One of the lesser-known contactees of the 1950s was a man called Richard Miller. He had his initial close encounter in 1954, after contacting extraterrestrials on short-wave radio.

They instructed him to go to an isolated location near Ann Arbor in Michigan, where after fifteen minutes a disc shaped object appeared and landed nearby. This he was to learn, was called ‘Phoenix’. A doorway opened in the base of the vehicle and a staircase descended. Miller described what happened next. “There, standing at the head of the stairway, was a young man dressed in a brown one-piece. He beckoned me to enter the ship, which I did. I was standing in a large circular hallway which seemed to encircle the whole craft. Although nothing had yet been said, the young man radiated a kind of friendliness which put me at ease.” Miller was taken to the control room of the ship where he met the extraterrestrial commander, Soltec, who greeted him in perfect English.

He explained that their planet, Centurus of the Alpha Centauri system, belonged to the ‘Universal Confederation’, a group of over 680 planets which earned the right to membership by their evolutionary progress. The contactee was told that, before Earth could become a member, mankind would have to awaken to higher spiritual values: “When love of your fellow man becomes established, then will the Sons of Light appear and the Kingdom of your God will reign on Earth". The ‘Sons of Light’, Miller was told, were what the Bible referred to ‘angels’. Richard Miller’s contacts continued for over twenty years, all meticulously recorded in a library of writings and tape recordings. His most famous book is Star Wards and the organization he founded is known as Solar Cross , in San Jose California, although they have currently retired from public activity.