William Dudley Pelley (March 12, 1890 – June 30, 1965) was an American fascist activist, journalist, writer and occultist, noted for his support of German dictator Adolf Hitler during the Great Depression and the Second World War.

His 1929 essay "Seven Minutes in Eternity" marked a turning point in his career, published in The American Magazine as a popular example of what would later be called a near-death experience.

In 1942, Pelley was prosecuted by the U.S. government for sedition and seditious conspiracy for conspiring to cause insubordination in the military and obstruct recruitment.

[5] Largely self-educated, Pelley became a journalist and gained respect for his writing skills; his articles eventually appeared in national publications such as The Chicago Tribune.

He moved to New York, and then to Asheville, North Carolina, in 1932, and began publishing magazines and essays detailing his new religious system, the "Liberation Doctrine".

[2] In May 1928, Pelley gained notoriety when he claimed he had three[8] out-of-body experiences in which he traveled to other planes of existence devoid of corporeal souls.

Some of the early members of the original Ascended Master Teachings religion, the "I AM" Activity, were recruited from the ranks of Pelley's organization, the Silver Legion of America.

He considered it to be a perfected form of Christianity, in which "Dark Souls" (Jews, Communists and Papists) represented the forces of evil.

He also founded Galahad Press, which he used to publish various political and metaphysical magazines, newspapers, and books – many of which Pelley had written, claiming to have transcribed them from souls in another dimension.

[8] Biographer Scott Beekman noted that Pelley was "one of the first Americans to create an organization celebrating the work of Adolf Hitler.

[11] Sinclair Lewis mentioned him by name in his novel It Can't Happen Here (1935) about a fascist takeover in the United States.

Pelley opposed Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal, claiming that he was part of a Jewish plot to control the U.S.

[8] Pelley founded the Christian Party in 1935, and ran an unsuccessful campaign as candidate for president in 1936, winning only 1,600 votes.

[4] Despite serious financial and material setbacks within his organization which resulted from lengthy court battles, Pelley continued to oppose Roosevelt, especially as diplomatic relations between the United States and the Empire of Japan and Nazi Germany became strained in the early 1940s.

[12] After stating in one issue of Roll Call that the devastation of the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor was worse than the government claimed, Pelley was arrested at his new base of operations in Noblesville, Indiana, and in April 1942, he was charged with 12 counts of sedition.

[3] While still incarcerated, he was one of 30 defendants in the "Mass Sedition Trial" of Nazi sympathizers which culminated in a mistrial after the death of the judge, Edward C. Eicher, in November 1944.

[2] He developed an elaborate religious philosophy called "Soulcraft" based on his belief in UFOs and extraterrestrials,[16] and published Star Guests in 1950.