It is generally a good idea to return to the classics in any genre. This also goes for UFO literature. Rereading a book after ten or twenty years is a rewarding experience. You will discover new data and ideas you didn´t notice before. The reason, of course, is that you are, in many ways, not the same person reading the book the second or third time. Hopefully you have advanced in knowledge, experience, intellectual and spiritual discernment. I have made it a habit to reread, especially the contactee classics of the 1950s as there is in my view a deeper mystery involved in what happened during that era. The classic chosen for this blog is From Outer Space to You by Howard Menger.
In several earlier blog entries I have presented various aspects of the controversial contact experiences of Howard Menger. He is one of the few public 1950s contactees I regard as genuine, although he later became involved with a secret U.S. military intelligence group, which complicated his life and contacts. The evidence for the reality of Menger´s contacts are many and varied but here I will concentrate on the philosophical and spiritual message of his book as related to The Esoteric Tradition or The Ancient Wisdom.
Howard and Connie Menger
A short summary of my arguments for advocating this position:
1. Many years of field investigation and research on physical contactees have convinced me that contacts and co-operation with alien visitors from somewhere is a reality.
2. There is both empirical and circumstantial evidence indicating that the following 1950s public contactees were authentic: George Adamski, Orfeo Angelucci, Daniel Fry, George and Dorris Van Tassel, Howard Menger.
3. The experiences and articles of journalist and esotericist Paul M. Vest and others imply that several individuals in the 1950s were openly or covertly involved in a psychological and sociological test implemented by a benevolent group of alien visitors.
4. The message or worldview presented by this group is generally in accordance with The Esoteric Tradition.
5. The assertion, in the 1930s and 1940s, by Alice Bailey´s teacher The Tibetan D.K. that ”extraplanetary beings stand ready to intervene” and ”offer their help at this time”.
2. There is both empirical and circumstantial evidence indicating that the following 1950s public contactees were authentic: George Adamski, Orfeo Angelucci, Daniel Fry, George and Dorris Van Tassel, Howard Menger.
3. The experiences and articles of journalist and esotericist Paul M. Vest and others imply that several individuals in the 1950s were openly or covertly involved in a psychological and sociological test implemented by a benevolent group of alien visitors.
4. The message or worldview presented by this group is generally in accordance with The Esoteric Tradition.
5. The assertion, in the 1930s and 1940s, by Alice Bailey´s teacher The Tibetan D.K. that ”extraplanetary beings stand ready to intervene” and ”offer their help at this time”.
The following quotes are from the original 1959 Saucerian Books edition of From Outer Space To You. I will not refer to statements in the book of basic facts in esotericism such as multiverse reality, evolution of consciousness, reincarnation, karma etc. but to more specialized information also found in The Esoteric Tradition.
”I was worried about my inability to fully comprehend all they were telling me. I had little or no education in the sciences. They told me not to worry, because many of their contacts were trained scientists who could understand their technology and now could even duplicate some of their instruments. "It's fairly easy to find contacts like these, Howard. But people like yourself is a different matter. While scientists can perform certain tasks, few of them would be able to bring the spiritual message to people, as you will be doing.” (p. 91)
This is an interesting aspect of the test made by the alien visitors as contactees were obviously selected based on different qualities and education. In the writings of Howard and Conny Menger the philosophical and esoteric dimension is very prominent, often more so compared to other contactees. Another example is journalist Paul M. Vest who was told by the visitor named Bill that he was approached because ”they are well aware of your deep interest and unusual experiences in the field of metaphysics, religions and the supra-normal”.
Photo of spaceman in front of ship taken by Howard Menger 1956
”Science asks for proof, but how can we prove something which is beyond our sciences? Scientific proof is based on what we perceive with our five senses, not what we know with the use of even more valuable senses. But, somehow, out of these advanced ideas must come a science, a system of some kind; else our unchartered paths will become even wilder. Such a science, a cosmic science, which will involve investigations in to the realm of other senses and dimensions, has already had its humble beginnings; but its patriarchs, like those ancient iconoclasts who announced the world was round and was not the center of the universe, have been persecuted.” (p. 123)
Here is presented a very distinct reference to The Esoteric Tradition as the science of the future. Not some naive and irrational philosophy but a true science of the multiverse as exact as any academic disclipline. The Tibetan teacher D.K. often explained this to his amanuensis Alice Bailey: ”One point should here be stated: Esotericism is not in any way of a mystical and vague nature. It is a science – essentially the science of the soul of all things – and has its own terminology, experiments, deductions and laws.” (Alice Bailey, Education In the New Age, p. 64) The philosophical system is Hylozoism, expertly elucidated by Swedish esotericist Henry T.Laurency.
