Aliens Are Demons

In a cultural moment obsessed with “unidentified aerial phenomena,” government disclosures, alien abductions, and trans-dimensional contact, the Church must recover her ancient vigilance against spiritual deception. Though modern science dismisses the demonic as religious superstition or psychological disturbance, the Apostle Paul offers us a clear lens through which to view these things. In Ephesians 6:12, he writes:

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

From a Lutheran pastoral perspective—grounded in Scripture, the theology of the cross, and the historic understanding of spiritual warfare—this verse is not an abstraction. It is a declaration of cosmic conflict. And it is my firm conviction that what the world calls “aliens” are not biological beings from distant planets, but deceptive manifestations of these very “spiritual hosts of wickedness.” This is not speculative fiction, but theological realism.

Scripture’s Cosmology: The “Heavenly Places” Are Not Empty

To understand Paul’s warning, we must first understand Scripture’s cosmology. The Bible does not divide reality into “natural” and “supernatural” as modernity and now postmodernity do. It presents a layered creation—Heaven, Earth, and the unseen spiritual realm. Angels and demons are real beings. They operate invisibly but can manifest visibly. They are not figments or symbols; they are real beings.

When Paul writes of “spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places,” he is naming a hierarchy of fallen angels—organized, intelligent, and deceptive. Scientists are searching for signs of intelligent life, and to their own danger. For, yes, there is intelligent “life”—they are demons. They are not chaotic monsters but strategic enemies, so cunning and intelligent that they masquerade as aliens, ghosts, and other paranormal creatures. They not only tempt individuals; they also wage war on nations, cultures, and imaginations.

Nowhere in Scripture are we told that God created intelligent life on other planets (as fun as that is to imagine). What we are told is that Satan “disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14) and that his demonic agents are capable of producing lying wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:9). So, when we hear accounts of glowing beings, strange abductions, trance-like states, and messages that blend vague spirituality with apocalyptic warnings, we are not witnessing “first contact.” We are witnessing ancient deception in modern garb.

Alien Messages Echo Ancient Lies

When people report contact with so-called extraterrestrials, the messages they receive are strikingly similar to the lies of the serpent in Eden: “Did God actually say…? …You will not surely die… you will be like God” (Genesis 3:1, 4-5). Consider the common themes in alien contact literature and supposed “channelings”:

Humanity is evolving to a higher state of consciousness (Gnosticism, which fundamentally has to do with the temptation for knowledge—gnostic in Greek [gnosis, γνῶσις] means “knowledge”).
Jesus was one of the many enlightened beings from other worlds (Mormonism, specifically the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young taught that God the Father has a physical body and resides on a planet or sphere called Kolob. In Abraham 3:3-9 of the Book of Mormon, Kolob is described as being near to the throne of God).
The universe is teeming with spiritual energy—divinity is within (pantheism).
Traditional religion (especially Christianity) is outdated; therefore, I’m spiritual, not religious.
The aliens will return to usher in a new age (Raëlism).
That aliens destroyed us in the past and still live among us, trapped in human bodies as spirits (Scientology).

These are not scientific statements; they are theological ones. And they are heretical. No true messenger from the God of Israel would deny the divinity of Christ, the finality of Scripture, or the resurrection of the body. These “messages” do not bring truth; they twist it.

This is exactly what demons have always done. In pagan antiquity, demons appeared as gods. In the Middle Ages, as faeries or apparitions. In the 20th century, as aliens (and ghosts/the paranormal). The disguise shifts. The deception remains.

The Power Behind the Craft: Lying Wonders

Many Christians struggle to reconcile the bizarre physical elements of alien encounters with the spiritual realm. After all, how can demons affect radar, abduct people, or appear as beings of light?

The answer lies again in Scripture. The devil has real power. He is not omnipotent, but he is dangerous. In the Book of Job, Satan causes fire from Heaven and a storm that kills Job’s children (Job 1:16, 19). In the Gospels, demons cause physical ailments, throw people into fire, and exhibit supernatural strength (e.g., Mark 5:1-13). What, then, are radars and such to him? Paul warns that the Antichrist will come “with all power, signs, and lying wonders.” In fact, it isn’t aliens that have been with us since antiquity, but the Antichrist (1 John 4:3).

