On June 17, 1952, a boom rocked Pasadena, Calif., an explosion at a coach house on the old Cruikshank estate, a plot of land on Millionaires Row where a large manor once stood.

The interior of the house was torn apart by a science experiment gone wrong. Amid the debris were strewn-about pages covered in symbols such as pentagrams and text written in unfamiliar languages. On the floor was the body of a man, in a pool of blood, whose face was half-ripped off and body shattered.

The man was 37-year-old John “Jack” Whiteside Parsons: the father of modern rocketry.

Without Parsons, Neil Armstrong may have never set foot on the moon, and American military power might be a fraction of what it is today. But Parsons’ global significance was overshadowed by a juicier pastime — he was a leader of a black-magic sex cult, of which Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard was once a member.

Parsons is the subject of a new CBS All Access series starring Jack Reynor called “Strange Angel.” It’s based on the 2006 book of the same name by George Pendle. The author, who’s also a journalist, unexpectedly stumbled upon Parsons while doing research in 2002.

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