Nick Redfern's Blog, page 120

Graham Birdsall - 10 Years On

It's hard to believe that it is 10 years to the day that Graham Birdsall, the editor of Britain's UFO Magazine , died. Graham was a great friend who was taken far too early.  I first encountered Graham back in the mid-1980s, when UFO Magazine was not the glossy, newsstand magazine that it became in the 1990s. Back then, it was called Quest , and was a self-published, photocopied journal - times soon changed, however!  Graham was a very generous and enthusiastic person, who opened many doors for me when I started writing for the magazine and, later, when I began writing books. For that I will always be very grateful.  I have a lot of good memories of Graham, one of my favorite being sat in his house, late at night after a gig somewhere, and eating fish and chips and discussing football.  He is still very much missed. I'm not sure where I took this photo of Graham, but it's a good one to remember him by. 

World War Z

  Well, last night, I finally got around to watching World War Z , which I thought was bloody good! It was very different to the novel it's based on.  In the book, the story is set specifically AFTER the zombie outbreak has been contained, whereas in the movie it's erupting everywhere.  And the zombies in the book are the slow walking types of Night of the Living Dead . In the movie they are not just fast, they're like speeding trains!  Plus, in the book the zombies actually eat their victims, whereas in the film, they are just driven to spread the virus and then move on to the next person.  The only real downside was the "13" certificate, which meant the amount of blood and gore was kept to a minimum. Come on, it's a zombie film, there SHOULD be blood and gore!  The best bit? When a literal tower of zombies climb (like an army of ants) a newly-created, giant wall to keep the dead out of Jerusalem. For the people of Jerusalem, the wall was not such a good idea, after all...

Night of the Living Virus

And another new Mysterious Universe article from me, which begins like this...

"In George A. Romero’s classic movie of 1968, Night of the Living Dead , speculation was raised that the birth of the zombie hordes was possibly triggered by the actions of a U.S. spacecraft. While visiting the planet Venus, the craft, it was surmised, became bathed in radiation. Then, on its return to Earth, the craft let loose that same radiation upon an unsuspecting populace. The outcome was nothing less than the rise of the staggering, flesh-eating dead. Is it truly feasible that such a thing could actually occur in the real world?

"It’s highly unlikely – in the extreme, to say the absolute very least – that exposure to radiation could provoke any kind of violent, cannibalistic, zombie-like behavior. The possibility that a returning spacecraft might unwittingly unleash hazardous extraterrestrial materials on our planet, however, is not at all an impossibility. In fact, dealing with just such a potentially catastrophic event has already been planned for."

Flying Saucers: What The Hell?

There's a new Mysterious Universe article from me ( which you can find here ) and which starts like this: "In 2010, I wrote  a book called Final Events . It’s probably my most controversial book to date.  Final Events told the story of a semi-official/quasi-official think-tank that concludes the UFO phenomenon is demonic. And when I say demonic, I mean in the horned, fork-tailed, and fiery pit sense. But, they put a distinctly unusual spin on things: namely, they believe the phenomenon 'feeds' upon a poorly understood form of energy contained in the human soul. In other words, we are being reared, nurtured, and finally digested, just like cattle. Or, so the think-tank asserts. "Of course, as member of the group – unofficially titled the Collins Elite – freely admitted, it was simply a theory and nothing else. It was also a theory born out of the fact that the vast majority of the members of the group held strong religious beliefs that pre-dated their UFO research. And we should never forget that belief is a powerful and influential tool."  

Sasquatch & Saucers

That's the subject of my latest Lair of the Beasts column at Mania.com... 

