God’s Celestial Ambassador: The Life and Times of Dr. Frank E. Stranges - Part III
By Raymond A. Keller, PhD, a.k.a. “Cosmic Ray,” the author of the international awards-winning Venus Rising Series, published by Headline Books and available on Amazon.com, while supplies last.
Venus Rising: A Concise History of the Second Planet
Final Countdown: Rockets to Venus
Cosmic Ray's Excellent Venus Adventure
Lady Columba Venus Revelations
Dr. Stranges did not hesitate to talk about flying saucers from the pulpit, insofar as those in his congregation expressed a great deal of interest in the subject, especially with the phenomenon’s relationship with the scriptures. In ufology circles in the late 1950s, he was one of the few ministers speaking out on this important matter in the emerging space age.
In a sermon entitled, “A Man of the Cloth Looks at Flying Saucers,” Dr. Stranges stressed the importance of his subject matter as being a “phenomenon that could affect the human race.” What follows is a transcript of Dr. Stranges’ initial sermon on flying saucers as it was given from his pulpit in the period of 1958-1969, and updated as necessary, while he continued to personally investigate UFO reports from various areas of the United States that he visited in the course of his ministerial work. It has been edited by me and reconstructed in parts that have been lost, were unclear or grammatically incorrect. I have also taken the liberty of adding footnotes where clarifications of the text may require it. Nothing of the content or context has been altered. In this manner, I have tried to accurately present Dr. Frank Stranges’ evolving opinions concerning the UFO presence on our planet.
- Cosmic Ray
Typical flying saucer as frequently reported in the 1950s. Illustration from Channel 9 Bay News, Spectrum Cable Television, Tampa Bay, Florida.
A Man of the Cloth Looks at Flying Saucers
By Dr. Frank E. Stranges
“If the 21st century is going to be the century of the Moon, the 22nd is likely to be the century of the asteroids.” -Dr. Isaac Asimov
UFO Phenomenon
Heretofore, the subject of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) has been treated as ridiculous. The United States Air Force maintains that they still have not one iota of tangible evidence that proves the existence of unidentified flying objects. Yet, the records show otherwise. The ramifications of the UFO mystery are varied and complex. The far-reaching effects of this mystery certainly are a tremendous challenge to this and generations to come. The United States government budget for the investigation of UFOs has far exceeded 200 million dollars. To state that these things do not exist would indeed be a slap in the face to the masses of intelligent people who inhabit this planet and claim to have seen these objects, some of these even coming in contact with the flying saucer occupants. Also, what could have Christ inferred when he said, “Other sheep I have that are not of this fold?”
Local Stars in the Galaxy
Our Sun is a small star. If we consider the twenty brightest stars in the sky, our Sun would be the least luminous. The star which is nearest to the Sun is called Alpha Centauri. It is a little more than four light years from the Sun and is about one-third brighter than the Sun.
The next nearest star among the twenty brightest is Sirius, which is eight light years from the Sun and thirty times brighter. Then we would have to go out into space eleven light years to find Procyon, which is about seven times brighter than the Sun.
Vega is 27 light years from the Sun and 63 times more luminous. In order to take in all twenty of the brightest stars, we would have to go as far as 540 light years into space, where we would find Rigel, which is 21,000 times more luminous than the Sun.
These distances become somewhat fantastic when you consider that one light year is 5,800,000,000,000 miles.
Two of the twenty brightest stars have surfaces that are comparatively cool and so give off very little light. The reason they are among the twenty brightest stars is their tremendous size. Betelgeuse is larger than the orbit of the Earth. It is 300 light years away. When you consider that the nearest star is about 23 trillion miles away from the Earth, and the rest of the stars in our galaxy many times that, you begin to see how isolated is our solar system.
For any being on a planet near any star to find our Earth is like looking for a needle in a haystack. In the universe, our Earth is a tiny speck. When John the Revelator speaks of seeing a “new heaven and a new Earth,” he must be talking about something much nearer than the nearest star. Even in our solar system distances may become fantastic.
Dr. Frank E. Stranges was one of the first to note that reports of flying saucers multiplied substantially when the orbit of the planet Mars was in conjunction with the orbit of the Earth. Artwork source: British UFO Research Association (BUFORA).
