Human beings have always been fascinated with flight,
but in 1947, flying saucers gave us something new to think about. UFOs have
inspired us to imagine and invent.
Who was the first inventor to attempt to build and fly their own saucer? The Weekly
Town Talk, July 19, 1947, featured a photo of Jimmy Webb of Little Rock, Arkansas,
and the homemade “Flying Saucer,” he entered in a local model
airplane competition.
In 1950, Charles Hoberg of Chicago built a small “jet-powered”
saucer “after studying reports of the space ships.”
Sunday News, March 26, 1950
In Sept. 1950, a warning was issued that Detroit, the Plymouth
Motor Corporation’s International Model Plane Contest would feature flying
saucers, and that they might cause alarm and be reported to authorities by the
public.
Mansfield Advertiser Sept. 6, 1950
Plymouth Press release
“Pilot your own Flying Saucer” was the title of an
article in Boy’s Life Jan. 1953, that instructed readers how to construct
an unpowered flying saucer out of balsa wood.
Boy Scout Ray White built such a saucer and
demonstrated it on television for NBC’s Today Show.
Boy’s Life Nov. 1953
The above are just a few examples of the early
attempts to copy flying saucers on a small scale, but in the 1960s, a company
set out to mass produce them.
“Would you believe saucer for $9.98? Better yet, would
you BUY a flying saucer for $9.98? That's the million-dollar question as far as
C. R. Stuard is concerned… Stuard is the co-owner and marketer of the "X-1
Sky Saucer," a flying saucer toy invented recently by a Solar engineer, [currently
in] a test-market] in the Chula Vista Penney store. …
“Idea for the toy came from [Leonard] Mueller’s
invention of a flying saucer-type crop duster. | “But it would have cost us $250,000
to produce our first duster,” says Stuard, “so we put our heads together and decided
to come out with a model of the crop duster and sell it as a toy ‘flying
saucer. We attached a gasoline engine to the saucer… and our model and it took
off and flew…’
Does Stuard believe in real-life flying saucers? Like
from Mars? “Yes, frankly, I do,” he says. “I have a very good friend who says
he saw one. I believe him. He’s not the sort of person who’d make something
like this up. Also, too many of the saucer sightings are unexplained. You know,
expert scientists have told us that the obvious ‘best design’ for space
vehicles of the future is the saucer. It’s shaped perfectly for space travel.
If this is true, then maybe it figures that men from other planets would use
saucers to investigate things on and about earth.”
The saucer’s package stated:
"Your X-1 sky saucer is practically
indestructible and made of rugged polyethylene plastic to withstand the shock
of Earth reentry...it can take it and fly again immediately!"
“Our X-1 Sky Saucer is powered by world famous special
18,000 RPM Cox .049 engine. Over 16" in diameter. Reaches heights of 300
feet & more.”
The X-1 was marketed in the 1970s as the “Star Cruiser
UFO,” but a version was still on sale into the 1990s, and a similar “Nomad” saucer
was produced in 1998.
Back to the Garage
Mass produced copies like the Cox Sky Saucer have their
place, but there’s nothing like the efforts of the early saucer inventors. They
took inspiration from flying saucers, thought for themselves, and got to work. Ufology might benefit from getting back to basics, and that’s a good model to follow.
In 1952, UFO
reports seemed to indicate an impending invasion by monstrous aliens:
June 1952: News of Oskar Linke’s 1950 sighting of a landed saucer with two occupants. July 1952: Jets pursued UFOs invading the airspace over Washington, DC. Aug. 19, 1952: A Florida Scoutmaster was attacked by a fiery blast from a saucer. Sept. 12, 1952: People in West Virginia were menaced by the alien Flatwoods Monster.
As the year
was winding down, there came a plot twist:
Nov. 20,
1952: In the California desert, a flying saucer landed. A beautiful man from
Venus emerged with a message of peace and brotherhood.
Spiritualism,
the Occult, Theosophy and other notions had been thriving in California since
the late 19th century. An example bridging that scene to the UFO
topic would be Guy Ballard of the “I AM’ movement, who claimed that at Mt.
