Brinsley Le Poer Trench (September 18, 1911–May 18, 1995) was 8th Earl of Clancarty (an earldom in the Peerage of Ireland) as well as a prominent ufologist. September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... May 18 is the 138th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (139th in leap years). ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The title of Earl of Clancarty has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland, first in 1658, that title being attainted in 1690, and then in 1803. ... An Earl as a member of the British peerage ranks below a Marquess and above a Viscount. ... The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those peers created by British monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. ... Ufology is the study of unidentified-flying-object (UFO) reports, sightings, and other related phenomena. ...

Born William Francis Brinsley Le Poer Trench, he was the fifth son of the 5th Earl of Clancarty and Mary Gwatkin Ellis. He was educated at the Nautical College, Pangbourne. Pangbourne College is a public school located in the village of Pangbourne in the English county of Berkshire. ...

Clancarty was a firm believer in flying saucers, and in particular, the Hollow Earth theory. He claimed that he could trace his descent from 63,000BC, when beings from other planets had landed on Earth in spaceships. Most humans, he said, were descended from these aliens: "This accounts for all the different colour skins we've got here," he said in 1981. A few of these early aliens did not come from space, he explained, but emerged through tunnels from a civilisation which "still existed beneath the Earth's crust." There were seven or eight of these tunnels altogether, one at the North Pole, another at the South Pole, and others in such places as Tibet. "I haven't been down there myself," Clancarty said, "but from what I gather [these beings] are very advanced." UFO redirects here. ... The phrase hollow earth refers to the esoteric idea that the planet Earth has a hollow interior, almost always associated with the idea that it has a habitable inner surface. ... Ariane 5 lifts off with the Rosetta probe on 2nd of March, 2004. ... The existence of extraterrestrial life remains hypothetical though human beings continue to search Extraterrestrial life is life that may exist and originate outside the planet Earth. ... The North Pole is the northernmost point on any planet. ... Location of the South Pole in the Antarctic continent. ...

From 1956 to 1959 he edited the Flying Saucer Review and founded the International Unidentified Object Observer Corps. He also found employment selling advertising space for a gardening magazine housed opposite Waterloo Station. In 1967, he founded Contact International and served as its first president. He also served as vice-president of the British UFO Research Association (BUFORA) and was an honorary life member of the Ancient Astronauts Society. The main entrance of Waterloo Station. ... BUFORA is the British UFO Research Association. ...

When he succeeded to the earldom (created in 1803) on the death of his half-brother, Grenville Sydney Rocheforte, 7th Earl of Clancarty, in 1975 he founded a UFO Study Group at the House of Lords, and introduced Flying Saucer Review to its library. 1803 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... This article is about the British House of Lords. ...

Four years later he organised a celebrated debate on UFOs which attracted many speeches on both sides of the question. In one debate, Lord Strabolgi, for the Government, declared that there was nothing to convince him that any alien spacecraft had ever visited the Earth.

He wrote, under the name Brinsley Le Poer Trench, a number of books, including The Sky People (1960), Men Among Mankind (1962), Forgotten Heritage (1964), The Flying Saucer Story (1966), Operation Earth (1969), The Eternal Subject (1973), and Secret of the Ages (1974).

He married first, in 1940 (dissolved 1947), Diana, daughter of Sir William Younger, Bt. He married secondly, in 1961 (dissolved 1969), Mrs Wilma Belknap. He married thirdly, in 1974, Mrs Mildred Spong, who died in 1975. He married fourthly, in 1976, Mrs May Hraslcy.

He lived most of his life in South Kensington and died in Bexhill-on-Sea in 1995. South Kensington is an area in West London - it straddles the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster. ... Bexhill-on-Sea is a town and seaside resort in the county of East Sussex, in the south of England. ...

The was succeeded to the earldom by his nephew Nicholas Power Richard Le Poer Trench, 9th Earl of Clancarty.

Sources: Obituary and memorial service report, Daily Telegraph, 22 May and 28 June 1995.