Editing William R. Ferguson (section)

== Cosmic Circle of Fellowship ==
{{Main article|Cosmic Circle of Fellowship}}
[[File:Cosmic Circle Fellowship advertisement, April 16, 1972 (cropped).png|thumb|A 1972 advertisement for the religion|alt=Black and white newspaper advertisement reading: Cosmic Circle Fellowship, Inc. invites you to usher in the resurrection of the planet earth. To the left there is a circle in a cube symbol]]
In 1954, following his release from prison, Ferguson went on a tour of the [[Midwestern United States]], lecturing about his supposed experiences on Mars for $1 a person and attempting to sell items that he claimed were souvenirs from his time on Mars. Included among these items were "brain-relaxing helmets" and "water-float clarifiers". In 1954, he attempted to sell a policewoman in [[Milwaukee]], Wisconsin a brain-relaxing helmet and other alleged Martian trinkets, told her about supposed Martian food and water, and told her that in 14,000 years she would return to her home planet of [[Saturn]]. As a result, the police issued a warrant for his arrest on the grounds of [[vagrancy]].<ref name="TheKingstonWhig-Standard1954" /><ref name="TheSun-Herald1954">{{Cite news |date=1954-12-05 |title=Dry Water of Mars |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sydney-morning-herald-dry-water-of-m/172409490/ |access-date=2024-11-10 |newspaper=[[The Sun-Herald]] |location=Sydney |page=56 |language=en-AU |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |issue=306 |issn=1323-1987 |agency=New York News Bureau}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=1954-11-29 |title=Wild Blue Yonder |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,857765,00.html |access-date=2025-05-17 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |language=en-US |volume=LXIV |issue=22 |issn=0040-781X}}</ref> That same year, the Canadian newspaper ''[[The Kingston Whig-Standard]]'' wrote an article on Ferguson and his claims of Mars travel, calling him a "very remarkable man".<ref name="TheKingstonWhig-Standard1954" />

In 1954, Ferguson claimed that he had been picked up by a spacecraft from Venus, where he said that he learned that spacecraft were four dimensional and were typically invisible for this reason, but could also function in the third dimension, and that this is why sighted UFOs seemed to disappear.{{sfn|Clark|2001|p=358}} He claimed that the leaders of Venus, oligarchs, told him to tell the people of Earth that UFOs were visiting them to help, in a time when it was approaching its "next evolutionary step", a "Four Dimensional Consciousness".{{sfn|Saliba|1995|p=48}} That year, he founded the [[Cosmic Circle of Fellowship]], a [[UFO religion]].{{sfn|Saliba|1995|p=45}}{{sfn|Schutz|1980|p=340}} Edward A. Surine and Edna I. Valverde were his two co-founders.{{sfn|Clark|2001|p=358}} 

Ferguson was the group's national president,<ref name="TheSiouxCityJournal1966">{{Cite news |date=1966-10-19 |title='Story of Creation' Will Be Subject |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sioux-city-journal-story-of-creatio/172407765/ |access-date=2024-10-25 |newspaper=[[The Sioux City Journal]] |page=B16 |language=en-US |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |issue=60 |issn=2689-5536}}</ref><ref name="SanFranciscoExaminer1960" /> and the group was [[Incorporation (business)|incorporated]] the next year.{{sfn|Clark|2001|p=358}}<ref name="SanFranciscoExaminer1960">{{Cite news |date=1960-11-12 |title=Cosmic Circle to Meet Fridays |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-cosmic-circle/172407746/ |access-date=2024-10-25 |newspaper=[[San Francisco Examiner]] |page=12 |language=en-US |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |issn=2574-593X}}</ref> Ferguson began traveling throughout the United States in 1958, lecturing and founding circles in other cities, including in [[San Francisco]], [[New York City]], [[Washington, D.C.]], and [[Philadelphia]].{{sfn|Clark|2001|p=358}}<ref name="Browning1959" /> Ferguson claimed to [[Channeling (New Age)|channel]] from Khauga.{{sfn|Hogan|2016|p=296}} Ferguson lectured for the Circle throughout the U.S., traveling with a woman, lecturing on such topics as [[flying saucer]]s and [[vibrational healing]]. At one meeting he sold "joy cups" supposed to treat ailments through combating negative energies, which he said had been transported from Mars.<ref name="Browning1959" />