Håkan Blomqvist´s blog

About five years ago documentary filmmakerns Michael Cavanagh and Kerstin Übelacker watched a UFO documentary on Discovery Channel where several ufologists were interviewed. Most of them spoke confidently of extraterrestrials as the solution to the UFO enigma. One of the ufologists, Clas Svahn of UFO-Sweden, simply said he didn´t have the answer. This so impressed Michael and Kerstin that they decided to contact Clas Svahn to make a documentary on UFOs and UFO-Sweden. Beginning in the Autumn of 2010 the team has followed the activities of the organization and especially the expeditions to lake Nammajaure to find a Ghost Rocket that was observered to have landed and sank in the lake in 1980.

Michael Cavanagh and Kerstin Übelacker at the UFO-Sweden board meeting in Ängelholm January 21, 2011

Michael and Kerstin have been our constant companions for almost five years. And this year the result of their hard work has come to an end with the release of the documentary Ghost Rockets. Already the film has been shown in Gothenburg, Malmö and Stockholm and yesterday it was showtime here at Norrköping. Later this year the documentary will be shown on Swedish television. On Thursday we had a press conference at AFU for the local media. The media coverage was good and you can find links to articles, radio and TV on Clas Svahn´s blog.

Me and AFU collegue Anders Liljegren preparing for the press conference

Helena Jalkner of 24nt interviewing Clas Svahn

Journalist from Radio Östergötland interviewing Clas Svahn

Yesterday around 130 persons turned up to watch Ghost Rockets at Cnema in Norrköping. Clas Svahn gave an excellent introduction to the film and the mystery of the Ghost Rockets. This was the first time I watched the documentary and I was tremendously impressed by the quality and feel good sense in the film. People with no knowledge of UFOs will get a good and serious presentation of the real enigma of the Ghost Rockets together with a very likeable and empathetic view of UFO-Sweden and its members.

Clas Svahn introducing the documentary at Cnema

Some of the UFO-Sweden gang after the show

Ghost Rockets have already been sold to Norway, Denmark, Finland and Canada and I sincerely hope that people in many more countries will have a chance to watch this unique documentary. My salute to Kerstin Übelacker and Michael Cavanagh for an excellent job.

In my latest book Gudarna återvänder. Ufo och den esoteriska traditionen (Return of the Gods. UFOs and the Esoteric Tradition) and several blog entries I have advanced the theory that some of the controversial physical contactees of the 1950s were involved in a cultural influence test. An experiment implemented by a group of benevolent aliens, earth based or extraterrestrial, a group with access to “vimana” technology. Within mainstream scientific ufology this is a rather heretic theory and can be regarded as an expanded version of Jacques Vallee`s Esoteric Intervention Theory.

A brief summary of my arguments for seriously considering this theory follows:
1. Many years of investigating and documenting physical contact cases have convinced me that some individuals (very few) have actually met and communicated with “aliens” from somewhere.
2. In spite of their faults and personality idiosyncrasies there is circumstantial evidence that the following contactees were involved in a cultural and psychological test: George Adamski, Orfeo Angelucci, Daniel Fry, George Van Tassel, Howard Menger.
3. The contact experiences of journalist Paul M. Vest indicates that the test was a carefully orchestrated plan by this benevolent group.
4. The message or information presented to these contactees is a somewhat simplified version of the Esoteric Tradition with basic ideas such as: a multiverse reality, reincarnation, universal laws for the evolution of consciousness, Earth a quarantined or “prison planet”, man not alone in the universe etc. In order to detect and understand the similarity in ideas between the contactee messages and esotericism a thorough acquaintance with the works of Helena Blavatsky and Alice Bailey is required. Few ufologists have this background.
5. The “hidden hand” similarities between the outbreak of spiritistic phenomena in the 19th century and UFO phenomena in the 1940s and 50s. In the Esoteric Tradition this hidden hand is the planetary guardians, the custodians of the Ancient Wisdom (scientists of the multiverse) using "phenomena" to expand the worldview and consciousness of man, a form of education through astonishment.

A seminal influence on my developing this theory has been the contact experiences and ideas presented by Paul M. Vest in his article Venusians Walk Our Streets, originally published in Ray Palmer´s Mystic Magazine, August 1954. From an esoteric viewpoint this is one of the most fascinating and intriguing articles ever written on the UFO enigma. In an earlier blog entry I discussed Paul M. Vest and his meeting with the enigmatic "Bill".

For many years I have tried to obtain more data on Paul M. Vest, without much success. From Janet Kerschner, National Archivist of the Theosophical Society in America (Adyar), I recieved the information that Paul M. Vest was living in Santa Monica in 1940. He was single and working as a government clerk and living as a lodger. Checking with the Santa Monica Public Library I was informed that Paul M. Vest was listed in the City Directories from 1940 until 1958. Some very good help was provided by Joshua Blu Buhs, author of Bigfoot. the Life and Times of a Legend. Joshua also maintains an excellent blog on Fortean personalities and history.

Joshua Blu Buhs found some additional data on Paul M. Vest and also an old photograph. Paul Maurice Vest was born on August 9, 1906 in Colorado. Parents were George Vest, a rancher and Mary Harding. In 1935 Paul moved to Seattle, Washington and later to Santa Monica, California. In the 1940s and 1950s he worked for the city government in various capacities, including a collector of fees for licenses. He died in Los Angeles on March 5, 1983. In some of the articles that Paul M. Vest wrote for Fate Magazine he presented himself as Ph.D. But I have found no data of where he obtained this degree.

Paul M. Vest

The articles Paul M. Vest wrote for Fate Magazine in the 1950s and 60s indicate that he was an accomplished and erudite esotericist, well versed in the writings of Helena P. Blavatsky and Alice Bailey. He defended these pioneers in two biographical articles. Commenting on Blavatsky he wrote: "One day the world may discover that this magligned and abused woman was even more right than we imagine today." (Fate, October 1951). His assessment of Alice Bailey was given in a biographical article in Fate, June 1963: "No modern voice, however, has spoken out more forcefully and authoritatively affirming the reality of "The Masters" than that of Alice A. Bailey."

Alice Bailey

In the pages of Fate Magazine he also shared several personal paranormal experiences and encounters, presented under the Fate heading True Mystic Experiences. In the December 1952 issue he relates an out-of-body experience when he was close to drowning while swimming in the Pacific Ocean near Sal Beach: “… I was suddenly no longer in my drowning body. As swift as a flash my consciousness, or self, had withdrawn to a distance 10 or 12 feet above and was looking down at my body floundering in the sea… I watched swimmers rescue my body and haul it unconscious to shore… Since that day I no longer think of my body as “I” any more than I would think of one of my garments as “I”.” (p. 65).

In the February 1954 issue Vest relates an experience that happened in 1928 while he spent some time at a summer resort in the Colorado Rockies. He enjoyed walking at night in the forest surrounding the resort. One night he discovered that he was lost in the forest. In a clearing he discover a mountain cabin but when approaching he is overwhelmed by a sense of foreboding and fear. “Then about 10 feet ahead of me a soft glow appeared. Astonished, I saw that the light formed the outline of a tall robed figure, the details of which were not visible. The figure pointed off into the forest to my right.” Vest walked in the direction the figure had indicated and soon found his way back. The next morning he was informed that a very violent murderer had escaped and had been captured in the cabin in the forest. (p. 52-53).

Perhaps it was these experiences that initiated his interest in the deeper mysteries of life and entered his “years of research and experience in occult and psychic phenomena” as Vest relates in Venusians Walk Our Streets: “I´ve always been something of a skeptic. I have met swamis, yogis mediums, clairvoyants, mystics and self styled messiahs by the score, but I have never been duped by any of them, even those who were sincere but self-deceived. Also I have met several persons whom I know without any doubt to be true spiritual adepts; even as I have known several sensitives, or mediums, who are honest, sincere and able to produce authentic paranormal phenomena.”

The enigmatic “venusian” Bill, also known as Mr. Wheeler or Venuto, is a key figure during the early contactee era. Several journalists, ufologists and contactees met and interacted with him. I am somewhat surprised that no one in the U.S. has done any follow up investigation on this case. George Van Tassel met Mr. Wheeler who visited some of the Van Tassel meetings, witnessed by many in his group. In his magazine Proceedings Van Tassel relates: "I personally talked with "Venuto", who figured in the Los Angeles Time`s case, and who worked for Los Angeles County for several weeks. This Venusian, dubbed "Venuto" by the reporters in the case, visited us here several months after he disappeared from his job in Los Angeles. This vissit was in the presence of 23 witnesses." (Proceedings, July 1956, p. 6). In another article George Van Tassel also mention that Mr. Wheeler, when visiting Giant Rock Airport, demonstrated a technical device that made his invisible: "The man didn´t dematerialize. He was still there, because the third time he disappeared I had my hand on his shoulder, and he was solid; still there under my hand." (Proceedings, April, May, June 1977, p. 14)

George Van Tassel

The encounter with “Bill” was obviously a momentous event in the life of Paul M. Vest. He recognized his visitor as “no ordinary man” but a “much wiser, gentler and more highly evolved being than I – and with infinitely greater perceptive ability.” I have not found any more articles by Vest regarding his involvement with Mr. Wheeler. I hope my American colleagues can discover more data on Paul M. Vest, perhaps also his personal archive and correspondence. The cultural impact of the first generation contactees was tremendous and the books they wrote translated and published in many countries around the world. There are still many questions and riddles to be solved relating to this “esoteric intervention”.

We use to say there is a spirit of place, the special quality associated with a city or rural area. Every group and organization also creates its own, special spirit or Genius loci. The unique and distinctive character of the organization shaped by the ideas, activities and personalities of the members. This also applies to UFO-Sweden. New active members will not only be confronted with magazine articles, Internet discussions and the official ideology but at a more subtle level experience the UFO-Sweden spirit. I believe this spirit was very well formulated by newcomer Amanda Fredriksson after having participated in her first annual weekend field investigator seminar in November 2008: "My general impression is that there is so much joy in UFO-Sweden".

Amanda Fredriksson and Clas Svahn at the field investigator seminar 2008

Clas Svahn, Rickard Andersson and Carl-Anton Mattsson chatting at the seminar

Mats Nilsson with his wonderful t-shirt saying: "We write about things that almost doesn´t exist"

This often mentioned joyfulness, goodwill and companionship has been the mark of UFO-Sweden for many years and is certainly one of the explanations for its success. There has of course been conflicts and problems but the very special UFO-Sweden spirit has prevailed and those who have been active for many years use to say that we are like a family. Deep and lasting friendships have been made. I belive many of my collegues share the feeling of homebase when it comes to UFO-Sweden.

This UFO-Sweden spirit began to develop partly as a consequence of the annual field investigator seminars starting in 1977 at the Lersäter residential study center. These weekend seminars soon developed into pleasant social gatherings for UFO-Sweden members and the notion of the Lersäter spirit was formulated. The annual field investigator seminars still have a very important social function when it comes to introducing and getting to know new members. Today the seminars are arranged at Föllingen hotel in Östergötland.

Chinese lanterns launched during the field investigator seminar 2011

Important social gatherings are also the annual conferences and expo, arranged in different Swedish cities each year. Since 1998 UFO-Sweden has one board meeting every year at the charming Hotel Lilton in Ängelholm. This meeting is combined with dinner and mingling at the hotel.

Clas Svahn and Tobias Lindgren at the annual conference 2010

Part of the UFO-Sweden gang in 2011

Clas Svahn and Mikael Karlsson at Ängelholm January 22, 2012

An important part of the UFO-Sweden spirit is the lack of fundamentalism, the open but healthy critical attitude coupled with humour and a somewhat irreverent view of the often strange underground world of ufos and Forteana that we are part of. Personally I adopted this attitude from John Keel whos wonderful humour and iconoclastic writings felt like opening a window and letting in fresh air when I first read his books in the 1970s.

Johan Gustavsson at the Ängelholm gathering 2015, proving there really are tin foil hats in UFO-Sweden

My hope is that newcomers in the organization will continue the UFO-Sweden spirit of goodwill, joy and companionship. Investigation, research, hard work, idealism is the important foundation but after 45 years in the UFO movement I can attest that the social dimension is of equal importance to create a successful organization.

After many years of field investigation and documentation critical and scientifically oriented ufologists, Forteans and investigators of paranormal phenomena face the dilemma of finding a tenable and relevant theory, worldview or paradigm integrating all these diverse phenomena. Entering this realm becomes an intellectual challenge as the “paradigm market” presents a plethora of conflicting views and statements. But the existential implications of the unexplained phenomena forces the scholarly and open minded investigator to question mainstream science and philosophy. Journalist and Fortean John Keel expressed this challenge in his classic Operation Trojan Horse (1970): “I tried to adopt a very scientific approach to ufology, and this meant that I scoffed at the many contactee reports. But as my experiences mounted and investigations broadened, I rapidly changed my views... I have dealt with thousands of honest, sincere witnesses by mail, phone, and in person. My skepticism has melted away, and I have turned from science to philosophy in my search for the elusive truth".

The investigator of edge or borderland science becomes an intellectual and cultural heretic and outsider as mainstream academic science is dominated by the reductionist and materialist paradigm which automatically discards anything challenging this basic worldview. There are of course a few brave academic scholars openly advocating a different view. Dr. Joscelyn Godwin at Colgate University, New York and Dr. Jeffrey Kripal at Rice University, Houston, Texas are excellent open minded culture radicals in this respect.

My personal 45+ years in borderland research has also included dealing with the existential aspect of UFO and paranormal phenomena. With my academic background in History of Religions and Philosophy this was inevitable. I entered an arduous intellectual journey with many ups and downs including temporary stops at various metaphysical groups, Secular Humanism and Skepticism.

In 1997 I became fed up with all the irrational and inhuman nonsense I had encountered in the UFO and new age movement and longed for the clear light of reason and common sense. The result became six years active involvement in the secular humanist movement, in Sweden represented by Humanisterna. For several years I was elected vice chairman and in 2003 editor of the magazine Humanisten. After some ideological conflicts I left the organization in 2004.

One of the issues I published in 2003 as editor of Humanisten

In many respects I still regard myself as a Humanist sharing several of the objects and views of the organization such as the importance of secularism, the fight for human rights, women´s rights and opposition to religious fundamentalism. The secular humanist movement has many praiseworthy ideas and projects and is a important voice in todays world threatened by religious fanaticism and intolerance. Unfortunately most humanists are hard-line materialists and reductionists with very little knowledge of phenomena and experiences that challenge this worldview. They sometimes appear as the reverse side of naive new age activists confidently proclaiming the truth with no empiricial data and research.

