Even though The Urantia Book does not make direct comments about aliens and UFO’s, what it does say provides perspective on reported encounters. Perhaps most importantly, what is being suggested overcomes the most challenging questions related to believing that mortal beings from another planet have visited ours:
- How did they find our planet in the first place?
- How would they be able to travel fast enough to get here in one lifetime?
Grey Aliens
Who are the Greys and why do they look like that?
In 1987, the book Communion popularized the characteristics of what are asserted to be the Grey type of alien. It was turned into a movie a couple years later, starring Christopher Walken. But similar descriptions go back several more decades. Wikipedia recounts:
There are precursor figures described in science fiction and similar descriptions appeared in early accounts of the 1947 Roswell UFO incident.
Though not published until 1955, starting in 1937, interested parties organized to support publication The Urantia Book. By 1947, work on the creation of printing plates was well underway. Whether Urantia Book statements related to the Greys influenced popular culture about something that is not real or whether it was prophetic about things that are real is a question that goes beyond the scope of this study aid, for sure. But you are invited to speculate about such things.
Wikipedia, along with citing a source that says more than 70% of claimed alien encounters involve the Greys, goes on to say:
Greys are depicted as having unusually large heads in proportion to their bodies with no hair on the body, and no noticeable outer ears or noses, sometimes with small openings or orifices for ears, nostrils, and mouths. In drawings, Greys are almost always shown with very large opaque black eyes.
Consistent with a description suggesting that the nose, mouth, and ears have limited functionality, telepathic communication is also commonly associated with the Greys. Sound waves need an atmosphere.
The Urantia Book describes planets without atmospheres that are inhabited by nonbreathers.
(49:3.1) The majority of inhabited planets are peopled with the breathing type of intelligent beings. But there are also orders of mortals who are able to live on worlds with little or no air. Of the Orvonton [Milky Way Galaxy] inhabited worlds this type amounts to less than seven per cent. …
(49:3.2) [W]orlds without a protective friction atmosphere are subject to incessant bombardment …
(49:3.3) Millions upon millions of meteorites enter the atmosphere of Urantia [Earth] daily, coming in at the rate of almost two hundred miles a second. On the nonbreathing worlds the advanced races must do much to protect themselves from meteor damage by making electrical installations which operate to consume or shunt the meteors. Great danger confronts them when they venture beyond these protected zones. These worlds are also subject to disastrous electrical storms of a nature unknown on Urantia. During such times of tremendous energy fluctuation the inhabitants must take refuge in their special structures of protective insulation.
(49:3.4) Life on the worlds of the nonbreathers is radically different from what it is on Urantia. The nonbreathers do not eat food or drink water as do the Urantia races. The reactions of the nervous system, the heat-regulating mechanism, and the metabolism of these specialized peoples are radically different from such functions of Urantia mortals. Almost every act of living, aside from reproduction, differs, and even the methods of procreation are somewhat different.
(49:3.5) On the nonbreathing worlds the animal species are radically unlike those found on the atmospheric planets. … Nevertheless, these beings enjoy life and carry forward the activities of the realm with the same relative trials and joys that are experienced by the mortals living on atmospheric worlds. In mind and character the nonbreathers do not differ from other mortal types.
In part, perhaps the Greys having especially large eyes relates to this being a sensory organ that can still function effectively on a world without an atmosphere. Some type of biologic shielding, it seems, also would be necessary to protect eyes when an atmosphere is not present to block out some of the sun’s energy. And location could be a factor.
Where do the Greys come from?
In the section of The Urantia Book that describes the nonbreathers, the last paragraph reads:
(49:3.6) You would be more than interested in the planetary conduct of this type of mortal because such a race of beings inhabits a sphere in close proximity to Urantia.
Presumably, “more than interested” and “close proximity” means that there is a nonbreather world in our solar system. Note the use of the word sphere, not planet or world. Perhaps this wording was used to encourage us to remain open to the possibility that the sphere is a moon.
Mercury is too hot. Venus has an atmosphere. The pictures of and scientific data about Mars suggest discounting it as a possibility.
If a moon of Jupiter or Saturn is inhabited by nonbreathers, perhaps this means there are long periods of darkness while traveling on the back side of those planets. This might help explain why the eyes need to be so big.
