Cedric Allingham
Encyclopedia
Cedric Allingham was a British contactee of the 1950s, whose claims to have encountered the pilot of a Martian
spacecraft were published in 1954 as Flying Saucer from Mars.
Later writers have speculated that not only were Allingham's experiences fabricated, but that Allingham himself never existed, being an elaborate hoax
perpetrated by a well-known media figure.
and South Africa
. He had taken up amateur astronomy
while posted to the Middle East with the RAOC, and subsequently travelled around Britain indulging his hobbies of bird-watching and caravan
holidays while making a living as a writer of thrillers.
, he had encountered a flying saucer
and communicated with its pilot by means of hand gestures and telepathy
. The spaceman had indicated that he came from Mars
, and that he had also visited Venus
and the Moon
. As supporting evidence, Allingham took a number of blurry photographs of the saucer and one of its occupant (pictured from the rear). He also claimed that a fisherman named James Duncan had witnessed the event from a nearby hill, providing a signed statement which was reproduced in the book.
Coming soon after the dramatic claims of George Adamski
, Allingham's book attracted a fair amount of popular and media attention. TIME
devoted a short piece to it early in 1955. Commenting that Allingham's photograph of a Martian looked "very like a crofter with galluses
flapping", the writer added:
of the RAF during World War II
and a prominent UFO believer) stated he was present: "We got Mr. Cedric Allingham [...] to lecture to our local Flying Saucer Club, and we were all strongly impressed that he was telling the truth about his actual experiences, although we felt that he might have been mistaken in some of the conclusions which he drew from his interview". The writer Robert Chapman made several attempts to trace Duncan, and to contact Allingham through his publishers, who stated firstly that Allingham was undergoing medical treatment in Switzerland
, and then that he had died there. Chapman was only able to confirm that Allingham had given the previously mentioned lecture in Sussex
, at which the well-known broadcaster, astronomer
and noted UFO skeptic Patrick Moore
claimed to have met him. Unable to locate either Duncan or Allingham, and therefore suspecting some form of hoax, Chapman regretfully concluded that "if there was no James Duncan and [thus] no visitor from Mars, perhaps there was no Cedric Allingham either".
, published in the Fortean
journal Magonia
. In Flying Saucer from Moore's?, they argued that the prose of Allingham's book showed significant similarities to the writing of Patrick Moore. Thanks to further enquiries to Allingham's publisher, they were able to trace a friend of Moore, Peter Davies, who eventually admitted that he had co-written the book with another, unnamed individual. Davies also claimed that the talk at the UFO club given by 'Allingham' had in fact been given by himself while wearing a false moustache. Moore has admitted to being invited, by Lord Dowding, to be a guest at this meeting. These and other clues led Allan and Campbell to identify Patrick Moore as the main culprit in a hoax intended to expose the gullibility and uncritical research methods of British ufologists, Flying Saucer from Mars being a partial parody
of Flying Saucers Have Landed, the 1953 book by Adamski and Desmond Leslie
.
Further articles on Moore's involvement appeared in "The Star", July 28, 1986 and the 'Feedback' page of "New Scientist" Aug 14, 1986.
Moore, however, immediately denied being responsible for Allingham's book, and threatened to take legal action against anyone suggesting otherwise, although he took no such action on any of the three articles mentioned above. At the time of writing (2008) he has never confirmed his involvement in the affair, even though the telescope shown in the book's frontispiece bears a remarkable resemblance to his own 12½-inch reflectior http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAsuCYLtHUg.
Martian
As an adjective, the term martian is used to describe anything pertaining to the planet Mars.However, a Martian is more usually a hypothetical or fictional native inhabitant of the planet Mars. Historically, life on Mars has often been hypothesized, although there is currently no solid evidence of...
spacecraft were published in 1954 as Flying Saucer from Mars.
Later writers have speculated that not only were Allingham's experiences fabricated, but that Allingham himself never existed, being an elaborate hoax
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
perpetrated by a well-known media figure.
Autobiography
Allingham's book stated that he had been born in 1922 in Bombay, and educated in EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. He had taken up amateur astronomy
Amateur astronomy
Amateur astronomy, also called backyard astronomy and stargazing, is a hobby whose participants enjoy watching the night sky , and the plethora of objects found in it, mainly with portable telescopes and binoculars...
while posted to the Middle East with the RAOC, and subsequently travelled around Britain indulging his hobbies of bird-watching and caravan
Travel trailer
A travel trailer or caravan is towed behind a road vehicle to provide a place to sleep which is more comfortable and protected than a tent . It provides the means for people to have their own home on a journey or a vacation, without relying on a motel or hotel, and enables them to stay in places...
holidays while making a living as a writer of thrillers.
UFO claim
Allingham made the remarkable claim that on 18 February 1954, while on holiday near LossiemouthLossiemouth
Lossiemouth is a town in Moray, Scotland. Originally the port belonging to Elgin, it became an important fishing town. Although there has been over a 1,000 years of settlement in the area, the present day town was formed over the past 250 years and consists of four separate communities that...
