Part 3: Eisenhower's Close Encounters ... Sherlock on Muroc ... The Visitors ...Chatting the Night Away

Eisenhower's Close Encounters 

By Paul Blake Smith

CHAPTER FIVE 

Sherlock on Muroc 

“Encounters will take place at military installations.” 

— Army Special Manual 1-01 

At this late date, we cannot dig up direct, tangible, indisputable proof, nor first-person eyewitness allegations covering every step of Dwight Eisenhower's excellent airbase adventure. Evidence left behind of the event, including typed reports, photos, and film footage, were all undoubtedly declared “classified” and “Top Secret,” then tucked away in vaults. But… we can act as legendary fictional detective “Sherlock Holmes” in carefully reconstructing the event where some gaps exist, logically piecing together the Edwards Airbase mystery when information is lacking... 

The scene: a dusty desert airbase, nestled between mountain ranges, baked dry in the relentless hot sun for a few decades. It actually began when a family of settlers with the last name “Corum” stopped and put and down roots in the Mojave Desert in 1910, and soon others followed. A small town was somehow carved out of a dry former lake-bed, a very flat open area without much of a water source if it didn't rain. Taking their name and spelling it backwards as “Muroc,” the settlement and its barren vicinity got its title. Muroc Dry Lakebed, it was officially dubbed, was soon on the map. In 1932, the Army bought some of the parched land and created a bombing range for test pilots to fly over in practice runs. Without laying down expensive pavement, pilots could easily take off and land, and taxi about, on the hard, flat, bare surface. More and more land was acquired by the military/government in the late '30s until a simple base was erected for the pilots and bombardiers living and working there nearly every day, alongside mechanics and flight technicians. Eventually, two parallel runways were paved. Test-piloting the very latest aerial technology became pretty hip, and to help pass the time, “hot-rodding” and souped-up car races across the desert floor also grew popular at Muroc. To take advantage of economic opportunities created by the growing number of macho aviators and auto-drivers (and their mechanics), bars and eateries; apartments and small homes; medical offices and stores popped up near the expanding military facility, and other nearby local communities began to take root, such as Palmdale, California, 37 miles away. 

“Mojave Field” was the site's first military base title but this gave way to “Muroc Airfield” as 1940 neared; the site grew in stature and importance as it was able to stage large-scale maneuvers. More and more barracks, hangars, and offices were constructed, along with roads, fencing, and guarded gates. Again the small towns nearby also increased in size, with more sophisticated homes and motels and government structures, such as a post office and courthouse. After the outbreak of World War II in December of 1941, the desert site expanded even more so in size, scope, and importance. The very latest and greatest American airplanes, heavy bombers, hightech fighter jets, and specialized aircraft were taken to Muroc for testing. Since more base buildings were constructed as the years flew by, some, like the enormous plane hangars, featured paved aprons and parking lots above the hard-packed, 46-square mile clay lakebed. 

On February 10th , 1948, the camp title was officially changed to the more formal “Muroc Air Force Base.” A year after the death of respected test pilot Glen Walter Edwards (1918-1948) in a terrible aerial accident at the base, the site changed the title again, this time picking up the official designation “Edwards Air Force Base.” Yet old habits die hard and thus many in the American military or government in the 1950s would still often refer to the base by both its “Muroc” and “Edwards” titles. 

From this point on, “Muroc” will refer to the huge, dry-lake-bed area, stretching for many miles, utilized for unpaved runways... and “Edwards” to the military base itself. 

In today's world, “Edwards Air Force Base” is famous for its cutting-edge aviation and aerospace exploits, including the landing of the space shuttles. Going beyond the lower atmosphere, more and more flights were designed to soar through the upper atmosphere and even into what we commonly call “outer space,” albeit briefly. Many types of high-tech, high-priced military aircraft were/are tested at stupefying speeds and refined, mostly at the special adjacent “Flight Research Center,” which has been present there since even before the '54 Eisenhower encounter. 

By the time 1954 ended, one online site mentions, “new facilities completed included a concrete runway 16,800 feet long, 3,000 feet wide, and 19 inches thick; 14 enormous hangars, tele-metering stations, computation laboratories, and technical facilities worth $150 million constructed and in place. There were modern barracks for the airmen, 1,500 family homes, two churches, an officer's club, an airmen's club, an NCO club, and a civilian club. The airbase even boasted one of the sportiest green-grass golf courses in that section of California.” {That detail alone might have attracted President Eisenhower.} 

By February of 1954, “the best and the brightest” in their chosen fields were assembled at or near the Edwards base, just as they are to this day. It makes one ask: what better remote place was there on the entire planet that an advanced and peaceful extraterrestrial race could select to set down on and be well-received by an educated, space flight-minded host in a remote setting? 

Thus, in perhaps years-long communications, Muroc/Edwards was likely settled upon by both aliens and humans as nearly perfect for secret face-to-face contact. It wasn't a sudden, impromptu selection. Remember, Dwight Eisenhower the lifelong military strategist was rather famous for saying, “Planning is everything.” He added sagely, “If you haven't been planning, you can't start to work, intelligently at least.” In a matter as important as this, plotting moves and counter-moves in advance was likely of great private concern to the soldier-statesman. 

Yes, the Mojave Desert aerial installation, located so far from population centers, was a kind of “top gun” proving ground, testing the mettle of both advanced engineers and fliers, but also mechanics and technicians on the ground, in addition to the simple routine training practices going on above. The U.S. Air Force was naturally a large presence as there was no specific national “Air Force Academy” in those days (but soon would be). 

So the agreed-upon setting was a distant Edwards Airbase runway near a large airplane hangar, not too close to the barracks and offices. The first detailed publishing breakthrough on the historic “summit conference” came from a pair of intrepid authors in the paranormal field, Charles Frambach Berlitz (1914-2003) and William Leonard Moore (1943-), back in 1980. The duo worked up a well intentioned book “The Roswell Incident” on the '47 New Mexico spaceship crash by merging that tale with rumors of Eisenhower's '54 Edwards appearance, supposedly only for a mere covert inspection of stored inanimate ET crash debris. While this was a bit “off-base” (pun intended), Berlitz and Moore must be given great credit overall for their groundbreaking work. For instance, the duo described uncovering a yellowing typewritten memorandum by an Air Force captain that mentioned the president's furtive '54 journey to Edwards. They also tracked down a “high-level member in one of the departments under Eisenhower,” then living in retirement in Arizona, a man who had been telling friends in private that Ike did indeed travel to the base (by helicopter) to see the extraterrestrial evidence. {Yet Eisenhower didn't utilize helicopters at the White House until 1957, making this small part of the claim a bit tenuous.} 

The tenacious 1980 co-authors even sniffed out and interviewed the widow of Dr. Purcell who treated the president's ailing tooth that Saturday night, as mentioned. The twosome also found out many UFO sightings were reported in the Muroc-Edwards vicinity between 1947 and 1954 (plus perhaps more that were never officially called in to the authorities or the local newspapers). Startlingly fast and fluid flights of disc or cigar-shaped objects were spotted in the skies. Some of these UFO claims were pinpointed in specific times and locales where there were no scheduled U.S. aircraft in the area, while others reported seeing darting UFOs deliberately buzzing military flights as if the occupants were trying to get their attention. In military circles, these are known as “purposeful flyovers.” The military and corporate-based civilian personnel at Edwards Airbase were being given repeated extraterrestrial “air shows” quite intentionally. In this careful manner, intelligent aliens were likely attempting to “break us in” on the reality of their presence, leading up to the big day of official contact. Ostensibly so that it all wouldn’t be such a huge, sudden shock. It was as if an overall master plan had been set out in stages, taking years, for the eventual high-level interaction. 

{For a specific example of these otherworldly sightings, check out the photo archives of the website “Open Minds,” where a cigar shaped craft was captured on camera from a higher airplane window's view while flying near another man-made aircraft over the Muroc area in that special year again, 1954. The plane in flight, seen in the black-and-white photograph, seems a good deal larger than the angled UFO clearly visible behind it. One can go to www.latestufos.com where the photo's owners proudly state it was snapped and presented to the public long before digital fakery was introduced decades later.} 

It has been alleged – back in the late 1970s - that a metallic flying disc came down to earth at an astonishing rate of speed and crashed very near Edwards Airbase, sometime in 1952. This startling saga was written about only a quarter-century later by researcher Leonard Stringfield (1920-1994), a former U.S. Air Force Intelligence officer. Supposedly, a radar specialist was working in the tower at Edwards AFB in '52 when he noticed a strange, fast-moving blip on his screen. He looked up, out the windows, and witnessed for himself the dumbfounding desert floor UFO crash in person, from afar, of course. He soon received information from others on the base that a 50-foot-in-diameter alien airship had indeed crash landed, with four dead otherworldly bodies on board, all measuring about four-and-a-half-feet in height. The alien airship was taken to a base hangar, despite considerable damage. In the scramble to make sense of the breathtaking accident, at some point an Air Force captain screamed at the specialist: “You didn't see anything!” And that was the abrupt end of that, he never found out anything more, or so the Stringfield story described. Unfortunately, any sort of backup evidence on this under-explored saga remains at large. {Source: “Majik Eyes Only” by Ryan Wood.} 

Could this tale be true? A crash-recovered alien craft was stored inside an airbase hangar at Edwards before 1954? Could this be the real reason why ETs agreed to peacefully land there (allegedly) on 2/19/54, and then opened up communications? And why President Eisenhower would quietly sneak away from his vacation in Palm Springs to meet them and arrange a deal? It would seem logical, but speculative. 

