Buck Nelson

Buck Nelson (born William E. Nelson; April 9, 1895 – March 1972

UFO claims

Nelson was one of several claimed UFO "contactees" who came to prominence during the 1950s.

Nelson further stated that two of the people from Venus had adopted the names "Bucky" and "Bob" and their main message concerned the "Twelve Laws of God", similar to the biblical Ten Commandments. He claimed to have been taken on trips to the Moon, Mars and Venus. He described how space people told him that on earth, past civilizations existed and destroyed themselves "They had learned of a power even greater than our Atomic power". He said the space people warned him that the inappropriate use of nuclear energy was threatening the earth again; "We are here to see which way this world will use Atomic power; for peace or war. We have stood by and seen other planets, one after another, destroy itself. Is this world next? We wonder and watch and wait. Again I say; give up your Atomic weapons and may Peace be on this Earth".

Book and reaction In 1956, Nelson published a booklet, My Trip to Mars, the Moon, and Venus, and became something of a celebrity in the Ozarks. He held a successful annual Spacecraft Convention near his farm for about a decade, where he sold his pamphlet, and pay envelopes containing a small amounts of black hair, which he claimed had fallen off the large dog called "Bo".

Nelson used his celebrity to promote segregationist views, claiming that the people of Venus practiced "absolute segregation of all races and nationalities." He also printed and sold pamphlets promoting these viewpoints alongside My Trip to Mars, the Moon, and Venus.

Later life and death Following the 1966 Spacecraft Convention, Nelson's health declined and he withdrew from public life. In 1969, Nelson's home in Mountain View was destroyed in a fire. Nelson returned to Southern California and died March 1972 in Long Beach, California.