Ashtar Sheran: The Eastern European UFO Cult (Documentary)

0:00 [Music] we are your brothers of space and time who come extending the hand of friendship to greet our cosmic neighbors we have watched from afar as you deal with the growing pains of your young race we see you are moving to a higher level of understanding in accordance with cosmic law you are on the threshold of joining us on the universal journey and we wait patiently for this momentous step in your evolutionary progress [Music]

0:45 hidden deep on the Internet is a mysterious website known as WWF in late angels dot org even if you've never heard of it one look at the site shows it comes from the early web it's graphic design as eye catching to say the least but more fascinating are these lengthy and usually cryptic passages about saurians UFOs and a space commander named Ashtar Sheran these all seem to be tied to a group now known simply as the universe people so how does one begin to unpack the anomaly that is Ashtar Sheran where did the stories about him come from and why did the universe people revere him so much it was just after world war 2 UF ology it was a fast

1:31 growing hobby in the United States and around the world thanks to more affordable radio and electronic equipment one of the earliest fanatics was a man named George Van Tassel his interest began after he befriended an eccentric german immigrant named frank Kritzer who was obsessed with UFOs mr. Kritzer was killed in her mysterious circumstances in his underground bunker near giant rock california giant rock was a sacred Native American territory quickly becoming a growing hot spot for UFO sightings after mr. critters death mr. Van Tassel took over his work and relocated his family to giant rock where in 1952 he claimed to have made first contact with an alien calling himself Ashtar on July 18th he claimed to have channel the telepathic message which reads in part

2:17 quote hail to you beings of Shen I greet you in love and peace my identity is Ashtar commandant Quadra sector patrol stations share all projections all waves readings through the Council of the seven lights you have been brought here inspired with the inner light to help your fellow man you are mortals and other mortals can only understand that which their fellow man can understand the purpose of this organization is in a sense to save mankind from himself some years ago your time where nuclear physicists penetrated the book of knowledge they discovered how to explode the atom the rest goes on as a standard anti nuclear war message in the following weeks Ashtar Sheran supposedly kept in touch with George Van Tassel these follow-ups were filled with

3:03 technobabble AG prophecies as well of talk of ash tars love and benevolence such extraterrestrial messages apparently continued through 1953 but one would soon motivate mr. Van Tassel like no other [Music] mr. Van Tassel says he was in touch with a list of other aliens around this time though we view - thar is both the most powerful and most prolific after weeks of meditating in the Mojave Desert mr. Van Tassel believed he made face-to-face contact with an alien from the planet Venus this new visitor was named Sol ganda and is said to have taught mr. Van Tassel skills like healing and time travel the experience inspired him to start building the integratron a dome-shaped structure he believed was capable of

3:49 cell rejuvenation the integra Tron's frame is built of an exposed wood acyl ganda had apparently warned mr. Van Tassel against using any kind of metal inside the results taking over two decades to complete was an architectural e sound an acoustically perfect building through the years this was paid for by mr. Van Tassel's a year round seminars and conventions on alien life along with a considerable number of books written about the topic Ashtar was becoming especially popular within the UFO community rumblings of an ashtar command went as far back as the mid 1950s but these didn't come from mr. Van Tassel in fact he was quite against the commercialization of his encounters one of mr. Van Tassel's friends Bob Shore formed a breakaway group which dubbed itself ashtar command mr. short joined a

4:35 growing list of people who believed they too could channel Ashtar Sheran the content of new Ashtar messages varied depending on who is channeling them but they were almost invariably political for instance FOP Hills book and days to come describes a universal law with a demand for total world peace Ashtar seemed to take on the role as the savior of mankind a theme increasingly reflected in channelings the book concluded with a warning of an apocalyptic scenario where only the humans who take Ashtar side at an upcoming universal conflict will receive salvation sometimes mr. shortness wife had offered the channel Ashtar for a small Fiat conventions giving UFO enthusiasts a chance to speak with the commander other authors built on the

5:20 growing lore of a star adding concepts like his massive space Armada but this came with its own problems as the ashtar character became more popular what mr. short rope was no longer considered definitive in fact the many failed prophecies he made lost some credibility amongst two apologists George Van Tassel meanwhile had been busy working on the integra tron when he died unexpectedly in 1978 of war was fully finished despite these troubles this was far from the end for the alien commandant a star whose legend was just taking off [Music] but he says that our conditions these include stopping the execution of all captured prisoners of war

6:18 [Music] 1977 southern television broadcast interruption in the United Kingdom was supposedly done at the behest of ashtar command with local newspapers transcribing the alien transmission the usual themes like pacifism and the Age of Aquarius were discussed that same year a woman named Thelma B Tyrell became the latest to say she made contact with Ashtar she published her

7:05 communications in periodicals adding a few new details to the ashtar story first ashtar command was said to be a fleet that was circling and monitoring the planet Earth to Ella as she was known became the latest arbiter of a star's wisdom and influence most notably she began including elements of New Age mysticism in theosophy with her broader vision of what Ashtar meant for the human race she spent the next few years shoring up support in the UFO community eclipsing that of both Georgia Van Tassel and Bob short through the late 70s she circulated a text called project world evacuation which claimed the fleet's would soon rescue a handful of humans from imminent destruction the prophecy reads in part quote our rescue ships will be able to come in close enough to the twinkling of an eye to set

