How prophecy never fails: interpretive reason in a flying-saucer group

Sociology of Religion, Summer, 1998 by Diana Tumminia

Memories of the Isis-Osiris Cycle were more than just a cognitive experience. When students talked about their experiences with the Isis-Osiris Cycle, and the subsequent times "it came back through" to be relived again, their bodies sometimes shivered with somatic memory. To them - the "Science" heals; that is the message of the saucers. Healings are expected as part of using the "Science." I was told that if I would use the "Science," then I would be healed, then I would understand. Subsumed in the mystery of the Isis-Osiris cycle lay the "truth" of the confirmed prophecy. By embodying, "reliving," and acting out the "truth" of their reality, Unarians clearly sustained the experiential integrity of their interpretation.

Errors from Misrepresentation

Some of the misunderstanding about the prophecy and Uriel's work on earth, according to students, came from the lies told by the press and by the government. Although the media played a hand in advertising Unarius, it also ridiculed Uriel by mocking her mannerisms and motivations. A local newspaper once ran a headline about Uriel which read, "The Gods Must Be Crazy." Maury Povitch of the tabloid TV show, Current Affair, equated the Unarian activities to "stupid pet tricks." In fact, the media often covered Uriel in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. Using mundane reason, students interpreted these events by pointing out the errors of misrepresentation. They questioned the methods and motives of the media. They took issue with particular journalists and television commentators, explaining their misconduct as evidence of "many negative past lives."

Outsiders often laid claim to hallucinations on the part of Unarian seekers. According to the students, exactly the opposite was actually taking place. By citing the authority of the "Science," a competent practitioner could see through the falsity of this claim. Clearly, it was the reporters and so-called scientists, like myself, who were having the hallucinations, thereby leading the public astray with false reports. The hallucinations stemmed from the illusory deception of past-life karma, which distorted the mind and the objectivity of outsiders' assessment of reality. Furthermore, they accounted for any credibility gap with charges of malicious interference by those bent on misrepresentation. Unarians report they had often tried to enlighten the media, even top levels of government about their "Mission," but the information was intercepted by the Men-In-Black, the legendary shadowy figures who appear only to whisk away "true" information about flying saucers.

Unarian mundane reasoners saw the reality disjuncture of the prophecy disconfirmation as an easily solved puzzle. Caught in a moment of doubt, but unable to attribute the disjuncture to the unreality of the "Science," Unarian Jeff corroborated his classification of error by clairvoyantly communicating with Polarity Denios, an extraterrestrial contact on the Planet Rey. Polarity Denios confirmed for Jeff that the fault lay not in Uriel, but in the dishonesty of government officials, who did not want the public to know the "truth" about extraterrestrial visits. This is an excerpt from a testimonial in which he explains how he resolved the conundrum.