Solar System
If you were on one of the more distant planets, such as Uranus or Pluto, the Sun would appear as a very tiny star. It would give little in the way of light or heat, yet that tiny star throws out such a tremendous magnetic field that it holds the planets captive and controls their movements.
Scientists are now making intensive investigations to determine, if they can, how this power can be used to counteract or reverse gravity, thereby making interstellar flight possible. This investigation has been sparked by the thousands of persons who have filed reports of unidentified flying objects in the sky.
The planets nearest the Earth are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Mercury is so close to the Sun that we can learn very little about it. The same is true, to a lesser extent, of Venus. Those two planets have orbits smaller than the Earth’s. They travel between the Earth and the Sun.
We can see Venus when it rises a few minutes before the Sun or when it sets a few minutes after the Sun. Therefore, even though it is a planet, sometimes it is seen as the “Morning Star” and sometimes the “Evening Star.” It is about the same size as the Earth. It travels around the Sun in 225 days. Venus is the only celestial object mentioned in the Bible by name in connection with the new heavens and the new Earth: “And I will give him the Morning Star” (Revelation 2:28). This would suggest that something is going to happen on Venus in connection with the new heaven.
Mars has an orbit larger than that of the Earth, so Mars is an easier planet to study. Instead of looking toward the Sun when we look at Mars, we are looking away from the Sun. The orbit of Mars is one and a half times larger than the orbit of the Earth. When Mars and the Earth are on the same side of the Sun, then Mars is only half the distance to the Sun away from the Earth (about 45 million miles).
The orbits of the planets are not perfect circles, but are somewhat elongated, so there are times when Mars is even nearer the Earth. When two heavenly bodies are in close proximity, they are said to be in “conjunction.”
Mars is about one half the size of the Earth. It moves around the Sun in 687 days. It is in conjunction with the Earth every 26 months. At rare intervals, the conjunction comes at a time when the Earth is farthest away from the Sun and therefore nearest to Mars.
It is at these times that astronomers become very excited about the opportunities of studying the surface of Mars. Telescopes have been improved; and the great new discoveries of the amplification of light will make it possible, eventually, to bring objects on the surface of Mars into a larger focus. It will then be possible to determine whether life exists there.
The interest in Mars has been heightened by the appearance in the sky of flying objects unknown in this world. These have come with greater frequency each time Mars approaches the Earth.
The discovery of a means to amplify light is probably the greatest invention of our day, if not all time. Light may be amplified as much as 20,000 times. Brilliant pictures can be made of objects that are in almost total darkness.
The efficiency of telescopes may be increased hundreds of times. We will know with certainty what is going on in the heavens. Whenever the possibility of life on other planets is discussed, the principal factor has always been the matter of atmosphere, whether or not there is air in sufficient quantities to support life.
The Earthlike conditions do not exist on Venus or Mars; and therefore, it has been supposed that life could not exist on those bodies. But, as we shall see, such conditions are not necessary for life. They only raise the possibility that a different kind of life exists.
At an extension course in astronomy held by the University of Minnesota at Duluth, the instructor was once discussing the theory that flying saucers are coming from some planet farther away than Mars.
In some amazement, Rev. A. E. Bloomfield, a local minister and editor of the Prophet Ensign magazine, asked, “But the astronomer believes in flying saucers?!”
“Oh, yes!” she declared. “My only question is where they are coming from.”
Rev. Bloomfield then said, “You mean that flying saucers actually exist and are coming from outer space?”
She answered: “I think that they are too perfect to be coming some place as near as Mars. If they had been coming from Mars, they would have gotten here before they had been brought to their present state of perfection.”
One of the strongest pieces of evidence in favor of the reality of flying saucers is the attempt by the government to keep information from the public. There is a stiff penalty for any member of the armed forces who reveals a saucer report without authority. Fortunately, this does not apply to civilians.
United States Armed Forces and Flying Saucers
There is every evidence that the armed forces take flying saucers very seriously. This can be seen in the reports that follow. You will notice that there is an “explanation;” but the explanation never adequately explains what the people saw.
