Flying Saucers Have Landed (1953)

In 1953, Desmond Leslie and George Adamski wrote and published Flying Saucers Have Landed. This book became a bestseller with its combination of a historic look at UFO sightings dating from the 1290 AD and a first-hand account of a sighting from the 1940s. This book and a second title by Adamski sold over 200,000 copies in the 1950s.

George Adamski was involved in the California occult scene in the early 20th century. Prior to his interest in flying saucers, he created the religious movement Royal Order of Tibet in which he served as the philosopher-guru. During his time over this group, he received permission from the United States government to make wine for "religious purposes," which ended up being financially lucrative as he sold much of the wine.

By the 1950s, Adamski had moved beyond the Royal Order of Tibet to focus on the burgeoning UFO movement. In the 1940s, he claimed to have seen a flying saucer, which is famously known because of its cigar shape. Even though Adamski became quite the UFO celebrity, his sightings have been proven to be hoaxes.

For the book, Desmond Leslie was tasked with writing a history of UFO sightings and general information about flying saucers and aliens. Unlike Adamski, Leslie's fame wasn't based on the sightings of unidentified flying objects. Leslie was a close cousin of Winston Churchill and the heir to Castle Leslie, an impressive Irish estate famously known as the wedding venue for Sir Paul McCartney and his second wife Heather Mills who wed in the Leslie family church.

Leslie's fame came from when he punched theatre critic Bernard Levin on the BBC1 show That Was the Week It Was in front of 11 million viewers. Levin had written a critical review of the performance of Leslie's wife prompting the altercation. In addition, Leslie is often credited with being an early adopter of electronic music  with some of his soundscapes being used in early Dr. Who episodes.

Special Collections' copy of Flying Saucers Have Landed has a one-of-a-kind aluminum foil wrapper around the book. Foil hats are often used by UFO aficionados and conspiracy theorists to repel electromagnetic radiation and prevent mindreading. This foil cover references the belief that aliens can employ mind control techniques.

For more information about this item or any of the materials in Special Collections, contact Jennifer Brannock at  or 601-266-4347.

Text by Jennifer Brannock, Curator of Rare Books & Mississippiana.