ROSWELL N.M. -- Some preachers in this New Mexico town where aliens allegedly landed 50 years ago say Satan is behind the growing belief in extraterrestrial life.
Pastor Jim Suttle of Roswell's non-denominational Calvary Chapel said Saturday that the tens of thousands of people who have flocked to Roswell's UFO spectacular this week were drawn by the devil's "alien minions."
"People are looking to UFOs as a replacement for God," said Suttle, organizer of a conference giving a Christian spin on aliens. "This is Satan distracting people from the Lord."
Stan Crosby, organizer of the six-day UFO extravaganza marking an alleged alien crash landing in the desert near here July 4, 1947, brushed off the criticism and said the event allows preachers to spread their message even wider.
"If aliens show up here let them (preachers) try to convert them ... if not, they're free to spread the word to the tourists," Crosby said.
Chuck Missler, a Christian minister from Idaho, has come here to do just that. Missler, lead speaker at the Alien Encounters conference [a Christian-oriented program happening concurrently with Roswell UFO Encounters 97], said aliens are "fallen angels" from another earthly dimension rather than another planet.
He believes a major conflict is brewing between Christians and alien hordes. "When Christ returns, the battle will begin."
Original file name: CNI - Roswell clergy
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