Desert Center, California: Epicenter of Flying Saucer Reports - Part IV
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.
Back in 1955, San Diego’s Talk of the Times news magazine editor, F. E. Rogers, introduced this amazing photograph of a space alien to those assembled on Clyde Cowan’s Blythe, California, ranch for a special meeting on the subject of flying saucers. The editor maintained that this photo depicted “one of the little people found in a crashed spaceship near Mexico City.” The men on both sides of the aliens are allegedly members of the Mexican government’s Federal Ministerial Police.
Mr. Rogers in the Neighborhood Flying Saucer Meeting
After the short delay to allow for the stragglers to arrive at the ranch house meeting on flying saucers, it was the local Blythe High School science teacher, George Wixom, who called the meeting to order and introduced that night’s speaker, the editor of the San Diego, California, news magazine, Talk of the Times, F. E. Rogers.
Before this gentleman started his lecture, however, he distributed a four-page photo offset program, announcing that he, Rogers, would be presenting a tape-recorded interview with a Southern California aircraft plant worker, Orfeo Matthew Angelucci, concerning his 35-minute flight in a flying saucer taken right there in the Golden State. One of the inside pages displayed the opening photograph of this article depicting a tiny man in a shiny, skin-tight silvery suit. Of the strange clothing worn by this entity, Rogers wrote that, “He was dressed in a mixture of metals wound tightly around his body to help withstand the Earth’s atmospheric pressure. We, of course, do not have any such material on this planet.” According to Rogers’ pamphlet, this being was supposedly an alien whom Mexican federal police authorities had saved from a flying saucer crash that took place on the outskirts of Mexico City just a few months previously, in the Spring of 1955.
Rogers, a white-haired older gentleman, fiddled with the dials on his tape- recording device. He then adjusted his green eyeshade and cleared his throat. “You people out here should be very interested in flying saucers,” he began speaking in a thin, quavering voice, continuing, “Of course, the saucer people have shown great interest in your part of the country….”
The owner of the Blythe Music Shop, Leonard Ullom, was skeptical from the git-go. “Just a moment,” he interrupted; “What about this picture of the spaceman? Where did you get it?”
The San Diego editor replied that, “Someone in the know sent it to me.”
“Who?” the inquiring Ullom demanded.
“I am a newspaperman, sir,” Rogers retorted; “so you understand that I have to protect my sources.”
Local resident Robin Hill, however, wanted to know more about the space suit. “Just how do you know, sir, that we do not have any metal like it?”
“I’m sorry that I am not authorized to answer that question, sir. If I were to do so, I might inadvertently supply a clue as to the classified source.”
“Understood,” noted Hill.
Astounding Lecture
Many other locals started to raise their hands with yet more questions. The science teacher came to the rescue, however, declaring that, “Perhaps Mr. Rogers should get on with the recording. There will be a question period later on.”
Rogers affirmed that the tape all were about to hear was “backed up by the facts.” He pointed out that while Adamski’s story was well written, it wasn’t scientifically documented, like Angelucci’s was. Orfeo Matthew Angelucci was a Lockheed Aviation worker from Los Angeles, and at least had some idea of the technical aspects of certain contemporary aircraft. He had a weighted opinion about the power and maneuvering characteristics of these flying saucers, that largely remained enigmatic to the public at large.
Rogers then flicked the on switch of his tape recorder; and for the next hour the people of Southern California’s Saucer Country enjoyed the opportunity of listening to Angelucci’s expert testimony concerning flying saucers and his ideas of where they come from.
The tape reel began to run:
“On May 23, 1952,” declared Angelucci in his recorded testimony, “a hazy, burgundy-colored glow led me through heavy Los Angeles traffic to a desolate spot outside the city where the glow was suddenly transformed into a green disc, only two-and-a-half feet in diameter.”
The aircraft worker believed that the small disc was remote controlled, some kind of probe. “I got a message from the disc,” he stated, adding that, “They (the intelligences behind the flying saucers) somehow informed me through this disc, by mental telepathy, that they would return to me on an urgent matter.”
