It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Alien abduction claimants. (Discuss) Proposed since February 2012.

Contactees are persons who claim to have experienced contact with extraterrestrials. Contactees have typically reported that they were given messages or profound wisdom by extraterrestrial beings. These claimed encounters are often described as ongoing, but some contactees claim to have had as few as a single encounter.

As a cultural phenomenon, contactees perhaps had their greatest notoriety from the late 1940s to the late 1950s, but individuals continue to make similar claims in the present. Some have shared their messages with small groups of followers, and many have issued newsletters or spoken at UFO conventions.

The contactee movement has seen serious attention from academics and mainstream scholars. Among the earliest was the classic 1956 study, When Prophecy Fails by Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken, and Stanley Schachter, which analyzed the phenomenon. There have been at least two university-level anthologies of scientific papers regarding the contactee movements (see sources below). "The contactee movement is a rich treat for anthropologists, sticky with sincere and sincerely deluded individuals. Were the contactees in touch with anything other than their own internal fantasies?"^[1]

Contactee accounts are generally different from those who allege alien abduction, in that while contactees usually describe beneficial experiences involving human-like aliens, abductees rarely describe their experiences positively.

Overview[link]

Astronomer J. Allen Hynek described Contactees as asserting "the visitation to the earth of generally benign beings whose ostensible purpose is to communicate (generally to a relatively few selected and favored persons —) messages of 'cosmic importance'. These chosen recipients generally have repeated contact experiences, involving additional messages.."^[2]

Contactees became a cultural phenomena in the 1940s and continued throughout the 1950s and 1960s, often giving lectures and writing books about their experience. The phenomona still exists today. Skeptics hold that such 'contactees' are deluded or dishonest in their claims. Susan Clancy wrote that such claims are “false memories” concocted out of a “blend of fantasy-proneness, memory distortion, culturally available scripts, sleep hallucinations, and scientific illiteracy.”^[3]

Contactees usually portrayed "Space Brothers" as more or less identical in appearance and mannerisms to humans. The Brothers are also almost invariably reported as disturbed by the violence, crime and wars that infest the earth, and by the possession of various earth nations of nuclear and thermonuclear weapons. Curtis Peebles summarizes the common features of many contactee claims:^[4]

• Certain humans have had personal and/or mental contact with friendly, completely human-appearing space aliens.
• The contactees have also flown aboard flying saucers, and traveled into space and to other planets.
• The Space Brothers want to help mankind solve its problems, to stop nuclear testing and prevent the otherwise inevitable destruction of the human race.
• This will be accomplished very simply by the brotherhood spreading a message of love and brotherhood across the world.
• Other sinister beings, the Men in Black, use threats and force to continue the cover-up of UFOs and suppress the message of hope.

History of contactees[link]

Early contactees[link]

Though the word contactee was not in common use until the 1950s, the authors of the anthologies noted in "sources" below use the term to describe persons whose claims occurred centuries before the UFO era, attempting to depict them as a part of the same tradition.

Though not linked to flying saucers or odd aerial lights, it is perhaps worth noting that there is a long history of claims of contact with non-earthly intelligences. The founding revelations of many of the world's religions involve contact between the founder and a supernatural source of wisdom, such as a god in human form or an angel. In this context, it might be expected that most of the 1950s contactees would form their own religions, with the contactee as sole spiritual leader, and that is just what happened, almost invariably.

As early as the 18th century, people like Emanuel Swedenborg were claiming to be in psychic contact with inhabitants of other planets. 1758 saw the publication of Concerning Earths in the Solar System, in which Swedenborg detailed his alleged journeys to the inhabited planets. J. Gordon Melton notes that Swedenborg's planetary tour stops at Saturn, the furthest planet known during Swedenborg's era — he did not visit Uranus, Neptune or Pluto.^[5]

Later, Helena Blavatsky would make claims similar to Swedenborg's.

