Christ Brotherhood

Last updated

Christ Brotherhood, Inc. was a UFO religious group founded on December 16, 1956, in Orange, California, United States, [1] by Wallace C. Halsey. [2] [3] Halsey claimed that during his sleep, he channeled messages from extraterrestrials who warned of the impending destruction of the world and the gathering of a remnant of humanity to be saved. [4]

Contents

Halsey described Christ Brotherhood, Inc. as a non-profit religious educational organization founded with the goal of "bringing greater understanding to all mankind." According to Halsey, the organization comprised members of 52 different religious denominations. [1]

Construction of Rocky Mountain complex

Halsey led at least some members of the group to Cache Valley, Utah, where they began construction of a compound intended to include underground bomb shelters in the mountains east of Smithfield City in the summer of 1961. [1] [5] The location in Smithfield's Main Canyon was selected due to the identification of the Rocky Mountains as a place of safety [1] [6] by Joseph Smith, the founding prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other Latter Day Saint movement churches. [5]

The shelter complex was intended to house approximately 1000 persons and was intended, according to Halsey, "for the safety of anyone who can get there in case of enemy attack," [5] with no charge for admission or special permission required for entry. [1] Halsey also stated the Brotherhood bought heavy equipment and cleared roads to the site, which rested on 45-acres purchased from S. Ivan Nilson. [7]

It was estimated an excavation of 30,000 square feet would be required to build the intended complex, which Halsey intended to furnish with bomb-proof facilities for food storage, medical supplies, sanitation systems, and radio transmission equipment. Ray Barnes, who was appointed to supervise the excavation, noted the plans called for three or four concussion pockets to help attenuate shock force from a nuclear blast, as well as a robust filtration system to reduce exposure to radioactive fallout. Plans for the complex also called for a 100,000 gallon cistern for water storage, which the Brotherhood hoped would be supplemented by a spring they hoped to discover during the excavation process. Halsey planned to construct 100 small cabins at the site to provide housing outside the fallout shelter.[ citation needed ]

Also in 1961, two unnamed members of the Brotherhood selected a site for similar shelter complex at Aspen, Colorado, [1] which would be linked to the Utah site by radio equipment. [5] The Utah shelter was not completed, but the Brotherhood did construct several homes and a small church on the property. [7]

Leader's disappearance and group's disintegration

The brotherhood apparently lost cohesion [7] following Halsey's disappearance as a passenger on a small aircraft flight from Utah to Nevada in March 1963. [8] Despite an extensive air search and attempts by Halsey's UFO religion associates to solve the mystery using extraterrestrial assistance, [9] the plane remained unfound for 13 years, until a lost deer hunter stumbled across the wreckage (including the bodies of Halsey and pilot Harry Cleveland Ross, Jr., a former mayor of Seal Beach, California and a business associate of Halsey) on a rugged mountainside near St. George, Utah. [10]

Some of Halsey's teachings to the Brotherhood were documented in Cosmic End-Time Secrets, a volume published posthumously in 1965 that included the messages purportedly channeled from extraterrestrial life forms to Halsey. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richmond, Utah</span> City in Utah, United States

Richmond is a city in Cache County, Utah, United States. The population was 2,733 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Logan metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latter Day Saint movement</span> Religious movement

The Latter Day Saint movement is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Joseph Smith in the late 1820s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mormon Trail</span> Migrant route from Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah

The Mormon Trail is the 1,300-mile (2,100 km) route from Illinois to Utah on which Mormon pioneers traveled from 1846 to 1869. Today, the Mormon Trail is a part of the United States National Trails System, known as the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salt Lake Temple</span> LDS temple in Salt Lake City, Utah

The Salt Lake Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. At 253,015 square feet (23,505.9 m2), it is the largest Latter-day Saint temple by floor area. Dedicated in 1893, it is the sixth temple completed by the church, requiring 40 years to complete, and the fourth temple built since the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1846. The temple was closed in December 2019 for a general remodelling and seismic renovations, which were initially estimated to take approximately four years. Subsequent updates extended the estimated completion to 2026, for a total renovation timeline lasting an anticipated six or seven years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cache Valley</span> US geographical feature

Cache Valley(Shoshoni: Seuhubeogoi, “Willow Valley”) is a valley of northern Utah and southeast Idaho, United States, that includes the Logan metropolitan area. The valley was used by 19th century mountain men and was the site of the 1863 Bear River Massacre. The name, Cache Valley is often used synonymously to describe the Logan Metropolitan Area, one of the fastest growing metro areas in the US per capita — both in terms of economic GDP and population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aetherius Society</span> New religious movement founded by George King in the 1950s

The Aetherius Society is a new religious movement founded by George King in the mid-1950s as the result of what King claimed were contacts with extraterrestrial intelligences, whom he referred to as "Cosmic Masters". The main goal of the believer is to cooperate with these Cosmic Masters to help humanity solve its current Earthly problems and advance into the New Age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brigham Young Jr.</span> American religious leader (1836–1903)

Brigham Young Jr. served as president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1899 until his death. His tenure was interrupted for one week in 1901 when Joseph F. Smith was the president of the Quorum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alamo, Nevada</span> Unincorporated town in the State of Nevada, United States