Craig Carmichael’s website has extensive information about why Ganymede, one of Jupiter’s moons, is a viable candidate.
A paper by Israel Dix, Numbering the Stars, considers which moons and planets may be candidates. It also addresses questions related to the specific number of our (decimal) planet and issues related to more than one planet being in a solar system.
A nonbreather world at the far edge of the Kuiper Belt is another possibility. The Kuiper Cliff suggests the existence of a planet because a planet’s gravity would shepherd in astroids as it orbits the sun. Wikipedia notes such speculation regarding the Kuiper Cliff:
The 1:2 resonance at 47.8 AU appears to be an edge beyond which few objects are known. It is not clear whether it is actually the outer edge of the classical belt or just the beginning of a broad gap. Objects have been detected at the 2:5 resonance at roughly 55 AU, well outside the classical belt; predictions of a large number of bodies in classical orbits between these resonances have not been verified through observation.
… [T]his sudden drastic falloff, known as the Kuiper Cliff, was unexpected, and to date its cause is unknown. … Patryk Lykawka of Kobe University claimed that the gravitational attraction of an unseen large planetary object, perhaps the size of Earth or Mars, might be responsible.
If nonbreathers inhabit a planet at the far edge of the Kuiper belt, perhaps light would be limited–blocked by astroids.
For additional perspective, here is Chris Halvorson’s 25-minute talk on this subject.
Nordic Looking Aliens
Native aliens
From the “Nordic aliens” page on Wikipedia:
Professed contactees describe them as being six to seven feet tall (about two meters) with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. Ufologist George Adamski is credited with being among the first to claim contact with Nordic aliens in the mid 1950s, and scholars note that the mythology of extraterrestrial visitation from beings with features described as Aryan often include claims of telepathy, benevolence, and physical beauty.
In contactee and ufology literature, Nordic aliens are often described as benevolent or even “magical” beings who want to observe and communicate with humans and are concerned about the Earth’s environment or prospects for world peace. Believers also ascribe telepathic powers to Nordic aliens, and describe them as “paternal, watchful, smiling, affectionate, and youthful.”
During the 1950s, many contactees, especially those in Europe, claimed encounters with beings fitting this description. Such claims became relatively less common in subsequent decades, as the grey alien supplanted the Nordic in most alleged accounts of extraterrestrial encounters.
It could be that Nordic aliens are not aliens but natives of our planet, which are referred to as secondary midwayers. Secondary midwayers, it stands to reason, would appear similar in form to the physical form of their ancestral source.
(76:4.1) Adam and Eve were the founders of the violet race of men, the ninth human race to appear on Urantia. Adam and his offspring had blue eyes, and the violet peoples were characterized by fair complexions and light hair color—yellow, red, and brown.
(74:1.1) … Adam and Eve … were a little more than eight feet in height.
(74:6.6) Adam and Eve could communicate with each other and with their immediate children over a distance of about fifty miles. This thought exchange was effected by means of the delicate gas chambers located in close proximity to their brain structures. By this mechanism they could send and receive thought oscillations. But this power was instantly suspended upon the mind’s surrender to the discord and disruption of evil.
(76:4.5) Both the physical and spiritual visions of Adam and Eve were far superior to those of the present-day peoples. Their special senses were much more acute, and they were able to see the midwayers and the angelic hosts, the Melchizedeks, and the fallen Prince Caligastia, who several times came to confer with his noble successor. They retained the ability to see these celestial beings for over one hundred years after the default. These special senses were not so acutely present in their children and tended to diminish with each succeeding generation.
(38:9.9) The gap between the material and spiritual worlds is perfectly bridged by the serial association of mortal man, secondary midwayer, primary midwayer, morontia cherubim, mid-phase cherubim, and seraphim. In the personal experience of an individual mortal these diverse levels are undoubtedly more or less unified and made personally meaningful by the unobserved and mysterious operations of the divine Thought Adjuster.
(38:9.4) 2. Secondary Midwayers, the more material group of these creatures, vary greatly in numbers on the different worlds, though the average is around fifty thousand. They are variously derived from the planetary biologic uplifters, the Adams and Eves, or from their immediate progeny. There are no less than twenty-four diverse techniques involved in the production of these secondary midway creatures on the evolutionary worlds of space. The mode of origin for this group on Urantia was unusual and extraordinary.
