By Steve Yarwood
1947 and Beyond, The Age Of The Saucer and Contactees
“I am your Prophet Of Light, Knowledge and Understanding. The universe can be seen through my eyes and my words.” – Harnet C Wiffle (1954)
I suppose you can say 1947 was the Big Bang for UFOlogy. Some people think it was the year UFO’s came of age. Personally I don’t believe it. What I do believe is that this is the point in history where the media took the subject on board and has run with it ever since. UFO’s will never come of age as they will always be a mystery. Not the ones we can eventually identify but that miniscule percentage that we can’t and have experts in many fields shake their heads and say “Buggered if I know.”
I suppose that’s why the subject is still around today. Theories and opinions never go out of fashion. Experts appear to argue if their point is more valid than someone else’s or even just to debunk the subject entirely. Whatever the case almost everyone will point the finger to the year 1947 and say “That’s the year Flying Saucers were born.”
Though not technically true for two very good reasons. One, the term saucer had been used before and two the saucer aspect was used as a description of movement and not of shape.
Possibly the original sighting that used the term saucer was way back in1878, almost 70 years predating the now legendary Kenneth Arnold sighting.
1878 USA, Texas: John Martin, a farmer, spotted a fast moving dark object high in the southern sky. When it passed overhead, he saw that it was the size of a ‘large saucer’. It continued on its way and was soon lost to view. In recounting the event, a local newspaper remarked, ‘Mr. Martin is a gentleman of undoubted veracity and this strange occurrence, if it was not a balloon, deserves the attention of our scientists’.
It is of course from the fateful interview after Kenneth Arnold had witnessed his UFO sighting that griped the media and brought a new piece of terminology into everyday use.
On 24th June 1947 Kenneth Arnold was the lone pilot of a CallAir A-2 on a business trip when he heard of a 5000 dollar reward for the discovery of a U.S. Marine Corps C-46 transport airplane that had crashed near Mt. Rainier, Washington. Just before 3.00 pm he noticed a flash of reflected light north of Mt Rainier. He noticed whatever it was was flying in a chain formation and initially thought of a flock of geese. He quickly changed his mind when he weighed up the height, speed and reflectivity and thought they may be experimental aircraft except he couldn’t make out a tail on any of the nine objects. Based on the observations by Arnold the objects were between 140 to 280 feet in size, moving at a speed of over 1700 mph. This was 3 times faster than any aircraft from 1947 was capable of achieving.
Arnold reported the sighting to the airport manager Al Baxter and before long most of the airfield staff knew the story. Arnold was interviewed by the press the following day.
Starting June 27, the newspapers began using the words “flying saucer” and “flying disk” to describe the objects that Arnold had reported. This is the likely reason that the Kenneth Arnold sighting is often credited with giving rise to these popular terms. The real origins of the words are somewhat controversial and complicated. A study in 1970 by Herbert Strentz, who reviewed all of the U.S. newspaper accounts of the Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting, concluded that the terms used were probably due to an editor or a headline writer: the body of the early Arnold newspaper stories did not use the term “flying saucer” or “flying disc.” Earlier stories did, however, in fact credit Mr Arnold with calling the objects “saucer”, “disk”, and “pie-pan” in describing their shape.
Many years later, Arnold claimed that he told reporter Bill Bequette that “they flew erratic, like a saucer if you skip it across the water.” Arnold felt that he had obviously been misquoted since the description he had given referred to the objects’ motion rather than their shape. Because of this Bequette has often been credited with the first use of “flying saucer” and supposedly misquoting Arnold, but the term doesn’t appear in Bequette’s early articles. His article of June 25 only says, “He said he sighted nine saucer-like aircraft flying in formation…”
And then the next day there is a much more detailed article, Bequette wrote, “He clung to his story of shiny, flat objects racing over the Cascade mountains with a peculiar weaving motion ‘like the tail of a Chinese kite.’ …He also described the objects as ‘saucer-like’ and their motion ‘like fish flipping in the sun.’ …[Arnold] described the objects as ‘flat like a pie-pan and somewhat bat-shaped’.” It wasn’t until June 28 that Bequette first used the term “flying disc” (but not “flying saucer”).