Shasta in 1932, he met twelve Ascended Masters from Venus. Another was Meade
Layne of San Diego, a longtime student of paranormal topics, who in 1945
founded the Borderland Sciences Research Associates. Years before saucers, some
of BSRA’s members already strongly believed in non-human intelligences from
beyond our planet. Other Californians, whether in clubs, churches or cults,
believed, too. One believer was also a teacher. His students
called him “Professor,” and he was the one in 1952 who made contact in the
desert.
George
Adamski
Long before
space visitors became central to his teachings, George Adamski (1891-1965) was
the charismatic leader teaching his own spin on Theosophy in a monastery in in
Southern California in 1934. According to FBI records, his family moved Poland
to the U.S. in 1893, he served from 1913-16 in the Army, then worked various
manual labor jobs, until 1926 when he began lecturing on philosophy, within a few
years he founded his own religion.
“Tibetan
Monastery, First in America, to Shelter Cult Disciples in Laguna Beach” in the Los
Angeles Times, April 8, 1934, reported on the formation of Adamski’s
monastery and quoted him saying that he’d studied under masters in Tibet. "I
learned great truths up there on the roof of the world... to cure the body and
the mind and to win mastery over self and soul. I do not bring to Laguna the
weird rites and bestial superstition… but the scientific portions of the
religion.” Members of his Royal Order of Tibet wore ceremonial garments adorned
with pendants of a twenty-four-point star. “Robes and ritual, Adamski admits,
help the novice to set his feet firmly in the path he elects to follow.”
The Order
didn’t last, and by 1940 Adamski and a small group of followers moved away,
eventually setting up at the base of Mt. Palomar in 1944 (near the famous observatory
being built there). His student Alice K. Wells owned the property, a campground
and collection of cabins named "Palomar Gardens." Its centerpiece was
a little Café that sold mostly hamburgers and hotdogs. Adamski set up his a few
telescopes on the property creating a small observatory for the tourist trade, frequently
lecturing at the café.
North County Times, June 4, 1948, observatory photo from his 1953 book.
The first
trace of hint of Adamski’s flying saucer future might have been in his 1946
booklet, “The Possibility of Life on Other Planets,” which stated, “There is no
longer a question as to whether there are other inhabited planets in the
universe but as to the type of beings who live there.” Speculating, he
described what might be the first draft of his angelic aliens:
“…on planets having lighter atmospheric conditions the forms would be of a more delicate nature... different than our own. The atoms composing them would not be so intensely concentrated... In consequence, the brain cells would also become more active and the race as a whole would turn more to the solving of intellectual problems… [Their] bodies would not be great muscular forms in that case but probably more slender and lithe.”
1949 was the
year things really took off.
The book and The Banning Live Wire, Dec. 29, 1949
Then in 1949
Adamski published a book, Pioneers of Space: A Trip to the Moon, Mars and Venus, while presented as fiction, he wrote, “it will not be long before all this will become a reality.” It was
an interplanetary tale of alien contact with some familiar Theosophical elements.
Earth had many scientifically advanced ancient civilizations, including Atlantea
and Lemuria. However, abusing their technology, they came to “destroy
themselves.”
“That is the
great reason why the Earth people are so far behind [Mars and other planets]...
Now it looks like earth is going to have another destruction, for the present
civilization is getting very [technologically advanced] but without the wisdom
in the way of living ... and it is the very thing that destroyed Atlantea. The
people on Venus are still farther ahead ... they have had no such destruction
at any time.”
Throughout
his life, Adamski used ghost writers, but the thoughts and messages were his. Later
in the story, it was revealed that visitors have been coming to our planet since
ancient times.
“There have
been many great souls sent to earth to teach the way of life ... You call them
messiahs, masters, and all sorts of names, but they have come from higher
planes of life to start the people of earth on the right path of life ... the
last of our messengers whom you call Jesus, was crucified ...”
Skipping
ahead for a moment, Pioneers of Space
was later mentioned in Frank Scully’s 1950 book, Behind the Flying Saucers, as if it were non-fiction, and Adamski was
described as a scientist. Scully and Adamski became friends, and later attended
some of the same saucer conventions.
The Escondido, CA, Times-Advocate, June 20, 1951, carried a short item, “Noted Author Visits Palomar Gardens,” about Frank Scully. It reported that “Scully and Professor George Adamski spent many hours discussing their forthcoming books, which will sequel their first publications on interplanetary space travel.”
