Richard Cedric Leonard is an author and lecturer on the pseudohistorical belief in ancient astronauts and the mythical city of Atlantis.
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Leonard was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1934. He received his B.A. degree from the University of Oklahoma, with a major in Anthropology and a minor in Classical Culture. At Oklahoma City University he majored in Koine Greek language. Then returning to the University of Oklahoma he took Homeric Greek and Attic Greek language, as well as Classical Greek composition. During these studies, by special arrangement, he also completed a Greek Studies program with Sanskrit as its object. He completed his doctorate in Comparative Religion at the unaccredited Neotarian College of Philosophy[1] in Kansas City, Missouri. He is self-taught in Canaanite inscriptions and Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Leonard claims to have found a copy of a controversial document (which may never existed and what Leonard saw could only have been a hieroglyphic copy of a hieratic copy of a possible hieratic original) known as the Tulli Papyrus and to have translated it using a grammar by E. A. Wallis Budge and other sources.[2]
For a number of years Leonard was Anthropology Consultant for UFO research institutions, including the International UFO Bureau (IUFOB) and the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON; then known as the Midwest UFO Network), and has lectured on the subject of "Ancient Astronauts" in schools and universities, as well as in various symposiums conducted by the above UFO organizations.[3] Leonard’s career in Anthropology has been marred by his insistent interest in the fields of ancient UFOs and Atlantis.[4]
His interest in the alleged civilization of Atlantis resulted in expeditions to Western Europe, North Africa, Mesoamerica, as well as Caribbean and Atlantic island groups, which gave him access to European museums and libraries, and allowed inspection of historic and prehistoric archeological sites.[5] Now retired, Leonard was once a member of the International Platform Association. He also held memberships in the Oklahoma Anthropological Society and the Oklahoma Science & Arts Foundation. He is presently Director of the Atlantek Educational Facility and its associated website.[6]