It was as though someone had opened the floodgates because in the weeks that followed Kenneth Arnold’s sightings there was at least several hundred reports of similar objects seen in the United States and all around the world. Nearly all described saucer-shaped objects. On July 4th a sighting by a United Airlines crew of another nine, disk-like objects over Idaho got more newspaper coverage than Kenneth Arnold’s original sighting. The media’s coverage just rolled on and on.
As if seeing things flying round in the skies above their heads wasn’t odd enough it didn’t take many years for people to step forward with not only stories of seeing these objects up close but claimed to have met the occupants of these craft and some even professed to have flown to other worlds in these objects.
Contactee stories had been around as early as the 1700’s but strangely enough it wasn’t until after Kenneth Arnolds sightings that the stories of contactees actually involved UFO’s or space craft. Originally the stories were just about being contacted by beings from other worlds and/or realms. So, just who are contactees?
Contactees are men and women who believe they have come into aliens and/or alien intelligences. The majority of contacts are held through telepathic means and occasionally forms of automatic writing. When the initial experience of the meeting is over with, the contactees are then in touch with their new found friends via telepathy over incredible distances.
The aliens that the contactees usually meet are usually humanoid but non human to Earth. Some of these alien races even made claims to their human contacts that many years ago they themselves inhabited the Earth. Usually they were Lemurians or Atlantians. Legendary stuff.
Almost all the Space Brother type contactee cases involve the relaying of messages regarding the promotion of love, peace, harmony, abandoning nuclear weapons and perhaps the strangest of all, to stop unbalancing the cosmos. No contactee, no eminent scientist has ever been able to explain just how a nuclear explosion here on Earth could possibly affect or threaten alien races on the other side of the universe. Answers on a post card please. The messages usually follow these type of lines.
⦁ To make humankind on Earth eligible to join some form of Galactic Federation.
⦁ To inform the people of Earth that they are at a transitional period of a New Age of reason, love, peace and understanding.
⦁ The Space Brothers are here to assist the people of Earth raise their spritual vibratory levels so they can enter new dimensions.
⦁ To let the people of Earth know they are not alone in the universe.
Some of the stories that the contactees eventually relate are worthy of a 1950’s bad ‘B’ movie script. Visits to alien worlds, wise aliens, scantily clad female aliens and let us not forget the Galactic Federations and other similar space clubs.
Claims that were put forward by the early contactees have over the years been mostly disproven. Most of the early claims were that the Space Brothers lived on planets within our solar system or had knowledge of other humanoid races living on planets within the solar system. Obviously when the United States and Russian space probes started to show the impossibility of this then the contactees started reporting visits from distant stars and others from unknown star systems.
A contactees life usually changes once they have their experience. Family members of the contactee usually report that the person in question is a changed person. Though by all means being the chosen one has a heavy toll on the contactee as they suffer for a few days after the first contact with restlessness, sleeplessness, odd dreams and even nightmares. In some cases contactees are told that they are apparently chosen because they are actually aliens themselves that were placed on Earth when they were infants. It’s not long after that initial contact that the contactee feels a need to go out into the world and share the messages that they have received with the general public. There are also ‘silent’ contactees. These are contactees who don’t feel that urge to go out amongst the world spreading the word. They prefer to just tell a small circle of people such as close friends and family, unlike people who believe they have been forcibly abducted by extraterrestrials the contactees have no fear regarding their experience and positively look forward to their next meeting.
