https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2018/05/mormons-aliens-and-hangar-18/

In 1971, Sunn Classic Pictures started to produce and distribute feature films and documentaries about UFOs (with an emphasis on Ancient Astronauts) and other paranormal/psychic phenomena. Titles included the aforementioned Ancient Astronaut-themed The Outer Space Connection (1975), The Amazing World of Psychic Phenomena (1976), The Bermuda Triangle (1979), based on Charles Berlitz’s non-fiction book linking UFOs to the disappearance of ships and aircraft; Beyond Death’s Door (1979), about life after death; and, in 1980, Hangar 18. Sunn Classic Pictures also had a strong focus on religious documentaries, with titles including: In Search of Noah’s Ark (1976), In Search of Historic Jesus (1979), and a TV series that ran from 1978 to 1979 called Greatest Heroes of the Bible.

Sunn Classic Pictures was established in Utah as a Mormon-run company with Raylan Jensen as its first President. Many of the studio’s writers, producers, and directors also were Mormons, including Robert Starling (writer of In Search of Historic Jesus, and who in later life would make an educational documentary about the Mormon Church), and Charles E. Sellier Jr., one of Sunn’s most successful writer/producers and also a co-founder of the studio with Raylan Jensen. As a producer, Sellier would make only family-friendly G-rated films “out of Mormon conviction.” His credits for Sunn notably included The Bermuda Triangle and Hangar 18. In 1997, Sellier wrote UFO, a non-fiction book examining the UFO enigma in the context of a government cover-up.

It makes sense that a Mormon-run film studio should exhibit an interest in UFOs. Mormon cosmology holds that the Earth is not unique, but just one of many inhabited planets, each created by Jesus for the purpose of bringing about immortality and eternal life. Mormon leaders have taught that the inhabitants of these planets are almost identical in appearance to humans – just as the alien beings in Hangar 18 are extremely human-like (a point dwelt upon in the film’s plot).

Also worthy of mention in this discussion is “Kolob,” a heavenly body described in Mormon scripture as a star, but which is generally regarded by Mormons as a planet. It is said to be the closest place in the universe to the throne of God. In the context of science-fiction, the popular Ancient Astronaut-flavoured TV series Battlestar Galactica (1978–1979 and 2004–2009) incorporates many Mormon cosmological beliefs into its overarching narrative. This is because the creator of the show, Glen Larson, was himself a Mormon. In the TV series, the planet Kobol (as opposed to Kolob) is the birth place of the human race where the “Lords of Kobol” are held sacred.