Desert Center, California: Epicenter of Flying Saucer Reports - Part III
By Dr. Raymond A. Keller, II, a.k.a. “Cosmic Ray”
Venus Rising: A Concise History of the Second Planet
Final Countdown: Rockets to Venus
Cosmic Ray's Excellent Venus Adventure
Lady Columba Venus Revelations
Raymond A. Keller, PhD, a.k.a. “Cosmic Ray,” is the author of the international awards-winning Venus Rising Series, published by Headline Books and available on amazon.com, while supplies last.
Be sure and check out the fourth addition to this series, The Vast Venus Conspiracy, which has recently become available on amazon.com. Book five in the series, Lady Columba Venus Revelations, will premiere at the Siskiyou Masonic Lodge in Mt. Shasta, California, at the “Meet the Venusians” conference, 26-30 August 2020. See Rob Potter’s website, thepromiserevealed.com, for further information on the conference or to purchase tickets.
In 1955 a special meeting was called in the sunbaked desert community of Blythe, Riverside County, California, to discuss the 1952 George Adamski contact case as well as an intense flap of flying saucer sightings and close encounters of every kind that ensued ever since. Photo Source: https://www.wired.com/story/how-ufo-sightings-became-an-american-obsession/.
Stepping Out on Hallowed Ground
On the day following the Bluebook magazine correspondent’s series of interviews conducted with the personnel of Blythe, California, KYOR Radio, Paul C. Benard continued where he left off, driving out to the station manager John M. Wages’ home to pick up Mrs. Wages and their 10-year-old son, Johnny, Jr., who were scheduled to direct the reporter to the exact spot where the now famous contactee, George Adamski, claimed to have photographed a Venusian scoutship and communicated with its pilot, telepathically at first and then vocally.
No sooner had Benard pulled into Wages’ driveway, than he was greeted by John, Sr., who introduced him to his wife and son before heading off to work in his own car. The mother and son then situated themselves comfortably in the back of Benard’s car while Mrs. Wages gave directions from the back seat as to the route that the journalist should take to get to the small and sunbaked settlement of Desert Center, some 48 miles to the west of Blythe off U.S. Route 60-70.
While Benard was driving the long stretch, Mrs. Wages talked incessantly about George Adamski and speculated on how life might be on Venus, the Moon and Mars. She even brought a copy of the book that Adamski co-wrote with the British nobleman Sir Desmond Leslie along with her, just in case they needed to reference anything once they arrived at the site. She was proud to have a copy that Adamski personally autographed for her. John, Jr., rolled down the window on his side of the car and put his head down on his mother’s lap. “Just wake me up when we get there,” he declared. Apparently, he had been to the site on a few occasions.
When Benard pulled off Route 60-70 and into Desert Center, there wasn’t that much to see: a small diner, a service station and a handful of houses. “So, this is the flying saucer mecca of the world” mused Benard.
“Actually, Paul, we have a little way more to go. The landing site is somewhere in the vicinity of the mile marker at 10.2 miles from this state road that we are now on. It cuts across the Colorado desert to the northeast, leading out to Parker Dam,” explained Mrs. Wages.
There was nobody else on this desolate road. Benard was glad that he took the time to fill up his car, as well as check the battery and oil, as soon as they exited the U.S. route. Mrs. Wages, with ample foresight, packed and brought along a picnic lunch of fried chicken, potato salad and soda pop.
No sooner than Benard and party arrived at the marker, than another car was seen parked alongside the road. At least they knew that they weren’t alone anymore and somebody else was out there checking out the situation. Little Johnny poked his head out the window and scanned the horizon. “Look!” he shouted. “There’s a Venusian over there!” Johnny brought a pair of binoculars along with him, just in case any extraterrestrials or flying saucer occupants were to show up. He focused the field glasses on the small being slipping and sliding down the lava-strewn slopes about a quarter of a mile away. “Aw, shucks!” declared Johnny, Jr. “It’s only another kid.”
“So, who drove the car?” wondered Benard. “Can I see your binoculars, Johnny?” asked the reporter.
“Sure, Mr. Benard. No problem,” said Johnny, Jr., handing them over.
“Hmmm, there are two women out there. They look to be elderly, maybe in their late 60s or 70s.” They were making their way down a treacherous hillside. Benard and Mrs. Wages walked over to talk to them. One was the frolicking boy’s grandmother and the other was her lady friend. They drove all the way from Portland, Oregon, a whopping 1,345-mile trip, just to see this place where a Venusian had allegedly come to Earth in a flying saucer.
