Unleashing Monster Files...

This week marks the official release of my new book: Monster Files: A Look Inside Government Secrets and Classified Documents on Bizarre Creatures and Extraordinary Animals! Published by New Page Books, Monster Files takes a long and winding trip into dark and foreboding territory. It is territory where the strange and the monstrous dwell. It’s a place filled with bizarre creatures, nightmarish beasts, and terrible things of the woods, skies, and oceans. And it’s filled with something else, too: (a) agents and employees of government; and (b) secret files filled with astounding tales of creatures of types that should not exist, but which just might.

For absolutely decades, rumors, tales and legends have surfaced to the effect that government agencies – all around the world and since at least the early to mid 1800s onwards – have been secretly collecting and carefully studying data on bizarre beasts, extraordinary animals, and strange creatures.

And here's where you can find more...

An Alien Big Cat in Alien-Filled Woods

"Imagine the scene: It’s late on a chilled, winter’s night and the witching-hour is looming perilously close. Your high-pressure job takes you out of town on a regular basis, and right now – after a hard week spent on the road – you just want to get home to your wife and the comfort of your own bed. But before you can do both, you are forced to concentrate on driving through the winding, tree-shrouded roads of large, ancient woodland. Your eyes are tired, the light is poor, and mysterious shadows dominate your field of view. And, little do you know it, but there’s something else on the road, too. It’s something terribly monstrous, as you are just about to find out.

"As you negotiate a sharp bend – a bend you have traveled on probably hundreds of occasions and one which is particularly dense with tree cover – you slow down and turn on your high beams to help illuminate the blackness that beckons. Suddenly, your eyes become hypnotized by something incredible on the right-side of the road."

The above is how my latest Mysterious Universe post begins, on a saga of an out-of-place animal and an infamous forest.

An Ancient Horseman

My latest Lair of the Beasts article at Mania.com is on a case that is one of my favorites: a decades-old story from the heart of the English countryside. A time-slip? A ghost? Or something else entirely? We'll likely never know!

Bizarre Beasts and Paranormal Places

Back online after an apartment move (but the unpacking never ends, of course!), which means it's time to get back to it.

My latest Mysterious Universe article focuses on the strange connection between certain cryptozoological beasts and places known for being, in simple terms, strange...

Crop Circles and Government Secrets

Well, there's one last post from me before I get down to packing, moving, and then unpacking in the new apartment: it's on the strange subject of British Intelligence, the Second World War, and Crop Circles.

You can find it right here.

And, I'll be back here sometime next week!

On the Move

There probably won't be many posts from me for the rest of this week, as I'm on the move to a new apartment this weekend. But business will be back to normal next week!

UFOs & OBEs

My latest Mysterious Universe article deals with an intriguing topic: the links between Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs) and UFOs. It starts like this...

"One of the most notable UFO encounters ever recorded occurred shortly after 11p.m. on October 18, 1973. That the prime witnesses were serving members of the U.S. Army Reserve only added to the credibility of the report. Having departed from Port Columbus, Ohio, their UH-1H helicopter was headed for its home base at Cleveland Hopkins Airport. Aboard were Captain Lawrence J. Coyne; Sergeant John Healey, the flight-medic; First Lieutenant Arrigo Jezzi, a chemical engineer; and a computer technician, Sergeant Robert Yanacsek. All seemed normal as the crew climbed into the air and kept the helicopter at a steady 2,500 feet altitude."

Monster Files: New Reviews

 

There are several new reviews online of my just-released book, Monster Files: A Look Inside Government Secrets and Classified Documents on Bizarre Creatures and Extraordinary Animals.

The first is at Horror News, which you can find at this link. About the book, HN say in part: "Bestselling author Nick Redfern’s many books are always amazing and dependably controversial. His latest is Monster Files...an exposé that rips open hidden government files filled with evidence of strange animals whose existence has not been proven (until now)."