Orfeo M. Angelucci (1912-1993) was a frequent presenter at the Giant Rock Interplanetary Spacecraft Conventions held at Landers Field, California, about 17 miles northeast of Yucca Valley, from the mid-50s to the late 70s. Angelucci claims to have contacted ethereal beings from the Confederation of Planets that took on the appearance of normal humans when operating on Earth.
Orfeo Rides in a Flying Saucer
As the tape recorder continued to play, the assembled Californians heard Orfeo Angelucci’s astounding account of his 35-minute ride aboard a flying saucer on 27 May 1952, just four days after his initial encounter with the drone. The aircraft mechanic said that the space people looked just like us, in most outwardly visible aspects. They related to him how scientists in the Soviet Union were in the process of developing a more lethal type of atomic bomb; and that when they achieved this objective, they would launch a first strike against the United States.
He further declared that the Venusians and beings from other member worlds in the Confederation of Planets were even then working behind the scenes in both the Iron Curtain and the United States to put a stop to this perilous trend, thereby averting World War III. According to this contactee, the extraterrestrials were also urging Americans to support the efforts of concerned scientists to stop the proliferation of atomic weapons and yet more powerful rockets to deliver these devices and to write their elected representatives in Washington, D.C., clearly expressing their concerns on these critical matters. They also gave Angelucci numerous revelatory verses from the Old Testament book of Isaiah to back up their words of warning.
Myriad of Questions, Few Answers
After the presentation, the emcee opened the floor for questions and almost every hand went up. Here were some of the questions asked of Rogers:
“Who has heard this tape before?”
“Has the Air Force shown any interest in this tape?”
“Have recognized scientific authorities listened to this tape?”
Such questions continued to bombard Rogers’ ears for the next two hours. For most of the questions, all the presenter could say is that he was “not at liberty to answer them at this time.” Also, since Orfeo Angelucci could not be present at the meeting due to personal engagements, and speak for himself, Rogers hesitated to put words in his mouth. The San Diego editor concluded the Q and A session with some harsh words. “I didn’t come out here from San Diego to be tricked!” he shouted. These are the facts. You can take them or leave them.”
These remarks did not go over to well at the crowded ranch house. One gentleman in the assembly identified himself as Robert Dwyer. He was a soft-spoken, horn-rimmed college type, and began to address Rogers in a steady voice. “You’re insulting our intelligence, sir. Most of us out here have a hunch that the saucers are real. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have come here tonight. But statements about saucers, like statements about everything else, have to be backed by some kind of proof.
“We’re not trying to trick you; and we are not saying that Angelucci’s a crackpot. But we do not take anyone’s word, including from government representatives, unless it is backed up by facts or, at least, by common sense.”
In my second book in the Venus Rising series, the Final Countdown: Rockets to Venus (Terra Alta, WV: Headline Books, 2017), I publish all of the FBI files pertaining to the surveillance of George Adamski and some of the flying saucer club meetings where he appeared as the guest speaker. At some of the smaller gatherings, it was estimated that there were probably more FBI agents in attendance than actual individuals with a sole interest in the subject of flying saucers. Mr. Dwyer’s overall professional bearing, snappy dress and eloquent words not common to most of the desert saucer observers in attendance that evening, give me an unsettling feeling that he may have been a government plant. Interestingly enough, at the recent Meet the Venusians conference up at the Masonic Lodge in Mt. Shasta, California, 26-30 August 2020, numerous attendees reported seeing FBI surveillance vans parked in the back of some local motels.
There was an enthusiastic round of applause and the meeting broke up noisily. Bluebook magazine correspondent Paul C. Benard went back to his motel to get some rest before departing Blythe the next morning. Of his experiences in the Colorado desert areas of Southern California, the journalist noted that, “I took two things along: a notebook bulging with names and dates, personal opinions and hastily-scribbled impressions, and a renewed respect for the down-to-Earth reasoning of the average American.”
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