A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture

II space brother religions to largely ignore the recent advent of UFO phenomena. While Martin
was certainly aware of and interested in UFOs, there was no evidence of any attempt on her part
to integrate the ostensibly material phenomena of flying saucers with her operative philosophy.
As discussed in the introduction to this chapter, the other characteristic response of space brother
religions to the advent of UFO’s was to include them as a mode of transport preeminent example
of the latter tendency was George Adamski.
GEORGE ADAMSKI
Most of the contactee movement is and was characterized by occult modes of communication,
automatic writing and channeling. As previously noted, Ballard’s embodied contacts with St.
Germaine and the Venusian Lords of the Flame set a precedent for embodied contact with
extraterrestrial visitors. Among cases of immediate post World War II embodied contact,
perhaps the most notable, both in terms of continuity with the cases and traditions already
discussed and in terms of influence on later cases, was that of George Adamski, a central figure
in the contactee movement that emerged out of post-World War II southern California.
Adamski claimed, primarily in his book Inside the Space Ships (a title later changed to Inside the
Flying Saucers), to have traveled willingly with extraterrestrials in their spacecraft. Adamski
was acting as envoy or ambassador, traveling in comfort with his hosts—hosts who politely and
thoroughly addressed the questions posed by their guest and proffered the knowledge that they
were here to save humanity from its own destructive impulses.
Adamski parlayed his experiences into the attainment of guru status. Through writing,
speaking and hosting gatherings of “saucerians,” he developed a religious following. The
messages received and conveyed by Adamski, his status as elect individual speaking to true
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