Sunday, June 29, 2014

Strange Mutants of the 21st Century





And another new, great release from Andy Colvin's New Saucerian Books, and a total must-buy for fans of Mothman and John Keel: Strange Mutants of the Twenty-First Century. And here's Andy with all the info:

John A. Keel is considered by many to have been a significant influence within ufology and Forteana. He died on July 3, 2009 in New York City, at the age of 79. At the height of his career, he was interviewed by luminaries such as David Letterman, Johnny Carson, and Merv Griffin.

"The Mothman Prophecies," perhaps Keel's most famous book, was an account of his investigation into sightings in West Virginia of a huge, winged creature called the "Mothman."

"Strange Mutants of the Twenty-First Century" contains Keel's very first ruminations on Mothman, as well as a variety of strange reports on black "demon" dogs, phantom cats, Bigfoot and other North American giants, flying humanoids, flying saucers, flying snakes, and even stranger mutants that Keel believed reside with us on Earth.

This book was originally printed in very small quantities over 30 years ago, and became extremely rare and expensive. Finally, it has been available to the general public.

"Strange Mutants" is a classic read that provides an entertaining glimpse into John Keel's bizarre world of the unknown. This 2014 reprint edition features cover art by David Sankey, an introduction by Keel, several illustrations, and a chart of all the early Mothman sightings. This is a book that belongs on the shelf of every Keel fan.

Visitors From Lanulos - Back In Print




Andy Colvin's New Saucerian Books is doing an excellent job of providing us with new editions of old UFO-themed books. One of the latest is Visitors from Lanulos, by Woody Derenberger, and which was originally published in 1971.  For fans of Mothman, the strange saga of Indrid Cold, and the work of John Keel, this is a book not to be missed!

Here - below - is the info from NSB on this new title:


New Saucerian Press proudly presents the "lost" ufological classic, "Visitors From Lanulos!" Initially published in 1971, this book became perhaps the rarest "contactee" book ever. Prior to its 2014 reissue, there were only a half-dozen copies remaining in the world's library system, with the rest trading for thousands of dollars each.

Woodrow Derenberger, the author of the book, claimed to have had a series of strange adventures beginning on November 2nd, 1966. While driving home from Parkersburg, West Virginia to his suburban home in Mineral Wells, he suddenly found the highway blocked by a large gray object. Someone emerged from the object and walked to the passenger side window of his car. The man introduced himself as "a searcher," and offered words of comfort to Derenberger.

After noting that he would come again, the "spaceman," who called himself "Indrid Cold," stepped back into the object and it rose out of sight. Derenberger went home and told his story to his wife. He then called the police and the press. Soon after, other witnesses came forward to say that they, too, had seen Cold talking to Derenberger by the side of the road. (In time, several locals would have their own encounters with Cold.)

Two days later while driving in his car, Derenberger began to receive telepathic communications from Cold, who described himself as from the "galaxy of Ganymede." Cold also supplied some information about his life, including the observation that people on his planet (Lanulos) lived to be 125 to 175 of our Earth years.

Over the next weeks, other stories would accumulate that substantiated other parts of Derenberger's story, including independent UFO sightings on November 4th. An initial investigation concluded that Derenberger was not a fraud or hoaxer, and was mentally and psychologically sound.

Throughout this period, Derenberger's direct contacts with Indrid Cold continued. He learned much about Cold's people and their desire for friendly contact. In 1967, Cold took Derenberger for a ride in his spaceship. Strangely, they visited the oilfields of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as Cold's lush, jungle planet, which was populated by beautiful humanoids wearing no clothes.

Derenberger told his story frequently over the next few years, and his story was given extended treatment by Fortean researcher John A. Keel.

Through the 1980s, Derenberger assumed a low profile, though he continued to correspond with a small group of people who believed his accounts. In fact, he forwarded many letters from Cold to these fans. (Cold actually lived in a house in Midway, West Virginia before moving to Cleveland in the 1980s.)

In the years since, other evidence has been discovered pointing to Cold's possible intelligence connections, and the fact that he may have actually piloted an early aerial drone designed by the U.S. military.

Was there an underground flying saucer manufacturing plant near Woody's home, perhaps in Point Pleasant, home of the "Mothman?" Were Cold and his associates trying to bamboozle locals into thinking the military drones were from outer space? Or were they really interdimensional "Men in Black" or "spacemen?" Check out this fascinating read for clues both astounding and confounding.

