I’ve been on sabbatical since June (more on that in a future post). To mark the start of it, I took a solo Jeeping and hiking trip to Sedona, AZ. But while I was there, something unexpected happened: I had a paranormal experience. If you’ve already watched the video above, you know what I’m talking about. After being reminded by a friend that I had yet to explain my story, I thought it would make a great blog post :)
When I think back on that experience, because of my training1, I can’t help but view it through the framework Dr. Michael Heiser outlined in his Aliens and Demons documentary.2
Heiser argued that what we often call “aliens” are not visitors from other planets at all, but intelligent, non-human spiritual beings. That is, members of the unseen realm (call it the spiritual realm or another dimension). These are what the Bible calls elohim (Psalm 82). Beings created by God, some loyal, others rebellious. Scripture portrays them as regional rulers or principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12), overseeing nations or territories after God divided the peoples at Babel (Genesis 11:1-9; Deuteronomy 32:8–9). As controversial as this sounds to many Christians, the ancient people who produced the Bible (including Jesus)3 believed that these were/are powerful spiritual beings, almost like gods — more than what we think of when we think “angels” or “demons,” but not all-powerful like the triune God we trust in (they are powerful created beings).4
That means when people in Sedona sense something beyond the ordinary (which is constantly…there are some weird ducks in Sedona!) — whether they call it alien, otherworldly, or mystical — they may actually be having an encounter with these disgraced divine council members. In biblical terms, they’re not enlightened guides but corrupted spiritual rulers who seek worship, manipulate human imagination, and twist theology. They may also have certain attributes that are unique to the region they dominate (like the color green) — but that’s my own wild speculation (if you think about it, this would make sense given that the Watchers each had their specialties in knowledge that they passed on to humanity in antediluvian times — see Reversing Hermon).5
Heiser also noted that the “alien contact” movement often carries messaging that is anti-Christian: downplaying Jesus, offering hidden “gnosis,” or presenting humanity as divine. This is nothing new. It’s the old Gnostic lie repackaged in UFO language. In fact, Sedona’s blend of mysticism, New Age spirituality, and “star being” narratives6 sounds strikingly similar to the messaging Heiser warned about: a sinister reframing of spirituality that denies the uniqueness of Christ.
Even the “alien abduction” parallels such as the trauma, control and screen memories7, echo what Heiser tied to Satanic ritual abuse and demonic deception, rather than extraterrestrials conducting experiments on humans. And tellingly, he pointed out that when victims invoke the name of Christ, the experiences often stop completely, as testified to at various times (see example below from a Roswell conference).8 That fits the biblical pattern of authority over hostile spiritual forces.
“Joe Jordan and those dozen or so people who testified personally at the event… that their abduction experiences stopped when they became Christians or prayed for the experience to cease, then AT LEAST IN PART, the abduction experience is a spiritual or religious EVIL.”
— Michael S. Heiser, “Stopping Abductions with Prayer?” UFO Religions Blog, July 12, 20089
Having pointed this out, Heiser was always careful not to oversimplify by acknowledging that it is nonsense to believe millions of people worldwide who report these experiences are just lying. Something real is happening, but that doesn’t mean it’s extraterrestrial:
“It is silly to believe that the millions of people worldwide who claim to have had such experiences are ALL lying. That’s nonsense. I think they truly experienced something, but without any real evidence that can ONLY be processed as extraterrestrial, why should that be the explanation I adopt? It isn’t going to get my approval without evidence. Hence, it must be something else, and a malevolent spiritual entity is on that list.”
— Michael S. Heiser, “Stopping Abductions with Prayer?” UFO Religions Blog, July 12, 200810
At the same time, he was also cautious about turning prayer into a sort of guaranteed escape hatch. He reminded readers that Christians are not exempt from evil or suffering:
“Christians are not immune from evil in life and are given no such guarantee in the Bible. Rather, they are frequently the target and are given the promises that God will turn all such things into good (Romans 8:28–30)… The biblical picture is one of a spiritual and earthly death match being played out in symbiosis. It’s a war for hearts, minds, AND lives.”
