Criswell Predicts Flying Saucers

The Amazing Criswell's UFO involvement goes much deeper than just hosting the flying saucer invasion movie, Plan 9 from Outer Space.

Criswell aka Jeron King Criswell (originally Jeron Criswell Konig) was an astrologer and psychic to Hollywood stars. He became a minor celebrity himself, with his own television show, newspaper column, and was a frequent guest on talk shows.  

Fate magazine brought us news of flying saucers and the paranormal and early issues also featured the column, Criswell Predicts.

Criswell's column from Oct. 2, 1950 included a UFO book review:

"On your book shelf, there is one book that is building to a best seller by word of mouth, and that is Richard S. Shaver's exciting 'I Remember Lemuria,' which gives evident proof that the ancient races still live, the Atlans, the Titans and many others who return to this earth in 'flying saucers' after 200 centuries of living beyond the blue. This startling information is backed by some of our most prosaic scientists of 1950!" 

His Criswell Predicts column from November 9, 1950, contained one of his few accurate predictions:

"The next trend in fiction will be the brutal interplanetary invasions and wars, which Fate Magazine has pioneered for some time." Another hit was at the end of 1952. Criswell had many predictions for the coming year and said that the US would “undergo an epidemic of flying saucers.”

Criswell and the World's First Flying Saucer Convention

In the early 1950s, Criswell was a member of a flying saucer club in Los Angeles., and in 1953 they put together a convention. Orfeo Angelucci described its origins in his 1955 book, The Secret of the Saucers.

“… as the crowds increased, the Club House was no longer large enough to accommodate everyone. It was then that Max Miller... and [Jeron] Criswell, the well-known columnist and television Man of Prophecy, suggested that we rent the music room in the famous old Hollywood Hotel for our weekly meetings. …[Later] Miller conceived the idea of a Flying Saucer Convention.” 

It was billed as “the World's First Flying Saucer Convention,” and held at the Hollywood Hotel on August 16-18, 1953. Although some scientific and serious UFO researchers were invited, they declined and most of the speakers were more in the Contactee camp. Criswell served as the convention’s principal program moderator and guests included Frank Scully, Silas Newton, Forrest J. Ackerman, George Adamski, Truman Bethurum, Orfeo Angelucci, George Van Tassel, and Max Miller. By some accounts, over 1500 people attended and the facilities were filled beyond capacity.

SAUCERS, Dec. 1953

Based on its success, the next year George Van Tassel launched an annual Spacecraft Convention at Giant Rock, California. Ever since, UFO conferences have been a little corner of show business.

 

Criswell on Captured Flying Saucers and Disclosure

Criswell was associated with the UFO topic strongly enough for that he was described as a “TV prophet and saucer columnist,” in Gray Barker’s The Saucerian magazine. Barker's Saucerian Bulletin: shared a Criswell prediction of imminent UFO Disclosure: 

"On the ABC-TV show, 'You Asked for It,' of several weeks ago, Criswell, the widely syndicated West Coast columnist who makes his living by trying to peer into the future, predicted flatly that an announcement on just what flying saucers are would be made by the government on Dec 10, 1953."

The Roundhouse, October 1953 (newsletter for Maquoketa, Iowa Cup & Saucer Club) reported further details: "Criswell has predicted that the government will make an official announcement on the existence of flying saucers on December 10, 1953. He previously said we would have space travel by 1963 because of the captured flying discs.”

There was at least one skeptical piece by Criswell from a 1954 column. The wife of an alleged Contactee wrote in and Criswell said his nonsense shouldn't be encouraged.

The science fiction magazine Spaceway, June 1955 featured a cover story with Mae West and Criswell as spacemen, “Criswell Predicts: Our First Moon Flight.” He said his friend Mae West would be elected US president in 1960 on a space travel platform, and he’d join her on a flight to the moon. The same year, the singer recorded the song "Criswell Predicts" for her album, The Fabulous Mae West.

