THE UNLIKELY STORY OF A REMARKABLE IDEA 

Could extraterrestrials have really come to Earth thousands of years ago? Did they bequeath humanity its first civilizations? Were there “ancient astronauts”? For nearly half a century, a flurry of books, movies, and television shows (with more cropping up each year) have said yes, over the objections of scientists, educators, and archaeologists. 

In THE CULT OF ALIEN GODS, author Jason Colavito reveals for the first time that the theory that aliens visited Earth in the ancient past—and may even have genetically engineered humankind—began not as science fact but as science fiction in the work of master horror writer H.P. Lovecraft (1890–1937). This comprehensive survey examines Lovecraft’s body of work as well as his influence on maverick historians, occultists, pop culture, and a modern UFO cult trying to clone a human being on orders from the “aliens.” 

From flying saucers to lost civilizations, THE CULT OF ALIEN GODS also explores the decline of reason and the dramatic challenges that rocked science over the past century. Lovecraft created the first ancient-astronaut story in 1926, and the saga of how his fictional aliens—his “sheer fun”—became a powerful threat to mainstream science rivals the ancient-astronaut theory itself for sheer outrageous improbability. ONLY, THIS STORY IS TRUE. 

JASON COLAVITO is a freelance writer and editor who has written for Skeptic magazine, among other publications. 

Contents 

Acknowlegments 

Prelude 

The Crossroads of Fact and Fiction  

Part One: Precursors of the Myth 

Science and Pseudoscience in Lovecraft’s Time 

Science Fiction and Horror before Lovecraft  

Part Two: Stories of Gods from Outer Space 

The Prophet of Providence 

The Spread of the Lovecraft Circle 

The UFO Craze in Fact and Fiction  

Part Three: From Fiction to Fact 

The French Connection 

Charioteer of the Gods  

Interlude: The View from 1976 

The Fork in the Road  

Part Four: From Sirius to Orion and Beyond 

The Sirius Mystery 

The Orion Mystery 

Dusting for Fingerprints 

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen  

Part Five: Human Clones from the Twelfth Planet 

Ancestors from Nibiru 

Taking Off from Nibiru 

The UFO Cults and Human Cloning  

Conclusion 

A Modern Mythology for Troubled Times  

Appendix: A Continuum of Belief 

Notes 

Select Bibliography 

Index