Alamo is an unincorporated town in Lincoln County, Nevada, United States, about 90 miles (140 km) north of Las Vegas along U.S. Route 93. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,080.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Logan Utah Temple</span> Temple in Logan, Utah

The Logan Utah Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was completed in 1884 and is the fourth temple built by the church. Located in the city of Logan, Utah, it was the second temple in Utah, after the St. George Temple. It was built on a 9-acre (3.6 ha) plot selected by church president Brigham Young.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provo Utah Temple</span> Latter-day Saint temple in Utah, 1972–2024

The Provo Utah Temple was a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located in Provo, Utah, just north of Brigham Young University (BYU). The intent to build the temple was announced on August 14, 1967, by Hugh B. Brown and N. Eldon Tanner. The church's temples are a sacred space where church members make covenants and perform ordinances for themselves and their deceased ancestors. The temple was designed by architect Emil B. Fetzer and was dedicated in 1972 as the church's seventeenth constructed and fifteenth operating temple. It was the sixth temple built in Utah, and the first in both Utah County and Provo.

Granite Mountain is a mass of solid rock one mile up Little Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch Range of Utah, not too far from Salt Lake City, Utah. Despite its name, Granite Mountain is primarily composed of quartz monzonite, an igneous rock similar to granite in appearance, physical characteristics, and chemical composition. This is the same material used to construct the Salt Lake Temple and the facade of the LDS Conference Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Pack</span>

John Pack was a member of the Council of Fifty and a missionary in the early days of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church Administration Building</span> Office building in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

The Church Administration Building (CAB) is an administrative office building in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States serving as the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the fourth-largest Christian denomination in the United States. Completed in 1917, the building is adjacent to Temple Square, between the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and the Lion House, on South Temple Drive. It differs from the Church Office Building in that it is much smaller and furnishes offices for the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. It also houses offices for other general authorities and their personal staff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah</span>

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Utah. Utah has more church members than any other U.S. state or country. The LDS Church is also the largest denomination in Utah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monastery of the Holy Archangels</span> Monastery in Prizren, Kosovo

The Monastery of the Holy Archangels is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located in Prizren, Kosovo. The monastery was founded by the Serbian Emperor Stefan Dušan between 1343 and 1352 on the site of an earlier church, part of the Višegrad fortress complex. It was the burial church for Emperor Dušan, and represented the culmination of the Serbian ecclesiastical architectural style, that led to the birth of the Morava school style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Ricks</span> American Mormon leader (1804 – 1888)

Joel Ricks was a Mormon Pioneer and community leader who helped settled the Salt Lake Valley and Cache Valley, Utah. He was the father of Thomas E. Ricks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provo City Center Temple</span> Latter-day Saint temple in Provo, Utah, United States

The Provo City Center Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, built on the site of the former Provo Tabernacle in Provo, Utah. Completed in 2016, the temple uses much of the external shell of the tabernacle that remained from the original building after a fire in December 2010. The intent to build the temple was announced on October 1, 2011, by church president Thomas S. Monson, during the church's general conference. The temple is the second in Provo, was the sixteenth in Utah, and the church's 150th worldwide. This temple has a distinctive exterior with Gothic-inspired stained glass windows. A groundbreaking ceremony, to signify the beginning of construction, was held on May 12, 2012, conducted by Jeffrey R. Holland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smithfield Tabernacle</span> United States historic place

The Smithfield Tabernacle is a historic Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) tabernacle and present-day recreation facility in Smithfield, Utah. It is one of 42 surviving LDS tabernacles out of 92 built. The building was a notable construction for a settlement of Smithfield's size, and it served as a geographic and symbolic center for the early town, functioning as an important religious and public space.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Palmer, Douglas D (August 18, 1961). "$90,000 Project: Work Started On Cache Bomb Shelter". Deseret News. pp. A-21, B-11. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  2. ↑ Miller, Timothy, ed. (1995). America's Alternative Religions. SUNY Press. p. 396. ISBN   9780791423974.
  3. ↑ "Christ Brotherhood, Inc" . Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  4. ↑ Newport, John P. (1998). The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 183. ISBN   9780802844309.
  5. 1 2 3 4 von Dornum, Rae (August 31, 1961). "Mining Work Starts On Bomb Shelter In Utah Mountains" (PDF). Henderson, Nevada, US: Henderson Home News. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  6. ↑ Esplin, Ronald K. (July 1988). "A "Place Prepared" in the Rockies". Ensign. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 Cantwell, Lawrence S. (1969). A Brief History of Three Canyons. p. 113.
  8. 1 2 Goldwag, Arthur (2009). Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies. Vintage Books. p. 151. ISBN   9780307390677.
  9. ↑ Bateman, Wes (June 1, 1993). Knowledge from the Stars. Light Technology Publishing. pp. 100–102. ISBN   9780929385396.
  10. ↑ O'Reilly, Richard (November 3, 1976). "Remains of Ex-Seal Beach Mayor Found at Crash Site". The Los Angeles Times. p. 164. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.