So, when UFOs defy physics, when people are paralyzed in bed (if they’re simply hallucinations, why do people always “hallucinate” demons and not something more absurd like flying pigs?), when sightings are accompanied by fear and confusion, we are not witnessing miracles. We are witnessing counterfeit signs. Satan seeks to distract, deceive, and draw attention away from Christ.

As C.S. Lewis once said, the devil is equally pleased with the magician and the materialist (The Screwtape Letters). In our age, he is pleased with the ufologist—the one who seeks signs in the sky but never looks to the cross.

Ephesians 6:10-18 — Our Defense: The Armor of God

So, what is the Christian’s response? Panic? Conspiracy? No. Paul does not leave us in fear. Immediately after warning us about these “rulers of darkness,” he gives us our defense: “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day” (Ephesians 6:13).

This is not poetic metaphor; it is divine strategy. Let us briefly examine each piece of this armor as it applies to confronting spiritual deception, including the alien kind:

The Belt of Truth (v. 14): We do not interpret Scripture by the culture; we interpret the culture by Scripture. The truth is not “out there”; it is in Jesus Christ (John 14:6). Lies cannot stand against a mind girded with God’s Word.
The Breastplate of Righteousness (v. 14): We do not stand on our works but on Christ’s righteousness given to us by faith. Demons accuse and terrify. But the baptized Christian wears a righteousness they cannot defile.
The Shoes of the Gospel of Peace (v. 15): Alien messages disturb and confuse. The Gospel brings peace with God (Romans 5:1). We walk confidently, not chasing signs, but proclaiming the Good News.
The Shield of Faith (v. 16): Faith extinguishes the flaming darts of the evil one—be they temptations, doubts, or deceptions. We do not need to see proof of God’s power in the stars. Rather, we trust His promises.
The Helmet of Salvation (v. 17): Our identity is secure. Christ has died, and He is risen. Christ will come to judge both the living and the dead. No abduction or vision can shake a mind guarded by that hope.
The Sword of the Spirit—The Word of God (v. 17): This is our first offensive weapon. Demonic deceptions are dismantled by Scripture, not speculation. When Jesus faced the devil in the wilderness, He quoted Scripture (Matthew 4:1-11). So must we.
Prayer (v. 18): Perhaps our most underrated tool. Prayer is not passive; it is active warfare—indeed, it is a weapon against the evil one, hence the last petition of the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). As Luther explains “deliver us from evil” (literally “the evil one” in Greek) in the Small Catechism, “We pray in this petition, in summary, that our Father in Heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions, and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in Heaven.” Paul tells us to pray “at all times in the Spirit.” This is how we resist the darkness—not with weapons of the world, but with the Means of Grace.

The Church’s Mission: Proclaim the Light

The Church’s mission is not to explain every mystery or speculate on every shadow. It is to proclaim Christ crucified and risen for the forgiveness of sins. If alien phenomena are distractions, then the best way to fight them is not to obsess over them but to fix our eyes on Jesus, the finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-3).

The Sacraments are stronger than any vision. The Word is more powerful than any “advanced technology” (i.e., lying wonders). The blood of Christ speaks a better word than any message from the sky.

Demons want fear—Christ gives peace. Demons want attention—Christ gives truth. Demons promise false transcendence—Christ gives eternal life.

No Fear in Christ

The world may grow stranger. TikTok videos may release more footage of “alien” sightings. Governments may make more acknowledgements of alien life everyone ignores because affording groceries is a more pressing issue. But we are not afraid. The Church has always stood in enemy territory, yet the gates of Hell shall not prevail against her (Matthew 16:18).

So, let the world look to the skies in confusion—we will look to the cross in faith. Let the world tremble before unidentified lights and lying wonders—we will sing hymns to the Light of the World and marvel in His Truth. For we know the truth: what the world calls “extraterrestrial” may well be “extra-dimensional”—and what appears as an angel of light may hide the face of a liar.

But we are not unarmed. We have the full armor of God. We have the Spirit of Truth. We have the Word made flesh. And no demon—whether disguised as an alien or enthroned in high places—can ever snatch us from the hand of Christ (John 10:28).