It has been said, time and again, that we are not alone in this vast, uncharted universe. The very thought of other “intelligent beings” watching us has stirred the heart of many a good person.
The world of religion has been a bit shaken because several religious leaders have voiced opinions for the case of the UFOs. The suggestion of a superior religion replacing the present theology has drawn fire from many ecclesiastical headquarters.
But, let us examine a few facts. Statements of outstanding authorities have been making headlines. Among these, those made by Dr. Wernher von Braun, the rocket scientist from the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, who said, “There is a rational and rather straightforward explanation for the great majority of sightings of unidentified flying objects, or flying saucers. Since the first mysterious objects were reported in 1947, the United States Air Force official investigators have tabulated thousands of sightings. They can account for about 98 percent of these as balloons, aircraft, reflection of ground lights, meteorites, planets, hoaxes perpetrated by pranksters, ball lightning or plasma cloud phenomena observed and photographed near high tension power lines.”
Artist’s conception of the Prophet Ezekiel’s “Wheel Within a Wheel” UFO, observed near the river Chebar in the Middle East, circa 600 B.C.E. Artwork source: Martian Herald.
Bible and Flying Saucers
The Bible scholar, along with the serious pastor, has often considered the Bible as more than a mere book. It is truly the inspired word of the living God, as written by men who, in turn, wrote as the Spirit of God so moved them. The first chapter of the Book of Ezekiel has been quoted many times in an effort to ascertain the possibility that the prophet actually experienced a sighting of an unidentified flying object. Let us examine this treatise.
To begin with, the purpose in pointing out the following is to stimulate, if not awaken you, to the unusual similarity in the ancient record of the round flying craft of Biblical times and the circular UFOs that are reported seen today.
Ezekiel’s prophecy is enveloped in a twofold ministry:
1. To denounce the sins of professing children of the Kingdom of God.
2. To sustain the faithful ones with the promise of God’s faithfulness both to deliver them and to judge their oppressors.
Not only is Ezekiel a prophet, but he is also a priest who pleads and beseeches God on behalf of the sins of his people.
Now Ezekiel slowly and dramatically begins to unfold the essence of his tremendous account of his “vision:”
He says, “I was among the captives by the river Chebar. The heavens opened and I saw visions of God. Behold, a whirlwind came out of the north….”
Isaiah 14:13 indicates that “the sides of the north” is the location of God’s throne. A scientist recently made the statement that, “The whole universe of stars and celestial bodies is traveling through space in a northward direction.”
There are scriptures that indicate that God’s throne is northward, such as the one referred to in “the sides of the north,” as mentioned above. In Psalm 75:6-7 David declares, “For promotion cometh neither from the east nor the west nor from the south. But God is the judge: He putteth down one and setteth up another.” This scripture is vividly indicative of the location of God’s glorious throne.
Ezekiel continues, “Behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and fire enfolding itself, and a brightness was about it and out of the midst thereof, as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire (Ezekiel 1:4).”
An unusual characteristic of UFOs is the manner in which they change color in flight. First, let us examine the subject of the neon effects (Aurora Borealis-like) of saucers from the standpoint of the visible spectrum or that portion of the “octave” sensitive to our visible apparatus.
Colors are nothing more than a series of differing wavelengths of which the human visual mechanism is only capable, on average, of perceiving those lying between 3,800 and 8,000 angstrom units. For example, “red” is evoked upon our visual apparatus by waves measuring 760 millimicrons in length, while “yellow” is 574.5 millimicrons in length and “violet is 385 millimicrons.
Therefore, in spacecraft, we only see color changes our eye mechanisms are equipped to see.
The same holds true of our colorful advertising displayed by neon tubes. We mention the neon tubes because the principle of it is the same as that which applies to the color changes emitted by saucers.
Neon is an inert gaseous element found in our atmosphere that when put under electrical pressure in a partial vacuum, such as found in a tube, emits a reddish glow. This tells us what is happening when you see a flying saucer surrounded by a red glow. It also indicates that there is an invisible, partial vacuum-like tube, or screen, surrounding the craft.