And then there's a review at Blog Critics. It notes: "Monster Files: A Look Inside Government Secrets and Classified Documents On Bizarre Creatures and Extraordinary Animals by Nick Redfern is an interesting story about a collection of fantastic sightings of bizarre creatures over the centuries. Redfern includes full length pictures of half-apes, the lagoon creature, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, winged beasts and creatures appearing to be real werewolves."

And here's an extract from a third review, at the Occult Detective site: "With his trademark attention to detail and fervent zeal for Fortean journalism, Redfern delivers another stellar addition to the annals of the Weird. Monster Files is an excellent primer for budding cryptozoologists and conspiracy buffs as it delves not only into a myriad of fantastic, legendary beasties and grumpkins, but also into the various government agencies who just might be more knowledgeable about such things than they’re willing to let on."

Flying Triangles: Not New Phenomena

My latest Mysterious Universe article focuses on one of the biggest controversies within Ufology: the so-called Flying Triangles. Are they classified military craft or vehicles from somewhere else?

Many ufologists who suggest the FTs are ours maintain that's because they have only been seen for the last few decades - chiefly the 1980s onwards. But they're talking crap. If you go looking, you find numerous reports of FTs - identical to those seen today - dating back forty to fifty years ago.

And my new MU post focuses on one, perfect example. It starts like this:

"As many students of Ufology will be aware, the last couple of decades or so have seen a rise in reports of one particular type of UFO. It has become known as the Flying Triangle. The FTs are triangular in shape and very often black in color, hence the name, of course! They often emit a low humming noise, and have a trio of lights on their underside. They usually have rounded corners too, rather than sharply angled edges. And, in some ways, they are not unlike the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit (otherwise known as the Stealth Bomber) in design. This has, quite naturally, given rise to the possibility that the FTs are next-generation Stealth planes, rather than true UFOs. It’s not an unreasonable assumption. But there’s a problem with that scenario: the FTs are actually not new, or even recent, at all.

"While digging through a whole host of formerly classified files on UFOs at the National Archives at Kew, England in 1996, I came across a one-page report dated 28 March 1965 that, I confess, I almost overlooked. On closer inspection, however, I realized that it was potentially one of the most important UFO-related documents that I had ever come across. According to the MoD paperwork, on the night in question a witness saw at approximately 9.30 p.m. over moor-land near Richmond, North Yorkshire, England:'Nine or ten objects – in close triangular formation each about 100ft long – orange illumination below – each triangular in shape with rounded corners, making low humming noise.'"

Here's the rest of the article which demonstrates that - regardless of what many might think - the Flying Triangle aspect of the UFO controversy is far from being a relatively recent one.

Savage Woods and a Sinister Cemetery

Another week, so it must be time for another Mysterious Universe post from me. And it is!

It begins like this...

"Just over six years ago (almost to the very week) a deeply strange series of events kicked off in the woods of central England, just a stone’s throw from where I used to live. On April 26, 2007, the Stafford Post newspaper stated the following: 'A rash of sightings of a ‘werewolf’-type creature prowling around the outskirts of Stafford has prompted a respected Midlands paranormal group to investigate.'"

"The newspaper continued: 'West Midlands Ghost Club says they have been contacted by a number of shocked residents who saw what they claimed to be a ‘hairy wolf-type creature’ walking on its hind legs around the German War Cemetery, just off Camp Road, in between Stafford and Cannock. Several of them claim the creature sprang up on its hind legs and ran into the nearby bushes when it was spotted.'"

And here's the complete story on that monster of the cemetery...

JFK & UFOs - Part 1

The famous Book Depository and the infamous 6th floor...

As readers of this blog will know, I regularly write for Mysterious Universe.

Most of my posts for MU are stand-alone articles. The new one, however, is a bit different. It's the first of many in an on-going series that I'll be posting between now and November.

Why November? Well, the opening two paragraphs of Part-1 (below) will give you a clue...

