Richard Sharpe Shaver, a controversial figure, was at the heart of the UFO hoax phenomenon.

Before the iconic green Martians and tall blonde Venusians emerged, there were the deros.

In the 1930s, Richard Sharpe Shaver, a man from Pennsylvania, claimed to have overheard the deros speaking through his welding equipment. These voices, disturbing and obsessed with torture and depravity, plagued him relentlessly. Their constant noise drove Shaver into despair, eventually leading to his confinement in mental institutions and prisons. While incarcerated, a woman appeared and took him to an underground cavern on Earth where she and the teros, though vastly outnumbered, fought against the deros.

Shaver explained that deros were 'detrimental robots,' while teros were 'integrative robots.' Yet neither of these beings were true robots. Shaver remained vague about why they were called robots. These entities were survivors of a lost race of giants, the Atlans and the Titans, who fled Earth 12,000 years ago when the sun's radiation became lethal. The few that remained retreated underground, and over time, many degenerated into sadistic beings (deros), using advanced Atlan technology to terrorize the good teros. Some Atlans returned to Earth's surface, adapted to the new solar radiation, and became our ancestors. To this day, deros continue to abduct and torment humans, down planes, and carry out evil deeds.

These sensational tales captivated readers of the popular pulp magazines Amazing Stories and Fantastic Adventures between 1944 and 1948. While most people would have dismissed Shaver as a lunatic and moved on, Ray Palmer, the senior editor, was intrigued. Palmer rescued Shaver's first letter from the trash, where it had been discarded by another editor who had mocked it as the ramblings of a 'crackpot.' As the most heated controversy in science-fiction fandom raged around Shaver, Palmer became a fierce advocate for the 'Shaver mystery.' To some, it was absurd nonsense, but to others, it held the key to ancient secrets.

Supporters who sought 'proof' of dero activity filled the pages of the magazines with content drawn from Charles Fort's writings and occult traditions. Some of these materials discussed reports of strange craft in Earth's skies. Notably, the June 1947 issue of Amazing Stories included an article about mysterious flying objects, which it connected to the idea of extraterrestrial visits. The magazine hit the shelves just as the Kenneth Arnold sighting brought the concept of 'flying saucers' into the global spotlight.

The Shaver saga, which began just before the rise of the UFO era and largely faded from mainstream view after its first year, set a benchmark for wild stories that others would attempt to replicate. Some succeeded in matching its audacity.

­