The Real Contactees

In George Van Tassel magazine Proceedings, Feb-March 1961 there is an interesting statement regarding real and fake UFO contactees: ”… the authentic, publicly known ”contactees” can be counted on one hand.” (Flying Saucer Activity Analysis, Proceedings vol 7, no 1, p. 14). In other articles Van Tassel explained how he was able to determine who is who in the controversial world of contact claims. To know who was a genuine contactee or fake Van Tassel was given a secret code by his visitors. Like a covert agent he used this code several times in his meetings with various people in the UFO movement. In 1961 there were obviously only five public contactees who had stood the test.

George Van Tassel at Giant Rock

Using this secret code was one of the reasons he could say that Howard Menger was genuine. Van Tassel personally investigated the Menger contact claims and interviewed several of the witnesses. His defence of the Menger story was presented in Proceedings, Feb-March 1957, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 4-6: "In my contact with the four men who landed here on August 24th of 1953, they gave me information which they told me to use as a "key" to establish authentic, or phoney, contactees in the future. Howard Menger used the words of this "key" properly and correctly." That code words were used was also revealed by Howard Menger´s wife in her book Song of Saturn (1968): Connie Menger mention a meeting Howard had with one of the visitors at the local post office: "He smilingly spoke the code word to Alyn (Howard) which Alyn recognized immediately as one of the means of identification between friends and agents of the visitors from other planets." (p. 109).

To my knowledge George Van Tassel never revealed the names of the other four authentic public contactees. My guess would be Orfeo Angelucci, George Adamski, Daniel Fry and of course Van Tassel himself. Using secret code words and hand shakes is not a foolproof method in checking identities. Both the public and hidden or silent contactees were sometimes seemingly deceived by impostors, whether U.S. intelligence operatives or Russian spies, as documented by Nick Redfern in his latest book Flying Saucers From The Kremlin. George Van Tassel also mention this in his article Flying Saucer Activity Analysis: ”… hypnotists and other agents are employed by the ”hush-hush” group to create dissension in many of the organized saucer clubs and groups.”

Readers of my blog are aware of that I have advanced the theory that several individuals in the 1950s were involved in a psychological and cultural influence test. An experiment implemented by a group of benevolent aliens, earth based or extraterrestrial, a group with access to “vimana” technology.  Some of the people contacted tried their best to implement the projects and ideas received by the visitors. Others couldn´t stand the psychological strain and social stigma of the experiences or invented fake stories when the real contacts ended.

That this ”esoteric intervention” was a carefully orchestrated project by the alien group is revealed in the article Venusians Walk Our Streets by California journalist och esotericist Paul M. Vest (Mystic Magazine, no. 5, Aug. 1954). In my view this is one of the most interesting and informative articles ever written on the UFO contactee phenomenon. Vest´s experiences and articles in Fate and Mystic Magazine has been decisive in my formulation of an alternative Esoteric Intervention Theory.

Paul M. Vest

In the Summer of 1953 Paul Vest was contacted at his home in Santa Monica by the alien visitor ”Bill” who asked Paul to help his group publicize the experiences of Orfeo Angelucci. This was part of a experiment in contacting ordinary citizens in various ways by physical meetings, ham radio, clairvoyance and clairaudience. Paul Vest was exceptionally well equipped to handle this delicate project as an investigator of paranormal phenomena as well as an experienced esotericist with a profound knowledge of the Esoteric Tradition: "I have met swamis, yogis, mediums, clairvoyants, mystics and self styled messiahs by the score, but I have never been duped by any one of them, even those who were sincere but self-deceived. Also I have met several persons whom I know without any doubt to be true spiritual adepts; even as I have known several sensitives, or mediums, who are honest, sincere and able to produce authentic paranormal phenomena." Bill makes it clear that the choice of Paul Vest was not random but that his group were well aware of Vest´s deep interest and unusual experiences in the field of ”metaphysics, religions and the supra-normal.”

