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Beyond Heaven's Gate: 4 UFO Alien-Worshipping Cults - The Journiest HomeTravel Tips Food & DrinkDrinkFashionStayTravelShopExploreTipsFeaturesSPONSOREDHidePostsAdvertisement FeatureSavingsDestinationsWeird WorldPrivacyCompany PageAbout UsContact UsOur TeamDestinationsFood & DrinkPopularTravel TipsWeird WorldSponsored Beyond Heaven's Gate: 4 Notorious Alien-Worshipping Cults Around the World To some members of these cults, aliens represent humanity's only hope.Related Travel On A Dime While Still Saving One 12 Black History and Culture Museums and Galleries to Visit in 2023 Money Saving Travel Santa Pros and Santa Cons - Surviving Two Santacons Hot Tips To Beat Airport Anxiety Trending TopicsIf you're looking for a feel-good, fall comfort show, look no further than Abbott Elementary. Quinta Brunson delivers what Mindy Kahling’s series often provide: non-stop laughter and a welcome relief from the harsh, morbid, trending serial killer shows.Abbott Elementary is only one episode into its second season and it’s already up there with Ted Lasso for me. Maybe it’s nostalgia. Maybe just because I no longer live in the Philadelphia area, I’m missing home and resonating with the show. However, the show’s cult fanbase and multiple Emmys tell me otherwise. Like many good shows, it follows an Office-style format, where the actors are shooting documentary-style and directly addressing the camera one-on-one. The premise? It follows a group of teachers at Abbott Elementary, which is not the nicest school…or the most funded…or the most staffed. But Brunson’s character, Janine Teagues, is determined to turn the place around. There are familiar faces like Tyler James Williams, who played the title character in Everybody Hates Chris, and Lisa Ann Walter, who we know as Chessy in The Parent Trap. Both play teachers in Abbott who deal with disaster after disaster in this neglected school — and it’s hysterical. I love a show or movie centered around the City of Brotherly Love because Philly never gets enough credit. Sure, New York City is awesome and everything takes place there. But how about we get some love for the city known for its ooey-gooey cheesesteaks and insane sports fans?Abbott Elementary is set in the heart of Philadelphia, not far from Lincoln Financial Field where the Philadelphia Eagles play. The show has everything Philly adores: a chippy personality, the word “jawn” (which refers to a person, place, or thing), plus references to their beloved Eagles, and the Philadelphia Flyers’ scary but lovable mascot, Gritty. If you’re looking to visit this special city and get the authentic Philly experience Quinta Brunson-style…look no further. Here are my recs: 1. Get The Philly Sports Experience Philadelphia Eagles' Quarterback Jalen Hurts Ross D Franklin/AP/ShutterstockIf there's one thing I know for sure: no city has sports fans like Philadelphia. They are ride or die. We have seen loss — a lot of it — and we're prepared to go down fighting (literally) alongside our professional teams.You don’t have to even remotely enjoy sports to enjoy a Philly sporting event. All stadiums are housed in one parking lot next to a huge bar, Xfinity Live. Naturally, thousands of fans gather in the parking lot to tailgate every week. If you don’t have the money for a ticket, spend your day in the bar! Xfinity has a ton of screens, a live DJ, food — and even a mechanical bull. PRO TIP: If you aren’t a fan of Philly sports…don’t tell a soul. My friend wore full New York Giants gear to a game and got boo’ed from the moment she stepped out of the Uber.2. Let's Talk Cheesesteaks Pat's Cheesesteaks Matt Rourke/AP/ShutterstockPlease, please, please do not go to Pat’s or Geno’s. They may be famous, but not for good reason. They have the worst possible cheesesteak in Philly. And somehow, because they've got a trillion lights, people hail them the most famous in the world. Yikes!My pick? Jim’s on South Street or D’Alessandro’s. If you’re a follower of Barstool and Dave Portnoy, Angelo’s Pizzeria makes a mean cheesesteak with homemade bread. Also…get your order right. Know your cheese before you step up to the counter. And make a decision if you want fried onions or not - aka wit or witout. My order? Whiz wit - aka cheese whiz with onions.3. Get The Best Fried Chicken According To Abbott Abbott Elementary makes a lot of local references to writer/producer/actress Quinta Brunson’s Philadelphia. She even mentions some of the city’s fave fried chicken places. While we know all about the Popeye’s sandwich, there are a ton of local spots that are much better. Go to Crown Fried Chicken for one of the most popular fried chicken places in the show. Or, try Danny’s Wok, which has three locations around Philadelphia and has been hailed the as best fried chicken in the city.4. Take A History Walking Tour  Philadelphia is full of historical events and home of the Liberty Bell. I've lost track of the number of times I took school trips to Independence Hall or the Betsy Ross House…but everyone should make this pilgrimage at least once. Everything's pretty close together and there are plenty of walking tours to jog your memory if you’ve forgotten your US history basics. You’ll see the birthplace of the American flag, the U.S. Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence. Stop by Christ Church and throw a penny on Benjamin Franklin’s grave for good luck. Philly has tours galore…so you'll have no trouble finding someone to guide you. One of my favorites was the Ride The Duck tour…where you go through the streets of Philadelphia and on the water in one unit.There’s good food, bars, history, and a whole lot of pride in Philly. Abbott Elementary may be a fictional show, but they make it true to the Philadelphian spirit — so waste no time walking around that jawn and get over to Philly asap! Keep reading...Show lessEden Arielle27 April 2020A lot of people believe in aliens—more than half of Americans, if some reports are to be believed.Why UFOs? Well, the general psychological consensus is that as traditional religious beliefs decline, people will still be looking for meaning. Aliens and UFO lore are free from the dogmatic chains of typical organized, theistic religions, yet