Could it be that at the time of the “showing off” - 1947 to 1954 - visiting ETs were keeping an eye on the ways of our U.S. military, government, population, education, culture, and behavior? They certainly needed to know what was going on with earthlings to find out precisely when and how to properly descend, disembark, and be received cordially someday. How precisely this ongoing alien study of United States culture and human reaction to UFOs was accomplished one can only speculate, but learning our American customs and the English language had to have been quite important. Perhaps an extended visit and sustained interaction with humans was prepared for by the aliens, not just for a few minutes. At least one eyewitness stated later that spaceships and alien entities were still around at Muroc/Edwards over a month after 2/19/54, as we'll see in a later chapter. 

To reinforce our belief that alien airships arrived on that February day at Muroc/Edwards, let's consult a leaked, classified military pamphlet that's impressive in all ways. The amazing, authentic April 1954 “Special Operations Manual 1-01.” This explosive, once-secret Army Intelligence booklet explained instructions for qualified military personnel on the proper handling of discovered alien hardware and included quite precise, noteworthy drawings of various sizes and shapes of ET spacecraft. It also described the different types of visiting aliens. Just how did the American military/government get this exact, mind-blowing level of detail on such a variety of intact, operable ET spaceships? Undoubtedly partly from the measurable contents of the Edwards Airbase hangars, after President Eisenhower gave the okay for an apparent exchange of technology, it would seem, for this would have been the first printed manual after Ike's ET summit (March 1954's edition was likely all set by the end of his visit). 

Troubling today, within the special instructional manual, details were given on how the U.S. government was to undermine American citizens who claimed to have come in contact with aliens and their crafts and to muzzle the corporate-owned media on this issue. This was in order to have the people of the United States (and thus the world) believe that various tales of UFO sightings and alien visitors - “little green men” - were simply fantasies and/or untrustworthy hoaxes. That visiting extraterrestrials do not exist. Denial was of critical importance, due to issues of “national security.” To keep a lid on things a while longer to quietly study the issue and accumulated tangible evidence behind the scenes, which was also to be denied. 

The eye-popping “SOM 1-01” also issued a statement concerning our subject matter herein: “Encounters will take place at military installations or other obscure locations selected by mutual agreement.” This strongly reinforces the notion of ongoing secret communication with aliens, likely by high-tech radio signals and binary code – and 1948-recovered alien communications equipment - within the federal government's “Project Sigma,” as discussed in Chapter Two. 

“Section I, Living Organisms” of the '54 Army Intel manual features paragraph 23, entitled “Encounters,” confirming the modus operandi of premeditated arrangements. This remarkable passage mentions how human-alien meetings might be “initiated by” the visitors “as a result of overtures by the entities themselves,” and “set up by mutual agreement.” Again, this supports not just the Muroc/Edwards event but perhaps even the Setimus situation with President Truman (and Ike?) in the summer of 1949, for how else would aliens know the proper time and place to pick up diplomat Setimus? Evidently, the ET could somewhat “phone home,” much as in a later famous Hollywood movie. 

“Such a meeting would have the advantage of being limited to personnel with appropriate clearance.” Once more, this sounds like our 2/19/54 desert runway conference. An ensuing paragraph in the training manual mentions how all alien beings who did show up should be “detained by whatever means necessary and removed to a secure location” if they weren't already, again likely to keep the civilian population and the cynical press in blissful ignorance. 

The late science-fiction and nonfiction author Brad Steiger (1936- 2018), along with his wife Sherry (1946-2020), were naturally fascinated with the Eisenhower-ET meeting and opted to write a few pages about it in a 2011 book on aliens. The wedded co-authors added that in April of 1991 they participated in a Bay Area radio callin show called “Right To Know,” which featured three supposed eyewitnesses to secret goings-on at Edwards Airbase in the 1950s. The trio described in some detail how they knew some extraterrestrial beings had been quietly interacting with top intelligence agents within remote United States military installations, supposedly. What sounds initially like a far-out sci-fi novel or movie plot was quite possibly explosive, exciting, behind-the-scenes reality. 

So now we understand that Edwards Airbase and its Flight Research Center (established in 1951) sit alone on over 300,000 acres in the desolate, fickle Mojave Desert, where it is often inhospitably burning hot during the day and freezing at night, but an ideal locale for the U.S. military to quietly test-fly their still-secret new planes - and apparently for aliens to import their own. All in relative privacy and safety - minus the unexpected opening salvo upon their arrival on 2/19/54, ordered by a powerful general (as described by “Sergeant X” in Chapter One). Thus we can say that if the February '54 meeting was indeed prearranged, not everyone got the memo in advance. Surely Dwight Eisenhower would not have given the order to attack; the president did not want the landing event to turn into the first violent step of a deadly interplanetary war. The five ships shrugged off the volatile shelling and peacefully set down near a hangar, unharmed... Then what? 

Like smart detectives, we have to construct a fittingly reasonable scenario for what likely took place next... 

The differing sophisticated, undamaged, shiny spacecraft sat in silence for a time on the smooth pavement, apparently with no wings, propellers, or noisy engines cooling down. The five silver “unidentified bogies” gleamed in the sunlight, likely resting on thin metallic legs, or perhaps just resting flatly upon the dusty ground. This was astoundingly advanced technology for 1954, found previously only in sci-fi movies. Surely such an incredible sight would have been cause for a remarkably diverse set of reactions in the highly-trained military men on the base, staring with dropped jaws and bugged eyes at the touch-down – if they had not been briefed ahead of time. Tremendous excitement flowed; a sense of wonder and adrenaline soared in most men, and anyone working inside the nearby hangar probably stepped forward bravely but with some hesitation, unsure what to think. Was this a drill? A strange test? Some advanced, man-made United States aircraft being tested that day, unscheduled? 

Awed but unprepared soldiers, pilots, civilians, and even some decorated officers may well have reached defensively for the nearest weapons. Perhaps whispers at first, then shouts alerting others were in order. It seems safe to say that many a pulse quickened and knee trembled, for this was the Cold War era, when some Americans lived in genuine fear that the Soviets were someday going to attack, perhaps in mysterious advanced aerial craft, unknown to western nations. Was this the start of a commie invasion? Noticeable perspiration, white knuckles, and frantic observation undoubtedly began to greatly increase as word spread. 

Likely an alternative thought emerged. Were these, in fact, alien outer space airships? Intergalactic visitors? Or as they often said in the 1950s, “Mars men” within “flying saucers”? Were they friendly, or hostile? Careful assessments needed to be made, and fast, by those who hadn't been briefed in advance. 

What is the first order of business for trained military personnel, when faced with a new and important situation one is unsure how to deal with? A typical soldier reports any news to his superior officer and lets him handle the situation. The news would work its way up the chain of command. In February of 1954, the top dog, so to speak, was the Edwards base commander, who had been in charge since January of 1952. That man was Joseph Stanley Holtoner (1911-2010). 

By contemporary online accounts reprinting articles on the good ol' days, Stan Holtoner was a very daring, courageous, and macho type, with a history of test-piloting airplanes, and even a rocketplane, undertaken at amazing speeds. However, “he was all business” on the ground, as one Edwards AFB colleague recalled. Blunt and bossy, Stan held a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering, graduating from college in 1932. In December of '52 swashbuckling Holtoner was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. 