George Adamski (1891 – 1965)
Probably the Godfather of Contactees was George Adamski. Adamski was born in Poland on April 17, 1891. When he was two years old his family emigrated to Dunkirk, New York. In 1913 George Adamski served with the 13th Cavalry on the Mexican border and in 1919 received an honorable discharge from the army. It was after leaving the army he finally settled in Laguna Beach, California.
In 1936 Adamski founded the Royal Order of Tibet, through which he offered a course in self-mastery. Although he had no scientific training, he was often referred to as “Professor” by his Royal Order of Tibet mystical philosophy students. Adamski worked at Mount Palomar observatory. Well sort of. He actually served hamburgers at the tourist canteen. Nevertheless these little obstacles didn’t stop George Adamski from becoming the most famous and most sought after person in the contactee circles. Although his first book was published in 1953 he claimed to have started having sightings since 1946.
A shortened story goes something like this. On November 20th 1952 Adamski met Orthon out in the Colorado Desert in California. Orthon spoke to Adamski via a mixture of telepathy and sign language. By using this method of communication Orthon told Adamski he was a Venusian space brother. Like something from the 1951 movie The Day The Earth Stood Still Orthon had come in peace to warn humanity of the dangers of the nuclear tests that were being carried out at the time.
Orthon was an entity that over the years has become known as a Nordic type. Smooth, light coloured skin, shoulder length blonde hair and about five feet six inches in height. They are often seen wearing something akin to a jumpsuit. All the messages that Adamski received were done through telepathy. For the full recount of his story Adamski’s book “Flying Saucers have landed” (1953) co authored with Desmond Leslie is a worthwhile read.
In his book “Inside The Space Ships” (1955) he described eventually being taken up in one of the Venusian’s scout ships. Then he was able to speak, verbally, not just telepathically, to a Martian called Firkon and someone from Saturn called Ramu. (You couldn’t make this stuff up…could you?).
“Inside The Space Ships” is considered by a few people to be a rewrite of a science-fiction book entitled “Pioneers of Space” which Adamski wrote way back in 1949 and ghost written by Lucy McGinnis . His often published photo of a flying saucer from 1952 has been identified as the top of an Italian made ice-machine.
In a strange twist Pev Marley, legendary Cecil B. de Mille’s top trick photographer, declared that if Adamski’s pictures were fakes they were the best he had ever seen. He further stated that to make such photos as Adamski had produced would require about $50,000 worth of special equipment in a laboratory. Also here in England fourteen experts from the J. Arthur Rank Company concluded that the object photographed was either real, or a full-scale model.
Adamski became a bit of a worldwide celebrity. He was in great demand by radio, television, newspapers and magazines. So much so that he allegedly had audiences with Pope John XXII and Queen Juliana of the Netherlands.
As with most of Adamski’s claims, photo’s and alleged meeting with aliens and famous people you have to trawl through an awful lot of claims and counter claims. This article is presenting the popular views and, as is stated throughout these articles, actively wants you to go out, research and make your own mind up.
Adamski died on April 12th 1965 and it seemed that his followers had a need to instantly resurrect him. Another contactee named Ernest Bryant allegedly met three spacemen on 24 April 1965, 12 days after Adamski’s death. Apparantly one of these spacemen called himself Yamski also telling Bryant that Adamski’s reincarnated spirit was now residing in Yamski’s body. For more information on that story get hold of a copy of “The Scoriton Mystery” (1967) by Eileen Buckle
DANIEL FRY (1908 – 1992)
Out of all the contactees Daniel Fry was quite probably the most technically orientated of them all. His 1966 book “The White Sands Incident” has a description of Fry on the back cover. It says “…an internationally known scientist, researcher and electronics engineer who is recognised by many as the best informed scientist in the world on the subject of space and space travel.”
One of Fry’s claims was that he held a Ph.D from St Andrews College of London. Phillip Klass in his 1974 book “UFO’s Explained” claimed that Fry’s doctorate degree was issued by a small religious organisation who awarded doctorates to whomever submitted a ten thousand word thesis AND paid a fee. I suppose the fact that it was a degree in Cosmism didn’t really give it much credibility.
