Benjamin E. Zeller

Benjamin Ethan Zeller is an American historian of religion and author who studies new religious movements. He is a professor and chair of religious studies at Lake Forest College. Zeller graduated with a BA degree in religious studies from the University of Rochester in 1999 and received an MTS degree from Harvard University in 2002. He earned a PhD in religious studies from the University of North Carolina in 2007.

Zeller has authored two books on new religious movements: Prophets and Protons and Heaven's Gate: America's UFO Religion. The latter was the first monograph on Heaven's Gate. He has edited or co-edited several other books, including the Handbook of UFO Religions. Zeller is most well known for his work on the UFO religion Heaven's Gate; he was the academic consultant to the 2018 Heaven's Gate podcast and appeared in the 2020 documentary series, Heaven's Gate: The Cult of Cults.