DOWDING HUGH: (1882-1970)

DOWDING HUGH: (1882-1970)

‘They will throw little, if any, light on the origin, construction and methods of propulsion

of the objects known as Flying Saucers,

 or on the aims of their operators or occupants’

 

 

DOWDING HUGH: (1882-1970) British Air Chief Marshal, Commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain. A.L.S., Dowding, one page, 8vo, Southborough, Tunbridge Wells, 1^st August 1955, to Lord Beaverbrook. Dowding commences his letter by stating 'I think that the enclosed will amuse you', continuing to explain, 'It was what I gave to the Sunday Express in response to a telephonic request for my reactions after the Daily Express report on Eisenhower's announcement of the U.S. intention to construct & launch satellites…..Needless to say, they did not print it', and concluding by hoping that Beaverbrook will enjoy his stay on the Riviera. Together with a typescript of a letter submitted by Dowding to the editor of the Sunday Express, stating, in full, 'I have seen the article headed “Flying Saucers - Official” in this morning's Daily Express. It is an example of confused thinking to suppose that man-made artificial satellites have anything to do with the objects which are popularly known as Flying Saucers. There is nothing mysterious about these projected meteorological instruments; they will be made of known materials, projected into their orbits by known methods and will be subject throughout to the Earth's gravitational field. They will throw little, if any, light on the origin, construction and methods of propulsion of the objects known as Flying Saucers, or on the aims of their operators or occupants. Daily Express “Opinion” asks:- “What about Flying Saucers now? Hallucinations? Spots on the Sun?” Anyone who has been satisfied with these explanations to date will have no cause to change his opinion because a new long-range weather recording device is projected for launching in two years' time. Or can it be that the hitherto sceptical Daily Express is booking a seat on the Flying Saucer Band Wagon?'. A remarkable letter and document demonstrating Dowding's firm belief in UFOs. Two file holes to the left of each piece, only affecting one word of text in Dowding's letter. VG, 2

 

Max Aitken (1879-1964) 1^st Baron Beaverbrook. Canadian-British newspaper publisher who served as Minister of Aircraft Production 1940-41. Beaverbrook acquired the Daily Express in 1916 and built it into the most successful mass-circulation newspaper in the world, with sales of 2.25 million copies a day across Great Britain.

 

Dowding was a firm believer in Flying Saucers and, along with the paranormal, developed a strong interest in UFOs during the 1950s. The Air Chief Marshal is quoted as having declared 'The cumulative evidence for the existence of UFOs is quite overwhelming and I accept the fact of their existence…..More than 10,000 sightings have been reported, the majority of which cannot be accounted for by any 'scientific' explanation….I am convinced that these objects do exist and that they are not manufactured by any nation on earth'.