Refuse profane and old wives’ fables: A review of Ruckman’s UFO book “Black is Beautiful”

In 1995 Ruckman published a very strange book by the title Black is Beautiful. In it, Ruckman accepts as fact much of what belongs to the realm of science fiction. It demonstrates that Ruckman is fascinated with the bizarre in everything, not just theology. Ruckman is quick to accuse others of being gullible when they disagree with him in areas of theology, but in this book, Ruckman comes across as being quite gullible himself by putting too much stock in conspiracy and UFO literature.

As is common in his literature, Ruckman blasts the media in this book. We agree that one should maintain a certain level of skepticism towards the news media, but by the same token, an even greater skepticism should be maintained in regards to conspiracy and UFO literature. In this book he is ironically very trusting of newspaper reports for his UFO stories and conspiracies, bringing up The Denver Post (p. 244), The San Francisco Herald (p. 69), The Sun Newspaper (p. 79), and an unnamed source he admits was a tabloid on p. 47. In spite of this, on several occasions he considers omissions of UFO sightings in the national media as a sign of credibility of various events.

Ruckman tries to spiritualize his views on UFOs by appealing to such Scripture passages as “In the last days perilous times shall come.” (p. vii) On this same page he attaches a long list of Bible references after bringing up the following fascinations of UFO buffs:

To arrive at our destination we will have to pass through The Bermuda Triangle, the Pentagon, the Vatican, the caverns in Tibet, the NASA, the underground facilities at Groom Lake and “Area 51,” and view UFOs, flying saucers, and “aliens” from outer space.
All of this will be related to Daniel, chapter 11; Revelation, chapters 13 and 17; Isaiah 24:21-22; Ephesians 6;10-12; Revelation 9:1-11; Isaiah 34:9-14; Job, chapter 26; and Genesis, chapter 3. (p. vii)

We caution readers not to be overly trusting of the U.S. government, but in Ruckman's world, the government is involved in the most demonic, hellish activities imaginable, as if they were operating hell itself at this very moment. Observe:

He said that part of that $2,000,000,000 that you graciously handed over to the CIA was used in constructing stainless steel walls and elevators in a huge James Bond type “hospital,” where “small GRAY bodies of aliens are wheeled up and down the tunnels on GURNEYS.” (p. 253)

The above outrageous allegation comes from only one source (a dubious one at that), with no independent corroboration mentioned. That alone should cause such an outlandish story to be discarded immediately with no further consideration given to it whatsoever. But in Ruckman’s mind, it seems that the stranger something is, the more credible it is. Here is more along these lines from a source that can be traced back to a discredited writer:

According to the three “Matrixes” published by Valdamar Valerian (which number more than 1000 pages), Southwest and West U.S.A. has the following items DOWNSTAIRS (not upstairs. See pp. 164-165).
Vat-piping arrangements. DECAPITATED HEADS IN JARS. Coded elevator controls. Conveyer systems and control stations. ALIEN BREEDING FACILITIES. “Amniotic Sacs” containing “alien fetuses.” Creatures floating in amber colored water. Liquid processing vats and cameras. Mutations involving chromosome changes. Blue-gray babies, the size of your PALM. Glass tubes five feet tall. Fluid processing “bladders” and “breeding tubes.” Vibrated water vats with “large pieces of pale meat” submerged in them. Cybernetic techniques. MK_ULTRA “Delta” techniques being used. Interactions between humans and non-human entities. And HYBRID RACES operating “outside of our time track.” (pp. 253-254)

The following heinous accounts are similar to the above, with the government and the media being blamed for a cover-up:

These witnesses talk about underground, stainless steel tunnels, and coded elevator systems, operated by people you support with your tax dollars. This “hollow earth” stuff is dealing with highly technical terms used by geneticists and chemists when handling DNA, RNA, and “cross breeding.” This material is accompanied by college-educated “space engineers” and “Aerial Space Center” authorities. Here are underground labs filled with living and dead bodies of humans and “aliens,” with bodies of “Grays” being wheeled around on gurneys, and vats of human flesh (or cattle flesh) standing by for animal-mutant experiments. And overall, is a military clique that will LIE LIKE A DOG every time these matters are brought up (or any matters relating to them), such as “spotting UFOs.” And, by some wild coincidence, a federal government (engaged in setting up a Police State) is backing this military clique, while all the news media sources COVER-UP FOR BOTH GROUPS. There is a news “BLACKOUT.” (p. 313)

