Elizabeth Klarer (1910 - 1994) was the most prominent flying saucer contactee of the 1950s from South Africa. She was born in 1910 in Mooi River, Natal, South Africa and rose out of obscurity in 1956 following an encounter with a spaceship reputedly from Alpha Centauri, of which she took a picture. She was received enthusiastically among South African UFO buffs who provided her with a platform to recount her encounters.

As Klarer's story unfolded, she claimed to have had an initial UFO sighting in 1917 and again in 1937. Finally, in 1954, while at her farm in Natal where she was born, she saw a saucer again. This time it flew close enough that she could see one of its occupants. Then on April 6, 1956, she was again at her farm in Natal when a saucer landed and she was taken aboard. The fair-haired and handsome person she had seen before introduced himself as Akon. The saucer took her to a large mothership, where she was shown pictures of Meton, Akon's home planet. She was given food, a vegetarian meal, and introduced to their culture. Two months later she saw the saucer again and took a picture of it as it flew above her farm.

She told this story at UFO gatherings in South Africa, and over the years reported additional contacts. The most important event in these later encounters was her developing romantic attachment to Akon, with whom she had a son. She claimed that at one point she stayed for four months on Meton and completed her pregnancy there. Her son could not live on Earth, but occasionally visited her. All of these events were discussed in her 1980 book, Beyond the Light Barrier. Although warmly received in South Africa, her story was not believed by North American and European UFO researchers. Except for the picture, weak evidence indeed, there was nothing to collaborate her story. She persisted in her claims, however, until her death in February of 1994.

Elizabeth Klarer was born in 1910 in Mooi River, Natal, where she grew up on a farm and soon learned to understand the Zulus very well. She was trained as a meteorologist at Cambridge, England. She later went to Trinity College, London, to study music, where she obtained a degree. She is also a pilot, and learned to fly the DeHaviland plane. During World War II she was employed by the South African Air Force Intelligence and during operations did work for the Royal Air Force decoding German communications. She was also trained to observe UFOs for the South African Air Force UFO Division. She has a son David, a daughter, Marilyn, who is now a medical specialist, and another son, Ayling ~ an astrophysicist living on another planet, which we will cover shortly.

Her fascinating story began at the age of seven when a flying saucer visited her near her home. Telepathic communication between Elizabeth and Akon, who was a crew member and scientist of the spacecraft, occurred several times. In April, 1956, on Flying Saucer Hill at Rosetta, Natal, the crew revealed themselves and Elizabeth Klarer was taken up into space and into the vintage mother ship. In November, 1957, on the high plateau of Cathkin Peak, in Drakensberg, Elizabeth Klarer entered the spacecraft to meet her new-found lover Akon.

During the next eight and a half months she endured harassment, especially from American intelligence forces, and on one occasion she was almost kidnapped by the Russians who wanted to capture the future space child. She was eventually taken by Akon to another solar system, our nearest neighbour, Alpha Centauri. There she stayed on the planet Meton for four months where she gave birth to and reared her space child, Ayling. Owing to the vibrations of the magnetic field being different on Meton, her heart was unable to adjust to the new pressures, and she was forced to return to Earth. Contact has been maintained and Akon and her son, Ayling, have both appeared to her visually in a projected holographic image.

In 1984 particular interest was shown in Elizabeth's experiences by the British Ministry of Defense and they announced that UFOs do exist and are now official. Elizabeth's story has attracted the attention of many countries, in particular, America, Britain and Russia. In 1975 she was given a standing ovation at the 11th International Congress for UFO Research in Germany. She was applauded by a group of scientists representing 22 nations where she gave a speech about the secrets of light. In 1983, she addressed the house of Lords in England, and her paper was also read at the United Nations. A few years ago she traveled to Switzerland to appear on a TV show. She has written a book entitled "Beyond the Light Barrier," and has now completed a second one, "The Gravity Files."