In the 1980s, the Unarius Academy of Science produced several public access films explaining their belief system, namely that aliens would visit Earth in 2001. These movies were no-budget masterworks. Gird yourself for the most superlative thing you'll see today.


The Unarius Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by the husband-and-wife team of Ernest and Ruth Norman. Ernest was the reincarnation of Jesus as well as the earthly incarnation of the archangel Raphiel, whereas Ruth was archangel Uriel and the reincarnation of — among several people — Confucius, Mona Lisa, and Poseidon.

As far as new age UFO religious organizations went, the Unarians were pretty innocuous — they liked to dress cars up as UFOs, wear sweet UFO sashes, and parade around on October 15, Interplanetary Confederation Day. And Ruth Norman was quite possibly the most stylish reincarnation of Ben Franklin this world has ever seen.


The movement lost a lot of its steam after the Normans died and aliens were a no-show in 2001, but the Unarians have left us a rich legacy of public access cinema. In honor of Interplanetary Confederation Day 2010, the folks at Everything is Terrible have dredged up some of the Unarians' greatest hits. Above is Uriel explaining the Unarians' groovy weltanschauung...

...the Unarians' history of mankind...

...the history of Uriel and her reincarnations...

...and footage of 1989's Interplanetary Confederation Day. You will learn about the intergalactic student exchange program! Here's the rest of Everything is Terrible's Unarian footage.