In 1891, Thomas Blott's book The Man From Mars was published. The author claimed to have met a Martian in Kentucky. Unusually for an early contactee, Blott reported that the Martian communicated not via telepathy, but in English.^[6]

Another early contactee book, of sorts, was From India To The Planet Mars (1900) by Theodore Flournoy. Flournoy detailed the claims of Helene Smith, who, whilst in a trance, dictated information gleaned from her psychic visits to the planet Mars — including a Martian alphabet and language she could write and speak. Flournoy determined that Smith's claims were spurious, based on fantasy and imagination. Her "Martian" language was simply a garbled version of French.

1900s[link]

Two of the earliest contactees in the modern sense were William Magoon and Guy Ballard (the latter a follower of Madame Blavatsky).

Magoon's book William Magoon: Psychic and Healer was published in 1930. He claimed that, in the early 20th century, he had been unexpectedly and instantaneously transported to Mars. The planet was essentially earth-like, with cities and wilderness. The inhabitants had radio and automobiles. Though they were invisible, Magoon sensed their presences.

Though Magoon was obscure, Ballard would have more impact via the I Am movement he established. In 1935, Ballard claimed that, several years earlier, he and over 100 others witnessed the appearance of 12 Venusians in a cavern beneath Mount Shasta. The Venusians played music for the audience, said Ballard, then showed the crowd a large mirror-like device that displayed images of life on Venus. The Venusians then allegedly reported that the earth would suffer through an era of tension and warfare, followed by worldwide peace and goodwill.

George Adamski, who later became probably the most prominent contactee of the UFO era, was one contactee with an earlier interest in the occult. Adamski founded the Royal Order of Tibet in the 1930s. Writes Michael Barkun, "His [later] messages from the Venusians sounded suspiciously like his own earlier occult teachings."^[7]

Christopher Partridge notes, importantly, that the pre-1947 contactees "do not involve UFOs."^[8] Rather, he suggests that an existing tradition of extraterrestrial contact via seances and psychic means promptly incorporated the flying-saucer mythos when it arrived.

Contactees in the UFO era[link]

The 1947 report of Kenneth Arnold sparked widespread interest in flying saucers, and before long, people were claiming to have been in contact with flying saucer inhabitants.

There was a nearly-continuous series of contactees, beginning with George Adamski in 1952. Radio host John Nebel interviewed many contactees on his program during this era. The stereotypical contactee account in these days involved not just conversations with friendly, human-appearing spacemen but visits inside their flying saucers, and rides to large "Mother Ships" in Earth orbit, and even jaunts to the moon, Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn.

By the late 1950s, many contactees were no longer claiming to have been physically visited by aliens; rather, they were more often in psychic contact with the spacemen, who passed their messages on to people in trances. However, alien contact via Ouija board, spirit mediums and channelling was fairly common even in the early 1950s. Eventually, there was a complicated crossover with the later "psychic channeling" movement, which found a degree of renewed popularity beginning in the late 1960s.

In support of their claims, early 1950s contactees often produced photographs of the alleged flying saucers or their occupants. A number of photos of a "Venusian scout ship" by George Adamski and identified by him as a typical extraterrestrial flying saucer were noted to bear a suspicious resemblance to a type of once commonly available chicken egg incubator, complete with three light bulbs which Adamski said were "landing gear."^[9]

For over two decades, contactee George Van Tassel hosted the annual "Giant Rock Interplanetary Spacecraft Convention" in the Mojave Desert.^[10] Another 1950s contactee, Buck Nelson, held a similar convention in the Ozarks of Missouri up until 1965.

Though contactees faded from mainstream consciousness, people continued making claims of extraterrestrial contact.