They share this problem with the skeptical movement, in Sweden represented by the organization Vetenskap och Folkbildning - VoF. There are of course skeptics of all kinds. A critical but openminded attitude is a necessary intellectual tool when investigating UFO and paranormal phenomena. A detailed examination of skeptical internet sites and magazines reveal the fact that you will never find documentation of UFO or paranormal phenomena that remain unexplained. Skeptics are very anxious to print cases that have been solved by UFO-Sweden field investigators but you will never read about the unsolved cases. This is scientific and intellectual dishonesty. In UFO-Sweden publications you will find both the unexplained cases and those that have been solved and identified. This Allen Hynek quote is very appropriate here: "If you know the answer beforehand, it isn´t research." Still there are open minded skeptics who are doing some good research and also support AFU. Our foremost donor Hilary Evans was such a skeptic.

Neither reductionist materialism nor orthodox religion has any tenable answers when faced with UFO and paranormal phenomena which clearly indicate a multiverse reality. If there is a multiverse inhabited by various sentient beings of different evolution and intelligence there must also be a science of the multiverse. Which implies that it is reasonable to assume the existence of "scientists" of the multiverse or custodians of knowledge not discovered by mainstream science. This is the position maintained by The Esoteric Tradition or The Ancient Wisdom. I have found the esoteric worldview formulated by a.o. Helena Blavatsky, Alice Bailey and Henry T. Laurency the intellectually most interesting alternative paradigm to be used as a working hypothesis when dealing with UFO and paranormal phenomena. It represents a third way worldview between materialism och religion.

What often makes me hesitant to use the label esotericist are the many cults and irrational personalities claiming to represent esotericism. There is also the problem of right-wing extremists and neo-nazis who use and promote esoteric ideas to attract recruits. There are unfortunately potential dangers in advocating esotericism in our socially and politically unstable and troubled times. Perhaps it was with ideas like that in mind that made the adept K.H.remarked in a letter to Alfred Percy Sinnett: "Modern science is our best ally". (The Mahatma Letters To A.P. Sinnett, letter 13).

By advocating esotericism as a valid paradigm and working hypothesis in UFO and paranormal research I become something of a heretic among heretics. To be intellectually honest I must of course admit that I may be wrong. Only time and further research will tell. I believe Jacques Vallee expressed the central issue of our pursuit very well in Forbidden Science II: ”…the history of ufology should be placed within an esoteric context. The UFO problem, the question of parapsychology, are central to this business. Looking for the solution isn´t just a scientific project; it´s a quest, an initiation, an enigma like that of the Sphinx…”. (p. 211)

In August 1989 AFU collegue Anders Liljegren and I succeded in rescuing the exceedingly important correpondence files of Swedish UFO research pioneer K. Gösta Rehn, for many years the APRO representative in Sweden. We found them dumped in a container. 32 binders of correspondence with UFO witnesses, ufologists and scientists from all over the world. A treasure trove of fascinating data giving personal insights into the UFO movement of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. The last couple of days I have once again read all the 220 letters exchanged between K. Gösta Rehn and Coral and Jim Lorenzen, the founders of Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) in 1952. The letters covers the period 1958-1979.

K. Gösta Rehn

The APRO correspondence is especially important as the APRO archive is unfortunately not accessible. The sad story of how this unique archive was lost to the UFO research community was given by Clas Svahn, UFO-Sweden, in an article 2000. The APRO files are still, as far as I know, stored in a warehouse belonging to Mr. Bryan Myers and Ms. Tina Choate in Sedona, Arizona. Hopefully they will make this unique collection open and accessible in the future. Without archives we have no history, only anecdotes and hazy memories.

Jim and Coral Lorenzen. Copyright: Eugen Semitjovs minnesfond

K. Gösta Rehn became the Swedish APRO representative in 1958. He corresponded mostly with Coral E. Lorenzen and they soon became very intimate friends, not just discussing UFO issues but writing about everyday problems, diseases, life and philosophy. The first formal letters soon changed in tone and were later often signed Love and kisses. This was probably because Gösta (Gus) and Coral found out they shared many views not just on UFOs and research but on life in general. In a letter December 18, 1959 Coral wrote: "I am probably as irreligious and radical as you are; that is something we will be able to talk about a lot and you shall find a kindred soul. I hate tradition, hypocrisy, short-sightedness, etc. etc. with a purple passion. I was raised a Baptist and got wise to the religion racket when I was about 12 years old. I am nothing now and cling to some fundamental convictions of my own - a supreme being is about as far as I´ll ever be able to commit myself as far as religion is concerned... No, you didn´t misstep Gus - it´s refreshing to correspond with someone like you, believe me."

K. Gösta Rehn was 60 years when he became an APRO representative in 1958. In spite of his age he was in good health with an exuberant intellect and soon engaged in field investigations, documenting Swedish close encounter cases and regularly sending manuscripts to be published in The APRO Bulletin. He introduced himself in a letter September 12, 1958: "I am grown-up, all right, 60, not a crank or crack-pot, ex-American with 20 years stay in the USA, since 1939 amanuens in the Swedish State Power Board, Stockholm. I have been writing some articles for a Swedish magazine, engaged in cultural debate. I am a Batchelor of Law and Batchelor of Arts (Fordham)."

To the Lorenzen couple and K. Gösta Rehn it was self-evident that UFOs represented interplanetary visitors travelling in physical, technological craft. Like Robert Hastings has noted today, they were aware of that many observations were close to military installations and nuclear weapons sites. In 1959 Coral Lorenzen and the Brazilian APRO representative Dr. Olavo T. Fontes, M.D., interpreted this as preparations for an impending attack: "In short, we expect an attack of some kind in the not too distant future. We think we know how they will do it, and control the panicked population at the same time. We are convinced they are building bases in preparation, at the present time. Fontes is more optimistic about the possibility of defense than I am - I think we would be fools to try to defend ourselves." (Letter, October 22, 1959) Later Coral presented a somewhat more philosophical view regarding possible hostility: "... we cannot hope to devise a defense against a race which is obviously thousands of years ahead of us, despite the fact that at least 6 discs have crashed, and we are using their basic principals as best we know how... I don´t think they are aggressive just be to aggressive, Gus. I think they consider the people of this overpopulated world to be dangerous to them, with space travel and nuclear fission and precious little spiritual maturity in our hot little fists. And I don´t think I can really blame them. I think they have maintained outposts here and there at the closest planetary systems throughout the centuries, watching for just such outbursts as they observed when we exploded 3 A-bombs in 1945. When you consider it in that light, the whole thing makes sense." (Letter, November 4, 1959). Personally I wonder why Coral didn´t think the other way around, that the UFO observations close to military installations were instead a control to make sure we didn´t start a nuclear war and destroyed our planet. But that idea could have been looked upon as an endorsement of the contactee messages of the 1950s, which both Coral and Rehn regarded as cultish nonsense.

The letters also give a lot of detail on the constant competition and controversy with Donald Keyhoe´s organization NICAP, which was regarded as too conservative and a possible CIA front: "Someone must take the initiative and remain aloof and independent from the official.sponsored investigations. Someone, also, must objectively examine all of the evidence including the landing and occupant reports, which NICAP steadfastly denies." (Letter, March 11, 1967). "We´re pretty sure that McDonald is tied in with the CIA just as NICAP is. And he gets no more from us. He is a "secret" member of NICAP´s board - and they are the people who are constantly yakking about secrecy.". (Letter March 7, 1968).

When evaluating and discussing contactee experiences neither the Lorenzen nor Rehn could "objectively examine all the evidence", possibly because of their aversion to anything that could be associated with religion. They simply disregarded the contactee cases with no serious investigation. Not a very scientific attitude. Coral referred to Orfeo Angelucci as "evidently a psycho case" (Letter, June 29, 1959). When Daniel Fry visited Sweden in 1970 K. Gösta Rehn wrote to Coral lamenting the visit and the "three masterpieces of drivel" he had written: "Coming up here, thinking he can fool stupid Swedes". (Letter, July 28, 1970).

K. Gösta Rehn in conversation with Daniel Fry in Sweden 1970

The writings of Jacques Vallee and John Keel in the 1970s created an ideological dilemma among APRO representatives who usually were ETI proponents. Neither Lorenzen nor Rehn were happy with this new trend in UFO research. In a letter to Coral and Jim, March 7, 1974, Rehn discussed this problem: "I am a pianist, an amateur pianist, a worshipper of musical art. That´s my natural, innate signature. Consequently I am a mushhead like most artists. This might dispose me toward sympathy with the Keel-Vallee views on UFO. In fact, I tried to shake off my stern empiricist´s gloss and wrote a magazine article to that effect. I like them but I cannot svallow the parallels humanoids - fairies, ghosts and other entities." In spite of Rehn´s materialism and cultural pessimism he was a romantic and dreamer who even had some hope regarding UFO visitations: "How about the UFOs? Well, there is a faint hope that a supercivilization have gone through all these crises and have managed to survive with their technology. They might teach us how to survive." (Letter, May 25, 1974).

Going back to the indispensible reference work The Encyclopedia of UFOs by Ronald Story I find some interesting comments by Coral and Jim Lorenzen. In her position statement Coral writes: "There is a tendency toward "do your own thing" and little or no cooperation in the field. There are too many organizations and too many lone researchers who investigate cases, then file them away where they are unaviable to others for study." What a bizarre tragedy that that her own APRO archive today is unaviable to researchers.

In his position statement in the encyclopedia Jim Lorenzen presents a more philosophical metaview of the UFO experience: "Perhaps we stand too close to the riddle and do not see the forest for the trees. Standing back a little we can see the outstanding characteristic of the UFO phenomenon: It is a mystery! What is the effect of a mystery? It causes us to think. To puzzle. To ponder. And our consciousness is raised. Maybe that´s what it´s all about? At any rate the journey is only begun and we have miles to go before we sleep...".

The Rehn-APRO correspondence has been digitized at AFU and anyone with a serious research interest in these files can have copy.

No, we haven´t adopted a new name. AFU is still the acronym for Archives for the Unexplained, formerly Archives for UFO Research. But during a recent tour perusing our three libraries crammed with heretic subjects my association went to Jacques Vallee´s two-volume diaries Forbidden Science. There is such an overwhelming amount of data and experiences not recognized by mainstream materialist reductionist science. So much research just waiting for non-conformist and open minded researchers to attend to. My hope is for a new Invisible College of pathfinder scholars.

The AFU libraries are an impressive treasure trove of both rare and unusual books and magazines of interest to ufologists, Forteans, investigators of paranormal phenomena and esotericism. Naturally we are also inviting mainstream academics and scholars researching various underground ideas and movements. At AFU they will find many tomes not aviable from the university libraries. We have the ambition to become a world heritage for our specialized subjects.

The UFO, Fortean library

The Evans library

The new third library: Philosophy, Religion, Psychology, Conspiracy Theories

Johan Gustavsson studying books on mind control

As I have stated in earlier blog entries we have chosen to remain a privately financed non-governmental foundation. And the reasons are quite obvious. Our subjects are scientifically, politically, religiously and militarily controversial. We are the intellectual and cultural heretics of our time.

Five thousand books are presently waiting to be catalogued and donations of new collections are coming in a steady stream. This week we received a complete set of the Swedish editions of the books by Alice Bailey, kindly donated by Karl-Erik Edris who is the Swedish publisher. He is also a well known lecturer and the author of seven books, the latest Vart är världen på väg?

In the October 1970 issue of his newsletter Anomaly John Keel mentioned the contactee experiences of Richard Kieninger, founder of The Stelle Group and community Stelle, not far from Chicago, Illinois. In Keel´s view this was another example of the manipulative “elementals” playing games with a credulous victim. I bought the book The Ultimate Frontier, written by Richard Kieninger under the pen name Eklal Kueshana and was immediately fascinated by his claims of being contacted by an secret brotherhood. Especially as this brotherhood was said to use antigravity aircraft (flying saucers) as part of their activities.

In 1979 I entered several years of correspondence with various representatives of Stelle: Nancy Laub, Gayle Amick, Heather Norris a.o. and also Mr. Kieninger himself. I subscribed to Stelle Letter (later The Stelle Group Letter) and acquired as much data and material I could from the group. There was one essay, Space Vehicles, Travelers, written by Mr. Kieninger, which I found profoundly intriguing. Written originally in 1966 and republished in the booklet Observations (1971) it stated regarding flying saucers: "... some are interplanetary vehicles, others are of earthly origin. The ones which are from this planet are saucer-shaped of generally trapezoidal cross-section with three hemispherical engine pods on the underside. They were first developed by man on this planet about 20,000 years ago and have been used by members of the Lesser Brotherhoods continuously since that time."

Richard Kieninger

This of course is a perfect description of the classic George Adamski, Howard Menger scout craft. In a letter to Stelle I asked how the brotherhoods could keep these craft secret. The secretary, Nancy Laub answered: “ He (Richard Kieninger) smiled at your first question regarding the Brotherhoods´ retreats for their flying saucers, and said that there are isolated places in the world which are safe from detection, and the Brothers know where those places are.” (Letter, November 12, 1979). As to George Adamski I received the following answer: "Richard read your letter and article and wanted me (Gayle Amick) to tell you that although he has heard of Adamski, he is not at all familiar with his experiences etc. and therefore could not comment on them". (Letter, June 4, 1979).

George Adamski, photo December 13, 1952

This statement was an elaborate and somewhat novel addition to the Esoteric Tradition on Vimanas as presented by Blavatsky, Bailey, Laurency a. o. These classic esotericists mention aircraft used by adepts in Atlantis but not in our age. I have only found two additonal sources referring to flying saucers used by secret brotherhoods today. The most well-known is a quote from American contactee Howard Menger´s book From Outer Space To You (1959): “"There are also spacecraft, though of inferior design, which are built by people of this planet. These people are in communication and in service with people from other planets. They are people who possess a high spiritual understanding and have reached an awareness of natural law; therefore they have been entrusted with information enabling them to construct such craft."

The second source is an obscure article, UFO and the Black Lodge, published in Ray Palmer´s Search Magazine, April 1958 and written under the pen name Devananda. This unknown author states: “Flying Aircraft are as old as Atlantis and Lemuria. They have always moved in our skies and have always been seen by men. Both the White and Black Lodges use them and have always employed them for work in the world… Some are etheric, appearing and disappearing, and some are solid metals. The Adepts themselves, or their pupils, are often at the controls, but more commonly robots are used.” I have for many years tried to find the real name of Devananda, without success. In 1985 I wrote to Palmer Publications in Amherst, Wisconsin but their files and records from the 1950s “are no longer aviable”. The small ad published in Fate Magazine, January 1957, indicates that Devananda lived in the Chicago area.

