TLDR: UFO religion may be emerging through CE-5 contact rituals, where participants seek communication with alleged non-human intelligence. A “Close Encounter of the Fifth Kind” (CE-5) alleges human-initiated communication with the non-human intelligence operating UAP, whether extraterrestrials, time-travellers or so-called interdimensional beings. CE-5 practitioners regard extraterrestrials as benevolent, highly intelligent beings physically present in space and around Earth. A salvation narrativeMany CE-5 practitioners believe that the U.S. government, in tandem with defence contractors, possesses recovered extraterrestrial craft and that scientists have secretly reverse-engineered alien technologies. Either way, it’s time for scholars of the humanities and social sciences to take seriously UAP and the possibility of non-human intelligence.