From Spiritualism to Saucers: UFO Contactee Culture, Mediumship, and the Women Who Made Contact with the Beyond

An Illustrated Live Zoom Lecture by Author Colin Dickey

Admission: $8

This lecture will take place virtually, via Zoom. Ticket sales will end at 5 pm EDT the day of the lecture. Attendees may request a video recording AFTER the lecture takes place by emailing proof of purchase to [email protected]. Video recordings are valid for 30 days after the date of the lecture.

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The rise of Spiritualism in the 19th century–driven largely by women excluded from mainstream religion–has been well documented, but less well known is its unlikely connection to postwar UFO culture. After George Adamski’s claim in 1952 that he’d met with an extraterrestrial from Venus in the Southern California deserts, “Contactee” culture, with its depictions of silver jumpsuited Aryan spacemen, quickly swept the nation. And while most Contactees were men, there were exceptions, including Dorothy Martin, who headed an apocalyptic flying saucer cult out of her home in suburban Illinois, and Gloria Lee, a flight attendant turned visionary whose belief led to tragic consequences. These women garnered significant attention and spiritual clout in an increasingly male-dominated milieu, and their story reveals the surprising connection between 19th century Spiritualists and 1950s UFO Contactee culture.

Colin Dickey, author of The Unidentified: Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters, and Our Obsession with the Unexplained, and Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places, will tell the stories of Gloria Lee and Dorothy Martin, and what their stories tell us about Spiritualism, UFOs, and the human need to believe.