Flying Saucers: When the FBI Visits Your Wife

The UFO Contactees of the 1950s were a varied bunch. They all claimed amazing encounters with human-looking aliens. Those same aliens demanded we lay down our nuclear weapons and live in peace with one another. Some chance of that happening - then or now! They included George Adamski, Truman Bethurum, Dana Howard, Arthur Bryant, Daniel Fry, and George Hunt Williamson. While many of their claims differed in varying ways, there's one thing that links just about all of them. Namely, that nearly all of the Contactees had files opened on them by the FBI. Not only that, some of those files were lengthy. Very lengthy. To give you an idea, the number of pages that the FBI has now declassified on Adamski is in excess of 400 pages. Then, there is George Van Tasssel, who is mostly remembered for his annual flying saucer events held out at Giant Rock, California from the 1950s to the 1970s. At their height (the fifties) the outdoor gigs attracted audiences in their thousands. Van Tassel gained more attention when he created the near-legendary Integratron - supposedly designed to extent the human lifespan. The FBI's file on Van Tassel makes it very clear that the Bureau took a great deal of interest in the man. Much of it revolved around concerns that Van Tassel was using the UFO subject as a means to spread communism. There is, however, another aspect to all of this.

In the most recent and relevant batch of material that the FBI has declassified there is an interesting Q&A between the FBI and Mrs. Van Tassel. Much has been said and written about George Van Tassel, but far less about his wife, Eva. Until now. The three-pages-long document provides us with some interesting data on Eva and her husband. Dated November 13, 1954 the FBI document begins as follows: "Mrs. Eva Van Tassel, wife of captioned subject [George, of course] was interviewed by SA [Special Agent, name deleted]and the reporting agent in the absence of her husband. Mrs. Van Tassel advised that her husband was in Los Angeles contacting a printer who prints a magazine named 'Proceeding' of the College of Universal Wisdom. She declared while in Los Angeles Mr. Van Tassel sleeps in a truck. Mrs. Van Tassel could not furnish the name or location of the printer."

The FBI documentation continues: "Relative to her husband and herself, Mrs. Van Tassel claims that she and her husband practice a metaphysical religion. She declared this religion is based on an occult principle in that she and her husband sit in a room in dead silence and receive thought transfers from one another and from other individuals who are not psychically present in the room. She declared that it was through this type of practice that her husband has learned or prophesied the coming of World War III and a gigantic explosion on the East Coast. She mentioned that at the present time she and her husband have undertaken a special project. This project is the founding and organizing of the College of Universal Wisdom."

The FBI agents made notes concerning what Eva told them: "The purpose of the college is to promote and carry out interplanetary communication and the dissemination of Universal Wisdom gained through the median of space beings. She advised that her husband has contacted many individuals concerning his plans for the college. She mentioned that he has contacted professors and students and various colleges throughout the United States. Mrs. Van Tassel could not furnish the identities of any of these individuals that her husband has corresponded with. She also advised that this college would operate under the state laws of California as a place of learning pertaining to religion. She advised that her husband through his periodical mentioned above has solicited donations for the advancement of this college. She further advised that the college is to be located adjacent to the Giant Rock Airport at Yucca Valley."

The FBI had much more to say: "Mrs. Van Tassel declared that on August 24, 1953, at approximately 2:00 A.M. while she and her husband were sleeping out of doors adjacent to the Giant Rock air strip, her husband was awakened by a person from outer space in a flying saucer which had landed on the air strip. Mrs. Van Tassel was quick to point out she was not awakened and did not see the spacemen or his means of transportation. Mrs. Van Tassel declared that her husband related that the spaceman took her husband aboard the flying saucer which was occupied by three additional spacemen. Mrs. Van Tassel declared that her husband failed to mention the color or the size of this space craft. She stated that the spacemen were similar in every description to earth men. She advised that the spacemen did not carry weapons nor was there any armament noticed on the flying saucer. She declared that according to her husband, the saucer and spacemen spent approximately twenty minutes on earth after which time they departed into outer space. The spaceman who woke up her husband was the leader or spokesman for the group. He spoke in English and informed her husband that earth men should give up using metal as they are ruining radio frequencies with the over-use of metal."

There was this, too, regarding Eva and George: "Relative to her husband, she stated he was born in Ohio, city unknown, March 12, 1910. She mentioned that it is possible her husband was born in Ashtabula. He failed to receive a high school diploma as he lacked three months schooling. He left Ohio in 1929 for California. Mrs. Van Tassel declared she married her husband on January 31, 1932, in Yuma, Arizona; her maiden name being Eva Meek. She declared that her husband, prior to 1947, worked as a Flight Test Engineer at Lockheed Aircraft, Burbank, California, and lived on [illegible] Street in Los Angeles. She declared that in 1947 she, her husband, and her daughter, Darlene, moved to Yucca Valley. She stated her daughter is Secretary-Treasurer of the College of Universal Wisdom. She also pointed out that her husband presently operates the Giant Rock Airport under CAA regulations. She advised her husband is not a pilot, but does hold a mechanics certificate with CAA."

It all got a bit surreal and amusing as the FBI concluded: "It was noted by the reporting agent that the air strip known as Giant Rock is a flat, dry, lake bed. The area surrounding being noted. The writer and [Special Agent deleted] interviewed Mrs. Van Tassel in an underground cave like room which was excavated from the base of the Giant Rock. Mrs. Van Tassel advised that this room is presently the headquarters of the College of Universal Wisdom. The area surrounding the air strip was in every respect very primitive."