Roswell: Endless Entertainment

Back in July 2007, I travelled to Roswell, New Mexico, where I was due to lecture on my book Body Snatchers in the Desert – a book that most within Ufology hated and dearly hoped would not prove to be the answer to the pesky, long-gone affair that has obsessed so many for so very long. Anyway, just before I hit the road to Roswell I prepared a lengthy article on the looming anniversary, but which has never been published. Until now. So, I figured why not bring it to your attentions? I think it’s all still pretty much relevant, six years later. You may agree or disagree. But, whatever your view on the article, it goes like this…

Mysterious Universe: 2 New Posts

There are a couple of new articles from me at Mysterious Universe, the first of which begins like this...

"I thought, for my latest post, I’d get into matters conspiratorial and of a definitive 'secret file' kind. So here goes! There can be very few who can forget the frenzy that accompanied news from Russia that, over the Christmas period in 2000, contact was lost with its Mir space-station for a terrifying 20 hours. As the 140-tonne station hurtled around Earth, speculation was rife that Mir would spiral out of control and a disaster was imminent.

"A calamity was averted when, as mission-control chief, Vladimir Sololyov, revealed on December 26, contact with, and control of, Mir had been re-established. “Mir will not fall on your heads on New Year’s Eve,” he said. “We have a plan to bid farewell to Mir in a civilized and organized way.” He said Mir would be brought down in a controlled descent in the Pacific between February 27 and 28. Ultimately, however, Mir broke up on March 23, 2001, as it hurtled through the Earth’s atmosphere."

And here's the link to the complete post...

As for the second article, it starts with the following...

"The time is shortly after 5:00 p.m. on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 17, 1952. The location is a large and imposing pre-war mansion on South Orange Grove Avenue in Pasadena, California. And complete and utter carnage and chaos is currently reigning supreme. Within the deep bowels of the old house, a laboratory packed with all manner of chemicals and scientific gadgetry is enveloped in flames. The Hell-like inferno is borne out of two terrifying explosions, the rumbling and reverberating echoes of which can still be heard at least a mile away, and which cause the neighbors to run screaming onto the streets, petrified that an all-destructive Third World War has just begun."

And the rest of the post can be read right here...

The Weirdest Museum...

This past weekend I was lecturing down at the Austin, Texas-based Museum of the Weird, along with good friends and authors Ken Gerhard (Big Bird! and Monsters of Texas) and Lyle Blackburn (The Beast of Boggy Creek).

I drove down with good mate Craig Woolheater of Cryptomundo, and also met up with (for the first time) David Coleman, author of The Bigfoot Filmography book - definitely essential reading for anyone wanting a comprehensive study of Bigfoot in films and TV.

David discussed his book, as did Lyle, while I spoke about Britain's legendary "Man--Monkey" and Ken focused on weird flying man-beasts. And it was followed by dinner, then a showing of the 1976 film, The Creature of Black Lake, and, finally, drinks at a local bar.

Anyway, a good time was had by all, and here's a few photos from the event...

Boar to be Wild

My latest Lair of the Beasts column at Mania.com, on a certain breed of dangerous thugs: Britain's wild boar...

Magonia Reviews Monster Diary

Over at the Magonia blog, Peter Rogerson reviews my Monster Diary book and definitely captures the flavor of the story!

You can find the review right here.

There is one issue I have with the review, however, and it's spelled out in the statement below, which I have also posted in the Comments section of the review at the Magonia blog.

My comment reads as follows:

"Hey Peter,

"Cheers for the fine review!

"Just one quibble: Re the interviewees and the matter of '...I leave it to the reader’s imagination as to whether these characters are fictions created by Redfern for dramatic effect...', it's worth noting the following:

"Every interview/interviewee was digitally recorded. Plus, all the interviewees have to sign waivers to avoid 'trouble' with the publisher, and to confirm they are fine with the way they are presented. So, each and every one is indeed a real person with waivers kept on file etc.

"And where you say of the interviewees, '...they have an uncanny knack of sharing Nick’s interests and beliefs...', it's worth noting that I interview plenty of people every year who don't agree with me on Fortean topics. But, as they are wrong, I don't use their data.

"So, it's more correct to say I don't just get endless accounts of what I want to hear, but I also get numerous accounts that I massively disagree with, but that don't see the light of day."