"November 22 of this year marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, at Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas. It’s a place I know very well, as it’s only a short journey from where I live. One of the areas of controversy surrounding the assassination that is seldom discussed in a serious forum is that which posits a link between the event itself and the UFO controversy.

"As fantastic as it may appear, there is a demonstrable body of evidence available that links numerous people to the JFK saga who were also allied to the UFO subject. More notably, nearly all of those people with connections to the JFK story were specifically linked with crashed-saucer accounts, rather than just the UFO subject in general."

And here's where you can find Part-1 of my ongoing look at the many (actually loads!) links between UFOs and the JFK assassination...

 

Me (in the summer of 2012) outside the old cinema where Lee Harvey Oswald was apprehended after the JFK assassination.

Paranormal Cannock Chase

Here's some excellent news!

A new blog has been created by British paranormal researcher, Lee Brickley. The theme is the many and varied tales of paranormal activity, strange creatures, UFOs, and much more of England's Cannock Chase - an expansive and captivating area of very dense woodland and heath.

As you may know I've written extensively on the Fortean "things" of the Cannock Chase.

My book, There's Something in the Woods, has a chapter on the "Chase Werewolf of the German Cemetery" saga of 2007. Wildman includes a wealth of material on Bigfoot-type creatures seen on the Chase. One chapter of On the Trail of the Saucer Spies is devoted to a reported UFO crash somewhere on Cannock Chase in 1964. And Monster Diary delves into a strange saga filled with dark rituals and occult masses in the woods after sunset.

When, from the mid-80s to the early-90s, I worked as a van-driver and forklift driver for a local paint-and-wallpaper company, my daily deliveries often took me across the Chase, something which made me look at the place in a new light.

The reason being that every now and again I would hear tales of high-strangeness from some of the customers who knew of my paranormal interests. Sightings of big-cats, wallabies, and wild boar on the loose were typical topics of just a few of those tales.

In other words, the Cannock Chase is quite a place, which is why I'm very pleased that Lee has decided to create a blog solely devoted to studying, and reporting on, this particular locale - which is only a short journey from where I lived as a kid.

Lee already has three posts up at his blog (one on the werewolf controversy, a second on orbs and triangular-shaped UFOs, and the third being his introduction to the blog and its aims and goals).

If you are already familiar with the Cannock Chase, or are wondering what's really afoot, check out Lee's Paranormal Cannock Chase blog, which you can find right here...

 

All the photos above are from my own collection and show various places of paranormal interest on and around the Cannock Chase.

Concealed Creatures and Caverns

 

 

Tim Binnall tells us about the latest Binnall of America show:

 

"Wm. Michael Mott: Caverns, Cauldrons, and Concealed Creatures, 2 Hours, 25 Minutes

"BoA:Audio takes a journey to the underground as we welcome author Wm. Michael Mott for a discussion on his book Caverns, Cauldrons, and Concealed Creatures, which looks at the possibility that there is an entire ecosystem, including nefarious entities, existing beneath the Earth's surface. In this wide-ranging conversation, we'll revisit the global historical narrative which tells of this underground world, how so-called 'ETs' may very well be homegrown entities deceiving humans, how Bigfoot, elementals, and diminutive esoteric entities, like elves and gnomes, may fit into this ecosystem, as well as much, much more. Plus, we'll break the 4th wall and discuss the current state of paranormal research and how reality TV has both helped and hindered the quest to solve esoteric mysteries."

Talking of Bigfoot...

Over the years, I've come across a lot of weird tales, but this one probably beats the lot: it's my latest Mysterious Universe post.

There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that it's a story which will polarize readers into two camps: (A) those who find it intriguing; and (B) those who think it's garbage and not even worthy of comment.

As for middle-ground? I'd say no way; there is none. You either go with these type of stories or you don't.

