A battle for wall space between Buddhist memorabilia and framed drawings of extraterrestrials piloting elaborate spacecraft raged in the front room. A human-sized "classic grey" alien model stood in the lobby, the cardboard creature’s silver boots being sporadically nuzzled by a tortoiseshell cat. About 10 Kaokala members wearing swirly galaxy design shirts overloaded sofas, nodding as Wassana discussed her 21-year relationship with beings from beyond.

At her home in central Thailand’s Nakhon Sawan city, Ajarn Wassana Chuensumnaun, founder of UFO Kaokala group, educated me about the aliens she claimed to regularly chat with.

There was much detail to digest, such as how the aliens don’t have defined sexes, and eat just energy capsules “because they have small mouths.” I didn't see a hint of a wink or nod among the group members present, whose ages range from their 20s to 60s. The 50 or so people comprising the core Kaokala group, plus thousands following them online, take aliens seriously. This is because rather than destroying us, _Independence Day_-style, the Kaokala group believes they’re planning to save us from annihilation.

Wassana, 47, dedicates her life to listening to her ET pals and awaiting their plans to save mankind, but recently the conversation was rudely interrupted. Last August the sacred rural location the Kaokala group used to channel the aliens’ messages was raided by local authorities.

The Kaokala members were forced to regroup, but were keen to take me to the scene of the raid to show me that they’ll survive the setback. After all, the fate of our species depends on it. “I want to inform the public that aliens will be here for people on Earth,” said Wassana, under the black-eyed gaze of a painting of two grey aliens.

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