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   SUBJECT: UFOs COULD ESTABLISH SCIENTIFIC BASIS, BIBLE        FILE: UFO1287   
      
      
   NEWS CLIPPING SERVICE   
      
   DATE OF ARTICLE:  April 22, 1989   
   SOURCE OF ARTICLE:  Post   
   LOCATION:  Palm Beach, Florida   
   BYLINE:  George W. Cornell   
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   (C) Copyright 1989 ParaNet Information Service   
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   PASTOR:   UFOS  COULD  ESTABLISH  SCIENTIFIC BASIS  FOR  BIBLICAL   
   EVENTS   
      
   By George W. Cornell   
   The Associated Press   
      
   Credit:  B. Pratt   
      
        NEW YORK--Smile indulgently about it if so inclined.  That's   
   OK with the Rev.  Barry H. Downing.  But he firmly maintains that   
   UFOs are real and that they have key religious significance.   
        He  says  recognizing the existence and operations of  these   
   unidentified flying objects could do much to strengthen faith and   
   renew confidence in biblical accounts.   
        "It  would establish scientific plausibility for  the  whole   
   biblical field," he says.   "It would reinforce faith and make it   
   possible in a scientific context."   
      
   THE GOVERNMENT'S EFFECT   
        Downing,  a Presbyterian pastor with a scientific bent, says   
   government  equivocation has caused skepticism about UFOs and  so   
   he expects some scoffing at his views.   
        "You  have  to  have a good humor about it," he said  in  an   
   interview.   "I  can't  prove  I'm right,  but  there's  lots  of   
   evidence  for it,  and until it wins out,  some people  are  just   
   going to have to laugh."   
        He theorizes that activities of UFO borne "higher beings" or   
   "angels,"   likely  from  another  dimension  rather  than  other   
   planets,  are  indicated in biblical events ranging from  guiding   
   the Israelites from Egypt to Christ's ascension.   
      
   A MIDDLE GROUND   
        He  said  postulating  such activities in  forming  biblical   
   faith   would  open  a  middle  ground   between   fundamentalist   
   literalism    and   liberal   theology's   "demythologizing"   of   
   supernatural events as only symbolic.   
        "It  would  cut  down  the  distance  between  liberals  and   
   fundamentalists,  and serve as a mediating force between the  two   
   extremes," he said.   
        "The  mythological  concepts  would have to  be  reexamined,   
   which would be important for the liberal wing.   The conservative   
   wing,  which  stresses certainty and wants everything  locked  up   
   tight, also would be impacted.   
        "This would mean unlocking things."   
      
   DETAILING HIS IDEAS   
        Downing,  50,  an Endwell,  N.Y.,  pastor,  has a bachelor's   
   degree  in  physics  and,   after  having  completed  studies  at   
   Princeton Theological Seminary, got a doctorate at the University   
   of  Edinburgh  in  Scotland  on  relations  between  science  and   
   religion.   
        He  details  his  ideas about UFOs and about eternity  as  a   
   coexisting universe,  based on Einstein's relativity theory, in a   
   new paperback edition of his book,  The Bible and Flying Saucers,   
   issued by Berkely Books.   
        "What  is clear through the biblical material is that  God's   
   will for the Jews, and eventually for all mankind, was 'revealed'   
   by beings from another world," he writes.   
        "Usually  these beings looked very much like ordinary  human   
   beings  (they  almost never have wings)...Once the  'package'  of   
   biblical religion had been delivered,  man became responsible for   
   the distribution of the contents..."   
      
   BIBLICAL INCIDENTS   
        Downing  said  a  hovering,  UFO like "cloud"  by  day,  and   
   glowing  "pillar of fire" by night guided the Israelites  out  of   
   Egypt,  projecting some propulsive force that parted the Red Sea,   
   leading them for years across the desert.   
        Other events he sees as carried out by UFOs include:   
        The  firelike  phenomenon  on  Mount Sinai  in  which  Moses   
   received the Ten Commandments, the Prophet Elijah taken to heaven   
   in a fiery chariot, the star of Bethlehem, the engulfing light of   
   Jesus'  transfiguration,  his being "lifted up" at his  ascension   
   and the blinding visitation of Paul en route to Damascus.   
        "All these were UFO types of reports," Downing said.   
      
   GOVERNMENT 'COVER UP'   
        Downing,  pastor  for  22 years  of  Endwell's  Northminster   
   Presbyterian Church, also is theological consultant to the Mutual   
   UFO Network,  based in Seguin,  Texas, and Fund for UFO Research,   
   based in Washington.   
        Recalling  a  1969  government commission finding  that  Air   
   Force    observations   offered   "insufficient   evidence"    to   
   substantiate UFOs,  Downing said the government was "covering up"   
   and the full report never was released.   
        He displayed a 1975 letter from then Sen.  Barry  Goldwater,   
   R-Ariz.,  saying  the  material was being withheld as "above  Top   
   Secret."   
        "If the government weren't lying in denying UFOs exist, we'd   
   have  had a religious revolution starting 40 years ago,"  Downing   
   said.   "It  would  not  mean  undermining  biblical  faith,  but   
   reinterpreting it in light of UFO phenomena."   
      
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