— Michael S. Heiser, “Stopping Abductions with Prayer?” UFO Religions Blog, July 12, 200811
That perspective helps frame my own experience. If what I felt there was tied to regional spiritual rulers—the “principalities and powers” of the Bible —then it makes sense that prayer, faith, and allegiance to Christ would expose the true nature of the encounter. And yet, I also believe that Christians are not immune to darkness, but we are promised that God uses suffering and confrontation with evil as part of his greater story.
So what happened to me in Sedona? I really don’t know for sure. It felt more curious than evil. And it happened more inside my head than in the waking world (except for the voices, I heard those with my ears). I did pray for anything evil to depart in the name of Jesus Christ. And after that I did not experience anymore phenomena.
It does seem likely to me that it was part of the larger conflict Heiser described and the reality that this world is not neutral. Places can be influenced by territorial powers, and Sedona’s fascination with “aliens” may be evidence of those very powers at work.
The Bible says that while the nations are under these corrupt rulers, Israel is Yahweh’s portion12 (Deut 32:9), and through Christ, believers are rescued from the dominion of darkness (Colossians 1:13). That means the aliens of Sedona may not point to outer space at all, but to the unseen spiritual conflict described in Scripture.
In the end, Sedona reminded me of something Heiser always emphasized: the world is stranger than we think…but it is not random. Behind the “alien” stories are ancient powers still vying for influence.
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I’ve been thoroughly trained in the Divine Council Worldview through Heiser’s two year certificate program at AWKNG.com. It’s currently free (it wasn’t when I attended) because of generous donors. I recommend signing up and taking some courses. If you feel led to donate, please do so.
Obviously I am not implying that Jesus wrote the Bible. I am referring to the fact that he spoke and his words were later recorded/summarized. Both Jesus and the people who recorded or retold the stories about him, held to these beliefs in supernatural and regional “deities” or “principalities and powers.”
For an introduction to the Divine Council Worldview, read Heiser’s Unseen Realm, or watch the documentary on Youtube for free.
“(PDF) The Star-Beings and Stones: Petroforms and the Reflection of Native American Cosmology, Myth and Stellar Traditions.” ResearchGate, ahead of print, August 8, 2025. https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.v0i0.1918.
False or altered memories that cover up (or “screen over”) the real experience. Researchers like John Mack and Budd Hopkins noted that many abductees initially remembered things like: Owls, deer, or other animals with large eyes staring at them. Bright lights or vehicles in odd places. Dream-like scenes that seemed strangely vivid but not real. Later, under hypnosis or through deeper memory work, these “memories” were sometimes replaced by recollections of alien beings or abduction scenarios. The idea is that the mind, or possibly the entities themselves, creates a more ordinary or symbolic memory to mask the traumatic event. Two main theories exist about screen memories: Psychological Defense: The brain generates a substitute image (like an owl) to protect the person from processing overwhelming trauma. Deliberate Manipulation: The entities (if real) implant false images to obscure what actually happened, ensuring the person doesn’t clearly recall the abduction. So, when someone says they saw a huge owl outside their window before “losing time,” researchers might interpret that as a screen memory hiding an abduction event.
Note the word often — not always, as many Christians claim. Hence, this may not always be demonic or there may be different levels of powerful beings that require more than a simple prayer (think of the passages in the Gospels about certain demons requiring fasting and prayer). Or, it may be humans (in the case of satanic ritual abuse and MK-Ultra) or psychological (it’s all in the abductees head).
Heiser, Michael S. “Stopping Abductions with Prayer?” UFO Religions Blog, July 12, 2008. https://drmsh.com/stopping-abductions-with-prayer/.
The identity of Israel in modern times is of course, controversial. Did the Church replace Old Testament Israel? Are the modern day Israeli people somehow separate and unique? What about the secular state of Israel? There are of course many views on this and I do not pretend to have that all figured out or comment on that here other than to say that God did carve out his people in the form of what became the ancient Israelites and eventually the Jews of the second temple period. And these people are our spiritual ancestors as Christians.
Thanks for sharing this! As a native Arizonian, spent many good days in Sedona. Good theological analysis.