Because of my continued interest in Stelle and its activities I received a personal letter from Richard Kieninger on March 5, 1986. It was a kind invitation to become an Affiliate: "It is apparent from your purchase of Stelle Group Publications that you are seriously interested in your character development and spiritual growth... I would like to invite you to take part in The Stelle Group´s Affiliate Program... Enclosed is information about becoming an Affiliate and an Application Form which I invite you to complete and return to us... Whatever your decision in this matter, I appreciate your sincere interest in improving humankind by uplifting yourself, Hakan. You´re helping to make the world a better place." I declined the invitation but kept on studying Stelle publications.

Stelle residents in the 1980s

Stelle in the 1980s

So what are we to make of Richard Kieninger and his contact claims? They are very similar to the space people contacts of George Adamski, Howard Menger and Daniel Fry but are instead referred to as Brothers belonging to an earthbased secret society. Kieninger occasionally run into these Brothers and receive instructions. In an article A Day In the Life of a Brother, published in The Stelle Group Letter, July-August 1985 Richard narrates: "There hasn´t been a large sampling of Brothers I´ve run into... They don´t tell me what They do for a living, and their work for the Brotherhoods may be quite separate from Their everyday work to earn a living. The one Brother with whom I´ve had most contact is John, who I met in Arizona... I´ve seen the car He drives, but He doesn´t want me to see the license plates."

Photo by Tahalitha Fry, November 1968, Merlin, Oregon

Much new information and a whole new perspective on Richard Kieninger and Stelle appeared in 2008 when I started corresponding with Mr. Walter Cox, one of the original residents of Stelle, where he lived between 1971-1976. Walter was very close to Kieninger for many years. I found his name as he answered questions on cults on Answers.com and asked him many things about Stelle which later changed into private correspondence. Unfortunately his answers on Stelle and Kieninger has today been deleted from the site. There is now a very interesting website, The Stelle Experience, with interviews of old and new Stelle residents. Walter Cox is interviewed in a four-part one hour series.

In one of his answers on cults Walter Cox wrote regarding Kieninger: "To sum up, I would say that Richard Kieninger showed less respect for Truth than any person I have ever met. He lied about everything, large and small. He lied when there was no reason to lie. He lied to avoid the natural repercussions of his actions. He lied to his wife, his many girlfriends, his daughter and every friend he ever had. Does that mean that I think the philosophy in The Ultimate Frontier is false? No, I think the philosophy itself is sound, and I am thankful Richard wrote the book." (December 22, 2005)

In the 1950s Richard Kieninger was a student of the Lemurian Fellowship in Ramona, California. He gleaned most of the content of The Ultimate Frontier from lesson material published by this organization. He was then expelled from Lemurian Fellowship and accused of plagiarism. In 1963 Richard formed The Stelle Group in Chicago which eventually led to the founding of the Stelle community in the beginning of the 1970s. Because of his behavior Richard was asked to leave Stelle in 1975 and again in mid 1980s. He had seduced both married women and young unmarried women. Eventually he founded a second community in Adelphi, Texas, where he spent the rest of his life. He died in 2002.

So Richard Kieninger was just another religious rogue, fraud and trickster - or was he? Walter Cox narrates a very intriguing experience that may give a somewhat more balanced view of Kieninger. An independent verification supporting Richard´s claim of a Brotherhood source. The story was told to Walter Cox by one of his old friends in Stelle, a man he trust and who is not known for spinning tales. Walter gives him the alias Victor but he has confidently told me his real name. Victor had spent many years of hard work at Stelle but in the 1980s he began wondering about the validity of his achievement and emotionally destitute he voiced a prayer: "Dear God and dear Brotherhoods if you exist, please let me know if this community is for real. Please let me know if I`m just wasting my time here, if I´ve risked my family and everything else for nothing. Please let me know if Richard Kieninger has been telling the truth and if I should stay".

Victor went to sleep and the next morning awoke to a telephone call. The voice on the other end said: "Hello, I´m calling in reference to your request for more information.. I´m calling to answer your questions about Richard Kieninger and the validity of your presence in Stelle. Perhaps we can arrange a meeting." A date was set and a few days later a large Mercedes pulled up in front of Victor´s house. An elderly Chinese man and a young man of perhaps fifteen stepped out. To Victor´s surprise it was the young man, Jim, who did the talking while the Chinese waited in the car. The young man said it was his first assignment from the Brotherhoods and he was sent to provide Victor with crucial information.

Jim confirmed that Richard Kieninger had indeed been contacted by the Brotherhoods as a young man. But later they came to the conclusion that he would misuse the information and they assigned various "keepers" who tried to limit the damage Richard might cause. Despite Richards fabrications Jim said that Stelle had gained positive attention of the Brotherhoods and had the potential to develop in the planned direction. Jim encouraged Victor to stay in the community and help provide leadership at a critical juncture. Because of this visit and information Victor decided to stay in Stelle.

In the middle of the 1990s Victor began to question the experience with Jim and with the help of Internet he succeeded to trace Jim´s phone number. When Victor phoned Jim he was surprised that he had been able to find him but he confirmed the information he had provided some years earlier. Later when Victor tried to search the Internet again using Jim´s name all information had been deleted. With the help of Walter Cox I tried to contact Victor by email to confirm the story. Unfortunately I received no answer and I have come to understand that Victor is rather reticent regarding this experience.

In spite of his sharp criticism of Richard Kieninger as a manipulative con-man Walter Cox has a positive view of the philosophy he presented and still regard Stelle as a “nice place and charming community”. In a letter to me January 20, 2008 he summed up his opinion: “My own experiences have convinced me that I do have mentor´s “on the other side” who are watching out for me. Victor´s experiences are also loosely corroborative, and I do see evidence of a concerted effort on the part of some organization to influence the course of human history. Nowhere, however, does the evidence rise to the level of clear substantiation of the Brotherhood´s existence, so my belief remains just that – a belief.”

When comparing Richard Kieningers “Lemurian Philosophy” with The Esoteric Tradition (Blavatsky, Bailey, Laurency) it becomes obvious that Kieninger made a personal mixture of diverse sources. Although there is high idealism and basic psychological soundness in much of his teaching that is in line with esotericism he also used dubious and contradictory sources. In a letter from Heather Norris December 13, 1985 three of Kieningers sources are given: The Morning of the Magicians by Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier; The Spear of Destiny by Trevor Ravenscroft; Hitler, the Occult Messiah by Gerald Suster. These works must be regarded as not very reliable, popular occult books.

This becomes very obvious in Richard Kieningers contradictory statements on Theosophy and Alice Bailey. In The Ultimate Frontier (p. 68, 1982 ed.) Theosophy and Rosicrucianism are mentioned as preparatory schools but in the audio series Stelle Forum, no. 7, 1981 Kieninger he states: “Madame Blavatsky had been contacted by two Shamballah who happened to be visiting London at the time and invited her to come to Tibet… They gave her a whole bunch of false history… They were essentially totally in control hypnotically of Blavatsky… some of the concepts of Blavatsky has to do with arian supremacy, arian blood being supreme over other…”
“Alice Bailey´s control, a telepathic hypnotist who called himself Djwal Khul, was a Tibetan Shamballist with the same connections as the two men who seduced Mme. Blavatsky (co-founder of the Theosophical Society) into being their psychic mouthpiece against Western Civilization… Their call to lose one´s will in order to experience closeness to God is a ruse to bring mankind under their control.” This is a total misconception of Theosophy and the teachings of Alice Bailey that Kieninger picked up from The Morning of the Magicians and incorporated later in his own philosophy.

Was Richard Kieninger and Stelle an experiment in “esoteric intervention”, using the terminology of Jacques Vallee? An experiment that was aborted because of Kieninger´s character flaws. In some respects the experiences of Richard Kieninger resembles those of Helena Blavatsky and Alice Bailey who were contacted at an early age and given an assignment to be implemented later in life. If true, the basic question remains: Who gave the assignment?

A few days ago I watched a documentary on the life of John F. Kennedy. In a speech in Dublin on June 28, 1963 he said: "The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics, whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were, and ask why not." Perhaps with a touch of hubris I couldn´t help making an association to AFU and our dream of creating the largest UFO/Fortean archive in the world - which is now a reality. What is left is solving the UFO enigma. Definitely a challenge of different proportions. Especially when part of the undertaking is trying to determine the reality of experiences like the one I present here.

During my 45+ years investigating contactee cases there are very few that I still find intriguing or unexplained. Most of the contact experiences I have documented have a psychological explanation or possibly involving some form of paranormal entities. But there are three or four physical contact cases in my files that to this day I find of special interest as they differ in quality from the rather hazy visionary experiences related by most contactees. One of these physical contact cases involves a Swedish woman, Anna (pseudonym), today 95 years and living in Stockholm. I have promised not to reveal her real name until after her death but presented a short summary of her narrative in my book Främlingar på vår jord. Ufokontakter i Sverige (Aliens on Earth. UFO Contacs in Sweden). A Finnish edition was published in 2011.

Anna was born 1920 in Stockholm but spent most of her life in other countries, USA, England and France. She lived eleven years in Mexico with her second husband George (pseudonym), who worked as a Chief Engineer at the American company Combustion Engineering in Mexico. Anna lived an upper-class life with diplomats, movie stars and royalties. During her stay in Mexico she met and became a good friend with actress Dolores del Rio at a party with the Mexican president. Dolores del Rio and her husband were interested in UFOs and Anna was invited to the Dolores residence in Mexico City where she met about twenty people who all had personal UFO encounters.

In the autumn of 1959 Anna and George were living in Mexico City. One day George came home and told he had met a very intelligent and fascinating man named Ben Austin at a conference in Guatemala. In connection with a business trip Anna and George are invited to Ben Austin´s house about two hours travel by car from Guatemala City. The wife of a french diplomat is to take care of Anna´s children (from a former marriage) while they are in Guatemala. At the hotel in Guatemala City Anna and George are picked up by two servants and they travel in a Jeep for about two hours before arriving at Ben Austin´s bungalow. After dinner and some general chatting Ben dismiss the servants for the day and now the conversation takes a very different direction. Here some notes from my interview with Anna:

Anna: It was after dinner that he (Ben) suddenly says: You are interested in UFO.
Håkan: He is talking to you?
Anna: Yes, and I say, no I´m not. Oh, yes you are, he says again.
Håkan: Did he speak English?
Anna: Yes, of course but he spoke a very peculiar English. Some form of Scottish-English... and he said, you have even seen a UFO. It was in your native country and we flew in from the east to your country house in the Stockholm archipelago.
Håkan: How did you react then?
Anna: I became rigid with fear, I was scared, I was really scared. I found the situation very uncomfortable especially as I hadn´t mentioned the UFO incident to my second husband who had no idea of this incident... He asked if it really was the truth? And I admitted, yes it is really true. We had twelve guests at the time.

The UFO observation mentioned by Anna occured in August 1948 or 1949 at Vindö in the Stockholm archipelago. In the evening Anna goes to fetch something in their underground storehouse. She notice a white light approaching closer over the bay. She run in to tell the other guests and they all watch the light stopping in midair and suddenly fly straight up and disappearing in the sky.

Anna: All of this I hadn´t mentioned for my second husband and their we are with this man in Guatemala claiming I have seen a flying saucer. Suddenly he says: Would you like to take a trip to Venus?
Håkan: He says Venus?
Anna: Yes. And I said no as I have my children in a another country where no one speaks their language and I don´t want anything to happen to them. The he turn to my husband and says: Imagine your wife is so timid. Would you like to go instead? Of course, he says. I say no, we will both stay. But my husband absolutely wanted to go.
Håkan: Was he interested in UFO?
Anna: I have no idea but he was technically interested like most men. He was very eager to go on this trip and we agreed that I should go back to the hotel and was promised that my husband would be back at the hotel i Guatemala City by six o´clock in the morning. Later I regretted that I didn´t say I wanted to see the craft. Back at the hotel I felt very anxious and couldn´t sleep. Exactly at six o´clock my husband return and his face is deathly pale. He had absolutely no colour in his face and the eyes were staring. He said it was fantastic, it was absolutely incredible. The start engine for the craft was no bigger than a small piece of sugar and in the shape of a pyramid. After take-off there was hardly any sound at all.
Håkan: Did he describe the craft?
Anna, Yes, it was round, small with windows all around. I said to him did you really go to Venus? Then he looked at me and said, you don´t believe me. And I had a hard time believing he really did go there so I said maybe you didn´t. Then he became extremely angry and said if you don´t belive me I will not say a word more about this and then he just went to bed. Later I tried to make him talk men he never did. What was very strange was that his behavior changed completely. He became threatening and it was very frightening.

Håkan: Did his behavior change immediately after the experience?
Anna: Yes it did and it lasted during the rest of our marriage. He became brutal and I was severly ill-treated and beaten. For a while I thought he was obsessed. I couldn´t understand what was happening and I began to wonder if perhaps he hadn´t been aboard a saucer but been hypnotized and that was the reason for his strange behavoir. I still don´t know if he was outside the garage with that guy down there. I can only tell you what happened but I can absolutely not guarantee that my husband was in outer space.. He became harsh and grim and we were afraid of him. I felt the same fear for this other man Ben Austin.

To be continued

Håkan: Did Ben Austin work at the same company as your husband?
Anna: No, not at all and what would such a person be doing out there in the bush? He said he was keeping an eye on what humanity was doing. I belive he had this place as some sort of station or base. He was small, shorter than me. Maybe 150 centimenter, stocky and heavily built, not nice looking. He wasn´t fat but muscular. He was courteous and companionable. His hair was dark, more brown that black and no beard.

Håkan: What nationality did he look like?
Anna: Well, I asked about his nationality and he didn´t answer but claimed he had a Scottish passport. I asked how he got it? Well, he said, if we can build flying saucers we can also arrange such small details. As for Scotland he said: I have some difficulties with languages and there are so many Scottish dialects... We are checking what humanity is doing so you don´t set this planet on fire or other stupidities as this would make problems for us... When he spoke I don´t know why I felt this terrible fear. My whole being indicated that something is wrong here.

Håkan: You mentioned that he wasn´t beautiful. Did he have any physical defects?
Anna: No. He was dressed in a white shirt. You know in the tropics when you are invited for dinner they use a tie. His neck was not long and his hair short but I noticed he had beautifully formed ears. Well-groomed but his skin colour was not nice. Not as dark as the Indians of Guatemala but rather as a suntanned white person. But the tan didn´t look healthy uner that brown colour.

Håkan: How did he live, his social life?
Anna: He had no family and was entirely alone out there. There were servants but he sent them away so we were alone all evening. The servants were ordinary natives. There were books. The place was neither beautiful nor ugly, an ordinary bungalow.