The newspaper column Criswell Predicts continued to occasionally mention flying saucers among his other prophecies, and in late 1955, Criswell had a particularly emphatic one:

“I predict that Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker will make a most startling statement of factual evidence concerning flying saucers before March 30, 1956! Remember this prediction!”

In 1956, Criswell was the narrator for Ed Wood’s flying saucer movie, Plan 9 from Outer Space, which was later released in 1958. Criswell opens this possibly prophetic tale by saying, “We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives.”

Criswell's opening narration for Plan 9 

Afterwards, we’re faced with the possibility that we’ve already been invaded.
“Can you prove it didn’t happen?… God help us in the future!”

The 1968 book, Criswell Predicts Your Future from Now to the Year 2000, contained a few mentions of the mysteries of space and UFOs:

“In the vision of many men, we have seen the inhabitants of other planets who have visited our earth.  I predict that these visits will increase in frequency over the next 20 years.  By 1988, there will be substantiated records of visits to earth from other planets.

And, from time to time, many earth people will leave this earth to return to alien planets with the visitors from outer space.  And, in the long run, these will be the lucky ones.  For they and their descendants will escape the doomsday that will come on August 18, 1999.”

His 1970 record, The Legendary Criswell Predicts! Your Incredible Future, contained another bold saucer prophecy:

"I predict that flying saucers will officially land on the lawn of the White House to open up a new outer-space, inter-world treaty. Mark this date on your calendar: May the sixth, 1991."

In his Criswell Predicts column for July 24, 1977:

“UFOs Again – I predict that in coming court trial for damages, our government will be forced to admit that unidentified flying objects do exist and damages will be paid for personal injuries to person and property. This will be one of the top cases of the year.”

In October 1977 Criswell spoke at George Van Tassel’s Spacecraft Convention at Giant Rock, California. He said of the location, “The area becomes alive at dusk, when you can actually hear… a funny whirring sound of the space people around Giant Rock.”

Criswell did not live to see Earth’s doomsday he predicted at the end of the century. He died on October 4, 1982.

See the article, “Who was Criswell?” at the Criswell Predicts site for more on his biography beyond his saucer exploits.

Houdini on the Meaning of Flying Saucers

A warning from beyond the grave about UFOs.

Joseph Dunninger had been waiting for decades for a message from his departed friend, magician Harry Houdini. 

Brownwood Bulletin Oct.14, 1952

Psychic Henry C. Roberts was making a name for himself as an expert on Nostradamus and his prophecies. This time, Roberts had a message for the world from another source, and he urged Dunninger broadcast it to the the world. He had been contacted by the spirit of Houdini, who told him that the flying saucers were a warning for mankind. 

Houdini, like the aliens Xeglon, Klaatu and Orthon, carried a message for the Earth:

Stop your wars and atomic bombs or be destroyed.

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (Lubbock, Texas) Aug. 3, 1952

That story seems to have been about the extent of Henry C. Roberts' involvement with UFOs - and Houdini's. Joshua Blu Buhs' blog, From an Oblique Angle, has more on the saga of Roberts' life, see: Henry C. Roberts as a Fortean

John Mittl: from Unsolved UFOs to Astral Encounters

by Claude Falkstrom and Curt Collins

The "Unknowns," the cases Project Blue Book labelled "Unidentified," are the ones that interest UFO researchers the most. These are the cases are highly prized, as they provide the strongest evidence that some UFOs could be something unearthly. One such case is the report of John Mittl. While a few may know about his 1952 UFO report, not many know about his Mittl's UFO lectures, research or subsequent sightings.

John Mittl first became known for taking four photographs of a disc-like object July 9, 1952 from his farm in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. He wrote to the Air Force about the sighting, and the story was covered in newspapers and broadcast on radio by the legendary Frank Edwards.

The Morning Call July 31, 1952

Saturday Night Uforia hosts a page collecting the surviving Project Blue Book documents on the case, classified as "Unidentified."

