The Meade Layne - Desmond Leslie Correspondence

Next to my bed are at present seven boxes with hundreds of folders from the archive of Borderland Sciences Research Foundation (BSRF). A small portion of this unique collection which takes up a large part of my working day, reviewing and organizing. Recently I found two folders with the Meade Layne – Desmond Leslie correspondence 1952-1955, giving the personal, behind the scenes events and discussions before and after the publishing of all time classic Flying Saucers Have Landed.

The Swedish edition of this book, with its beautiful and imaginative front page, affected me profoundly when, as a young teenager, I found it in my parents bookshelf. Never in my wildest dreams could I envision that 50 years later I would find myself as one of the custodians (at AFU) of the personal correspondence of Desmond Leslie. The Gods of Fate sometimes work in strange ways.

A young enthusiast with the Swedish edition of Flying Saucer Have Landed

To comprehend this correspondence it is important to realize that Desmond Leslie was an esotericist, very well acquainted with the basic works of The Esoteric Tradition: H.P. Blavatsky, C.W. Leadbeater, Annie Besant, Geoffrey Hodson, Alice Bailey a.o. During a visit to a friend in 1951 he found a copy of The Story of Atlantis (1896) by W. Scott Elliott. In a sort of heureka moment he realised that the description of vimanas in Atlantis tallied almost identically with the modern reports of flying saucers.

Desmond Leslie

This discovery entered a period of intense research to find stories of aircraft in ancient manuscripts. Leslie spent many hours at the British Museum studying the hindu epics Ramayana and Mahaharata where he found many references to aerial vehicles. The idea of a book on vimanas soon became a reality and because of his knowledge of the The Esoteric Tradition, Leslie discovered BSRF and contacted Meade Layne.

So far I have found 25 letters, mainly from Desmond Leslie and only two from Meade Layne. The first letter from Leslie was written November 13, 1952 where he mention his interest in esotericism and also wide experience of mediums. He was rather critical of most channeled messages but obviously felt himself guided in writing the book about vimanas:
”… been helped to write (by) certain entities in the other world who have told me they are doing the best to guide my pen”… How dull is modern science compared to Cosmic Science. How one sighs for the ancient schools and the sacred philosophia that disappeared from view when the Earth entered the Kali Yug… I am avid, thinking and hungry for knowledge of a subject that has occupied my whole consciousness for over two years ever since I first read a flying saucer report and realised it was synonymous with accounts of the VIMANAS  as the disks were called in the Sanskrit.”

First page of letter to Meade Layne, November 13, 1952

From Meade Layne, Desmond Leslie received information about George Adamski´s contact experience in the desert on November 20, 1952 and he soon began corresponding with Adamski and George Hunt Williamson:

”This is important. Adamski has sent me a detailed account of his desert contact… His report of mother-ship, smaller saucer and magnetic hovering device entirely confirms the Telano transcript. As you know I am giving about 20 pages of my book to publicising your activities and I want to make out the strongest case possible for you.”
(Letter from Desmond Leslie to Meade Layne, March 24, 1953.)

The manuscript for the Vimana book had earlier been sent to Sidgwick and Jackson but they were reluctant at publishing which resulted in some very witty and ironic comments from Leslie:
”Alas, Sidgwick Jackson cold footed. Unlikely that they now publish but good to have your support and interest. S.J. gave it to a reader – an old maid with a B.Sc. after her name and her report had to be kept in asbestos. Having run out of vituperation she called me illiterate. I may be everything else but I pride myself on being able to write passable prose. They´ve now sent it to an astronomer. It only remains for it to be reviewed by a subway attendant, an underarm ball furnaceman… a resevoir attendant… a cosmetician… a sanitary engineer…”
(Letter from Desmond Leslie to Meade Layne, March 31, 1953.)

In March 1953 George Adamski sent a detailed account of his desert contact. A few weeks later he would also send the by now classic saucer photos to Leslie:
”I had no doubt about Adamski´s sighting. I was just hoping to get as much outside evidence as possible to make it look stronger in my book. He has sent me some amazing photos. Funny – but he seems to have some objection to BSRA on the accuracy of their teachings from what I can gather. But so far with me has been most cooperative and has written me several excellent letters. So has Williamson who has given me the proceedure in making radio contact.” 

(Letter from Desmond Leslie to Meade Layne, April 6, 1953.)