Having a
book to promote made Adamski more marketable as a lecturer, and he began speaking
more frequently to audiences outside of Palmar Gardens. The Blade Tribune, (Oceanside, CA) March
8, 1950, reported on an upcoming George Adamski lecture. His message was usually
optimistic about space visitors, but here Adamski talked about the possibility
of hostile invaders:
"He avers that if our Earth people suddenly found
themselves threatened by attack from another planet, they would lose no time
uniting as one in the common defense. Even Stalin would be preaching
cooperation and anxiously seek our alliance and friendship."
The Blade Tribune, (Oceanside, CA) March 8, 1950
Adamski’s saucer
career continued to escalate with him producing a series of photographs of
spaceships in the sky. He was credited as the co-author of “Flying Saucers as Astronomers See Them” in Fate magazine, Sept. 1950. In that article, Adamski was not committal
about his UFO photo being a spaceship, saying it might be just “a type of electric
discharge… We sincerely doubt whether they have any connection with
visitors." A few months later, Adamski had changed his mind. “…in February,
1949, was I successful in getting my first picture of space ships.”
In “I Photographed Space Ships,” FateJuly 1951, he published seven
photos and described his career:
“I was guest speaker for the Fallbrook, California, Rotary Club where I talked about the reality of space ships. This was the first of many similar lectures before service clubs in Southern California, which continued through the year of 1950.”
By that time, Adamski had begun selling
copies of his photographs, both at his base in Mount Palomar and at his lectures.
The photos began appearing in newspapers, but it was the saucers were in the
spotlight, not Adamski himself.
“Photos of what are purported to be flying saucers have shown up at KTTV. Owners now say they bought them for $1 each from a prof. George Adamski of Mt. Palomar. Scoffers say the prof really runs a hot dog stand near Palomar and the photos are a, shall we say, sideline. Moreover, they want to see the negative.”
The Adamski
lecture for a science fiction convention in San Diego on June 28, 1952 was not
well received. (We’ll examine this convention incident in a later article.) Despite
their fondness for interplanetary tales, science fiction fans were generally
skeptical of flying saucer tales. Many of them walked out on Adamski’s presentation
of uncorroborated stories and pictures. Maybe it motivated him to produce more
compelling evidence.
Meanwhile, Adamski
got another publicity boost in the summer of 1952.
Billboard Aug. 23, 1952
The Coming of the Saucers by Kenneth Arnold and Ray Palmer reprinted several
of Adamski’s photographs from his Fate
article and once more introduced him as “Professor.” Seeing this prompted George
Hunt Williamson (1926-1985) to connect with Adamski. In a Oct.19, 1952, letter
to a friend, Williamson said that in radio conversation with from aliens:
“We
have been told that a man will contact us… there will be a landing in this
vicinity by special ship direct from Mars within two or three weeks from
now!... Professor George Adamski is in on this too. He is a very great man
indeed.”
Adamski and
a small party of followers were out in the California desert on November 20,
19521, but he alone made contact. The first press on his contact was in The Phoenix Gazette, November 24, 1952,
“Flying Saucer 'Passenger' Declares A-Bomb Blasts Reason For Visits” by Len
Welch. The story was told by Mr. and Mrs. George Williamson, Mr. and Mrs.
Alfred Bailey, who claimed to have witnessed the events from a distance.
“Professor Adamski described the saucer as... about 20 feet in diameter,
translucent but not transparent, with a shining silver finish on the exterior,
portholes on the side, and three ball bearing devices underneath.” The man from
the saucer communicated primarily in gestures and indicated he was from the
planet Venus. “According to the Williamsons and Baileys… the intentions of the
visitors is peaceful.” When Adamski asked the visitor why he was here, the
spaceman used his “arms to indicate mushroom-shaped clouds associated with
atomic experiments... radiation from explosions is causing his people some
concern and fear that blasts will destroy everything.”
Sometimes, a bad cover of a song becomes a bigger hit than the original. That’s a bit like what happened with Adamski, his story repackaged what had come before. Back in the 1920s, Theosophy’s believers like Frederick G. Hehr had promoted the notion of angelic beings from Venus come to earth to teach humanity. Others religious figures like Guy Ballard and Eugene Drake had claimed contact with such space people, but most of those claims were on the psychic, not physical plane.
