What Stopped the First UFO Convention?

There was no Ufology as we know it in 1949. There were not yet any UFO non-fiction books, newsletters, clubs or organizations, and therefore, no saucer celebrities. Yet it was a pivotal year in UFO history, transforming flying saucers from a novelty newspaper topic into a legitimate scientific mystery. The flying saucer fever that began with Kenneth Arnold in 1947 nearly died out several times in the following two years, but sightings or manufactured publicity kept stoking the flames. On April 27, 1949, the second-biggest saucer story to hit newspaper headlines was generated by a press release. The U.S. military’s Office of Public Information published a 22-page statement from the Air Force, “a digest of preliminary studies made… on ‘Flying Saucers.’" It emphasized that while the majority of sightings reported were caused by misidentifying planes, stars, birds, balloons, etc., not all reports could be explained, “there are still question marks in the ‘Saucer Story.’" The press seized on it and quoted out of context that, “The ‘saucers’ are not a joke.”

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 27, 1949

That sets the stage for what happened a few months later in Alexandria, Louisiana

 

The Flying Saucer City

Alexandria sits in the center of the state of Louisiana, and in 1949, the city had a growing population of about 34,000. On July 5, two witnesses reported a flying saucer sighting, the city’s first of many.  

Mrs. Edward Wolf and her sister, Mrs. V. Dardeau, were sitting outside July 5 at 9:30 p.m. when they saw an object fly by, lower and somewhat slower than a plane would go. Mrs. Wolf told the Air Force investigator that she spotted a disc-like object the size of auto tire, gray with luminous amber center. She observed it for about 30 seconds as it flew or drifted like a balloon, then it was lost from sight by trees. 

The Town Talk, July 6, 1949

The second sighting was reported in The Town Talk, July 8, 1949.

Saucer Takes Peek at City

Five persons today reported another mysterious flying saucer took a peep at Alexandria at 9 o’clock last night. Mrs. G. S. Hart, who made the discovery, said she had no idea how big it was. She said she and four others watched it almost five minutes.

“At first, I thought it was a falling star,” she said. “It was all lit up. Then it stopped or changed course and drifted toward the east, then it moved toward the west and changed its course once more and disappeared in the east.”

Mrs. Hart, who lives at 1414 Military highway, Pineville, was visiting Mrs, S. E. Pool 1823 Warshauer street. They were sitting on the lawn with Mrs. Georgie Smith, 1822 Warshauer street, when the object first appeared. Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Hart’s niece, was the first to dub it a flying saucer and the other agreed. They went across the street and called Mr. and Mrs. W. D. Phillips, 1819 Warshauer street and they also saw the object.

“It grew brighter as it came down,” Mrs. Hart said, “Then it began drifting. I couldn’t give you any guess as to how high it was. No, we did not hear any noise.”

Mrs. Phillips confirmed the report. She said the most puzzling thing about it all was the fact the object disappeared behind the trees, then apparently made a 180-degeree turn and came back.

This sighting was also investigated, and a report was filed by Troy R. Sherman, S/A, of Barksdale AFB, 7/15/49.

The National I-Have-Seen-A Flying-Saucer Convention

At this time, Adras Paul LaBorde was 34, and wrote for the Alexandira newspaper. During World War II, LaBorde served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps, and wrote the 1944 book, Roger Wilco: ABC of Radio for Flyers. LaBorde started with The Town Talk in 1945 and wrote the column, "The Talk of the Town," also working as a reporter, and later the editor.

The Town Talk, March 17, 1958

LaBorde was president of Alexandria’s Young Men’s Business Club, which was formed in 1947 to “encourage the advancement of material prosperity and progress” of the city. The club hosted luncheons, talks, tours, and other civic-minded events, mostly with the underlying purpose of stimulating the town’s economy. LaBorde and many of the other YMBC members had served in the military during WW II, and they were comfortable cooperating with government officials and agencies.

The Town Talk, Nov. 11, 1949

From his newspaper job, Laborde saw the huge public excitement over the local flying saucer sighting reports. Almost on a lark, he was inspired to suggest idea of the YMBC holding a convention, a national conference for flying saucer witnesses. The story ran in the local papers, then it was picked up and spread nationwide. 

