Howard Menger

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Howard Menger

Howard Menger (17 February 1922 – 25 February 2009) was an American contactee, signpainter, barber, and author from High Bridge, New Jersey who became one of the central figures of the 1950s contactee movement following the 1959 publication of his book From Outer Space to You. Beginning in 1932 and continuing through the 1950s and beyond, Menger reported a decades-long series of encounters with human-appearing extraterrestrial visitors from Venus, Saturn, and other worlds, most famously a Venusian woman first met in the New Jersey woods in childhood and allegedly reunited with as an adult in 1956. He was a frequent lecturer on the contactee circuit and an associate of fellow contactees George Van Tassel and George Adamski, participating in the Giant Rock Space Convention gatherings in the 1950s.

Biography

Menger was born on 17 February 1922 in Brooklyn, New York, and his family relocated to rural New Jersey during his childhood. He served in the United States Army during World War II, after which he returned to New Jersey and established himself in High Bridge, where he operated a signpainting and barbering business. He married Connie Menger, who became his lifelong partner and co-author on later publications, and together they ran the High Bridge farm that became the reported site of the alleged 1950s contacts.

1932 childhood encounter

Menger reported that his first alleged contact occurred in 1932, when he was approximately ten years old, in the woods near his family's home in Brooklyn, New York before the family relocated to rural New Jersey. According to his account, he encountered a young woman of extraordinary beauty, golden-haired and dressed in a translucent garment, who identified herself as a visitor from Venus and told him that she and her people had watched over him since birth and would return to meet him later in life. The encounter became a defining image of the 1950s "Space Brothers" narrative.

1940s intermittent contacts and mental downloads

Menger said that throughout his adolescence he continued to experience occasional encounters and what he described as informational impressions received mentally rather than verbally. In high school, Menger allegedly received mental downloads about the nature of gravity, understanding it as a push rather than a pull, with four distinct poles.

1956 reunion and High Bridge contacts

Menger reported that in 1956 the Venusian woman of his childhood encounter returned, and that ongoing contacts then began at his High Bridge farm involving multiple human-appearing visitors described as originating from Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter. He allegedly photographed UFO craft during this period and described providing visiting beings with Earthly clothing and haircuts to allow them to pass undetected in human society; he also reported receiving musical compositions said to have been transmitted from Saturn. The contacts allegedly centered on the High Bridge farm, where Space Brothers purportedly landed to interact with him and small groups of witnesses.

Alleged lunar potato

Among the most widely circulated episodes from this period was Menger's claim that he was given a potato said to have been grown on the Moon, which he reported contained substantially higher protein content than terrestrial varieties. The lunar-potato account appeared in From Outer Space to You and became one of the defining anecdotes of the 1950s contactee tradition.

Alleged lunar excursion

Menger further reported that he was purportedly taken aboard a craft and briefly transported to the surface of the Moon, where he described encountering breathable atmosphere in certain regions and human-appearing inhabitants.

Electrical device and FBI contact

Menger allegedly built experimental electrical devices of disputed origin during the contact period. One device — discovered in a field by a local resident who turned it over to authorities — led the FBI to track Menger down. The device had reportedly fused the dirt behind a wall of his house 5 feet deep into glass, and government contacts described it as "too powerful" for civilian handling. Menger subsequently turned the technology over to government contacts.

April 1957 gathering and photograph

Main article:

Val Thor

According to Frank Stranges in Stranger at the Pentagon, Valiant Thor — together with three crew members identified as Donn, Jill, and Tanyia — attended a UFO enthusiasts' meeting at Menger's High Bridge home in April 1957, having changed into Earth-style clothing to blend in with the attendees. A photograph taken at that gathering by photographer Augie Roberts showed three figures identified by Stranges as Valiant Thor, Commander Donn, and Jill. The photograph has been subject to scrutiny — researchers noted Menger himself "didn't claim a Venusian was at his party at all," and a newspaper visible in the photograph appeared to bear a score from November 1956, four months before the alleged date.

Publications and later life

Menger published his account in From Outer Space to You (1959) and, with Connie, the later book The High Bridge Incident: The Story Behind the Story (1991), and continued to lecture on contactee topics into the 1990s and 2000s. Menger died on 25 February 2009 at the age of 87.

Alleged Saturnian origin disclosure

Contactee Rob Potter, who travelled with Howard and Connie Menger to Egypt in the early 1990s, reported that Menger disclosed during the journey that he was himself a Saturnian — specifically from a moon of Saturn — whose soul name was "Sol," and that he and his wife Connie had met on Venus in a prior existence. This account is detailed in Raymond Keller's books on the Venus contactee tradition.

Partial recantation

Menger later partially recanted his contact claims, suggesting that portions of his account may have been part of a CIA disinformation operation — a position he subsequently walked back, leaving the ultimate nature of his experiences ambiguous. Michael Salla and Rob Potter characterized Menger, alongside Frank Stranges, as a "hero and ambassador to the stars."

See also

References