UFOMystic » Mother-Ships? Crikey!!!

Mother-ship: now there’s a term absolutely guaranteed to raise the hackles of any smug, self-important ufological skeptic. So, I’ll say it again, only this time louder: MOTHER-SHIP!

For those unaquainted with this one-time ufological stalwart, the mother-ships were almost a permanent fixture of the halcyon days of ufology (and by that I mean the 1950s and 1960s), and became so-named as a result of their huge size. Usually described as being hundreds of feet in length, and very often cigar-shaped, the mother-ships were seen by many as being the outer-space equivalent of a modern-day aircraft carrier – the purpose of which was to carry smaller, flying saucer-style vehicles across vast stretches of space before dropping them onto our planet to undertake whatever dark and nefarious activities they deemed fit.

But the problem with the mother-ships wasn’t so much the fact that people saw them, or that the scenario of having one huge craft carrying a whole “family” of smaller ones defied logic. Nope: the problem was that the mother-ships became inextricably linked with the so-called “Contactee” controversy.

In the early 1950s, numerous characters – including George Adamski, George Van Tassel, Truman Bethurum (who, had his wife agreed, might have engineered the first intergalactic three-way – with the help of beautiful, shapely “space captain-ette” Aura Rhanes), and George Hunt Williamson (funny how the aliens seem to like earth people named George), reported close encounters, and direct contact, with eerily human-looking aliens who – among other things – loftily insisted we disarm our nuclear arsenals and live in harmony with one another (there’s zero chance of that happening anytime soon!). And thus was born the cult of the Contactee – for a cult is certainly what it was and still is.

Moreover, many of the contactees – and particularly Adamski – claimed that their visitors were arriving in gigantic mother-ships. And, as a result of the fact that many of the more down-to-earth researchers of that era poured scorn on the accounts of the Contactees, so the tales of the mother-ships came to be viewed with growing suspicion.

Incredibly, even the FBI got in on the act: FBI memoranda of 1954 refers to a source who had advised the Bureau that “5,000 mother ships…150 to 200 feet in length” were at that time surrounding our planet. Their purpose: to “repair fault-lines in the Pacific Ocean.” Well, that was nice of them – although I see no evidence of such repairs having ever occurred.

However, we might not want to dismiss the mother-ships completely out of hand. Consider the following report, found in the files of the British Government’s National Archive by UFO researchers Andy Roberts and David Clarke.

Dating from December 2, 1942 and with the long and yawn-inspiring title of “Report by the crew of 61 Sqdn. A/c ‘J,’ Captain W/O Lever, of object seen during raid on TURIN, night of November 28/29th, 1942,” the report reads as follows:

“The object…was seen by the entire crew of the above aircraft. They believe it to have been 200-300 feet in length and its width is estimated at 1/5th or 1/6th of its length. The speed was estimated at 500 m.p.h., and it had four pairs of red lights spaced at equal distances along its body. These lights did not appear in any way like exhaust flames; no trace was seen. The object kept a level course. The crew saw the object twice during the raid and brief details are given below.”

“After bombing, time 2240 hours, a/c height 11,000 feet. The aircraft at this time was some 10/15 miles South-West of Turin travelling in a northwesterly direction. The object was travelling South-East at the same height or slightly below the aircraft. After bombing, time 2245 hours, a/c height 14,000 feet. The aircraft was approaching the Alps when the object was seen again travelling West-South-West up a valley in the Alps below the level of the peaks. The lights appeared to go out and the object disappeared from view.”

“The captain of the aircraft also reports that he has seen a similar object about three months ago North of Amsterdam. In this instance it appeared to be on the ground and later travelling at high speed at a lower level than the heights given above along the coast for about two seconds; the lights then went out for the same period of time and came on again, and the object was still seen to be travelling in the same direction.”

Now, seeing strange things when in the vicinity of Amsterdam is practically par for the course; but it’s worth noting that a covering letter attached to this report that had been prepared by the Air Vice Marshal, Commanding, No. 5 Group of the British Royal Air Force stated: “The crew refuses to be shaken in their story in the face of the usual banter and ridicule.”

And, of course, no nation on earth – to the best of our knowledge, at least – was flying aircraft 200-300 feet in length and at speeds of 500 mph, 55 years ago.

If the late Steve Irwin had investigated UFOs, at this stage he would probably be shouting at the top of his voice “Crikey!” And perhaps so we should, too. Maybe George, George, George and Co. were right all along. And so, with that final, astonishing thought in our collective minds, altogether now: “CRIKEY!”

This post was written by

Nick Redfern – who has written 1064 posts on UFOMystic.
Punk music fan, Tennents Super and Carlsberg Special Brew beer fan, horror film fan, chocolate fan, like to wear black clothes, like to stay up late. Work as a writer.

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8 Comments to “Mother-Ships? Crikey!!!”

paulkimball Says:
December 29th, 2006 at 11:11 am

Yukon. 1996.

Nick Redfern Says:
December 29th, 2006 at 11:59 am

Yep, and there was a 1966 mothership UFO seen in the Yukon too.

Greg Bishop Says:
December 30th, 2006 at 1:33 am

It seems that the “motherships” dislodging smaller “scouts” sightings have diminished to nothing over the years, but that mammoth-sized UFOs are still referred to by that name. Hmm.

Nick Redfern Says:
December 30th, 2006 at 9:11 am

Greg:

Yeah – another example of the way the phenomenon changes…

Brian Gaugler Says:
December 31st, 2006 at 3:39 pm

Just like how many contemporary UFO reports tend to involve the objects splitting into many different parts and then reforming or changing shape, while these types of accounts are absent in the 40s and 50s…

Nick Redfern Says:
January 2nd, 2007 at 5:33 am

Brian

Correct: whatever is at the heart of the phenomenon – I believe – it constantly evolves, or more likely is changing to ensure that we don’t get to see its “real” form.

In fact, in 60 years the whole subject has changed – first it was flying saucers and long haired aliens, then aliens being seen “taking soil samples” etc. Then the long hairs went away – as have the saucers pretty much today – and it’s now the time of the Grays and the Flying Triangles.

Doubtless it wil be something else 10 years from now. Manipulation and camouflage seem to be the order of the day.

Brian Gaugler Says:
January 3rd, 2007 at 11:05 am

Nick

To the best of your knowledge, are the Nordics still being reported at all? I have one instance of such a being in my files, but have you ever come across anything?

Nick Redfern Says:
January 3rd, 2007 at 12:06 pm

Brian:

There aren’t many modern day reports to the best of my knowledge. However, in the vol. 12, issue 4 of Graham Birdsall’s UFO Magazine published in September 1993, there is a reference to a British case at a large forest in Central England called the Cannock Chase.

The Chase is near to where I used to live and has been the site of all sorts of weird, paranormal, UFO, cryptozoological mysteries.

In that issue of UFO Mag, reference is made to a man who had contacted the mag to relate the details of his own encounter on the Cannock Chase when at around 9.30 pm on the night in question he was walking through the woods and came across an area of mist within which was a ‘metallic shining object.”

The man was confronted by “two people” in light cover-alls, who told him they were taking samples and that he “wouldn’t understand.”

He then felt drowsy/hypnotized and watched amazed as the pair vanished into the mist.

He added that they looked like humans, except were smaller in stature than an average human male, and had dark hair and a “Latin” appearance.

Now these weren’t classic Nordics, but the issue of human like aliens “taking soil samples” is a classic one of the 50s and 60s, and this was far more recent.

So, whatever these more human-like people/things are, they are still out there…

Mother-Ships? Crikey!!!

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