Coast to Coast AM - Tonight

For 1-hour, tonight on Coast to Coast AM (8PM Pacific), I'll be doing a live, online Q&A. As for the subjects, whatever crops up!

UFOs: Silencing the Insiders

We've all heard about the mysterious Men in Black and their attempts to intimidate and silence members of the public who have had UFO encounters.

But, what about those who work within government? Do they suffer similar intimidation and threats?

Yes, they do.

And here's one little-known example from my files...

Loch Ness and Giant Salamanders

It's fair to say I find it very difficult these days to get enthused about anything connected to the saga of the Loch Ness Monster, chiefly as a result of hoaxes and dwindling numbers of good sightings.

But, there is one exception...

That exception is Steve Plambeck's blog, The Loch Ness Giant Salamander.


As its title suggests, the blog (and Steve's research) offers the possibility that the Nessies are not the plesiosaurs or giant eels that many conclude them to be.

And, while some may scoff at the idea that the Nessies are over-sized salamanders, I would urge one and all to check out Steve's blog, as he does hit upon some interesting data that adds weight to his theories.

As a perfect example, check out the new post on this very matter, which Steve has just posted.

Tales of the Chupacabras

There's a new Lair of the Beasts post from me at Mania.com on my trips to Puerto Rico in search of the legendary Chupacabras.

You can find it (the article, not the Chupa!!) right here...

Adam Davies on BoA

Tim Binnall emailed me yesterday with the details of the latest episode of his Binnall of America show. And, if you're into Cryptozoology, you won't want to miss it.

Here's the info from Tim:

Adam Davies
The 2012 Sumatra & USA Expeditions
2 Hours, 7 Minutes

Wrapping up our annual traditions, we welcome renowned cryptozoologist Adam Davies back to BoA:Audio for a debriefing on his 2012 expeditions to Sumatra and America. Regarding the Sumatra trip, we'll discuss how the TV program Finding Bigfoot fueled the latest expedition, the latest info on the ongoing quest to prove the existence of the Orang Pendek, the potential for significant DNA findings to be revealed in 2013 and much more. Then, during our lengthy discussion on Adam's American journey, he will recount the amazing happenings from the visit, which included numerous vocalizations from an unknown creature as well as the controversial trail cam photo of a mysterious entity which caused a massive stir in cryptozoology. Along the way, we'll discuss a myriad of crypto topics like Melba Ketchum and the British Bigfoot. Akin to a reunion with an old friend at a local pub, Adam Davies returns to BoA:Audio for a rollicking conversation recounting his adventures of 2012 and covering a wealth of cryptozoological topics.

Ancient Humans and a Doomed Bridge

There are a couple of new posts from me at Mysterious Universe.

The first - titled Primitive Humans in the UK? - starts like this:

"When it comes to sightings of strange creatures in the UK, they don’t begin and end with the likes of out-of-place big cats and the Loch Ness Monster. Nope. Bizarrely, there are many reports on record – but that seldom get the coverage they deserve – of what sound like wild, primitive humans roaming the old land. Sounds bizarre? It is! But, read on…

"Theo Brown – a noted Devonshire, England folklorist and acclaimed writer – was the author of such books as Devon Ghosts and Family Holidays Around Dartmoor, and someone who collected countless dark tales of terror. One such chilling tale came from a friend of Brown’s who had been walking alone at dusk near the Neolithic earthworks at the top of Lustleigh Cleave, which sits on the extreme east side of Dartmoor, England in the Wrey Valley."

And here's the complete article.

As for the second feature, you can find it right here.

It deals with a strange and deadly creature and a doomed bridge. But, no, it has nothing to do with Mothman or the tragic collapse of Point Pleasant's Silver Bridge in 1967.

Food for the Road

A few essentials for my trip to California: a good book and what I like to call "road food."

Lecturing for MUFON

For the last few days I have been in California doing lectures for the Mutual UFO Network (Mufon) - at (a) Los Angeles; and (b) Orange County.

And here's a few pics from the trip, including one hanging out with good mate, Greg Bishop.