Swiss one-armed farmer Billy Meier has managed to include every one of the classic 1950s contactees within his own religious framework, and has made room for tens of thousands more, as this reported exchange between Meier and one of his extraterrestrial contacts indicates: "Meier: ... If you allow, I want to ask you about some matters respecting contacts. How many contactees exist in the world today...?" "Ptaah: The exact number of real contactees on Earth is presently 17,422 (1975). They are scattered over all your states and lands. Of that number only a few percent come to public attention. Many of them are working according to our advice at different labors and tasks.... In different cases such persons are also having contacts with us without being informed that we do not belong to Earth.... Of all these 17,422 contactees (the number increases continuously) only a few hundred are known publicly...."^{[citation needed]}

Another contemporary example is the Raelian Movement, which earned international attention with their claims of successful human cloning. Their leader, Raël, claims to have been contacted by aliens (the Elohim) since the 1970s.

Response to contactee claims[link]

Even in ufology — itself subject to at best very limited and sporadic mainstream scientific or academic interest — contactees were generally seen as the lunatic fringe, and "serious" ufologists subsequently avoided the subject, for fear it would harm their attempts at "serious" study of the UFO phenomenon.^[11][12] Jacques Vallée notes that "No serious investigator has ever been very worried by the claims of the 'contactees.'"^[13]

Some time after the phenomenon had waned, Temple University historian David Michael Jacobs noted a few interesting facts: the accounts of the prominent contactees grew ever more elaborate, and as new claimants gained notoriety, they typically backdated their first encounter, claiming it occurred earlier than anyone else's. Jacobs speculates that this was an attempt to gain a degree of "authenticity" to trump other contactees.^[14]

List of Contactees[link]

Those who claim to be contactees include:

See also[link]

• Alien abduction insurance

References[link]

External links[link]

• Survey of 1950s Contactees
• Another overview of 1950s contactees
• Another survey of 1950s contactees and their associated religious cults

v t e UFOs and ufology Index of ufology articles Notable incidents List of aircraft-UFO incidents List of UFO sightings in outer space Aurora (1897) Roswell (1947) Washington (1952) Tehran (1976) Rendlesham Forest (1980) Japan Air Lines (1986) Belgian UFO wave (1990) Phoenix Lights (1997) 21st century Mexico (2004) Tinley Park Lights (2004-2006) O'Hare Airport (2006) Alderney (2007) Stephenville (2008) Turkey (2008) Wales (2008) Norway (2009) Harbour Mille (2010) Vancouver, Washington (2011) Sightings by country Argentina Australia Belarus Belgium Brazil Canada China France Indonesia Iran Iraq Italy Mexico New Zealand Norway Philippines Portugal Russia South Africa Spain (Canary Islands) Sweden United Kingdom United States Hypothesis and studies UFO hypotheses (Extraterrestrial hypothesis) Project Blue Book Condon Report COMETA Report List of notable studies in ufology Identification studies of UFOs Types Black triangle Fastwalkers Flying saucer Foo fighter Ghost rockets Green fireballs Mystery airship UFO conspiracy theory Majestic 12 Area 51 Bob Lazar Men in Black Project Serpo Disclosure Project Culture UFO Culture UFO religion List of UFO religions UFOs in fiction Involvement Government responses Organizations Ufologists Abduction Contactee Topics Declassification of UFO documents Skeptics List of skeptics and skeptical organizations Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (October 2008)

Lisa Harrison

Forward
Born	(1971-01-02) January 2, 1971 (age 41) Louisville, Kentucky
Nationality	American
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	164 lb (74 kg)
College	Tennessee
Draft	3rd round, 34th pick overall, 1999 Phoenix Mercury

Lisa Harrison (born January 2, 1971 in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.) is a former American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).^[1]

Early life[link]

Lisa Harrison learned to play basketball from a young age. In 1989, she was named the High School Player of the Year while attending Southern High School, by Parade magazine. She also was named 1989's Kentucky Miss Basketball. In 1991, as a sophomore while attending the University of Tennessee, she was a member of their women's basketball team that won the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship.

Professional career[link]

After graduating from Tennessee in 1993, Lisa played one season (1996–1997) for the Columbus Quest of the American Basketball League and two seasons (1997–1999) for the Portland Power.