“General Holtoner, Base Commander.” Hmmm... Perhaps we now have a very strong candidate for “General Z,” who supposedly directed some troops in the field that fateful day to fire artillery at the five descending alien craft. He certainly was the forward, daring sort, loving the thrill of flight. Stan's online bio declares: “J. S. Holtoner participated in the Thompson Trophy Race with the North American F-86D Sabre jet and on Sept. 2, 1953, he set a new 100-kilometer world speed record of 1,110.748 kilometers per hour and won the Thompson Trophy. During his tour at the Flight Test Center until May 1957, General Holtoner flew every test aircraft that was assigned to the center. For his contribution to the development of the new, all-jet Air Force, General Holtoner was awarded both the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Legion of Merit at the USAF Flight Test Center.” But perhaps the New York City-bred Holtoner let his ego at times get the best of him. Upon his December 17, 2010, death in Goldsboro, North Carolina, an online forum contributor wrote: “I won't mourn his passing. Holtoner was universally disliked by most at Edwards. Whilst at Edwards the way he treated and talked about one of his 2nd in command's and his wife was nothing short of insulting and disgusting. No R.I.P. or Godspeed from me I'm afraid.” 

So as a rather notorious “Alpha Male” or aggressive daredevil type of a leader at Muroc/Edwards, base commander J. Stanley Holtoner was the man everyone would have been searching for that afternoon, to inform him of the ET landing. Or did he already know, again via ordering shells fired at the UFOs coming down, as “General Z” present? Would he really assault unfamiliar airships? Part of his 2010 obituary mentioned Stan's past work in the field of missile defense technology: “General Holtoner participated in the development effort of such major programs as the B-70, Minuteman,  Ballistic Missile Early Warning System, and the tactical fighter.” He worked at times “in the fields of strategic and tactical system, air defense, electronics, aeronautics, and the myriad of problems which constantly represent the research, development, and engineering part of the Department of Defense function.” Attacking aerial objects seemed to have been his specialty. This begs the question: if “General Z” ordered an attack on the incoming ships, did he know in advance the alien visitors were coming and set himself up in the field to deliberately attack them upon arrival? If so, Eisenhower had to have been furious. He didn't go to the lengths of arranging the visit for over a year in advance only to try to kill the peaceful visitors and possibly trigger an interplanetary World War III. 

On that particular Friday, February 19th , officers and enlisted personnel that weren't out on leave were likely scattered about the base in various buildings, likely unaware of what was going on outside, silently descended near the distant Muroc/Edwards hangar. All might have been pleased, however, that the noisy distant shelling at the artillery range had recently stopped, for some reason. Offices had to have been at some point alerted by telephone and two-way radio messages, and buzzing with all manner of manic reactions. “Is this some sort of joke?” was likely a common first response. 

The very fact that the alien visitors brushed off exploding Army artillery shells and did not return fire from their ships, nor show any other act of violent aggression upon landing, was a very good sign to those stationed at Edwards. If this was an alien invasion or attack, by whomever, it was a very odd, passive one. The ETs seemed to merely brush it off. The relative calm had to have given impetus for those men nearing the five ships, perhaps with weapons drawn, curious with fear but also perhaps genuine hope and excitement. A military mindset was then – and is today – all about defending American soil, but also to work for peace if possible. Brace for the worst, hope for the best. 

We can reasonably surmise that the ETs opened up some doorways or hatches on their ships and quietly set out ramps, probably metallic and automated. Then some brave bipedal beings slowly descended, feet and legs seen first down the ramps, hands held out clearly, clutching no weapons (or objects that could be misconstrued as weapons). Upon walking about the runway, they attempted to open an orderly communication with the first men on the scene. 

It is very difficult to believe that President Eisenhower was summoned to the base by military officials, as the story alleges, if the arriving extraterrestrials had not managed to first openly declare their mission of peaceful contact while also showing no evil intent. And then sustained that stance for hours, showing no aggression. America's guarded chief executive could not and would not have been placed in any sort of danger by his soldiers, staffers, and military advisers, to be sure, without this assurance of passivity. Therefore, it is reasonable to conceive that the unexpected visitors had calmly communicated in English the message “We come in peace” during initial greetings, staring around the immediate locality, evidently bearing no grudge or firearms. The humanoids were possibly mustering warm smiles along with light hand-waving as they stood before some soldiers, empty-handed but hearts full of hope. Possibly they even allowed themselves to be searched, their ships included. Doubtlessly the space people issued repeated calm reassurances that they were unarmed and friendly, and eventually requested something along the lines of “Take me to your leader.” Only in this case, that hackneyed phrase was inverted, as the leader (Eisenhower) was taken (after a few hours) to the strangers. 

We can also surmise reasonably that this was all purposely done during broad daylight hours, maybe between 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Friday, so that the base personnel could clearly see the aliens and their ships and not feel this was part of some sort dastardly trick pulled off in the cover of darkness, with more beings lurking in the bleak night all around them, ready to attack. 

Possibly soldiers, pilots, and mechanics surging with increased excitement, fear, and curiosity stepped closer, close enough to view the visitors and listen to any noises or words they may have emitted, or thoughts transmitted, perhaps with weapons nervously at the ready. However, what seems more plausible is that a mature, official United States military/government welcoming party was standing by – inside the hangar? - to diplomatically handle opening dialogue. These few men assessed the situation carefully with improvised protocol as still more phone calls were made to higher-ups, possibly to those high-ranking officers who were on leave in a nearby town, or even to the governor of California, Goodwin J. Knight, who was in charge of at least the state's Army national guard, and still hanging around the Palm Springs area that week. However, it seems more likely that President Eisenhower wanted the situation somewhat “self-contained”, with as little outside participation as possible, to maintain maximum secrecy. 

Precisely how many aliens were involved in disembarking? Who and what exactly were these celestial creatures now standing about near an open hangar at Edwards? While we cannot say for certain, it stands to reason they were a collection of pilots, along with possibly ambassadors and diplomats. Perhaps also on this journey were scientists, engineers, sociologists, zoologists, teachers, physicians, and important governmental figures. Or suitable combinations thereof. 

It is quite possible the forgiving foreigners who landed often sent qualified members of their advanced race to other physical worlds to learn about foreign cultures and customs, almost like a kind of intergalactic “student visa program.” The awkward opening of contact on 2/19/54 might have been something they were quite accustomed to, rather like the crew of the “Starship Enterprise” on the TV show “Star Trek,” when “exploring new worlds, new civilizations.” But they were also likely on their guard, braced to be assaulted (again) by someone overwrought with fear or hostility. What did they say to any base soldiers who had just tried to kill them upon arriving, minutes earlier? 

Overall, the advanced ETs on 2/19/54 were a group of courageous astronauts and explorers, we can say that with assurance. They had smarts and guts. One can reasonably theorize that the unusual-looking space adventurers were already versed in the ways of our complicated world, having studied us well in advance, realizing the history of the specialized high-tech airbase they had arrived at. Maybe they “gave off good vibes” and exuded intangible, likable thoughts and feelings, as it were. 

Perhaps more of the congenial visitors moved amiably from their ships down to the runway, looking around and breathing calmly, knowing the desert air was safe for their respiratory systems, thus indicating they had touched down on Earth before. Or at least they had previously run extensive studies in advance of our planet's lower atmosphere. 

We can reasonably guess the aliens wore nothing too objectionable, unusual, or intimidating, appearing fairly normal in human-like forms and attire, perhaps charming their way in, so to speak. It was critical to appear friendly and noble, not clumsy or stupid, and certainly not disrespectful or arrogant. Slow steps, minor arm movements, and big smiles were the order of the day, perhaps from both sides at first. 

Perhaps some Edwards AFB soldiers, fliers, officers, and on-site civilians – later sworn to silence - began to gather around the human-like visitors, wanting to know all about them. Maybe both sides even exchanged friendly banter. Someone fairly high up in the Army or Air Force – perhaps General Holtoner, the base commander - issued somewhat more formal greetings and introductions. One UFO researcher has claimed that he learned alien “communication that day was via mechanical translators” worn within spacesuits but offered no backing support for this. 

At some point early on a wise, highest-ranking officer knew the ultimate proper course of action was to notify the commander-in chief, President Eisenhower so that he could handle the situation, perhaps if merely via long distance. It is even quite possible some of the brass on the base was simply afraid to act in any substantial way until Ike was notified as they feared not being per Eisenhower's wishes. 

Thus more telephone calls were patched through to Palm Springs, and likely the George E. Allen home, where President Eisenhower visited that mid-to-late 2/19/54 afternoon. Outside the estate, Secret Service agents prowled, keeping an eye out for spies, reporters, and nosy neighbors. 

Speculation: as the minutes turned into more than an hour or two of polite but necessary opening conversation on the Edwards AFB dusty runway, the overall man in charge of the nation knew what was going on. It is possible President Eisenhower simply told the base officers over the phone: “Find out what they want, make sure it's not a trap, and keep me updated.” And then he sat down with Mr. Allen – and Harry Truman? - for dinner. Humans need sustenance, even in unusual circumstances, especially older ones having just exerted themselves in the hot sun (golfing). 