(51:3.6) The secondary midway creatures are indigenous to the Adamic missions. As with the corporeal staff of the Planetary Prince, the descendants of the Material Sons and Daughters are of two orders: their physical children and the secondary order of midway creatures. These material but ordinarily invisible planetary ministers contribute much to the advancement of civilization and even to the subjection of insubordinate minorities who may seek to subvert social development and spiritual progress.
(51:3.7) The secondary midwayers should not be confused with the primary order, who date from the near times of the arrival of the Planetary Prince. On Urantia a majority of these earlier midway creatures went into rebellion with Caligastia and have, since Pentecost, been interned. Many of the Adamic group who did not remain loyal to the planetary administration are likewise interned.
(51:3.8) On the day of Pentecost the loyal primary and the secondary midwayers effected a voluntary union and have functioned as one unit in world affairs ever since. They serve under the leadership of loyal midwayers alternately chosen from the two groups.
Secondary Midwayer Abilities and Technology
(77:8.10) Midwayers vary greatly in their abilities to make contact with the seraphim above and with their human cousins below. It is exceedingly difficult, for instance, for the primary midwayers to make direct contact with material agencies. They are considerably nearer the angelic type of being and are therefore usually assigned to working with, and ministering to, the spiritual forces resident on the planet. They act as companions and guides for celestial visitors and student sojourners, whereas the secondary creatures are almost exclusively attached to the ministry of the material beings of the realm.
(77:8.11) The 1,111 loyal secondary midwayers are engaged in important missions on earth. As compared with their primary associates, they are decidedly material. They exist just outside the range of mortal vision and possess sufficient latitude of adaptation to make, at will, physical contact with what humans call “material things.” These unique creatures have certain definite powers over the things of time and space, not excepting the beasts of the realm.
(77:8.12). Many of the more literal phenomena ascribed to angels have been performed by the secondary midway creatures. When the early teachers of the gospel of Jesus were thrown into prison by the ignorant religious leaders of that day, an actual “angel of the Lord” “by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth.” But in the case of Peter’s deliverance after the killing of James by Herod’s order, it was a secondary midwayer who performed the work ascribed to an angel.
(77:8.13) Their chief work today is that of unperceived personal-liaison associates of those men and women who constitute the planetary reserve corps of destiny. It was the work of this secondary group, ably seconded by certain of the primary corps, that brought about the co-ordination of personalities and circumstances on Urantia which finally induced the planetary celestial supervisors to initiate those petitions that resulted in the granting of the mandates making possible the series of revelations of which this presentation is a part. But it should be made clear that the midway creatures are not involved in the sordid performances taking place under the general designation of “spiritualism.” The midwayers at present on Urantia, all of whom are of honorable standing, are not connected with the phenomena of so-called “mediumship”; and they do not, ordinarily, permit humans to witness their sometimes necessary physical activities or other contacts with the material world, as they are perceived by human senses.
(114:7.9) On many worlds the better adapted secondary midway creatures are able to attain varying degrees of contact with the Thought Adjusters of certain favorably constituted mortals through the skillful penetration of the minds of the latters’ indwelling. (And it was by just such a fortuitous combination of cosmic adjustments that these revelations were materialized in the English language on Urantia.) Such potential contact mortals of the evolutionary worlds are mobilized in the numerous reserve corps, and it is, to a certain extent, through these small groups of forward-looking personalities that spiritual civilization is advanced and the Most Highs are able to rule in the kingdoms of men. The men and women of these reserve corps of destiny thus have various degrees of contact with their Adjusters through the intervening ministry of the midway creatures; but these same mortals are little known to their fellows except in those rare social emergencies and spiritual exigencies wherein these reserve personalities function for the prevention of the breakdown of evolutionary culture or the extinction of the light of living truth. On Urantia these reservists of destiny have seldom been emblazoned on the pages of human history.
Whether the following statement alludes to transport by technological or other means is not entirely clear. But, obviously, transporting material beings quickly around the planet is something they can do.
(74:4.4) It was near the dawn of their seventh day on earth that Adam and Eve heard the startling news of the proposal of these well-meaning but misguided mortals; … the midwayers, being able to do such things, transported Adam and Eve to the Father’s temple.