The Betty and Barney Hill Archives

Yesterday I was asked if there are any other sources on the famous (and controversial) Betty and Barney Hill "alien abduction" of 1961, beyond just books and articles written by Ufologists. Well, yes, there is.

You can dig deep into all of the Hill's very own material on the case, as well as their correspondence, which are all held at the University of New Hampshire.

I don't know why more people don't take a look at all of this, which covers more than 40 years.

As I've come to realize, a lot of people in Ufology don't even know this very cool archive exists! And it's all open to the public too.

Here's the link to the archive.

From Project Blue Book to the Skinwalker Ranch! WTF???

Project Blue Book was garbage when it started, but take a look at how crazy it's going now:

Hynek goes to the set of Close Encounters of the Third Kind in the next episode (the movie wasn't even made until 1977).

And in the episode after that, Hynek and the other guy go to...wait for it... the Skinwalker Ranch!!!

WTF???

Swingers, a Creepy Man in Black, and More...

Yep, a very weird story!

Here's part 1.

And here's the second part.

 

Beyond The Fray: Bigfoot - A New Book On Sasquatch

What you see above are the front and back covers of the new book from Shannon LeGro. Its full title: Beyond the Fray: Bigfoot. Shannon very generously mailed me a review copy of the book a couple of weeks ago. And, I'm very pleased she did! This is an excellent study of the Bigfoot phenomenon; a book that really stands out. There's a very good reason as to why this is an important book. Over the years, numerous books have been written on the subject of Bigfoot. I should know, I've written three books on the subject, LOL! Beyond the Fray: Bigfoot is not your average Sasquatch-themed book, however. I'll explain why.

Most books on the subject of Bigfoot focus on the history of the mystery, old case-files, theories for what the creatures might be, and controversial photos. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that at all. In fact, it's all vital if we are to solve the puzzle. With her new book, however, Shannon has done something slightly different (but much needed too). What she has done is to let the witnesses themselves tells their stories - and without any interruption whatsoever. As I note in the "Praise for Beyond the Fray" section of the book: "Shannon LeGro's new book is almost unique, in the sense that it is 100 percent focused on incredible eyewitness testimony. Shannon gets right to the heart of what it means to see a Bigfoot!"

The opening chapter comes from a man named David. His account is significantly different to many cases. A lot of people in the field of Cryptozoology take the view that the Bigfoot creatures are largely gentle animals. David, however, quickly came to the conclusion that his life was potentially in danger, when it came to his encounter. In his own words: "...had I remained there, things more than likely would have taken a violent turn."

Ever had a Bigfoot in your gun-sights? Probably not! That's not the case for Kris, though, who found himself in that very situation while hunting in Wisconsin. The story is a tense one, to say the least. Moving on, you don't hear too much about Bigfoot in Nevada. But, Shannon shares with us just such a notable case. Add to that, an account of a Dogman and one of a Dire Wolf, and you have an incredible body of data of the monstrous type. I should stress this is just the start of things: Beyond the Fray: Bigfoot is packing with absorbing - and sometimes chilling - accounts of face to face encounters with a Bigfoot. Or maybe even more than one. This book is not just vital for Bigfoot enthusiasts. It also demonstrates how encounters with the creatures so often change lives forever.

With that all said, here - below - is the information on the book from the publisher:

 
"Be mindful of what lies beyond the wood line." 
It’s argued that the recent search for Bigfoot officially began on September 21, 1958, when journalist, Andrew Genzoli of the Humboldt Times, featured a letter from a reader about loggers in Northern California concerning large footprints they’d found at a work site. What began as a fun article turned into an almost instant national sensation and since stories of the elusive creature have poured in, not just from California and the Pacific Northwest, but from around the world.

BEYOND THE FRAY: BIGFOOT features some of these personal eyewitness accounts and terrifying encounters, most taken from the transcripts of the popular podcast, INTO THE FRAY.  These stories are unique and scary. They will leave you wondering what this creature is and will no doubt give you pause before you cross the wood line and enter the woods.

Monsters of the Deep: Coming This Year

 Coming this year...

And here's the info on the book from the publisher, Visible Ink Press:

A deep dive into the undersea netherworld of sea serpents, lake monsters, surviving dinosaurs, genetically altered mutants, and legendary aquatic creatures.

