The Billy Meier Photographs
A Swiss farmer said beings from the Pleiades visited him, and took hundreds of photographs of their gleaming craft over the countryside.
What was reported
From 1975, Eduard 'Billy' Meier, a one-armed farmer in Switzerland, said he was in regular contact with beings from the Pleiades star cluster, who flew 'beamships' and gave him messages about the future. He produced hundreds of clear photographs and films of disc-shaped craft over Swiss fields.
The photographs became some of the most famous UFO images ever taken, and Meier gathered a devoted following.
Explanations offered
Investigators found evidence that the craft were small models, photographed close to the camera, and some features matched household objects. Photographs said to show a Pleiadian woman turned out to be of dancers from an American TV show. Meier's followers still defend his account.
- When
- From 1975
- Where
- Schmidrüti, Zürich, Switzerland
- Witnesses
- Eduard 'Billy' Meier
- Status
- Hoax
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.