As for the notion of aliens saving us from destroying ourselves with atomic weapons, that had been floating around in science fiction since at least 1947.
"Will the ancient gods... come back in
time to avert an atom war?" From Fantastic Adventures Nov. 1947, "Son of the Sun." by Millen Cooke (as Alexander Blade) illustrated by
James Settles.
Most in the press and general public were unaware of what had come before, so it was news to them. Also, the props helped sell the story. Not only did Adamski have multiple witnesses, and photographs, there was physical evidence. The Venusian had left footprints behind, and the soles of his shoes had left behind alien symbols. Williamson even had the foresight to bring along plaster to cast the footprints.
As his fame
spread, so did the confusion that the “Professor” who saw flying saucers was associated
with the Mt. Palomar observatory.
Blade Tribune, Jan. 22, 1953
At the time
of the first encounter, Adamski had a few low-quality photos of the saucer, but
shortly afterwards he produced clearer photos, which he sold at his lectures.
Beginning
March 12, 1953, The Corona Daily
Independent ran a series of three articles on “Dr.” George Adamski’s
lecture given at the Corona Lion’s Club. Justin Hammond wrote an article about
Adamski’ lecture and continued the coverage of it in his "Ring
Around" column. His story describes the Venusian as looking “just like we
do except unusually handsome and that his eyes were somewhat slanted. He had
long black hair, very beautiful and wavy.” He quotes Adamski as saying, “Mainly
we conversed by mental pictures...”
Hammond didn’t
share a description of the saucer, but said, “The good doctor showed us three
photos he took of the flying saucer which looked me - undoubtedly I’m wrong -
like an out-of doors picture of a three-bulb electric light fixture.” The
series made no mention of warnings of atomic bombs, instead focusing on the
novelty of the alien encounter. “Dr. Adamski says that spacemen have been
visiting Earth for many years. He also said that there may be thousands of them
walking the streets of Earth today.”
An epilogue
of sorts appeared a few days later, a letter from the Mayor of Corona, C.R.
Miller who said, “no one in his right mind would take any stock in” Adamski’s yarns.
Adamski’s
1952 story was packaged with a previously completed manuscript by a UK
author, Desmond Leslie. Their book was published in the Fall of 1953, Flying Saucers Have Landed. Leslie’s foreword
discussed the teachings of Theosophy:
“About eighteen million years ago… came a huge, shining, radiant vessel of dazzling power and beauty, bringing to earth... human beings, of perfection beyond our highest ideals; gods rather than men…”
The latter
part of the book was Adamski’s story of meeting the man from Venus. It became an
international best seller, enormous publicity for him.
Evening Star, December 13, 1953
The Daily Telegraph, Sydney Australia, Oct. 4, 1953
In the months and years that followed, he was considered a flying saucer expert, in demand as a lecturer and frequently interviewed for newspapers, magazines, radio and television programs.
1954 press conference. From Flying Saucer Pilgrimage by Bryant & Helen Reeve, 1957.
Adamski on Long John Nebel’s late-night TV show on WOR, April 30, 1960.
The Times-Advocate
(Escondido CA) Jan. 2, 1954, sought his expertise when a fiery object was reported in the skies.
Adamski thought it was from Mars, explaining that malfunctioning saucers are blown
up before they crash. The falling debris turns to gelatin and disintegrates, to
prevent crashed saucers or their debris being retrieved.
Adamski’s
success inspired many imitators who became known as Contactees. They virtually
took over the flying saucer business, and were supported by George Van Tassel’s
annual Giant Rock Interplanetary Spacecraft Convention, which provided a forum
and marketplace for the Contactees and their fans.
Despite the crowd of competitors, Adamski remained the top brand. His second book, Inside the
Space Ships, also became a bestseller in 1955.
Popularity notwithstanding, Adamski had his doubters. Upstart flying saucer magazine publisher
James W. Moseley had interviewed Adamski in late 1953, and while he found the
“Professor” interesting and charismatic, he had not been convinced. Moseley's Saucer
News, printed critical articles and topped it off in the Oct. 1957 “Special Adamski Expose Issue” with articles by Moseley, Irma Baker and Lonzo Dove. It included
correspondence with some of Adamski’s supporting witnesses, who admitted that the story and photographs were untrue.