Cryptozoology vs. Parapsychology

Over at his blog, Matt Bille has a new post that discusses my Monster Diary book, in relation to the high-strangeness cases I present in its pages, and with specific regard to the matter of things such as a spectral sabre-tooth tiger (a case I describe in the book), and whether or not rogue cases like this should have a place in Cryptozoology or Parapsychology.

You can find Matt's post here, and here's my comment to the post:

"Hey Matt,

"Yes, it may well be argued that if a creature exhibits phenomena that is far more paranormal in nature (however we define that term), it may not technically be considered a creature of cryptozoology.

"But, here's the thing: many creatures that are widely accepted as being part of cryptozoology do exhibit such paranormal (or perceived paranormal) traits.

"Whether people agree with the data and witness testimony or not, there are a lot of Bigfoot reports that are steeped in high strangeness.

"Take, for just one example, Stan Gordon's 2010 book, Silent Invasion, that chronicles very weird Bigfoot activity in Pennsylvania in 1973.

"Tales of the Yowie in Australia are also saturated with odd overtones.

"FW Holiday, while investigating the Loch Ness Monster, began to experience a lot of high-strangeness, including a MIB sighting at the loch and strange synchronicities.

"Tim Dinsdale alluded to the possibility of a paranormal explanation for Nessie.

"There's Britain's Owlman, West Virginia's Mothman, the 'pterodcatyls' of the Texas-Mexico border - all steeped in high strangeness.

"Merrily Harpur's book, Mystery Big Cats, places the UK's Alien Big Cats into a non-physical category, a book well worth reading.

"So, if even just one example of high-strangeness in all these cases is valid, using your criteria for what passes as a creature of cryptozooloogy, would we not have to remove all the above 'things' from cryptozoological study and hand the data over to paranormal researchers?

"Or, perhaps, we should modify what cryptozoology is and represents."

UFOs: A 1963 Wave...

There's a new post from me at Mysterious Universe that chronicles a small part of a little-known wave of UFO encounters that occurred in Britain in 1963.

It starts like this...

"It’s amazing what you can find when you go looking into the seldom-studied archives of certain government, military, and intelligence agencies.

"A perfect case in point being a certain, brief wave of encounters of the UFO kind that reached the eyes and ears of the old British Air Ministry in the clearly-defined period of August to September 1963.

"Each and every one of the cases referred to below (and many more from this same time frame) can be found in the depths of Britain’s National Archives, but have seldom received the publicity they deserve. So, it’s time to change that…"

And here's the complete article.

Jack the Ripper 1 to 10

There's another new post from me at EHow too, this one on the many and varied theories for who Jack the Ripper might have been.

You can find the article here, and it begins like this:

"In 1888, he roamed the shadowy and foggy back-streets of Whitechapel, London by night, violently slaughtering prostitutes, and provoking terror throughout the capital. He was the world's most infamous serial-killer. He was, in case you haven't by now guessed, Jack the Ripper. But, what makes the Ripper so infamous more than a century after his terrible crimes were committed is that his identity still remains a mystery. And everyone loves a mystery. So, who might Jack have been? The theories are almost endless and include a surgeon, a doctor, a poet, and even a member of the British Royal Family!"

My Advice on Crop Circles

Over at EHow, there's a new article from me on how to investigate Crop Circles...

A Russian Wild Man

 

 

There haven't been many posts from me for the past week or so, and for good reason: I was down with the flu, which coincided with being down to the deadline on submitting my next manuscript to the publisher!

Fortunately, the flu is gone and the book is done! So, it's back to regular posting.

Here's how I start my latest Lair of the Beasts column at Mania.com.

"Across what used to be Soviet Central Asia, as far west as what are parts of Europe, and as far east as Mongolia, reports have long proliferated of hairy creatures known as Almas or Almasty that seem to be far more akin to men than they do apes; although they reputedly demonstrate clear and undeniable characteristics of both.

 

"Opinion is acutely divided upon what these beasts are, or may be. It is deeply tempting to theorize that they may be surviving pockets of our closest relative - the Neanderthals - who supposedly died out in the later part of the Pleistocene epoch, more familiarly known as the Ice Age."

 

And here's the full piece...

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet!

This story almost reminds me of a certain, classic episode of The Twilight Zone!

My Hammer Top 10

My latest post over at EHow.co.uk: on the subject of my favorite horror films from the legendary company of Hammer...

