Nick Redfern's Blog, page 59

New Articles: UFOs, Nessie, the Chupacabra

There are a few new articles from me at Mysterious Universe and here they are:

1. Does the Chupacabra really suck blood? (Answer: No!)

2. Corroboration for Kenneth Arnold's UFO encounter of June 24, 1947?

3. The Loch Ness Monster in fiction.

Bigfoot Twice

 
Two new articles from me on Bigfoot:

One on a pair of Bigfoot that were not so big, after all.

And the other, a review of a 2015 Bigfoot-themed movie, Something in the Woods .

Aurora Alien Encounter Gig - April 16

On April 16, I'll be speaking at the "Aurora Alien Encounter" gig at Aurora, Texas - here's a promo about the event, the speakers and the history behind the whole thing...

Bloodline of the Gods: Audio Edition

For those who like audio-books, my Bloodline of the Gods book is now available in audio format...

Coming Very Soon...

A "British Roswell" in WWII?

Did a UFO crash in the UK during the Second World War? That's the subject of a new article from me, which you can find here .

1975: UFOs & "Phantom Helicopters"

 Over at Jim Harold's Paranormal Braintrust there's a new article from me which is focused on a very weird wave of UFO and "phantom helicopter" wave that hit the United States in late 1975.

Here's how it starts:

One of the many curious aspects of the UFO phenomenon is that relative to so-called “waves” and “flaps.” Over the years, there have been more than a few occasions upon which UFOs have intruded into our airspace to a significant degree. I’m talking about the likes of the summer of 1947; the Washington, D.C. invasion of July 1952; the wave of close encounters that hit the United States in 1973; and the Belgian “Flying Triangle” encounters of 1989/1990. And then there’s the curious matter of the UFO/ “phantom helicopter” wave of 1975. It’s not only curious, but disturbing, too. Chiefly because a great deal of concern was exhibited by the U.S. military, despite the fact that the Air Force’s UFO program, Project Blue Book, closed its doors six years earlier, in 1969. Notably, and thanks to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, we can see just how seriously matters were taken.

And here's the link to the article.






All the photos taken at one of my earlier homes...

Spring-Heeled Jack: New Book Coming

This looks to be a very good book: The Mystery of Spring-Heeled Jack: From Victorian Legend to Steampunk Hero by John Matthews and which is published in October.

And here's the publisher's info on the book:

An extensive investigation of the origins and numerous sightings of the mysterious and terrifying figure known as Spring-Heeled Jack

• Shares original 19th-century newspaper accounts of Spring-Heeled Jack encounters as well as 20th and 21st-century reports

• Explains his connections to Jack the Ripper and the Slender Man

• Explores his origins in earlier mythical beings from folklore, his Steampunk popularity, and the theory that he may be an alien from a high-gravity planet

Spring-Heeled Jack--a tall, thin, bounding figure with bat-like wings, clawed hands, wheels of fire for eyes, and breath of blue flames--first leapt to public attention in Victorian London in 1838, springing over hedges and walls, from dark lanes and dank graveyards, to frighten and sometimes physically attack women. News of this strange and terrifying character quickly spread, but despite numerous sightings through 1904 he was never captured or identified.

Exploring the vast urban legend surrounding this enigmatic figure, John Matthews explains how the Victorian fascination with strange phenomena and sinister figures paired with hysterical reports enabled Spring-Heeled Jack to be conjured into existence. Sharing original 19th-century newspaper accounts of Spring-Heeled Jack sightings and encounters, he also examines recent 20th and 21st-century reports, including a 1953 UFO-related sighting from Houston, Texas, and disturbing accounts of the Slender Man, who displays notable similarities with Jack. He traces Spring-Heeled Jack’s origins to earlier mythical beings from folklore, such as fairy creatures and land spirits, and explores the theory that Jack is an alien marooned on Earth whose leaping prowess is attributed to his home planet having far stronger gravity than ours.

The author reveals how Jack the Ripper, although a different and much more violent character, chose to identify himself with the old, well-established figure of Spring-Heeled Jack. Providing an extensive look at Spring-Heeled Jack from his beginnings to the present, Matthews illustrates why the worldwide Steampunk community has so thoroughly embraced Jack.

A UFO Conman and Psychic Dogs

Two new articles from me:

One on a UFO Contactee who turned out to be nothing but a conman , and the other on a U.S. Army program of the 1950s designed to see if dogs could psychically locate landmines .

A Contactee and "The Government"

Also at Mysterious Universe , I take a look at the FBI's declassified file on famous 1950s-1970s Contactee, George Van Tassel. The article begins...
 
As a follow-up to my article on George Adamski’s “doctored document,” I thought I would share with you some of the highlights from the FBI’s file on yet another famous Contactee who surfaced in the early 1950s: George Van Tassel. He was a man with an intriguing background. In the 1940s Van Tassel worked for the Douglas Aircraft Corporation. And also with both Lockheed and Universal Airlines. In addition, Van Tassel was employed – in an assistance capacity – by brilliant fruitcake, Howard Hughes. In 1947, Van Tassel and his family moved to Yucca Valley, California. Only a few years later, Van Tassel attracted the attention of both the long-haired Space Brothers and the short-haired G-Men of the FBI.

It was out at the near-legendary “Giant Rock” where many of Van Tassel’s encounters of the alien kind went down. Giant Rock also being the location of Van Tassel’s hugely successful outdoor UFO gigs of the 1950s. And, as strange as it may sound, the Van Tassel family lived below Giant Rock in a kind of then-modern-day equivalent of the structures that Fred and Wilma, and Barney and Betty, called home in The Flintstones . Van Tassel’s visiting ETs included “Numa of Uni,” “Ah-Ming of Tarr,” “Rondolla of the Fourth Density,” and “Zolton, the Highest Authority and Commandant of all spacecraft in the Sector System of Vela.”

Here's the link to the article.