, he had encountered a flying saucer
Flying saucer
A flying saucer is a type of unidentified flying object sometimes believed to be of alien origin with a disc or saucer-shaped body, usually described as silver or metallic, occasionally reported as covered with running lights or surrounded with a glowing light, hovering or moving rapidly either...
and communicated with its pilot by means of hand gestures and telepathy
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
. The spaceman had indicated that he came from Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
, and that he had also visited Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
and the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
. As supporting evidence, Allingham took a number of blurry photographs of the saucer and one of its occupant (pictured from the rear). He also claimed that a fisherman named James Duncan had witnessed the event from a nearby hill, providing a signed statement which was reproduced in the book.
Coming soon after the dramatic claims of George Adamski
George Adamski
George Adamski was a Polish-born American citizen who became widely known in ufology circles, and to some degree in popular culture, after he claimed to have photographed ships from other planets, met with friendly Nordic alien "Space Brothers", and to have taken flights with them...
, Allingham's book attracted a fair amount of popular and media attention. TIME
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
devoted a short piece to it early in 1955. Commenting that Allingham's photograph of a Martian looked "very like a crofter with galluses
Suspenders
Suspenders or braces are fabric or leather straps worn over the shoulders to hold up trousers. Straps may be elasticated, either entirely or only at attachment ends and most straps are of woven cloth forming an X or Y shape at the back. Braces are typically attached to trousers with buttons...
flapping", the writer added:
Evasion
Members of the flying saucer clubs popular at the time made attempts to interview Allingham, but both he and James Duncan proved remarkably elusive. Allingham was said to have delivered a lecture to a UFO group in Tunbridge Wells, at which Lord Dowding (former Air Chief MarshalAir Chief Marshal
Air chief marshal is a senior 4-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
of the RAF during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and a prominent UFO believer) stated he was present: "We got Mr. Cedric Allingham [...] to lecture to our local Flying Saucer Club, and we were all strongly impressed that he was telling the truth about his actual experiences, although we felt that he might have been mistaken in some of the conclusions which he drew from his interview". The writer Robert Chapman made several attempts to trace Duncan, and to contact Allingham through his publishers, who stated firstly that Allingham was undergoing medical treatment in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and then that he had died there. Chapman was only able to confirm that Allingham had given the previously mentioned lecture in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, at which the well-known broadcaster, astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
and noted UFO skeptic Patrick Moore
Patrick Moore
Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore, CBE, FRS, FRAS is a British amateur astronomer who has attained prominent status in astronomy as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter of the subject, and who is credited as having done more than any other person to raise the profile of...
claimed to have met him. Unable to locate either Duncan or Allingham, and therefore suspecting some form of hoax, Chapman regretfully concluded that "if there was no James Duncan and [thus] no visitor from Mars, perhaps there was no Cedric Allingham either".
A hoax?
Progress on unravelling the mystery came in 1986 as a result of research by Christopher Allan and Steuart CampbellSteuart Campbell
Steuart Campbell is an Edinburgh-based sceptic and investigative science writer born in Birmingham. Campbell trained as an architect and worked as one until the mid-1970s. He then gained a degree in mathematics and science from the Open University .He has written books on science and...
, published in the Fortean
Fortean
Fortean refers to:*Charles Fort's ideas and philosophy and the people and things inspired by it*Fortean Society, formed by New York's literati led by Theodore Dreiser, Booth Tarkington, Ben Hecht...
journal Magonia
Magonia
Magonia is a British journal focused on UFO phenomena. Its name comes from Passport to Magonia, a book by Ufologist Jacques Vallée. Vallée in turn had borrowed the term from Magonia, a magical land described by French folklore....
. In Flying Saucer from Moore's?, they argued that the prose of Allingham's book showed significant similarities to the writing of Patrick Moore. Thanks to further enquiries to Allingham's publisher, they were able to trace a friend of Moore, Peter Davies, who eventually admitted that he had co-written the book with another, unnamed individual. Davies also claimed that the talk at the UFO club given by 'Allingham' had in fact been given by himself while wearing a false moustache. Moore has admitted to being invited, by Lord Dowding, to be a guest at this meeting. These and other clues led Allan and Campbell to identify Patrick Moore as the main culprit in a hoax intended to expose the gullibility and uncritical research methods of British ufologists, Flying Saucer from Mars being a partial parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of Flying Saucers Have Landed, the 1953 book by Adamski and Desmond Leslie
Desmond Leslie
Desmond Arthur Peter Leslie was a British pilot, film maker, writer, and musician, of English, Irish and Scottish descent...
.
Further articles on Moore's involvement appeared in "The Star", July 28, 1986 and the 'Feedback' page of "New Scientist" Aug 14, 1986.
Moore, however, immediately denied being responsible for Allingham's book, and threatened to take legal action against anyone suggesting otherwise, although he took no such action on any of the three articles mentioned above. At the time of writing (2008) he has never confirmed his involvement in the affair, even though the telescope shown in the book's frontispiece bears a remarkable resemblance to his own 12½-inch reflectior http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAsuCYLtHUg.
Sources
- Cedric Allingham at answers.com
- Clarke, D. and Roberts, A. Flying Saucerers: a Social History of Ufology, Alternative Albion, 2007, ISBN 978-1905646005
- Clarke, D. and Roberts, A. Out of the Shadows, Piatkus, 2002, ISBN 978-0749922900
- Dewey, S. In Alien Heat, Anomalist, ISBN 9781933665023