Nick Redfern's Blog, page 64

Michael Ripper

If, like me, you're a fan of those old 1950s-1970s Hammer horror movies, you might like this. It's a 1999 biography on the late Michael Ripper, which I picked up the other day. Some people might say, "Who was Michael Ripper?" Most people associate Hammer's movies with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. But, Michael Ripper appeared in more Hammer movies than any other actor, usually playing inn-keepers, grave-diggers, etc. It's a cool book, he had an interesting life.

"The Monster Book." Coming In September

The Monster Book : Creatures, Beasts and Fiends of Nature , coming from Visible Ink Press in September...

"UFO Whistleblower" Controversies...

That's the subject of a new article from me. You can find it here .

And here's how it starts:

"People often ask me for my views on those individuals who claim secret knowledge of some of the most classified data on Unidentified Flying Objects. We are, of course, talking about what have commonly become known as UFO whistleblowers. Over the years – and just like so many other people within the field of Ufology – I have had my encounters and run-ins with such people. It’s a situation that can be eye-opening, thought-provoking, and, at times, even downright surreal. Particularly so when it comes to matters of a 'cloak and dagger' nature. But, how much, exactly, is the word of a UFO whistleblower really worth? Is it worth anything? Well, that very much depends upon a wide variety of factors.

"All too often I have seen certain players within Ufology go way over the top (with near-foaming-at-the-mouth excitement) when it comes to the domain of the whistleblower. So, someone contacts you and they want to share what they claim is highly-classified material or data on UFOs. And what do you do with that material and data? Or, rather, what should you do with it? What’s in it for you? What’s in it for them? The answers to those questions all depend on the circumstances. And, I’ll explain what I mean by that."

LEMMY

That was a great memorial for Lemmy this evening! Close to a quarter of a million people watched the YouTube stream, which is very cool. The end of an era, but the music will live on. There's just one thing left to do: put "Ace of Spades" on and turn it up very, VERY loud. I recommend you do the same too!

UFOs, James Bond, and Strange and Out-Of-Place Animals

There are 5 new articles from me at Mysterious Universe, on a wide variety of subjects, some weirder than others!!

1. The FBI's now-declassified file on the James Bond movie, Goldfinger;

2. Mysterious creatures of the skies;

3. The British Police Force file on George King and the Aetherius Society;

4. A "Strange Animal" in the UK;

5. The UK's giant-sized guinea-pigs.

Bigfoot and "Exists"

There's a new review from me at Mysterious Universe of a 2014 Bigfoot-themed movie, Exists . Here's the link , and here's the two opening paragraphs to the review:

It’s a tried and tested scenario that has been used (to the point of complete and utter tediousness) in numerous monster-themed movies. We know that scenario all too well: a bunch of twenty-somethings head out into the heart of dense and isolated woods. And, in doing so, they fall victim to a marauding beast that takes out the group, one by one, and in inevitable violent fashion. Generally, the group is comprised of a couple of well-stacked hot-babes, a guy (or two) of the “heroic” type, and a geeky nerd. You know the movies and you know the channels that have the gall to air them, too. The problem is that, for the most part, they are nothing but cheaply-made crap. As for the “actors,” well, the less said about them the better. Thankfully, however, there is the occasional gem in what is now a huge ocean of stinking sewage.

All of this brings me to Exists . It’s a 2014 movie I have now had the opportunity to see on a couple of occasions. Exists , I’m pleased to say, is a welcome relief from the kinds of movies that I gave up on years ago. Written by Jamie Nash and directed be Eduardo Sanchez, Exists employs actors who actually know how to act. If only so many other film-makers would do likewise! Exists is very much a “found footage” movie, which many may not find surprising, given that Sanchez was the co-director of the 1999 hit movie, The Blair Witch Project .

Profiling "The Invaders"

"Back in 2009, I wrote a book titled Science Fiction Secrets . It was a study of how, and under what particular circumstances, the realm of science-fiction had crossed paths with that of high-level government secrecy and conspiracy. Doing the research for the book was something of a revelation for me. It demonstrated that there does appear to be some form of crossover between science-fiction and governmental shenanigans, suggesting the startling possibility that the world of Hollywood and the secrets of the Pentagon may be closer than we think. They may have even come together on occasion to help instill ideas about UFOs and alien life in the collective mind of the populace.

"I elected to keep my own views and opinions out of Science Fiction Secrets. Instead, I chose to provide the reader with just the facts. But, it’s fair and accurate to say that my personal interest in science-fiction reflects the kinds of things I wrote about in the pages of my book. I’ll tell you what I mean by that. Frankly, watching endless TV shows or films set in the depths of outer-space, in which laser-gun-wielding good-guys and bad-guys do battle with each other, while huge spacecraft soar across the starry skies, and human-looking aliens run around in silver-suits, bores me rigid. In fact, it bores me beyond rigid."

Those are the opening paragraphs to a new article from me, on the 1960s UFO-themed show, The Invaders. You can find the article here.

UFOs, Owls, Synchronicities

“I get a strong sense that Mike was guided to write this by the UFO intelligence and I think the reader will get that. This is the first time I have seen this level of both a book and its author being inextricably linked to the phenomenon itself since Strieber and Communion. Communion was clearly more than just a book; I believe the phenomenon intended it to be written, published, and read on a large scale. I think Mike’s book is another example of this.”
 
The above quote is mine and was written as a blurb for Mike Clelland’s new book, The Messengers: Owls, Synchronicity and the UFO Abductee . As my words make clear, Clelland’s book is a very important one, and for several reasons: (A) the subject-matter is one which a lot of people in Ufology may have heard of, but which has not (until now) received the scrutiny it deserves; (B) the author is an integral part of the story, and is, therefore, in an ideal position to comment on it; (C) the book demonstrates that approaching and studying the UFO phenomenon purely from the “nuts and bolts” angle is as pointless as it is utterly misguided; and (D) The Messengers reveals time and again something that so many who have immersed themselves in the UFO enigma have come to realize. Namely, that the investigator often attracts the deep attention of the phenomenon and, as a result, becomes an integral part of the story. Arguably, the investigator even becomes the subject of significant manipulation.

The two paragraphs above are extracted from a new Mysterious Universe article, which you can find here...

RIP Lemmy

Lemmy, a true rock star, is no more. But, he left a great legacy! Motorhead were due to play here in Dallas a couple of months ago, but were forced to cancel as a result of Lemmy's failing health. A bad day for rock music, and for Lemmy's family and friends. RIP.

The Creepiest Kids in the Village

And another new Mysterious Universe article , which starts like this:

There can be no doubt that one of the more intriguing mysteries of recent years is that of the Black-Eyed Children. Who, or what, these menacing, pale-faced, black-eyed things are is a matter of deep debate. Some say they’re ETs. Others suggest alien-human hybrids. Then, there’s the demonic angle. In other words, we’re pretty much still in the dark when it comes to their real origins and motivations. But, that’s not what I’m focusing on today. Instead, I’m talking about the earlier Black-Eyed Children. The ones who came before the modern-day wave. Interestingly, they surfaced not in the real world, but in the domain of fiction.

Just three years before the dawning of the 1960s the well-known science-fiction author, John Wyndham, wrote a book titled The Midwich Cuckoos . Before I get to that, in case you aren’t familiar with Wyndham’s work, he’s perhaps best known for his 1951 title, The Day of the Triffids. The Midwich Cuckoos was well-received, to the extent that in 1960 it was turned into a movie. Its title: Village of the Damned. A sequel followed: Children of the Damned.