experience". They communicated via the Ashtar Network that they had been placed aboard the 'ships of Light' that were circling the planet. "The Galactic Fifth Fleet" had used 'physical vibrational transfer' which involved the human consciousness (or, sometimes, the 'etheric body') being raised from the physical dimension and transferred to the "Light ships". A second event was predicted for December 1994 in which over 250 people participated and which was declared by the leadership to have "opened a portal to the AC (Ashtar Command) ships for ever." It was claimed that in order to participate, a person's vibrations were raised through an eight step contemplative procedure; and that the Pioneer Voyage would occur during the period of a devotee's meditative state and would later be revealed to the individual in some form of conscious recall. This eventually evoked 'memory recall' from a core group of Ashtar Command members meeting in Australia who began providing accounts of their 'time aboard the ships'. Others followed suit. The time on the ships was claimed to be extensive even though the member's meditation period was short. Helland notes that, despite an increase in complexity, the general themes have remained in accordance with the Australian reports. The claim is that the events are occurring on a spiritual or etheric dimension and not a physical one. The group claims that the purpose of the lift-off is for the ascension of the human race as a whole, to which individual ascension is a precursor and an aid. It also claims that the collective ascension is being aided by large electronic grids deployed around the planet by the guardian ships. Credibility Helland points out the failure of the July 1952 prediction channeled through Van Tassel that life on Earth will be destroyed "when they explode the hydrogen atom" because in November 1952 the first H-bomb was detonated with no such effect. However, the same message also stated that Ashtar was intervening to stop the destruction of the planet. After the explosion, ensuing messages claimed that various actions were taken by the space fleet to repair damage. After the introduction of Ashtar by Van Tassel, other mediums began to claim contact. The most widely publicised of these messages were met with failure when they predicted civilisations flourishing on the other planets and an imminent landing of space ships on Earth. At one point, according to Helland, dozens of people