This is a story of many twists and turns, and will likely be presented in three separate articles as we explore all the various angles. This story really begins in March of 1957. Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd had just passed away on the eleventh in Boston of a heart ailment. Admiral Byrd was an explorer that had flown both poles of the Earth and manned expeditions by sea. Three days later he would be buried with a Full Honor (company) ceremony in Arlington National Cemetery. By executive order of President Dwight D. Eisenhower the flags on all government buildings, except the Capitol, and on all ships and at all naval stations were to be flown at half-staff until the final rites were concluded. Two days later, on March 16th, 1957, an alien would not only land on Earth but he would also be taken to meet the President of the United States.

We will be exploring Valiant Thor primarily through the lens of Dr. Frank E. Stranges’ book ‘Stranger at the Pentagon’, a book originally published in 1967. In revised editions, there is an introduction by Dr. Harley A. Byrd, the nephew of Navy Admiral and Explorer, Richard E. Byrd (and thereby my cousin, as Admiral Byrd is).

In his introduction, Dr. Byrd gives some background on his credentials, including being a part of Project Blue Book. This is his summation regarding Valiant Thor’s arrival:

In mid March, 1957, we received an urgent message from the Alexandria Police Department. The message indicated that two of their on-duty police officers had picked up an alien who had landed some 14 miles south of Pentagon Boulevard, and the occupant was transported to the Pentagon to meet with the Under Secretary of Defense and then shuttled underground to meet with President Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon. The meeting lasted for nearly an hour, and then, the alien visitor was put on VIP status and was shuttled back to the Pentagon where he spent the night in the Army reception office on the first floor need the concourse. This alien’s name was Valiant Thor.

Dr. Harley A. Byrd, Forward Introduction, Stranger At the Pentagon

When we explore more into the book itself, we gather more details of the time Valiant was in Washington, and what transpired during this era, starting with the initial meeting with then President, Dwight D. Eisenhower:

Suddenly the door opened and six armed guards led Val to what appeared to be an elevator. It went rapidly to the bottom-most level. Maximum security was in place. After transferring to an underground train, they sped toward the White House. Six officials, six armed guards, and three secret service men escorted him into the office of President Eisenhower.
From behind the desk the President rose while the secret service men remained nervous and uneasy. As he extended his hand to shake that of the President, the secret service men drew their revolvers and pointed them at Val. Following the nod of the President, they reluctantly lowered their guns.
Standing in front of his desk, the President said, “Of course, you know we have suspended all rules of protocol. I have a good feeling toward you. Please, sir, what is your name?” “And where do you come from?”
“I come from the planet your Bible calls the morning and the evening star.”
“Venus?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Can you prove this,” he asked.
“What do you constitute as proof?”
He quickly retorted, “I don’t know.”
“Will you come with me to my ship?” He answered with a quizzical look and said, “My friend, I cannot come and go as I please. There are others to be considered. There are committees to be consulted and security measures to be adhered to. Please spend some time with us here …Let’s get better acquainted …learn more about one another …and perhaps soon, real soon, well …we shall see.”

Interestingly, this is not the first time that Eisenhower would be linked to alien contact. What we do know is that Eisenhower was on a golf vacation in Palm Springs on Feb. 20, 1954. After dinner that night, he made an unscheduled departure from the Smoking Tree Ranch, where he was staying. The next morning, he attended a church service in Los Angeles. Also that morning, his spokesman announced to the press that Ike had visited a dentist the previous night because he’d chipped a tooth while eating a chicken wing at dinner. But a darker tale endorsed no less by his great Granddaughter Laura Eisenhower, tells of his trip to Edwards Air Force base to meet with two extraterrestrials with white hair, pale blue eyes, and colorless lips that spoke to him telepathically.

As for Val, his time in the Pentagon would begin with the introduction of his crew:

Soon after his arrival, together with three members of his crew, he joined a “convention” in the back yard of the home of Mr. Howard Menger in High Bridge, New Jersey. The month was April, 1957. A certain group of individuals who were interested in UFOs were meeting that day.

Val and his crew members, Donn, Jill and Tanyia, had changed into the same type of clothing worn by their Earth friends. The meeting was very interesting and these people were on the right track. He was dismayed to learn the undignified manner in which these people were treated by the press.

Nevertheless, these people were pursuing their beliefs and this was good. A curious young photographer, August C. Roberts, snapped several pictures, thinking he was doing so without Val’s knowledge. The photographer seemed to be greatly troubled when he attempted to talk to him. Yet, it was those very photographs which were to bring me together with this unusual man on that cold December day.

Holding the message from the High Council in his hand, the President stated that Val’s offer to help the human family would upset the economy of the United States and could plunge her into the Abyss of Chaos. In brief, he politely told Val that the people of this planet were not ready to cope with such conditions as would come into existence if the recommendations of this unearthly visitor were put into action.