The Town Talk, July 8, 1949

A “deluge” of letters from interested parties started to arrive, from sincere witnesses, and also jokers and crackpots. The YMBC replied, inviting the witnesses to attend. Meanwhile, more people in Alexandria were reporting UFO sightings. Two separate reports, an hour apart: Mr. C. S. DuPree. Also, Miss Bobbie Owens (14) Witnesses eight & nine. 

The Town Talk, July 9, 1949

The Times (Shreveport LA) July 15, 1949, reported that, “Delegates are coming from New York, California, Florida, New Jersey, Texas, Delaware, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Kansas and Louisiana.” It also reported that, “at least two government agencies will have official observers to hear stories and take notes.”

Alexandria has a smaller neighboring town, Pineville, which sits just across the Red River. The Pineville News, July 15, 1949, reported details of two recent saucer sightings in the area, and concluded, "It's becoming harder and harder to be skeptical about these mysterious discs." When the Air Force investigated, three newspaper employees confessed to concocting the story “purely as fun.”

On July 17, Mrs. Andrew Rino, her husband, and two neighbors reported seeing a stationary object too bright to be a star, stationary for about ten minutes total before it disappeared.

The Town Talk, July 18, 1949

By late July, the YMBC the had organized a committee, with “Earl Bordelon chairman of the flying saucer witness conference.” The date was set for Saturday and Sunday Dec. 10-11, 1949, at the Hotel Bentley. 

The FBI, The Army and the Air Force were Watching

With all the media attention, the local interest from sightings, and especially the volume of mail received, the YMBC’s prospects of bringing witnesses together looked good. The CNS article of July 22, 1949, stated, "It may have been a big joke when it started, but it’s serious business now, this business of a convention for flying saucer witnesses." Government files show that the flying saucer convention was a matter of some concern.

YMBC officer A.M. D’Angelo invited FBI Special agent Walter E. Moehle to the convention and told him about their many letters from potential attendees. The info was forwarded to headquarters, and the FBI was concerned about potential fraud. The FBI document stated: “This information is being furnished the Bureau, as it is possible such an enterprise may cause people to falsify that they have seen flying discs or flying saucers. Such falsifications might be made so that they might attend such a convention or become official delegates thereto.”

FBI Memo, July 21, 1949

The FBI also got a tip from the Army. Someone from Military Intelligence in the G-2, Fourth Army alerted the FBI’s SAC of San Antionio, Texas, on July 15, 1949, that he’d seen a newspaper (AP) story on the YMBC’s convention plans. The information was forwarded to the FBI director.

FBI Memo, July 26, 1949

In mid-July, an investigators from Barksdale Air Force Base were in town interviewing local witnesses and preparing case reports. Apparently, one also talked to A.M. D’Angelo of the YMBC, who briefed him on the convention’s progress. The YMBC wanted to include officials and investigators from the U.S. government and planned to invite representatives from the FBI, the Air Force (Office of Special Investigations), the Office of Naval Intelligence, the Army, and investigators from Wright-Patterson AFB. A memo dated Aug. 9, 1949, from Major Edward R. Ford of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, revealed, “A representative of the 9^th OSI District will attend the convention.” The information was passed up to the brass, classified under “Subversive Activity.”

Air Force document, Aug. 9, 1949

The Air Force and FBI may have regarded the convention as trouble since it would spotlight witnesses as celebrities. To be included in the events and publicity, attention-seekers might make false flying saucer reports. A reservation was made for Lt. Col. John C. McClendon to attend. He was from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Barksdale AFB.

As the convention date approached, more witnesses surfaced. The Town Talk reported that Abel E. Dauzat, Albert Vanderlick, and Albert Traver had each seen a flying saucer in late August. On Sept 2, 1949, Mrs. John M. Sherill saw a fiery UFO, and the report was investigated by the Air Force. Also, the same month about 40 miles away in Tullos, J. E. Smith, sr. and Emery Watson had a sighting. For the next few months, sightings intermittently continued in the area.

