Born Marvel Whiteside Parsons (1914–1952) and also known as John Whiteside Parsons, he was an early expert in modern rocketry, especially solid fuel rockets, and helped found Pasadena’s famous Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Aerojet corporation. Parsons was so instrumental in the JPL that some said the initials stood for “John Parsons’ Laboratory.” Parsons was an early follower of occultist Aleister Crowley and eventually became the head of the Agape Lodge of Crowley’s OTO, one of the only lodges in the world during the 1940s. Another member of the Lodge was L. Ron Hubbard, who would eventually found Scientology. Allegedly, Hubbard cheated Parsons out of both a great deal of money and his girlfriend. Parsons became depressed, but did magick to find a new partner. Eventually, he resigned as leader of the OTO and was planning to move. An explosion of a chemical used in rocket fuel that he was supposedly keeping in his garage took his life.