Robert Goerman's great new review of my latest book, The Black Diary:
The Black Diary: M.I.B., Women in Black, Black-Eyed Children, and Dangerous Books
by Nick Redfern
Publisher: Lisa Hagan Books (May 13, 2018)
Paperback: 258 pages
Reviewed by Robert A. Goerman
It
is an absolute fact that credible people encounter incredible beings.
Some of these entities can rather successfully impersonate the human
inhabitants of Earth.
I
usually designate these counterfeits as "Mysterious Strangers." This
may include those mimics that harass eyewitnesses to so-called "UFO" and
"paranormal" events or any that intimidate investigative researchers of
unexplained phenomena. Quite often, the "high strangeness" of the
stranger is only realized during pensive hindsight. This is after the
"enchantment" has broken. Enchantment here refers to the manipulation of
human perception, consciousness, and memory. It also refers to their
exploitation of our time and space continuum.
I have organized these encounters into three distinct categories based on weirdness: Curious, Bizarre, and Incredible.
The
"Curious" level contains those cases where the strangers display an
uncanny knowledge of exactly what the witness saw or sometimes appear on
the scene before that witness had a chance to report the experience to
the authorities or media.
"Bizarre"
cases may include these things and more. The visitors may appear odd or
act very strangely. They may speak in a monotone "like a computer" or
with an unidentifiable accent; try to drink Jell-O; move in a mechanical
manner; have no visible body hair; males might wear bright red lipstick
and cosmetics; resemble a cadaver; appear to have respiratory
difficulties; "run out" of energy... all as if poorly imitating human
beings.
"Incredible"
cases add an extraordinary touch to the aforementioned categories. For
instance, the interlopers may disappear in one of two ways. There is a
difference between vanishing in plain sight and disappearing in the
blink of an eye. The former indicates that the witness sees the entity
vanish during unbroken vigilance. Disappearing in the blink of an eye
means that the witness looked away or blinked and the visitor was gone.
Irish folklore tells us to never take our eyes off a leprechaun during a
pursuit or he will vanish. Our strangers might also walk through a
muddy field and leave no tracks. The laws of our spatiotemporal
"reality" do not deter certain visitants.
Personally
researching encounters with nonhuman beings for more than five decades,
it is my distinct honor and privilege to read, review, and recommend
the MiB/WiB trilogy by my colleague Nick Redfern. The Black Diary:
M.I.B., Women in Black, Black-Eyed Children, and Dangerous Books is his
grand finale to the series. To call it "grand" is an understatement.
There are, first and foremost, mesmerizing accounts of meetings with nonhuman beings.
On
July 19, 2012, Gloria (a senior citizen from Decatur, Texas) was just
minding her own business and reading a book, with her two dogs for
company. Both pets began barking at the sky. She looked up in time to
observe what can only be accurately described as a classic flying saucer
before it suddenly dematerialized, rather than having shot away at high
speed. It was a case of "here-one-second-and-gone-the-next-second."
Animal reactions are part and parcel of many paranormal mysteries.
Gloria
had a brief peek into the unknown. She took no photos or video. She
recovered no physical evidence of the "UFO" existence. She did not
report her sighting to the media or the authorities.
And
yet, there was a knock on her door the following afternoon. It was a
pale-faced skeletal woman of about thirty, wearing a long black wig and
dressed in a black jacket, a white blouse, and a flowing, black skirt
(in July in Texas). She also sported huge sunglasses. The WiB smelled of
dirt. This stranger warned Gloria not to talk about the UFO she had
encountered the previous day, due to the claim that "the government is
concerned." After asking what the time was, the WiB turned, walked down
Gloria's driveway and vanished into nothingness.
Nick
and I both know that these strangers are not from any government
agency. While MiB/WiB visits can turn "ho-hum" UFO sightings into
memorable cases, these entity encounters can also be quite hazardous to
your health.
Kent
Senter described his physical reactions to a visit from three MiB. "I
looked up and immediately felt numbness and somewhat of a tingling
electric shock in my stomach. I have never felt this sensation before or
since. It was similar to a funny bone hit, but in the stomach only...
It all seemed so strange and I felt like I was in a stupor."
Could
Kent be describing some type of invisible assault to his Solar Plexus?
Interestingly enough, the Solar Plexus chakra is associated with the
following psychological and behavioral functions: willpower, clarity of
judgement, and making decisions. Perhaps these beings, from realms
unknown, recognize more than our crude biological vulnerabilities.
Reactions
to visits from these strangers may include mind-numbing fear, perceived
evil, confusion, electrifying energy racing up the spine, sickness in
the stomach, loss of will, and even loss of consciousness. These effects
might be a reaction to purposefully directed energies and the localized
environment created by the close proximity of these "beings."
One
witness summed up his feelings to Nick: "I don't know if you've ever
eaten anything that's made you really sick and then afterwards, just the
thought or smell or even sight of that food will bring back the
symptoms again? That's how it is with these MiB things, pretty much
exactly. You know when they're around. You can feel it like the oncoming
symptoms of a flu or food poisoning attack." Redfern reports that
others have fallen ill after their encounters with these Mysterious
Strangers.
It
is all here in The Black Diary: M.I.B., Women in Black, Black-Eyed
Children, and Dangerous Books. There are strange and threatening
telephone calls. There are "phantom photographers" and "grinning men."
There are even phantom Black Helicopters that morph into the weirdest
things!
The
Black Diary (2018) by Nick Redfern joins the honored tradition of The
Mothman Prophecies (1975) by John Keel, The Mysterious Valley (1996) by
Christopher O'Brien, and Hunt for the Skinwalker (2005) by Colm A.
Kelleher Ph.D. and George Knapp. Each of these amazing authors
documented, in a chronological journal style of sorts, the mayhem and
mystery, synchronicity and "Trickster" phenomena that interacted with
their research and the lives of those within the scope of their
investigations.
The
Black Diary: M.I.B., Women in Black, Black-Eyed Children, and Dangerous
Books is a tantalizing and dangerous roller coaster. Ride it at your
own risk. For those that do, I offer this advice:
1.) Not every idea in your head belongs to you.
2.) These cosmic forces know what you think and do.
3.) Some synchronous events are orchestrated for your benefit or detriment.