Much More to Mittl

Mittl was only 22 at the time of the sighting, but was a man of many interests and talents, a former prize-winning member of the Future Farmers of America.

The_Morning Call Sept. 29. 1947

He was also a rock hound and gemstone cutter, and this is as good a place as any to mention that he was a vegetarian, and that his favorite dish was fried hot peppers.

The Morning Call Dec. 6, 1956, The Morning Call Jun. 16, 1960

Besides UFOs, photography, agriculture, herpetology and nature conservation, Mittl was interested in the occult. In 1960 he published a paper, "Astral Projection (Modus Operandi) by John Mittl PS.D, MS.D, D.D."

Astral projection is the term from Theosophy for the act of sending one's spiritual self or soul on an out-of-body trip. Mittl described what he provided the reader:

A simple method of instruction whereby the sincere student of the occult may readily learn to project his astral body and learn some of the deep secrets of the spiritual phase of exsistence, as well gain deeper insight into the realms of eternal life, knowing that death of the present physical body is not the end, but the beginning of our absolute ubiquity.

It's not known where Mittl studied to master the discipline, but one institution advertised in Popular Mechanics magazine offering three of the exact degrees he stated:

Within Astral Projection," he discussed the potential benefits of it as a means of exploration. "You may also desire a solution to Life's Mysteries as well as problems in your own personal life. The mystery of flying saucers may be revealed to you while on an Astral Flight."

Paranormal radio pioneer Long John Nebel in his 1961 book, Way Out World, compared Mittl to George Adamski and the Contactees:

Somewhat less dramatic, somewhat less physical, than his West Coast competitors is John Mittl of Pennsylvania. A vegetarian and recluse who petitioned long and hard to be on the all-night session, he told an interesting tale, but hardly soared to the heights of imagination attained by (Howard) Menger and (Orfeo) Angelucci. Mittl described many “contacts” achieved under dreamlike astral conditions. He spoke freely of etheric type saucers and other such things. However, it appeared that he was not really in his proper field because I recently got a brochure from him announcing that he was available for lectures on special theories of diet and nutrition.

Nebel was unaware of what all he was missing, like Mittl's expertise in snakes. There was no talent for that in the other Contactees. Mittl was also a attuned to the world around us, sensitive to animals and nature itself.

Standard Speaker Nov. 23, 1964

Despite his other interests, he still made time for flying saucers.

The Morning Call Nov. 9, 1964

Fourteen Years Later

Many witnesses become famous for a single UFO encounter or photograph, but Mittl's 1952 pictures were lost amidst the big flap of 1952. His time arrived in 1966.

“Our Space Age” was a daily syndicated illustrated feature written by Otto Binder and illustrated by Carl Pfeufer. Its main thrust was covering NASA's space exploration, but also covered Binder's other big interests, science-fiction and UFOs. In January 1966, it presented a six-part story on the otherworldly adventures of John Mittl. 

The Daily Journal Jan. 10-11-12 1966

The Daily Journal Jan. 13-14-15, 1966

The Morning Call from Allentown, Pennsylvania, Oct. 10, 1966 featured a lengthy illustrated article detailing Mittl's experiences and outlook.

Mittl was interviewed around the same time for The National Tattler, discussing his psychic experiences with UFOs, and making some predictions, such as the impeachment of President Johnson.

Mittl was still lecturing in 1979. From The Morning Call, Feb. 12, 1979, "Allentonian aims to prove flying saucers are spiritual."

Mittl said everybody can see the saucers when they materialize, but they are "still not physical. No one ever found one that crashed," he said. He explained that many continuous "sightings" by various people over the years was not an indication of "game playing" by UFOs. but simply showed some people were prepared to see them.

After that, Mittl doesn't seem to have gotten much press, at least for his UFO interest, but legendary psychic Harold Sherman mentioned him favorably in his 1986 book, The Dead Are Alive: They Can and Do Communicate With You. Sherman told how he'd recommended Mittl's classes,  and they helped a desperate friend reconnect with his departed wife via astral projection.