 The Associated Press and news agencies continued to report on the convention plans and that the YMBC had been “deluged with mail from most states and Great Britain.” They had replied, reportedly inviting 50 witnesses across the USA to attend. The convention got some additional free publicity via a series of advertisements from the American Bank of Carlsbad, Ohio.

Carlsbad Current Argus, Oct. 3, 1949

 

The Last Month before the Convention

In mid-November, the Associated Press reported the “Club officials said invitations have gone out to more than 50 persons in a dozen states who have reported they saw the mysterious flying objects.” However, the YMBC had only received one confirmed registration from out of state. It came from Mrs. Eliza Taylor of Valdosta, Georgia, whose sighting had been reported in The Atlanta Journal, July 15, 1949. Her case had also been investigatedby the Air Force. 

The Tuscaloosa News, Nov. 17, 1949 

Preston McGraw’s interview of  LaBorde was a widely published United Press article. Here’s how it appeared in The Daily Herald, (Provo, Utah) Nov. 18, 1949:

Flying Saucer Witnesses Hard to Find

Alexandria, La. Nov. 18 (UP) - A young businessman who wants to find out whether flying saucers are fact or mirage said today he is having a hard time getting 10 witnesses together for a convention. Adras Laborde got the idea of a ‘flying saucer witness’ enclave last Summer and began writing letters to people who say they saw the peculiar objects flitting across the sky. Laborde set December 10 for the meeting here and said he would hold the convention if he could get 10 people to come. So far he has only two reservations.

“My idea is to get as many witnesses as I can together, compare their stories and try to determine whether flying saucers are facts or mirages,” Laborde said. But the way things look now, he may have to postpone the meeting and work up more saucer enthusiasts.

Laborde said that he is getting a show of interest from air force intelligence. One of the reservations is from Lt. Col. John C. McClendon of the air force training command at Barksdale Field, La. The air force made McLendon’s reservation, Laborde said, “so it appears that G-2 (intelligence) is just as anxious as we are to find out what people are seeing.”

The other reservation came from Mrs. Eliza Taylor of Valdosta, Ga. Laborde said Mrs. Taylor just wrote and told him she would be glad to compare notes with other observers. Otherwise, Laborde said, the biggest response has been from middle-aged widows. They seem interested but don’t see how they can get here for the meeting. One widowed letter-writer said she would come if Laborde would pay her expenses. He said he couldn’t do that.

Most witnesses are serious, Laborde said. “They are convinced they saw mysterious flying objects and what they want to learn all they can about them. There is a chance that many of them will attend.” Two of the less serious witnesses who wrote that they could not come were Charles and Greta Carpenter of Wilmington, Ohio. But they did send Laborde good wishes, along with a paper plate equipped with wings which could be used to decorate the convention hall.

Laborde admitted that his interest is not entirely in flying saucers. He is president of the Young Men’s Business Club, here and secondarily, he said, he hopes to get publicity for the club. Just on the chance that 10 witnesses won’t appear, Laborde is also organizing a “witnesses club” which limits the expenditure to the price of a postage stamp for an application. So far he has received membership applications from 2 states and the United Kingdom.

Failure to Launch

The Town Talk, Dec. 1, 1949, carried news for the YMBC meeting: “President Adras LaBorde told the club that Life Magazine was interested in covering the proposed convention of flying saucer witnesses. But, he said, the convention may be postponed because of lack of advance reservations.”

The YMBC was co-sponsor of a big annual event for fisherman, the Garfish Rodeo held Aug. 8-14. We can only speculate, but it’s reasonable to think that planning and promoting the flying saucer convention wasn’t given their entire attention that summer. Their model for events was to invite people to show up, hosting gatherings like dinners, award ceremonies, competitions, and so on. There had never been a flying saucer convention before, so the YMBC didn’t have a model to follow. All they announced was that witnesses would exchange and compare stories. There was nothing said about any programming, speakers, presentations, entertainment or attractions. Guest were being asked to travel at their own expense for hundreds of miles south, then provide the program themselves. 

Maybe the plan for the convention was doomed from the start, anyway. They intended to be exclusive, inviting only witnesses and investigators, not the general public. That’s just not how show business is done. The convention was officially called off on Dec. 7, 1949. 