So, if that has caught your attention, here's the story, and here's how it begins:

"It’s fair to say that I’m not just a regular recipient of strange tales of a supernatural nature. Just occasionally, I’m the recipient of tales that easily exceed what could be termed strange. I’m talking about those distinctly rogue cases that veer into territories where a researcher is forced to take one of two views: (a) what the witness reported simply did not happen; or (b) some of the mysterious things that people such as me chase down are not just weird. They’re beyond weird. The following case is a perfect example of the latter.

"It came to me a few years ago from a couple named Donnie and Lynne, a thirty-something pair originally from Tulsa, who were living on the fringes of Oklahoma City when I interviewed them. March 8, 2007, Donnie told me, marked the couple’s second wedding anniversary. And, as keen outdoors-people with a love of nature, they decided to avoid the typical vacation resorts that would normally spring to mind, and instead decided to spend nine days deep in the heart of the grand Ouachita National Forest. The decision was one they would later come to bitterly regret."

Monster Files - Reviewed

Although my new book, Monster Files, is not published until May 22, copies are starting to surface already. Rich Reynolds, of The UFO Iconoclast(s), has done 2 posts on the book:

1. The first post is a review of Monster Files;

2. The second post from Rich is based around what I have to say in the book about the notorious Flatwoods Monster escapade of 1952.

Big Cats and Missing Cats

My latest Lair of the Beasts article at Mania.com tackles a subject not often addressed: the vanishing of pet cats when Alien Big Cats (ABCs) appear...

Here's the link.

The UK's Phantom Helicopters

So-called "phantom helicopters" and "black helicopters" are most associated with the United States. This is understandable, since that's where most of the reports originate.

However, few people know that the UK had its own PH/BH wave in a period that ran from late 1973 to early 1974. It was an affair that even attracted the attention of the British Ministry of Defense.

And, you can find a new article from me on this very subject over at Mysterious Universe...

In Search of the Crypto-Camels

There's a new Mysterious Universe article from me, which starts like this...

"As many readers of Mysterious Universe will know, one of my biggest interests – when it comes to the domain of all-things weird and Fortean – is the field of Cryptozoology. Or, in simple terms, the study of unknown animals, mysterious beasts and monsters – call them what you will. But, there are other categories of animal that, for some – but certainly not all – creature-seekers also play a role in how we define Cryptozoology. They are the out of place animals.

"It goes without saying that the British Isles are not home to large, black, exotic cats. Yet, numerous people – all across the nation – report seeing them every year. Out of place wallabies are common in both the UK and the United States. Australia has a huge number of incidents on record of large cats on the loose, eerily resembling their British cousins. And then there’s another type of creature that falls into this particular category: the camel. Say what? Yep!"

Camels? Yes, really! Here's the story...

Reviewing the CFZ Yearbook

Over at Mania.com, my latest Lair of the Beasts article takes a look at the newly-published Center for Fortean Zoology Yearbook 2013.

Here's the link to the review, and here's an extract from it:

"...Neil Arnold tells the strange and entertaining saga of the 'Essex Lion.' In late 2012, fear and chaos broke out in the English county of Essex, when rumors spread like wildfire of a fully-grown, man-eating lion on the loose. Arnold does a fine job of dissecting fact from fiction as he seeks out the truth of the affair.

"Werewolves and lycanthropy in 18th Century France are the focus of Paul Williams’ paper, Le Gevaudan: The Man behind the Monster. This is an excellent study of a case involving an alleged outbreak of lycanthropy, as well as a fierce beast on the loose. It’s a saga that also inspired a very cool 2001 movie, Brotherhood of the Wolf..."

A Q&A of the Monster Kind

Over at the Australian office of the Center for Fortean Zoology there's a new interview with me about my cryptozoological research, as well as my views on such creatures as Megalania, the British Bigfoot, Orang-Pendek and much more, including some of favorite crypto-themed books and how and why I got interested in cryptozoology.

You can find it right here.