"'The Nephilim were on the earth in those days - and also afterward': Genesis 6 and Evangelical Conspiracism

Genesis 6:1–4 recounts the sexual union between divine beings and human women and the birth of their hybrid offspring, the Nephilim. Biblical scholarship has long recognized that this tradition likely reflects a late redactional adaptation of older Mediterranean mythological motifs. Despite its seemingly marginal place in the Hebrew Bible, Gen 6:1–4 occupies a central role in the writings of modern “Nephilim researchers” and Christian conspiracy theorists. According to I. D. E. Thomas, the passage “could prove to be the missing clue in solving the UFO mystery” (2008, 23). This paper examines the Nephilim tradition within this interpretive framework. First, it analyzes Thomas’s The Omega Conspiracy (1986), a foundational text for this interpretive community, in order to outline the epistemology and hermeneutics that structure this conspiracy discourse. It then considers how such readings of Gen 6:1–4 circulate in contemporary online “Nephilim researcher” media and generate broader political and cultural implications.