Within Channeling
How Ashtar Outgrew One Failed Prediction
Ashtar claims show how a channelled figure could survive failed landing predictions by spreading across multiple messengers.
On this page
- Van Tassel and early Ashtar messages
- Why multiple channels protected the tradition
- How landing claims shifted into broader cosmic mythology
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Introduction
The history of Ashtar is one of the clearest examples of how a failed UFO prophecy could evolve into a durable mythology. What began in the early 1950s as a series of claimed telepathic messages received by contactee George Van Tassel did not disappear when specific warnings and expectations failed. Instead, the figure of Ashtar spread beyond a single messenger and became a shared character used by dozens of channelers, each adding new revelations, cosmic hierarchies and spiritual teachings. As a result, the survival of the belief no longer depended on whether any one prediction came true. The authority shifted from a single message to a growing network of messages, allowing the Ashtar tradition to outlive repeated disappointments and become one of the most influential currents in UFO religion. [CDAMM]cdamm.orgExtraterrestrial/UFO ReligionExtraterrestrial/UFO Religion - CDAMM15 Jan 2021 — Van Tassel did not accept Short's experiences as genuine, though, and Short broke…
Van Tassel and the First Ashtar Messages
The Ashtar story began with George Van Tassel, a prominent UFO contactee associated with the Giant Rock gatherings in California. In 1952 he claimed to receive telepathic communications from a being called Ashtar, presented as a commander of an advanced extraterrestrial force. These messages combined space-age language with warnings about humanity’s technological dangers, especially nuclear weapons. Van Tassel portrayed the communications as a form of extraterrestrial telepathy rather than traditional spiritual mediumship. [Wikipedia]WikipediaAshtar SheranAshtar Sheran
A key feature of the early messages was their prophetic character. Ashtar reportedly warned that hydrogen bomb testing could have catastrophic consequences for Earth. One message suggested that humanity risked planetary destruction through misuse of atomic technology. Yet when hydrogen bomb tests proceeded, the predicted catastrophe did not occur. Rather than ending the narrative, later messages explained that Ashtar’s space fleet had intervened to prevent disaster. The failed prediction was therefore absorbed into the belief system instead of falsifying it. [Wikipedia]WikipediaAshtar SheranAshtar Sheran
This pattern would become a defining feature of the broader Ashtar movement. A prophecy could fail, but the same channel that delivered the warning could also provide the explanation.
Why Multiple Channels Protected the Tradition
The crucial development was that Ashtar did not remain Van Tassel’s exclusive contact. Within a short time, other individuals began claiming telepathic communication with the same extraterrestrial commander. Robert Short, originally associated with Van Tassel, broke away and helped popularise the idea of an “Ashtar Command”, a vast cosmic organisation rather than merely a single space visitor. Other channelers soon followed, each presenting their own messages. [CDAMM]cdamm.orgExtraterrestrial/UFO ReligionExtraterrestrial/UFO Religion - CDAMM15 Jan 2021 — Van Tassel did not accept Short's experiences as genuine, though, and Short broke…
This multiplication of channels changed the structure of authority.
Instead of: [facebook.com]facebook.comInstead of newsreader Andrew Gardner, the audienceThis is the voice of Vrillon, a representative of the Ashtar…On 26th November 1977, viewers in the Southern television area lost soun…
- One messenger receiving one stream of revelations.
- One prediction standing or falling on its own success.
The movement increasingly relied on:
- Numerous independent channelers.
- Continuous new revelations.
- A shared cosmic figure whose meaning could evolve over time.
Scholars of UFO religion have noted that by the mid-1950s dozens of people were claiming contact with Ashtar, often delivering contradictory messages. Some predicted imminent spacecraft landings. Others described thriving civilisations on nearby planets. Many of these claims failed when expected events did not occur or when scientific discoveries contradicted them. Yet there was no central institution capable of declaring the entire tradition invalid. New channelers simply continued producing new material. [Wikipedia]WikipediaAshtar SheranAshtar Sheran
In practical terms, the movement became resilient because belief was attached to the character of Ashtar rather than to any single prediction.
