Nick Redfern's Blog, page 68

UFOs: A Great Gig and an Amazing Collection

Here's a bunch of photos from the New Mexico Albuquerque MUFON gig this past weekend.
Many thanks to John and Susan LeMaster for the dinners, accommodation, and good times! There were 3 of us speaking at the gig, me, Nick Pope, and John Alexander. And around 300 people turned out for the event.

Definitely one of the stand-out events was a visit to the home of UFO researcher/author, David Marler.

David has a massive (and I do mean massive) collection of UFO books, magazines, periodicals, memorabilia, UFO collections from various old-timers from Ufology, and an incredible collection of material on the Contactee movement, and much much more - including a garage full of filing-cabinets filled with things like old APRO mags, clippings, old and rare journals and way more.

Good mate Greg Bishop would be foaming at the mouth at the sight of it all!

David very generously let me photograph some of his collection for posting here. As you can see from the photos, it includes first issues of both Fate and Gray Barker's Saucerian .

Also, as you'll see, David has a couple of items of note for those interested in the "Flatwoods Monster" saga of 1952 - including one publication which has a 3-page hand-written statement from Kathleen May, one of the original witnesses.

If you know the history of the CIA's and US Air Force's involvement in the UFO controversy, you'll know the name Dewey Fournet. David owns Fournet's briefcase which he (Fournet) used when he was interviewed by the CIA's Robertson Panel and which contained copies of the old USAF files that Fournet handed over to the panel.

Check out too the "gate clearance" card for access to the old Roswell base way back when. You'll see the signature is that of Major Edwin Easley, who - as Provost Marshal - was one of the central figures in the Roswell crash saga.

I could go on and on...and on. But, that's enough of me. Here's the photos...

Black-Eyed Children, Men in Black, and a T-Shirt

If you've read David Weatherly's ultra-creepy book, Black-Eyed Children (which is definitely a great read for Halloween!), you'll want the BEC t-shirt too, which is now available. ( David's website linked here ). David sent me one and here it is. And you can find an update on the BEC from David in my latest book, Men in Black . It's a paper that runs to 18 pages and which notes the deep similarities between the MIB and the BEC.

Death Line and the Didi

Two more new articles I've recently written, the first on the 1970s movie Death Line ( Raw Meat in the US), and the second on the Didi, a mysterious "wild-man"-like creature seen in the wilds of Guyana.

Roswell: Hiatus or Change?

Is it time to give the Roswell affair a rest until there is actually something new to say, instead of just going over old ground? In my view, yes. And it's the subject of a new article from me, which you can find here.

Here's how it starts:

"If you are a regular follower of Kevin Randle’s 'A Different Perspective' blog, you’ll know that he has recently posted a few new articles on Roswell. One is on the controversy concerning the so-called “Roswell Slides” – which are actually nothing of the sort. And everyone knows that. A second was on the matter of the size of the debris field on the Foster Ranch, Lincoln County, New Mexico, where the wreckage of 'it' (whatever 'it' may have been) was found. And the third new article from Kevin deals with a military man who suspected that what came down was an aircraft. And, if you are a regular reader of Rich Reynolds’ UFO Conjecture(s) blog, you’ll know that Rich feels Ufology may be on its last legs, and that endless debate about Roswell is pointless and cannot lead anywhere. All of which brings me to the matter of this article.

"As much as I recognize Kevin’s enthusiasm for solving Roswell, I have to say that endlessly debating every tiny detail, repeatedly scrutinizing every single word spoken by those on-site, and trying to figure out the size of the debris field does not – and never will – provide answers to what really happened a few hours’ drive outside of Roswell in the summer of 1947. Here’s what I mean: the Air Force believes that what came down on the Foster Ranch was neither a weather-balloon nor a UFO, but a Mogul balloon. Now, if a debate about the size of the debris-field suggests it wasn’t a Mogul balloon or a weather-balloon…well… that’s all it achieves. And it’s all that such a debate can achieve."

MIB: Nothing to do with "the Government"

Over at Jim Harold's site, there's a new article from me on why the Men in Black are clearly not "government agents."

It starts like this:

"On the night of September 28, I was interviewed for 3-hours on Art Bell’s show, Midnight in the Desert. The subject of the Q&A was my new book, Men in Black: Personal Stories & Eerie Encounters . It was an interview which provoked a great deal of feedback and a number of previously unheard of encounters and confrontations with the MIB.

"What I found particularly notable, however, was the fact that four of the people who contacted me after the show ended took issue with one particular matter I brought up time and again. As one of them worded it,' You stubbornly tell your readers the Men in Black are not Black-Ops.' He continued: 'When you promote the Men in Black being paranormal you’re so far away from it.' 'It' meaning 'the truth,' I assume.



"Well, no, actually, I’m not. At all. His words, however, did get me thinking about the way in which so many people interpret the MIB phenomenon."

England Yes! Lithuania No!

Last night was a very good night, watching England thrash Lithuania in the soccer, Euro 2016 qualifying!

Something Fell To Earth, 1965

That's the subject of another new article from me, which you can find here...

Original Texas Bigfoot Gig - Reviewed

This past weekend I was at the annual Original Texas Bigfoot Conference, a cool event which I have reviewed for Mysterious Universe . You can find the article here , and below is an extract and a few photos from the gig:

"On Friday, October 9 I traveled from my Arlington, Texas home to the town of Jefferson for the annual Original Texas Bigfoot Conference. It’s an event organized by Craig Woolheater of Cryptomundo. Like me, most of the other speakers (Ken Gerhard, Lyle Blackburn, John Kirk, and Chester Moore) arrived on the Friday afternoon. A couple of hours later we strolled down to a nearby restaurant, along with around 50 or 60 conference attendees. As well as chowing down on some fine Mexican food, me and Ken gave an approximately thirty-minutes-long overview on the matter of the strange creatures of Texas.

"That included the legendary, near-Fortean 'Goat-Man' that provoked havoc, hysteria and excitement in the summer of 1969. It was a large, rampaging humanoid which was seen late at night in and around the woods of Lake Worth, Texas. The creature was variously described as scaly, cloven-hoofed, and even with horns on its head – hence the name. As we noted, however, since those long gone days, suggestions have been made that the beast was a wandering, white Bigfoot. An equally odd scenario!"


 

Micah Hanks and the Cash-Landrum UFO

In  a new article, Micah Hanks digs deep into the controversy surrounding the Cash-Landrum incident of December 1980 - a case filled with numerous twists and turns...

Kelly-Hopkinsville Goblins and the CIA

The Kelly-Hopkinsville "Goblin" affair of 1955 is a case of Fortean proportions that still intrigues people 60 years later. Including me. There's another new Mysterious Universe article from me, one that focuses on a little known aspect of the K-H story, namely the alleged involvement of the CIA...