It has been generally accepted that as the speed of the craft increases, so does the luminosity, in effect producing brighter colors. Therefore, it is not too unusual for UFO sighting reports to be accompanied by stories of the craft “changing color” while in flight. The military recorders should remember the words of Abraham Lincoln on 29 May 1856, “You can fool some of the people all the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”
Ezekiel saw an immense cloud of fire whirling and rolling out of the north or out of the heavenly realm. From out of that cloud emitted a golden light (amber). Then he beholds a light that surrounds four living creatures, because he then said, “Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures (Ezekiel 1:5).”
He goes on to say, “They sparkled like the color of burnished brass (Ezekiel 1:7).” The implication here denotes that this event has something to do with the judgement of God. Not that they themselves are being sent to the judgement; but they appear at that time when judgement has been poured out upon those who are unfaithful and rebellious to His Holy Word. Brass, throughout the Bible, is symbolic of judgement.
Ezekiel proceeds to explain the peculiar characteristics of the living creatures that he is looking at when he says, “As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, the face of a lion, on the right side; and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle (Ezekiel 1:10).”
Naturally, these are four face symbols. They certainly represent something valid. In Revelation 5:9, we note them again with the same faces, but now they are bowing before the Lamb of God crying, “Thou hast redeemed us to God and Thy blood out of every kindred and tongue, and people and nation.” Could these be symbolic representatives of redeemed humanity? Their number is the number of physical existence- “four,” and it is also the number of “man.”
Ezekiel continues: “And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them. And when the living creatures were lifted up from the Earth, the wheels were lifted up. Withersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go. And the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When those went, these went. And when those stood still, these did: And when those were lifted up from the Earth the wheels lifted up over against them, for the spirit (life) of the living creatures was in the wheels (Ezekiel 1:19-21).”
This would suggest that the “wheels” are actually a heavenly craft.
Some scholars have hinted that the wheel is merely a halo of glory, while others have considered this to be an actual craft. Verse 16 attempts to present a more vivid explanation: “The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the color of beryl: And they four had one likeness: And their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.”
Please note that beryl is a silicate of aluminum; and although it contains a great deal of color, yet it is metallic in appearance. Ezekiel strongly suggests that what is seen is no doubt an actual round symmetrical dome in the center of a wheel in which the living creatures are present during the time that the “wheel” is in actual flight.
He definitely indicated that they move through the air horizontally (Ezekiel 1:17). He goes on and states, “As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful: And their rings were full of eyes round about them four (Ezekiel 1:18).” He states here that around the living creatures, upon the wheel, are eyes, or actually portholes, as we would interpret them today. This would also explain the idea of the dome on the top side center of the wheel.
From 1600 A.D., early problems with satellite television reception: “They want their MTV.”
A point to examine is the significant manner in which these wheels motivate. “Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went (Ezekiel 1:20).” Also, “As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burned coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: It went up and down among the living creatures: and the fire was bright and out of the fire went forth lightning (Ezekiel 1:13).” In addition, we find, “And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning (Ezekiel 1:14).”
1897 UFO Flap: Cigar-Shaped “Airship” Surveys the United States
The writer has reviewed each of the following incidents in their complete coverage, but likes the concise, itinerant chronicling superbly handled by the Reader’s Digest in their July 1952 issue:
“In April 1897, United States newspapers from coast to coast gave front-page space to a huge, cigar-shaped ‘airship’ cruising around Chicago. Late in March, dispatches from the West described a ‘cigar-shaped’ object, with no motive power, ‘certainly not steam,’ first reported near Sacramento, California, then Denver, Colorado. On March 29, according to the New York Herald, it was seen ‘by a majority of the residents of Omaha. It was in the shape of a bright light, too big for a balloon.’ The New York Sun stated that, ‘Kansas City trolley cars stopped,’ and soon the whole population was watching it from the street and rooftops. The light was as big as that produced by twenty stars. Stories poured into the Chicago Tribune: ‘Reputable citizens of Eldora, Iowa, say they observed the gigantic airship. One man said it resembled an immense bird of polished silver. In Milwaukee thousands of people saw it. The machine floated over the City Hall, where it stopped for a quarter of an hour.’”
As we continue the exploration of this question, we must first be ready to admit that there is something to talk about hovering above us in the skies.