How Landing Claims Became Cosmic Mythology
As the decades passed, specific expectations repeatedly encountered problems. Predictions of dramatic landings, public extraterrestrial contact, planetary evacuations and visible intervention failed to materialise. Some channelers forecast major transformations that never arrived on schedule. A notable example was the prediction by Yvonne Cole that humanity would experience a dramatic extraterrestrial arrival and civilisational transformation in 1994. When this failed, it joined a growing list of unrealised expectations within the Ashtar tradition. [Wikipedia]WikipediaAshtar SheranAshtar Sheran
What is striking is how the movement adapted. Rather than focusing on physical spacecraft appearing at a specific place and time, later Ashtar teachings increasingly emphasised spiritual evolution, higher consciousness and ascension. Academic studies of the movement have observed a shift away from concrete UFO predictions and towards themes more familiar from Theosophy, New Age spirituality and ascended-master traditions. Ashtar gradually became less a commander of a literal rescue fleet and more a cosmic teacher guiding humanity’s spiritual development. [Wikipedia]WikipediaAshtar SheranAshtar Sheran
This transformation solved several problems at once:
- Spiritual growth is harder to falsify than a predicted landing.
- Personal experiences can replace public demonstrations as evidence.
- Delays can be interpreted as part of a larger cosmic plan.
- Failed prophecies can be reframed as misunderstandings or symbolic truths.
The result was a mythology that became increasingly detached from the original testable claims.
From Contactee Figure to UFO Religious Symbol
The endurance of Ashtar illustrates an important pattern in the history of failed UFO predictions. Many prophetic movements depend heavily on a founder. When the founder’s prediction fails, the movement often collapses. The Ashtar tradition followed a different path because its central figure was not a human leader but a supernatural extraterrestrial authority accessible through multiple channels. [CDAMM]cdamm.orgExtraterrestrial/UFO ReligionExtraterrestrial/UFO Religion - CDAMM15 Jan 2021 — Van Tassel did not accept Short's experiences as genuine, though, and Short broke…
By the 1990s and later, efforts emerged to standardise Ashtar teachings and create a more coherent orthodoxy. Competing channelers were judged according to whether their messages matched an accepted spiritual framework. The emphasis shifted further away from imminent physical intervention and towards a cosmic worldview involving ascension, galactic federations and spiritual service. Scholars have argued that this process helped transform a fragmented collection of UFO prophecies into a more stable religious tradition. [Wikipedia]WikipediaAshtar SheranAshtar Sheran
The significance of Ashtar within the history of failed UFO predictions is therefore not that a particular prophecy failed. Many did. The more revealing story is how repeated failures were absorbed into an expanding body of telepathic revelations. Through the work of multiple channelers, Ashtar evolved from a single contactee message into a mythology capable of surviving the disappearance of the very events it once promised. [CDAMM]cdamm.orgExtraterrestrial/UFO ReligionExtraterrestrial/UFO Religion - CDAMM15 Jan 2021 — Van Tassel did not accept Short's experiences as genuine, though, and Short broke…
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Endnotes
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Source: cdamm.org
Title: Extraterrestrial/UFO Religion
Link: https://www.cdamm.org/articles/extraterrestrialSource snippet
Extraterrestrial/UFO Religion - CDAMM15 Jan 2021 — Van Tassel did not accept Short's experiences as genuine, though, and Short broke...
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Source: Wikipedia
Title: Ashtar Sheran
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtar_Sheran -
Source: Wikipedia
Title: George Van Tassel
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Van_TasselSource snippet
George Van TasselVan Tassel (March 12, 1910 – February 9, 1978) was an American author, inventor and UFO contactee. Ashtar (extraterre...
Published: March 12, 1910
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Source: Wikipedia
Title: Southern Television broadcast interruption
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Television_broadcast_interruptionSource snippet
Southern Television broadcast interruptionThe audio of a Southern Television broadcast was replaced by a voice claiming to represent t...
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Source: robertsspaceindustries.com
Title: The Ashtar
Link: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/en/orgs/SPEEDOGHOSSource snippet
Ashtar Galactic Command [SPEEDOGHOS] - OrganizationsThe Ashtar Command are perfected humans that vibrate to the Christ Vibration and are...
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Source: encyclopedia.com
Link: https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/ashtarSource snippet
was one of the original extraterrestrial entities who appeared among the flying saucer contactees of the 1950s. · After Van Tassell passe...
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Source: extraterrestrials.fandom.com
Title: Ashtar command
Link: https://extraterrestrials.fandom.com/wiki/Ashtar_commandSource snippet
command - Alien Wiki - FandomThe Ashtar Command is an etheric group of extraterrestrials, angels and lightbeings and millions of "starshi...