Forty Years Later

We're always interested to see what became of the participants in UFO stories through the march of time. John Mittl was interviewed by The Morning Call again in 1992, about his investigations and his thoughts on the physical nature of UFOs.

"I was always looking for one that would crash. I was like everybody else until I began to think about it... I found out after I did astral projection that there is no `physical' ship'."

Mittl made the papers again in 1996, based on one of his more earthly hobbies.

John Mittl briefly had a blog, Peppers & Projection in December 2009, which published some mementos from his UFO days. Sadly, his memories of those incredible experiences were later lost due to the onset of dementia. As of 2014,  he was living in Sandpoint, Idaho at the Valley Vista nursing facilities.

Despite his many other UFO experiences, Project Blue Book has only information about John Mittl's historic photograph case from 1952. As we've seen here, there was a lot more to his story.

The UFO and Bermuda Triangle Cruise with Charles Berlitz

The Bermuda Triangle Cruise 
In our earlier story on Lawrence Brill and the PSI (Psychic, Spiritual and Intuition) Conferences, The 1974 Tampa Flying Saucer Symposium, we saw that follow-up events were planned, both on land and at sea. Brill did not see live to see his dream of a psychic and UFO conference aboard a sea cruise come true. But in 1975, someone tried something pretty close.

Charles Berlitz was the best-selling author of The Bermuda Triangle which also dabbled a bit in UFO lore (long before he co-authored The Philadelphia Experiment and The Roswell Incident with William Moore). Berlitz was the headliner for a Bermuda Triangle sea cruise that also featured one of Lawrence Brill’s stars from PSI Conferences, Page Bryant, psychic radio talk show host from Tampa.

Page Bryant, from her The Earth Changes Survival Handbook, 1983

The  Pez Espada IV cruise was hosted by WFTL (850 AM) West Palm Beach, Florida. A long article by Jim Gallagher in the Detroit Free Press, May 25, 1975, told the story, warts and all:

What led WFTL to finance the Pez adventure, however, was more a concern for profits than for losses. According to Ted Agnew, afternoon newsman at the station (and no relation to the former vice-president) management at WFTL was looking for a publicity gimmick to attract listeners during its spring rating review period. Realizing that the Bermuda Triangle has become big business Berlitz's book has been No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list for two dozen weeks and two paperbacks on the Triangle have sold considerably more than a million copies each they decided to send a ship into the area and have Agnew do live broadcasts from onboard. 

From another section,

Besides Berlitz, the other experts on board were Page Bryant, a corpulant housewife who claims to be a psychic, and Dr. Manson Valentine, an aging zoologist (his specialty is beetles) who believes in the existence of extraterrestrial beings. "We have some very sophisticated friends and ancestors in outer space," Valentine said. However, he has yet to make contact with any of them. Not that he hasn't tried. "I've been telling them for years to come out and show themselves, to talk to me man-to-man," he confided. "But they just won't do it and I'm certainly miffed with them.'" Valentine believes the Triangle disappearances are related to UFO traffic in the area. The exhaust systems of the UFOs, he said, upset the magnetic stability there. Valentine supplied Berlitz with much of the material included in his book "The Bermuda Triangle.

(For a larger view of the newspaper article below, clink on the caption/link.)

Detroit Free Press, May 25, 1975

The second part of the article provides the details on the (low-grade) UFO sighting during the voyage.

Before the voyage began, Ms. Bryant made four predictions: the ship would have engine trouble, there would be a fire at sea, UFOs would be sighted on Friday evening, and the Pez would not fall victim to the Triangle curse. Each was borne out by later events...

At a post-cruise press conference, Allen Moore asked Ted Agnew about the UFOs. "I saw a light... much larger than the running light of an airplane." 

It wasn't much of a UFO, just a light in the sky, but the WFTL promoter pushed to glorify it.

 Moore wouldn't give up, "But it was unidentified, so it would be a UFO," he insisted.

