James March

An exploration of Project Blue Beam, a conspiracy theory that has fascinated and unsettled audiences since the 1990s. Originating with Canadian journalist Serge Monast, the theory claims that governments and global institutions are preparing to stage a false flag event using advanced holographic technology to simulate an alien invasion or the second coming of Christ. According to its adherents, the objective is to destabilize existing religions, centralize power under a new world order, and control humanity through a technologically induced spiritual deception.

What makes Project Blue Beam compelling is not simply its content, but its cultural persistence and adaptability. The theory circulates through digital subcultures, YouTube videos, TikTok explainers, podcasts, and niche forums, where it is continuously reshaped to fit contemporary anxieties. When events such as the U.S. military’s release of UFO footage, the rise of satellite technologies like Starlink, or natural phenomena like aurora sightings occur, believers often weave them into the Blue Beam narrative. In this sense, the conspiracy functions less as a fixed claim and more as an interpretive framework that absorbs new information and reinterprets it as evidence of a larger, hidden agenda.

The research traces the theory across multiple dimensions. Historically, it situates Project Blue Beam within the lineage of Cold War paranoia and technological anxieties about satellites, lasers, and mind control experiments. Psychologically, it considers why individuals are drawn to the narrative: the combination of apocalyptic urgency, distrust of authority, and the human tendency to find patterns in chaos. Sociologically, it explores how communities of belief form around conspiracies and how digital media accelerates the spread of speculation while collapsing traditional boundaries between credible journalism, rumor, and entertainment.

A central theme is the blurred boundary between skepticism and faith. Project Blue Beam may appear fringe, yet its themes echo legitimate concerns: the manipulation of information, the power of spectacle, and the role of technology in reshaping spiritual and political life. In this sense, conspiracy theories like Blue Beam are not simply irrational detours but cultural artifacts that reflect deeper questions about trust, authority, and the unseen mechanisms of power.

The narrative is presented through a scrapbook-like structure, weaving together academic analysis, media fragments, archival images, and popular culture references. This deliberately layered approach mirrors the chaotic and associative way conspiracies circulate online. By refusing a single, linear argument, the project highlights the instability of knowledge itself, asking readers to confront how meaning is constructed, fragmented, and reassembled in the age of information overload. The work here acts as a demonstration of how myths adapt to new media environments, how suspicion becomes a cultural lens, and how the extraordinary is often invoked to explain the ordinary. In engaging critically with Blue Beam, the project invites reflection on the porous boundaries between fiction, speculation, and lived experience.

In collaboration with Alana Kailass.

Buy a copy