The ocean alone takes up 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, with countless lakes, rivers, ponds, and streams covering much of the land, but what lurks beneath the water? For centuries, sightings have been made of huge, marauding monsters swimming the world’s oceans and lakes. They include Scotland’s legendary Loch Ness Monster; the United States’ equivalent, Champ, of Lake Champlain; and Canada’s long-necked denizen of the deep known as Ogopogo. These, and many more, famous monsters of the world below us also include giant squid, massive octopi, and even the legendary Kraken and the fabled mermaids of millennia long-gone. Possibly, too, there survive populations of marine reptiles that were assumed to have gone extinct millions of years ago, in the Jurassic period, such as the plesiosaur. Plus, unfortunate modern mutants who’ve had their genes altered by pollution lurk in the depths like horrors from an old sci-fi movie.

Whether scaly or slithery, massive prehistoric dinosaurs or mutant serpents, Monsters of the Deep catalogs nearly 100 accounts of eels, alligators, reptiles, giant squids, snakes, worms, deadly fish, and cold-blooded creatures of all manner and ilk. It reveals the astonishing extent to which lake monsters and sea serpents have surfaced throughout history to terrify, perplex, and amaze those who have crossed paths with monsters of the unknown.

Master storyteller, established author, and respected expert on the unexplained and paranormal Nick Redfern sifts through the historical record, first-person accounts, and unearthed government files on lake monsters and sea serpents to tell of encounters with a variety of beasts, including ...

• Cheever Felch’s 19th-century account of the massive Gloucester, New England, Sea Serpent
• The deadly and dangerous Mokele-Mbembe of the Congo Basin, which resembles a brontosaurus
• The supernatural Bunyip, a monster that lurks within the creeks, lagoons, and swamps of Australia that has been known to the Aboriginal people for centuries
• The Loch Ness Monster-like creature, Caddy, that lives in Cadboro Bay, British Columbia, Canada
• The disputed claims of Teddy May, former Commissioner of Sewers in New York, about the veracity of alligators roaming the sewers of the city
• The monster-sized fish in the River Nene, in the Fens, Cambridgeshire, England

This richly researched reference overflows with fascinating information to make you think about―and reconsider―dipping your toes into water. With more than 120 photos and graphics, this tome is nicely illustrated. Monsters of the Deep also includes a helpful bibliography and an extensive index, adding to its usefulness. It is a fascinating guide to ocean monsters, sea creatures, surviving dinosaurs, and genetically altered mutants from an established author and respected expert on the unexplained and paranormal.

Immortality of the Gods: A German Edition

Coming in a couple of months from now, a German edition of my Immortality of the Gods book. And here's the cover design...

"Flying saucer writer dies of thirst in desert" or was it murder?

Possibly the strangest article I've ever written...Check out the title...

"Flying saucer writer dies of thirst in desert or was it murder" 

Here's the link to the article.

And here's how the article begins:

The words above in quotes are the headline of the July 11, 1954 edition of the Statesman Journal, which is published in Salem, Oregon. The story that accompanies the headline is a genuinely strange and barely-known one. Certainly, I had never heard of it until today. It’s made even stranger by the fact that – as the Freedom of Information Act has shown – the FBI was informed of what went down shortly after the news surfaced. Before I get to the story itself, however, I should explain how I came across the weird saga. As some of you may know, one of my big interests is the Contactee movement of the 1950s. Without a doubt, the most famous of all the Contactees was George Adamski. Others included Daniel Fry, Orfeo Angelucci, George Van Tassel, Truman Bethurum and George Hunt Williamson. While the stories of the Contactees sometimes differed, they had one thing in common: they were all the subjects of FBI surveillance files. The fact that at least some of the Contactees suggested their alien friends had communist-like societies led J. Edgar Hoover and his Special Agents to keep watches on them. The FBI file on George Van Tassel is no less than 319 pages in length. It’s filled with FBI memos, background checks on Van Tassel, copies of his saucer-based publications, and much more. And, it’s in the Van Tassel file that the tale of the unusual death referred to above can be found.

Roswell, Project Blue Book & Tiny Coffins

 
A new article from me on the History Channel's Project Blue Book show, Roswell and "tiny coffins."

Birds and the Afterlife

A genuinely weird phenomenon? Wishful thinking? I'm not sure what to think.

Here's the link to my latest article...

 

"Project Blue Book" Returns Tonight

Project Blue Book is back tonight. Worth watching for the girl on girl shit and...absolutely nothing else...

Roberto Calvi: A File

Roberto Calvi was a banker who died in mysterious circumstances. The FBI has now declassified its file on Calvi. It's not a long file at all, but if you're new to the story, the file will be a good place to start...

Here's the link to the FBI's file...

Just a bit more than a couple of months away...

Here's the link...

And here's the promo info for the book:

A deep dive into high stakes killings, conspiracies and crimes!

