From the Golden Age of Flying Saucers

His was one of the most sensationalistic UFO books of its time. Not only did Cedric Allingham claim to have met a humanoid being from Mars, he also photographed the tall, lanky spaceman - albeit from the back - as well as the alien's multi-tiered craft.

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Excerpt:

It was the Golden Age of Flying Saucers, a period when the public was in total awe of anything dealing with flying saucers, a time when unexplainable aerial phenomena swept around the globe, exciting the masses and whetting just about everyone's appetite for more information about a craze that was quickly to become a part of everyday pop culture, inspiring Hollywood movies, comic books and even toys for the younger folks.

Allingham's "Flying Saucers From Mars" caused a mammoth sensation in Britain, where it was originally published, and eventually in America, where the contactee movement was getting underway and soon to hit full throttle.

What made Cedric's work even more exciting were the photographs that accompanied the published text. For here were pictures of a realistic looking spaceship as well as its off-this-world pilot (assuming he was the one behind the "steering wheel.") Wow! What else could anyone ask for in a book that cost just $3.95 in hardback, as compared to today's inflationary cover prices for almost anything a publisher can bind?

Cedric Allingham was in essence the original Billy Meier - and what a comparison can be made - as in the case of the Swiss contactee and prophet there are those who believed the Brit's photos were as real as can be, while others thought they had so many holes in them that he might as well have been photographing a hunk of Swiss cheese. Real or not, the story told by Cedric Allingham is a fascinating one and will prove of interest to readers who might have missed out on it when it was initially released. It is flying saucer titillation at its very best, a real potboiler that opened the eyes of those seeking to explore worlds far and wide. Perhaps it was escapism. But I am sure it caused many a young lad's heart to flutter regardless of what side of the pond he or she might have found themselves on. It had real shock value as only a few UFO books can be said to deliver and it is well worth scanning its original pages for a new generation to interpret anyway they wish.