UFO believers were an unexpected new audience drawn into New World Order conspiracy theory

Evidence

This breadth of appeal turned out to be greater than anyone had anticipated. The attraction of religionists was predictable because of the Antichrist tradition, and that of secularists as a result of the Illuminati literature; but the presence of a large new audience—UFO believers— was far less obvious, and it is to this migration of ideas that we now turn. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 398

Categorization

• QUESTION: Why were UFO believers so readily absorbed into New World Order theory — what structural affinity made hostile aliens and hidden earthly elites feel like the same story? Curious whether Barkun explains this mechanism in the coming chapter.
• XREF: connects to: As the world grew more connected, conspiracy theories shifted from local to distant targets. — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 72; Conspiracy theorists reinterpreted Bush’s new world order rhetoric as coded plotting — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 243; The New World Order conspiracy reached mainstream discourse through the UFO subculture. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 402 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• New World Order fears merged with UFO conspiracy theories during the 1990s #expands (0.85) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 481
• By the late 1980s some ufologists grafted New World Order conspiracy onto UFO belief #corroborates (0.85) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 412
• UFO belief pulled New World Order conspiracism out of political exile #corroborates (0.85) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 1081
• The New World Order conspiracy reached mainstream discourse through the UFO subculture. #corroborates (0.80) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 402
• New World Order ideas entered ufology unintentionally and piecemeal #corroborates (0.80) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 422
• New World Order conspiracy ideas and UFO beliefs merged into two diametrically opposed syntheses #qualifies (0.75) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 420