Monster Files - Coming May

So, what do I have going on in this new year, 2013?

Well, one project is Monster Files: A Look Inside Government Secrets and Classified Documents on Bizarre Creatures and Extraordinary Animals, which will be published by New Page Books in May.

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

• Does the Pentagon have the body of Bigfoot on ice?
• What is the U.S. military hiding from us about lake monsters?
• What is the link between the CIA and the Abominable Snowman?
• Why is there a British government file on sea serpents?
• What do the Russians know about animal ESP?

For decades there have been persistent rumors, tales, and legends that government agencies all around the world have been secretly collecting and studying data on bizarre beasts, amazing animals, and strange creatures.

Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, sea serpents, psychic pets, the Chupacabras, and the Abominable Snowman have all attracted official, classified interest.

Now, for the first time, the full, fearsome facts are finally revealed in Nick Redfern’s Monster Files. You’ll discover all the amazing cryptozoological truths, conspiracies, and cover-ups behind the secret studies by the Pentagon, the Kremlin, and the British military, among many others.

Despite what your parents might have told you when you were a child, monsters, creepy creatures, and terrifying beasts really do exist. And our governments know all about them.

Jadoo - Now Available!

 

 Excellent news! Anomalist Books have just published a new edition of John Keel's classic title, Jadoo.

But, this is not just a reprint. Rather, it contains a number of hard to find additions that any fan of Keel won't want to miss - at all.

Here's Anomalist Books to tell you more...

"John A. Keel died on July 3, 2009, but his works survive. With the permission of his estate, we have just reprinted his first book, JADOO, which appeared in 1957. Whether or not it is “the greatest book ever written on the black magic of the Orient,” as it’s been called, we can say for certain that there will never again be another book like it. Jadoo, a Hindi word meaning “Black Magic,” captures a world that is now lost to us—the strange, dark, mysterious world that was once called the “Orient.” It is the story of a real-life Indiana Jones of the 1950s named John Keel, who went on to write The Mothman Prophecies, which was made into a movie starring Richard Gere in 2002. This revised edition of JADOO contains material that the original publisher deleted from the book, specifically a warm and melancholy chapter on Keel’s love life in Egypt. In this new edition you will also find a review of the book written by Keel himself under a pseudonym, a few photographs from his files, a sample of his travel notes, and a proposal for a follow-up book to JADOO. If you read the book long, long ago, it’s time to read it again. The book has aged very, very well."

A Monster-Themed Night at the Museum

On Saturday, January 26, I'll be speaking about my books Monster Diary and Wildman at the Austin, Texas-based Museum of the Weird.

And I won't be the only one lecturing either!

Here's the full schedule (from the organizer), below, with a link at the foot of the post where you can find out more about the event.

A CRYPTOMUNDO NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM

Saturday, January 26th, 2012
3:00pm to 10:00pm

Museum of the Weird, in conjunction with the world's foremost website on all things cryptid, Cryptomundo.com, will be hosting a very special event on January 26th at the Museum of the Weird in Austin, TX:

Cryptomundo Night at the Museum!

Featuring an all-star line up of world famous cryptozoologists, experts and authors, it's sure to be a night of entertainment, intrigue and mystery as we explore the unknown creatures that lurk in the darker corners of the world we live in!

Please come out and join us for the festivities!

Speaker presentations and author book signings include:

Lyle Blackburn, frontman for rock band Ghoultown, writer for Rue Morgue magazine and author of The Beast of Boggy Creek.

Nick Redfern, author of Wildman! The Monstrous and Mysterious Saga of the British Bigfoot, Monster Diary: On the Road in Search of Strange and Sinister Creatures, The World's Weirdest Places, and Memoirs of a Monster Hunter.

Ken Gerhard, author of Big Bird! Modern Sightings of Flying Monsters and  Monsters of Texas.

Dave Coleman, author of The Bigfoot Filmography.

The event starts at 3:00pm and goes until 6:00pm, then a break for dinner and to explore 6th Street and downtown Austin.

It resumes again at 8:00pm with a special screening in the Museum's Weird Theater of the '70s drive-in classic Creature from Black Lake.

The event is $10 and includes admission to the Museum of the Weird and the movie (dinner and drinks not included).

Space and seating is extremely limited, so we recommend buying your tickets early!

