A Review of Frank Stranges

I heard this guy speak at the Las Vegas MUFON meeting on March 27, 1995. He is a preacher who is the head of his own religion which his UFO claims help him promote. Many books and audio tapes by Stranges were available for sale at the lecture, and he plugged them liberally. His tone was pure evangelist, but relatively gentle and upbeat. Repeatedly throughout the two hour presentation he asked for a show of hands in response to some meaningless rhetorical question.

Stranges claims to be in contact with a visitor from Venus named Valiant Thor ("Val" to friends) who he says he first met at the Pentagon in the late 1950s. That encounter, reported in Stranges book, Stranger at the Pentagon, formed the basis for a long-standing relationship with the alien. Val Thor is a Venusian in human form, and Stranges shows several photographs of him--a young looking man (circa 1950s) seated at a garden party. Alas, few people apart from Dr. Stranges have met Val Thor, and if you want to communicate with him, you have to write a letter and give it to Stranges who will deliver it at the next opportunity. Stranges says that Sen. Robert Kennedy approached him to ask a question of Val Thor, but even he had to write a letter. (Val Thor's response accurately predicted Kennedy's death.) Stranges reports that some members of his "Inner Circle" have met Thor face to face. To become a member of the Inner Circle (or "Interspace Link") you have to fill out an application form and pay the $75 fee to Stranges.

Valiant Thor lives in a flying saucer called "Victor One," which Stranges says is currently parked below the surface of Lake Mead near Las Vegas. (Perhaps this is because Stranges was speaking in Las Vegas.) Floor plans of Victor One were available for sale at the lecture for $5. The layout of the saucer includes a swimming pool, steamroom, kitchen, cafeteria, laboratory, library, auditorium, crew quarters, lavatory, etc.--in a two-level saucer about 300 feet in diameter. (The printed floorplans were so charming and reasonably priced that I had to buy copies for myself and friends.) Through information given to him by Val Thor, Dr. Stranges has revealed numerous hitherto unknown truths, like the fact that large portions of the Bible were deliberately suppressed by the authorities. Of course, Stranges has information on those expurgated portions for sale.

As part of his lecture, Stranges showed slides from prominent UFO cases accompanied by a superficial and non-stop commentary allowing very little time for audience response. When a few facts crept into the presentation, they were often wrong. This was, above all, a revivalist meeting and sales presentation, the kind that is traditionally held under a tent on the outskirts of town. The topics ranged from the Hollow Earth, Nazi UFO secrets, the Philadelphia experiment and mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It seemed that Valiant Thor, speaking through Stranges, has the definitive word on almost everything.

In his broad and all encompassing claims, Stranges reminded me of "Modern Munchausen" Sean David Morton, but more practiced in his delivery. Stranges' target market appears to be credulous Christians of limited I.Q. He make no attempt to appease the educated. Although Stranges makes a show of allowing a question and answer period, he runs on at the first question and allows no time for others.

Stranges' claims were so patently ridiculous and the presentation so over-acted that I couldn't help but regard him as endearing. He is a time capsule of sorts, a curious hold-out from the Adamski contactee period of the 1950s. It was especially amusing to see the majority of the contemporary audience (about 40 people) lap up his every word without question. Some things never change.

--Glenn Campbell, 3/30/95