JANUARY 6, 2003

CULTURE
Beyond Clonaid: issues to watch
Human cloning: Sources on religion, ethics and public policy

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National scholars

• James R. Lewis, a scholar of alternative religions, teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He recently signed a contract with Syracuse University Press to edit a UFO religions anthology, which will have a number of chapters on the Raelians. Lewis wrote UFOs and Popular Culture (ABC-Clio, 2000) and edited the forthcoming Encyclopedic Handbook of UFO Religions (Prometheus Books) and The Gods Have Landed: New Religions From Other Worlds (State University of New York Press, 1995). Contact 715-346-3803, jlewis@uwsp.edu.
• Brenda Denzler (http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9018.html or http://www.trionica.com/bdenzler/lure.htm) of Chapel Hill, N.C., is the author of The Lure of the Edge: Scientific Passions, Religious Beliefs, and the Pursuit of UFOs (University of California Press, 2001). She has a Ph.D. in religious studies from Duke University and is conducting The Abduction Millennium Project, a long-term study of UFO experiences and the people who have them. Contact 919-967-5255, bdenzler1@email.msn.com.
• Rob Balch, a sociology professor at the University of Montana in Missoula, specializes in unconventional religions and is completing a study of Heaven's Gate. Contact 406-243-2982, balch@selway.umt.edu.
• Thomas E. Bullard is a prominent folklorist who has studied and written about religious themes in UFOlogy and about the alien abduction phenomenon. His doctoral thesis was on UFOs as a modern form of folklore. He is a librarian at Indiana University. Contact 812-855-8947, tbullard@indiana.edu.
• J. Gordon Melton directs the Institute for Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara, Calif., and has researched new religious movements, including UFO religions. He edited the Encyclopedia of American Religions (6th ed., Gale Research, 1999). Contact 805-961-0141, jgordon@rain.org.
• Benson Saler is professor emeritus of anthropology at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass. His books include, as co-author, UFO Crash at Roswell: The Genesis of a Modern Myth. (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997). Contact 617-736-2221, saler@brandeis.edu or b4saler@aol.com.
• Ryan J. Cook, a doctoral candidate in anthropology at the University of Chicago, has studied the links between religion and UFOs. He is currently pursuing his doctoral field research in Mexico, and can be contacted through 773-702-7701 (University of Chicago departmental) and rj-cook@uchicago.edu.
• John A. Saliba, a professor of religious studies at the University of Detroit-Mercy in Michigan, has expertise in new religions and has researched the religious dimensions of UFO phenomena. He is a Jesuit priest. Contact 313-993-1088, salibaja@udmercy.edu.
• Ted Peters is a professor of systematic theology at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, Calif., and has researched the theological implications of UFOs. Contact 510-559-2726, tpeters2ct@aol.com.
• Diana Tumminia, a professor of sociology at California State University in Sacramento, has expertise on UFO religions, especially the Unarius Academy of Science. Contact 916-278-6522, diana.tumminia@csus.edu.

• Daniel Wojcik is an associate professor of English and folklore studies at the University of Oregon in Eugene. He has written about the Raelians. He is working on an article about cloning and UFO creation mythologies and is completing a book, Mysterious Technology: UFOs and the Visionary Art of Ionel Talpazanis. He wrote the article "Apocalyptic and Millenarian Aspects of American UFOism" for the forthcoming UFO Religions (Routledge 2003). His books include The End of the World As We Know It: Faith, Fatalism, and Apocalypse in America (New York University Press, 1997). Contact 541-346-3946, dwojcik@oregon.uoregon.edu.

International scholars

• Susan Palmer, who teaches religion at Dawson College in Montreal, has studied the Raelian Movement and is writing a book about it for Rutgers Press. Contact spalmer@dawsoncollege.qc.ca/.
• Bryan Sentes, who teaches English at Dawson College in Montreal, has studied the Raelian Movement. Contact 514-948-3628, bsentes@dawsoncollege.qc.ca.
• Christopher Helland, a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto's Centre for the Study of Religion, has written about Raelian cloning. Contact 902-446-7535, C_hella@yahoo.com.
• George Chryssides, a senior lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton in England, has studied the Raelians. His books include Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements (Scarecrow Press, 2001) and Exploring New Religions (Cassell Academic, 2000). He has a Religious Studies on the Internet Web site. Contact 01-902-323-523, G.D.Chryssides@wlv.ac.uk.
• Mikael Rothstein is an associate professor of religious history at the University of Copenhagen who has studied the Raelians. His books include, as co-editor, New Religions in a Postmodern World (Aarhus; Feb. 2003), and New Age Religion and Globalization (Aarhus; Jan. 2003). +45-3532-8960, m.rothstein@hum.ku.dk.
• Christopher Partridge teaches theology at Chester College, a college of the University of Liverpool, is editing UFO Religions (Routledge), scheduled to be published in March 2003. His specialties include new religions and alternative spiritualities. Contact 01-244-375-444 ext. 3638, c.partridge@chester.ac.uk.
• Jennifer Porter is assistant professor of religion and modern culture at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St John's. She teaches about and has written about religion and UFOs. Contact 709-737-2469, 709-737-2469, porter@mun.ca.

Nontraditional scholars

• Hugh Ross of Pasadena, Calif., is president and founder of Reasons to Believe, an interdenominational ministry established to demonstrate that the Bible and science complement one another. His books include, as co-author with Kenneth Samples and Mark Clark, Lights in the Sky & Little Green Men: A Rational Christian Look at UFOs and Extraterrestrials (Navpress; June 2002). Local chapters for Reasons to Believe are listed here. Contact Laura Martinez, executive assistant for Hugh Ross, at 626-335-1480 ext.156, lmartinez@reasons.org.
• Patrick Cooke of Berkeley, Calif., is editor-author of The Bible-UFO Connection and author of The Greatest Deception (Sweetgrass; Feb. 2002) and The Doctrine Of Men (Oracle Publishing; Jan. 2003). He has collected references in the Bible to advanced technology and a race of supreme beings, the Elohiym. Contact 800-634-3999, padraig@bibleufo.com.
• Jamie Lance, who lives in Northwest Alabama near Hamilton, is the author of The Coming: The Bible's Identity of 'So-Called' UFOs (RJ Publishing; Jan. 2002). He was ordained in 2002 with Saint Luke Evangelical Christian Ministries. Contact 205-921-4612, jamiel@sonet.net.

UFO religions

• The Raelian Movement has U.S. headquarters in North Miami Beach, Fla.
• The Raelians were included in a February 2002 Atlantic Monthly cover story that predicted that today's New Religious Movements may become tomorrow's mainstream religions. Read an excerpt on beliefnet.com.
• The Aetherius Society has U.S. headquarters in Los Angeles. Branch contacts are listed here.
• The Unarius Academy of Science is based in El Cajon, Calif.

Background

The American Academy of Religion's New Religious Movements Group maintains a web site.
• The Religious Movements Homepage posts information on UFO cults here. Jeffrey K. Hadden, a professor of sociology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, maintains the site.
• Read a Jan. 4, 2003, Los Angeles Times story about how the Raelians' beliefs are similar to other new religious movements.