In the 1999 WNBA Draft, she was selected by the Phoenix Mercury in the third round (34th pick overall). In the WNBA, Lisa was once ranked eighth in free throw shooting accuracy at 86.4% in 2001.

Vital statistics[link]

• Position: Forward
• Number: 3
• Born: January 2, 1971
• Height: 6-1 / 1,85
• Weight: 164 lb / 74,4 kg.
• College: Tennessee 1993

Outside basketball[link]

Harrison was inducted into the Kentucky High School Athletics Hall of Fame on September 10, 2001. On September 12, 2006, Harrison was named an outreach coordinator for the athletic department at the University of Louisville.

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

• WNBA Player Profile
• WNBA Article

Howard Menger (February 17, 1922 – February 25, 2009) was an American contactee who claimed to have met extraterrestrials throughout the course of his life, meetings which were the subject of books he wrote, such as From Outer Space To You and The High Bridge Incident. Menger, who rose to prominence as a charismatic contactee detailing his chats with friendly Adamski-style Venusian "space brothers" in the late 1950s, was accepted by some UFO believers.

Menger had religious revelations to impart after his "experiences," and also came back from his contacts with practical messages.

When he was still young he moved with his parents to the rolling hills of Hunterdon County, New Jersey. His first alleged contact with a person from another planet was at the age of ten, in the woods near his hometown of High Bridge, New Jersey.^[1] Shortly after leaving high school, he entered the United States Army and was attached to the 17th Tank Battalion. In later life he was often employed as a sign painter.

He died on February 25, 2009, at the age of 87.

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Lewis, James R., editor. UFOs and Popular Culture Santa Barbara, CA. ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2000. ISBN 1-57607-265-7.

External links[link]

• howardmenger.com use to be Howard Menger's website but it has either been hacked or lost.
• Authentic Music From Another Planet, by Howard Menger
• Howard & Connie Menger

v t e UFOs and ufology Index of ufology articles Notable incidents List of aircraft-UFO incidents List of UFO sightings in outer space Aurora (1897) Roswell (1947) Washington (1952) Tehran (1976) Rendlesham Forest (1980) Japan Air Lines (1986) Belgian UFO wave (1990) Phoenix Lights (1997) 21st century Mexico (2004) Tinley Park Lights (2004-2006) O'Hare Airport (2006) Alderney (2007) Stephenville (2008) Turkey (2008) Wales (2008) Norway (2009) Harbour Mille (2010) Vancouver, Washington (2011) Sightings by country Argentina Australia Belarus Belgium Brazil Canada China France Indonesia Iran Iraq Italy Mexico New Zealand Norway Philippines Portugal Russia South Africa Spain (Canary Islands) Sweden United Kingdom United States Hypothesis and studies UFO hypotheses (Extraterrestrial hypothesis) Project Blue Book Condon Report COMETA Report List of notable studies in ufology Identification studies of UFOs Types Black triangle Fastwalkers Flying saucer Foo fighter Ghost rockets Green fireballs Mystery airship UFO conspiracy theory Majestic 12 Area 51 Bob Lazar Men in Black Project Serpo Disclosure Project Culture UFO Culture UFO religion List of UFO religions UFOs in fiction Involvement Government responses Organizations Ufologists Abduction Contactee Topics Declassification of UFO documents Skeptics List of skeptics and skeptical organizations Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

This ufo-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Klarer's supposed UFO contact site, a hill near Rosetta, Kwa-Zulu Natal: 29°20′41″S 29°51′35″E / 29.34472°S 29.85972°E / -29.34472; 29.85972

Elizabeth Klarer (1910 - February, 1994) was a South African who claimed to have been contacted by extraterrestials between 1954 and 1963.^[1] She was one of the first women to claim a sexual relationship with an extraterrestrial.^[2]

Biography[link]

She was born in Mooi River, Natal.^[3] She studied meteorology and music in England, and learned to fly light aircraft. After reading George Adamski's Flying Saucers Have Landed (1953) and Inside the Space Ships (1955), Klarer recalled that she had been receiving occasional telepathic messages from a friendly space alien named Akon since childhood. Akon was presumably unrelated to Adamski's Venusian space friend Orthon. She was able to take photos of the ship from the Drakensberg Mountains on July 17, 1955.^[4] This was a similar arrangement to that made by Adamski with Orthon in 1952.