Håkan: Was there a village nearby?
Anna: No, there was nothing... The servants came and picked us up in his Jeep. There were coffee plantations nearby and large areas of corn cultivation. My husband tol me that the craft stood behind the bungalow, surrounded by some bushes and trees so it was almost impossible to notice. It looked like an ordinary flying saucer but appeared smaller that what you would imagine. I remember he told me they entered from below. It stood on high landing gear, taller than my husband. He didn´t have to bend when entering. The landing gear functioned like telescopic legs so they could land anywhere. Ben Austin mentioned that when they flew over my country house in Sweden they were many aboard the craft.

Håkan: Why were you afraid of Ben Austin?
Anna: I have pondered why this was the only two times in my life I have been afraid.I wasn´t even scared during an earthquake in Mexico... When we were at my country house in Sweden, it was a nice dinner and the UFO incident was simply a fascinating intermezzo but as far as I know I was the only one that felt fear at the time... As for Ben Austin I can only say he claimed to belong to the space people. I can´t guarantee the truth of what he said only relate what happened to me.

After my interview with Anna in her home in Stockholm in 1982 we have kept i regular contact by phone and letter and she has revealed some more data. Because of his bad temper her husband was forced to leave Combustion Engineering in 1975 after having worked in the company for twenty years. He lived in Mexico until his death. Before the UFO incident in 1959 he was never aggressive. After the divorce Anna only met him once, at the funeral of their son, who died in Mexico in 1998. Her former husband was then sorry that the marriage had ended and implied that it was because of the UFO incident. It had effected him psychologically. "It ruined my life", he claimed and he wanted to forget the whole episode. Anna noticed a peculiar change in his eyes after the UFO incident. From being blue they had changed to black-grey. When they met at the funeral of their son in 1998 her husbands eyes were blue again.

In a phone conversation with Anna July 30, 2009 she said her husband called the craft a "sport UFO". Only two people could travel in this craft. He had also said that "such craft will be manufactured on Earth". Anna speculates that perhaps it was actually she that should have been taken for a ride in the UFO. She is glad she didn´t. Anna remarked that Ben Austin was unattractive as a man, stocky, broad face, the laborer type. As for nationality he could have been from Sweden. But he was an intelligent man, supposedly working in the atomic industry.

Anna is still today convinced that Ben Austin, wherever he came from, was a dangerous man. That his intentions were no good. He is the only man that has made her afraid, except her former husband when he became aggressive. But could this episode be interpreted in a different light. Perhaps her husband simply couldn´t cope psychologically with the UFO incident? And the experience was so traumatic that it changed his personality and an inherent destructive tendency opened up?

I have found no reason to doubt Annas claims and experiences. She appears trustworthy, intelligent and honest but her wish is that this incident in her life should not be told with her name during her lifetime.

Most of the pioneer ufologists of the 1950s and 60s are now gone. That includes my old friend Gösta Johansson (1921-1993). He lived in Stockholm, worked as a contructional engineer and became an active member (secretary) of Ifologiska sällskapet (The Ifological Society), one of the first UFO societies in Sweden. I find his name in the membership list of 1964. Gösta Johansson´s brother, Sture Johansson, is the well known trance medium, visited by famous actors like Shirley Maclaine and Dennis Weaver. Gösta Johansson and I became close friends as he was my pricipal source in my investigation of the controversial contactee Richard Höglund.

Gösta Johansson 1986

I have discussed the Richard Höglund case in several blog entries and a summary of his story is printed in Timothy Good´s latest book Earth: An Alien Enterprise. For those not familiar with the basic facts a short English version can be found on this Norwegian site. Gösta Johansson and I met many times to document and discuss various aspects of the Höglund case. Gösta was not a naive new age ufologist but a down to earth person in spite of his deep involvement with this most complicated contact story. Because of his friendship with Richard Höglund he was entrusted with more data of his experiences than anyone else. In this blog I will present some interview transcripts and the unique insights and theories Gösta related to me. Some of the data was documented in my book on the Höglund case but much of this is new information.

A short while after his first encounter with the aliens on November 9, 1965 Richard Höglund contacted a representative of the Ifological Society and that led to the initial meeting between Gösta Johansson and Richard. They soon became friends as Gösta helped the Höglund couple, Richard and Gunvor, to find an apartement in Ösmo, south of Stockholm. This was after their first trip to the Bahamas in March 1967, when no contact occurred as Richard had forgotten to bring the the metal plate had had received from the aliens.

Richard Höglund

Håkan: Did you see the plate yourself?
Gösta: No, but he made a drawing of it which I received from Sture. It had these Adamski-signs. But he suffered from the plate. He got rashes and it also emitted so much heat he had to have it wrapped up in asbestos. Usually he kept it buried in the soil. I felt like a prophet when I received the plate, he once told me.

The plate given to Richard by the aliens

Håkan: When you phoned Richard did you always here those strange clicks you mentioned?
Gösta: No it was during the last years. Sture confirmed this also. When the clicking started Richard became very nervous and suggested we stop the conversation. Once it continued clicking after I hang up and the phone rang. I answered and a voice said It is wrong. This same voice had entered the conversation several times before. I am convinced his phone was tapped.

Richard told Gösta that he now and then was fetched by one of their craft and they travelled to the alien base in Bahamas and later Mexico. He could be gone for a month at a time. When Gösta met him again he was suntanned. Richard parked his car at a secret place where he was picked up by the aliens. The craft was semitranslucent but not large enough for him to stand up. He was rather secretive about his activities at the base. But on the third trip to the Bahamas, the last time with his wife and the travelled by plane, Richard wrote to Gösta January 11, 1969: "We have a good time here my wife and I. Food, money, cigarettes, liquor all free but we are required to do things also... I hope that one day I can tell you why we are here, but now it is impossible. We have our own car, a large black Cadillac but you must understand we are under a certain form of control." In a later letter January 16, 1969 Richard wrote: "I cannot disclose what we are doing here but I can reveal that it is a sort of school we attend and then you understand that the teachers are interplanetary... I have no idea how long we will remain here. Those who have hurt us will be punished but you can be calm."

Richard Höglund in Nassau, Bahamas

Both Richard and his wife Gunvor met the aliens on the third trip to the Bahamas. It was in a villa outside Nassau. The black Cadillac is interesting as he mentioned this already in 1967, before the men-in-black lore became well known. According to Richard the Cadillac was an old model but looked brand new. He had some trouble driving it at first. It was impossible to collide with this car as it had a sort of "magical eye".

Håkan: How did the aliens look?
Gösta: They were brown, like suntanned, thin, dark eyes, long fingers. Only once did he notice something defective in their bodies. It was a man with a scar in his head. There were no women among them and they didn´t sleep or eat but drank, even liquor, and smoked. They could disappear into thin air. He told me that once he had been sitting chatting with two aliens on a bench in the Bahamas when some people approached them. He felt so ashamed because he was suddenly talking into thin air. The aliens were simply gone.

Håkan: Did he take any pictures in the Bahamas?
Gösta: Yes, I have seen several. When he tried to photograph them only a square light was visible in the picture. There was a black man, Loftin, there at the same school. He showed me a photo of himself and Loftin. They became good friends. Loftin turned out to be a CIA agent and he was later found on Little Exuma with a hole in his head. After this incident Bahamas was swarming with CIA agents and they had to move their base to Mexico. Loftin had obviously revealed the base so he was shot, executed. Richard didn´t regard them as especially intelligent. When he asked something they never answered directly but asked their superiors and came back with the answer next time.

Richard with his friend Loftin in the Bahamas

Richard Höglund is unusual in contactee history as he didn´t trust the aliens but felt forced to work for them as they had cured his kidneys. Richard once told Gösta that they were totally insensitive to humans, had no high morals. We are like domestic animals to them. "My wife believe she has met the angels of God, but I don´t think so".

Gunvor Höglund

Richard Höglund died in 1977. He became convinced that the aliens he worked for were dangerous and warned Gösta to not have anything to do with them. So what really happened to Richard and his wife? In my book Främlingar på vår jord (Aliens On Earth) I propose five theories:
1. Real contact with aliens
2. A cover for espionage
3. Organized crime
4. Fraud to make money
5. Pathological lying

Whatever the truth behind the claims of Richard Höglund he definitely was involved with some secret group and activity and he travelled to Bahamas and other countries. His life is an intriguing mystery.

Mention the name George Adamski among serious, scientific ufologists and you will without hesitation get comments like: Liar, fraud, cultist, charlatan etc without much argumentation. What scientific ufologists fail to recognize is that this kind of emotional response is simply a reflection of the naïve new age ufologists who already know the answer without investigation. Mere criticism is not enough. You must have facts. It was therefore with great anticipation I received the latest book by Marc Hallet, A Critical Appraisal of George Adamski. The Man Who Spoke to the Space Brothers, written in collaboration with American ufologist Richard Heiden. The book is free for download on the internet.

Marc Hallet has generously donated his large Adamski files to AFU. An important and invaluable collection of material for future research. In many ways Marc and I have the same background in ufology. We were born in 1952 and entered our ufological careers by being rather naïve Adamski fans. Marc working together with Belgian Adamski co-workers May and Keith Flitcroft. And we both after a few years discovered the problems with Adamski and became much more critical of his books and claims. For Marc this discovery entered a lifelong investigation of George Adamski, resulting in several books, mostly in French. For me a 40+ year investigation of both foreign and Swedish contact experiences, including the controversial first generation American contactees.

As I value intellectual honesty I find it important, before I continue my review, to state that my personal views on Adamski differs in several respects from Hallet. Readers of my latest book and blog are aware of that I present an alternative theory, a variant of Vallee´s Esoteric Intervention Theory. Briefly I suggest that some of the first generation contactees, including Adamski, were involved in a cultural influence experiment orchestrated by a group of benevolent alien visitors from somewhere in our multiverse. This of course makes me a heretic among heretics in the ufological community. But I have reached a similar conclusion regarding Adamski as Dr. Berthold Schwartz mentioned to me in a letter after his investigation of contactee Howard Menger: “The contact claims and case of Howard Menger is far from being an open and shut or black and white matter.” To be fair and intellectually honest I must of course also state that my theory may be wrong.

George Adamski

A Critical Appraisal of George Adamski is a very important book that should be read by all serious ufologists. It is the result of years of research and presents a multitude of new data on Adamski, including an appendix with many interesting documents and a bibliography. But I would suggest readers compare this volume with George Adamski – the Untold Story (1983) by Lou Zinsstag and Timothy Good plus George Adamski. The Toughest Job in the World (2010) by New Zealand journalist and ufologist Tony Brunt.
In fifteen chapters Hallet documents his involvement with the Adamski movement, his defection after discovering indications that the Rodedeffer film of 1965 was manipulated and his resulting detailed investigation of the photographs, films and claims of George Adamski. And Hallet is very sharp in his assessment. Adamski was a simple fraud and con-man who “raised the lie to the level of an art.” There are no question marks in Hallet´s book, no doubts, no ambiguities, all is black and white. Adamski was a liar. And this is what I find the greatest flaw or problem with this book. Hallet frequently fails to mention facts and data that support a different interpretation. All who have seriously studied Adamski realize he was a mystic and very unreliable in much of what he said, a Janus man. Even Tony Brunt, who makes a different assessement of Adamski, writes in his biography: ”He seemed to be half holy man, half huckster, a fascinating blend of the sublime and the slippery. Adamski was two of a kind”.

Tony Brunt

Much of the book is devoted to elaborate critical studies of the the Adamski films and photographs. As my technical expertise in this field is practically nil I refrain from comments on this issue. Personally I hope that Glenn Steckling of the Adamski Foundation, who is the custodian of the original negatives, will let these be professionally examined and the result presented to the public. One interesting fact is that Adamski was not the first to illustrate the “Venusian scout craft”. This was instead presented in a booklet, Visitors From Space, by contactee Eugen Drake in 1949 or 1950. On page 127 Hallet mentions the observation of a scout craft and crew made by Lucy McGinnis alone, not together with Adamski. According to Hallet, McGinnis “thought she saw the Venusian saucer up close” and that the observation was probably a dream. This gives a totally misleading picture of what actually happened. I received the transcript of Timothy Goods interview with McGinnis in 1979. From this it is evident that Lucy was wide awake and stood outside the house in Palomar where she at close range observed a translucent craft with human looking crew. Lucy McGinnis had left as Adamski´s secretary in 1962 when she couldn´t stand more of his wild claims and behavior. When Timothy Good asked why she didn´t reveal the truth about Adamski´s many claims she gave a very interesting answer: “It never bothered me to the extent that I made an issue of it, because, you see, I could have made an issue of it, if I hadn´t seen those ships”.

Page from Visitors From Space by Eugen Drake

There have been many observations made of the Adamski-type craft in various countries, also in Sweden. And not only by Adamski devotees. I personally investigated one such observation made by a bus driver in 1969. He only reported his close encounter to the Swedish military. British ufologist Jenny Randles also mentioned such cases in one of her books. And I have still not found any evidence of fraud regarding the photos taken by Tahalitha Fry in Oregon, November, 1968. AFU are in possession of the letters she wrote to her Swedish friend Edith Nicolaisen shortly after the incident. So even if Adamski did fake his pictures these type of craft obviously exist. As to the Rodeffer film of 1965, was Madeleine simply lying when she in great detail told of the encounter and the three mysterious individuals that came to her home minutes before the craft appeared and told them to get ready? Tony Brunt interviewed Madeline in May 2009 and she said of these men: "They could have been your uncle, or your cousin, or you. I got the impression their role was a supportive one, to be sure we both held up under the excitement of the occasion." Hallet speculates that Adamski could have hypnotized Madeleine to see the craft. Not a very likely explanation. Omitted in Hallet´s biography is also Desmond Leslie´s observation in 1954, together with Adamski, of a small observation disc very close.

Photo by Tahalitha Fry 1969

Carol Honey was an Adamski co-worker in the 1950s and 60s before he became disillusioned with the very extravagant tales and lies Adamski produced in the end of his career. Marc Hallet corresponded with Honey during his last years and they developed a sincere friendship. "Intellectually honest" is Hallet´s assessment of Carol Honey. But I think it would have been appropiate by Hallet to also mention that Honey was a contactee himself, which he mentioned sometimes in his newsletters. "I have had personal experiences myself which proved a lot of things to me but I will not make them aviable to a skeptical public" (March, 1968). "I have met one highly evolved spaceperson who had a bad scar so on this point I speak from personal experience." (June, 1963)

According to Hallet, Desmond Leslie knew that Adamski was a crank. "No doubt, when he realized that Adamski was a rogue, he was not really offended. Maybe he was even greatly amused by that revelation, laughed at it with its perpetrator, and decided to carry the joke further." This speculation has no basis in fact and is a complete misunderstanding of Desmond Leslie, his philosophy and his personality. Desmond Leslie defended Adamski all his life but he was an esotericist and interpreted Adamski´s experiences according to the Esoteric Tradition.