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

Bonnie & Clyde and a (kind of) Man in Black

 

Well, since I decided to take 10 days or so off work for Christmas, I figured it would be a good time to show my dad (over here on holiday for 2 weeks) a few of the sights of Dallas that he had never previously seen.

 

And that included the graves of legendary outlaws Bonnie and Clyde - both of who are buried in the Dallas area, but at different cemeteries.

So, we headed out on a cold, icy morning last week to check them out, and here's a few shots...
 

And if you're wondering about this last one (taken right next to the grave of Clyde), no it's not evidence that a Man in Black is buried at the cemetery!

Although, I have to say that the irony of me (having written extensively about the MIB) coming across it did not escape me!

In reality, it's nothing stranger than a marker for the grave of Clyde's brother, whose initials happened to be MIB: Marvin Ivan Barrow.

The Toad in Folklore

As you may know, every month New Page Books' blog has a new Creature of the Month article, the latest one being from Dr. Bob Curran, and the subject: the toad.

It starts like this:

"In many folklore traditions, the toad is something of an ambivalent creature. On the one hand, it is considered to be repellent and often becomes a symbol of foulness and evil – perhaps its very appearance hints at it being malignant and poisonous. And yet on the other hand - and in many Eastern cultures - it is associated with wisdom and 'knowing'. Toads are thought to have lived for many centuries and in that time have acquired much knowledge. It was therefore considered to be the wisest of creatures and parts of its body could be used for special purposes."

And here's the full post...

A Mystery in the Urals

Kithra has a new post at her Krystal Kave site, which is an excellent overview of a notorious mystery.

 

Here' the opening words...

 

"Many people have written about this incident as it's not only a real mystery but remains, to this day, unsolved.

 

"It happened during the night of 2^nd February, 1959, in the northern Ural Mountains on a mountain known as Kholat Syakhl. The mountain's name comes from the language of the endangered indigenous Mansi people of Russia. And it's a language that is, in many ways, very similar to Hungarian. A translation of the mountain's name means Mountain of the Dead, so it's somewhat chilling that the incident should have occurred there. Because it happened the event has come to be known as the Dyatlov Pass incident after the name of the leader of the group to which it happened.

The group was made up of 8 men and 2 women, most of them students or graduates of the Ural Polytechnic Institute, and it was led by Igor Dyatlov. They had got together in order to ski and walk across the northern Ural Mountains, finally reaching Otorten Mountain, which was just over 6 miles from where the event took place. During February it was a route that was classed as being the most difficult of all, but they were highly experienced skiers and trekkers. The idea behind the expedition was to use it as preparation for a journey into more difficult Arctic districts at a later date."

 

Got your interest? Read on!

Archiving my 2012 Shows

As you'll see to the right of my posts at this blog, I have deleted the list of my 2012 gigs and have started loading my events, radio-shows etc, for this year, 2013.

However, since many of the 2012 radio shows I did are available online, I have posted them all here below, in case you want to check them out:

Coast to Coast - Jan. 5;
Meg Blackburn Show - Jan. 11;
Brilliant Essence Show - Jan. 12;
When Pigs Fly Radio - January 13;
Bruce Collins Show - January 16;
Science For Life Radio - Jan. 18;
Positively Incorrect Radio - Jan. 19;
EPIC, Dallas, Texas (Lecture) - Jan. 22;
Jim Harold Show - Jan. 23;
Guts And Bones Show - Jan. 30;
Nancy Wallace Show - Jan. 31;
Jackal's Head Show - Feb. 3;
Richard Syrett Show - Feb. 5;
Monique Chapman Show - Feb. 8;
Catherine Bradford Show - Feb. 9;
Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas MUFON (Lecture) - Feb. 19;
Scott Colborn Show - March 24;
Cross Timbers Creature Conference - Apr. 14;
Search for Hidden Beasts show - June 3;
Dr. Rita Louise Show - June 15;
Temple Of Health Show - June 16;
EPIC - June 18;
The Paracast show - June 24;
Bright Side Radio - June 24;
Ken Hudnall show - June 25;
West Coast Truth - June 26;
Darkness Radio - June 27;
Second Sight - June 28;
Radio Amerika - June 29;
Bruce Collins Show - July 2;
Marshall Masters Show - July 3;
Meg Blackburn Show - July 5;
Inner Talk - July 10;
USC Radio Show - July 11;
USC Radio Show - July 17;
Higher Side Chats - July 18;
Disinformation Podcast - July 24;
Sandy Sedgbeer Show - July 25;
Late Night in the Midlands - Aug. 1;
Monique Chapman - Aug. 15;
Coast to Coast AM - Aug. 15;
Rita Louise Show - Aug. 17;
Commander X - Aug.18;
Global Alliance - Aug. 20;
Bobby Keegan - Aug. 21;
Acceleration Radio - Aug. 23;
EPIC - Aug. 27;
Starseed Radio - Aug. 28;
Apparition Radio - Aug. 29;
Stench of Truth Radio - Aug. 31;
Commander X Radio - Sept. 1;
Donna Devane Show - Sept. 2;
Paranormal Palace Radio show - Sept. 4;
Rene Barnett Show - Sept. 5;
Exploring Unexplained Phenomena - Sept. 15;
Kevin Cook Show - Sept. 18;
Vex - Sept. 20;
Good Vibrations - Sept. 22;
EPIC lecture - Sept. 23;
MUFON San Antonio lecture - Sept. 25;
Randy Maugans - Sept 26;
Second Sight - Sept. 27;
Austin Center for Spiritual Living lecture - Sept. 29;
Richard Syrett Show - Sept. 30;
Fast Street Show - Oct. 4;
Nancy Du Tertre Show - Oct. 5;
Allan Handeman - Oct. 9;
Bruce Collins - Oct. 11;
Highland Park Schools, Dallas, Texas - Oct. 12;
Sartori Lecture - Oct. 12;
Chattahoochee Bigfoot Radio - Oct. 14;
Whispers Radio - Oct 15;
Paradigm Symposium - Oct. 17-21;
Jim Harold Show - Oct. 23;
Donna Seebo Show - Oct. 24;
The Edge - Oct. 25;
Stuart Haycock Show - Oct. 26;
Gary Mantz Show - Oct. 26;
Nick Page Show - Oct. 27;
Coast to Coast - Oct. 28;
Media Monarchy - Oct. 29;
A.A.G. Radio - Oct. 31;
Second Sight - Nov. 1;
Highland Park Schools, Dallas, Texas - Nov. 1;
Highland Park Schools, Dallas, Texas - Nov. 2;
Z-Talk Radio - Nov. 5;
Higher Side Chats - Nov. 8;
Para-X - Nov. 8;
Amy Rouse Show - Nov. 12;
Barb Adams Show - Nov. 15;
Mike Quinsey - Nov. 16;
Jay Lawrence Show - Nov. 17;
Pang Radio - Nov. 18;
Paranormal Palace - Nov. 20;
EPIC - Nov. 26;
Highland Park Schools, Dallas, Texas - Nov. 28;
Journeys with Rebecca - Nov. 29;
Maria Frees Show - Dec. 5;
Eric Altman Show - Dec. 9;
Grand Dark Conspiracy - Dec. 10

Mysterious and Magical Cats

And there's one more new post from me at Mysterious Universe, which I penned just before Christmas, and which focuses on a great new book from Karl Shuker.

Here's the opening words...

"Beyond any shadow of a doubt, one of the leading seekers of strange creatures in the world today is Dr. Karl Shuker, who hails only a couple of miles from where I grew up in central England. But, Karl is not only a fine cryptozoologist. He’s an excellent author, too. And, right now, he has a new book out (yep, just in time for Christmas!) that should be of keen interest to anyone and everyone with an interest in strange creatures, folklore, magical tales, and Forteana. Its title: Cats of Magic, Mythology, and Mystery.

"Gathered together for the very first time, and between the covers of one single volume, are countless stories that will astound and intrigue you. Indeed, be prepared to be thoroughly amazed, and totally captivated, by a spellbinding array of truly extraordinary, exceptional cats of every imaginable – and even unimaginable – variety. And it’s Britain’s CFZ Press – the publishing arm of Jonathan Downes’ Center for Fortean Zoology - that we have to thank for publishing Karl’s book."

And here's where you can read the full article on the book, which, if Cryptozoology and weird beasts are your thing, you should definitely get hold of!