  Ruthless killers and murderers for hire: they are here, there, and everywhere. They lurk in the shadows, ready to pounce. They terminate on command. And, in the process, they change the course of the world. They are among the world’s most cold-hearted, deadly, and emotionless figures. They are assassins, and they have a long history of grievous deeds.

From the cunning, calculating, government-trained warriors to the psychopathic, homegrown freelancers, you can find them all in Assassinations: The Plots, Politics, and Powers behind History-changing Murders. Exposed are the hidden agendas as well as the open warfare. The cynical preparations and devastating aftermaths are laid bare. You will quickly find yourself immersed in a world that is filled with killings made to seem like suicides, murders that were designed to look like heart attacks or overdoses, and accidents that, in reality, were carefully orchestrated deaths.

Did Lee Harvey Oswald really kill JFK? Or was Oswald the patsy he claimed to be? 

Was Jack the Ripper, who terrified London in 1888, a madman or a ruthless secret agent of the British government?

Did the United States’ first secretary of defense, James Forrestal, kill himself, or was he thrown out of a window to his death in May 1949?

Did Marilyn Monroe take her own life in August 1962? Was a contract put out on her?

What led to the demise of Danny Casolaro, an investigative journalist who, at the time of his death in 1991, was investigating a powerful cabal known as “The Octopus”?

Was Diana, Princess of Wales, the victim of a car accident or of a carefully orchestrated plot?

Can sound waves and microwaves kill people at the flick of a switch?

Was John Lennon’s murder not at all what it appeared to be?
These questions and many more are answered in Assassinations, and with more than 120 photos and graphics, this tome is richly illustrated. Its helpful bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness. It's a fascinating read that looks into how and why so many famous and influential figures just had to go!

UFOs, Aliens & Demons

In a new article, Tony Bragalia tackles similar ground to that I did in my Final Events book.

"Water Horse of Lake Champlain" Coming Soon...

A new book I've contributed to: Katy Elizabeth's book, Water Horse of Lake Champlain. Not to be missed!

Book Deadlines and More Book Deadlines

Yep, that is what has had me backlogged on the blog for a while. But, posts will be back to normal from tomorrow!

UFOs and False Memories

A new article from me on how the passage of time can distort memories in relation to UFOs...

Area 51: From Goggles to "Foggles."

You may have seen the new story of Area 51 staff - when in certain, sensitive portions of the base - having to wear vision-limiting goggles. They have quickly become known in the media as "foggles."

At a couple of websites the story is being viewed as unlikely or as a hoax, but that's not the case at all. How do I know that? Because I was telling the story as far back as 2006 - and publishing on it, too.

That was when I got the story of the goggles/foggles from a then-retired man who had worked at Area 51 in the early 1970s. And now, thirteen years after he shared what he knew, that man's claims are vindicated.

Here's my story of Area 51's foggles...

Black Eyed Children, Occultists and Demonologists

What do they all have in common? Take a good look.

The Strange Connection between Crop Circles and "Alien Big Cats"

Another new article, this one on "Alien Big Cats" (or "ABCs" as they are known) and their weird connections to Crop Circles.

Reviewing "The Lake Michigan Mothman"

There's a new book out now on Mothman. The author is Tobias Wayland. Its title: The Lake Michigan Mothman: High Strangeness in the Midwest. I've reviewed it at Mysterious Universe, and this is how the review begins...


The Lake Michigan Mothman: High Strangeness in the Midwest is a new book from Tobias Wayland. The blurb for the book reads as follows: "This book represents over two years of research by a dedicated team of investigators who have taken dozens of reports of a weird, winged humanoid seen around Lake Michigan. Author and investigator Tobias Wayland has collected these reports for the first time in one volume, along with his analysis and insider perspective as a member of the investigative team. The phenomena described within represent the continuation of a decades-long series of events first recorded in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in the late '60s, but that has likely been with humanity since our advent, and seems just as likely to be with us until our end."

With that said, onto the review. Before I get to the actual story, though, I should stress that this is a very well-written book. It is filled with atmosphere, menace, intrigue and mystery. Of course, for a story that revolves around the Mothman phenomenon, it has to be readable and a definitive page-turner. It is. There are a few nods here and there in the direction of H.P. Lovecraft. For example, the words "gibbous" and "moon" (together, of course) pop up now and again, but there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, it adds to what is an undeniably weird story. One of the reasons why I was looking forward to reading The Lake Michigan Mothman was because to a fair degree the story parallels some of the accounts that Lon Strickler detailed in his 2017 book, Mothman Dynasty: Chicago's Winged Humanoids.

And here's where you can find the article.