The Town Talk, Dec. 7, 1949

The next week, Alexandria’s Young Men’s Business Club hosted their annual banquet and for them, life went on without flying saucers.

The Town Talk, Dec. 19, 1949

Bad timing? Maybe in more ways than one. Scheduling the convention in December two weeks before Christmas was a poor choice to attract people with families. Maybe the YMBC was just too early. Just a few weeks later in December, True magazine published an explosive bestselling article that turned the UFO topic into an enduring enterprise, “The Flying Saucers are Real,” by Donald E. Keyhoe.

In 1949, the YMBC helped launch the ship, yet somehow missed the boat themselves.

Dr. Joseph Jeffers – UFO Expert

 The secrets of UFOs, space travel, reincarnation, the future – these were all parts of the religion taught by Dr. Joseph Jeffers, the prophet who knew what the Bible got wrong.

This is either the story of a man-god who was not subject to earthly laws, or the tale of a con man who would say or do almost anything. We’ll be focusing on his UFO-related parts of his career, but for a fuller biography, see the 2014 article, by Michael Marinacci, “Joe Jeffers and the Kingdom of Yahweh."

Joseph Davis Jeffers (1899-1988) was a charismatic speaker who had worked as a vaudeville performer before taking on the role of a traveling apocalyptic evangelist. In 1933 he stirred up some trouble in Arkansas known as the Jonesboro Church Wars. By 1934 he was building a large new following in Los Angeles, where he founded The Kingdom of Yahweh in 1935. Jeffers said that the Bible got things like the immaculate conception and resurrection all wrong, and he’d know, him being Jesus (Yahoshua) reincarnated. He claimed to be in mental contact with God, and one of his specialties was “Pyramidic Prophecies,” predictions often about war and the fate of the nation. He began publishing the newsletter, “The Kingdom Voice,” which ultimately outlived him. Along the way, he ran afoul of the law several times and served some time in prison.

There were controversies. One complaint that would follow Jeffers for most of his days was that of the many thousands he received in donations, the dollars seemed to primarily fund his lavish lifestyle. Simultaneously, he went through a series of ever-younger wives. Jeffers’ topics were often vitriolic, racist, and politically incorrect, even by the standards of the day.

Middlesboro Daily News, March 27, 1939, Under Cover by John Roy Carlson, 1943

Jeffers divorced his wife, then stole the car he’d lost in the settlement. He was convicted for the crime in early 1945 but managed to get out on parole. He took a new bride, Helene, who was suddenly transformed into Dr. Helene Jeffers and became his partner in the ministry.

1947 and the Coming of the Saucers

The Hollywood Citizen-News, June 2, 1947, reported: “The Rev. Joseph Jeffers self-styled reincarnation of Jesus, Joseph, and Solomon today announced the purchase of an atom-bomb refuge for followers of his Temple of Yahweh.” It was 16 miles from Palm Springs, an 823-acre ranch. Soon afterwards, Jeffers became one the first lecturers on flying saucers.

The Banning Livewire, July 3, 1947, carried two stories and an ad about Jeffers. “Dr. Joe Jeffers Speaks Here on Yahweh,” said that “the sect claims that the center of the Universe and the headquarters for the creator is on the constellation Orion, which is screened from scientific observation by peculiar nebulae.”

The ad was for Jeffer’s lectures at the women’s club, “Truth about the Flying Discs.” Also on the page was the story, “Jeffers Say the Flying Discs are Real.” Jeffers said the discs were the same as the ghost rockets previously reported over Sweden, “Washington knows what they are— I told them four years ago.”

Daily News, July 3, 1947

A week later, Jeffers held a press conference on the threat of flying saucers at a Los Angeles restaurant. The Daily News reported he said the saucers were flown by enemy nations, “sent by the Russians, with the aid of Germany, Japan, China ‘and others’.” He also discussed the crews that fly them, how they were propelled, and the weapons they carried.

Daily News, July 11, 1947

When taken to court for failure to pay alimony, Jeffers told the judge he was broke, but out in space, Yahweh had billions in diamonds and pearls waiting for him on Orion. Jeffers was sent to federal prison for parole violations but still got some press.