Though his PhD may be of doubtful origin there is no doubt that at the time of his encounter he worked at the Aerojet Corporation at White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico. His job was to oversee “the installation of instruments for missile control and guidance.”
Between 1950 and 1954 Fry had 4 contacts with the “Space People”. His first contact was on July the 4th in 1950 (though later Fry changed this date to 1949). Fry was supposed to have gone to a July 4 celebratory firework display but unfortunately he missed the bus. He decided that seeing he was going to miss the fireworks he’d go back to his room and do some reading. He wasn’t in there for long as his air conditioner had broken. It was probably the broken air conditioner that prompted him to go for a walk in the desert to take in the cool night air.
Whilst walking in the desert Fry noticed a star that was behaving unusually. This star turned out to be a thirty feet in diameter flying saucer that landed seventy feet away from him. As he approached the craft to investigate it he heard a voice from thin air say “Better not touch the hull pal. It’s still hot.” Shocked, Fry fell over. He heard a chuckle and then the voice spoke again “Take it easy pal. You are among friends.”
After a brief chat with the seemingly disembodied voice Fry claimed he was actually talking to an spaceman called Alan (pronounce A Lawn). Alan was in a mother ship 900 miles above the Earth and was remotely piloting the craft that Fry could see in front of him. Alan invited Fry aboard the craft and after explaining some of the technical workings of the spacecraft took Fry on a trip to New York and back. A trip of approximately 2100 miles that according to Fry he undertook in around thirty minutes. That would mean attaining speeds of roughly eight thousand miles an hour.
The “Space People” told Fry that they were direct descendants of one of Earth long lost civilisations, the Lemurians. This ancient civilisation destroyed themselves thirty thousand years ago in a war with Atlantis. The Lemurians had achieved space travel and so before the war entirely decimated it’s people a handful of survivors launched into space in four spaceships. They set a course for Mars. One of the spacecraft was lost in flight to Mars whilst the other three completed their journey to eventually land and begin to rebuild their civilisation. They no longer need Mars as they now roam the stars in self sufficient space craft moving whenever and wherever they want.
In 1955 Fry established Understanding Incorporated. Described in a 1959 pamphlet as “From a start of nine members at El Monte, California in 1955, Understanding Inc., has grown into an international organization of more than sixty units and many members-at-large throughout the world. These units and members have sponsored hundreds of lectures and meetings, circulated thousands of books and magazines to reach many people in the spirit of ‘bringing about a greater degree of understanding among all the peoples of the earth and preparing them for their eventual inevitable meetings with other races in space.
Fry had been told he was their chosen liaison between the Galactic Confederation and Earth and for spreading the teachings of A-Lan. As in most contactee cases the “Space People” had a message for us. Live in peace or destroy ourselves with nuclear weapons like Lemuria and Atlantis. A-Lan wanted Fry to spread the message to the world for mankind to become more spitiual towards each other and towards the “Infinite Intelligence” that both permeates and controls the universe.
Up until his death in 1992 Daniel Fry was still an active lecturer on the UFO circuits.
George Van Tassel (1910 – 1978)
Born in Jefferson, Ohio Van Tassel dropped out of High School in the 10th grade. He took a job at Cleveland airport where he also gained his pilots licence. When he was 20 he headed for California where he took a job at a garage owned by one of his uncles. Whilst working at the garage he met Frank Critzer. Critzer was a prospector and he also lived in underground rooms that he had excavated underneath Great Rock, a boulder that was declared to have been the largest boulder in the world. Critzer was suspected of being a German spy and during 1942 the police raided his underground abode. At some point during the siege a tear gas grenade was thrown into the rooms which ignited a stash of dynamite that Critzer had stored there that he used for mining. Suffice to say there wasn’t a lot of Critzer left to question. When Van Tassel heard of what had happened and the death of Critzer he applied for the lease of the abandoned airport and the rooms under Great Rock.