The Cathkin Peak plateau 29°04′29″S 29°21′04″E / 29.07472°S 29.35111°E / -29.07472; 29.35111, where a subsequent contact would have occurred

Klarer managed to call down Akon and his scout ship on April 7, 1956, for an actual landing.^[3] She was carried up to the mother ship in earth orbit, and --- now the story becomes somewhat different from the mid-1950s contactee standard --- was eventually transported in 1957 to Akon's home planet, Meton, orbiting in the nearby multiple-star system Alpha Centauri, where she and Akon had sex, she became pregnant, and eventually delivered a male child.^[2] Her son, Ayling, stayed behind on Meton to be educated, while Klarer came home. The whole process, trip, lovemaking, pregnancy, delivery and return trip, supposedly required less than four months. Klarer took far more time before publishing a book, Beyond the Light Barrier (1980),^[5] about her extraterrestrial adventures. On his world lecture tour in the late 1950s, George Adamski made a point of visiting South Africa and looking up Klarer for a chat on their variety of experiences with the friendly, wise "Space Brothers." By that time, Klarer was not the only Adamski follower to experience claimed space-motherhood, because in 1957 British housewife Cynthia Appleton[Inaccessible without a password] was revealing that one of Adamski's handsome blond Venusian Space Brothers had seduced her and gotten her pregnant. The resulting son, Matthew, has not been available for comment to date. Elizabeth Klarer died in 1994 in South Africa.^[2]

Publications[link]

• Beyond the Light Barrier (1980)
• Jenseits der Lichtmauer: Vorgeschichte und Bericht einer Weltraumreise (1977)

In popular culture[link]

Elizabeth Klarer is mentioned in the song Even Elizabeth Klarer off the album Shakey is Good (2008) by South African singer-songwriter Jim Neversink.^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• An uncritical summary of stories of contactees who claimed sexual contact with aliens, originally published in Pravda
• Elizabeth Klarer's book "Beyond The Light Barrier" is now available world wide. The movie is set to premier in 2010.
• A 1999 summary of some of the same material
• The Kamberg Valley South Africa where Elizabeth's family lived

v t e UFOs and ufology Index of ufology articles Notable incidents List of aircraft-UFO incidents List of UFO sightings in outer space Aurora (1897) Roswell (1947) Washington (1952) Tehran (1976) Rendlesham Forest (1980) Japan Air Lines (1986) Belgian UFO wave (1990) Phoenix Lights (1997) 21st century Mexico (2004) Tinley Park Lights (2004-2006) O'Hare Airport (2006) Alderney (2007) Stephenville (2008) Turkey (2008) Wales (2008) Norway (2009) Harbour Mille (2010) Vancouver, Washington (2011) Sightings by country Argentina Australia Belarus Belgium Brazil Canada China France Indonesia Iran Iraq Italy Mexico New Zealand Norway Philippines Portugal Russia South Africa Spain (Canary Islands) Sweden United Kingdom United States Hypothesis and studies UFO hypotheses (Extraterrestrial hypothesis) Project Blue Book Condon Report COMETA Report List of notable studies in ufology Identification studies of UFOs Types Black triangle Fastwalkers Flying saucer Foo fighter Ghost rockets Green fireballs Mystery airship UFO conspiracy theory Majestic 12 Area 51 Bob Lazar Men in Black Project Serpo Disclosure Project Culture UFO Culture UFO religion List of UFO religions UFOs in fiction Involvement Government responses Organizations Ufologists Abduction Contactee Topics Declassification of UFO documents Skeptics List of skeptics and skeptical organizations Committee for Skeptical Inquiry