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.

The Professor's Message from Space

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,” Fate July 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.

Green Bay Press-Gazette, April 14, 1952

Matt Weintstock’s column on the editorial page of the Los Angeles Daily News, June 26, 1952, reflected Adamski’s status at the time. 

“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.”

Blade Tribune, Feb. 4, 1953

The Phoenix Gazette, November 24, 1952

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

Daily Press, Oct. 23, 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.

Saucer News - Adamski Expose Issue

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 Adamski at 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.

A Critical Appraisal of George Adamski: The ManWho Spoke to the Space Brothers by Marc Hallet.