| US Government Ancient Astronaut Files |
WHIRLING WHEELS
Federal Bureau of Investigation
c. 1956
Hand-drawn cover of Miller's pamphlet. (FBI)
|
NOTE |
Sometime in the mid-1950s, the FBI obtained a copy of a pamphlet by a religious crank named John Miller. The pamphlet was manually typed with a hand-drawn cover (apparently by George Adamski) featuring UFOs. Miller advocated the theory that the Bible contained records of ancient astronaut visitations, especially in the wheels of Ezekiel, which he analyzed at great and exhaustive length in terms exactly like the similar discussions in many other ancient astronaut books. Miller's pamphlet is particularly interesting for the suggestion that humans should continue to be Christians because God, Jesus, and the angels were extraterrestrials.
Because the pamphlet is (presumably) still in copyright, I have produced only excerpts from the FBI file. The full pamphlet may be viewed here (pp. 125-129). The FBI text redacts Miller's name in the text of the pamphlet but left it visible on the hand-drawn cover, so I have restored it to the text below. |
“Whirling Wheels”
(A Correlation of Flying Saucers and
Visitors from Other Planets in The Bible)
By Reverend John Miller, STM
“Flying Saucers” have made the headlines off and on for many times now. Much has been written about them. Research has shown that “flying chariots” and strange powers, both of locomotion and destruction are described in the holy books of various heathen faiths many thousands of years older than our own. “Flying Chariots” have been seen and reported and not believed for many ages. That is nothing new. But what is new is that recently they have been photographed.
[…] We are therefore not surprised, upon investigation, to find “flying” clouds, rolls, chariots, wheels, and people, mentioned in the Bible. To realize this is to make a great many mysterious things in the Bible seem both matter-of-fact and encouraging.
[…]
To understand our own holy book we must replace outworn mythological terminology of yester-year with the most adequate scientific terminology of today. The heaven of yesterday we call “space” today! It can be nothing else. The angels of yesterday we call “space men” today! An angel was an inhabitant of space. They came from other worlds. If there are any inhabitants of outer space, we would today call them “space men.” The “flying” clouds, horses, or chariots of scripture we call “flying saucers” or “space ships”. With a clarification of but these three terms, many things now fall into place quite naturally.
Angels or “space men” have been seen. They’ve walked on earth. […] We are not dealing with mythology here. A literal understanding of these incidents in modern thought-patterns brings astonishing clarity to all. Our religion should become more materialistic in order to conform with scripture, and not vice versa as our clerics and others have been telling us for so long. We have practically and mistakenly spiritualized religion out of existence, and thus caused the great divorce between science and religion. True science is true religion.
These angels or space men pilot some sort of vehicle. […] Light “like the sun” came from this space-ship, and its legs, no doubt landing gear, were like “pillars of fire.” The whole earth was lit up by the power of the light given off by this space-ship (Rev. 18:1).
[There follows a lengthy explication of Ezekiel’s vision as a UFO.]
On [this basis], certain events of scripture are understandable and acceptable. Enoch, it is reported, went to another world without dying (Heb. 11:3), as perhaps Moses did also. Jacob thought he had a vision when he saw “a ladder set up upon the earth and beheld angels or spacemen, ascending and descending on it” (Gen. 28). The ladder was obviously let down from a space-ship for some purpose or another. […] Elijah disappeared into space via a “flying chariot” (II Kings 2:11).
[…] Even God’s activities become clearer! God’s presence in scripture is described “like birds hovering” (Isa. 31:5). The hovering is a hovering of some flying object. […] When the space-ships were stationary and the central turret was raised, they looked like thrones and were so-called in scripture. “His throne was fiery flames, its wheels were burning fire, a stream of fire issued and came forth before him” (Dan. 7:9). No ordinary thrones these, but space-ships!
[…]
This clear understanding of things as they are and as they will be, is for our comfort. We should always remember that God’s people are always protected by a circle of space-ships.
[…]
[…] We are therefore not surprised, upon investigation, to find “flying” clouds, rolls, chariots, wheels, and people, mentioned in the Bible. To realize this is to make a great many mysterious things in the Bible seem both matter-of-fact and encouraging.
[…]
To understand our own holy book we must replace outworn mythological terminology of yester-year with the most adequate scientific terminology of today. The heaven of yesterday we call “space” today! It can be nothing else. The angels of yesterday we call “space men” today! An angel was an inhabitant of space. They came from other worlds. If there are any inhabitants of outer space, we would today call them “space men.” The “flying” clouds, horses, or chariots of scripture we call “flying saucers” or “space ships”. With a clarification of but these three terms, many things now fall into place quite naturally.
Angels or “space men” have been seen. They’ve walked on earth. […] We are not dealing with mythology here. A literal understanding of these incidents in modern thought-patterns brings astonishing clarity to all. Our religion should become more materialistic in order to conform with scripture, and not vice versa as our clerics and others have been telling us for so long. We have practically and mistakenly spiritualized religion out of existence, and thus caused the great divorce between science and religion. True science is true religion.
These angels or space men pilot some sort of vehicle. […] Light “like the sun” came from this space-ship, and its legs, no doubt landing gear, were like “pillars of fire.” The whole earth was lit up by the power of the light given off by this space-ship (Rev. 18:1).
[There follows a lengthy explication of Ezekiel’s vision as a UFO.]
On [this basis], certain events of scripture are understandable and acceptable. Enoch, it is reported, went to another world without dying (Heb. 11:3), as perhaps Moses did also. Jacob thought he had a vision when he saw “a ladder set up upon the earth and beheld angels or spacemen, ascending and descending on it” (Gen. 28). The ladder was obviously let down from a space-ship for some purpose or another. […] Elijah disappeared into space via a “flying chariot” (II Kings 2:11).
[…] Even God’s activities become clearer! God’s presence in scripture is described “like birds hovering” (Isa. 31:5). The hovering is a hovering of some flying object. […] When the space-ships were stationary and the central turret was raised, they looked like thrones and were so-called in scripture. “His throne was fiery flames, its wheels were burning fire, a stream of fire issued and came forth before him” (Dan. 7:9). No ordinary thrones these, but space-ships!
[…]
This clear understanding of things as they are and as they will be, is for our comfort. We should always remember that God’s people are always protected by a circle of space-ships.
[…]