Later on, the call came in. It was go-time. All clear for a presidential base appearance. The breakthrough meeting was on. 

The 63-year-old Eisenhower's heart and mind must have been whirring a mile a minute as he finally headed under the cover of encroaching darkness for Edwards, first by an unmarked car to a local airfield, then perhaps by a nondescript airplane, possibly civilian. It was time for the most historic and exciting summit conference of all time, and Dwight was needed to represent all of humanity in talks with friendly, advanced extraterrestrial beings. 

What a freaky Friday!

CHAPTER SIX 

The Visitors 

“The aliens looked like humans, but not exactly.” 

— USAF test pilot 

He went through life by several names, some legitimate, others mere insults. The 8th Earl of Clancarty (1911-1995) was a colorful member of the British House of Lords, for sure, so he commonly went by the name of “Lord Clancarty,” which is what we shall refer to him as from here on, in respectful honor of his impressive dedication to finding truth in a sea of government deception on UFOs. To that end, the fascinating Irish-Dutch nobleman - whose birth name was the wordy “William Francis Brinsley Le Poer Trench” - personally investigated many an Unidentified Flying Object allegations as the 1950s, '60s, and '70s progressed, making quite a name for himself in the United Kingdom. That name by some cynical citizens, however, was at the least “eccentric,” at worst “nuts,” or “bonkers,” sadly. 

Despite being accused by some as a “gullible fool,” university educated Lord Clancarty courageously utilized an open-minded approach to researching the paranormal and put some remarkable resulting tales into several published books. He also headed a group of like-minded policy-making figures in the stuffy House of Lords who were demanding in the late 1970s that the British military/government open up its decidedly closed classified files on past reported UFO cases. Along the way, unfortunately, the earnest earl began to earn some of his eccentric esteem by also declaring his passionate belief that the earth was hollow and that aliens were able to access the center through a series of tunnels, plus a few other unproven theories that may have harmed his overall integrity and lofty goals as he grew older. So it was that Lord Clancarty's reputation was established, at least in Europe, and perhaps how he above all others was chosen sometime in the early 1980s by a “retired colonel” to hear about what went down at Edwards in '54. This secretive informant – said to have been a mature former “test pilot” - alleged to the earl that he knew the cold hard facts because he was there, experiencing the shocking event while standing right next to President Eisenhower. 

The earl picked up the ball and ran with it in 1982, speaking out publicly on the '54 Eisenhower event. It may not help the overall credibility of the airbase allegation that it finally became a topic of conversation as a juicy nationwide story via the scandalous tabloid The National Enquirer, published on October 19, 1982. A full-page article by then-young writer Dary Matera (1955-) brazenly declared that the president one night quietly left Palm Springs, California, to hustle over to Edwards AFB to really and truly met with landed extraterrestrials, the article declared. An anonymous test pilot's recent confession to Lord Clancarty was then new supportive evidence, confirmed by at least three sources interviewed by Matera for the attention-getting story. {When contacted in 2019, Mr. Matera had no new information on the tale, but stood by it.} The Toronto Star was one of a small handful of newspapers at the time to pick up and run this seemingly-wild contention in the fall of 1982. 

One reputable source that was quoted in The National Enquirer article confirmed that he too had heard the allegations about Eisenhower-at-Edwards: Dr. Josef Allen Hynek (1910-1986), college professor, author, lecturer, and astronomer, a man who earned much respect as a cautious, fair, dependable UFO investigator for three decades. Studious and now famous, Dr. Hynek said that he learned of the Eisenhower desert drama from various second-hand sources retelling what they had heard over the years, but was never able to dig up much more on his own. A retired American university educator (first at Ohio State, then at Northwestern) and one-time astronomy consultant to the rather infamous “Project Blue Book” governmental team that was appointed in 1952 to look into – and effectively whitewash - UFO sighting reports, Professor Hynek quit that controversial Air Force project to dedicate much of his life to privately tracking down the truth in the 1970s and early '80s, mostly as director of the new “Center For UFO Studies.” 

{Interesting side note: The USAF's “Project Blue Book” went through a sudden restructuring in March of 1954, just weeks after the Edwards UFO incident; was this change a direct result of learning that some aliens actually do exist?} 

There is no question that Dwight D. Eisenhower would have surrounded himself with an entourage at Edwards Airbase, likely a test pilot and some security men, for “just in case.” Going alone would have been risky, if not foolish. He likely “traveled light” to get there, however, perhaps with just one or two of his ever-present Secret Service agents on the flight from Palm Springs. But once at the base, did he include more experienced T-men or military policemen, or even cops, available to protect him from the unknown? A respected Canadian UFO researcher and writer of note, Grant Cameron, feels that Eisenhower had quite a large contingent either with him or stationed nearby when he met the cosmic visitors, perhaps as many as 250 men overall. 

Additionally, another researcher's online description of the Eisenhower encounter has stated that “hundreds of soldiers present at Edwards AFB during the first contact” had experienced “psychological ailments as a result” of the otherworldly encounter, “ranging from dysfunctional behavior to pure psychosis, and even suicide.” Where the author of this nerve-rattling allegation got his information was not explained. It seems pretty extreme, and speculative, but at least possible. 

Lord Clancarty died at age 84 in 1995 without ever mentioning any “freak-out” by the humans at Edwards AFB, during or afterward, nor ever revealing the name of this mysterious pilot who related inside info. Since The National Enquirer article mentioning Clancarty's tale came out in October of 1982, and the earl gave a television interview regarding the Eisenhower assertion in England, airing in the fall of '82, it seems likely then that the talkative Clancarty had only just recently learned of the '54 Ike-ET summit. The unnamed American airbase source had privately told Lord Clancarty he was speaking out on the alien encounter because the other members of Eisenhower's immediate six-man protective unit were now all deceased, and he wanted the tale told before he too left this world. 

It must be mentioned that several notable U.S. military figures and members of the Eisenhower administration did indeed pass away in the time-frame of 1978-'82, too many to recount here, seemingly leaving the ex-pilot genuinely free at last to talk indeed. 

Plus, times had changed since 1954. Popular TV shows, motion pictures, magazine articles, and news stories featured alien life forms visiting earth, often for the sake of comedy or dramatic entertainment. Other-planetary aliens and their “flying saucers” had gone mainstream. “E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial” was a huge worldwide hit movie in the summer of '82. Thus the mysterious pilot source contacted Lord Clancarty, in mid-1982, evidently. While one possible candidate for this enigmatic insider is Brigadier General J. Stanley Holtoner himself – he used to be a colonel and a test pilot - from this point on he will simply be referred to as “Jerry Flier,” a pseudonym since this is not an absolute known fact. 

Why was it so necessary for “Jerry” the aging test pilot to remain so anonymously “undercover”? The retired aviator was undoubtedly surviving on a monthly military pension and healthcare plan, supporting himself and family members, and bearing a good personal reputation, so overall he was likely fearful of governmental recrimination for revealing classified data. Plus the old colonel felt tremendous faithfulness to General-turned-President Eisenhower. But why be afraid after nearly thirty years of loyalty, over a decade after Dwight's death? Because Flier said he had been personally sworn to utter secrecy by the president himself - perhaps under the threat of court-martial - and had dutifully lived up to that oath until finally talking to the famous Lord Clancarty a quarter-century later, risking everything, and only then under the cloak of assured anonymity. 

The colorful but earnest earl had no wife or children, and died alone at his British seaside estate in 1995, leaving his UFO files and data to “Contact International,” a research group he founded in 1967. If he ever told a relative or wrote down the identity of his ex-pilot identity in a report not destroyed or lost, it might lend the Ike-ET saga some strongly supportive evidence, if uncovered today. But so far... nothing seems to have surfaced. 

Lord Clancarty told one American researcher that he first read and heard of UFO or “Foo Fighter” stories during World War II, in Europe where Eisenhower was in charge, and such earnest paranormal tales greatly intrigued and influenced him. He began writing, printing, and mailing UFO newsletters in the 1950s, and by June of 1976 took his seat in parliament, still piqued by the topic. Soon the earl was leading a parliamentary committee in researching UFO/ET sightings, making waves and headlines in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Base Commander Stan Holtoner, meanwhile, lived to the ripe old age of 99 and had even spent time in Clancarty's England. According to his obituary, in the spring of 1957, General Holtoner was transferred overseas to become deputy commander of the Third Air Force in the United Kingdom. Thus he could well have met the flight-obsessed earl at that time, and/or contacted him again in 1982, to finally spill the porridge on the riveting 1954 drama. But Holtoner might well be a miss since he wasn't a colonel when he retired – unless Lord Clancarty changed that detail to protect his source's identity. 

