Letters from the Planets

The possibility of life on other planets has long intrigued us as we look up at the sky. At one point it might have been easier to imagine life throughout the solar system. Still, even as the reach of our knowledge of outer space grew, George Adamski contended that every planet was inhabited. Much more recently, Elena Damaan was told by a Pleiadian that there are 22 planets and moons in the solar system harboring life. But the most important guide is always our imagination.

In 1886 the Reverend Wladislaw Somerville Lach-Szyrma wrote a type of science fiction travelogue called Letters from the Planets, which was published in installments in Cassell’s Family Magazine. It was attributed to their roving correspondent and described finding a letterbox at an ancient stone monument that allowed the person to be taken to some of the planets and moons, encountering both inhabitants and amazing landscapes. It was otherworldly but would fit in with many more modern tales

If it weren’t for how the travelers could stand outside without any air or protection, the “car” that was used for the journey could have been a typical spaceship or UFO-type object. Some of the art – such as the piece showing how they were turned back from the light of the sun – seem very futuristic. It all might have been part of a Secret Space Program narrative or an account of the Space People, particularly if Pleiadians had been guiding the trip.

We are not including all the illustrations, but enough for each viewer to take it from there. The illustrations are more interesting than the story, and they speak for themselves.