This indispensable special edition of "Visitors From Lanulos" features introductions by John A. Keel and Taunia Derenberger-Bowman (Woody's daughter), an epilogue by the publisher, Andy Colvin, and a special addendum from Gray Barker. It also sports a beautiful and playful cover by British artist David Sankey.

About My Books

Over the past week or so, a couple of dozen people have asked me about three forthcoming books from me, which are advertised on Amazon as being published in August.

They are actually new editions (and published by a different company) of 3 of my older books, The Real Men in Black, The NASA Conspiracies, and Monster Files.

So, aside from the name changes and the cover images, they are exactly the same books.




Friday, June 27, 2014

Museum of the Weird...






It's time for an absolutely, totally, 100 percent shameless plug. A couple of days ago, while at the Austin, Texas-based Museum of the Weird, I picked up this t-shirt. If you are ever in Austin, check out the MOTW, you won't regret it!

Thursday, June 26, 2014

On The Road

A few photos from my travels of the past week, to Illinois, Austin, and San Antonio: hanging out with good friends Ken Gerhard and Jen Devillier, and also with MUFON legend Walt Andrus, authors Rosemary Ellen Guiley and April Slaughter, and Steve Busti, of the Austin-based Museum of the Weird.

 Me and a chick who has seen better days
 April Slaughter
 Me and April
 Rosemary Ellen Guiley
 
 Rosemary and me
 Good friends Ken Gerhard and Jen Devillier
 Me with MUFON's Walt Andrus
 Steve Busti, at his Austin, Texas-based Museum of the Weird
 Cool part of Austin's 6th Street

Monsters Below...

A very cool new article from Brent Swancer, on the subject of the strange creatures that lurk deep below us...

Monday, June 23, 2014

June 24: A Deadly Day For Ufologists

 
Loren Coleman has an excellent new article on the more than a few deaths in the UFO field that have occurred on June 24. It's the date on which (in 1947) our lord and master, Kenneth Arnold, had his famous and controversial encounter that ushered in the modern era of Ufology. It's also a subject which I discuss in my latest book, Close Encounters of the Fatal Kind.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

The Convenient Monster

My new Mysterious Universe article is a review of a certain episode of the old 1960s TV series, The Saint (starring Roger Moore).

The episode in question is titled The Convenient Monster and focuses on a spate of mysterious deaths attributed to none other than the Loch Ness Monster...

Lone Star Saucers



Also received yesterday, Nate Riddle's book, Lone Star Saucers: Searching for UFOs in Texas, a book I was interviewed for. Nate has a cool writing style and the book is filled with fascinating Texas-based saucer lore.

Classic Forteana Reprinted



I got a package of review books yesterday from New Saucerian Books. 

NSB are doing a great job of reprinting a bunch of old, classic, and rare titles. 

Here's the latest ones: John Keel's Our Haunted Planet; Keel's Strange Creatures From Time And Space; Albert Bender's Flying Saucers And The Three Men; Gray Barker's Serpents of Fire; Barker's They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers; and Searching for the String, which is a collection of Keel's writings.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Nessie The Plesiosaur? No!


 "A couple of nights ago, I did a 10-minute transatlantic phone interview with a radio show in the UK. It was 1.00 AM here in Dallas, Texas, and 7.00 AM in England. And, as is generally the case when it comes to breakfast-time radio, they wanted to keep things bright, short, light and breezy, which was fine with me. The subject: the creatures of Loch Ness.

"When the Wiltshire-based host asked me to comment on the theory that the Nessies are plesiosaurs, I replied it was complete nonsense. For a second or so, there was a noticeable silence..."

That's how my latest Mysterious Universe article starts...

Monday, June 16, 2014

Um...Something...



An odd-looking reflection on my office ceiling, which it took me about 10 minutes to figure out was caused by a CD case and a piece of crumpled paper under it! The weird thing is that in the reflection it looks very symmetrical!

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

UFO Iconoclasts Reviews My New Book


Over at The UFO Iconoclast(s) blog, Rich Reynolds reviews my new book, Close Encounters of the Fatal Kind.

The Other Alaskan Bigfoot: Reviewed



My latest Mysterious Universe article is a review of a new book from Dennis Waller: In Search of the Kushtaka: Alaska's Other Bigfoot

And it starts like this...


"Available right now is a new book from author Dennis Waller. Its title: In Search of  the Kushtaka: Alaska’s Other Bigfoot. This is an excellent read for anyone fascinated by cryptozoology in general and Bigfoot in particular. It’s also a book that is likely to polarize its readers into two wildly differing camps: (A) those who conclude  its alternative take on Bigfoot has merit; and (B) those who have no time for anything beyond the 'Bigfoot is just an unknown ape' scenario.