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Source: dancingpastthedark.com
Link: https://dancingpastthedark.com/tag/ashtar/Source snippet
Archives31 Jul 2021 — Ashtar is the name given to an extraterrestrial being or group claimed by quite a few channelers to be their UFO co...
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Source: boneandsickle.com
Title: george van tassel
Link: https://www.boneandsickle.com/tag/george-van-tassel/Source snippet
Tag: George van Tassel30 Jul 2021 — Chief among the Space People van Tassel claimed to contact was Ashtar, whose messages were largely de...
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Source: galacticfederationoflight.com
Title: ashtar command
Link: https://www.galacticfederationoflight.com/blogs/esoteric-knowledge/ashtar-commandSource snippet
What Is the Ashtar Command?2 Mar 2023 — Ashtar Communications to George Van Tassel. In 1952, Van Tassel received the first of many person...
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Source: monstropedia.org
Link: https://www.monstropedia.org/index.php/AshtarSource snippet
6 Aug 2011 — Ashtar was first channeled by early UFO contactee George Van Tassel, on 18 July 1952.... Van Tassel's early purported messa...
Published: July 1952
Additional References
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Source: britannica.com
Link: https://www.britannica.com/list/10-failed-doomsday-predictionsSource snippet
10 Failed Doomsday PredictionsThey've predicted the destruction of the world through floods, fires, and comets—luckily for us, none of it...
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Source: researchgate.net
Link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313714001_[ApocalypseSource snippet
(PDF) Apocalypse in Early UFO and Alien-Based Religions15 Feb 2017 — This chapter examines the apocalyptic expectations of several UFO an...
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Source: facebook.com
Link: https://www.facebook.com/Godsofadamu/posts/ashtar-sometimes-called-ashtar-sheran-is-the-name-given-to-an-extraterrestrial-b/3606187156121529/Source snippet
Gods of AdamuThe Ashtar movement is studied by academics as a prominent form of UFO religion.... COMMAND, COMMAND OF THE EXTRATERRESTRIA...
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Source: reddit.com
Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/aliens/comments/1imw42b/vrillion_the_ashtar_galactic_command_television/Source snippet
Vrillion The Ashtar Galactic CommandFamous UFO sightings and their impact. Theories on ancient... r/aliens - Galactic Federation of Ligh...
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Source: wwwuser.gwdguser.de
Link: https://wwwuser.gwdguser.de/~agruens/UFO/ufo_apdx/ashtar_muw.htmlSource snippet
gwdguser.deAshtar's communications to George Van Tassel in the years..."Ashtar Command" was started by a man named Robert Short (or also...
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Source: facebook.com
Title: voice of george van tassel 1950s ufo contactee at giant rock in the mojave deser
Link: https://www.facebook.com/100067811412084/posts/voice-of-george-van-tassel-1950s-ufo-contactee-at-giant-rock-in-the-mojave-deser/1106035978333439/Source snippet
Voice of George Van Tassel — 1950s UFO contactee...Here is the first message conveyed through George Van Tassel in 1952 from a being cal...
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Source: basildonheritage.org.uk
Link: https://www.basildonheritage.org.uk/[mediaSource snippet
The Night the Earth Stood Still (for six minutes)Tassel, who claimed to receive telepathic messages from an extraterrestrial being named...
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Source: insighttimer.com
Title: you were chosen for this ashtar s message for starseeds
Link: https://insighttimer.com/athinakrol/guided-meditations/you-were-chosen-for-this-ashtar-s-message-for-starseedsSource snippet
You Were Chosen For This: Ashtar's Message For Starseeds4 Feb 2025 — This channeled transmission from Ashtar is a divine call to step ful...
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Source: yic.edu.et
Link: https://www.yic.edu.et/primo-explore/scholarship/filedownload.ashx/The_Ashtar_Command_Members_Intl_Starseed_Network.pdfSource snippet
ique in fact as the contributors to this intriguing study show the...Read more...
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Source: facebook.com
Title: Instead of newsreader Andrew Gardner, the audience
Link: https://www.facebook.com/HistoryHit/posts/on-26th-november-1977-viewers-in-the-southern-television-area-lost-sound-from-th/1550034361728283/Source snippet
"This is the voice of Vrillon, a representative of the Ashtar...On 26th November 1977, viewers in the Southern television area lost soun...
Published: November 1977
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