We Met the Space People by Helen and Betty Mitchell [1959]

---

This is a UFO contactee account by two sisters from the Midwest US in the late 1950s. The Mitchell sisters, Helen and Betty, are approached by space aliens, who can pass for human beings, in (of all places) a coffee shop in St. Louis, Missouri. On a second encounter (again in the coffee shop) they are given a schematic for a communicator, which they build, and through it they receive messages from the Space People from Mars and Venus. Unlike the more aggressive aliens of later decades, they wait until the third date to take Helen on a ride to the mothership. There she learns that the aliens have one-piece uniforms that 'feel like satin,' speak a Universal Language, and play a game like shuffleboard when off-duty.

After Helen returns, the Space People transmit an urgent message that nuclear weapons testing must be ended, otherwise our civilization will go the way of Atlantis. One thinks that they would have mentioned this earlier when she was on the mothership. And why deliver this rather important message to the Mitchell sisters of Saint Louis, Missouri? Why not the United Nations or President Eisenhower? Other ideas that the Space Brothers tell the sisters to spread are vegetarianism and the need for educational TV. Nuclear test ban? Educational TV? Apparently the Space People are (gasp) liberals.

This yarn was apparently good enough for the Mitchell sisters to make the rounds of the UFO conventions, although nowadays it would make all but the most gullible enthusiast laugh out loud. Nonetheless, the naive charm of this little relic of a simpler time makes it an irresistible read.

---

Title Page
Helen's Story
Betty's Account