Photo taken by George Adamski, December 13, 1952

The reason for George Adamski´s ”objection to BSRA” was in the interpretation of his meeting with the Venusian. Adamski always maintained that his space people were organic physical like earth people. BSRA advanced the opinion that venusians lived at a different level in the multiverse (etheric) which was also confirmed by the Inner Circle, the individuals speaking through trance medium Mark Probert. This information was given clairaudiently to Mark Probert commenting, on the contact November 20th 1952: "The story is in the main true. The Disc did land and Mr. Adamski did carry on a conversation with the operator of said ship. But brother Adamski was so excited he does not remember clearly all that was said. This particular ship was from the planet Venus. We would like to remind you however, that the intense heat on that body, due to its proximity to the sun and an atmosphere heavy with carbon dioxide, make it highly unlikely or impossible that beings with the same organic structure as earth-man could abide on its surface. The Venus beings live in the ether of this planet." 

(Journal of Borderland Research, Jan-Feb. 1972, p. 20)

Leslie gave up on Sidgwick and Jackson and sent his manuscript to a new publisher, T. Werner Laurie. This proved to be a hit in many ways as the man who read the manuscript was Waveney Girvan, who came up with the brilliant idea of combining Leslie´s and Adamski´s manuscripts into one book:

”The book is now called ”THE FLYING SAUCERS HAVE LANDED” and is being published by T. WERNER LAURIE of 1 DOUGHTY STREET. LONDON. W.C. .. This publisher is an ardent saucerite; he first published Heard´s book in England, and I have changed certain things on his advice, such as relegating some of the more complicated occult matters to a sequel volume. .. I have however been able to say quite a good deal about you and BSRA as an avante garde school of saucerology who should be watched and studied by all really interested… A new innovation is that about ninety pages of it will be a detailed eye witness accounts of the Desert Landing along with all the amazing pictures of George Adamski who have been most cooperative and is acting as a co-author in this section… I don´t know if you have read Adamski´s full manuscript account of the contact but it is very well written and strangely moving… My new publisher is a good change from stuffy old S.J. He is madly keen and has already gone around trying to arrange radio and TV tie ups, as well as serialisation  and US publication… I have just seen the picture proofs 14 full pages of large photos – and a lovely coloured dust jacket done by a well known artist depicting the Desert Landing in detail. ”
(Letter from Desmond Leslie to Meade Layne, June 12, 1953.)

Waveney Girvan

With the manuscript in safe hands at T. Werner Laurie, a large publicity campaign was initiated:

”We are trying to get every saucer group to use the sticky labels, like the one on the envelope, on all their correspondence. Would you like to have several hundred or several thousand right away? Any Associate wishing to havet them for his own use (they are free) should write direct to T. WERNER LAURIE AND CO LTD. 1 DOUGHTY STREET LONDON. W.C. stating how many he would like to have.”
(Letter from Desmond Leslie to Meade Layne, Aug. 5, 1953.)

As Leslie´s father was a first cousin of Winston Churchill contact with the British royal family was no problem which this interesting letter proves:

”I took the book and pictures to Buckingham Palace and had a long session with the Duke´s A.D.C.´s who are most sympathetic towards saucers… Watch for our new opus written conjointly with Prof Donald Duck Menzell in which we prove conclusively that those bid red London busses people keep seing are only the refracted, reflected, polarised and ionized images of the neon signs of Piccadilly Circus.”
(Letter from Desmond Leslie to Meade Layne, Aug. 29, 1953.)

Flying Saucers Have Landed was published in September 1953. A revised and very much enlarged edition was published by Neville Spearman in 1970. It was translated into several languages and global sales reached around one million copies. Flying Saucer Review editor Charles Bowen very aptly named it The Book That Was Dynamite. What becomes obvious to me after reading the Meade Layne – Desmond Leslie correspondence is the extensive influence BSRF had on the development of the UFO movement. This letter and the following are quite revealing in this respect:

”Thanks again a million times for your splendid support and help in this whole project. Without you F.S.H.L. wouldn´t be the book it (I think) is. Press here divided. But plenty of it. Most of them derisory or terrified. A few proclaim it as greatest discovery of the age. I have been called ”The sorcerer´s apprentice”. Apparently G.A. is la grande sorciere!
(Letter from Desmond Leslie to Meade Layne, Oct. 14, 1953.)