While he was in prison, Helene kept the franchise alive, lecturing in his place as Mrs. Joseph Jeffers. Some of the sermons included flying saucers.

1949 Los Angeles Mirror ads

Mexico Ledger, Oct. 30, 1950

After Jeffers was released, he and Helene set up operations in 1952 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Psychic Observer, Sept. 10, 1952 ad

The 1950s were turbulent. Jeffers’ marriage ended after he started dating Connie, Helene’s 18-year-old secretary. Helene’s career as a solo psychic lecturer in Denver was cut short in early 1957 by her murder (unsolved). Jeffers married Connie. So maybe during these years Jeffers was too busy to focus on saucers. Or maybe there was too much competition from Adamski and the others who claimed to meet spacemen and go on rides in their saucers. Or maybe Jeffers thought all that was unimportant since he was the reincarnation of the Son of God. For whatever reason, he was back in the saucer business in 1957.

The Arizona Republic, Aug. 24, 1957 Note: "Facts About The Shaver Mystery!"

Jeffers had an ad for his services and products in The Aberree, Sept. 1959, but there was no mention of flying saucers.

Skipping ahead to the 1960s, Jeffers ad in The Oregonian, Sept. 14, 1960, said: “Is there any evidence of Space Men or flying saucers on Mars, Venus and other planets? Facts of Astral World and Spiritual contacts.”

In 1966 there was more trouble when Joseph and Connie Jeffers were convicted “of thirteen counts of mail fraud and were each fined $500 on each count and were placed on three years' probation.” Their appeal was on the basis that “the bets were for the religious purposes of enhancing the Kingdom's treasury and furthering its 'religious' studies of [ESP], and that therefore the conviction infringes their free exercise of religion.” The verdict was overturned in 1968:  “The spectacle presented to the jury — of a 67 year old eccentric purporting to have psychic powers, and his attractive 27 year old wife betting contributors' funds at the dog races — was so highly prejudicial that we cannot conclude that [they received] a fair trial.”

Besides his newsletter, Jeffers’ produced pamphlets and books from his Kingdom Voice Publications, the first of which was Yahweh - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, 1969

Ad – Fate magazine April 1973 (ran at least Jan. – May issues)

Kansas Star, March 29, 1974 – hyping his appearance on Tomorrow with Tom Snyder.

Yahweh City, and the Pyramid Temple

By 1974, Jeffers was based in Missouri and built a compound, Yahweh City, in St. James for his followers. Jeffers, then in his mid-70s, wore fur-collar coats and hats decorated with feathers and drove a $25,000 Mercedes. When accused of being a fraud, he said, ‘I'm not a film flammer… I'm a jimjammer. They can call me anything they want as long as they call me for lunch.” Some of the faithful called him “King Yahoshua.” Jeffers had about 50 followers living in Yahweh City, some of them donors of many thousands of dollars. Disciples farmed the soil with hand tools and built the housing for the compound. Per Jeffers’ edit, they ate a vegetarian diet and received a ritual cleansing enema on Fridays.

Jeffers wrote and published a few books relating to extraterrestrial life and spaceships. One was, Mars and the Mystery of Creation, 1976. The blurb for Jeffers’ 1977 book, Lemuria, Atlantis History Rewritten, asked: “Who were the mysterious pyramid builders? What about the Bible and Noah's flood? Was Atlantis really the Garden of Eden? What are the spaceships and flying saucers? Read about the age of dinosaurs and giants.”

According to Jeffers, in the mid-1960s, Esther Wilson Price, an elderly and ailing Richmond, Virginia, heiress, began corresponding with him after seeing his advertisement in Fate magazine. In October 1975, she moved from the hospital to a one-room apartment at Yahweh City. With $200,000 of Esther's money, Jeffers had his followers construct their Pyramid Temple. It’d serve as shelter and a meeting place for their departure. “Unusual Riches Gained by an Unusual Religion,” by John McGuire in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 9, 1977, reported that Jeffers and his flock “expect that a space ship will one day take them to Orion when the world ends.”