The Psychic Spy

   The Psychic Spy, a new novel written by Irene Allen-Block , is an excellent book for which I wrote the following endorsement: "In late 1970s London, a young woman is secretly recruited to work for British Intelligence. Her world soon becomes dominated by psychic-spying, enemy agents, assassinations, and suspicious deaths. Add to the mix, the Lockerbie tragedy, the Falklands War, and the classified world of MI6, and you have a great story filled with adventure, intrigue and shadowy characters. As Irene Allen-Block skillfully shows, the mind is a mysterious and dangerous tool." On top of that, the novel is based upon real events, which makes it all the more intriguing. If spy stories, filled with all manner of twists and turns, are your thing, then don't miss this one! And here's the publisher's blurb, which reveals more: " The Psychic Spy tells the story of Eileen Evans, a beautiful young woman and talented psychic who is unwittingly recruited by MI6 to join their new top secret Remote Viewing program 'Blue Star' during the heart of the Cold War in the 1970’s and 80’s. Eileen quickly finds herself embroiled in excitement and danger as she quickly becomes a 'psychic spy' for British Intelligence. Finding forbidden love with another agent, Eileen descends into a dark world filled with political intrigue, danger and death. Not only must she cope with the possibility of losing her life, she must also struggle with the very real threat of losing her soul.
"Smart, sexy and filled with humor and peril, The Psychic Spy is a thrilling adventure that explores a little-known but very real world where governments use actual psychics to spy on their enemies, and in some cases, even their allies! Using her own real-life experiences as a remote viewer, Irene Allen-Block has created a powerful tale that should entertain and educate readers on a piece of history that has been hidden in the shadows."  

Karl Shuker's Mirabilis: Reviewed

There's a new review from me at Mysterious Universe , on Karl Shuker's new book, Mirabilis . This is an excellent book that, if you're into cryptozoology you won't want to miss! The review starts like this:
"Available right now is an excellent new release from the good folks at Anomalist Books. Its title is Mirabilis: A Carnival of Cryptozoology and Unnatural History . And the author is one of the world’s leading authorities on all-things monstrous and beastly, Dr. Karl Shuker. Born and still living in the West Midlands, England, Karl  graduated from the University of Leeds with a Bachelor of Science (Honors) degree in pure zoology, and from the University of Birmingham with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in zoology and comparative physiology. He now works full-time as a freelance zoological consultant to the media, and as a prolific published writer. And, coincidentally, he lives barely 15 minutes away from where I grew up. But I digress! "As for the contents of Mirabilis, well, if bizarre beasts and fantastic creatures are your thing, then disappointed you certainly won’t be. But, it’s very important to note that Mirabilis is not just a commentary on case upon case, and creature upon creature. Instead, we see Karl putting on his Sherlock Holmes-style cape and deer-stalker hat, and actually trying to figure out – detective-style – what the many and varied baffling beasts under his microscope actually are. And there are plenty of them. It would be impossible in a review of this length to cover each and every creature that crosses Karl’s path, but that doesn’t mean I won’t give it a good try."

"The Cryptoterrestrials" in Hardback

Yesterday afternoon, I received in the mail a copy of the limited-edition hardback version of Mac Tonnies' book, The Cryptoterrestrials . It's a big tragedy that Mac died before his book was published, but I'm sure he would have loved to have seen his work in hardback format.

Creating Our Own Reality

"As someone who has had far more than a few weird experiences over the years – particularly in relation to matters of a synchronistic nature – I often find myself pondering on reality. Or, perhaps, more correctly, pondering on what we consider to be reality. I can’t help feeling at times that we are living in (or, perhaps, trapped in!) a strange world of proportions not unlike those portrayed in The Matrix or Dark City . In both films, what passes for the real world is actually nothing of the sort.

"And it’s on the nature of reality that I want to focus right now. On more than a few occasions, I have come across examples where matters of a purely fictional nature seem to suddenly spring to life in the real world. If such things aren’t just down to random chance and coincidence (and I really don’t think they are), then there is something deeply strange afoot. I do not pretend to know how or why such things can be, but I can highlight two – of many – examples for you."

Yep, it's an extract from another Mysterious Universe article from me (that digs deep into the world of Quatermass and the Pit , out-of place-pterodactyls, and spectral, hairy wild-men deep in the old tunnels of the London Underground - quite a combination!), which is readable right here.

Going Underground

Thanks to Kithra for sharing this story with me this morning, of a planned excavation on one of the UK's most Fortean-filled places: The Cannock Chase.

The exact location is the small village of Brocton, a place I know very well.

As Kithra rightly points out, excavations around areas known for their paranormal qualities often provoke further weirdness. In view of that, it will be interesting to see if any new reports of high-strangeness surface in and around Brocton in the next few weeks...