Donald
Keyhoe, the director of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial
Phenomena rejected Adamski and the Contactees. In his 1959 telegram to a
convention promoter, Keyhoe said:
“Your
carnival approach to the subject of unidentified flying objects is...
offsetting serious work by NICAP and other... fact-finding UFO groups.”
In December 1957,
Adamski received a letter on Department of State stationary from R.E. Straith
of the “Cultural Exchange Committee,” that stated that the US Government could
not officially endorse him, but privately offered their support. The letter was
a hoax, a prank by Gray Barker and Jim Moseley. Adamski must have known it was
bogus, but he and his followers continued to tout the letter as proof of his
credibility. (For further details, see George Adamski, R.E. Straith and the Seven Letters of Mischief.)
Rather than
admit to any fraud in his stories and photo, Adamski insisted that it was his
critics who were the phonies, part of the saucer cover-up. In Flying Saucers
Farewell, 1961, he said:
"The only way the 'Silence Group' could
combat me was to discredit me before the public. If it had not been for the assistance
of my friends from other planets, the 'Silence Group' would have achieved its
aim.”
From the
start, Adamski’s stories escalated into a series of ever more incredible
encounters and interplanetary adventures. The entry on Adamski in The UFO
Encyclopedia Vol II, 1992, had a section, “Decline and Fall,” where Jerome
Clark stated in part:
“Those
inclined to accept Adamskiat his word... found the
story of [his 1962] trip to Saturn more than they could believe. …A postcard
written allegedly by space people… was traced to [an address used by] Adamski …Those
who replied were asked to contribute money to cover expenses… a
scheme to bilk the credulous. …By 1964 Adamski’s name had disappeared even from
the pages of England’s widely read Flying Saucer Review… [published by] Adamski's
most articulate defender."
Still, George
Adamski kept spreading the Space Brothers Gospel. The next year he went on a
lecture tour through New York and Rhode Island. He died of a heart attack a few
weeks later at the age of 74 on April 23, 1965.
Changing Lives: The Adamski Legacy
Without George Adamski, we would not have had UFO researchers conducting a Remote Viewing program for the U.S. government, Robert Bigelow’s (paranormal study group) National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS), or its successors and spin-offs: Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS), the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP), the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). The key figure leading to all of those was theoretical physicist Harold E. Puthoff.
In Jacques Vallee’s Forbidden Science Vol. 4 entry for Saturday 19 July 1997, he documented a meeting of NIDS in Las Vegas where Chairman of the Board, Hal Puthoff disclosed what prompted him to become involved in the UFO topic:
Hal recalls the day when, as a very studious boy, he left his engineering studies in a fit of atypical behavior to wander downtown, got into a bookstore and mechanically picked up Adamski's book, “and it changed my life,” he said, “even after I recognized his story was bullshit!”
Essentially,
Adamski was an opportunist who capitalized on the public’s UFO craze. He dressed
his old Royal Order of Tibet philosophy up in flying saucer drag and it went
over in a big way, changing many people's lives. When Adamski was exposed to be a fraud, some of the faithful denied it and continued to believe in him. More puzzling, many of those who lost faith in Adamski still clung to the concepts promoted in his stories. Though people may have forgotten Adamski himself, his propaganda lives on. To those who want to believe, any report or rumor of a UFO is a hopeful sign that benevolent visitors in spaceships are here to help and guide our planet.
. . .
Recommended Reading
There's far more to the Adamski story, and many opinions on it. Here are two excellent sources for further study:
Saturday Night Uforia, Saucer Reading Fest part 12 features excellent coverage of the early days of George Adamski.
From Fliegende Untertassen to Attack of the Flying Saucers
This is a “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” story, one about flying saucer movies.
The 1951 movie, The Day the Earth Stood Still, was a bit of bait and switch, advertised as being about space invaders, while the real mission of the aliens was to promote peace (by force if necessary).
There was one scene of a newspaper illustration sensationalizing flying saucers, depicting the planet under siege by fleets of alien invaders. The headline asked, “Are We Long For This World?” It’d be a few years before such an attack made it to film, but one step in that direction was an obscure short documentary made in Germany.
Walther Johannes Riedel 1903-1974
Following World War II, one of the Nazi scientists brought to the U.S. under Operation Paperclip was “Dr. Walther Riedel, international rocket authority and father of Germany's World War II V-2 program…” An Associated Press story from March 14, 1949, quoted Riedel as being certain of the future of interplanetary travel.