Detroit Free Press, May 25, 1975

Berlitz continued to dabble with the UFO topic in his books, in 1977 with another Bermuda Triangle book, Without a Trace, and in 1978 with William Moore The Philadelphia Experiment, and then together again with Moore in 1980, with UFOs front and center in a book about a crashed flying saucer, The Roswell Incident.

Without Charles Berlitz, these stories probably would have never reached the mainstream public, at least in bestselling books. Berlitz died on December 18, 2003, but the legends he published will be circulated forever.

"Linguist Charles Berlitz Dies" by Adam Bernstein, Washington Post, December 31, 2003.

PSI ‘74: Psychics and the UFO Witness from Pascagoula

In our last installment, UFO Promoter, Lawrence Brill: From Crime to Conferences, we saw how a convicted real estate swindler found a new calling as the promoter of a paranormal and UFO conferences.

The PSI in PSI Conferences was for Psychic, Spiritual and Intuition. Brill, with the help of rising psychic star, Bernadene Villanueva, they were able to gather an impressive roster for their first program, top talent ranging from psychic celebrities to scientists and best-selling authors. The conference was named PSI ’74 and events were held at the Hilton Hotel and the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Aug. 2, 3 and 4, 1974. The conference was heavily promoted through advertising and Villanueva’s media interviews.

Uni-Com Guide: Here and Now Aug. 1974 featured a cover and interview with Bernadene Villanueva, and a full-page ad for PSI ‘74

The two-day conference included psychic rap sessions, Mrs. Dixon’s speech “A Gift Of Prophecy” and psychic healings.

PSI ‘74 featured:

Psychics

Jeane Dixon was the keynote speaker, “A Gift Of Prophecy”

Joseph DeLouise known for his predictions (Chicago)

Bernadene Villanueva (gave a demonstration of psychic healing)

Rev. Jean Page Bryant Tampa psychic, radio talk show host

Scientists

Dr. J. Wilfred Hahn of the Mind Science Foundation (Laredo, TX)

Dr. Stanton Maxey (Stuart, FL) Acupuncture Expert, speaking “on the elimination of fatigue factor in pilots as a means of preventing airplane crashes.”

Writers

Jess Stearn, author of “Edgar Cayce: The Sleeping Prophet”

Robert Prete, Astrologer and publisher of Rising Sign magazine (Los Angeles)

Tom Valentine, editor of The National Tattler

Robert Parker, New Awareness magazine founder

Perhaps to pad the show, Brill added some UFO content,

Charles Hickson (UFO witness)

“I was on a UFO”

The Pascagoula Abduction story of Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker is so famous, we won’t repeat it here, but for anyone needing a recap, here’s their own story from their hometown paper, Pascagoula’s The Mississippi Press, Oct. 13, 1973:

See larger version in the PSI '74 photo collection.

Most of the other guests did not have a strong UFO connection, but Page Bryant believed that UFOs had a connection to the Bermuda Triangle, and Jeane Dixon had made a high-profile prediction on the future of UFOs.

The Press Coverage

Jeane Dixon’s appearance grabbed most of the press attention, recounting several of her predictions, from the topic of UFOs to the fate of the U.S. President.

Sarasota Herald Tribune, Aug 5 1974
See larger version in the PSI '74 photo collection.

The Clearwater Sun August 5, 1974

"Dixon Fails To Spellbound" by Michael Bane

Ms. Dixon came to St. Petersburg at the behest of the promoters of PSI ‘74, an omnibus convention of almost anyone interested in the psychic world and psychic phenomena. Their playbill ran the gamut from authors and lecturers to UFOlogists to Ms. Dixon, the Saturday night headliner. The crowd was primed for revelations. Ms. Dixon had none to offer.

Questions from the audience gave “her a chance to run down her most recent predictions – UFOs would soon be in contact with the Earth, the President (Nixon) would remain in office and weather the impeachment storm, former vice-President Agnew is slated for a comeback in the United States is slated for a civil war before the end of the century, backed by “our country’s enemies.”