The expanded party then reconnoitered the area for about an hour until they came across a spot that matched the descriptions provided by Adamski in his book. It was a vast clearing, surrounded by wind-worn sandhills, just as Adamski clearly stated in his epic Flying Saucers Have Landed. There was also an abundance of other evidence that we had found the right spot. Hundreds of other “saucer researchers” had come to this God-forsaken locale during the past year or so and set up camp, wistfully hoping that Orthon and the Venusian scout ship would return. The clearing was littered with tin cans and the charred remains of campfires. There were even old mattresses with protruding bed springs and crude, wooden tables. The camp sites had clearly been abandoned, however; and Benard pondered what new saucer landing zone they might have flocked to. After all, there were plenty of new contactees emerging on the saucer circuit, with lots of them right there in California. He heard rumors about a Venusian flying saucer base being located right under Mt. Shasta, in the north of the state.
Varied Local Opinions
Later that afternoon, Benard, Mrs. Wages and son were back in Blythe. After the correspondent dropped them back at their home, Benard spoke once again with the Blythe High School science teacher, George Wixom, at his residence. “What do you think of this Adamski fellow, George? You’re of a scientific mindset. Is he legit?”
“Well, Paul, human belief is a strange thing. No matter how strongly you believe something that hasn’t actually been proved, there is always a tiny, recurring doubt in the back of your head. Normally, I would dismiss Adamski’s claims out of hand, since Venus is probably too hot to support any life as we know it. However, he does have lots of witnesses who have signed affidavits attesting to the reality of his encounter, and the mysterious being Orthon apparently said he was from Venus.”
Wixom then informed Benard that his arrival in Blythe was fortuitous, for there was to be a citizen’s meeting later that night, where a San Diego newspaperman, F. E. Rogers, was to play a tape- recorded message about Venusians coming to Earth in their flying saucers. Wixom was slotted to emcee the event. “Do you know Rogers and have you heard this tape?” asked Benard.
“No, I haven’t,” declared Wixom. Then he smiled and added, “But I think you have to keep an open mind when you are trying to get at the truth.”
Benard realized that he had arrived in this desert area at a most opportune time. News of Rogers’ forthcoming presentation had spread far and wide. Grady Setzler, the editor of the Palo Verde Times, had also arrived in Blythe to cover this story. Benard and Wixom met up with the editor in a local café, the Blythe Coffee Shop, prior to the big meeting. Setzler seems to be keeping an open mind about flying saucers and Venusians, too. “Mine is only a layman’s point of view,” he related to Benard and the science teacher, “but I don’t rule out the saucers. Only an ignorant person would do that.”
Others were hanging around in the local restaurant waiting for the arrival of Rogers and the start of the momentous meeting:
Blythe mayor A. J. Alexander, on the other hand, refused to commit himself one way or another. Like the typical politician, all he had to say was, “Anything is possible; but that is all I will say.”
A local minister opined that, “Church-going folks are sometimes afraid to admit that the saucers may be a reality;” but he had to question, “Does God have so little ability that he couldn’t have created other worlds and humans to populate them?”
Even Lois Kumer, a waitress at the café, shared a hunch she had that the flying saucers come from another world. “But I’d sure like to know,” she told Benard, “because my husband Jerry, a radio-installations man, has seen those saucers time-and-time again. He told me that their speed and method of flight defy anything on this planet.”
Hitting a Snag- “Cancel Culture” 1950’s Style
People from everywhere were showing up at the café, crowding all the tables, standing room only. They were all waiting for the green light to move over to the high school auditorium for Rogers’ flying saucer presentation. Suddenly the boys from KYOR Radio burst into the Blythe Coffee Shop with some bad news. Permission to use the high school for the saucer meeting had been revoked by the school board.
Benard managed to catch up with the Superintendent of Schools, Murrell M. Miller, who proclaimed, “The board cannot afford to go out on a limb. We can’t have it appear that we are sponsoring this meeting and officially endorsing Rogers and his tape recording.”
At that moment, a local rancher, Clyde Cowan, offered the use of his home for the meeting, partially solving the committee’s problem. The last-minute change, plus the fact that the new meeting venue was seven miles outside of Blythe, might cut down the attendance substantially. Surprisingly, when the Bluebook magazine correspondent actually reached the ranch house, there were more than 70 people crammed into the sprawling living room.
The local science teacher served as the emcee and announced that the meeting would be delayed for about twenty minutes, allowing sufficient time for any stragglers to arrive. By the time the meeting was convened, there were more than eighty in attendance and even more were expected.
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Don’t forget to return to this website for Part IV of “Desert Center, California: Epicenter of Flying Saucer Reports,” where we attend the controversial flying saucer meeting in search of the truth about the Venusian visitations to Earth, and Southern California particularly.