Alice Bailey
”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. 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.” (p. 7)
This is actually Connie Menger explaining the ongoing relation and co-operation between our planetary guardians (Hierarchy) and people of other planets, often mentioned in the esoteric literature. That there is co-operation between the planetary and interplanetary guardians was confirmed by that extraordinary organization Borderland Sciences Research Association(BSRA) in 1951. Here is a quote from Seance Memoranda From the Inner Circle, November 28, 1951: ”There is a certain secret work going on at present between the Etherians and certain high earth authorities (You understand, I suppose, that I do not use the word ”high” in the usual sense. I am referring to those belonging to some of the secret Lodges on Earth). This work has to do with the great possibility of the Earth´s destruction… These men have landed in Australia in a secret landing field. They have not only been to Scotland, but to high authorities in England, and to a few of your men and women here of high standing (I refer to the secret Orders).” (p. 30)
”There are also space craft, 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.” (p. 159)
Howard Menger
This statement is intriguing and could be compared with the esoteric intervention theory as expounded by Jacques Vallee. Connoisseurs of esotericism are aware of that the core group of planetary guardians (adepts) have no need of ”saucers” as their knowledge of ”magic” makes such transportation uncalled-for. But secret lodges working together with the planetary and interplanetary guardians could very well have received basic knowledge of Vimana construction. To my knowledge there is no reference to such help in the so far published esoteric literature. A very controversial contactee declaring that secret brotherhoods use flying saucers is the late Richard Kieninger, which I have discussed in an earlier blog entry. In esoteric literature we find only mention of Vimana technology during the Atlantean period: ”Most of our modern scientific knowledge was possessed by these priest-kings and constituted in the eyes of the masses a form of wonderful magic. Sanitation, hygiene, means of transportation and air machines were developed and of a very high order; these were not the result however of man´s achievement, but gifts from the Hierarchy, developed or constructed under a wise guidance.” (Alice Bailey, The Externalisation of the Hierarchy, p. 122).
”My friend, this earth is the battlefield of Armageddon, and the battle is for men´s minds and souls… You don´t know Howard, that there is a very powerful group on this planet, which possesses tremendous knowledge of technology, psychology, and most unfortunate of all, advanced brain therapy… This group has been infiltrating religious organizations to dupe your peoples into a distorted concept of a truth which enveloped your planet thousands of years ago. They are using the credulity and simple faith of many people to attain their own ends.” (pp. 143-144)
This is not a very comforting message. Esotericists are aware of that our planet has been chosen as a sort of interplanetary Alcatraz and that there is also an organized effort to keep humanity enslaved by inhuman and destructive religious ideas. This was clearly explained already during the first communications in the 19th century by the Adept K.H.: ”…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… It is belief in God and Gods that makes two-thirds of humanity the slaves of a handful of those who deceive them under the false pretense of saving them.” (The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett, Letter 10, pp. 57-58).
Today most of the world religions have been reformed by the ideas from the Renaissance, The Enlightenment and The Modern Project. Unfortunately this is not the case with Islam, who in its present form must be regarded as a grave menace to freedom and world peace. Unless powerful reformers does not appear within Islam during the coming decades, there is a real danger of a brutal clash of civilisations or religious war.
The future prospects of humanity on this planet are not very bright unless something extraordinary happens. The coming of the planetary guardians may be the historical event that will change history.Many years after the active contact experiences Howard and Connie Menger summarized the whole episode with the visitors in their book The High Bridge Incident: ”Even if they were not extraterrestrials, they were intelligent, advanced people who had a technology to be envied and a philosophy that was inspiring. Maybe, they are the prototype of the enlightened, advanced human race on earth to come. If so, we can have hope for the future.” (p. 108).