Alien Base: The Evidence for Extraterrestrial Colonization of Earth: ALIEN ACROBATICS
Later that night, Richards was treated to an even more impressive demonstration. The visitors reportedly walked down to where the witnesses were standing, hurdling a fence in an apple orchard, where Menger advanced and spoke to them in full view of the witnesses. ‘These men from another planet were very tall, close to seven feet,’ said Menger, ‘and I defy any Earthman to equal the physical abilities they displayed!’
According to Jordan, Richards watched for over 15 minutes as three beings of above average height ‘ran, bounded, and jumped in a swift fashion across a yard, at times . . . attaining almost “superhuman” speeds’. The entities, surrounded by a whitish glow, hurdled fences over five feet tall, and exhibited incredible gymnastic prowess in their movements. This demonstration, said Richards, could have been duplicated only had Menger enlisted the services of professional gymnasts . . . the experiences that evening persuaded him that Menger’s claims, unacceptable as they appeared to many others, may have contained more truth than is generally assumed.
A CONTACT WITNESSED?
Another of the many witnesses to some of the phenomena which seemed literally to surround Menger at that time was ‘Mr X’, a physicist who later became a businessman. On 10 January 1957 he testified on The Long John Party Line that on one occasion, together with three other witnesses, he had seen and heard Menger apparently communicating with extraterrestrials.
Mr X: . . . the five of us went out and [Menger] took us through very rough terrain. The underbrush was kind of high . . . and Rose Menger pointed out a glowing light between the trees . . . It would take about 15 seconds to grow dim, and another 30 seconds to get brighter again. It was pulsating at about that rate . . . about 200 or 300 feet away. And it could be seen only through the trees. We were in an open clearing about 50 feet in diameter, and at the end of this clearing were the trees . . .
Howard Menger suddenly said, ‘Wait here’, and he walked off toward the light. He didn’t go very far. It must have been about 40 feet, and then he stopped and we heard two male voices talking [Menger] walked right intothe trees. He was probably about 15 or 20 feet into the trees .
NEBEL: Now, you heard two voices, one that you recognized as Mr Menger’s — and do you feel the other voice could possibly have been Mr Menger’s?
MR X: No, it had a different quality to it. It was more sing-songy than his voice . . . I couldn’t make out any words. I listened as acutely as I could . . . And this conversation went on for at least half an hour . . . While he was talking we were facing Mr Menger and this person — whomever he was talking to.
NEBEL: You could not see him, could you?
Mr X: You could see a silhouette, a dark shadow.
NEBEL: Do you know it was another form there?
Mr X: It looked like two forms. I could not distinguish any facial characteristics. But I could pick out two forms . . . the other individual was slightly taller. While we were looking in that direction we heard somebody walking along the edge of the trees, walking toward our right, and stopping . . . Then we heard another person walking. We could hear the underbrush crackling and they walked around almost to the rear of us among the trees. In other words, we were surrounded . . . I am quite sure there were three of them . . . then Howard Menger came back and he said, ‘Gee, I’m awfully sorry, I know how you feel, but I can’t take you up there’ . . . he looked very, very disappointed. I am sure he wanted us to see what was going on.
NEBEL: Did he imply that these people were from outer space?
Mr X: Yes. He did say there were three people: two men and a woman. I asked him what they said, but he said, ‘I can’t tell you . . . I would like to tell you but cannot’, and it seemed to be something very personal. . .
NEBEL: Could this have been a ‘set-up’?
Mr X: Well, we had a difficult job finding that spot. Howard Menger had not been there before. It was obvious we were lost when we started. And we had a lot of difficulty getting to this spot. We were going through underbrush and actually had to fight our way through. I am quite sure he had never been there before.
The physicist, Menger told me in 1997, is now in his eighties and lives in Arizona. He prefers to remain anonymous.
A ‘HOT POTATO’
Yet another witness to a number of weird events was Richard Thompson (pseudonym) who, like Dr Richards, suspected that the heavy concentration of reported phenomena in the High Bridge area during the mid-to late 1950s was something more than coincidence. He could not comprehend how Menger, hampered as he was by his limited income as a sign-painter, ‘could possibly have perpetuated such a combination of hoaxes, each perfectly timed, and brilliantly executed’.
In 1957, a large number of dehydrated vegetables, fruits and nuts were found in Thompson’s home at Plukemin, New Jersey, as well as in open fields near High Bridge, which he says he was ‘drawn to by apparent telepathic means’. The food appeared to have undergone an odd, ‘freeze-fried’ process.
A potato (believed to have come from the Moon!) was given to Menger, who suggested that it should be analysed by a professional laboratory. Samples were taken to LaWall-Harrisson Consultants in Philadelphia. Analysis revealed: Total weight of sample 5.20 grams Moisture 7.23% Ash 4.49% Fat (ether extract) 0.95% ‘N’ as Protein (NX 6.25) 15.12% Owing to the abnormally high protein content (terrestrial potatoes — at least undehydrated ones — typically contain no more than 3 per cent) Menger decided to obtain a carbon-14 test (to date the samples) at LaWall-Harrisson, but the latter explained that this would cost about $2,000. Balking at such a fee, Menger declined. The consultants then recommended that Menger take the samples and their report to a certain doctor at a certain government agency (CIA) which, they said, would continue the research at no cost. At the agency laboratory, Menger and Thompson spoke to the doctor, a ‘polite, intelligent man who appeared to be completely fascinated with the specimens,’ wrote Menger. ‘We left the samples with him, feeling we were on the right road.’
Two weeks later Howard and Connie went back to the laboratory to see how the analysis was progressing. As Menger reported: We were shown into a room where a piece of a specimen was in a container of water, another piece was in another container and a small fragment was under a huge microscope. We took turns looking through the microscope . . . the outer surface of the specimen appeared like a crystalline beach of sand [possibly] due to an intense contraction of structure. I then told Dr— what had been explained to me about the method of collapsing the molecular structure, which probably gave the specimen a dehydrated nature . . . We were told they would run all sorts of tests on the specimens left with them and keep us informed . . . Since my friend had been given the potatoes in the first place,
we left the arrangements in his hands. That was in June, 1958, and the last we heard from the laboratory. I understand that this may have become ‘classified’ information . . .
Thompson believes that the potato was ‘impervious’ to radioactivity; that it was intended to warn him of the dangers of ‘impending nuclear catastrophe’; and that the agency deliberately withheld information on its analysis for fear that publicity would have produced ‘panic and scientific disorder’ — a veritable ‘hot potato’! He saved a few of the remaining samples, which he claims remained in their original state, thus testifying to their unique method of preservation.