Desmond Leslie and George Adamski

In my personal investigations of contact cases in Sweden I have found independent witness confirmation, that the contactee really did meet some type of "strangers", whoever they are. We find this also in the Adamski case. Lou Zinsstag mention that when Adamski stayed in a hotel in Basel in 1959 he was now and then visited by his contacts. Lou decided to check on this and asked the hotel manager and the porter. Both men answerered: "There are several men who come at nine o´clock, but never more than two at a time". Marc Hallet´s comment on this fascinating information is only a derogatory speculation that Adamski was having secret homosexual meetings. To my knowledge there are no facts supporting such a hypothesis.

With these critical notes I find it important to reiterate that I appreciate Marc Hallet´s book very much. It is an important contribution to our understanding of George Adamski. I am not defending Adamski in the usual sense but my theory is that he, as some other early contactees were involved in an experiment that they often didn´t really understand themselves. And in common with Carol Honey I find the philosophy presented in Inside the Space Ships beautiful and inspiring. I believe the last word on Adamski has still not been written. There is a deeper mystery in the contactee enigma that needs further research. In this controversial field I find it necessary to keep an open mind as well as be critical of critics and skeptical of skeptics.

First I would like to share a beautiful and thought-provoking quote which I take to my heart as a collector of owl figurines:
"Philosophy is the bird of wisdom, and the bird of wisdom is the owl. But the owl takes flight only towards the end of the day. Philosophy is the disclipline that comes after the day of knowledge, after the day of real-life experiments - when night falls"
Alain Badiou, Philosophy for Militants

Part of my owl collection

This summer my lady Margaretha and I have, as ususal, visited Karlstad, the city of the Sun in local tradition and our common birthplace. Karlstad is situated in Värmland which is the Swedish province par excellence of authors, poets, artists and mystics. Rich in folklore of fairies, trolls and paranormal experiences including many intriguing UFO encounters. Several authors and artists from Värmland have also been inspired by the Esoteric Tradition.

On the evening of October 10, 2010 a couple and their daughter were travelling by car near Glava, Värmland. Suddenly a ball of fire appears along the road approaching at high speed straight towards the car. The object pass by just a few centimeters above the car roof. Then the passengers feel the car is lifted up in a sort of back flow when the object is passing. It then disappears behind a crest and all of the forest is illuminated.

Värmland was also the scene of the very fascinating Arne Svensson close encounter in August 1943, which I documented in an earlier blog post. Especially interesting is that this observation, of a classic saucer with portholes, occurred before the UFO era. The witness told no one of his frightening experience at the time but wrote down the whole episode and kept the manuscript hidden in a drawer, revealing the full story to his brother Erik in the 1970s. Because of the extensive amount of interesting observations UFO-Sweden initiated two large scale field investigation projects in Värmland in 2002 and 2004. Many hitherto unknown close encounter cases were then investigated and documented.

Anders Persson documenting a UFO observation during Project Värmland 2002

The world famous author Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940), born at Mårbacka, Värmland, was awarded the Nobel Price in Literature 1909. In her writings she was very much influenced by local folklore, personal paranormal experiences and the Esoteric Tradition. She read several books by Theosophist Annie Besant and corresponded with Swedish Theosophists. Ideas from esotericism abound in her fascinating novels. As a member of Selma Lagerlöf-Sällskapet (The Selma Lagerlöf Society) I hold her in very high esteem as the best and most fascinating author in Sweden.

Selma Lagerlöf

Another great author from Värmland, who made his literary debute during the same year as Selma Lagerlöf (1891), is poet Gustaf Fröding (1860-1911). Although he is most well known for his almost magical poetry Fröding was in his life- and worldview very much influenced by ideas from the Esoteric Tradition. This has been carefully researched and documented by Rolf and Anne Sohlheim from Arvika, Värmland and presented on their website.

Gustaf Fröding

If esoteric philosophy is defined as an aspiration towards the good, the true and the beautiful then the art of Gustav Fjæstad (1868-1948) is an outstanding illustration of the ancient wisdom. There are many reproductions of his paintings found on the internet but nothing can compare with the experience of beholding an actual painting. Fjæstad´s creations are, in my opinion, real art - trancendent beauty and harmony.
Both Gustav and his wife Maja were part of the Rackstad Colony of artists in Arvika, Värmland. A lodge of the Theosophical Society (Adyar) had been founded in Arvika by pharmacist Hjalmar Juhlin and in 1909 Gustaf Fjæstad and his wife Maja became members. Several artists from the Rackstad Colony joined this lodge. Gustaf was one of the most active members and often lectured on various aspects of the ancient wisdom.

Livsgåtan, The Riddle of Life. Painting by Gustav Fjæstad 1919

A great influence on the spiritual and new age scene in Sweden during the latter part of the 20th century was Sven Magnusson, born in Karlstad, Värmland in 1930. Between 1964 and until his death in 2008 he was editor of the high quality magazine Sökaren (The Seeker). The magazine succeeded in recruiting many of the best writers on philosophy, religion, parapsychology, new age, UFOs and also authors from the mainstream cultural elite like Alf Ahlberg and Werner Aspenström. Besides his work as editor of Sökaren he wrote several books on new religious movements and one book on the UFO enigma. Sven Magnusson was both critical and open minded with deep insights into alternative spiritual movements. Although he didn´t define himself as an esotericist he often wrote about Theosophy and The Ancient Wisdom. His personal worldview was a combination of agnosticism and Vedanta mysticism. He became a well known cultural profile in his hometown Karlstad, often portrayed in the local papers.

Sven Magnusson visiting the birth place of Gustaf Fröding

Another connection between Värmland and the Esoteric Tradition is Theosophist Göran Söderqvist with his home at Värmlands Nysäter. Göran is board member of the Swedish Theosophical Society (Adyar), the society archivist and he has donated a large amount of books and magazines on Theosophy to AFU.

Between 1907-1938 the hardline, conservative Johan Alfred Eklund was bishop in Karlstad. Värmland was definitely not his favourite province in Sweden. He found it very difficult to understand the local mentality and mystical traditions. In a famous quote he lamented: "Half the population are poets and the other half are myth makers". Personally I am proud and honored to have been born in the city of the Sun, Karlstad, in the province of poets, authors, artists, mystics and esotericists.

On September 10 and 11th AFU was visited by Jim Semivan and Deborah Stokes from the United States. They have a long-standing interest in UFOs and the paranormal with several intriguing personal experiences. Jim is very interested in the future of AFU as an international archive and Anders Liljegren, Johan Gustavsson and I spent several hours discussing various projects. On Saturday 10 Clas Svahn, Carl-Anton Mattsson and Håkan Ekstrand stopped by for a short visit to meet Jim before going to England fetching several donations to AFU. Clas gave a short presentation of UFO-Sweden, AFU and the UFO phenomenon in Sweden. Anders and I also had two enjoyable evenings with Jim and Debbie discussing all kinds of mysterious phenomena combined with good food and wine at local restaurants. Many thanks to Jim and Debbie.

Me and Anders Liljegren with Jim Semivan in the middle

One of the problems that came up during our talk was the absence of close encounter cases during the last decades. In Sweden there are now only a few UFO observations each year, mostly globes of light. We have no reliable reports of close encounters with classic saucers, landings or humanoids. Why this is so is an enigma? If this situation continues year after year the UFO movement as such will become obsolete. There is no need for a national UFO organization like UFO-Sweden, field investigation seminars etc. if there are no reports to investigate. Ufologists will become historians, documenting the observations from past decades. Given this situation continues UFO-Sweden has, as I see it, two options. Either close down the organization and keep on working with a small group of researchers with AFU as base and connecting center. Or change the name and objective of UFO-Sweden to an organization with the aim of researching Fortean and paranormal phenomena.

Let us take a look at the type of the close encounter cases that were reported during earlier decades, in the 1960s and 70s. I have chosen three cases, from the AFU report archives, of UFO landing on roads.

April 27, 1967. Engineer Gunnar Rosqvist is travelling by car at midnight between Sala and Avesta. About 8 km from Sala he suddenly becomes aware of an object standing in the middle of the road. Panicking he hit the brakes, touching a building beside the road and a part of some stairs are ripped off. To the investigator K. Gösta Rehn Mr. Rosqvist mention that the object looked like a physical craft with sloping sides giving off an very intense light. The object alighted in a flash and disappeared. Later he was picked up by a lorry.

January 5, 1977. Truck driver Helge Olsen is driving his lorry not far from Värmlands Nysäter, on the E18 towards Stockholm. The time is around 1 a.m. A luminous object appears to be landing ahead on the road. He park his lorry and starts walking towards the object. At a distance of 150 meters Helge is stopped by an invisible wall and can go no further. The object is shaped like a disc, about 7 meters i diameter, resting on five legs on the road. One from the middle of the undercarriage. The legs seemed to be made of glass and shining like the rest of the object, red, green and yellow. Helge stand watching the objects for a few minutes. A faint humming sound is heard. He also notice another lorry coming from the other direction that has stopped because the road was blocked. Suddenly there is a snow drifting around the object and it takes off straight up. Helge return to his lorry from where he can see the object once more coming close and then disappear. The drivers from the two lorries stop and talk and Helge recognize the other driver as collegue. They decide to not report the incident to the police. Helge´s collegue refuse to talk about the encounter as he find the incident very uncomfortable and unnatural.

End of 1970s. A couple are travelling by car in Dalarna on a winter evening. Not much traffic. Ahead of them they notice what looks like a bus standing across the road, blocking the way. It is a large object, probably around 15 meters covering the whole road and more. They stop the car some 25 meters from the object which is standing on three or four legs around 150 cm in height. The colour appears to be grey blue metal and there is a row of windows on the upper part. Suddenly the legs are retracted and the object simply disappears. Only some snow is swirling. Another car has stopped behind them and after the incident they regret that they didn´t talk to the driver. But they were chocked of what had happened. The man is dead today and his wife refuse to discuss the incident.

If these types of close encounters would be reported today on a regular basis field investigators would have much to do but unfortunately this is not the case. It would of course be very interesting if Sweden again had a real saucer flap like in the 1960 or 70s. Jim Semivan believe they will be back. Only time will tell.

In March 2009 I started this blog in Swedish and changed to the English language in March 2013. During the first four years much new data on the history of the Swedish UFO movement, close encounter and contact cases was presented. This was combined with news from UFO-Sweden and AFU. In 2013 I presented a position statement on the blog and my latest book was also published: Gudarna återvänder. Ufo och den esoteriska traditionen (Return of the Gods. UFOs and the Esoteric Tradition).

Since 2013 I have increasingly focused on studies of the Esoteric Tradition as a valid theory or paradigm in relation to investigation of UFO, Fortean and paranormal phenomena. Esotericism as presented primarely by Helena Blavatsky, Charles Leadbeater, Alice Bailey and Henry T. Laurency. Simply because in my view these authors represent the most interesting, scholarly and intellectual efforts to formulate esotericism as a science of the multiverse. A worldview that could be accepted as a working hypothesis by critical and scientifically minded scholars and researchers.

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky 1831-1891

I am of course aware of that by presenting myself as an esotericist among mainstream scientific ufologists is regarded by many as intellectual harakiri or irrational hereticism. But my objective has never been to appear as ufologically correct but simply to find the truth. In this respect I adhere to the motto of Riley Crabb, for many years director of Borderland Sciences research Foundation (BSRF): “If I have one goal in life it is an uncompromising search for the Truth, whatever that might be, and wherever it may lead.”

Riley Crabb 1913-1994

There are now so many blog posts where I have presented the esoteric interpretation of various UFO and paranormal phenomena including the contactees of the 1950s that I find further blogging on this theme not very meaningful. It would simply be repeating the same message with new data. Instead I will concentrate on news on our AFU website. If and when I find new and interesting data relating to UFOs and esotericism I will present them on this blog.

So what have I essentially been trying to say in my books, articles and blog? Here is a brief summary of my basic points:

UFO and paranormal phenomena challenges the materialist, reductionist paradigm
Most serious field investigators who have spent years documenting UFO, Fortean and paranormal phenomena sooner or later come to a point where they start asking themselves the basic question: what are the implications of all these phenomena? There are of course ufologists and Forteans who gather cases like stamp collectors, without bothering about paradigm issues or the scientific and philosophical challenges implied by the phenomena. But for investigators with a scholarly or intellectual approach the various phenomena are usually the starting point of a life long search for the deeper existential questions.

The field investigator of UFO, Fortean and paranormal phenomena who after years of study and with a mass of empirical data realizes that the reductionist/materialist worldview is untenable and a new paradigm or theory encompassing a multiverse must be formulated, face the dilemma of finding a reasonable and intellectually acceptable alternative working hypothesis. There is no ontology in ufology as Jacques Vallee said in a recent speech. When faced with all the data on well documented cases of UFO, Fortean and paranormal phenomena most mainstream scientists retire into a materialist, reductionist cul-de-sac and simply deny the data. There are a few exceptions, researchers who become the cultural heretics of our time entering the domain of the Forbidden Science.

Esotericism as a working hypothesis for a science of the multiverse
Neither reductionist materialism nor orthodox religion has any tenable answers when faced with UFO and paranormal phenomena which clearly indicate a multiverse reality. If there is a multiverse inhabited by various sentient beings of different evolution and intelligence there must also be a science of the multiverse. Which implies that it is reasonable to assume the existence of "scientists" of the multiverse or custodians of knowledge not discovered by mainstream science. This is the position maintained by The Esoteric Tradition or The Ancient Wisdom. I have found the esoteric worldview formulated by a.o. Helena Blavatsky, Charles Leadbeater, Alice Bailey and Henry T. Laurency the intellectually most interesting alternative paradigm to be used as a working hypothesis when dealing with UFO and paranormal phenomena. It represents a third way worldview between materialism och religion.

Alice Bailey 1880-1949

The multiverse theory is today presented from different scientific disciplines; physics, astronomy, psychology, parapsychology and since the 1970s it has been a prominent hypothesis among ufologists and Forteans (John A. Keel, Jacques Vallee, Allen Hynek). This is an interesting cultural phenomenon. A sort of re-enchantment of the world advocated by scientists and scholars (instead of disenchantment), to use the terminology of sociologist Max Weber. But as John Keel so aptly remarked this is "mapping a very old country". A country for centuries studied in the Esoteric Tradition. Academic and scholarly interest in this heretic and forbidden science has seen a remarkable renaissance during the last decades. It has been realized that the Esoteric Tradition can be regarded as the third intellectual force or pillar in cultural history alongside religion and science.

