Seekers (Chicago)
Encyclopedia
The Seekers were a UFO religion
or cult group based in the United States in the 1950s, and founded by Dorothy Martin.
" from alien beings on the planet Clarion. These messages revealed that the world would end in a great flood before dawn on December 21, 1954. Mrs. Martin had previously been involved with L. Ron Hubbard
's Dianetics
movement, and her cult incorporated ideas from what was to become Scientology
. The group of believers, headed by Martin, had taken strong behavioral steps to indicate their degree of commitment to the belief. They had left jobs, college, and spouses, and had given away money and possessions to prepare for their departure on the flying saucer
, which was to rescue the group of true believers.
by Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken, and Stanley Schachter. Festinger and his colleagues infiltrated
Mrs. Martin's group and recorded the sequence of events leading up to December 21, 1954. Before December 20, the group shunned publicity. They granted interviews only grudgingly. Access to Martin's house was only provided to those who could convince the group that they were true believers. The group evolved a belief system—provided by the automatic writing from the planet Clarion—to explain the details of the cataclysm, the reason for its occurrence, and the manner in which the group would be saved from the disaster.
On December 20 the group expected a visitor from outer space to call upon them at midnight and to escort them to a waiting spacecraft. As instructed, the group went to great lengths to remove all metallic items from their persons. As midnight approached, zippers, bra straps, and other objects were discarded. The group waited. At 12:05 A.M. on December 21 when no visitor appeared, someone in the group noticed that another clock in the room shows 11:55. The group agreed that it was not yet midnight. At 12:10 A.M., the second clock struck midnight, and still no visitor arrived. The group sat in stunned silence, believing that the cataclysmic end of the world was no more than seven hours away. By 4:00 A.M., the group had been sitting in stunned silence, failing in their few attempts to come up with an explanation for the night's events. Martin began to cry.
At 4:45 A.M Martin received a message by automatic writing which stated, in effect, that God had decided to spare the planet from destruction. The cataclysm has been called off: "The little group, sitting all night long, had spread so much light that God had saved the world from destruction."
On the afternoon of December 21 the group began to seek more publicity, calling newspapers and seeking interviews. In a reversal of its previous distaste for publicity, the group began an urgent campaign to spread its message to as broad an audience as possible.
Dorothy Martin eventually left Chicago after being threatened with arrest and psychiatric commitment. She lived in Peru for several years, and then moved to Arizona, joining a Dianetics
center there. In 1965 she founded a new UFO contact group, the Association of Sananda and Sanat Kumara and soon thereafter moved the organization to Mount Shasta, California. In 1988, the group moved to Sedona, Arizona. Under the name "Sister Thedra," she continued "channeling" and participating in UFO contact groups until her death in 1992. The Association is still active and remains headquartered in Sedona.
UFO religion
UFO religion is an informal term used to describe a religion that equates UFO occupants with gods or other semi-divine beings. Typically, the UFO occupants are held to be extraterrestials and that humanity either currently is, or eventually will become, part of a preexisting extraterrestrial...
or cult group based in the United States in the 1950s, and founded by Dorothy Martin.
History
Dorothy Martin, a Chicago housewife, received messages in her house in the form of "automatic writingAutomatic writing
Automatic writing or psychography is writing which the writer states to be produced from a subconscious and/or spiritual source without conscious awareness of the content.-History:...
" from alien beings on the planet Clarion. These messages revealed that the world would end in a great flood before dawn on December 21, 1954. Mrs. Martin had previously been involved with L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard , better known as L. Ron Hubbard , was an American pulp fiction author and religious leader who founded the Church of Scientology...
's Dianetics
Dianetics
Dianetics is a set of ideas and practices regarding the metaphysical relationship between the mind and body that was invented by the science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard and is practiced by followers of Scientology...
movement, and her cult incorporated ideas from what was to become Scientology
Scientology
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
. The group of believers, headed by Martin, had taken strong behavioral steps to indicate their degree of commitment to the belief. They had left jobs, college, and spouses, and had given away money and possessions to prepare for their departure on the flying saucer
Flying saucer
A flying saucer is a type of unidentified flying object sometimes believed to be of alien origin with a disc or saucer-shaped body, usually described as silver or metallic, occasionally reported as covered with running lights or surrounded with a glowing light, hovering or moving rapidly either...
, which was to rescue the group of true believers.
When Prophecy Fails
The story of the Seekers was chronicled in the book 1956 book When Prophecy FailsWhen Prophecy Fails
When Prophecy Fails is a 1956 classic book in social psychology by Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken, and Stanley Schachter about a UFO religion that believes the end of the world is at hand.- Cognitive dissonance :...
by Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken, and Stanley Schachter. Festinger and his colleagues infiltrated
Participant observation
Participant observation is a type of research strategy. It is a widely used methodology in many disciplines, particularly, cultural anthropology, but also sociology, communication studies, and social psychology...
Mrs. Martin's group and recorded the sequence of events leading up to December 21, 1954. Before December 20, the group shunned publicity. They granted interviews only grudgingly. Access to Martin's house was only provided to those who could convince the group that they were true believers. The group evolved a belief system—provided by the automatic writing from the planet Clarion—to explain the details of the cataclysm, the reason for its occurrence, and the manner in which the group would be saved from the disaster.
On December 20 the group expected a visitor from outer space to call upon them at midnight and to escort them to a waiting spacecraft. As instructed, the group went to great lengths to remove all metallic items from their persons. As midnight approached, zippers, bra straps, and other objects were discarded. The group waited. At 12:05 A.M. on December 21 when no visitor appeared, someone in the group noticed that another clock in the room shows 11:55. The group agreed that it was not yet midnight. At 12:10 A.M., the second clock struck midnight, and still no visitor arrived. The group sat in stunned silence, believing that the cataclysmic end of the world was no more than seven hours away. By 4:00 A.M., the group had been sitting in stunned silence, failing in their few attempts to come up with an explanation for the night's events. Martin began to cry.
At 4:45 A.M Martin received a message by automatic writing which stated, in effect, that God had decided to spare the planet from destruction. The cataclysm has been called off: "The little group, sitting all night long, had spread so much light that God had saved the world from destruction."
On the afternoon of December 21 the group began to seek more publicity, calling newspapers and seeking interviews. In a reversal of its previous distaste for publicity, the group began an urgent campaign to spread its message to as broad an audience as possible.
Later History
After December 21, 1954, Martin and her supporters were greeted with negative reactions from the newspapers and wire services. As media interest decreased, the group slowly diminished in size. Martin received more messages, but they grew more and more incomprehensible.Dorothy Martin eventually left Chicago after being threatened with arrest and psychiatric commitment. She lived in Peru for several years, and then moved to Arizona, joining a Dianetics
Dianetics
Dianetics is a set of ideas and practices regarding the metaphysical relationship between the mind and body that was invented by the science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard and is practiced by followers of Scientology...
center there. In 1965 she founded a new UFO contact group, the Association of Sananda and Sanat Kumara and soon thereafter moved the organization to Mount Shasta, California. In 1988, the group moved to Sedona, Arizona. Under the name "Sister Thedra," she continued "channeling" and participating in UFO contact groups until her death in 1992. The Association is still active and remains headquartered in Sedona.