Russia and the Flying Saucer Mystery
The saucer mystery has in many cases pierced the Iron Curtain. Many letters to Russian newspapers, quoted by Agence France Presse, told of a “flying cigar” sighted by many Soviet citizens, and “colored lights” spotted by the inhabitants of Gomel. While the newspapers printed the letters, their respective editors warned the readers severely about the “power of imagination.” Leonard H. Stringfield, the editor of the Civilian Research- Interplanetary Flying Objects Newsletter (Cincinnati, Ohio), stated that these reports leave much to be said for United States secret weapons.
The same issues regarding UFOs and Russia, brought up by Dr. Frank E. Stranges in the late 1950s, continue to be brought up in contemporary American media. Source: Fox News.
The long arm of Russian intelligence misses little or nothing. As a matter of fact, their agents have stolen TOP SECRET “stuff” in the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), where the security is the strictest. Paralleling AEC security is UFO research; but while the American public is occasionally taken into confidence on nuclear matters, it has not been officially informed concerning the flying saucer mystery. It seems almost unfair that John Q. Public must get his information from indirect sources, even for a time, from cheap girlie magazines. This is one of the reasons why Christians today are not “in the know” when it comes to UFO information. During my travels through the United States and other countries, I have found but a handful of Christians who are informed on this subject.
I am very happy that many bold writers have ventured forth to join the ranks of those who are not afraid to speak up on the subject of flying saucers. It is gratifying to realize that men of intelligence and men of courage are writing and commenting on the UFO mystery. Yes, these men are not silent!
However, silence on the part of the authorities has lulled many into believing saucers are entirely American. On the other hand, a closer look at the facts, relative to the “Russian menace,” should rule out, once and for all, this fallacy:
1. Saucers have been on parade, in clear photographic view, over every nation on Earth since 1944 and earlier. Let me ask, “Why advertise a super-secret device when the testing could be confined to the Western States, the Central Pacific, or, if need be, the interior of Australia?”
2. Saucers on parade would suggest a flagrant violation of the world’s sensitive national boundaries.
3. Saucers on parade, if secret, would act as a tipoff for Russian espionage agents, already successfully at work.
4. Saucers on parade, if executed as bait for Russia, would represent a slap in the face to Americans, honest and qualified, who are ridiculed for sighting something that is theirs to begin with.
Then again, if the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) were in command of flying saucers, isn’t it probable that they would have destroyed America by now? Let’s examine the power of the UFO.
It has been given such names as cosmic ships, extraterrestrial vehicles, outer space rocket ships, flying saucers, and, of course, the name given by the United States Air Force, unidentified flying objects.
The speed of the UFO has been clocked at about 19,000 miles per hour. Electromagnetic or electro-gravitational force fields, according to most scientists and researchers, have the greatest potential for future space travel; and they seem to indicate that this type of propulsion is now directly related to the various characteristics of flying saucers.
Observations suggest that flying saucers are capable of transcending the force of gravity. It is doubtful, at this writing, that anyone on Earth has found the means to do so. Then again, if the UFO were a Russian secret device, it is hardly likely that the risk of allowing one to be shot down and captured by the Americans would be taken. The possession of a UFO would make it possible for the Russians to build gigantic telescopes in the universe which would magnify a millionfold. Placed at a height of 26,400 miles above the center of the Earth, they would take exactly one day to circle the Earth once. They could bring the Earth’s surface to view as near as forty miles and entirely replace reconnaissance flights over large American cities and arms centers. The safe workings of the UFO, attested by a long series of reports, clearly indicate a very old invention which has disposed of the troublesome “bugs” of early stages of development. It is a space machine capable of outdistancing and outmaneuvering any Earth-inspired aerial device or vehicle.
Russians have gone on record as declaring themselves, for the most part, atheistic in their beliefs. The teachings of communism clearly point where they stand on the Bible and Christian teachings. They claim that the Bible is a pack of lies, the Christian is grossly misled and the church is an obstacle. On the other hand, the Bible speaks for itself in Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
It is the opinion of this writer that Russia is absolutely not the answer to the riddle of the flying saucer.
Of late, the authorities in the USSR have released the following statement: “UFOs are an invention of the United States government to keep the minds of the people off of their current problems.”
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