A detailed taxonomy of multiverse entities and phenomena
The writings of Jacques Vallee and John Keel made mainstream ufologists aware of the close resemblance between some UFO entities and the devas, nature spirits and elementals described in folklore and religion. According to the esoteric tradition devas and nature spirits are a parallell evolution to man living at different levels of the multiverse. In the coming centuries we will, according to the esoteric tradition, become more conscious of each others existence and be able to co-operate. The reappearance of The Fairy Investigation Society is an interesting cultural phenomenon pointing in this direction.

Symbolic painting of devas at Norrköping Public Library. The three goddesses in Greek mythology: Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos

A very fascinating and promising prophecy in esoteric literature is that within a hundred years we will be able to photograph and film phenomena of the etheric world and other parts of the multiverse. If true that would be the definite end of materialism as a mainstream academic worldview as we would have definite, empirical evidence that we live in a multiverse. To field investigators of UFO and paranormal phenomena it would open up a totally new world of entities and phenomena. The Astral Plane (1895) by Charles Leadbeater is, in my view, the most comprehensive and detailed taxonomy of non-human entities and phenomena from the multiverse perspective of the Esoteric Tradition. But also the books by Geoffrey Hodson can be studied in this respect.

The esoteric intervention theory
Perhaps the most controversial part of my writings is a variation of Jacques Vallee´s esoteric intervention theory. I have advanced the theory that some of the physical contactees of the 1950s were involved in a cultural influence test. An experiment implemented by a group of benevolent aliens, earth based or extraterrestrial, a group with access to “vimana” technology. This test was done in co-operation with the Higher Intelligence Agency, the custodians of the ancient wisdom, using a new type of phenomena as attraction as they used spiritualist phenomena in connection with the founding of the Theosophical Society in 1875.

A brief summary of my arguments for seriously considering this theory follows:
1. Many years of investigating and documenting physical contact cases have convinced me that some individuals (very few) have actually met and communicated with “aliens” from somewhere.
2. In spite of their faults and personality idiosyncrasies there is circumstantial evidence that the following contactees were involved in a cultural and psychological test: George Adamski, Orfeo Angelucci, Daniel Fry, George Van Tassel, Howard Menger.
3. The contact experiences of journalist Paul M. Vest indicates that the test was a carefully orchestrated plan by this benevolent group.
4. The message or information presented to these contactees is a somewhat simplified version of the Esoteric Tradition with basic ideas such as: a multiverse reality, reincarnation, universal laws for the evolution of consciousness, Earth a quarantined or “prison planet”, man not alone in the universe etc. In order to detect and understand the similarity in ideas between the contactee messages and esotericism a thorough acquaintance with the works of Helena Blavatsky and Alice Bailey is required. Few ufologists have this background.
5. The “hidden hand” similarities between the outbreak of spiritistic phenomena in the 19th century and UFO phenomena in the 1940s and 50s. In the Esoteric Tradition this hidden hand is the planetary guardians, the custodians of the Ancient Wisdom (scientists of the multiverse) using "phenomena" to expand the worldview and consciousness of man, a form of education through astonishment.

I have often commented and speculated on the future of ufology and investigation of paranormal phenomena. Today this type of research is a form of cultural luxury as the world situation is very unstable with wars, terrorism, organized crime, robber capitalism, social and political unrest and a general brutalization and breakdown of culture and society. The naive UFO and new age enthusiast ask why don´t the space people or planetary guardians come out openly to create a peaceful world? I believe the best answer to this question was formulated by the "Venusian" Bill in his conversation with journalist Paul M. Vest: "Upon your earth the mere colour of one´s skin - a slight difference of religious belief - merely belonging to a different race or country - in fact the most trivial deviations precipitate animalistic belligerencies, hideous brutalities and the bloody slaughter of millions of your fellow creatures. Can you then truly be surprised when I tell you the the beings of certain other worlds view earth as earthlings might look upon a den of deadly serpents stinging each other to death."

Paul M. Vest

If the world situation stabilize and we avoid another world war we can expect a continuing "externalisation of the Hierarchy" as it is called in esotericism. Perhaps some new type of "phenomena", revolutionary discoveries in science and certainly some emissary from or individual associated with the planetary guardians or Higher Intelligence Agency giving a new and scientifically updated version of The Ancient Wisdom, the science of the multiverse.

This hopeful and benevolent "conspiracy theory" was beautifully formulated by Connie Menger, wife of Howard Menger in her "Briefing" in From Outer Space to You (p. 7-8): "Let us assume that there is on this planet a group of scientifically minded and spiritually dedicated men and women who are working to accomplish this great task (the spiritual renaissance of all people on the planet). And, let us further assume that they have already established contacts with equally dedicated people of other planets. To continue their work and remain effective, they must of necessity remain behind the scenes. However, they can, in the interest of humanity in general, send out hints as to what will take place in the near future. Perhaps they send out scouts to make personal contacts for the specific reason of determining the reactions of every-day people. Perhaps it is done as a "smoke screen" to temporarily keep secret the real work which is going on until such time that the people are prepared to meet this new era with many changes it will bring...Then there are the personal contact stories, some of which are authentic, and which have been established for study purposes and for keeping alive a story which must eventually be brought before all people. If given in small doses, the general acceptance will be made over a period of time, and will take place almost naturally. Let us imagine, then, that this great work is being carried on by a universal group of men and women..."

There have been several friends and correspondents who have urged me to make en English translation of my latest book Gudarna återvänder. Ufo och den esoteriska traditionen (Return of the Gods. UFOs and the Esoteric Tradition). Maybe I will in time, but readers who wish to study my theories and data in more detail can follow the links to different blog posts or search for key words in the upper left corner of the blog.

As a young student of Philosophy and History of Religions at Stockholm University in the 1970s one of the basic philosophical problems occupying my inquisitive mind was the intellectual and epistemological difficulty in accepting the reality of a multiverse in the esoteric sense. In my diary from January 8, 1976 I wrote: “My thinking is now very much occupied with the problem whether it is consistent with intellectual integrity to accept a worldview that cannot be verified by empirical science? If this is possible than esotericism can be philosophically established and motivated.”

Up until 1975 I was very much influenced by the writings of Rudolf Steiner on these issues. His ideas regarding a Spiritual Science that could be verified by special training appealed to my own theories. But in December 1975 I read Kunskapen om verkligheten (The Knowledge of Reality) by the eminent and erudite Swedish esotericist Henry T. Laurency. His penetrating criticism of Steiner´s Anthroposophy became a watershed and an eye-opener in my own thinking which resulted in a comment in my diary for December 2, 1975: “By studying Laurency, Bailey and other authors I have found that Laurency´s criticism of Steiner is tenable. I didn´t expect that my view on Steiner could be so radically modified and altered.”

It was of course not only Laurency´s criticism of Steiner that I found convincing but above all his brilliant, scholarly treatment and presentation of the esoteric tradition. Henry T. Laurency was educated at Uppsala University where his teachers in Philosophy were the famous Swedish philosophers Axel Hägerström och Karl Hedvall. With this background and most assuredly inspiration from one of the planetary adepts he was able to formulate the esoteric worldview in such a clear and scientific language, with a new terminology, that his books can appeal to scholars and humanist intellectuals. His presentation of esoteric philosophy is in an international perspective of a quality unsurpassed. My personal view is that Laurency is the “disciple of rare capability in Sweden” referred to by Alice Bailey in A Treatise on White Magic (orig. 1934, p. 79 clothbound ed.)

As an academic philosopher Laurency especially addressed the basic scientific, ontological and epistemological issues and problems confronting students of esotericism. He often pointed out that the only scientifically and intellectually tenable attitude to the esoteric worldview is to regard it as a working hypothesis: "To scientists without experience of other worlds than the physical, hylozoics can, of course, be only a working hypothesis" (Laurency, The Way of Man, p. 39, online version). Incidentally this is also the position recommended by the Tibetan, D.K., in the books written by Alice Bailey: "Our attitude should be that of reasonably enquiry and our interest that of the investigating philosopher, willing to accept a hypothesis on the basis of its possibility... Those open minded investigators who are willing to accept its fundamentals as a working hypothesis until these are demonstrated to be erroneous. They will be frankly agnostic..." (Alice Bailey, A Treatise on White Magic, 1971 (orig. 1934, pp 6, 32).

Alice Bailey

In the books by Laurency and Bailey we are constactly reminded to refrain from simple belief when it comes to facts presented by the planetary guardians. Not to make a new dogmatic sect based on the data given, but keeping an open mind and using the information as a working hypothesis. “Belief is the enemy” wrote Fortean journalist John A. Keel. With this attitude the critical and scientific scholars can accept the esoteric worldview and still keep their intellectual integrity.

Regarding intellectual integrity I found an good definition on the website The Critical Thinking Community, Valuable Intellectual Traits: “Intellectual Integrity: Recognition of the need to be true to one's own thinking; to be consistent in the intellectual standards one applies; to hold one's self to the same rigorous standards of evidence and proof to which one holds one's antagonists; to practice what one advocates for others; and to honestly admit discrepancies and inconsistencies in one's own thought and action.”

How come then that so few non-conformist academic scholars and intellectuals have discovered the writings by Henry T. Laurency? The first and most obvious answer is that his books have only been aviable in English during the last decades. But the most relevant reason is that there are very few scholars that dare to enter the domain of Forbidden Science, in the words of Jacques Vallee. To leave the safe world of materialist/reductionist science is to become a cultural heretic. And “coming out” as an esotericist takes intellectual courage, especially if you are working in the academic community. You will be accused of harbouring dangerous irrational ideas and conspiracy theories.

A promising sign of the times though is that “Western Esotericism” can now be studied at several universities. Western esotericism is a somewhat inadequate name as the esoteric tradition is global and planetary. Academic students of Western Esotericism are often referring to the French scholar Antoine Faivre when it comes to a definition of esotericism, consisting of six fundamental characteristics or components. To esotericists of the Bailey, Laurency school the definition is simple: The knowledge of reality in custody of and presented by the planetary guardians. These adepts I have somewhat irreverently referred to as the Higher Intelligence Agency (HIA). Theosophist Henry Steel Olcott, who knew several of them personally often called them “the boys”.

A very good definition of intellectual courage is also presented on The Critical Thinking Community:
“Intellectual Courage: Having a consciousness of the need to face and fairly address ideas, beliefs or viewpoints toward which we have strong negative emotions and to which we have not given a serious hearing. This courage is connected with the recognition that ideas considered dangerous or absurd are sometimes rationally justified (in whole or in part) and that conclusions and beliefs inculcated in us are sometimes false or misleading. To determine for ourselves which is which, we must not passively and uncritically "accept" what we have "learned." Intellectual courage comes into play here, because inevitably we will come to see some truth in some ideas considered dangerous and absurd, and distortion or falsity in some ideas strongly held in our social group. We need courage to be true to our own thinking in such circumstances. The penalties for non-conformity can be severe.”

To accept the esoteric worldview as a paradigm and working hypothesis most scholars would probably need some form of empirical data indicating a multiverse. For me the empirical evidence became obvious by investigating UFO and paranormal phenomena. But of course a bridge to esotericism could be found by researching a number of borderland phenomena: healing, out-of-body experiences, remote viewing, materializations etc.

Neither reductionist materialism nor orthodox religion has any tenable answers when faced with UFO and paranormal phenomena which clearly indicate a multiverse reality. If there is a multiverse inhabited by various sentient beings of different evolution and intelligence there must also be a science of the multiverse. Which implies that it is reasonable to assume the existence of "scientists" of the multiverse or custodians of knowledge not discovered by mainstream science. This is the position maintained by The Esoteric Tradition or The Ancient Wisdom.

For the scholar studying esotericism this advice by Henry T. Laurency should be remembered to keep a psychological balance and intellectual integrity: “Even if by thorough study you are however much convinced that the hylozoic system agrees with reality, yet you must view it as a working hypothesis... This principled attitude is necessary to avoid all manifestations of dogmatism, fanaticism, and intolerance." (Henry T. Laurency, Knowledge of Life Four, 1995, online ed. p. 29-30).

The famous Swedish philosopher Ingemar Hedenius (1908-1982) wrote a short autobiography with the pertinent title Varför blev jag den jag är? (Why I became who I am?), published posthumously in 1992. I have always been fascinated by this question, especially when studying the life of scholars, intellectuals, authors and of course esotericists. What decisive events, persons and ideas influenced and shaped their lives and worldviews?

Two profound interests or passions have been a part of my life since a teenager. The fascination and investigation of the UFO phenomenon coupled with an intense search for a tenable worldview. There have been several individuals whose influence have been of vital importance in shaping my thoughts and ideas on these issues. I plan to present a few of these individuals on this blog. Some I have met personally or by correspondence, while others have influenced me through their writings. The basic idea is not to present a critical analysis of the life and ideas of these people but simply to give biographical details and events that can help in answering the question - why I became who I am? These historical reminiscences will be recalled with a background perspective of the Esoteric Tradition.

Friends and collegues in the UFO community will probably be somewhat surprised to find that the first guide and mentor in my life was the wellknown and controversial contactee in Sweden, Sten Lindgren. My parents library housed books on Parapsychology, Spiritualism, Theosophy, Anthroposophy including the most wellknown UFO contactees of the 1950s: George Adamski, Daniel Fry, Ray and Rex Stanford etc. From the age of thirteen I became an avid reader of these books which fascinated me immensely. By the time I was eighteen my friend Kjell Jonsson and I decided to contact some of the UFO groups active in Sweden.

Sten Lindgren (right) with a friend in 1971

In November 1970 a letter arrived from Sten Lindgren, founder and director of Inter Galactical Federation (IGF) in Stockholm. Here is an English translation:
"Best Cosmic Greetings, Håkan,
Thank you for your letter of November 10. We are affiliated with UFO-Sweden. Regarding further questions: Suggest a meeting in Stockholm on the following alternative dates:
Saturday, November 21, 4 p.m.
Saturday, November 28, 4 p.m.
You decide whether one of these alternatives is ok. Send us an answer as soon as you have accepted. We will meet at the place you decide in your letter, e.g. train from Södertälje or by car.
Awaiting your answer
The Best Cosmic Greetings from
Sten Lindgren"

The first letter from Sten Lindgren

On November 21, 1970 my close friend Kjell Jonsson and I went by train to Stockholm where we were picked up by Sten Lindgren och his co-worker Bjarne Håkansson. We were taken to Sten Lindgren´s apartement at Lidingö. Arriving at our destination we were soon made aware of that this was no ordinary Swedish home. In the hallway a quote, pinned on the wall, taken from Howard Menger´s From Outer Space To You (p. 48) read: "We have much work to do on your planet among your people, and we must do it quickly - while there still is a planet and a people to work with". The walls of the livingroom were filled with photos, illustrations and charts all relating to UFO sightings. The books in the bookshelf were a mixture of contactee literature and metaphysics.