a belief in aliens is still a belief in a higher power and possibly a higher purpose to our inexplicable and difficult days. People have always looked to the stars to find meaning, but some place more importance on aliens than others. Some even believe that aliens are seeking communion with the human race, looking to bring us into the next, rapturous phase of our evolution. Some say the aliens haven't made contact because they're waiting for us to evolve to their level, but we keep on destroying our planets or each other. Some say the aliens are out to get us; others say they're here to save us. The field of ufology goes deep and gets weird, but here are four UFO cults around the world to get your brain's gears whirling on the subject of our possible, silent extraterrestrial saviors.Thailand: The UFO Kaokala GroupThailand's reigning UFO cult has woven Buddhism's ancient traditions with very New Age beliefs in portals and alien saviors, and the fusion is the Kaokala (full title: Kaokala Coordination for Disasters Warning Group). The Kaokala group was founded by Ajarn Wassana Chuensumnaun, who says she's been talking directly to aliens for over two decades. The aliens hail from Pluto or a planet called Lokukatapakadikong, she says, and they resemble the "Grey" aliens you typically see in sci-fi films or in alien abductee reports.Kaokala members often take off on mountainside retreats, where they meditate and commune with the aliens. Kaokala members believe that aliens are benevolent beings who are attempting to save us from annihilation. The extraterrestrials are constantly predicting World War III and nuclear apocalypse, and they'ree attempting to create a "new generation" of humans to spread their messages. Many of the group's members feel they've personally encountered aliens during meditations.They have received some pushback from the Buddhist community, but the group's members firmly believe that their religion and their communion with extraterrestrials are compatible. "Some people think Buddhism doesn't have anything to do with other civilizations," said one member in (what else) aVice exposé. "But Buddhism is about the universe, right? Some think it's only about praying and meditation, but it's more about outer space. I see comments, but I try to avoid them. I don't fight people.""They'll visit us over different generations," another member predicted forebodingly. "Before the nuclear disaster, during the disaster, after the disaster and for a restoration period. When it will begin, we don't know."Brazil: Sunrise Valleyalien-ufo-sightings.com80,000 people follow the religion known as "Vale do Amanhecer" ("Sunrise Valley"), a new faith that fuses Christianity, Islam, and Judaism with a resolute belief in extraterrestrials.Members of Sunrise Valley, which is based in Brazil, believe that humans are all actually reincarnated aliens. According to the religion's doctrine, aliens first touched down on Earth 32,000 years ago and have been continuously reincarnated; they say we are all the latest incarnation, the Jaguars. The religion was established in 1959, when a widowed truck driver named Aunt Neiva Zelaya experienced psychic visions that she believed were visitations from extraterrestrial spirits. Followers believe in ritual and perform many of them. They have a multitude of dramatic holidays, and they often wear elaborate costumes and perform rites. The religion has sparked some tensions with more traditional faiths in Brazil, who call it a cult. But for believers, it's the only way forward.Taiwan: Chen Tao (True Way Cult)Taiwan's True Way Cult emerged when Hon-Ming Chen, a former professor, broke off from academia and joined a series of cults. Eventually he made his way to the US, homeland of alien cults, and created what became the Chen Tao, a cult that utilizes cosmology, Buddhism, Taoism, flying saucers, and Christian apocalyptic prophecy (among others).Chen's cosmology proposed that the universe was born out of a nuclear war that happened 4.5 trillion years ago. It said that each person is part of the same magnetic field that forms the heavens and also God, and everyone has a "spiritual light energy" that they are intended to develop throughout their lives. He detailed these tenets in a book called God's Descending in Clouds (Flying Saucers) on Earth to Save People.The cult fizzled out when a central prediction did not occur. Chen predicted that at 12:01 AM on March 31st, 1998, God would appear on a single TV channel across America. When no such thing happened, Chen disappeared from public view and the cult disbanded (or did they?).USA: Aetherius SocietyAtlasobscura.comThe USA has no shortage of alien cults (and no shortage of cults in general), but one of its more famous UFO-worshiping cults, Heaven's Gate, all met their end in the 1970s. Still, cult belief in aliens has persisted, branching off into a labyrinthine garden of star-gazers.The Aetherius Society was founded by George King in the 1950s. King claimed he had made contact with extraterrestrials who called themselves "Cosmic Masters" and said their main goal was to help humanity and advance them into the New Age. "The main purpose of this Society is to help as many people as possible to prepare themselves for the coming New Age. We do this by improving world karma and using spiritual energy to help others – often in direct cooperation with advanced alien intelligences," their website reads.The group combines UFO stories, yoga, ideas from Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity; and much more. They believe that worldly destruction may be avoided when humans learn to cooperate with their alien masters, that spiritual energy can be used to heal the world, and that a new powerful messiah is on his way—a messiah who, like Jesus and Buddha, is also a Cosmic Master.bizarrecultshauntedscaryspookystrangeweirdweird americaaliensguy ballardaetherius societyscience fictionyork timesgeorge kingbelief systemsflying saucerufo religionsreligious movementshuman lifedescended to earthRelated Travel On A Dime While Still Saving One Travel If You Want To Avoid NYC On NYE, Look No Further. 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Beyond Heaven’s Gate: 4 Notorious Alien-Worshipping Cults Around the World