{Before we leave this topic, one must ask: who are some likely military candidates for the elite group with President Eisenhower on 2/19/54 who died in the late 1970s/early '80s, freeing “Jerry” at last to talk? Well, a whopping five former Air Force generals died in 1979, an unparalleled total for one calendar year. And USAF General Orval Ray Cook passed away in March of 1980; he served as a deputy commander of the crashed UFO debris-related “Air Material Command” in the 1950s. Meaningful or not, Cook was transferred to Europe on April 1, 1954. Yet another prominent retired USAF general – Fred H. Smith - died in May of 1980, however, he was officially stationed in Colorado in 1954. Any of these trusted, respected Air Force men could have been at Edwards Airbase on 2/19/54 if so ordered in advance by their commander-in-chief.} 

The main USAF general in the know on alien visitation during the late 1940s and 1950s was Nathan F. Twining; he did not pass on until March 28, 1982. Within months, Lord Clancarty had the story and excitedly went public with it. Was Twining personally involved? 

The late Texas journalist and conspiracy theorist James Farrell Marrs, Jr. (1943-2017) began his popular 1997 book “Alien Agenda” with a spine-tingling tale that sounds very much like our Ike-alien confab, one that first intrigued the author when he heard it in 1962. At that time, Jim Marrs explained, he was a college student, sharing a dormitory room with a young man named “Doug,” who one day related a strange saga told to him by his father, a respected Air Force officer based out of the Pentagon in Washington D.C. Doug told Jim that his dad once took him camping, and over a few beers and a cozy campfire in a remote wooded setting the two discussed the idea of alien life beyond earth. Doug's dad was properly lubricated with enough alcohol to spill some beans on a shocking secret: he was once part of a military contingent that made contact with friendly extraterrestrials “at a military installation on the West Coast.” The officer began to tell his son that during this incident some years before, alien spacecraft occupants stepped out of their landed ships to communicate with the assembled, nervous human delegation, and then...the Air Force man suddenly clammed up, likely realizing he was divulging state secrets his son was never supposed to be privy to in any way. Memories of his sworn national security oaths – and possible threats of court-martial and/or imprisonment for leaking - must have taken over, sadly. 

“Doug” told Jim Marrs he pressed his serious, anxious father for more details on the high-level otherworldly encounter, but it was no use, the campfire revelation was cut frustratingly short, and never completed. Writer Marrs felt that the Pentagon father was not joking, nor the son in recalling the story. Jim expressed his regret at failing to illicit further information from his roomie during those college years and thus was never able to personally follow up on the shocking story in later decades. Was the unnamed high-ranking officer in the camping tale one of the aforementioned Air Force men who died in the early 1980s? Or perhaps N. F. Twining? Maybe J. S. Holtoner himself? Stan was transferred to the Pentagon in the spring of 1959. Holtoner retired from the service in 1967. However, his 2010 obituary did not mention his fathering any children. 

{Author Marrs also passed along in his '97 book the tale of two psychic sources. First, a “remote viewer” who described seeing (in his mind's eye) the Eisenhower-ET runway summit, claiming it featured three alien ships and just a trio of “grays.” They supposedly stepped out of one landed ship and met the president, then got into a black Cadillac with Ike to be chauffeured to a small airbase building for a friendly chat. Secondly, Marrs relayed the story of an alleged “channeler” named Richard T. Miller, who told him of receiving and writing down detailed mental messages from a concerned alien being named “Mon-Ka.” The unseen ET asserted that his race had made direct contact with various earthly leaders in the past decades, including President Eisenhower, but Dwight greatly disappointed them by afterward failing to inform the public of the exciting face-to face communication.} 

At any rate, in returning to the heart of the Lord Clancarty narrative, as related by the mysterious confiding colonel, five separate and distinct alien spaceships came down and landed on the desert runway in '54, and afterward the stunned base brass tracked down by a series of phone calls President Eisenhower in the scramble to fully understand and contain the event. This data of course fits well with other known claims so far. The golfing chief executive was urged to the runway landing site as soon as it was felt safe that night, “Jerry Flier” confirmed, since it was ascertained that the humanoid visitors were friendly and unarmed. 

That Eisenhower agreed to come all the way out to the airbase for a personal inspection, flying in from the Palm Springs region, would not be a surprise to those who knew him and spoke up after his death. He had a courageous and inquisitive nature. In a 2010 interview, grandson Dwight David Eisenhower II (1948-) stated that his grandmother Mamie once told him of her often-restless husband: “He has to poke his nose into everything.” 

Jerry told Lord Clancarty that three of the ET landed airships were “saucer-shaped” and two were “cigar-shaped”- again confirming precisely what “Sergeant X” told investigator Gabriel Green decades earlier. And of the aliens? They appeared human-like, “but there were some differences.” This would have been tremendously fascinating to all the pilots and soldiers present, including Dwight Eisenhower; who wouldn't have wanted to go and meet them, if deemed safe? 

Just exactly what did the landed ETs have for features? You know, for a face and a body? What did they sound like? How did they move about? How were they dressed? These questions and many others naturally come to mind. From the five slick aerial vehicles on the runway emerged entities that “looked like humans, but not exactly,” aviator Jerry further explained to Clancarty. We can simply say today that the visitors were somewhat like humanity's “cousins,” so to speak, proportionally similar but with slightly different features. They were “misshapen” in comparative appearance, the pilot told the earl. Thus we can conceive of the visitors as having two arms and hands, two legs and feet, one head, one torso, etc. But just, well... just a bit different and smaller than our body proportions. 

Within the critical U.S. Army “Special Operations Manual 1-01” from April 7, 1954, detailed drawings and careful descriptions of various size-and-shaped aliens and their crafts were included in the startling manual, indicating that some of these descriptions could well have stemmed from 2/19/54. The Edwards AFB visitors almost had to have been filmed/photographed for this level of Army report detail: “The humanoids might be mistaken for human beings of the Oriental race if seen from a distance. They are bipedal, five to five feet-four-inches in height, and weigh 80 to 100 pounds. Proportionally they are similar to humans, although the cranium is somewhat larger and more rounded. The skin is a pale, chalky yellow in color, thick and slightly pebbled in appearance. The eyes are small, wide-set, almond-shaped, with brownish-black irises, with very large pupils. The whites of their eyes are not like that of humans but have a pale gray cast. The ears are small set low on the skull. The nose is thin and long, and the mouth is wider than in humans and lipless. There is no apparent facial hair and very little body hair.” The “SOM-1-01” gave its qualified reader a general idea of how the otherworldly visitors looked in standing upright: “The body is thin and without apparent body fat, but the muscles are well-developed. The legs are slightly but noticeably bowed, and the feet are somewhat splayed and proportionally large.” 

In June of 2017 fuller details of the alien visitors to planet Earth may have emerged at last when the January 3, 1989, Defense Intelligence Agency's “Office of Counterintelligence” report was leaked to syndicated podcast/radio show host Heather Wade. The jaw-dropping 47-page briefing paper was dubbed “Assessment of the Situation / Statement of Position” on extraterrestrial visitation. Much of the alleged DIA report was an exciting “Classified Ultra Top Secret” history lesson, presumably generated for key, trusted members of the incoming new administration (1989-1993) for President George Herbert Walker Bush (1924-2018). The “MJ-12” group was confirmed as a very real entity, having been created in 1947 and kept going through the decades with different members (12 working figures and the president as the 13th). The mind-blowing “Operation Majestic/MJ-1” document featured many layers of details of past U.S. government interaction with landed – crashed or peacefully – ET crafts and their crew. In reviewing its many statements, let's take a look at the first classification of “EBE” listed (“Extraterrestrial Biological Entity”) within the 1989 report: 

“Earth-like Humanoids. There are several variations, more-or-less like ourselves. The majority of these are friendly and are the bulk of our EBE contacts. Most have a high degree of psychic ability and all use science and engineering of an advanced nature.” 

This frankly sounds like an apt description of what landed at Edwards AFB and asked to meet the president in February of '54, and again the following year in New Mexico (see Chapter Ten). The details resemble our pal Setimus, taken from this planet by his people in August of 1949. His “psychic powers” might have included an insightful view of mankind's future, including that General Dwight Eisenhower, was destined someday to become President of the United States, but that is merely speculative. Was peaceable Setimus now back? Why else would Eisenhower be cleared by security to go into a completely alien situation? Air Force officials would never put their beloved leader in harm's way, or injected into an unknown, possibly dangerous or vulnerable position like the Edwards encounter... unless they knew in advance there was a trusted, old friend waiting for him. 