"As you can guess from the paragraph above, Waller’s new title is not your average Bigfoot book. And that’s not a bad thing at all. As readers of Mysterious Universe will know, I have always promoted my view that the Bigfoot phenomenon is not just strange. Simply put: it’s too strange. We never, ever, find a body. The beast is seemingly impervious to bullets. There are reports of Bigfoot vanishing before the witness – and by 'vanishing' I do mean that literally. Bigfoot is seen in the same location and time-frame as other anomalous phenomena. And so on and so on."


Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Huge Hares and Beastly Bunnies!

Check out Dr. Karl Shuker's excellent new article on giant-sized rabbits and hares in the UK. Karl makes the interesting point (and I suspect he's right on target) that some reports are likely due to mistaken identity. As for what people may be seeing: wild wallabies, of which there are a number of significantly-sized colonies in the UK.

Slenderman Weirdness

At his Twilight Language blog, Loren Coleman provides an excellent overview of the increasingly strange (and downright deadly) Slenderman phenomenon...

The Loch Ness "Footprints"

Over at his Loch Ness Mystery blog, Roland Watson updates us on the intriguingly weird saga of the "footprints" of Loch Ness...

RIP Rik Mayall


 If, like me, you grew up on the comedy of Rik Mayall, you'll be saddened by his untimely death (here's just one story of many reporting on his passing). RIP, Rik.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Cornwall's Cats



Cornwall, England has been a hotspot for sightings of so-called "Alien Big Cats" (or ABCs, as they are known), as this local media story demonstrates. And it's not only big cats that people are seeing: there's also a report of a wolverine roaming around the land!

The Deadly Side of UFOs...

"On Monday of this week, I had copies arrive of what is probably the most controversial book  I have written so far: Close Encounters of the Fatal Kind, which is officially published on June 23; although a number of people have contacted me to say they already have copies. Basically, the book is a study of the many and varied suspicious deaths in the field of Ufology, spanning 1946 to pretty much the present day.

"Immersing oneself in the world of the unidentified flying object can be exciting, illuminating, stimulating, and enlightening. That very same world, however, is filled to the brim with cold-hearted killers that will not think twice about taking you out of circulation, if such action is deemed absolutely necessary. And not all of those cold-hearted killers are human."

That's how my new Mysterious Universe article begins...

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Cryptomundo Merchandise




For those who may be interested, Craig Woolheater has a line of merchandise to promote his website, www.cryptomundo.com, including a Mothman t-shirt with the words "Cryptomundo" written across it. 

Since I have no shame and never say no to free black t-shirts, I agreed to promote it here, there and everywhere! 

Check out Craig's site for all the cool info!

Close Encounters of the Fatal Kind



Had copies of my new book, Close Encounters of the Fatal Kind, arrive yesterday afternoon. The official publication date is June 23; however, you can pre-order it at Amazon right now.

And here's the publicity info for the book (which is published by New Page Books):

Everyone has heard of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. But what about close encounters of the fatal kind? The field of UFOs is rife with unsettling examples of suspicious deaths. Accounts of accidents that might not have been accidents after all, abound. Researchers and witnesses have vanished, never to be seen again. Conveniently timed heart attacks are reported.

Out-of-the-blue suicides that, upon investigation, bear the distinct hallmarks of murder, are all too common. And grisly deaths at the hands of both extraterrestrials and government agents have occurred.

Highlights of Close Encounters of the Fatal Kind include:
  • The strange saga of the incredible melting man.
  • The UFO-related death of the first U.S. Secretary of Defense, James Forrestal.
  • The mysterious disappearances of military pilots and their connection to UFOs.
  • The connections between national security and the sudden deaths of UFO investigators.
Getting too close to the cosmic truth about alien abductions, Roswell, and what the government really knows about UFOs can—clearly—be a deadly business. The government’s latest admission of the existence of Area 51 is barely the tip of a very big iceberg.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Feral Wild Men: USA

Are primitive, feral humans lurking in the wilder parts of the United States?

To be sure, it's a controversial question to ask, but check out Micah Hanks' latest article (over at Mysterious Universe) on this very topic...

In Search Of The Nessies

Roland Watson takes a trip to Loch Ness...

Bigfoot: SE Wisconsin

Check out Linda Godfrey's new article on Bigfoot in southeast Wisconsin. Although Linda is chiefly known for her work on Dogmen and werewolves, she has also undertaken a lot of Bigfoot-based research, too.