Nazi UFOs
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The idea that Nazi Germany developed highly advanced aircraft or spacecraft appears in fiction as early as 1947. In Robert A. Heinlein's novel Rocket Ship Galileo, the protagonists discover Nazi fugitives living in a base on the moon. However, the idea is not limited to science fiction. Academic Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke has documented a fringe belief that the Nazis developed flying saucers (Haunebu, Hauneburg-Geräte, or Reichsflugscheiben) that they launched, and continue to launch, from a base in the Antarctic territory of New Swabia (Neu-Schwabenland).[1] He includes the theory under the heading of "esoteric Nazism," an ideology that hopes for Nazi restoration through supernatural or paranormal means.
[edit] Historical connections
Nazi UFO theories agree with mainstream history on the following points:
- Nazi Germany claimed the territory of New Swabia, sent an expedition there in 1938, and planned others.
- Nazi Germany conducted research into advanced propulsion technology, including rocketry and Viktor Schauberger's turbine work.
- Some UFO sightings during World War II, particularly those known as foo fighters, were thought to be enemy aircraft.
[edit] Early references
The earliest non-fictional reference to Nazi flying saucers appears to be an article by Italian turbine expert Giuseppe Belluzzo.[2] The following week, German scientist Rudolph Schriever claimed to have developed flying saucers during the Nazi period.[3]
Aeronautical engineer Roy Fedden remarked that the only craft that could approach the capabilities attributed to flying saucers were those being designed by the Germans towards the end of the war. Fedden also added that the Germans were working on a number of very unusual aeronautical projects, though he did not elaborate upon his statement.[4]
[edit] Revisionist claims
[edit] Pauwels and Bergier
A 1967 book by Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier made many spectacular claims about the Vril Society of Berlin. It claimed that the society had made contact with an alien race and dedicated itself to creating spacecraft to reach the aliens. In partnership with the Thule Society and the Nazi Party, it developed a series of flying disc prototypes. With the Nazi defeat, the society allegedly retreated to a base in Antarctica and vanished.[5]
[edit] Ernst Zündel
When German Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel started Samisdat Publishers in the 1970s, he initially catered to the UFOlogy community, which was then at its peak of public acceptance. His main offerings were his own books claiming that flying saucers were Nazi secret weapons launched from an underground base in Antarctica, from which the Nazis hoped to conquer the world.[6] Zündel also sold (for $9999) seats on an exploration team to locate the underground base.[7] Some people who interviewed Zündel about this material claim that he privately admitted it was a deliberate hoax to build publicity for Samisdat, although he still defended it as late as 2002.[8][9]
[edit] Miguel Serrano
In 1978 Serrano, a Chilean diplomat and Nazi sympathizer, published The Golden Band, in which he claimed that Adolf Hitler was an avatar of Vishnu and was then communing with Hyperborean gods in an underground Antarctic base. Serrano predicted that Hitler would lead a fleet of UFOs from the base to establish the Fourth Reich.[10]
[edit] Vladimir Terziski
Bulgarian engineer Vladimir Terziski, billing himself as president of the American Academy of Dissident Sciences, has built on the claims of Pauwel and Bergier, claiming that the Germans collaborated in their advanced craft research with Axis powers Italy and Japan, and continued their space effort after the war from New Swabia. He writes that Germans landed on the Moon as early as 1942 and established an underground base there. When Russians and Americans secretly landed on the moon in the 1950s, says Terziski, they stayed at this still-operating base. According to Terziski, "there is atmosphere, water and vegetation on the Moon," which NASA conceals to exclude the third world from moon exploration.[11] Terziski has been accused of fabricating his video and photographic evidence.[12]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke. Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity. New York University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-8147-3124-4.
- ^ Il Giornale d'Italia, March 24-25, 1950
- ^ Der Spiegel, March 31, 1950
- ^ Bill Gunston. By Jupiter! The Life of Sir Roy Fedden
- ^ Louis Pauwels. Aufbruch ins dritte Jahrtausend: Von der Zukunft der phantastischen Vernunft. ISBN 3-442-11711-9.
- ^ Christof Friedrich (Ernst Zündel). UFO's – Nazi Secret Weapon? Samisdat Publishers, 1974. (self-published)
- ^ Christof Friedrich, "Samisdat Hollow Earth Expedition." Obtained from The Nizkor Project on 2006-08-27.
- ^ "Ernst Zündel's Flying Saucers". The Nizkor Project, accessed 2006-08-27.
- ^ Ernst Zündel. "Zündelgram". December 1, 2002. Obtained from The Nizkor Project on 2006-08-27
- ^ Miguel Serrano. Das goldene Band: esoterischer Hitlerismus. ISBN 3-926179-20-1.
- ^ Vladimir Terziski. "Half a Century of the German Moon Base (1942-1992)."
- ^ Kevin McClure. "The Nazi UFO Mythos." Abduction Watch, accessed 2006-08-27.
[edit] Books
[edit] Analysts
- Joscelyn Godwin. Arktos: The Polar Myth in Science, Symbolism, and Nazi Survival. Adventures Unlimited Press, 1996. ISBN 0-932813-35-6.
- Christopher Partridge. UFO Religions. Routledge, 2002. ISBN 0-415-26324-7.
[edit] Proponents
- Branton (Bruce Alan Walton) The Omega Files: Secret Nazi UFO Bases Revealed (April 15, 2000 ISBN 1-892062-09-7)
- Henry Stevens. Hitler's Flying Saucers: A Guide to German Flying Discs of the Second World War (February 1, 2003 ISBN 1-931882-13-4)
[edit] External links
Categories: Moon myths | Mysticism | Nazism | UFOs