{“Small humanoid “Grays” - like those that died in 1941 Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and 1947 Roswell, New Mexico - and “Non-humanoid EBEs” were also listed in the 1989 report, but their descriptions don't match what was encountered on 2/19/54. Plus, “Transmorphic Entities” was a fourth known category listed that also does not align with anyone's understanding of the Edwards Airbase experience.} 

“Their height and physique were more or less like those of a midsized earth man,” was how pilot Jerry Flier allegedly described the sociable visitors to riveted Lord Clancarty. 

The ETs were able to breathe the dry Mojave Desert atmosphere without any apparent problems, Jerry recalled. Presumably, therefore, the entities did not wear helmets or sport any sort of special respiratory gear, he added. How they were dressed overall remains a bit of a mystery; apparently in bland, simple flight-suits that didn't imprint on anyone's memory. Did they wear shoes? Headgear? Jewelry? Did they sport makeup, tattoos, or piercings? Or any particularly noteworthy fashion sense of any kind? Since nothing of the sort has been mentioned in any recovered or leaked government document, we can only assume not. 

According to the Army “Special Operations Manual” of April 1954, “The hands are small, with four long digits but no opposable thumb. The outside digit is joined in a manner as to be nearly opposable, and there is no webbing between the finger as in humans.” 

That the visitors supposedly stepped down from their ships when President Eisenhower arrived, Jerry Flier recalled, indicates the visitors had gone back inside their awe-inspiring spacecrafts in the hours between originally touching down and greeting the first soldiers at the base, and then presenting themselves yet again, upon Dwight's dramatic night-time entrance at the selected hangar. 

It seems reasonable to postulate that the bedazzled military men at the encounter wore their uniforms, with buttoned jackets, creased slacks, and perhaps hats on to ward off the rather chilly night air in February. Possibly Jerry Flier wore a leather bomber jacket, as many USAF pilots were fond of in those days. It was never stated but it also seems to reason that President Eisenhower had on his informal vacation attire, perhaps donning a light jacket or sports coat to warm himself too, along with his light sweater, baggy slacks, and headgear, likely his white golf cap worn on the links earlier in the day, to cover his famous bald pate. And he probably sported his wire-rimmed eyeglasses. At least one man not far from the president supposedly held and aimed either a home movie camera, or a larger, newsreel-type filming camera, so someday we might find out for sure. Possibly another took still photos with a big flash camera. 

It is certainly not surprising, but count superstar Hollywood actress, author, and supernatural internet radio host Shirley MacLaine (1934-) as a believer in the Eisenhower-extraterrestrial allegation. The long-time movie star personally looked into the '54 story with a variety of sources over the past few decades, or so she claimed within the pages of her 2007 book “Sage-ing While Age-ing.” Miss MacLaine mentioned how some well-briefed sources said they discovered the amazing tale from viewing the actual film of the event. Supposedly the footage was examined by some source’s decades later, along with confidential files, and aging “insider contacts.” 

It is possible that actual military cameramen were utilized, already in place at the airbase which often needed to visually record test jet flights for later study; a serious-sounding 2009 online forum post suggested three film cameras were utilized that 2/19/54 (see Chapter Nine). Was a civilian film crew imported? Was this another reason why New York filmmaker Chester Miller was in the area? 

Mysticism-loving MacLaine firmly believes there was at least one more celestial Eisenhower meeting, held a year later at Holloman Air Force Base, and she may well be correct (see Chapter Ten). In addition to all this, Shirley mentioned the opinion of Paul Theodore Hellyer (1923-), her personal friend and a former Secretary of Defense in Canada who has come out publicly in 2005 with his assertion that America and its neighbor to the north are long since fully aware of alien visitation (by at least four different species), and that the two nations work together in secret to cover this up, lest it starts a possible panic. Mr. Hellyer – a Member of Canadian Parliament in '54 - is quite aware of the Eisenhower-ET tale and believes that it really did take place as many have described, and further that it was indeed recorded for posterity. 

Why would the president want to record his encounter? Perhaps if he truly were going to go public with the event someday, he'd need solid proof, so people didn't think he had flipped his lid in spoken claims. He could send copies of the footage to the TV networks for their news reports, and to movie theaters for their cinema short features. And have excerpts printed in newspapers and magazines. He could then cleverly leverage future trade deals and defense negotiations with other nations on earth to gain a better deal for America, pointing to his “inside track” with superior alien intelligence and firepower, in a sense. Who wouldn't want to do business with the USA and its ET-connected chief executive? This may have been Dwight's strongest motivation since before he took office, frankly. To achieve and maintain a position of American superiority and strength. Plus, the images would sure play well at re-election time... or would they? 

Shirley MacLaine added that her brilliant Russian acquaintance, Dr. Roald Zinnurovich Sagdeev (1932-), the highly educated former head of the Soviet Union's space program, assured her in private that human-like extraterrestrials were quite real and visiting our planet, but he wouldn't elaborate further on the subject. Dr. Sagdeev is currently a Distinguished Physics Professor at the University of Maryland and shuns the limelight. It is with great intrigue that we must point out that Sagdeev was once married to Dwight Eisenhower's granddaughter, Susan! 

At this point, let's recall the late president's great-granddaughter, Laura Magdalene Eisenhower (1951-). She puts real stock in the Edwards ET summit, but this daughter of Susan Eisenhower also endorses some other controversial otherworldly theories that have brought her criticism. “I've done lifelong research, with people who have information” on the 1954 incident, confident Laura assured in an interview in the spring of 2019. She's sold. 

Any other Eisenhower relatives might know something? An online forum source reported this nugget in 2014: “I asked Jean Eisenhower the real provable granddaughter of Dwight Eisenhower in an email whether she believed the story was true or fabricated. She said she believes it's true.” In checking out this statement, it appears to be accurate, with Jean writing on her website: “My inclination for the last few years has been to assume that alien beings are trans-dimensional (spiritual), some of them working in our best interests, and some of them seeming to work against us.” She added, “The evidence is strong that “aliens” exist in great diversity.” 

{To pause for a quick sidetrack: many American UFO eyewitnesses have stated that “Men in Black” come to visit them later, seemingly federal agents in dark suits who pressure them to keep silent about they have seen. In some of these reports, the imposing males who approach the UFO experiencers are clearly humans, and in other cases, the beings seem human-like. Aliens, who very much resemble human beings at first, but turn out not to be upon closer inspection. Are these MiB the same “humanoid extraterrestrials” described in the government documents, helping our American authorities keep otherworldly sightings silenced, to avoid panic or social upheaval? Just a thought.} 

As mentioned on that Friday night, February 19th ... after stepping out slowly, with no sidearms and hands held out empty, the visitors spoke in clear and understandable English. Expressing one's self carefully and courteously with the anxious, armed military men was quite essential. As was openness; the ETs deferentially asked Dwight and his entourage to freely examine, inside and out, their parked spaceships on the runway. A free, unfettered vehicular inspection, turned down, according to Jerry Flier. The aliens likely felt they had to swiftly show they were not backstabbers, no “Trojan horse,” plotting to “pull a fast one.” 

Whether any of the visitors were distinguished as male or female entities was not stated, but we can at least be assured they were bipedal and moved about as any human would, one foot in front of the other, likely making certain not to make any abrupt or aggressive moves. Again, smiles, and compliments, were probably critical. The entities naturally wanted to speak to the most popular and powerful representative of the human race, and Eisenhower was the only one who fit the bill. 

Yes, the desert night air cooled the open hangars down considerably, but the evening was just heating up. The atmosphere was, as they say, electric. Maybe even fun. After opening greetings and introductions, the newly-arrived president – surrounded by six special bodyguards - apparently asked the aliens just what they were doing at the airbase, as politely as possible. What exactly did they want by this in-person meeting? 

Two main things, as it turned out. And they weren't souvenir t-shirts and caps! 

Thus it was finally time for more detailed, specific talk. Serious negotiations. Each side desired something big... but what, exactly? 

CHAPTER SEVEN 

Chatting the Night Away 

“How can we stop you? You are so advanced.” 

— Colonel Phillip Corso 

The leader for the landed ETs spoke up. He wanted President Eisenhower to understand that his other-planetary group felt it was time to open a dialogue with the entire human race, to announce the presence of sentient beings from other worlds. To open earth peoples' minds to the reality of remarkably diverse life beyond the planet. This was what “Jerry Flier” and another source claimed, of what kicked off and yet ticked off the runway summit conference. 

The proposal went over like the proverbial lead balloon, or spaceship. 