The La Crosse Tribune, March 14, 1949
There was no mention of flying saucers, but he later revealed he’d been interested in aerial phenomena reports since the mid-1940s. Working for the North American Aviation company, Riedel met some professional scientists and aeronautical engineers interested in the mystery of UFOs.
In The Flying Saucers Are Real, Donald Keyhoe wrote
that while he was doing his initial research in 1949, he met a key source, a “private
engineer’ who:
“asked that he not be quoted by name. The name I am
using, Paul Redell, will serve that purpose. Redell is a well-known
aeronautical engineer. He has worked with major aircraft companies and served
as a special consultant to government agencies and the industries.”
UFO historian Jerome Clark identified Redell as Walther
Riedel in his 2003 book, Strange Skies, but it’s also possible “Redell”
was a fictional or composite character chiefly based on Riedel. Keyhoe also wrote that “Redell” thought saucers were of interplanetary origin
and “was convinced that the earth had been under observation a long time.” When
Keyhoe asked about the power source of saucers, Redell speculated about the “use
of electromagnetic fields” for propulsion:
“there must be some way to tap this force and go from
one planet to another without using any fuel. You’d use your first planet’s
magnetic field to start you off and then coast through space until you got into
the field of the next planet.”
In late 1951 Edward J. Sullivan, a technical writer for NAA, formed the Civilian Saucer Investigation group of Los Angeles, a serious but part-time UFO organization.Riedel was described an honorary member and vice-president, but served as the leader of CSI’s board of scientific and aeronautical experts.
Chiefly due to his association with the group, Riedel was featured on national television programs and in the famous pro-UFO article in Life magazine April 7, 1952, "Have We Visitors from Space?" He gave Life his view on flying saucers. "I am completely convinced that they have an out-of-world basis."
The topic of the NBC television show, We, the People, on Aug 1, 1952, was “The Flying Saucers." It was a half-hour news magazine show produced by the editors of Life magazine. (See: UFOs on TV: The 1952 Washington, DC Saucer Flap For links to clips from the show.)
Riedel was interviewed, and his position was summarized in an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 5, 1952 (Part 1, Part 2).
"[Dr. Walther Riedel]… Said flat out the saucers were real; that they were in fact piloted by residents of another planet, and that there, was nothing very surprising about the whole thing because we could build similar space platters "if we put enough money into the job during the next 15 years or so."
During the next year, Riedel was involved with a film project, an effort to present the UFO topic factually and scientifically. Later, novice ufologist Jim Moseley was conducting interviews for a proposed book on flying saucers, and in Dec. 1953, he interviewed Riedel. From his unpublished notes:
“In Los Angeles I interviewed Dr. [Walther] Riedel… an honorary member of Civilian Saucer Investigation... According to Riedel, the interplanetary answer is highly probable but not proven.... However, Riedel believes none of the [Contactee] stories of space-men landing, etc…
In Germany, Dr. Riedel made a short documentary film on flying saucers. This film does not contain or pretend to contain any actual film of flying saucers, but it has a good running commentary on saucers, and by animation, shows the various types that have been seen. The film in its present form runs about 18 minutes, and was shown to me by Mr. Martin Nosseck, a friend of Riedel’s who is a motion picture producer in Hollywood; He has an independent studio, and operates on a very small scale. He told me that the documentary will be built up to a half hour in length and sold to T.V. - The film is particularly interesting in one part which explains scientifically the magnetic theory of propulsion.”
The title of the film was Fliegende Untertassen, German for “Flying Saucers,” made in 1953. Based on the available evidence, the short’s special effects were very good, creating cinematic flying saucers to rival anything that Hollywood was producing at the time. The flying saucers are depicted via stop-motion animation, not only zipping across the sky, but also interacting with the environment, moving over cities and flying behind buildings and clouds.
The film included scenes of people reacting to the arrival of flying saucers, their emotions ranging from amazement to fear.
The credits for Fliegende Untertassen we’ve been able to find:
Directed and written by Georg Zauner and Friedrich Wollangk.
Scientific consultant: Walther Riedel.
Music by Horst Dempwolff.
Sound effects: Werner Schlagge.
