The Phrygian prophet Montanus (156) belonged to an early Christian sect which aroused among people a brief-lived hope of the imminent return of Jesus. In order to be well prepared, the prophet exhorted his followers to practise rigorous asceticism, for otherwise 'the end of the world was at hand'.

In 140 the Roman apostolic father Hermas in his book 'The Shepherd' (which formed part of the New Testament for a time) called on Christians to do penance as the ultimate salvation 'from the imminent Last Judgment'.

Over 400 years ago (1568) the Provencal plague doctor Michael Nostradamus (1503-1566)

posthumously published his book Les Propheties [17]. His prophecies, extending down to modern times, which in the opinion of scholars tally with recorded facts, consist of a non-stop list of wars, pestilences and disasters. The fact that most of the events are supposed to have taken place according to plan is small con solation.

If we made ourselves a present of a collected volume of prophecies it would be as thick as a New York telephone directory, and poring over disasters is no fun - especially if we've got them at home! But it is fun to meet and talk to a living prophetess.

Jeane Dixon is an American from the wealthy middle-class She lives in a white-brick terrace house in Washington, D.C., is happily married to her husband Jimmy, a smart businessman, She loves her cat Mike, dresses fashionably and is Secretary-Treasurer of James I. Dixon & Co., a real estate firm. After ten hours at the office, she writes columns for 200 American dailies, receives an average of 3,000 letters a week and gives lectures, in addition to her social activities as a company representative. She has calculated that she works 217 days more than her fellow-citizens: 52 Saturdays, 52 Sundays, 9 holidays (except Christmas), 14 days' holiday (which she does not take) and 90 days' overtime. Jeane Dixon has a sense of humour and is deeply religious.

She has, and still does, hit the headlines in the press all over the world.

In 1944 she predicted that China would turn Communist. (It happened in 1949.)

In the summer of 1947 she announced that Mahatma Ghandi would be assassinated within the next six months. (He was shot by a fanatical Hindu on 30.1.1948.)

In 1961 she prophesied Marilyn Monroe's suicide. (Marilyn died on 5.8.1962 of an overdose of sleeping tablets.)

At the beginning of September 1961 she 'saw' the death of her friend Bill Rowallo, private bodyguard to the U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammerskjold (Hammerskjold and his suite died on 18th September 1961 in an unexplained air crash near Ndola, Rhodesia).

Rene Noorbergen [18] describes the 'dramatic prediction of the death of President John F. Kennedy'

which Jeane Dixon made eleven (!) years before the assassination on 12.11.1963.

She used every conceivable channel to try to stop Kennedy from going to Dallas. Jeane Dixon claims that she has a special affinity with the Kennedy family. She announced at a big convention in January

1968 that Robert Kennedy would not become President of the U.S.A. because he would be the victim of an assassin in California in June of that year. On 5th June Bishara Sirhan shot the senator in the Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles. Jeane Dixon even described the scene of the event.

Rene Noorbergen spoke to Dr. Clyde Backster, the lie-detector specialist and director of a scientific research institute about the phenomenon of Jeane Dixon. Backster took the view that Jeane Dixon had advanced into the range of frequencies established 'for communication in the universe'. To quote Backster: 'I do not doubt that this means of communication has always existed. We have blocked our extrasensory perceptions through our prejudices. We tell ourselves and science and our environment tell us that an extra sense is nonsense .... Jeane Dixon seems to have full access to a faculty which once was used quite extensively ....'

On Sunday 5th May, 1947 I met the grand old lady for a discussion at her Washington home.

Mrs. Dixon, what happens when you experience your prophecies? What do you feel? Do you have a revelation, do you see a vision or an apparition?

It is a wonderful thing when I see the future. It does not take the form of an apparition, for that would only be a kind of ghost. Nor is it a revelation, for revelations are signs of the will of God. What I see is the destiny that God has predetermined for you or anyone else, and you cannot alter that destiny.

Incidentally, I told Richard Nixon that as early as 1959.

What happens to you at such moments? What goes on in your brain?

It is a higher state of grace. Usually I am prepared for it. My condition changes, so does my attitude to my environment, and my ability to think logically, even my state of health. Suddenly one morning I know that a period of inspiration is coming. The length of this period cannot be compared to normal time.

I have read that you are very religious. Do you practise your religion?

Yes, I went to Church at seven o'clock this morning.

What do the Church and the present cardinal say about your prophecies?

You should read what some priests write about me! The best thing is not to worry about them and pray for them.

Have you really been seriously attacked?

Naturally I have been seriously attacked and from quite high places. One is always attacked by those who do not understand or those who act as if they understand everything. Lazy people always shout the loudest.

Why are you attacked by the Church? After all you've never said anything against Christianity.

And I never will say anything against Christianity. I have actually had visions of Jesus, but they are not comparable with the state of prophecy.

I have just read in the papers that you are convinced of the existence of U.F.O.s. Can you tell me something about that?

I can tell you that there's nothing new in my life. I've known about U.F.O.s for many years. People ask me when I first knew anything about them. That's a question I can't answer; as I've known about U.F.O.s since I could walk. Have you ever thought about why and when you consciously knew you could walk?

So U.F.O.s actually exist, in your opinion. Where do these objects come from?

We shall soon find out that they come from an undiscovered planet in our solar system. We shall make official contact with the crews and learn from them how existing sources of energy can be better and more simply exploited.

The conditions of gravity in our solar system have been calculated. So there is no room for an unknown planet. Besides, space probes have traversed the space 'behind the sun' and no new planet has been recorded.

That makes no difference. We shall soon discover an unknown planet which is in the vicinity of Jupiter.

Jupiter is very far from our sun. That giant planet no longer forms part of the life zone of our solar system. How intelligence supposed to originate in such intense cold?

Just wait and see! By the way, U.F.O.s are piloted by women.

How do we know that?

I can feel the vibrations and they're feminine.

Mrs. Dixon, you know my books. What do you think about my theories?

You're absolutely right about many things.

Do you think that we shall be revisited by extraterrestrial beings?

Of course I do. We were visited in the past, as you claim. ... Give me your hand for a few minutes.

Look, here in your fingertips I can feel the energy of your supra-supra-consciousness. Look, Herr von Daniken, the next important section of your life ....

At this point Jeane Dixon forbade further tape-recordings for two hours and also prohibited publication of that part of the conversation. Our talk ended as follows: Do you ever drink alcohol?

I've never touched a drop in my life! I don't drink coffee or tea, either. Do you remember when you were nineteen and the great turning point in your life came? You didn't cause the turning point. It came over you, as it were. During the rest of your life you will have very powerful enemies, but they will be outnumbered by guiding powers who will help you. Do not misuse your talent. Make sure that you report this interview properly! If you misrepresent the things we have just spent such a long time discussing I'll never give another interview again.