This time our “foreign policy” is that the Feds will give “aliens” anything they want, or ask for, in exchange for their “advanced,” scientific technology in regards to anti-gravity devices, light-bending machinery, UFOs, and “the creating of test tube life.”
What were the terms, or demands, that the “aliens” set forth in this beautiful, college-educated, progressive, peace-making New Age Deal?
1. Access to kidnap children so their organs could be used as FOOD (see Lam. 2:20, 4:10; 2 Kings 6:29; Isa. 6:13; and Deut. 28:52-57). …
3. Permission to kidnap (a “Federal” offense!) adults, “scan” them, take “specimens” of sperm and blood from them (felony), examine their reproductive organs (felony), implant them with “loss of memory” devices, and then return them to their original locations. (pp. 294-295)

Not everything relating to paranormal activities is attributed to the government in the book. Ruckman claims that the occupants of UFO’s are animal mutants produced by superior intelligences (p. 343). Ruckman believes that something went wrong with the animals before the flood, and this is supposed to explain why God wiped out the animals as well as humans in the Genesis flood (p. 214). This is explained in more detail in other literature by Ruckman:

… [The KJV] shows the apostate Fundamentalist where the UFO occupants come from. They are not humanoids. They are degenerate forms; they are mongrel forms of mutations. This explains why God drowned the animals in the Flood, and why Solomon was told not to get horses out of Egypt, and why David hamhocked or handstringed the horses he captured from the Assyrians. (Ruckman, Peter. Theological Studies, Booklet 18, 1989, p. 16)

To spare the reader time in reading more science fiction that Ruckman presents as fact, we have strung together various statements of monstrous allegations from throughout the book as follows:

Some humans are kidnapped and are used completely (even atoms). Some are kept in large tubes, and kept ALIVE in an amber liquid… (p. 228) “humanoids” along with autopsies and recorded communications where live aliens are discussing their intentions in occupying the southwest United States. (p. 225) …Someone from outer space has certainly been here, and when they came here they messed around with the genes and chromosomes in animals and men. (p. 219) … Went back through what they called a “time warp”… (p. 158) ……This “rain” was composed of strips of flesh cut into strips about 1/8 of an inch thick… (p. 67) Witness to underground labs, showing alien breeding facilities… (p. 331).

Ruckman presents these unthinkable matters as if he mostly believes them, since there is only an occasional “if that material is true” (p. 299) or “whether the reports are true or false” (p. 254). On one page alone (p. 110) Ruckman accused people no less than nine times of lying to cover up various supposed UFO sightings or activities. This shows how serious Ruckman is about believing these UFO stories. As Ruckman sums up his book, he makes the following provocative statement demonstrating his confidence in what he presented:

If a 20th century, college educated American does not believe in UFO’s (and UFO occupants) he is MENTALLY SICK. (see p. 117). He should see a shrink. (p. 340)

That Ruckman would believe in these wild stories from dubious sources enough to give them serious consideration in his book is something to keep in mind when evaluating Ruckman’s mentality. Ruckman's writings should not be trusted, especially in an area as eternally important as theology. Ruckman is so obsessed with conspiracies, that this conspiracy mentality is brought over into the Bible version realm in his writings as well. As a result, he magnifies the issue to the irrational extreme to the point that Satanic motives are ascribed to virtually all textual variations regardless of the possible cause. John Burgon presented a much more balanced and scholarly approach in his book Causes of Corruption.

We do not have much confidence in the mainstream media, but in the area of supposed sightings of aliens and flying saucers, the media shows more discernment than Ruckman in their tendency to ignore much of it.

In conclusion, we believe that the following verse applies to the foolishness promoted in Ruckman’s book Black is Beautiful: 1 Tim. 4:7 But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

The book reviewed is Black is Beautiful by Peter Ruckman, published by Bible Baptist Bookstore (Pensacola, FL) in 1995.

     Illustration from the book