7:50 the lifting beans in operation in a moment and all over the globe or events warranted this will be the method of evacuation and Kahn will be lifted levitated we shall say by the beams from our smaller ships the smaller craft will in turn taxi the persons to the larger ships overhead higher in the atmosphere where there's ample space and quarters and supplies for millions of people after twill as predicted conflict had passed the faithful would return to a newly utopian earth project world evacuation was later published as a book in 1982 the tell-tale signs of this great evacuation would be the tilting of the Earth's axis those who've studied dwell in detail no more overtones of Christian imagery in her predictions which focus on the theme of salvation she also began presenting herself as an

8:37 extraterrestrial using the body of the human hence the name change a star's popularity was by now well known in the contactee community but not all attention was positive a Swiss man named Billy Meyer had been trying to promote his own claims of meeting aliens and was quickly becoming seen as a fraud amongst us all adjusts using photographs of performers on a television playing the Dean Martin show he claimed to have met aliens named asket and PETA the picture he used of a scow was really just the musician Michelle delle fave in 1983 Billy Mayer believed followers of Ashtar Sheran were out to kill him using artificially created lightning this was supposedly out of revenge for the death of Ashtar Sheran who Billy says was part

9:24 of a different organization called Giza intelligence Ashtar also known as Aroostook apparently died in a failed attack on a Scots homeworld Billy believes Ashtar was an evil warlord who got what he deserved but this intergalactic drama didn't line up with what Coelho was writing she kept asked her alive with a handful of new books about the latest encounters her predictions became more abstract to account for certain omens not coming true - ella also took a more spiritual approach to describing Ashtar accompanied by 1985 her version of the story had changed considerably from what was first described in the 1950s this incarnation of a star belonged to the intergalactic council said to be the highest on the spiritual hierarchy of the solar system he became less of an

10:10 alien visitor and more ethereal it should be noted that Ashtar wasn't presented as entirely godlike but rather an equal who is guiding humanity to enlightenment he was supposedly from the planet Ashtar until he moved to Venus many centuries ago in 1988 - Ella announced that Ashtar would be retiring until the great evacuation output reduced but he was apparently still available for channelling as needed - all had died in September of 1993 [Music] while to Ella's career had been winding down a new channeler named Yvonne Cole began warning fellow UF ologists of yet another imminent space catastrophe threatening the human race making her earliest predictions in 1986 she

10:58 believed that life on Earth was due to expire by 1994 to this end she sought out her most faithful followers that she found most suitable for the roles Ashtar Sheran would meet fulfilled upon visiting her earth this included advisors and ambassadors presumably for integrating mankind within the greater Galactic biome mrs. Cole managed to attract many followers over the next eight years though her vision of the evacuation would go much differently than anticipated in 1994 some Ashtar followers claim that liftoff had begun the pioneer voyage used what was called physical vibration transport to teleport faithful followers to the starships of the galactic command what really was was a form of guided meditation meant to simulate such an experience but it was touted early on as

11:43 the real deal this inspired up to 250 more UFO enthusiasts to come out for the next event to be held in December though the increased exposure meant more and more people were having their doubts about the veracity of alien encounters this account of the Pioneer voyage gave the splintered Ashtar community something to rally around at the same time there was a rapidly growing technology emerging which could help bring order to the scattered Ashtar followers the Internet by the mid-1990s most of the world was online this coincided with a major social upheaval going on in Eastern Europe owing to the dissolution of the Soviet Union the Czech Republic was enjoying religious freedoms and outside ideas that hadn't experienced in most people's lifetimes a Czech man by the

12:30 name of ivo benda was working as a software engineer when he was introduced to the idea extraterrestrial contact by a co-worker around 1997 it seemed all too real to him he to believe that Ashtar Sheran spoke with him telepathically while on the train home from work one night interest became an obsession as he quit his job to study alien life changing his name to ivo a benda with the a Stinney for Ashtar mr. ben de now believed he was a recipient of interstellar messages from ashtar command like so many others writing several books and check about it he started giving public lectures to spread the word of a star which naturally included his own interpretation of galactic law and the meaning of life curiously he believed a stars people were in love with the cultural history of the Czech Republic

13:16 mr. bender believed in positive and negative energies emanating through the vibrations of all objects he was adamant about this theory being the key to inner peace inspiring mr. bender were the works of Billy Meyer who was notably an enemy of the ashtar movement in the 1980s when mr. Meyer learned at this he disavowed mr. benda undaunted mr. Bendele went on to form an organization called the universe people made up of others who shared his New Age beliefs perhaps most infamously Ivo benda took his message to the world wide web with his now iconic heavenly angels website this website has hardly changed since it went online around 1999 with its main page added to extensively over the past two decades the result is a very long and difficult to understand dialog filled with conspiracy theories about