A Disclosure of Pascagoula Contact - of the Psychic Kind

In August, Reporter John Keasler wrote a multi-part article series on the PSI ’74 conference for the Thomasville Times. In addition to the lectures, there was a thriving section for merchants offering products and services:

Today I'll describe a psychic convention. You go with an open mind no pun meant, and your first impression could be oh - oh: Look out for the pitchmen, keep one hand on your wallet and don't play cards with strangers. The impression doesn't last very long, although there is an "ESP - testing machine" for sale at a booth in the corridor. It's simply a calculator in which you push buttons and try to match numbered lights you can't see, on the operators side. I don't think many were sold at $179.50. For 50 cents you can test your own psychic ability.

Charles Hickson of Pascagoula, Mississippi.

During the show, Keasler met UFO witness Charles Hickson, and found him to be the most credible person there. He interviewed Hickson about his Pascagoula abduction experiences, and Hickson told him that for months afterward he was terrified, but something had eased that.

“Yeah the fear’s gone now. It was bad for a while. I can’t tell you how bad.”

Keasler asked if it was because of the monstrous appearance of his abductors.

“That was bad enough, but something more than that. I couldn’t explain it to myself, at first. But it was that they were machines.”

When asked, Hickson said, “What made the fear go away? I can’t really tell you … just yet.”

Keasler backed off, but later returned to the topic. Hickson refused, so the reporter took a stab, guessing, “ Do you mean that you are being somehow contacted by space people?  Telepathically?”

Hickson, replied, “Yep.” But he wouldn’t say more about it. Discussing his abductors, Hickson said, “…what picked me and Calvin up was machines… operated by a mind somewhere else.”

Later, Kessler returned to the telepathic contact, asking, “When did your messages start?”

“About three months after they got us, or to put it this way, just about the same time my nightmares stopped.”

Keasler asked him if he was worried they would come back, but Hickson said, “I wouldn’t be afraid next time.”

“Because of the messages you’ve gotten?”

“I can’t say yet."

From UFO Contact at Pascagoula, 1983 book by Charles Hickson and William Mendez.

Two years later, Hickson recalled his close encounter with a famous psychic from the conference.

Valley News (Van Nuys, CA) June 27, 1976

"Man still marvels at ‘space things’" by Douglas R. Sease (UPI)

“I'm convinced to my satisfaction that they were robots controlled by a mother ship somewhere... I spoke with Jeane Dixon (a reputed Washington, D.C. psychic) about this and she fully believed me,” Hickson said. “She said they came from a planet that's just beyond Jupiter, one our astronomers think is there but they haven’t seen it since Jupiter is always between it and the earth."

When Prophecy Fails

Jeane Dixon and the psychics at PSI ‘74 failed to foresee the resignation of President Richard Nixon on August 8, 1974, just days after the conference. If the prediction of UFO disclosure and contact were to be fulfilled, it would be under the leadership of the newly inaugurated Gerald Ford as President of the United States.

PSI Expansion

In the weeks that followed, PSI Conferences produced some smaller events, a one-day event:

Saturday Aug 24

Meditation

PSI Conferences 1 day only lecture at Tampa’s Admiral Benbow Inn.

(Day-long conference)

Fee $25 All Lectures & Banquet

and later, a 6-week class on

PSI Conferences Study Center Classes

Aug 27 - Oct 16 Weeks $25 10 - 12 AM

Psychic Development 

Introduction to Metaphysics Psychic Development
Instructor Page Bryant

These classes were partly to produce some income until the next PSI Conferences production...

Lawrence Brill and his PSI Conferences partners were taken by surprise that one of their minor acts at PSI ‘74 received a disproportionate amount of interest. Charles Hickson of the Pascagoula abduction had been a big hit, and it inspired them to put UFOs front and center for their second major event, the Flying Saucer Symposium in November of 1974.

Next up, the story of the epic

1974 Tampa Flying Saucer Symposium

For the STTF collection of more news articles on PSI ‘74, see this link.