The alien group behind Bill had obviously done a lot of preparation before contacting Paul Vest. He is given a list of names, addresses and telephone numbers of people in the Southern California area who had been contacted by space visitors or would be useful because of their special knowledge. Later Vest spent several months contacting the people on the list given by Bill to get a verification of his claims: "Several of these had met him only briefly. Others didn´t even know who he was and were startled to learn of the data he had given me about them in connection with the saucers.”

Orfeo Angeluccis wife Mabel was seemingly not amused by the visit from Bill: "Oh, that man gave me the creeps. He rang the doorbell one day and introduced himself with an odd name I can´t remember. He seemed to know everything about us. It frightened me - there was something so strange and downright weird about him." Paul Vest decided to help Bill and his group with their contact project and wrote three articles for Mystic Magazine on the experiences of Orfeo Angelucci, published in November 1953, May 1954 and October 1954. After the publication of Vest´s articles Bill visited him again and explained that he and his group were pleased with the result and reaction that followed the articles, ”but it would require considerable time and efforts, understanding and experiences of many persons before earthlings would be able to attain even the haziest understanding of the true nature of extra-terrestrials and the saucers.”

Orfeo and Mabel Angelucci

The contacts that were made in the 1950s were not only a test of the public reaction to contact with alien visitors but also a somewhat novel way to present the Ancient Wisdom. Upon a careful rereading of he classic books of George Adamski, Orfeo Angelucci, George Van Tassel, Daniel Fry and Howard Menger I discovered that the world view and philosophy of the alien visitors given in these boks was actually a simplified version of esoterism or in the terms used by Adamski and others, cosmic philosophy and universal laws. This discovery, that present day alien visitors were involved in what is called The Externalisation of the Hierarchy and the ongoing ”disclosure” of The Ancient Wisdom, became another heureka moment in my formulation of the Esoteric Intervention Theory, involving some of the 1950s contactees.

I found a possible confirmation of this operation in a statement made by the Tibetan to Alice Bailey: ”The movement for the spreading of the Secet Doctrine is eighteen million years old… The work (impusive and  controlling) lies now in the hands of three groups of lives, if it may be so expressed:
a. In the hands of those of our Earth Humanity who have equipped themselves so as to serve.
b. In the hands of certain Existences who have come into our earth scheme of evolution from other planetary schemes.
c. In the hands of a large number of devas of superhuman evolution.
These in their aggregate, form the occult Hierarchy of the planet, working in three main divisions, and in seven groups.” (Alice Bailey, A Treatise On White Magic, p. 377).

Trying to make the inhabitants of this unhappy little planet understand the deeper aspects of existence and live in a spirit of goodwill and tolerance must be regarded as mission impossible and also dangerous. The visitor Bill emphasized the need for secrecy and mystery surrounding the visitors, the contacts and their work. The experiment with public contacts made in the 1950s was only partially successful and was terminated around 1960. Bill was no naive mystic and had a very realistic view of human nature och the cultural level of humanisty on earth: "Upon your earth the mere colour of one´s skin - a slight difference of religious belief - merely belonging to a different race or country - in fact the most trivial deviations precipitate animalistic belligerencies, hideous brutalities and the bloody slaughter of millions of your fellow creatures. Can you then truly be surprised when I tell you the the beings of certain other worlds view earth as earthlings might look upon a den of deadly serpents stinging each other to death."

There is still very much research to be done to fully understand the implications of the UFO contacts made in the 1950s. It is an exciting and fascinating study and much data is still buried in various archives, correspondence and personal memoirs. The group of alien visitors that initiated the contact experiment are probably still around, working behind the scenes for the good, the true and the beautiful on this planet. Making a summary of the earlier work together with their friends upstairs Howard and Connie Menger wrote: "... they were intelligent, advanced people who had a technology to be envied and a philosophy that was inspiring." (The High Bridge Incident. The Story Behind the Story, 1991 p. 108.