by Nick Redfern July 26, 2018 (mysteriousuniverse.org)
• In the early 1950s, Truman Bethurum encountered an attractive alien female humanoid being named Aura Rhanes. The first time he saw Rhanes was at a distance out in the desert, with ‘her crew of little men’ next to their large spacecraft. But Redfern’s tale focuses on a subsequent encounter when Bethrum saw Rhanes with a ‘little man’ in a diner.
• It was at 3:00 am on an August morning in 1952, Bethurum and a work friend, Whitey, had just finished their work shift and went to an all-night diner in Glendale, Nevada. Bethurum had confided in Whitey about his experiences (?) with Aura Rhanes, but Whitey was skeptical. But when they went into the diner, they saw the petite woman with a diminutive man. She was dressed in black except for a “glaring red” skirt. They watched as the pair sat down at a table.
• Soon, Bethurum worked up the courage to walk up to her table. Whitey freaked out and went out to his truck to wait. Bethurum asked politely,“I beg your pardon, lady, but haven’t we met before?” Rhanes glared at Bethurum and just said ‘no’, almost like a “deadly hiss,” in Bethurum’s own words.
• Bethurum persisted, “You very closely resemble a lady I met some time ago out on Mormon Mesa.” Again the woman said ‘no’, threateningly. This went on with each question he asked her. The little man remained silent.
• Bethurum went back to his seat. The waitress came over to him and wondered if these folks were “the saucer people you told us about.” The waitress noted that the little man had ‘penciled on’ a scar on his face. The little man paid their bill and left. The waitress immediately came back over to Bethurum and said, “The lady told me to tell you that she knows you, and that she was sorry and ‘yes’ is the answer to some of your questions.”
• Bethurum went outside to find Whitey standing out front. When Bethurum asked where the pair went, Whitey replied, “They never came out. Honest, not a blessed soul passed through that door until you came out.”
The strange saga of Truman Bethurum – a man who, in the early 1950s, claimed flirty encounters with a hot space-babe named Aura Rhanes – is one which provokes either hoots of derision or deep intrigue. I have friends who fall into the former category and others who fall into the latter. A good case can be made, though, that Bethurum’s encounters were born out of a combination of sleep paralysis and a yearning for something beyond two failed marriages. But, according to Bethurum, it wasn’t all fun and flirty action.
On two occasions, Bethurum said, he encountered Aura Rhanesunder circumstances very different to those which occurred out in the desert, with Rhanes’ huge flying saucer and her crew of little men in view. These additional encounters saw Rhanes operating in what can only be termed disguise. There was nothing flirty or friendly about these close encounters, however: they were downright hostile. The first occurred around 3:00 a.m. – a time when a wealth of supernatural activity typically occurs – one August 1952 morning.
Bethurum and a work friend, “Whitey,” had just finished their shift and decided to head off in Whitey’s pick-up truck to a favorite, all-night diner in Glendale, Nevada. Whitey was someone who Bethurum had quietly confided in about his experiences with Aura Rhanes. He was also someone who, although fascinated by Bethurum’s claims, was somewhat skeptical of the story. That is, until they entered the diner. Any skepticism Whitey had was very soon to be wiped out. As the pair sat and drank coffee and ate pie, a noticeably quiet Whitey elbowed Bethurum in the ribs and motioned him to take a look at the end of the counter. Bethurum looked up. He was amazed and shocked to see Aura Rhanes, and an equally small male individual, standing there.
“It’s her, isn’t it?” asked Whitey. Bethurum nodded, pretty much in a state of near-shock. Both men watched carefully as Rhanes and her colleague took seats at a window table. In stark contrast to everyone else in the diner, Rhanes was dressed in black: black beret, wraparound black sunglasses, black velvet blouse, and black boots. The only thing that wasn’t black: a “glaring red” skirt.
A worried Whitey asked: “What are you going to do?” Bethurum knew exactly what he was going to do. He composed himself, and walk over and talk to them. Whitey, however, was having none of it. He quickly exited the diner, preferring to sit in his truck, in the overwhelming darkness of the desert, rather than confront creatures from another world.
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