Studio: Filmaufbau GmbH (Göttingen), Hans Abich, Rolf Thiele.
Producer: Friedrich Wendt.
The French site for Boulevard du Ciné has a listing for 16mm print of the film but is described as “unavailable,” and carries a brief description, including three still images. They state the project was, “filmed according to testimonies collected in the USA by Walther Riedel.” It’s unknown if it was part of the original promotion, but it goes on to say:
“Do flying saucers come from the Moon? From Mars? Is a squadron of flying saucers observing the Earth? What would be the reactions of Earthlings if they found themselves face to face with these extraterrestrial machines? These are many points that this film will address.”
The film was probably shown in Europe before feature attractions in theaters, but it’s not documented how it was exhibited in the U.S. It’s likely that it was shown at private gatherings, Dr. Riedel’s flying saucer lectures, and possibly at club meetings and conventions. Who knows, Hollywood filmmakers may have seen the short and been inspired to make movies of aliens attacking the planet, from Earth vs the Flying Saucers, to Ed Wood’s Plan 9 from Outer Space.
Attack of the Flying Saucers
Martin Nosseck’s plans to sell the film to television didn’t pan out. A few years later, he sold the film (or at least the US rights) to a show biz couple, June and Ron Ormond there. June had been a singer and dancer, Ron was a B-movie writer and director. Both were interested in the paranormal and attended and lectured at flying saucer conventions. As Ron Ormond Enterprises, their day job was making low budget exploitation films for drive-in theaters.
"Since June was interested in flying saucers and had quite a few contacts in the UFO field, she met Reinhold Schmidt and Dan Fry," Tim says. "In conversations with the group, June found out that this film [Fliegende Untertassen] was made and that a mother ship was portrayed. At that time, to her knowledge, this hadn't been shown before. So when she saw it, she bought it from a Mr. Nosseck for $1,500 from Germany. Mr. Nosseck was acting as the film's agent and was soliciting it for a company in Germany."
The original title planned for the movie, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, was Attack of the Flying Saucers, and while it was changed, they still used “Flying Saucers Attack” prominently in their ad campaign. That film was released in May 1956, and it seems the Ormonds attempted to cash in. They edited and repackaged the German short into theirAttack of the Flying Saucers, copyright July 4, 1956, by Ron Ormond Enterprises. June Ormond was quoted in Filmfax no. 27, 1991, about how the film was marketed, as part of a triple feature with a UK documentary on palm reading they’d re-edited.
“We did a terrific campaign with a big, hairy, Hitler hand in the middle of it and called it The Eternal Question. We triple-billed it with Attack of the Flying Saucers and Fire Maidens from Outer Space. They made a lot of money."
Attack of the Flying Saucers debuted in Nov. 1956. The imagery used to promote the short was similar to the art used to advertise Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, an assault on earth from alien invaders.
The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington), Nov. 11, 1956
1957, source unknown
Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan. 12, 1958
The narration for the film’s trailer was likewise sensational:
“Watch for the date, it's coming to this theater, the most unusual featurette ever made…”
A question bursts on the screen,
“Is it possible?”
“Attack of the Flying Saucers,"
below it, "A Ron Ormond Enterprise Picture”
Do we have visitors from space? Are the many sightings, fact or fiction?
Is this a prediction of things to come, of flying saucers bent on conquering the world?
How will mankind react to spacecrafts?
Was Air Force Captain Mantel really killed by flying saucers?
[Dialogue] “Captain Mantel to Godman Tower - I’ve sighted the thing. It looks metallic, and it's a tremendous size.”
Now for the first time, learn the truth about this awe-inspiring subject.
See Attack of the Flying Saucers, the most gripping short ever photographed."
The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Washington, January 6, 1957, carried a brief and garbled description of what the film was supposed to depict:
“In ‘Attack of the Flying Saucers,’ showing a simulated attack on a real city, Captain Mantell’s pictures of flying saucers are used.”
Attack was packaged with various other films until 1960, such as Untamed Mistress and Lost/Outlaw Women.
As far as we can tell, Attack of the Flying Saucers is a lost film. Ron Ormond died in 1981, June in 2006. Somehow, an outside party staked a claim on the film. From Motion Picture Copyrights & Renewals, 1950-1959 by David Pierce, 1989:
ATTACK OF THE FLYING SAUCERS. Copyright 4 July 1956, PA - 233-371, by Ron Ormond Enterprises. Renewed 17 September 1984, RE - 259-431, by Wade H. Williams, III.
