The
Beatles
AND
Extraterrestrials
An
Introduction
in
the form of ten
questions and answers
(1) Have
there been any UFO sightings by members of The Beatles?
In August 1974, while living in New York with May Pang, John Lennon saw
an aircraft in the sky, which he and May Pang considered to be a UFO. He subsequently
wrote an article about the experience and made an audio recording describing
what had happened.
It's also known that John Lennon discussed the experience with various
people he was close to, or acquainted with (Yoko Ono; Elliot Mintz; Bob Gruen;
Ray Coleman; Uri Geller; David Bowie & Ava Cherry; Bebe Buell; his son
Julian and housekeeper Fred Seaman, and.. his astrologer).
John also put a basic statement about the UFO sighting on the sleeve of
his next LP release - 'Walls and Bridges.'
(2) Did
John Lennon have any interest in UFOs and Extraterrestrials before August
1974?
Yes, it's known, for example, that he subscribed to Flying Saucer Review magazine.
(3) What about his
work.. Did John Lennon make any references in it to UFOs or aliens?
Nine months before the sighting over New York, the 'Mind Games' LP came
out, and that includes a key song - 'Out The Blue' - in which John Lennon's
lyrics compare his meeting with a female (we assume to be Yoko Ono) to the
visit of a UFO. This association is emphasised by the fact that his backing
group The Plastic Ono Band are credited as 'The Plastic U.F.Ono Band' on the
LP sleeve.
On a much later single release - 'Nobody Told Me' - John Lennon sang of
"UFOs over New York."
So these are further indications of a long-term interest he had in UFO/E.T.
encounters.
(4) What is the
evidence that any of The Beatles actually had contact with Extraterrestrials,
or that they were influenced by them?
First of all, John Lennon - possibly along with George Harrison - told
a supposedly tongue-in-cheek story in the early-1960s about the name 'The
Beatles' having been delivered to him in a vision by a man on a 'flaming pie'.
Anyone who knows much about psychology is aware that sometimes when we say
things as a joke, what we're joking about can contain an important basis in
reality. Therefore, it's interesting to me that there are many UFO reports
that describe circular objects being seen in the sky apparently giving
off flames. There are occasional reports in which the shape of a UFO is
compared to a pie-plate, and at least a few in which the shape is compared
to a pie...
Furthermore, a few years' back, Paul McCartney released an LP called 'Flaming
Pie' - the title inspired by John Lennon's story - and the drawing Paul did
as an illustration for it is in no way inconsistent with the appearance of
a UFO!
(5) Is there anything
else to do with the early days of The Beatles, or prior to that, to suggest
any contact with E.Ts?
Well, John Lennon told Frederic Seaman (his housekeeper) that he thought
he might have been contacted by them in childhood, and there is some information
that could be an indication of that.
While he was in his teens, John was said to have had an "obsession"
with Wigan Pier: it kept cropping up in things he wrote, including a story
called 'A Carrot in a Potato Mine.' There have been plenty of UFO sightings
in the Wigan area, and even claims and speculation about an alien base there.
It's not inconceivable that John Lennon's "obsession" with Wigan
Pier and the 'Carrot in a Potato Mine' story are linked to some kind of E.T.
encounter he experienced in that part of the country.
Aside from that, in March 1966, Paul McCartney told London's Evening Standard
newspaper that the group knew something would happen with them sooner or later,
and he said the reason was that they always had a "blind Bethlehem star"
ahead of them. So, why did Paul McCartney think of The Beatles' rise to success
in terms of being guided by a 'star' that no one knows the actual origin or
identity of?
(6) Have Paul McCartney,
George Harrison or Ringo Starr ever been interested in these issues?
Cynthia Lennon has written in her book of all four Beatles going with
her to visit a well-known health farm, where there were people claiming to
be able to contact Extraterrestrials. She wrote that all of the group were
interested in the paranormal.
Ringo Starr commented on UFOs and Alien Life-forms during an interview on
TV in December 1969 - I've got a short video clip of this conversation, which
is apparently from the show 'Late Night Line-Up.' Ringo wonders why the government
are trying to suppress the evidence, which he is apparently impressed by himself.
He also refers to a theory of George that beings could exist all around us,
but in another time dimension.
(7) Which famous
Beatles recordings can you point to as evidence of E.T. influence?
Probably the best one to mention is 'I Am The Walrus.' If you listen carefully to the lyrics you'll find that they are, to a substantial extent, consistent with a description of alien visitation. Aliens are commonly reported to have hairless heads, which are more egg-like in shape than the human head, so they could reasonably be called 'The Eggmen,' and in the context of the whole song this interpretation absolutely makes sense.
It also, of course, makes sense in the context of John Lennon's later
comparison in song of his meeting with Yoko Ono to the coming of a UFO. Why
would he compare his meeting with Yoko Ono, which had happened and
radically affected his life to something which he'd never experienced?
That wouldn't be a meaningful comparison for him to make, would it?
(8) Which people
did John Lennon or The Beatles associate with who were involved with UFOs
and related matters?
There was a guy working for Apple called Alex Mardas - aka Magic Alex
- who at one time was planning to construct a flying saucer to fly over the
West End of London. Another guy, I think, called Chris Hodges recorded for
Apple and supposedly wrote songs about UFOs.
Around 1969, there were a series of events involving John Lennon and Yoko
Ono that are gone into in a section of Albert Goldman's biography under the
title 'Cosmic Rock.' According to this book, a man named Don Hamrick claimed
that The Beatles had already encountered E.Ts in Norway, and needed to use
their fame and influence to promote their existence. Mr.Hamrick and/or a friend
of his became involved with John and Yoko directly, or indirectly through
their management, and, it seems, influenced their thinking for a while.
Later, in the 1970s, John Lennon got to know Uri Geller, and in Uri Geller's autobiography there is a picture of them together: the caption says they are discussing UFOs. During the 1990s, Uri came out with the claim that John Lennon told him about an experience he had that he could only think of in terms of an alien encounter. After the experience, John was left with a physical artifact, which he gave to Uri.
(9) Are there other
features of The Beatles life or work that you could highlight as worthy of
consideration with respect to E.T. contact?
I recommend viewing the 'Magical Mystery Tour' film.
And, a book by Alistair Taylor called 'A Secret History.'
(10) If, as you
think, the name 'The Beatles,' itself, may have been influenced by Extraterrestrials,
what could have been their reason for selecting this name?
There are good reasons to think that it is supposed to allude to a star in the constellation of Orion, which we call BETELGEUSE.
When it comes to the link between The Beatles and Extraterrestrials, the truth is definitely out there, and, I've found that a great deal of it is very much in the public domain already.
We've only got to put the pieces of the puzzle together
to get a clear view of the whole picture.
.... DANIEL TRANSIT, APRIL|JUNE 2002 ....