Kjell Jonsson and I were seated on the sofa, nothing was said, and the lights were turned down. Sten Lindgren started playing "cosmic music" on a light-organ (Clavilux). After this introduction we were told that our meeting was arranged by the Brothers from space and that Sten was in both physical and telepathic contact with an extraterrestrial group. We were also requested to start a local UFO-group in Södertälje, affiliated with UFO-Sweden, as this national organization was supported by the Brothers.

Sten Lindgren playing on his light-organ in 1971

As a naive and idealistic teenager I felt this was like entering Shangri-La. Meeting a man who, not only had observed flying saucers, but was in contact with the visitors and working with them. The meeting with Sten and Bjarne worked like a salvation experience and left me "high" for weeks. Kjell Jonsson and I founded our local group UFO-Södertälje with constant advice from Sten, who claimed telepathic information from the Brothers. For about two years we worked with all the many and unusual projects initiated by the IGF group, like going into some forest, holding hands and waiting for a flying saucer to land.

In the Autumn of 1972 I had become increasingly critical of the many claims and activities of Sten Lindgren and his group. Years of research and investigation later made it clear that many of the observations and contact experiences that he referred to had mundane explanations. I never found any concrete evidence that Sten was in physical contact with an alien group. But there were a few UFO observations with group members that are puzzling and not explained. Still I can to this day wonder whether he was, in spite of all misinterpretations and wild stories, really involved in some hidden activity? Here is an example:

In the autumn of 1964 Sten Lindgren together with his friend B.J. (known to me) went by car to a mine called Yxkullsgruvan in Västmanland, Sweden. The reason for this excursion was to find Lapis Lingua, sometimes called the psychic stone. The mine was closed and they didn´t find any Lapis Lingua but on their way home a cigarshaped mothership and several small bell-shaped craft appear over the car. One of the small craft makes a landing close to the road and Sten and his friend are led aboard and are then taken to the mothership. Here they meet a group of five or six people, among them two women and a man dessed in a suit. The spacepeople ask Sten if they are allowed to erase his memory of this visit. He believes he was somehow programmed on this occasion. Sten and B. J. are then led back to the car and continue the trip to Stockholm. According to Sten there were several hours missing in their journey. They came home very late. This is corroborated by B. J. but he has no memory of any UFO observation or contact. Sten was later put under hypnosis by an unknown physician and then became aware of what had happened during the missing hours.

Book written by Sten Lindgren (1997) - Dialogue With a Cosmic Culture

Looking back today on my involvement with Sten Lindgren and his group I feel priviliged for the experience. It was en excellent lesson in what esotericists would call "discrimination" or development of the critical faculty. Sten Lindgren was, and is, a gentle soul, a mystic, idealist and a man of goodwill. Even if his physical contact claims were fantasies his philosophy was a worthy mixture of contactee philosophy and esotericism. In 1972 he led a study circle in Parapsychology which was actually a course in esotericism, with a.o. material from the books by Theosophist Charles Leadbeater. Today I have no contact with Sten Lindgren but he was a catalyst in my life, in his own special way a guide and mentor that put me on a quest that still continue. For this I will be ever grateful.

In three earlier blog entries I have presented the fascinating life and mystery surrounding Dr. Rudolf von Linauer who claimed to have witnessed Tibetan monks lifting giant blocks of stone using sound waves from various instruments. These blog entries gave the unexpected result that I was contacted by two of Dr. Linauer´s daughters, Monika in Florida and Kristina in Sweden. They had never met before and because of my blog there was a happy family reunion. I am very glad to have been the cause of this reunion and we all had a delightful rendezvous in Norrköping, Sweden in the summer of 2014.

Dr. Rudolf von Linauer

Dr. Rudolf von Linauer is not the only person claiming extraordinary experiences in Tibet in the 1930s. For many years I have been very intrigued by two books written by the German writer Theodore Illion (1898-1984): In Secret Tibet (1937, orig. Rätselhaftes Tibet, 1936) and Darkness Over Tibet (1937). Using the pseudonym Theodore Burang he also wrote several books and articles on Tibetan medicine. There is some debate whether Theodore Illion ever visited Tibet but according to old articles and interviews he was in the 1930s physically extremely well trained and fit for such an expedition. He was also obviously endowed with an iron will and determination to reach his goals. So on these accounts he could very well have succeeded in his endeavors to explore Tibet alone on foot.

In January 1933 he visited Sweden for training trips in hiking and was interviewed by the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter November 3, 1933. According to the article Theodore Illion was born in Canada, raised in Japan, educated at Paris, New York, Berlin and Istanbul. He is a writer, journalist, hiker, philosopher and vegetarian. He is walking around five Swedish miles a day only living on black bread and milk. “For the past eight weeks I have hiked through Germany, studying Nazism, an interesting journey that ended close to the Danish border. I wished to see how a political refugee could get to Denmark.” He is now in Stockholm where he will lecture at several places a.o. The Theosophical Society. Illion has some critical, philosophical remarks on todays society: “They invent technical means that grows over their heads instead of for one moment thinking of their own moral development.” I have checked old issues of the Swedish Theosophical magazine Teosofisk Tidskrift, but there is no mention of any lecture by Illion.

Article in Dagens Nyheter November 3, 1933

There is very little information aviable on the life of Theodore Illion. A short article on Wikipedia and almost no useful references on the internet. In his book Nazis of Tibet. A Twentieth Century Myth, author Isrun Engelhardt mention that “It may be worth noting that Gestapo ordered Illion to furnich documentary evidence of his alleged visits to Tibet when he returned to Germany in 1941, since he was under suspicion of being a liar, who claimed he had visited Tibet although he had never been there”. According to the Wikipedia article Illion was a member of the Club of Rome, never married and had no children.

A few more biographical details are presented in his books but it is somewhat surprising that there are so few data on his life as he lectured in several countries around Europe and was often interviewed extensively in large newspapers. In the preface to his first book In Secret Tibet, Illion gives a brief presentation of himself: "I travelled in Tibet neither as a Christian nor as a Buddhist. I did not look at things there merely with the eyes of the scientist or the philosopher. I tried to examine things in an absolutely unprejudiced way. I do not belong to any sect, party, or denomination.""...my interest in Tibet was centered around the reality of Tibetan mysteries and psychical phenomena." (p. 18). "Three articles were published about my expedition, The Sunday Express mentioning the fact that I was looking for companions to accompany me to Central Asia." (p. 26). Illion also mention an interview that was published in a "large Stockholm paper in 1935", but gives nu further information.

Theodore Illion

As with Dr. Rudolf von Linauer there are no definite data to confirm that Theodore Illion ever visited Tibet in the 1930s. There have been some speculation that he relied on the information in the books by Alexandra David-Neel, published in the 1920s, and simply used the tavelogue about Tibet as a way to present his philosophy. Whatever the truth the books by Theodore Illion are a treasure trove of wisdom. Anyone thoroughly acquainted with the esoteric tradition will here find a kindred soul. I do find it amazing that Illion at his young age could have such extraordinary deep insights into esoteric philosophy, coupled with a critical mind and wonderful humour: "I am a non-smoker. I only smoke in the company of people who consider non-smoking a virtue".

"In Secret Tibet" is the story of Theodore Illion´s travel in disguise in Tibet, meeting hermits, lamas and the somewhat more mysterious few "wise men", very different from the often primitive and superstitious hermits. He encounters and is able to study many types of psychic phenomena, some apparently genuine but often produced by "the grossest type of fraud." Illion gives many practical examples and is very aware of the negative power of organized orthodox religion in the world: "Organized Buddhism, as it stands today, is a formidable machinery for exercising power by exploiting fear and credulity, especially "Buddhism" as it is in Tibet and Nepal...The Tibetans on the whole like to be told what to do. This prevents unnecessary thinking. The lamas greatly profit by this attitude." (p. 116). This reminds me of a quote from the classic The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett where the adept K.H. comments on the problem of religion in world history: "...the chief cause of nearly two thirds of the evils that pursue humanity ever since that cause became a power. It is religion under whatever form and in whatsoever nation. It is the sacerdotal caste, the priesthood and the churches; it is in those illusions that man looks upon as sacred, that he has to search out the source of that multitude of evils which is the great curse of humanity and that almost overwhelms mankind." (Letter no. 10, 1882). The truth of this statement must be obvious to anyone following todays news.

Theodore Illion´s sequel Darkness over Tibet is a real adventure story and have by many readers been regarded as too fantastic and pure fiction. Illion is led to a secret underground community and is allowed an interview with the spritiual leader of the community who he soon realize is a very evil man and black magician. After having fled from this group, indulging in cannibalism, Illion gives an interesting comment on the two different philosophic or spritual schools he have encountered: "In this world of matter, which is really the battleground for a formidable struggle of two different spiritualities, the few wise men of Tibet who are great and dynamic personalities intensely personal and yet acting impersonally, represent a kind of bodyguard of the Creator which holds in check the other camp of methodically working "annihilators" and "soul-snatchers". " (p. 191). This, of course, is esotericism and a very good description of the planetary guardians or Higher Intelligence Agency (HIA).

I highly recommend these two books by Theodore Illion to anyone with an interest in the Esoteric Tradition. As the author told of lecturing for the Swedish Theosophical Society it is obvious that The Ancient Wisdom was his inspiration and he appears to have been an accomplished esotericist both in theory and practise. There is also deep psychological insights and a gentle humanism in his writings. He is very well aware of the human condition on this interplanetary Alcatraz: "Humaneness is the thing badly needed in this world, which dies from lack of love. We need people who are humane, really and spontaneously humane, in the little things of their daily lives. We have enough idealists who have occasional fits of idealism and tread the worm on the ground while they are looking for the stars". (In Secret Tibet, p. 128).

As I mentioned in a recent blog my first mentor in the intriguing world of ufology was the Swedish UFO contactee Sten Lindgren. During the first years of the 1970s I participated in many activities initiated by Sten, some of them based on his telepathic inspiration from the space people. But in the autumn of 1972 I had become increasingly skeptical of his many claims of contact. I had listened to so many fantastic stories, believing six impossible things before breakfast, that finally my naïve idealism changed into a more inquiring attitude. In my diary November 23, 1972 I wrote: "It feels good to be "normal" again. These two years have been like som kind of UFO hypnosis. It is obvious that UFOs are much more than one believes from the start... The issue of contactees should be investigated and documented."

A seminal influence in the late Autumn of 1972 was my meeting the Swedish couple Sture and Turid Johansson, who told of their rather frightening close encounter experiences and their involvement in the very complicated contact case of Richard Höglund. These and other cases I investigated slowly turned me into a more critical researcher instead of a naïve new age enthusiast. It was during this period that I discovered the books by John Keel. I found his writing fascinating and challenging. His field experience, intellectual curiosity, criticism of traditional ufology together with an iconoclastic and liberating humour impressed me deeply. When my friends and UFO collegues Anders Liljegren och Kjell Jonsson and I founded AFU in March 1973 our ideological inspiration came from John Keel and Jacques Vallee.

John Keel (middle) visiting Sweden in 1976. Thorvald (Bevan) Berthelsen (left), Carl-Axel Jonzon (right)

I corresponded with John Keel in the 1970s and 80s and also had the good fortune of having him as a guest in my home when he visited Sweden in October 1976. We were a small group of ufologists who gathered in my small one room apartment in Sundbyberg discussing all aspects of UFO and paranormal phenomena for a couple of days. I was especially interested in hearing of his experiences and theories regarding the Men In Black (MIB) phenomenon and the very physical UFO and contact cases. Keel was intrigued by this aspect and convinced there were aliens among us. “I´d really like to get one”, was his comment. In my copy of Operation Trojan Horse he wrote: “For my good friend Håkan Blomqvist – the secret to the UFOs is on page 321”. Last page in the book is 320. Typical John Keel Fortean humour.

John Keel and girlfriend eating a UFO cake during their Swedish visit in 1976

Referring to his first book, Jadoo (1959?) in Operation Trojan Horse Keel wrote: "Previous to all this I was a typical hard-boiled skeptic. I sneered at the occult. I had once published a book, Jadoo, which denigrated the mystical legends of the Orient." But this is not quite true. Although it is written in typical Keel fashion with a critical and humourous spirit there are several experiences and phenomena in the book which he can´t explain and truly puzzles the young adventurer. He hear the sound of and get a short glimpse of what could be the abominable snowman. A mystical lama give Keel a demonstration of levitation while other lamas move chairs by mental power and prove their ability of remote viewing by telling of a fire going on in a distant village. When Keel checked later, there had been a fire in the village. Instead of "denigrating" these claims he writes: "There was no explanation for these things. I thought I knew all the tricks of the phony western mediums, but this demonstration stymied me." Although a hard-boiled skeptic, Keel does not appear as the typical debunker in Jadoo, rather as the inquisitive romantic adventurer. And I love his humourous comments, like this one: "One lama told me the way to vanish into thin air is to make the mind a complete blank. (If this is true, then I know several people who should have disappeared long ago.)"

After a lifetime of travel, field investigation and study of UFO, Fortean and paranormal phenomena Keel reached the conclusion shared by many researchers into these areas: we live in a multiverse inhabited by a variety of diverse intelligences. In his last book, The Eighth Tower (1975), he wrote: "Today many scientific disciplines are moving in the same direction, not realizing they are mapping a very old country. In a few years, perhaps even in our own lifetime, all sciences will suddenly converge at a single point, and the mysteries of the superspectrum will unravel in our hands." (p. 216). This a strangely prophetic announcement that could have been written by anyone familiar with the Esoteric Tradition. This “country” has been “mapped” by esotericists like Helena Blavatsky, Charles Leadbeater, Geoffrey Hodson, Alice Bailey, Henry T. Laurency a.o. Although John Keel often use the term elementals, has documented their materializations and understand the problem of encountering them he never seems to have considered esotericism as a paradigm or working hypothesis to understand these phenomena. This becomes even more enigmatic as he wrote in the final chapter of Operation Trojan Horse: “My skepticism has melted away, and I have turned from science to philosophy in my search for the elusive truth." Obviously he never discovered esoteric philosophy.

John Keel´s lack of knowledge of the Esoteric Tradition was one of the reasons why another of my guides and mentors, Riley Crabb of Borderland Sciences Research Associates, never liked his writings. While I tried to defend Keel and present his views and investigations as opening new vistas and giving further evidence of a multiverse, Riley Crabb could never see it this way. In a letter to me March 23, 1980 he wrote: "He (John Keel) is a wilderness crying for a voice, and I´ve told him so.. His writings, like those of Jacques Vallee, leave one hopeless... Yes D.K. (Bailey-HB) does warn about the trickiness of Deva and Elemental contacts, but he places them understandably in the over-all picture of evolution we get from the Mahatmas of the Himalayas. There is no such inspirational lift from Keel and Vallee, and there cant be because the two men aren´t even metaphysical kindergartners, they are metaphysical illiterates."