Wade Williams died in 2023, If he owned a print of the film, maybe his heirs will unearth and release it one day. Until then…
The trailer for Attack of the Flying Saucers surfaced in 2022 on YouTube, so we can at least get a glimpse of it.
Some additional pictures from the film, displaying the different types of UFOs depicted.
Epilogue: Getting out of the Flying Saucer Business
Ron and June Ormond
An article in the San Mateo Times of Oct. 9, 1958, reported that June Ormond would be speaking at a UFO club, discussing “The Real Flying Saucer Story” film project, also called, “Crusade to New Horizons.” Several prominent figures were to be on board. "The talents of George Van Tassel, Kenneth Arnold, Dan Fry, Ray and Rex Stanford, Dana Howard, Carl Anderson, Buck Nelson, Reinhold Schmidt and many others will be utilized.”
It never happened, but Ron and June Ormond did go on to make a UFO movie, Edge of Tomorrow debuted on May 28th, 1961, based on the first encounter of Reinhold O. Schmidt. His story is examined in: The Trial of a UFO Gold Digger.
Dr. Walther Riedel
The Los Angeles Times, Feb. 21, 1954, announced a lecture by Dr. Walther Riedel for the American Legion Hall on Feb. 25, 1954, “Rocket Expert to Give Flying Saucers Lecture.” His presentation was to “be illustrated with a motion picture and a series of slides on the subject of flying saucers.” As far as we can find, it was Riedel’s last public involvement with the UFO topic.
Donald Keyhoe’s “Redell” surfaced again as a major
character in his book about 1953-54 events, The Flying Saucer Conspiracy, 1955.
Jim Moseley’s unpublished book notes contained a 1954 update on Riedel, but didn’t describe where he’d gathered the information:
“Some time between talking to me in December 1953, and leaving for a vacation in his native Germany, Riedel unaccountably changed his position on saucers, and now professes to believe they are all natural phenomena, etc.”
Moseley printed something similar, that Riedel, "now says that they do not exist." on page 4 of (Saucer News) Nexus, Feb. 1955.
That was essentially the last the UFO world heard from Dr. Riedel, and in time, he moved permanently back to Germany. However, his old quotes on saucers continued to be quoted by UFO advocates, even today. Fans think he "Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers," and was silenced.
It’s mostly speculation, but trouble had been brewing for some time before that. A CIA memorandum (CIA PDF – Transcribed text) from Feb. 9, 1953, based on Riedel’s statements of his CSI activities in Los Angeles:
“Of incidental interest may be the fact that NAA (National Aeronautical Association) suggested politely and perhaps indirectly to Dr. Riedel that he disassociate himself from official membership [in] CSI.”
UFO historian Michael Swords thinks that after CIA’s Robertson Panel (chaired by Dr.Howard P. Robertson), the U.S. government was responsible. From UFOs and Abductions: Challenging the Borders of Knowledge, David M. Jacobs, ed., 2000, p. 115:
“Within a month, the FBI was investigating Los Angeles’s Civilian Saucer Investigations, and [Walther] Riedel was being pressured to resign. Robertson shortly wrote to [CIA Assistant Director] Marshall Chadwell: “That ought to fix the Forteans.”
CSI had also received some negative press, and besides, their work had stagnated in 1954 due to it being a part-time endeavor. They shut it down. Jerome Clark wrote in The UFO Encyclopedia, “[The CSI leadership and] associates left the field and were not heard from again.
The science fiction magazine, IF: Worlds of Science Fiction , Dec. 1956, featured “This Lonely Earth” by Dr. Walther Riedel, a 9-page essay about the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the challenge of traveling to find it. He was confident that, “The existence of intelligent life within the Universe, and within our own Milky Way galaxy is beyond doubt.” However, he made no mention of flying saucers.
. . .
Additional Sources and References
Thanks to Jeff Knox and Issac Koi for their help in researching Riedel and the film.
Luis Ruiz Noguez wrote a series of articles in 2016 on Ron Ormond and Fliegende Untertassen at Marcianitos Verdes (Spanish) Part One- Part Two- Part Three
