by Timothy Good

Air Marshal Sir Peter Horsley, former Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Strike Command, has flown 90 types of aircraft, ranging from the Mosquito (in the Second World War), to the Spitfire, Meteor, Hunter, Lightning and Vulcan. He spent seven years in the service of Her Majesty the Queen and HRH Prince Philip as Equerry, and it was during this period that he had an experience which had a profound effect on him – an encounter with an apparently extraterrestrial being.

In his fascinating autobiography, Sounds From Another Room, Sir Peter devotes a lengthy chapter to the subject of UFOs, including details of his investigations into sightings reported by pilots; details which he relayed to Prince Philip, who shared his interest in the phenomenon. Another enthusiast was Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Barratt, who retired from the RAF at the end of the war. Barratt introduced Sir Peter to a friend of his, a General Martin, who believed that flying saucers were extraterrestrial vehicles from another planet whose inhabitants were trying to warn us of the perils of nuclear war. Sir Peter was not convinced.

One day in 1954, General Martin phoned Sir Peter, inviting him to meet a Mrs Markham that night at her London flat in Smith Street, Chelsea. General Martin himself did not attend the meeting. There, in a dimly lit room, he was introduced to a ‘Mr Janus’. ‘Without any preliminaries,’ writes Sir Peter, ‘Mr Janus dived straight into the deep end by asking me to tell him all I knew about UFOs. He listened patiently . . . At the end I thought I might be equally as direct and asked Janus what his interest was. He answered me quite simply, “I would like to meet the Duke of Edinburgh.”‘ Somewhat taken aback, Sir Peter replied that this would not be easy. ‘I was about to add particularly for security reasons but thought better of it,’ he writes. ‘But it was here the strangeness of it all started – the man’s extraordinary ability to read my thoughts.’ Asked why he wanted to meet Prince Philip, Janus replied: ‘[He] is a man of great vision . . . who believes strongly in the proper relationship between man and nature which will prove of great importance in future galactic harmony . . . perhaps you and I can discuss the subject first and you will be able to judge whether I am dangerous or not.’ Sir Peter devotes fourteen pages to the ensuing two-hour discourse, of which selected excerpts follow.

PER ARDUA AD ASTRA ~ Through Hardship To The Stars – The RAF Motto)

Janus began by pointing out that Man was ‘now striving to break his earthly bonds and travel to the moon and the planets beyond’. He continued:

But flight to the stars is Man’s ultimate dream, although knowledge of the vast distances involved in interstellar flight makes it appear only a dream. Yet perhaps after a hundred years or so . . . exploration of his own solar system may be complete and it is just not in Man’s nature to stop there . . . Just as tribes found other tribes and Christopher Columbus discovered on his travels unknown centers of ancient civilizations, so Man in his journeys through the universe may find innumerable centers of culture far more ancient than his own . . . He will discover a wealth of experiences infinitely more startling and beautiful than can be imagined: an infinite variety of agencies and forces as yet unknown: great fields of gravity and anti-gravity where objects are accelerated across space like giant sling shots, even other universes with different space and time formula . . .

Why does Man reach for the stars? His energies have never been solely directed towards material benefits alone. From the beginning of Man’s history he has striven . . . towards a spirituality and grace of which he was aware but could not fully comprehend. This drive to reach out beyond himself has been the motive power behind some of Man’s finest achievements . . . So Man invading space for material gain or personal glorification alone will gain nothing, but Man searching to enrich his own spirituality and nature will come closer to understanding that God is Universal.

A DARK AGE

‘The Earth is going through a Dark Age at the moment,’ Janus went on. ‘Material possessions count more than a Man’s soul.’

Like a child, Man is preoccupied with his technological toys, which he believes will bring him riches and happiness. This shows up in the superficiality of his culture and a careless disregard for nature. In his greedy quest for more complex machines Man is prepared to sacrifice almost anything – his natural environment, animals and even his fellow humans. The dreadful specter of blowing up his world hardly makes him falter in this headlong rush.

COSMOGONY

Janus expounded on cosmogony – the origin of life in the universe and the so-called ‘Big Bang’ theory, which he referred to as ‘the generally accepted theory’ of an expanding universe that ‘originated from the giant explosion of a vast area of high density gas which contained all the elements necessary for life and matter’.

If you accept this theory,’ he went on, ‘then all galaxies contain the elements necessary for life and matter; even at the very boundaries of the expansion, the original explosion is still distributing these elements. If you accept the theory of the expanding universe you accept that it is an ocean of galaxies with solar and planetary systems similar to our own. By the laws of probability there must be millions of planets in the universe supporting life, and within our own galaxy thousands supporting life more advanced than on Earth.’

Earth is a young planet with its Sun a young mother. We may hazard a guess that other planets in [this] solar system are unlikely to support life except in possibly rudimentary cellular form and are no more than uninhabited and hostile islands. But imagine a galactic solar system somewhere in space with conditions similar to Earth except that its Sun is in the autumn of its life. Provided its inhabitants have survived wars and alien invasion, it is impossible to imagine what super-technology and cultural advancement they have reached . . .

A PREDICTION

Janus predicted correctly that ‘perhaps in twenty years’ time manned rockets will be commonplace and the Earth will be girdled by satellites of all sorts and sizes’, and that there would be ‘great strides in the miniaturization of all our present technology, advances in navigational guidance and communication over vast distances’.

NON-INTERFERENCE

Why then were aliens coming here? ‘The answer is that this traffic is only a thin trickle in the vast highways of the universe,’ explained Janus. ‘The Earth after all is a galactic backwater inhabited by only half-civilized men, dangerous even to their neighbors . . .’