Interviewed by Springfield Leader, Aug. 3, 1978, about material from his book, The Spaceships are Coming, “Jeffers says there are two types of flying saucers. One type is Russian and has been used for years to spy on Americans and the other is the real thing from outer space.” Apparently, he didn’t have info from Yahweh about it but, “experts say that the government has recovered bodies from crashed UFOs…”

In the Oct. 20, 1978, Associated Press story, Jeffers claimed his thousands of his followers would soon be saved and taken to “the prettiest little city in the universe,” Orion. He said, “our spaceships will come for us and we’ll say good-bye world.” There were goodbyes in their future.

Instead of Reagan, we could have had President Jeffers in 1980, but things didn’t work out. There was unbelievable drama for Jeffers in the late 1970s, including his aborted Presidential campaign, the controversial death of Esther Price who had a questionable will leaving him millions. Then there was Connie who left him taking some of the millions and Jeffers trying to have her murdered. Then there was his arrest on charges of statutory rape and sodomy of a 14-year-old girl. All this generated a lot of media attention including the national TV news, but somehow all the charges against him were dropped. Still, he dropped out of the Presidential race.

For more on this turbulent period, see The Washington Post, December 27, 1978, “Cult Stirs Controversy” by Ted Gup.

The Lakeland Ledger July 8, 1979

Apparently, Yahweh changed his mind; the world didn’t end. Things were still hot for Jeffers in Missouri, so he abandoned Yahweh City and moved his cult, purchasing a quarter-million-dollar estate just South of San Benito, Texas.

Jeffers in an interview in The Atlanta Voice, Dec. 1, 1979, professed knowledge and visions revealing the truth about the future, the Bermuda Triangle, and Mars which had plant and insect life. “Jeffers also contends that ‘flying saucers are not out of this world.’ He says they fly all over the world especially over America and photograph all United States military bases, power plants and secret hiding places. ‘These flying saucers can outfly anything America has,’ Dr. Jeffers said.”

 The Evening Independent, Jan. 9, 1980

Tampa Bay Times, Jan. 10, 1980 - Tallahassee Democrat, April 11, 1980

Jeffers resided in Arizona for his final years, and he continued to lecture and publish. In an interview for The Gold Leaf Farmer (Wendell, NC) Feb. 19, 1981, Jeffers told them about Atlantis, the sunken Pyramid at the Bermuda Triangle, and more. “Bigfoot… is the result of a genetic experiment by Atlanteans, according to Jeffers.”

A variation of the ad below ran from 1982 to 1986, later modified to include his 1983 book: Bermuda Triangle and Pyramid.

The Arizona Republic, Jan. 25, 1982

Jeffers’ associate in the Kingdom of Yahweh, Robert Graeter, sent out announcements in the early 1980s warning that:

 “Russia will use her Flying Saucers…to detonate…atomic bombs” on the U.S., “possibly on December 25, 1984.”

Yet, it would not be the end of the world.; another piece explained how the people were to be saved from that: “YAHWEH left His headquarters on Orion by spaceship. He will land on a high mountain near Phoenix, Arizona. He will pick up his son, Dr. Joseph ‘Yahoshua’ Jeffers…”

 (2008 Reddit post that includes several of the documents: My late Grandpa’s Dad was a chairman for a cult.

Scripture stated that, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven,” but Jeffers insisted it would be in a spaceship.  Interviewed for The Arizona Daily Star, May 25, 1985, Jeffers said his “work is two-fold: to teach people to ‘Praise Yahweh,’ and to prepare for his/her coming from Orion (heaven) with an entourage in spaceships.”

Picture from The Arizona Daily Star, May 25, 1985

The last lecture advertised by Jeffers was in early 1986, but he continued to write for the newsletter. Joseph Jeffers died on July 11, 1988, just a month away from his 89th birthday. Followers kept the faith and lectured in his place. Carl Herman said, “We’ve received messages from the other side that Yahweh’s spaceship is five miles long and a mile wide.”

The Jackson Hole Guide, July 5, 1989

. . .

Exactly one year after Joe Jeffers died, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was released, featuring a good question from Captain Kirk:

Another cult who believed that they’d be saved and taken to heaven by a spaceship made the news on March 26, 1997. In Rancho Santa Fe, California, Marshall Herff Applewhite and 38 of his Heaven’s Gate followers were found dead from a mass suicide.