Is this all merely new age stuff?
New age stuff this is not!

The beings floating around in our skies have been here longer than we have. I dare say they've been here watching how the Earth evolves, as the Permian age and the Jurasic age, etc. etc., came and went. I might even be daring enough to imagine they were even studying the development of this solar system.

Whatever the length of time they've been here, it would be safe enough to say this is not `New Age stuff`! Only thing new about it, is our waking up to it.
Recent awareness of cults gives the false impression of how young our awareness is. These cults have been going on for a lot long than the Applewhite Cults and such like. Christianity is a bigger version of cult activity. The Buddah, the Jahovahs, the Jews, the Satanists -even the Hitler came a cult. Every religion is a cult in it's own way. They all worship the one entity, and take actions to maintain respect for their god(s). Some even sacarafice people, or things to earn respect from their god(s).
Ofcourse, the bigger religions will deny all of this, but they all do basically the same thing: Worship the one entity.
People see these so-called `New Age` cults, becuase they worship not one entity, but a whole universe. Where religion remains restricted to strict tradition, and waiting for a sign, the Applewhite cutls etc., want to evolve, move on, evolve, and indeed, move closer to their true spiritual being.
Another common factor which all religions and New Age cults share, is the belief that we are all spiritual beings.

It's actually a shame that Christians refuse to encourage and develop what God created. Thinks yourself as having created a son, or a daughter, or even both. You don't want them to hang around all the time, forever begging you to guide, forever worshiping you, and getting nowhere in life because you haven't told them to. You want them to move on, evolve, use the initiative you gave them. Let them do well in life through their own efforts. And thus, how proud you will be of your offspring. New Age cults are also a public symbol of people's readiness to evolve closer to the truth. It's the people who are afraid to move on which give them the bad names they have.

If New Age cults are non exceptable because they are out of the norm, then how exceptable is religion?

"Is it all worth it?"
"Do we really need to know?"
"What if I get myself in beyond my depth?"