It’s often remarked upon that when a greater being attempts to contact humanity, it chooses quiet backwater areas instead of going straight to the top. So it was when, on Saturday, Nov. 26, 1977, a representative of the Ashtar Galactic Command took over TV airwaves to warn the world of the risk of its destruction, he spoke via a regional broadcaster with a maximum audience of about 500,000 households in the south of England. Southern TV’s usual Day by Day evening news bulletin was being aired live just after 5 p.m. when the comforting tones of broadcaster Andrew Gardner were...