Between the years 1930 and 1947 Van Tassel worked at various times as a flight engineer and flight mechanic for Lockheed, Douglas and Howard Hughes’ aircraft company. At Hughes he was the Top Flight inspector. In 1947 Van Tassel felt it was time to leave the aerospace industry and took his family to live beneath Great Rock.
Van Tassel and his family moved into the underground dwellings and set to work building them into a proper home. He also received a government grant to enable him to develop the airstrip. He was also able to develop a cafe and a tourist “dude” ranch.
In 1951 Van Tassel was meditating at the side of Great Rock where he had an out of the body experience. He believed that he had been astrally transferred to a spaceship of immense proportions that was orbiting the Earth. Within this spaceship he made contact with a group of discarnate alien beings who call themselves ‘The Council Of Seven Lights’.
As if that “revelation” wasn’t enough, the following year, 1952, Van Tassel claimed that a spaceship from Venus and it’s humanoid looking occupants landed next to Giant Rock. He entered the craft and met an alien called ‘Solgonda’. Van Tassel was instructed to build a structure that was to be known as the Integratron. Now, before going any further into the Integratron let’s talk some more about Van Tassels contact experience. Apparently ‘The Council of Seven Lights’ rule the universe. They divided the cosmos into seven sectors and systems. Our solar system moves on ‘Blaau’, the fourth sector of ‘Bela’. In Blaau are several space stations, one of which is ‘Schare’, The commandant of Schare is a space brother named Ashtar. Ashtar was one of the humanoids that Van Tassel met.
Again, as in other contactee cases, the Space Brothers delivered the human race a message. A warning of the dangers of nuclear fission and that we should listen to the ‘Space Intelligence’ so that humanity can save itself.
It was Ashtar and his home boys that supplied Van Tassel with the necessary instructions to build the Integratron. It was a huge dome shaped building. Four stories high and made up of sixteen sides made up of concrete and wood. The device was supposed to rejuvenate human cells and prevent aging. This was allegedly done by using some of Tesla’s theories and focusing the energy from the dry desert atmosphere around Giant Rock.
In 1953 word spread of Van Tassels contacts with Ashtar and the Space Brothers. Giant Rock became a meeting point for everyone interested in contact and the contactees. It was in this year that the first Space Convention was held at Giant Rock. These conventions ran yearly up until Van Tassels death in 1978. At it’s height (1959) there was a massive attendance of some ten thousand people.
As is often the case with most of the contactee cases of the fifties it wasn’t long before Van Tassel formed his own organisations. Not one but two organisations. The Ministry of Universal Wisdom and The College of Universal Wisdom. To learn more on the cosmic wisdom Van Tassle received from Solgonda and the Space Brothers it would be ideal to read through Van Tassels book ‘ I rode a flying saucer’ , be warned though it is quite rare. Other books by Van Tassel are ‘The Council Of Seven Lights’ (1958), ‘Into this world and out again. Religion and science merged’ and ‘ When stars look down’.
So what is happening in these contactee cases? To be honest I have no idea and these are just a few of many.. The majority are nothing more than deliberate hoaxes but what of the rest. There are those silent contactees who want no money, no publicity and rarely tell anybody outside their immediate circle of friends and family and wish to gain absolutely nothing. It is of course possible that these people are suffering from some form of fantasy prone / Walter Mitty personality or are just deluded. There is of course a possibility, and some people take this as a serious possibility, that they could be the victim of some form of psychological warfare experiments on behalf of the Governments and associated military. There may even be the remotest of chances that some small percentage of contactee cases may be absolutely legitimate and they have met intelligent other worldly space brothers. Then we have to ask other questions, mainly, to what end are these meetings exactly for. They are so enigmatic and puzzling that even the thought of it will keep us busy wondering for a long, long time.
