Editing Christ Brotherhood

{{short description|UFO religion group}}
{{infobox organization
|name=Christ Brotherhood
|formation={{start date and age|1956|12|16}}
|founder=Wallace C. Halsey
|founding_location=[[Orange, California]], U.S.
|type=[[UFO religion]] group
}}
'''Christ Brotherhood,''' Inc. was a [[UFO religion|UFO religious group]] founded on December 16, 1956, in [[Orange, California]], United States,<ref name="Des News Palmer Bunkers">{{cite news |last1=Palmer |first1=Douglas D |title=$90,000 Project: Work Started On Cache Bomb Shelter |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5uVNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=I0oDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5179%2C3550176 |access-date=May 28, 2022 |publisher=Deseret News |date=August 18, 1961 |pages=A-21, B-11}}</ref> by Wallace C. Halsey.<ref name="Amer. Alt Rel">{{cite book |editor1-last=Miller |editor1-first=Timothy |title=America's Alternative Religions |date=1995 |publisher=SUNY Press | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=og_u0Re1uwUC&dq=christ+brotherhood+wallace+halsey&pg=PA396 |page=396|isbn=9780791423974 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Christ Brotherhood, Inc. |url=https://hatch.kookscience.com/wiki/Christ_Brotherhood,_Inc. |access-date=May 28, 2022}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Newport New Age Mvmt">{{cite book |last1=Newport |first1=John P. |title=The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue |date=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rxss1cqHWYIC&dq=christ+brotherhood+wallace+halsey&pg=PA183 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |page=183|isbn=9780802844309 }}</ref> 

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.<ref name="Des News Palmer Bunkers" />

==Construction of Rocky Mountain complex==
Halsey led at least some members of the group to [[Cache Valley|Cache Valley, Utah]], where they began construction of a compound intended to include underground bomb shelters in the mountains east of [[Smithfield, Utah|Smithfield City]] in the summer of 1961.<ref name="Des News Palmer Bunkers" /><ref name="HHN von Dornum  Bunker article">{{cite news |last1=von Dornum |first1=Rae |title=Mining Work Starts On Bomb Shelter In Utah Mountains |access-date=May 28, 2022 |publisher=Henderson Home News |date=August 31, 1961 |url=http://hendersonlibraries.sobeklibrary.com/content/HL/00/00/10/37/00001/1133.pdf |location=Henderson, Nevada, US}}</ref> The location in Smithfield's Main Canyon was selected due to the identification of the [[Rocky Mountains]] as a place of safety<ref name="Des News Palmer Bunkers" /><ref name="Ensign Rocky Mountains">{{cite news |last1=Esplin |first1=Ronald K. |title=A "Place Prepared" in the Rockies |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1988/07/a-place-prepared-in-the-rockies?lang=eng |access-date=May 28, 2022 |agency=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |publisher=Ensign |date=July 1988}}</ref> by [[Joseph Smith]], the founding prophet of the [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] and other [[Latter Day Saint movement]] churches.<ref name="HHN von Dornum Bunker article" />  

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,"<ref name="HHN von Dornum Bunker article" /> with no charge for admission or special permission required for entry.<ref name="Des News Palmer Bunkers" /> Halsey also stated the Brotherhood bought heavy equipment and cleared roads to the site, which rested on 45-acres purchased from S. Ivan Nilson.<ref name="Cantwell 3 Canyons">{{Cite book |last=Cantwell |first=Lawrence S. |title=A Brief History of Three Canyons |year=1969 |page=113 }}</ref> 

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 weapon|nuclear blast]], as well as a robust filtration system to reduce exposure to [[Nuclear fallout|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 (hydrology)|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]].{{cn|date=October 2022}}

Also in 1961, two unnamed members of the Brotherhood selected a site for similar shelter complex at [[Aspen, Colorado]],<ref name="Des News Palmer Bunkers" /> which would be linked to the Utah site by radio equipment.<ref name="HHN von Dornum Bunker article" /> The Utah shelter was not completed, but the Brotherhood did construct several homes and a small church on the property.<ref name="Cantwell 3 Canyons" />

==Leader's disappearance and group's disintegration==
The brotherhood apparently lost cohesion<ref name="Cantwell 3 Canyons" /> following Halsey's disappearance as a passenger on a small aircraft flight from Utah to Nevada in March 1963.<ref name="Goldwag Cults, Conspiracies book">{{cite book |last1=Goldwag |first1=Arthur |title=Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies |date=2009 |publisher=Vintage Books | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=88ZvDwAAQBAJ&dq=christ+brotherhood+wallace+halsey&pg=PA151 |page=151|isbn=9780307390677 }}</ref> Despite an extensive air search and attempts by Halsey's UFO religion associates to solve the mystery using extraterrestrial assistance,<ref name="Knowledge from the Stars">{{Cite book |last=Bateman |first=Wes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DZ5HtcooRg0C&dq=The+incredible+search+for+Dr.+Halsey&pg=PA100 |title=Knowledge from the Stars |publisher=Light Technology Publishing |date= June 1, 1993 |pages=100–102|isbn=9780929385396 }}</ref> 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]].<ref name="LA Times Crash found">{{Cite news |last=O'Reilly |first=Richard |date=November 3, 1976 |title=Remains of Ex-Seal Beach Mayor Found at Crash Site |page=164 |work=The Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8879479/wallace-carey-halsey-found/ |access-date= July 22, 2022}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Goldwag Cults, Conspiracies book" />

== References ==
<references/>

[[Category:New religious movements established in the 1950s]]
[[Category:Religious organizations based in the United States]]
[[Category:Religious organizations established in 1956]]
[[Category:UFO-related phenomena]]
[[Category:UFO religions]]