Cult News

Brian O’Leary once was devoted to the exploration of Mars through the NASA Apollo program. But now he seems to be more interested in the “New Age” than the Space Age.

The former astronaut was a recent drop-in at an Indian guru’s ashram, where he went for insights about how “to bring about peace,” reports The Hindustan Times.

O’Leary apparently now likes to orbit Satya Sai Baba, a purported “cult leader” with a sordid history of sex abuse allegations, which at times involved the teenage children of his followers.

Baba is prominently mentioned in O’Leary’s book “The Second Coming of Science.”

But the guru appears more interested in teenage boys than either science or world peace.

While in India O’Leary also met with an advocate of “free energy technology.” This theory is based upon somehow extracting energy from outer space.

However, according to allegations about Baba, the guru has focused upon creating “kundalini” energy within inner space through sex acts. This is probably not the “energy” source O’Leary is searching for.

The former NASA scientist-astronaut has an impressive resume that includes a Ph.D., teaching at Cornell, Princeton, UC Berkely and acting as an advisor to presidential candidates.

But a closer look also reveals that he has been on somewhat strange personal trek that began in the 70s.

According to one interview O’Leary’s journey includes involvement in mass marathon training with a controversial group called Lifespring and a litany of fringe theories about crop circles, “morphic resonance” and UFOs.

The fatuous interviewer referred to O’Leary as a “modern day scientific prophet” who “has tapped into cosmic energy.”

OK. But it looks like this Ph.D. has moved from hard science to something considerably softer, what many might see as “pseudo-science.”

Brian O’Leary certainly has the right to believe and talk about whatever he wants, but it seems the scientist should do more careful research about the gurus he is apparently willing to promote through his work.

Note: Brian O’Leary later denied he recently visited Sai Baba.