As with all reviews on this website, our goal is not to provide a complete overview of the book; rather, it is to examine how the book relates to the meaning of life.
Visitors from Lanulos by Woodrow (Woody) Derenberger is a supposedly true story about a man who first met an alien named Indrid Cold while driving one night in the 1960s in or near the town of Point Pleasant (famous for the Mothman Prophecies).
Woody weaves a pretty fascinating tale of how he befriended Indrid and other aliens from the planet Lanulos (a planet located somewhere in the galaxy of Ganymede). In fact, Woody notes in his story that he actually got to travel to the planet. There he discovered that they were all nudists! So, he joins the fun. Furthermore, they believe in the equality of all people (despite race) and only worship one God. The people of Lanulos also have no concept of hate, as all people there are considered family (brothers and sisters) and could never image violence against another.
Woody's story, however absurd it may sound, really breaks down when he talks about exploring the planet Saturn, which, according to him, is largely an agricultural planet (which we know cannot be true of the gas giant). He also goes on to talk about visiting the planet Venus—which is lush with flowing water, rivers, etc. Again, something we know cannot be true due to the temperature of the surface being 464 °C (867 °F).
So, what does this book have to do with the meaning of life? Well, aliens, hallucination, fabrication, whatever you want to call Woody's story, the "aliens" make it clear to him that, They believe that man’s sole purpose on any world is to serve God and to help one another.
What religion are the people of Lanulos? Christian, of course. The same religion as Woody (what a coincidence). Given that Woody claimed to have visited both Saturn and Venus, and was so far off in the scientific details, we can pretty much completely discard the story. Some claim that it was really evil spirits, jinn, or even dementia inspiring him—but the bottom line is, it is pretty crazy. We're documenting it here as it does briefly touch upon the purpose of life. And to be fair, the message throughout the book of peace, love, and equality, aren't such bad ideas. Woody's life eventually turned out to be quite tragic—divorce, ridicule, possible alcoholism, and the like would be in his future.
Have you read the book? Comment below and let us know what you think.
PS: There are also apparently bridges and space vehicles parked in craters on the moon in case you want to go spelunking (or whatever the equivalent is for exploring craters). Google "Indrid Cold," he apparently was rather creepy looking ... even if that wasn't his intent. His daughter backs up Woody's story that Indrid was a real being in her follow-up book Beyond Lanulos: Our Fifty Years With Indrid Cold.
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