Nevertheless, he was invited to assist a number of scientists who were out working on medical projects directly associated with the space sciences. His allotted time to acquaint the leaders of the United States with his suggestions was limited to three years.

Which also produced the most famous picture of Val:

Bringing this all back around, Dr. Frank E. Stranges writes about his own meeting with Valiant Thor and how he became involved in the case and thereby publishing his book to the world.

When Dr. Stranges met his friend from the planet Venus for the first time in December, 1957, he was taken to a non-descript room in the Pentagon where he was greeted by a man who was about six feet tall, perhaps 185 pounds, brown wavy hair and brown eyes. His complexion appeared normal and slightly tanned. With a warm smile he extended his hand and greeted Stranges by name; “Hello, Frank.
How are you?”

As Dr. Stranges gripped his hand, he was somewhat surprised to feel the soft texture of his skin, “like that of a baby but with the strength of a man that silently testified to his power and intensity.”
He also noticed that Valiant Thor had no fingerprints and was told that all Earth people were thusly marked since the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden, during the very dawn of civilization as we know it
today.

This was the beginning of a long friendship between the man from Earth and the man from Venus that continues to this very day. Dr. Stranges has met with Valiant Thor many times since 1957 and has been given some amazing information for his fellow inhabitants of this planet; that is for those who are willing to listen. Valiant Thor has told Dr. Stranges that there is life on many other planets of which people on Earth know nothing.

“There are more solar systems for which man has not even given God credit,” he said. “There are many beings that have never transgressed the perfect laws of God. Man does not possess the right to condemn the whole of God’s creation because he himself has broken the perfect laws of God through disobedience.”

At one point Dr. Stranges asked Valiant Thor about the inhospitable conditions on the surface of Venus, noting that scientists have determined that the surface temperature reaches in excess of 800 degrees Fahrenheit. Valiant Thor said that this was correct, but that the inhabitants of Venus actually live in the hollow interior of Venus, coming and going through openings at the North and South Poles; just as has been described in legends about the hollow Earth.

It’s interesting to note that Admiral Byrd is also closely associated with the Pole stories and Hollow Earth theory (which in turn is so complex it would need its own article to properly discuss)

We can actually access many of Dr. Stranges’ lectures on his time with Valiant Thor including this one:

What happened to Valiant Thor left the Earth after his mission is up to debate. Information after his time at the Pentagon changes depending on who is telling the story. According to Dr. Stranges:

On March 16, Val dematerialized and departed from this phase of his Earthly mission. His next stop was the outskirts of Alexandria, Virginia where his ship and his crew awaited his arrival, hidden by a wooded area. It was no problem for him to reassemble the atoms of his body inside his ship.

As his craft rose slowly, a number of people stopped and pointed excitedly in his direction. Others stood motionless, transfixed by the sight which they beheld. He felt such a tremendous feeling of love for all of them. There was no panic in them… just curiosity and a strong desire to know more.

Then, as the USAF jets were scrambled, and with the force field now in full use, the planes darted past the ship unable to see them now. Even ground radar lost them on their equipment. Confusion once again reigned.
On the way back to Victor One, he meditated on his home planet, the low, heavy, colorful clouds, the even temperatures, the perfectly diffused sunlight that made shadows almost nonexistent, the lushness of the rich green grass surrounding his home. He was informed of several Earth people with whom he would maintain contact for a long time into the future.

Strangely enough, those who knew of his presence, yet who claimed disbelief, were those who feared the most. Others figured THEY should have been the ones contacted and not those who were.
Upon returning to his home planet, he advised the Council of Central Control of the results of his Earth visit including the failure of the leaders of the United States to “take him up” on his offer of advice and assistance to the human family.

He was given the following instructions:

• To mingle with and become as Earth people
• To work and labor in Earth enterprises
• To help those who encounter possible threat or danger while striving for world peace
• To give them advice and guidance
• To entrust with superior knowledge those who have proven themselves
• Divulge the essence of their mission to the collective national leaders of Earth, only when the time is right.

As of this writing, he continues with this mission, at the same time assisting in preventing our “civilization” from being the cause of orbital chaos by the destruction of our planet.

If all of this sounds eerily familiar, you may have watched the 1951 film “The Day the Earth Stood Still”

The Eisenhower/Valiant Thor interactions were used as a basis of this season of ‘American Horror Story’ in a fictionalized take on the theme, complete with their own version of Valiant and his motivations. It’s a fun watch.

The ‘Venusian’ alien stories closely resemble the “Nordic” (or Pleiadian) alien encounters. In the coming days, we will be exploring the players behind the book “Stranger At the Pentagon“: Dr. Stranges and Dr. Harley Byrd in great depth, as well as some of the other notable figures of the time, The Bridgewater visitation and Howard Menger, and an earlier encounter that may have influenced Stranges with George Adamski’s visitation five years earlier.