New World Order conspiracy ideas and UFO beliefs merged into two diametrically opposed syntheses

Evidence

The story of the New World Order–UFO connection is one of ideas moving in two directions, not one. In the initial movement, New World Order beliefs became entwined with UFO beliefs. A second migration followed in the 1990s, in which New World Order ideas, with their new UFO add-ons, returned to the right-wing milieu in which they had fi rst developed. In that milieu, the combination led to the development of two diametrically opposed syntheses. In one, exemplifi ed by British writer and lecturer David Icke, the human conspirators feared by the radical right are actually doing the bidding of malevolent extraterrestrial forces whose ultimate aim is control of the earth. In the other, epitomized by the views of Milton William Cooper at the end of his life (addressed later in this chapter), there are in fact no aliens at all. The appearance of an alien assault on the earth is being manufactured by human conspirators to provide a pretext for the assumption of global dictatorial powers. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 420

Categorization

• DEFINE: Crisply frames the two opposing syntheses (Icke’s aliens-behind-conspirators vs. Cooper’s fabricated-alien-pretext) that anchor the chapter.
• XREF: connects to: Antigovernment politics fused with UFO belief throughout the 1990s — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 47; Todd’s conspiracy list mixed mutually hostile groups into one grand Illuminati cabal — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 308; UFO believers were an unexpected new audience drawn into New World Order conspiracy theory — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 398 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• New World Order fears merged with UFO conspiracy theories during the 1990s #expands (0.90) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 481
• UFO belief pulled New World Order conspiracism out of political exile #corroborates (0.85) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 1081
• Early UFO conspiracism and extreme-right conspiracism developed independently #contradicts (0.75) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 423