Father Paul Ingelsby, Anglican priest and UFOlogist, once tried to convince the Queen that “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” was a mind control plot.
The world has lost one of its great eccentrics. Father Paul Ingelsby (1915 – 2010), Anglican priest and UFOlogist who once tried to convince the Queen that the film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” was a mind control plot, has died at 94.
Born during a 1915 Zeppelin raid over London, perhaps it’s not an accident that even as a boy he was captivated by flying objects.
Ingelsby led an eventful life to be sure — serving with the Royal Navy, acting as a reserve for the 1936 Olympic sailing team, surviving the sinking of the Terror during World War II. But it was his theories about UFOs for which he’s remembered for today. During a spiritual epiphany in Malta, he came to believe that flying saucers were piloted not by aliens, but demons. They came not from outer space, as such, but were satanic in origin.
Ordained by the Anglican Church in 1964, he later established the Christian UFO Research Foundation. Later in life, he converted to the Greek Orthodox Church.
But his views on flying saucers were never orthodox, even by the standards of UFO believers. He authored various books and treatises on the subject, arguing that flying saucers should not be seen as a military threat, but a spiritual one. He also once famously urged Queen Elizabeth II not to attend the London premier of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” believing the Steven Spielberg movie was part of a mind control plot.
Ingelsby died 26 May 2010 in Glastonbury, England. Read The Telegraph’s full, fascinating obituary for Inglesby.
