Xenu, also called Xemu, is a figure in the Church of Scientology's secret "Advanced Technology", a sacred and esoteric teaching. According to the "Technology", Xenu was the extraterrestrial ruler of a "Galactic Confederacy" who brought billions of his people to Earth in DC-8-like spacecraft 75 million years ago, stacked them around volcanoes, and killed them with hydrogen bombs. Official Scientology scriptures hold that the thetans of these aliens adhere to humans, causing spiritual harm.
A DC-8 aircraft in 2004. Hubbard described Xenu's spacecraft as looking exactly like DC-8s without "fans" (meaning the jet engines, or turbofans).
The volcano and fireball on the cover of Dianetics refers to the Xenu story.
Xenu as depicted by Panorama
Xenu as depicted in South Park
Space opera in Scientology
Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard explicitly compared his teachings to the science-fiction subgenre space opera. In his writings, wherein thetans were reincarnated periodically over quadrillions of years, retaining memories of prior lives, to which Hubbard attributed complex narratives about life throughout the universe. The most controversial of these myths is the story of Xenu, to whom Hubbard attributed responsibility for many of the world's problems.
L. Ron Hubbard in 1950, around when he developed Scientology
A Scientology e-meter, a device for displaying and/or recording the electrodermal activity (EDA) of a human being. The device is used frequently for auditing in Scientology.
Cover of Imagination August 1956 depicting a space opera story.
Mike Rinder, a former spokesman of the Church of Scientology, stated that extraterrestrial auditing is merely "a small percent" of Scientology's teachings.
