While the two men have expressly denied being religious or spiritual leaders—it's unclear why, and when contacted for comment they responded with legal letters—they do offer what sound a lot like religious and spiritual courses. Wilcock explains that salvation from certain doom is to be had through Ascension. According to Wilcock, those who are ready will have their consciousness live on in higher dimensional states with “the good ETs.” Through meditation, having “a little more than 50 percent of your thoughts and actions be in service to others,” and merely being open-minded, he says, a person’s consciousness can be spared from catastrophe the aliens are about to induce. He asks his followers to continue following him, consume his printed and digital content, and pay $533 for his seven-session “Ascension Mystery School.” (He, also, at times, asks for donations.)"We offer spiritual education courses, online and in person at conferences as well as share through written and video material to empower and uplift the soul."
“Their dedicated believers are absorbed into the collective ideology and will sometimes go to extreme efforts to prove their dedication,” James said. In June of 2019, he said, he received death threats via Twitter from a follower over a video he posted about Wilcock and Goode.Stina Ferrante is a YouTuber and a former follower of Wilcock and Goode. The loss of her mother and grandmother in a seven-month period left her searching. It led her to Wilcock and Goode.“They are effectively operating as a cult," James said, "and boast a dedicated cult-like following.”
A second legal letter sent on behalf of Wilcock and Goode stated that VICE and its journalists “are hereby ordered to cease and desist your efforts (under the pretense of your ‘investigation’) to harass, cyberstalk, and defame my clients David Wilcock, Corey Goode, and any of their associates. To be clear: Any publications made by you, VICE media, or any of your affiliates or proxies…defaming … Corey Goode, David Wilcock, or any of their associates based on these unsubstantiated allegations will be deemed defamation per se.” The letter further demanded that VICE not disclose its existence:"This is a very serious matter with potentially historical implications within the UFO community."
The strangest thing about the letter may have been its allegation that VICE Media was involved in a complex conspiracy to defame Wilcock and Goode. Named in the letter as co-conspirators were Jimmy Church, the host of a paranormal-themed late-night radio show, which I appeared on in April of 2019 to promote my book; a social-media promotion company, which I contracted to help with book promotion; and several Twitter users. The claim is ridiculous, but in line with their messaging.In a recent and quite odd 30-second YouTube video, for instance, a poorly-lit Corey Goode silently signs paperwork for his lawyer. The video’s description threatens that a massive lawsuit is in the works to sue nearly a dozen individuals and organizations, including popular UFO historian Richard Dolan, the organizers of the UFO-themed conferences Conscious Life Expo and Contact in the Desert, and the New Age video streaming service Gaia TV. Goode is now suing Gaia TV, as well as Zavodnick, and other individuals for alleged racketeering and defamation, according to Colorado court documents acquired by Motherboard. Zavodnick did not respond to requests for comment concerning the lawsuit and Gaia declined to comment on ongoing legal proceedings. Prior to publication, VICE reached out to Wilcock and Goode’s respective attorneys with a detailed inquiry about our reporting, asking them to comment. Wilcock and his attorney did not respond; Goode’s current lawyer, Texas-based Valerie Yanaros, stated that VICE had “factually mischaracterized” Goode and that neither she nor Goode were going to provide comment. VICE requested clarification on the supposed inaccuracies. Neither Goode nor his attorney responded.Further, any attempt by you, Vice Media, or anyone else (directly or indirectly) to use, publish, transmit, distribute, or disclose this letter or any of the contents herein for any purpose (other than seeking advice of a licensed attorney), including for the purpose of mocking, defaming, casting in a negative light, harassing, stalking, cyberstalking, cyber-harassing, or otherwise interfering with or causing emotional distress or other harm to David Wilcock, Elizabeth Wilcock, Corey Goode…and/or any of their business entities, family, friends, or business associates (in any form of medium or on any public platform, social media platforms, website, or otherwise) shall be used as evidence of your (and Vice’s) malicious intent to inflict injury upon and damage the aforesaid parties, their brands, and their business activities.
“The Truth” seems to be crowded by a lot of gurus, yet, it seems that Wilcock and Goode are the only ones to have taken the spiritual messenger route—a role in which there's an inherent danger.The use of social media to manipulate the public received significant attention after the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Public awareness of that incident, though, has done little to change the fact that many people and groups online are still engaged in efforts at what amounts to mind control. White supremacist groups and terrorist organizations use proven, effective tools and tactics to draw in and convert followers; so too do religious and spiritual groups.“We can pretty much predict how to press people's buttons, how to enter into their willingness to believe something,” said Steven Hassan, the cult expert. He identifies a specific danger in a movement based around a leader cannot be challenged ideologically by their followers because they are the messenger or prophet.“If there is a leader who is getting channelling from higher beings," Hassan said, "has all of these special powers and has claimed to be clairvoyant and all of the rest, that makes the leader much more concerning than most other groups that have a charismatic figure.“It taps into religious, spiritual beliefs that are difficult for a rational analysis. If the ideology is black and white, all or nothing, then indoctrination occurs, which is huge with destructive cults that claim only they have the keys to salvation.”Regardless of Wilcock and Goode’s claims that they are not spiritual leaders, what they have done speaks for itself. With over half a million combined followers online and their relationships with other fringe media personalities and conspiracy peddlers, their sphere of influence easily reaches into the millions. What they offer that audience is a wild Hollywood story about an intergalactic war; a connection between the most farcical sort of UFO conspiracy and the current political conspiracy culture regarding QAnon and the Deep State; and seemingly religious messaging about an apocalyptic future that directly plays to people’s fears and their desire to be a part of a community. Their willingness to send legal threats on the least provocation, and to frame the lightest criticism or scrutiny as persecution and a pretext to raise funds, do not suggest innocent aims.An apparent shift from being self-proclaimed “government whistleblowers” to men who start non-profit quasi-religious organizations, sell online spiritual self-help courses, and promote that they hold the keys to the Ascension amounts to more than a set of dizzying contradictions; it speaks to the needs of their audience. There are doubtless many among their followers in search of nothing more than entertainment; there are, though, certainly also people, including traumatized ones, in search of answers, who want to believe and find comfort, even in a curious set of psuedo-religious beliefs about evil reptile aliens, government conspiracy, and the end of the world. As COVID-19 makes millions feel about as close to that end as they could ever want to come, Wilcock and Goode deserve to be scrutinized for their use of fear to profit from this situation. So too, though, do the broader systems which give them the reach and influence they need to sell their alien gods, "cosmic secrets" and disinformation as solutions to people who are frightened—and justifiably so.In one video, Wilcock claims that 9/11 was a plot hatched by the “Luciferian” Deep State cabal.