14:02 lizard people and masters role in the liberation of mankind it is presumably the source of most images now associated with Ashtar Sheran like the many recognizable computer-generated faces that come up when you search his name but who created these images is difficult to pin down since mr. benda has been copyright troubles a number of times because of his belief that galactic copyrights supersede those here on earth the website has been translated into countless languages and boasts over 20 million downloads a month as of 2014 these downloads are likely that many PDF files offered filled with mr. Bendis long-winded tirades about healthy eating quickly scrolling through the site also shows reverence for several other deities like Jesus Christ Fatah and asket thanks to mr. ben de la star Sharon found new life across the world

14:49 [Music] we are here to advise guide and encourage you to turn your eyes towards the creation of a planet of peace and understanding your invention and universal ability coexist with the creative force of the cosmos we are your brothers of the Galactic Federation who wish only to have you by our side Ivo Ashtar ben de didn't just stop with his flashy website he was eager to share his message to whatever czech media outlets would agree to speak with him often with amusing results news articles report that he would go door-to-door leaving flyers for people rife with the same colorful graphics and conspiratorial messages as on the website mr. ben de believes that at least 80% of czech

15:36 households received his message though he certainly gained followers from the exposure most simply dismissed him because of the more outlandish warnings about lizard people in an intergalactic war both became fixtures of the benda brand of Ashtar Sheran worship his most famous stunt was declaring that he would host the first world symposium on love which would take place at Prague Castle with the approval of president václav havel he was hoping the president would use his clout to have figures like President Bill Clinton at the summit President Havel never gave his approval though and it didn't happen mr. bender was increasingly apprehensive about new technologies believing them to be a form of mind-control implanted chips were the source of his biggest anxieties but this didn't stop more and more people from coming around to the increasingly outrageous ideas that

16:21 universe people proposed this was in part because of mr. Bendis incorporation of Christian mysticism in the writings pandering to a wider religious demographic his activities into the new millennium were enough to catch the attention of Czech authorities they were especially concerned in the wake of the recent Heaven's Gate incident where 39 members of an American UFO cult had participated in mass suicide internal government reports note a concern with his ideas that money should be abolished unsurprising for a former bloc country also noted as his consistent use of negative media attention to promote the idea of a conspiracy against the universe people increasingly erratic messages purportedly coming from Ashtar typed the September 11th attacks to interdimensional forces amongst other things the website also hosted several lengthy texts authored by a mr. Bendix

17:08 with teachings from my cosmic friends in addition to drawn out messages of love and how to live we learned that Ashtar Sheran is not headed the Galactic Council but that he works for a higher being named gore Lodge America in the world were seen as being under siege by reptilians and mr. bender warns that the Czech Republic was next mister been dementia members of a set got a picture with the new Czech president václav Klaus more attention meant that the universe people were subject to widespread ridicule most originating online their website was hacked a handful of times usually the images were replaced by pictures of the Teletubbies or swastikas and like past incarnations of Ashtar Sheran worshipers they were rejected by the larger UFO an

17:53 extraterrestrial research community but this couldn't stop the followers of Ashtar Sheran soon mr. bender would expand - tarz presence in other Eastern European countries namely Slovakia and Poland new sources in Slovakia and Poland wrote of the same literature handouts popping up in mailboxes across the countries I'll be at poor Lea translated into the local dialect the biggest incident involving the group happened around 2007 when mr. benda sent a package to the Ministry of Defence the contents were considered suspicious to military police who ordered the building it arrived in be evacuated in the end what mr. Benn dissent were instructions on how the government can defend itself against a reptilian invasion in IVA Bendis words

18:41 if you were attacked by a reptile from an outer world with the Ministry of Defence defend the people or do you consider those reptiles as friends an official Facebook was linked on the website in the mid 2010 but it hasn't been updated much since 2016 as of 2017 Ivo Ben doe was living quietly with his partner in a Slovakian apartment he still believes microchips embedded in modern technology like microwaves are the work of dark intergalactic forces occasionally he gives interviews to check publications discussing the same topics he has been for the last two decades but other than that things have been mostly quiet from the universe people the website is still functional with a donation link that mr. benda insists is only for the upkeep of the page and printing new tracks most

19:29 recently a video has been put out by Ashtar followers of mr. ben de supposedly channeling the intergalactic entity once more such a music from Blade Runner the message links the 2020 global health crisis to dark reptilian forces likening the situation to the Matrix movies it was capped off with a reminder about eating leafy greens to stay healthy and that if the situation becomes too grim the alien forces will spirit faithful universe people to the heavens [Music] though eccentric Ashtar Sheran believers and the universe people have been relatively harmless movements compared to some of the more notable New Age philosophies Ashtar doesn't seem to have ever been just one person making it more incredible that such an intense cult of personality has survived over six decades the Integra Tron still stands

20:17 today though ownership has passed to a trio of sisters who want to make its unique acoustic design available for the public it can be intoxicating to want to believe in heavenly figures who can solve our earthly problems even if the logistics of this are baloney still it seems unlikely that Ashtar Sheran is following will disappear anytime soon [Music]