Personally I found a lot of "inspirational lift" from John Keel although neither Keel nor Vallee could be regarded as esotericists. There are a mass of data and conclusions in their books pointing to interpretation clearly in line with the Esoteric Tradition. Like this quote from Keel´s last book The Eighth Tower (1975): "Today, scores of scientists working in widely separated , unrelated disciplines are crossing the threshold into the world of ancient science. We call it progress, but Merlin will have the last laugh. Science is inching into magic..." (p.44)

To me John Keel and his books opened up a new world with his knowledge, humour and suggestive language. When you read Strange Creatures from Time and Space and are confronted with all the weird and frightening creature encounters the author gives this final "encouraging" prophecy: ""...someone within two hundred miles of your home, no matter where you live on this planet, has had a direct personal confrontation with an Unbelievable... Next week, next month, or next year you may be driving along a deserted country road late at night and as you round a bend you will suddenly see..."
H. P. Lovecraft would have loved that sentence.

In my life I have met many interesting and extraordinary personalities. Some have been basically mentors and others both friends and mentors. In this last category I include the couple Sture and Turid Johansson, often mentioned in older blog entries. I first met Sture and Turid in late Autumn 1972 and we immediately became very good friends. They freely shared their many and sometimes frightening UFO and close encounters. The rather unusual and varied experiences of Sture and Turid was what actually inspired me to begin in depth investigations of the often complicated and controversial physical contactee cases. Foremost the enigma of Richard Höglund.

Sture and Turid Johansson had been involved in UFO and spiritualist circles for several years before I met them. They were spiritual searchers studying different teachers and traditions. After a lecture at Stockholms UFO-Center in 1973 Sture and Turid began meditation meetings at their home in Lidingö, Stockholm, with a group of members from the UFO society. In November 1973 I was invited to attend these meditation sessions. We met every Friday night for about three years and became a very tightly knit group and close friends. For me this group was especially important as I was troubled by personal problems during the Spring of 1974.

Sture and Turid Johansson

We all became fellow spiritual seekers in the meditation group, studying a.o. Helena Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner and discussing all aspects of philosophy and paranormal phenomena. These were joyous and inspiring gatherings. Although the subjects discussed were serious we often joked heartily and rather irreverently about spiritual teachers and ourselves. As almost all of us were active in various UFO, parapsychological and spiritual organizations we referred to our group as The Occult Mafia.

We often gathered together at holidays, New Year´s Eve and other occasions. We had summer parties, visiting lectures, exhibitions and interesting persons among our acquaintances. One evening we spontaneously decided to place our meditation session deep in the forest, a few Swedish miles south of Stockholm at a place called Paradiset, the Paradise. After having walked in the dark forest for about a mile we arrived at a small lake, Trehörningen. There the group settled together, meditating and gazing at the beautiful night sky filled with stars and occasional meteors. It way an awe-inspiring evening full of magical beauty and mystery. Many times later we gathered at this place for recreation and bathing in the lake, a few times sleeping in a lapp cot or tepee built close to the lake.

Me in the lapp cot (tepee) at Paradiset, August 1974. the dog belonged to Sture och Turid

New year celebration with the group 1974. Sture, Turid and Lennart Johansson

I came to know Sture och Turid Johansson very well and we spent many evenings at my small one room apartment in Sundbyberg, discussing and trying to understand the many facets of the UFO enigma and of course their own close encounters and contacts. Often during these evenings we were joined by our good friend Åke Franzén, one of the few Swedes to have personally investigated the famous Mothman in West Virginia. Åke was a volcano of good spirits coupled with an intense thirst for knowledge of all aspects of UFO and paranormal phenomena. Our gatherings were full of joy and laughter and will forever be cherished in my memory.

Happy gathering at my apartment March 1978, Turid, Åke Franzén, Sture

A seminal event occurred during our meditation meeting on November 19, 1976. Turid told the group that Sture had recently begun going into a trance state and a spirit, Simeno, had started talking through him. Although members of the group had read about many paranormal events we were all somewhat apprehensive when Sture started to gasp and shake, rised up and a completely foreign voice came from his lips. The voice greeted us and told us not to be afraid.

The trance communications marked the beginning of the end for the meditation group. Sture och Turid Johansson became more and more involved in spreading the messages from Simeno, and later an old Egyptian calling himself Ambres. In 1976-1977 I participated in several trance sessions at the home of Sture och Turid and hade many long conversations with Ambres. I taped these sessions and they became important as they taught me a lot of how trance communication works and the problem of interpretation.

The teachings of Ambres became very popular and soon a group formed around the couple. In the 1980s Sture och Turid moved to the north of Värmland, building a center attracting many followers who came from all over the world to listen to the Ambres teachings. Sture became very famous in the 1980s when celebreties like Shirley MacLaine and Dennis Weaver visited the center in Sweden. Sture and Turid travelled around the world and I have letters and postcards posted from California, Hawaii and Mexico. Sture also figures in the miniseries Out On a Limb from 1987, based on the bestselling book by Shirley Maclaine. It was perhaps inevitable that our meditation group should split up and the members chose different paths in life. The group had served its purpose and our respective dharma made us chose different roads and spiritual traditions. For me the way ahead meant an extensive study of the Esoteric Tradition, especially Henry T. Laurency and Alice Bailey.

Article from the Swedish daily Expressen November 26, 1985 when Shirley MacLaine visited Sture Johansson

Listening to the taped trance sessions and reading the books written by Sture Johansson I noticed very early that the teachings of Ambres reflected the ideas we had discussed in the meditation group and corresponded clearly to the personal philosophy of Sture and Turid, a mixture of mysticism, spiritualism and Theosophy. Nothing really new came from Ambres. Turid was very much influenced by the doctrine of Mentalism, a form of advaita subjectivism stating that material reality only exists in our minds. In the words of Ambres: "The first four dimensions exist only if someone experience them. The beholder is Man. It is you who have created this room". We also find statements like: "This is not a teaching you should cultivate with your intellect" - "We should never compare teachings". I state this not as debunking criticism because the teachings are in many respects inspiring, beautiful and have probably helped many people to a more positive lifeview. There is no fanaticism, life-negating asceticism or political extremism presented.

Swedish book with the Ambres teachings

What would be my interpretation of the teachings and identity of Ambres today? Although the word esoteric is sometimes used in the teachings the philosophy presented is not esoteric, except with regard to some basic ideas. The intellectual and scholarly esotericist would immediately notice the differences. Besides this fact the adepts or the planetary guardians never use trance channelers with no control of who is communicating. To understand this phenomenon from an esoteric viewpoint I use my standard reference works in the multiverse science. A very good presentation and reasonable explanation can be found in two books by Alice Bailey. Students should read From Intellect to Intuition, pp. 243-249 (clothbound ed.). Here a few quotes relative to the problem of meditation and entity communication: "Again, some "force" - a word frequently used - or some entity comes to the student, as he meditates, and outlines to him some great work that he has been chosen to do; some world message that he has to give and to which the whole world is to listen...Should an apparition appear to him, therefore, and should such an entity make platitudious comments, he will use the same judgement as he would in business or ordinary life... He would probably laugh and continue with the activity or duty of the moment"... The world of illusion is full of these thoughtforms, constructed by the loving thoughts of men down the ages. Regarding channeled messages some further information is found Telepathy by Alice Bailey pp. 75-77: "These messages are normally innocuous, sometimes beautiful. because they are a mixture of what the recipients have read and gathered from Christian sources and the Bible." From the viewpoint of the Esoteric Tradition the identity of Ambres could be either a subconsciously created fantasy personality or an astral entity masquerading as an Egyptian sage.

Sture and Turid eventually separated while Sture continues his work and teachings in Värmland with a new partner. Turid died in October 2010. She will always stay in my memory and I cherish the varm friendship and many joyous meetings we had together. In several respects both Sture and Turid became my teachers and mentors and I am grateful for our time together.

To keep the chronology of the guides and mentors in my life the relevant name here should be Riley Crabb, director of Borderland Sciences Research Foundation (BSRF) 1959-1985. But as I have written rather extensively on Riley in earlier blog entries interested readers are referred to these blogs. Instead I wish to present the ufologist and author Timothy Good, who has been a great inspiration and friend for many years.

Rather early in my ufological career I lamented the fact that so few of the classic contactees of the 1950s had been thoroughly and seriously studied and their experiences documented. “Scientific” ufologists usually dismissed these individuals as cranks and cultists, without further investigation. Many contactees, of course, belonged to the rogue and crackpot category but there were, in my opinion, a few intriguing exceptions: George Adamski, Orfeo Angelucci, Daniel Fry, George van Tassel, Howard Menger a.o. Activists in the 1950s and 60s UFO and new age community were usually either rather naïve believers or debunkers on the issue of contactees. There were few open minded, serious investigators looking into the contactee enigma.

Timothy Good during his Swedish visit in 1998

This situation began to change in the 1980s with the publication of George Adamski – The Untold Story, written by Lou Zinsstag and Timothy Good (1983). Finally a study that was neither a hagiography nor a debunking dismissal but a careful weighing up of the evidence for and against this controversial man. After reading and reviewing the book in 1983 I immediately wrote to Timothy Good expressing my appreciation of their research: "Isn´t it peculiar that the first actual biography on Adamski should be written by Europeans? Where are the American UFO detectives?" I received a very kind reply and since then we have kept the correspondence going all these years. Timothy Good has provided me with many interesting documents, transcripts of interviews, photographs and data relating to his worldwide investigation of contactee cases. We have compared data and discussed all the tricky issues of this fascinating enigma.

In my first letter to Timothy I presented my theory regarding secret brotherhoods on Earth and UFOs, the Esoteric Intervention Theory. Here a quote from Tim´s reply, dated February 27, 1984: "Let me discuss your fascinating theory, which, as you correctly point out, is not a new one. It may please you to learn that Howard Menger, with whom I spent a lot of time in 1978, shares your view. He does not now believe that the people he met (and meet them he did - of that I am certain) came from Venus and Mars, Saturn etc. He think´s it far more likely that they come from a superior civilization here on Earth that has existed for thousands of years. BUT may use Venus and Mars as bases, since they obviously have spaceflight capability."

The book by Lou Zinsstag and Timothy Good in many ways reopened the George Adamski case and inspired renewed investigative efforts to understand contact experiences. A more open minded view on contactees had earlier been presented by American ufologist Ted Bloecher at the First International UFO Congress in 1980. George Adamski - The Untold Story contain a mass of new data and insights into the controversial claims of this the first generation contactee.

Timothy Good is not, like Desmond Leslie, an esotericist but his theories and conclusions relating to the experiences of Adamski and other contactees are in line with the Esoteric Tradition. Referring to the extraordinary feats of yogis like Paramhansa Yogananda he concludes: "It is my conviction that many extraterrestrials are capable of these and other even more fantastic feats: indeed, I see little difference in this respect between highly-evolved human beings on this planet and those from any other. These abilities are precisely what we should expect..." (p. 197). Timothy Good also express a deep fascination with individuals like Comte de St. Germain, Cagliostro and Anton Mesmer and finds it likely they were associated with the "ancient races". (Earth. An Alien Enterprise, pp. 405-406).

Timothy Good

From an esoteric aspect there is an interesting point made by Lou Zinsstag, relating to the rather doubtful claim that Adamski had some "private tuition" in Tibet at an early age: "I suspect that the young boy must have enjoyed tuition by a teacher or guide, connected with a group in Tibet, as he subsequently founded the "Royal Order of Tibet"". (p. 5). Could Adamski, at an early age, have been contacted by a Tibetan teacher, similar to the experiences of Millen Cooke, who wrote the prophetic article Son of the Sun in 1947?

One of my favourite books by Timothy Good is Alien Base (1998), a comprehensive account of physical contactee cases documented by the author during his worldwide travels. Here we find the remarkable contact experiences of Joelle Marchemont, a good friend of Timothy Good for many years. In a letter in 1984 I asked why he regarded her as reliable: "Re. my contactee friend. Why reliable? I have known her since 1952 and can vouch for her integrity. She has never tried to capitalise on the story, and, indeed, is unable to discuss all the details, due partly the the ET`s ability to control her memory of certain things they told her, and also becuase she was in the Maquis (French Resistance) in the last war, and thus is able to keep some information to herself." (Letter August 28, 1984).

To mainstream serious ufologists Timothy Good is probably best known by his classic studies Above Top Secret (1987) and Need to Know: UFOs, the Military & Intelligence (2006). He has for many years lectured worldwide and several of these lectures can be found at YouTube. As a professional violinist and a member of the London Symphony Orchestra for fourteen years, he has worked together with famous musicians as George Harrison, Elton John, Paul McCartney and U2. A rather unique combination of talents and achievements.

A young Timothy Good in Japan

The latest book was published in 2013, Earth - An Alien Enterprise, which I reviewed in an earlier blog entry. Chapter eleven is a summary of the Swedish Richard Höglund case, which I spent many years documenting and has discussed extensively with Timothy. We have sometimes differed in opinion on the veracity of various contactees. One example is the controversial Amicizia story from Italy of which I have grave doubts. But most of the time during our years of correspondence we have reached similar conclusions on cases investigated.

Reading and listening to Timothy Good is a stimulating adventure and intellectual challenge. You may not always agree with his ideas and theories but he has done what serious ufologists neglected to do: to thoroughly investigate and document the first generation contactees and their experiences. Because of this interest he is sort of a heretic among the "scientific" ufologists and skeptics who continue investigating the easily explained lights in the sky instead of going after the real enigma, the close encounters and contact experiences. It was very much with the help of Timothy Good that I was able to elaborate an extended version of Vallee´s Esoteric Intervention Theory. In this respect he has been an important guide and mentor of which I am eternally grateful.

Ghost Rockets documentary

Some further notes on Paul M. Vest

The UFO-Sweden spirit

Humanism, skepticism, esotericism

The Rehn - APRO correspondence

AFU - Archives for Forbidden Underground Science

Richard Kieninger, UFOs and the Esoteric Tradition

"We flew in from the east" - Part 1

"We flew in from the east" - Part 2

Gösta Johansson - pioneer ufologist

Marc Hallet - A Critical Appraisal of George Adamski

Värmland and the Esoteric Tradition

The future of ufology

What I have been trying to say

Esotericism and intellectual integrity

Guides and mentors: Sten Lindgren

Theodore Illion as esotericist

Guides and mentors: John Keel

Guides and mentors: Sture and Turid Johansson

Guides and mentors: Timothy Good