We must remember that Dwight D. Eisenhower was a deeply conservative, religious, button-down, older administrator. His cabinet consisted almost entirely of married, older, white Christian males. He approved of “Operation Wetback” in 1954, which was about to be implemented along the American border with Mexico, a cold-hearted process or rounding up and kicking out illegal aliens unlike any other deportation procedure in U.S. history. Eisenhower also authorized a troubling official purge of all homosexuals in government, with hundreds of federal employees tracked down, interrogated, and some ruthlessly booted out of any office if confessed as gay, no matter how low their level. Extraterrestrial beings among us? Gaining any potential position of influence? Immediately unacceptable, it would seem. Eisenhower made clear he wanted the aliens to keep their distance, if at all possible. Maybe they could come to a formal agreement on it? 

“The preceding diplomatic treaty was drafted by the directorate of the Majestic-12 operation” - President Eisenhower - “and a joint committee of extra-terrestrial visitors” - perhaps meaning the alien landing party at Edwards AFB, along with “representatives of the U.S. Diplomatic Corps.” The 1989 DIA briefing paper called the Eisenhower-drafted treaty “a statement of intent.” Both sides had declared other things that they wanted from the heart-pounding “first contact” and future secretive interaction. But it took time, perhaps months, to hammer out the right wording. “It was ratified and signed at Kirtland Air Force Base,” the document read - and then mistakenly referred to the state for this airbase as “Texas,” when it is in fact in New Mexico. A glaring error, yes, but are all genuine Defense Intelligence Agency first or second-draft documents immaculate and error-free?

Anyway... the date for the human-alien treaty ratification was given as “July the 18, 1954.” That was just two days after an alleged “MJ-12” meeting at the White House (see Chapter Two). And the unique contract was a done deal “by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and an individual on behalf of the EBE's.” Did this mean that Eisenhower personally flew into Kirtland AFB in New Mexico to hand over the document to an ET in hushed conditions on 7/18/54? Or did he send someone he trusted to represent him? Beyond that, did other presidents to come? Central to this book's Chapter Eleven, it was clearly stated in the '89 briefing: “Each subsequent holder of the executive office has continued to uphold the intent of this policy towards the aliens,” as “the president is accepted to be the 13th member” of “Operation Majestic-12.” Meaning, he had to be a leader who oversaw the ET/UFO board and took action at times on issues it produced, as well. And getting the new humanoid visitors to agree to “keep off the grass,” so to speak, was most imperative and needed to inked and stamped by both sides, even if it was technically unenforceable and unconstitutional. 

It was truly a “Close Encounter of the Third Kind,” as the common ET expression goes, that cool Friday night on the edge of the Edwards base hangar. But the opening notion of open contact between races soured Dwight fast. Whether any member of his presidential entourage also took an active, vocal part in the alleged discussion is not known, but unlikely. Nor is anyone aware of whether a number of the unearthly visitors joined in the chit-chat, or if they simply had one or two representatives do all the talking. It is likely that no physical exchange such as a handshake was permitted as the troubling notion of transacting germs and bacteria likely entered the minds of greeters on both sides. It is also not known if the visitors ever gave their specific names or relayed their title or their race's general name. But we can tell from the start the skeptical, tradition-loving president urgently wanted the strangers to establish an aloof attitude from the entire planet. 

Openly declaring the aliens' presence and their ability to traverse time and space to arrive on our planet whenever they liked was doubtlessly going to throw much of the civilized world into an uproar, Dwight Eisenhower doubtlessly felt. Americans alone might cease believing in, and taking part in, their normal social structure; their military protection; their religious beliefs; their usual past-times; and even their occupations. {Remember the thinking behind Ike and Winnie's reaction to a UFO event in WWII, from Chapter One?} Everyday working society might thus ground to a virtual halt, killing productivity. The stock market and investment/bond world would go into a steep decline, and thus the global economy would be in ruins, potentially. Many citizens in 1954 – like the 63-year-old Eisenhower – recalled well Wall Street's 1929 market crash and resulting Great Depression; would it happen again if aliens openly paraded about, sharing startling new foreign concepts on business, technology, employment, and society?

Also, what if the aliens just popped up unannounced in most any major city or small town, and set off a wild response in any country? Would there be a virtual stampede by thousands (or even millions?) of very emotional people to either view the alien beings wherever they were... or to fearfully flee from them, believing them to be “of the devil,” or at least somehow sinister? What if the ET spaceships dotting our future skies caused accidents and disruptions to our air traffic, and even to cause distraction to people in cars and on foot on the ground? Life on earth would be thrown into daily chaos. 

Even darker thoughts had to be racing through the president's world-weary mind. What if the ETs were only kindly in mien upon first arriving, establishing a kind of “beach-head” for when they would later run rampant across our globe, either through superior physical force or perhaps merely through dangerous radical teachings that would turn our societies upside-down in countless ways? And what if this smiling group of courtly space ambassadors were representing a small slice of a whole onslaught of various other alien races to arrive soon, also expecting to be greeted warmly, without proper assessment, and then virtually take over the planet? Even if these landed humanoids were truly friendly and wise if President Eisenhower let one class of extraterrestrials in to communicate openly with the people of the earth, wouldn't that open the door to more, including possibly hostile creatures who would have a field day here with unacceptably anti-social actions and ideas to convey? Just one initial acceptance to this particular human-like ET race could conceivably open a veritable “can of worms,” a “Pandora's Box” of miseries. Plus, an old West-Pointer like Ike had to have been mulling the concept of a possible “alien invasion” someday. He knew his history of warfare and sneaky spy strategies, of scouting missions and first steps in battle plans... and thus likely kept those frightening possibilities in mind as he looked around at the Muroc/Edwards runway, pondering mankind's future.

Little wonder worried Mr. Eisenhower flatly rejected the opening extraterrestrial proposition. 

The courageous space visitors persisted for a while, undeterred. Their leader proceeded to explain further. “They wanted to begin an educational program for the people of Earth,” informant retiree Jerry told politician Lord Clancarty in the early 1980s. A global outreach, using the USA apparently as a platform, or first step. “Eisenhower told them he didn't think our world was ready for that,” the ex-pilot recalled, adding “He was concerned this revelation would cause a panic.” 

Dwight Eisenhower surely realized our entire planet's business, religious, and social structures could go down the tubes in many ways and fast. This would wreck his once-sterling reputation, and cement his place in history as a thoughtless and irresponsible president. The fool who kicked off mayhem and economic ruin. Again, it all added up to a firm verbal rejection for the alien diplomats. A stunning official announcement of arrival? And an ET “educational program,” huh? These initiatives just could not be allowed to take place, and Eisenhower told them so, right to their faces, as politely as possible, Clancarty's 1982 source remembered. 

How did the visitors take “no” for an answer? Twenty-eight years after the encounter, Jerry Flier recalled the aliens seemed to understand and accept the president’s negative decision - which makes one wonder how highly intelligent, earth-monitoring extraterrestrials could have proposed it all in the first place. In 1954, aliens weren't really mainstream; the world's population just wasn't ready for this, psychologically. 

Allegedly, a new and different approach was then proposed by the landed extraterrestrials, eager to learn more about life on earth. The humanoids supposedly expressed their desire to quietly study conditions of plant, animal, and human life, as if the aliens were likened to ultimate foreign exchange students on college scholarships. They suggested to the chief executive that they could instead make contact with some isolated human beings, in quieter, more careful and discreet ways, looking to undertake their scientific research. Perhaps in remote locations, until the human race gradually came to fathom their reality. “Until Earth people got used to them,” was how the retired aviator described the phrasing to Lord Clancarty, however long this gentler integration process took.

This secondary, or backup, plan did not thrill the president either, but he replied affirmatively yet cautiously. “Eisenhower thought this was all right,” Flier recalled, as long as the human-like beings “didn't create panic and confusion.” Keeping daily order was foremost on Dwight's mind, as it should have been for any thoughtful, caring national leader.

A couple of contemporary sources have claimed they individually learned through document copies in military files that a written pact was formed from the Eisenhower encounter, supposedly entitled “The Greada Treaty,” according to a source. {Was “Greada” their home planet? Or the name of their alien race?} This compact allowed aliens to tacitly study our life forms here and perhaps take off with a few samples for scientific research while the American military/government kept quiet, probably in exchange for some advanced ET hardware to study. This remarkable claim seems to have been backed up by retired Air Force serviceman Donald Phillips, who stated he at times worked with knowledgeable Central Intelligence Agency employees and personally reviewed once-secret records of Eisenhower's 1954 runway encounter and the subsequent formal written agreement it produced. “We were asked if we would allow them to be here, and to research, and the statement {from Eisenhower} I read said “Well how can we stop you? You are so advanced.” Phillips asserted on camera in 2013 that the president's alien summit at Edwards “was on film” and well preserved, hopefully to this day. 