Most of these vehicles are robot-controlled space probes monitoring what is going on. Some are manned in order to oversee the whole program and to ensure the probes do not land or crash by accident. They must also ensure that evidence of their existence is kept away from the vast majority of Earth’s population. You must be well aware of the damage which your own explorers have done by appearing and living among simple tribes, often leading to a complete disintegration of their society and culture . . . Such impact is far too indigestible and only the most developed societies can cope with such contact . . . The basic principle of responsible space exploration is that you do not interfere with the natural development and order of life in the universe any more than you should upset or destroy an ant heap or bee-hive . . . You will have to grow a lot older and learn how to behave on your own planet, if indeed you do not blow yourselves up between times, before you are ready for galactic travel.

THE OBSERVERS

‘Since time immemorial,’ Janus continued, ‘there have been tales of vessels coming out of the sky bringing strange visitors. Observers do come among you and make contact on a very selective basis where they judge that such contact could not harm either party.’

These observers have studied Earth for a long time. With advanced medical science they have been fitted with the right sort of internal equipment to allow their bodies to operate normally until they leave. It is not very difficult to obtain the right sort of clothes and means to move around quite freely . . . The observers are not interested in interfering in your affairs, but once you are ready to escape from your own solar system it is of paramount importance that you have learnt your responsibilities for the preservation of life everywhere . . . While you are still far away from traveling in deep space, such contacts will be infrequent and must be conducted with great secrecy . . .

The observers have very highly developed mental powers, including extra-sensory, thought reading, hypnosis and the ability to use different dimensions . . . and rely solely on their special powers to look after themselves. They make contact only with selected people where secrecy can be maintained. In the loosely-knit societies of the Western world, particularly in England and America, it is fairly easy with the help of friends to do this but not in police and dictator states.

The discourse ended. Sir Peter bade Mr Janus farewell, saying that he would give consideration to the request to meet Prince Philip.

‘What was Janus?’ asks Sir Peter. ‘Was he part of an elaborate hoax or plot, was he a teacher, an imaginative prophet of the future or what he had insinuated – an observer? Whatever else he was, Janus left me with the impression of a force to be reckoned with. He appeared to know a great deal and spoke with authority about space technology. If he was part of any kind of plot, it was my duty to report the meeting to the security authorities, particularly if it had anything to do with the Royal Family.’

Immediately following the meeting, Sir Peter wrote a verbatim report and gave it to Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick ‘Boy’ Browning, Treasurer to Prince Philip. By this time, Browning had become fascinated by the subject, and was keen to arrange another meeting with Janus. Sir Peter was not so sure, but nonetheless made several phone calls to Mrs Markham over the next few days. There was no answer. Eventually he contacted General Martin, ‘who suddenly became distant and evasive’. Finally, Sir Peter went round to Mrs Markham’s flat in Chelsea. There was no sign of life. According to her neighbors, Mrs Markham had left in a hurry. ‘The curtain had dropped,’ writes Sir Peter. ‘Had Janus sensed that I was in two minds about informing the security authorities of my meeting? I never saw General Martin, Mrs Markham or Janus again.’

‘I thought I would see them again and discuss it further, and I thought it very odd that the flat was empty,’ Sir Peter told me in 1997, in the peaceful garden of his Hampshire home beside the River Test. I asked him for more details of the meeting with Mr Janus. ‘It was a winter evening,’ he began. ‘Mrs Markham’s flat was on the first floor and she introduced me to Janus in the drawing room, which was dimly lit by two standard lamps. He sat in an easy chair by the side of the fire. He didn’t get up when we shook hands. I sat in an easy chair on the opposite side of the fire and Mrs Markham sat on a sofa between us.’

Somehow, he was difficult to describe. What made it strange is that I have no lasting impression of him: he seemed to fit perfectly in his surroundings. If I have any impression of him, it was his quiet voice which had a rich quality to it. He looked about 45 to 50 years old, with thinnish, slightly gray hair, and he was dressed in a suit and tie. He was quite normal in every way, except that he seemed to be tuning in to my mind, and gradually seemed to take over the conversation. Mrs Markham offered me coffee and didn’t interrupt the conversation at any point. My initial reaction was one of skepticism, but by the end of the meeting, I was quite disturbed, really.

‘And what of the reaction at Buckingham Palace – apart from that of General Browning?’ I queried.

‘Michael Parker, Prince Philip’s Private Secretary, thought it a joke,’ he replied. ‘But Prince Philip had an open mind.’

In 1969, Sir Peter Horsley was posted to the Ministry of Defense as Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Operations), responsible for the management of air operations worldwide and reporting to the Vice Chief of Air Staff. In his remarkable autobiography, he reveals that in the Air Force Operations Room (AFOR) he discovered ‘a rich vein of UFO reports in the form of an Annex to a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) where every report of a UFO, from whatever source, was logged, examined and filed; those which might have either public or political repercussions came to my desk’.

‘There were a great many reports,’ he told me. ‘Of course, 95 percent were explainable. Our main concern was the Soviets invading our airspace. But they were sent to the RAF’s scientific [and technical intelligence] branch for detailed analysis. I also learned that the Americans were treating the subject with great secrecy.’

‘I admire your courage in coming forward with such a story,’ I said. ‘How do you feel about the ridicule you received from the press when the Janus story came out, particularly the article in The Times by Dr. Thomas Stuttaford, wherein he states that you must have suffered an hallucination or delusion?’

‘It didn’t take much courage, as I was only reporting what actually happened,’ he responded. ‘I’ve met a number of senior RAF officers who agree that something strange is going on. It’s only the papers that make up that you’re hallucinating or have had an illusion . . .’

As to the incredible Mr Janus, the very credible Sir Peter Horsley retains an open mind.

To continue reading see Sounds From Another Room by Peter Horsley here. (~Chapter called Visitors)