Quoted By:
Are our governments hiding evidence of the existence of atmospheric beasts from the masses?
"We live at the bottom of an atmospheric ocean. Is it possible that other organisms may live above us? If the seas of our Earth are swarming with varieties of living things, both great and small, is it not logical to assume that the 'sea' of our sky abounds with sundry forms of living things, likewise both great and small, of varied shapes, but adaptable to their celestial environment?"
So wrote American author John Philip Bessor in 1955. Similarly, in 1983 the astronomer Fred Hoyle wrote:
"To me it seemed preposterous that NASA should be spending hundreds of millions of dollars in a mission to discover if there was life on Mars, while leaving unresolved the question of whether there was life a mere 50 kilometres above our heads."
The idea that Earth's atmosphere may sustain its own race of beings, independent of life on the planet's surface, is one which has intrigued many speculative thinkers. Although there is little evidence to support the idea, there have been some tantalising hints.
In 1917, during World War I, a strange story was submitted by an anonymous airman to a very respectable monthly magazine, The Occult Review. The writer told of an unusual experience by a fellow aviator, who did not wish his name to be cited in connection with so strange a story, but who is described as "a very experienced airman":
"He told me confidentially that at a very great height he had seen a curious coloured dragon-like animal apparently flying in the air and approaching him rapidly. Understandably, the pilot had become a little unnerved and at once descended to Earth; but for fear of being ridiculed and accused of over-indulgence in alcoholic refreshment he had said nothing. Had it been an isolated experience, he might have ended by doubting his own eyes: but that first sighting was confirmed by subsequent experiences of the same kind. (end of part 1)
