A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture

One message from an assistant of Sananda worked an interesting variation on the
standard trope of alien concerns raised by the advent of nuclear fission. In the years following
World War II many of the messages received from space brothers indicated concern that our use
of atomic weaponry might threaten both the life of our planet and the balance of the universe.
Sananda informed Martin and her followers that these very same weapons had an unexpectedly
desirable effect.
We have at last contacted the Earth planet with the waves of ether that have become
tactacle [sic] by the bombs your scientists have been exploding. This works like an
accordion. When the condensation leaves the carceious level of the ether or atmosphere
levels that support a large light layer of marine life, it causes a barrier to be set up. Now
that the bombs have broken that barrier we can break through. That is what your
scientists call the sonic barrier. We have been trying to get through for many of your
years, with alcetopes and the earling timer. 222
Thus it turned out that not only did the atom bomb create broad concern amongst the
members of the galactic federation but it also created the opportunity for them to communicate
their concerns. New technology, like the spiritual telegraph and the light and sound ray of yore
had once again closed the gap between the seen and the unseen, between the material world and
the world of spirit. It was the erasure of this gap, in the logic of the displaced utopian imaginary,
that was the first step toward the dreamed of social transformation.
The messages imparted by Dorothy Martin’s interstellar informants would become the
current stock and trade of New Age philosophy. Underlying all messages was the sense that the
world was due for an awakening. “The world mind is still in lethargy. It does not want to
awaken.” 223
And of course it was the chosen role of the operative, in this case Martin, to assist
in awakening the world mind by conveying the teachings of the space brothers “to those who are
ready.” 224
Martin’s first apostles were the Laugheads, referred to in When Prophecy Fails as Dr.
Thomas and Daisy Armstrong. Both of the Armstrongs were occult aficionados, as well as
222 Festinger 38.
223 Festinger 38.
224 Festinger 38.
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