Mr. Phillips said he once worked as a design engineer with Lockheed-Martin, long rumored to have been involved in reverse engineering an alien craft. Don was given clearance to read the classified Ike-ET documents there, in the company offices as supposedly he was an employee on “clandestine aviation projects” after his military service years (in the mid-'60s). He further stated there were other covert high-level human-alien contacts after 2/19/54, with at least twelve different races of extraterrestrial beings over the ensuing decades. And also that American scientists learned from examining recovered crashed materials (and anything gifted to them) how to successfully apply the ET technology with man-made hardware, resulting in our latest high-tech jet planes. However, the more Don Phillips spoke, the more he seemed to repeat information originally relayed by another retired military source... 

The late U.S. Army Colonel Phillip James Corso, Sr. (1915-1998) within his blockbuster 1997 memoirs, “The Day After Roswell,” and in TV and radio interviews, confirmed that extraterrestrials are indeed visiting earth, studying us. And that Eisenhower did indeed meet with them, he said in a media interview. The elderly author Corso once noted of visiting aliens: “We had negotiated a kind of surrender with them, as long as we couldn't fight them. They dictated the terms because they knew what we feared most was disclosure.” Thus Colonel Corso edged close to describing the Eisenhower-ET treaty without details. What he did learn Phil eventually relayed to the RFK-JFK team in power in 1962 (see Chapter Eleven). Unfortunately for Mr. Corso, some of his colorful claims within “The Day After Roswell” were picked apart by military/government experts and historians. In his defense, the former Army officer (who knew Eisenhower personally) admitted privately he was upset about the technical errors in his book, apparently some coming from his memory, some the fault of others involved. But it's interesting to learn that an unearthed U.S. military record shows that communicative Colonel Corso was suddenly transferred to the National Security Administration's “operational coordination board” on February 24th, 1954. Coincidence? 

The idea of a friendly treaty being drawn up, a mutually beneficial and peaceful agreement that was signed by friendly aliens and a somewhat nervous American chief executive, is not as entirely wild sounding as perhaps one might think. It may have happened, felt a necessity, but most likely did not result in condoned coldblooded kidnappings, animal mutilations, and twisted scientific experiments, as some contemporary sources have claimed. Eisenhower and his military staff would never have agreed to that gruesomeness, not after having witnessed the cruel treatment of humans (and animals) in both WWI and II and the Korean War, all blood-soaked conflicts that were ended with formal written treaties. Signing accords to set the table for future relations was quite a par for this generation's course. 

A noteworthy UFO researcher, lecturer, and radio/TV host in the '60s, '70s, and 1980s, Robert D. Barry (1922-1993) once developed quite a following on the American East Coast with his radio programs dedicated to understanding alien visitation. Mr. Barry – a WWII Army vet and retired radio station sales manager in Yoe, Pennsylvania - had informed his interested audiences over the decades that his various sources revealed to him that otherworldly beings had indeed visited Edwards Air Force Base - and left behind for officials a shiny circular spacecraft, kept in a well-guarded hangar. And that President Eisenhower did indeed secretly visit the site one night regarding such spine-tingling matters. However, Mr. Barry claimed that a military pilot at Edwards once reported seeing a circular alien spaceship sitting inside a hangar there in 1952, during the Truman administration. {A check of Harry Truman's daily schedule as president shows no official trip to Palm Springs or Edwards AFB during his White House tenure, by the way.} Was this the crashed saucer that a base radar specialist from Chapter Five said he saw come down in '52? Or was it gifted by generous ETs? Or was the '52 dating off by two years? At any rate, the pilot who told others he saw this striking hangar sight supposedly undertook a routine flying mission the next day and was never seen again. During the ET airship's captivity at “the Muroc Dry Lake facility” the installation was placed on a special lock-down. “Nobody on the base was permitted to leave” and those from outside the site were not allowed in “for a period of three days.” This matches up well with writer Desmond Leslie's information (see Chapter One). 

“Colonel Jerry Flier” did not mention a base lock-down to the U.K. earl. Perhaps that information simply paled in comparison to the magnitude of the alien encounter itself and was forgotten, or purposely skipped over, by either man. But at this point, it might be a good idea to take an educated guess as to who the “retired test pilot” was, exactly... 

Tall, thin, light-haired Richard James Harer (1924-2019) was a highly-educated, trusted, and courageous USAF test pilot stationed at Muroc/Edwards, one of America's very finest. He passed away at age 94 in November of 2019, apparently without saying anything, one way or another, about any alien event. His profile and background fit the bill perfectly here for “Jerry Flier,” but there's still no hard proof since the ET encounter was an explosive state secret that a retired military officer on a fixed pension with benefits would not wish to publicize lest he loses his perks, position, or prestige. 

While just 19 in mid-World War II, Richard Harer left his college training in Ohio to enter the Army Air Corps, and after training as a pilot he was shipped to England, where he served in the 392nd Bombardment Group, and then the 576th , both located not far from Lord Clancarty, supposedly so very fascinated by pilots and planes – and “Foo Fighters” in that era. During this time, Richard would have been under the overall command of General Eisenhower. 

As his obituary reads, after the war young Harer “returned home to the United States and obtained his master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from California Institute of Technology and a Master's of Science degree in Systems Management from USC,” proving himself an exceptionally intelligent young man, determined to learn all he could about flight technology and aerodynamics. He then returned to the USAF and was sent to Wright-Patterson AFB, in his home state of Ohio, the site of so many rumors of secretly recovered alien crafts over the years. Then Richard was transferred to Edwards AFB in the Mohave Desert, to helm experimental test flights. During the early '50s, knowledgeable Richard was briefly sent back to Europe as an adviser, to evaluate the latest French aircraft. When skilled, educated Richard spoke, people listened, despite his still relatively young age. Once back at Muroc/Edwards in '54 he resumed his test flights, including critical, high-profile ones in November and December. Then disaster struck. Richard's plane crash-landed on the dry lakebed and he was barely rescued by another pilot, suffering many painful burns and injuries. Tragically, both of Richard's badly damaged legs had to be amputated. Admirably, this still didn't slow Richard J. Harer down, not one bit. His bio explains: “He remained determined and committed to continuing a life involved in the field of aviation and testing of aircraft. 

He continued as a civil servant in many capacities including service in the Flight Research Division, Projects Administration Office, Project Control Office, Test Programs and Requirements Office, and was the Project Manager for the entire run of the X-15 program from beginning to end.” Thus reliable Richard was involved with Eisenhower Pentagon connections and Edwards Airbase personnel for the next three decades until he finally retired in 1978. In his final four decades of life, aging Mr. Harer “enjoyed traveling,” when not building and maintaining homes in his native northern Ohio and just outside the Muroc/Edwards area, in Tehachapi, California, surrounded by his growing family and friends. He had a rich, full, and exemplary life, perhaps more so than anyone ever imagined. He was, in short, an American hero and a role model. 

Theory: R. J. Harer was a retired colonel and possibly in England for casual sightseeing and reminiscing sometime between late 1978 and mid-1982 when Lord Clancarty – still leading his headlinemaking government UFO inquiry - spilled the beans to the media of his recent encounter with just such a person. Harer would likely have been quite aware that USAF Commanding General Nathan Twining had passed away on 3/29/82, along with other Eisenhower administration figures in that more talkative era. As Clancarty made a name for himself with his media-covered UFO investigation in the British House of Lords, Harer would have been in his late 50s and free to speak at last, at least under conditions of anonymity. What's more, current online data shows that Richard was a longtime Republican and probably very keen on President Eisenhower back in his heyday. Therefore he would have been the most likely choice of any aware, Ike-hosting Edwards AFB commander, like General Stanley Holtoner. Stan even co-signed with Harer a photograph of his jet plane on the Edwards runway in '54! Most likely it was Rich Harer who was selected to stand next to the president and expertly assess the technical flight capabilities of the alien spaceships, relaying a younger generation's view of such momentous matters. 

Again, R. J. Harer's presence on 2/19/54 remains an educated guess, but seemingly a very solid and reasonable one in hindsight. Still, it could be wrong, so the earl's helpful inside source will remain anonymous herein. But clearly, Harer was a great American worthy of praise today, whether he was selected for the historic close encounter or not. 

In returning now to the '54 airbase narrative... standing about on the apron of the large airplane hangar, by the dusty runway... excited “Jerry Flier” and the five or six other men faithfully protected the alert American president... yet doubtlessly kept gazing longingly at the five fantastic spacecraft before them. They were as if hungry kids at a candy store window. All present had to wonder to themselves just exactly how the shiny alien ships worked and what exactly they could do in our skies. 

They would soon find out.

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