The Times, November 2, 1997 What the aliens told the equerry about Prince Philip by Hugh McManners and Walter Ellis What would you do if you were an alien observer keen to establish contact at the highest level with the British Establishment ? You might attempt to reach the prime minister - but it's so hard to get through. The same would apply to the Foreign Office, the defence ministry and the intelligence services. Most likely, they would have you thrown out or locked up. Janus, an interstellar emissary assigned to the British beat, decided to go for broke: he would arrange an audience with the Duke of Edinburgh. Thus it was, on a damp and misty evening, in the winter of 1954, that Squadron Leader Peter Horsley, equerry to Prince Philip, found himself driving out of the main gates of Buckingham Palace on his way to the strangest, and most unearthly, encounter of his life. A meeting had been arranged by a general for him to meet a Mrs Markham in a flat in Smith Street, Chelsea. The squadron leader was expecting little more than sherry and biscuits. What he got, he said last week, was an introduction to man's destiny in the stars and a briefing on the supreme being, the Great Force, who commands the universe. Had such a claim appeared in the National Enquirer or the Daily Sport, it could readily have been dismissed. In fact, it came from Air Marshal Sir Peter Horsley, former deputy commander-in- chief of Strike Command, whose memoirs, 'Sounds From Another Room', are published this month. Other top military types have also claimed stellar acquaintance. In 1988 a retired admiral caused a stir when he claimed to have met an alien called Alan. Horsley, however, was a mere squadron leader, and, according to his story, it was the duke who was the object of Janus's attention. ''Prince Philip,'' said the stranger, ''is a man of great vision, a person of world renown and a leader in the realm of wildlife and the environment. He is a man who believes strongly in the proper relationship between man and nature, which will prove of great importance in future galactic harmony.'' Horsley - destined to be in charge of sending British nuclear bombers on missions deep inside the former Soviet Union in the event of war - realised he had to tread warily. Janus, fortunately, understood this as well. ''Where would you like to start ?'' he asked. Many would have wished to begin by taking a better look at this mysterious stranger from the other side of the galaxy. Not Horsley. ''It is difficult,'' he writes, ''to describe him with any accuracy; the room was poorly lit by two standard lamps and for the most part he sat in a deep chair by the side of a not very generous fire. ''In fact, I never really got any physical impression of him.'' Tall, thin, short, fat, grey, white or green: Horsley does not recall. Instead, no doubt aware that such an opportunity might not come again, he pressed straight in with his questions. ''As an airman,'' he began, ''one of the difficulties I have with the idea that UFOs fly here from another planet is the vast distances involved.'' Quite so. ''That's a good start,'' his visitor replied, before launching into a long disquisition on the reality of interstellar travel. Apparently, in the next century or so, mankind will become bored with its exploration of the solar system and press on into deep space, employing technology that bends the time-space continuum and enables us to travel 1,000 light years in (relatively speaking) just 30 Earth years. The future air marshal was understandably intrigued - not least by his realisation that Janus was telepathic and could read his thoughts. The conversation ranged far and wide, ranging from Genesis and the Pyramids to the prospect of a universe teeming with life forms, all owing allegiance to the Great Force. Horsley remembers the encounter with total recall and noted it down in a report to his superiors. What they made of his tale is not known. But ever since, the retired air marshal, author of the 'Journal of a Stamp Collector' and holder of the Portuguese Order of Christ, has been ''at intellectual peace with the concept of God as a universal spiritual force without shape or habitat, a cosmic battery, if you like''. As for Prince Philip, Horsley left the Smith Square flat and made no attempt to pass on the extra-terrestrial invitation to his royal master. When he later retumed to the flat it was empty, and he never saw Janus again. He thought no more about it - until now. ''I was aged 33, very busy and had to get on with my job. So that's what I did.'' -- Next page: Monkeys are given head transplants ================================================================ The Advertiser, November 8, 1997 Legendary British Air Marshal Claims ET Encounter By Fiona Burton Military giants don't come much bigger than Air Marshall Sir Peter Horsley. A war hero who flew Mosquitoes against the Germans, he has held one of the highest ranks in the RAF and has been an intimate adviser to the Queen and Prince Philip. He has also, he claims, met a visitor from another galaxy. Sir Peter has kept his close encounter with the mysterious man he calls Mr Janus in a London flat a secret for 43 years. But now, at the age of 76, he is ready to go public. Fixing me with a steely gaze, he says: ''We talked for hours about travelling in space and time. I don't know what or who he was. He didn't say he was a visitor from another planet but I had that impression. I believe he was here to observe us. I never saw him again. I have no qualms about the reaction to my experience with Mr Janus. I don't care what people think - it was what happened.'' His extraordinary testimony - in his autobiography, 'Sounds from Another Room,' to be published in the autumn - and his uncompromising belief in Unidentified Flying Objects will no doubt ruffle the sangfroid of the men at the Ministry. For, incredible as it seems, it is the evidence of a man who once ran the country's front line defence at RAF Strike Command and was a Buckingham Palace aide for six years. At his riverside cottage in Hampshire, where Christmas cards from the royal family hang in the lavatory, he discusses the presence of alien spacecraft with unswerving nonchalance. ''I would say they come from another planet somewhere in the universe but not in our galaxy. They are benign, not aggressive and, like us, are explorers'', he says. His interest in UFO's began, he says, in 1952 while he was an equerry to the Duke of Edinburgh and was sparked by newspaper reports at the time. He joined the Royal Household in 1949 as a squadron leader who had been decorated for his work as personal pilot to Major General Sir Miles Graham during the Normandy Invasion. Sir Peter says he talked to Prince Philip of his interest in UFO's. ''He was quite interested. As always his mind was open. He agreed I should do a study on the subject in my spare time as long as I kept it in perspective and didn't bring the Palace into disrepute. He didn't want to see headlines about him believing in little green men.'' Sir Peter started by interviewing people who had claimed to have seen UFO's and invited a BOAC captain to visit him at Buckingham Palace. His own encounter came in 1954. ''At the end of my tour at the Palace, I had a very strange experience'', he recalls with charming understatment. He says he was introduced to a General Martin who arranged for him to visit the Chelsea home of a Mrs Markham. Sir Peter cannot remember the date or the number of the flat in Smith St. - nor can he describe the man he met there - but he is adamant the encounter took place. ''Janus was there, sitting by the fire in a deep chair. He asked: ''What is your interest in flying saucers ?'' And then he gave a Wellsian account of space travel at the speed of light with spare body parts in the luggage. When Sir Peter went back to the flat it was empty. But his interest in the paranormal stayed with him during his rise through the ranks to the crucial post of Deputy Commander in Chief of RAF Strike Command in 1973. Sir Peter insists: ''I don't think I am a crank about it at all.'' But at the Ministry of Defense in Whitehall, jaws are dropping. As one former senior officer put it: ''Oh God. How unfortunate that the public will learn that the man who had his finger on the button at Strike Command was seeing liitle green men.'' --- 'Sounds From Another Room' is published by Leo Cooper in October.