Nick Redfern's Blog, page 90

The Bigfoot "Teepee" Controversy

Bigfoot Teepees and tree formations: territorial markers, Sasquatch sign-posts, makeshift dens, or nothing stranger than the work of Mother Nature?

Those are the issues that my new Mysterious Universe article brings up , and which begins like this:

"On numerous occasions, Bigfoot seekers have reported finding curious creations in areas where Bigfoot has been seen. Essentially, they are teepee-like structures that appear to have been created by something with intelligence – and a great deal of strength, too.

"The latter is made abundantly evident by the fact that in many cases the branches of the trees used to create these sometimes huge structures appear to have been wrenched off. In other cases, the branches appear to have been carefully bent over and intertwined."

Note: The photo above was taken by me a few years ago, in the woods of Ray Roberts Lake, Texas, which has been the site of a number of Bigfoot reports over the years. 

In Search of Lake Monsters Resurfaces!

Excellent news for fans of cryptozoology in general and lake-monsters in particular. Anomalist Books have just released a new edition of Peter Costello's classic study, In Search of Lake Monsters.

And here's what Anomalist Books has to say about In Search of Lake Monsters and Peter Costello:

"This pioneering classic in the field of cryptozoology covers not only the Loch Ness monster, but lake monsters from all over the world-from the Ogopogo of Canada and the 'Patagonian Plesiosaur' of Argentina, to Idaho's 'Slimey Slim' and Sweden's 'Storsjo,' along with the 'Bunyip' of Australia and the strange monsters of South Africa. Peter Costello provides a detailed and fascinating overview of lake monster lore-and gives a convincing explanation of the identity of these elusive denizens.
This new edition contains a new Afterword by the author, an Introduction by Loren Coleman, and a Preface by Bernard Heuvelmans, the 'of cryptozoology,' who wrote: 'Peter Costello authoritatively surveys the whole subject, supporting his arguments with a substantial bibliography, and displaying both the elegance of the born writer and the sense of humor essential to every occasion.'

"Peter Costello is an author, critic, and editor. He was born and educated in Dublin, but is a graduate of the University of Michigan in the USA. He is the author of many books in the connected fields of history and biography. His recent account of the creator of Sherlock Holmes as real-life sleuth, Conan Doyle Detective , has achieved international success. He is currently based in Ireland, where he is the Literary Editor of a weekly national newspaper." 

Mothman, The Flatwoods Monster and More...

A fascinating article from Thomas Brisson Jørgensen on Mothman, the Flatwoods Monster, a series of weird synchronicities, me, and much more...


You can find it right here...

Taking Time Off

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I'll be offline for about a week or so.

Mothman's Curse

One for the kids, coming next year...

Championing William Seabrook

I was asked the other day, on a radio show, if I had to spend the rest of my life on a desert island, what books would I take with me?

I think there was a bit of a surprise when there were no UFO/Bigfoot etc books in my reply.

I said I would have to take my Charles de Lint, Robert Holdstock, Charles Bukoswki, Jack Kerouac, Arturo Perez-Reverte, and Carlos Ruiz Zafon books.

And then there is my collection of William Seabrook books.

Born in 1884, he was kind of a real life Indiana Jones, who travelled the world having all sorts of crazy adventures in jungles, and investigating things like voodoo, zombies, cannibals, etc.

His Jungle Ways book (see my 1930s edition photo above) is one of my all-time favorites, demonstrating his great writing skills and ability to tell an excellent story. And one I would definitely have to take to the island.

Sadly, Seabrook spent most of his life battling mental illness and alcoholism, and eventually killed himself. But he left a great legacy.

Dream Invaders

Are our dreams simply random, internal things unique to each and every one of us? Or is something else going on? Is it possible that our dreams are being "invaded" by predatory, paranormal things? That's the subject of my new Mysterious Universe feature...

It's a feature that starts like this:

"Just a few days ago, here at Mysterious Universe, I wrote a review of Heidi Hollis’ excellent book, The Hat Man: The True Story of Evil Encounters . It’s a book I recommend to anyone interested in matters of a paranormal-, UFO- and supernatural-themed nature. In my article on Heidi’s book, I noted the following:

"'Many of the encounters occur while the victim is in a distinct altered state – that of sleeping. Nightmarish accounts of terrifying visitations, in the early hours of the morning, from the Hat Man abound in the pages of Heidi’s book. None of them are positive. All of them are negative. The Hat Man appears to be attracted to or provokes (maybe, even, both) bad luck, misfortune, ill-health, and even death. Soul-stealing may be one of the calling cards of the horror in the hat.'"

Albert Bender and the MIB - Again

As per my post of yesterday on Albert Bender and the Men in Black, here's my lengthier piece on the latest development, at Mysterious Universe .

It begins as follows and you can find it right here...

"Back in the early 1950s, a new aspect was added to the growing UFO phenomenon: the Men in Black. Yes, there were one or two pre-1950s MIB encounters (such as the saga of the sinister character that terrorized a certain Harold Dahl, one of the key figures in the notorious UFO event at Maury Island in June 1947). But, overall, it was the 1950s that saw the rise of the MIB.

"We pretty much have one person to thank for that rise. His name was Albert Bender. From his home in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bender created the International Flying Saucer Bureau, and went on to publish a newsletter/journal called Space Review . It was filled with information on then-recent UFO encounters, letters from fellow researchers, and much more of a flying saucer nature."

MIB, Albert Bender, and Space Review

For those who may be interested, there's a new, bound collection of Albert Bender's early 1950s newsletter, Space Review , now available. Bender being the guy who played a major role in the development of the Men in Black mystery.

Here's the link...

I have written a more extensive piece on all this for the Mysterious Universe website and which will be published in the next day or two.

In the meantime, I can go one better than Bender's journals: here's one example of a number of Bender's letters I own.

This one (framed on my office wall) was sent from Bender to New Zealand researcher Harold Fulton in November 1953, and makes references to Bender's phone being "tapped," and things that will "disturb the learned ones."

Gray Barker's Bigfoot Shootout!

If you're into wilder, more controversial, side of Bigfoot, here's a book to buy:

A newly-published edition of an old (1983) one from Gray Barker: Bigfoot Shootout!

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

New Saucerian proudly presents Gray Barker's underground classic, Bigfoot Shootout: Terrifying Tales of Interspecies Conflict!

This 1983 book, which was way ahead of its time (thirty years before shows like "Shooting Bigfoot"), features Barker's musings on the unusual intersection of Bigfoot, UFOs, and firearms, as well as special reports submitted to him at his Saucerian headquarters in Riffle, West Virginia.

This smorgasbord of high-strangeness delves into alarming matters such as Bigfoot surveillance of livestock and humans, the kidnapping of prospectors and hikers by Sasquatch, and the mystifying aerial lights that seem to provide "cover" for these dastardly deeds.

Does Bigfoot occasionally kidnap, terrorize, hypnotize, and attack human beings? Can he shapeshift or disappear before your very eyes? If you shoot him point-blank with a machine gun, will he just laugh at you? Are the Apemen stockpiling weapons stolen from unwitting civilians, hoping to turn the tables at some future date?

These questions and more are answered in this special 2015 reprint, which features intriguing contributions from researchers like Jim Moseley, Dennis Pilichis, Fred Beck, Janet and Colin Bord, Brent Raynes, Stan Gordon, Roger Patterson, Justin Smeja, Jeffery Pritchett, Dr. Ogden Pearl, and William S. Burroughs.

"Sticks a big finger in the guns of Bigfoot hunters everywhere..." -Chip Plescher, "Mind Cemetery" Radio