their nature and purpose if they’d respond when we’ve invoked the intercession of a pagan god? Or let’s say we chant the “my true self is inspired and wise” mantra. Hmm. If these beings are so advanced (as the claims go), why would they submit to some lesser creature who merely presumes superiority?
- Perhaps some think these beings are spirits rather than humanoid. Is there anything in Scripture to suggest that we should initiate an encounter with any kind of spirit—except praying to the Lord himself? Some people might be thinking that these are good spirits, like angels. In Bible accounts when the Lord initiated the sending of an angel, the angel may have spoken to a person and the person responded. But the person himself hadn’t summoned the angel. Does anything in Scripture align with what’s being promoted?
Let’s think this through—and help friends do so. You know, before these experiencers get more than they bargained for.
