Nick Redfern - Contactees: A History of Alien-Human Interaction

Table of Contents

Dedication

For Greg, a fine friend and an inspiration.

And in memory of Mac Tonnies, a friend whose flame was extinguished all too soon.

I would like to offer my very sincere thanks to the following people, without whom the writing and publication of this book would never have been possible:

My literary agent, Lisa Hagan, whose dogged persistence ensured that the book saw the light of day; Michael Pye, Laurie Kelly-Pye, Kirsten Dalley, Kate Henches, Gina Talucci, and everyone at Career Press and New Page Books for their hard work and enthusiasm; Kate Warwick-Smith and all at Warwick Associates for promoting Contactees; Greg Bishop, who is truly one of todays most informed researchers of the Contactee mystery, and who was highly generous with his time and data; Mac Tonnies (who tragically died just before this book was published ) for the interview, and for delving into an area of the UFO subject that few have dared to investigate; Micah Hanks, for the illuminating data he provided on the mysterious Brown Mountain Lights, DMT, and much more; Adam Gorightly, whose views on, and knowledge of, the era of the Space-Brothers have always been very welcome and thought-provoking; Timothy Green Beckley, for taking the time out of his busy schedule to share with me his memories, ideas, and thoughts on the Contactees; Jim Moseley, long-time observer of the UFO scene, whose stories about his encounters with the early Contactees were a pleasure to hear; Regan Lee, for her generosity in sharing her research, and for continuing to fly the flag of Dana Howard; Rich Reynolds, a man with a lot to say about UFOs, and who isnt afraid to say it, for allowing me to make use of one of the strangest of all stories from his voluminous files; Matthew Williams, for being willing to speak to me about his views on the Crop Circle mystery; Chris Bader, for his enthusiasm, and for loaning me some invaluable material on the Contactees; Bob Short, for the interview and for continuing to keep the flame of the Space-Brothers alight; and Colin Bennett for his lengthy, enlightening, and illuminating views, opinions, and observations on Adamski, Williamson, and all the rest of that heady bunch known collectively as the Contactees.

The era of the flying saucer was ushered in on June 24, 1947, when a pilot named Kenneth Arnold had an extraordinary airborne encounter at the Cascade Mountains, Washington State, USA. It was around 3.00 p.m. and Arnold was engaged in looking for an airplane that had crashed on the southwest side of Mt. Rainier. I hadnt flown more than two or three minutes on my course when a bright flash reflected on my airplane, said Arnold. It startled me as I thought I was too close to some other aircraft. I looked every place in the sky and couldnt find where the reflection had come from until I looked to the left and the north of Mt. Rainier, where I observed a chain of nine peculiar looking aircraft flying from north to south at approximately 9,500 feet elevation and going, seemingly, in a definite direction of about 170 degrees (Palmer, 1952).

Arnold added that the mysterious crafts were closing in rapidly on Mt. Rainier, and that he was highly puzzled by their overall design: I thought it was very peculiar that I couldnt find their tails but assumed they were some type of jet plane. The more I observed these objects, the more upset I became, as I am accustomed and familiar with most all objects flying whether I am close to the ground or at higher altitudes. The chain of these saucer-like objects [was] at least five miles long. I felt confident that after I would land, there would be some explanation of what I saw [sic] (Ibid.).

No firm conclusion for Arnolds encounter ever did surface; however, as the skies of the United States became populated with more and more flying saucers during the heady summer of 1947, the United States military quickly realized that finding an answer to the mystery was an issue of paramount importance. As a result, investigations were put into place, and which became unified under the banner of an official operation named Project Sign. In 1948, Sign was replaced by Project Grudge, which, in turn, became Project Blue Bookthe latter being the Air Forces most famous and publicly visible UFO study program. It continued until 1969, when it was finally closed down.

Although the Air Force grudgingly admitted that of the 12,618 reports it had investigated between 1947 and 1969, no less than 701 seemingly defied definitive explanation, military officials were adamant that no evidence existed in support of the notion that alien beings were visiting the Earth. But perhaps the Air Forces apparent inability to resolve the matter was because the phenomenon did not behave in a fashion that its personnel might have anticipated or expected of them. There was never any War of the Worlds or Independence Day-style invasion of the planet; and human beings were not secretly replaced by alien look-a-likes, in some macabre, real-life version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. But, equally, there was no friendly, historic touch-down of an extra-terrestrial vehicle on the lawns of the White House, in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, or outside the doors of the Kremlin.

Indeed, there are reasons for believing that those whose role it was to protect the free world from hostile invaders were seemingly looking for the aliens in all the wrong places: While the military was dispatching its jets to chase flying saucers in the skies above, or scanning its radar screens for evidence of unknown objects violating sensitive airspace, it was at ground-level that remarkable things were reportedly afoot.

Since the late 1940s, countless people, all across the world, have claimed face-to-face contact with eerily human-like aliens from far-off planets. The aliens in question are usually seen dressed in tight-fitting, one-piece-outfits, while sporting heads of lush, long, and flowing blond hair. Not only that, our cosmic visitors assure those of us who they deem worthy of contact that they are deeply concerned by our warlike ways. They wish us to disarm our nuclear arsenals, live in peace and harmony with one another, and elevate ourselves to whole new spiritual levels. The aliens in question have become known as the Space-Brothers; those whose lives have been touched and forever changed by their encounters with such alleged extra-terrestrial entities are an elite body of people known as the Contactees.

If the testimony of the witnesses can be considered valid, then in the early years of contact the aliens took a decidedly alternative approach to their liaisons with the people of Earth, something that may explain why the military had such a hard time proving the reality of the UFO phenomenon. Allegedly preferring face-to-face encounters with everyday members of society, the Space-Brothers arranged their clandestine meetings at such out-of-the-way locations as blisteringly hot deserts, dense forests, stark mountain peaks, and even within isolated diners situated on long stretches of dusty, sand and wind-blasted highway. And California was a particularly favorite haunt and haven of the Space-Brothers, too.

Moreover, in many cases on record, the aliens did not even greet their elite, chosen ones in glistening, futuristic spacecraft. Rather, exhibiting surprisingly good taste and a high degree of flair and panache, in the formative years of contact they sometimes preferred far more conventional forms of travel, including cool-looking cars of the type that dominated 1950s America. This book tells the collective, curious, and cosmic story in all its appropriately weird wonder.