508 Are UFOs Real? (Kegan Chandler)

Last month, the US Congress held a hearing with three whistle-blowers who provided testimony about UFOs. Yes, I just said UFOs. No, I haven't lost my mind or started subscribing to the tabloids. This is a topic that has moved from the fringes of conspiracy land right into serious public hearings in the US government. In today's episode I'm interviewing Kegan Chandler who has been seriously thinking about this subject for many years. Kegan Chandler is a historian of religion currently working on his Ph.D. in Religious Studies at the University of Cape Town where he is researching monotheism in Japanese religions. He also holds a Master of Theology degree from Campbellsville University. He is the author of several books and articles and currently writes for his blog, Exploring Religion. Now, I know this is a Christian theology podcast, but we need to talk about this subject, and Chandler is the guy to guide us. He's intimately familiar with the evidence and has thought this topic through. I think you'll agree that there are significant theological implications if it turns out non-human intelligence is behind these unexplained flying objects. But, before we get to that, we need to first talk about the evidence and different theories for what these objects are.   Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— See other episodes with Kegan Chandler Check out his books on Amazon Follow Chandler on Adademia.edu Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here —— Notes —— 1. What are UAPs and NHIs (non human intelligences)? Where did these terms come from and why are people using them now? 2. What are the possible explanations of UAPs?  -    Prosaic hypotheses (incl. advanced human technology) -    Extra-terrestrial hypothesis -    Crypto-terrestrial hypothesis -    Ultra-terrestrial / Inter-dimensional -    Time-traveling humans hypothesis -    Jacque Valle’s Control System hypothesis -    Reverse Engineered technology hypothesis -    Warning: fallacy of oversimplification 3. Why is the mundane explanation that these are experimental craft of terrestrial origin problematic? Explain. -    Government studies – some still “unexplained” -    Reported flight capabilities/characteristics -    Near-peer adversaries? -    Older reports -    Credible sources’ testimony 4. We sometimes hear that news of “aliens” would somehow negatively affect religion on planet earth. What impact do you think widespread acknowledgement of the presence of UAP and NHI would have on religions in general? - discuss “ontological shock” - religious studies survey data